Willem Bastiaensz Schepers (8 October 1619 – 21 January 1704) was a

Dutch States Navy The Dutch States Navy (, ) was the navy of the Dutch Republic from 1588 to 1795. Coming into existence during the Eighty Years' War, the States Navy played a major role in expanding and protecting the Dutch colonial empire, in addition to partici ...

officer. Having made his career as a shipping magnate in Rotterdam, Schepers was rewarded in 1673 for his political support to the new Orangist regime, by being made lieutenant admiral. In 1688, he organised the transport fleet for the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

Biography

Schepers was the son of a sailmaker in Haarlem. On 28 May 1641, he is recorded in Rotterdam as a merchant marrying Bartha de Jong, the daughter of an owner of

herring buss A herring buss () was a type of seagoing fishing vessel, mostly used by Dutch and Flemish herring fishermen in the 15th through early 19th centuries. History The buss ship was already known around the time of the Crusades in the Mediterranean a ...

es in

Delfshaven Delfshaven () is a borough of Rotterdam, Netherlands, on the right bank of river Nieuwe Maas. It was a separate municipality until 1886. The town of Delfshaven grew around the port of the city of Delft. Delft itself was not located on a major ri ...

. For the year 1659, Schepers was for the first time in Rotterdam appointed as treasurer of the "Great Fishery", or herring fleet, an office he would hold in several subsequent years. Schepers accumulated much wealth as a ship owner and gained political influence. During this period, in the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

political power was contested between the ruling States faction and the Organgists who wanted to make

William III of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 167 ...

stadtholder In the Low Countries, a stadtholder ( ) was a steward, first appointed as a medieval official and ultimately functioning as a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...

. In the disaster year of 1672,

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

invaded the Republic. The crisis situation was exploited by William III to force the

States of Holland The States of Holland and West Frisia () were the representation of the two Estates (''standen'') to the court of the Count of Holland. After the United Provinces were formed — and there no longer was a count, but only his "lieutenant" (the stad ...

to appoint him stadtholder. Schepers with several other Orangists, on 25 Augustus 1672, took over the city council of Rotterdam. He would remain councillor until 1698. As such he had become a member of the Dutch ruling class, the

regents In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

. Between 1678 and 1696, he was repeatedly appointed

burgomaster Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, ) is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or executive of a city or town. The name in English was derived from the Dutch . In so ...

and held many other functions, as was usual among the regents.Unger, H. W.; Bezemer, W.; Engelbrecht, E. A. (1889). ''Bronnen voor de geschiedenis van Rotterdam, deel V: De vroedschap van Rotterdam, 1572–1795''. (184) p. 230 The new Orangist regime attempted to purify all offices from opponents. In the Dutch navy, this was a slow process, as its officers were very popular naval heroes, whose expertise was sorely needed in the fight against France. After the

Battle of Texel The naval Battle of Texel or Battle of Kijkduin took place off the western coast of the island of Texel on 21 August 1673 (11 August O.S.) between the Dutch and the combined English and French fleets. It was the last major battle of the T ...

in 1673, Schepers was appointed lieutenant-admiral of the

Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier The Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier ( Dutch, 'Northern Quarter'), also known as the Admiralty of West Friesland, was one of the five admiralties of the Dutch Republic, based at West Friesland, a region in the north of the province of Holland ...

on 6 October, succeeding the deceased Jan Meppel, despite never having served in the navy before.Eekhout, L. (1992). ''Het Admiralenboek, de vlagofficieren van de Nederlandse Marine, 1383–1991''. Amsterdam. p. 69 At the time, this was seen as a predominantly political appointment, rewarding Schepers for taking the initiative to order the Rotterdam delegate in the States of Holland to propose the revocation of the Perpetual Edict, forbidding the appointment of any member of the

House of Orange The House of Orange-Nassau (, ), also known as the House of Orange because of the prestige of the princely title of Orange, also referred to as the Fourth House of Orange in comparison with the other noble houses that held the Principality of O ...

in the office of stadtholder. However, Schepers was not merely an Orangist figurehead. He actually sailed on the fleet the next year, until December 1674. In 1676, he first commanded, with Vice-Admiral Jan Jansse van Nes, a flotilla blocking the French corsair base

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

and then supported the Danes against Sweden with a squadron. In 1677 he fought the Swedish forces in the Baltic and was knighted by

Christian V of Denmark Christian V (15 April 1646 – 25 August 1699) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1670 until his death in 1699. Well-regarded by the common people, he was the first king anointed at Frederiksborg Castle chapel as absolute monarch since the dec ...

in the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

. When

Cornelis Tromp Cornelis Maartenszoon Tromp, ''Count of Sølvesborg'' (3 September 1629 – 29 May 1691) was a Dutch naval officer who served as lieutenant-admiral general in the Dutch Navy, and briefly as a general admiral in the Royal Danish-Norwegian ...

became lieutenant-admiral-general of the confederate Dutch fleet, Schepers, on 25 February 1678, succeeded him as lieutenant-admiral of the important

Admiralty of Amsterdam The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the largest of the five Dutch admiralties at the time of the Dutch Republic. The administration of the various admiralties was strongly influenced by provincial interests. The territory for which Amsterdam ...

. In 1683, Schepers commanded a squadron observing French and Danish naval actions on the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. Returning to the Texel on 11 November, the squadron was hit by a storm that sank eight vessels. The

States General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( ) is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate (Netherlands), Senate () and the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of R ...

appointed Schepers to head a commission, together with Cornelis Valckenier and Simon Velius, to formulate proposals for the improvement of the readiness of the Dutch fleet. Their recommendations would lay the foundation for the expansion of the Dutch fleet during the 1690s, reaching its largest size during the age of sail. In 1688, William III called upon Schepers to organise the transport and landing vessels of the invasion fleet in the

. Schepers personally contributed twelve vessels and hired 93 more. At first it was considered to let Schepers command a squadron, but eventually it was decided that he should accompany William III on ''Den Briel'', a frigate of 30 cannon under flag Captain Joan van der Esch, together with Vice-Admiral Fredrik Willem van Bronckhorst Stirum. On 28 March 1692, Schepers succeeded Lieutenant-Admiral Aert Jansse van Nes at the

Admiralty of the Maze The Admiralty of Rotterdam, also called the Admiralty of de Maze, was one of the five Dutch admiralties in the Dutch Republic. History The Admiralty of Rotterdam was founded in 1574 during the Dutch Revolt, when (after the Capture of Brielle) ...

. In 1696, he hired fifteen ships to blockade Dunkirk, to prevent a return of

James II of England James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

. Schepers died on 21 January 1704, and was buried with great pomp four days later, in the chapel of the Lords of Kralingen in the Sint-Laurenskerk at Rotterdam. The chapel, acquired by the admiral in 1695, would be destroyed during the bombardment of Rotterdam in May 1940.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schepers, Willem Bastiaensz 1619 births 1704 deaths Admirals of the navy of the Dutch Republic Dutch naval personnel of the Third Anglo-Dutch War Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Military personnel from Haarlem Dutch merchants Dutch military personnel of the Nine Years' War