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Johan de Witt | |
|---|---|
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| Grand Pensionary of Holland | |
| In office 30 July 1653 – 4 August 1672 | |
| Preceded by | Adriaan Pauw |
| Succeeded by | Gaspar Fagel |
| Pensionary of Dordrecht | |
| In office 21 December 1650 – 30 July 1653 | |
| Preceded by | Nicolaas Ruys |
| Succeeded by | Govert van Slingelandt |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 24 September 1625 Dordrecht, Dutch Republic |
| Died | 20 August 1672 (aged 46) The Hague, Dutch Republic |
| Political party | States' Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Johan de Witt Jr. |
| Parent |
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| Relatives |
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| Alma mater | University of Leiden |
| Signature |  |
Johan de Witt (24 September 1625 – 20 August 1672) was a Dutch statesman who was a major political figure during the First Stadtholderless Period, when flourishing global trade in a period of rapid European colonial expansion made the Dutch a leading trading and seafaring power in Europe, commonly referred to as the Dutch Golden Age. De Witt was elected Grand Pensionary of Holland, and together with his uncle Cornelis de Graeff,[1] he controlled the Dutch political system from around 1650 until the Rampjaar (Disaster Year) of 1672.[2] This progressive cooperation between the two statesmen, and the consequent support of Amsterdam under the rule of De Graeff,[3] was an important political axis that organized the political system within the republic.[4]
As a leading republican of the Dutch States Party, De Witt opposed the House of Orange-Nassau and the Orangists and preferred a shift of power from the central government to the regenten. However, the Dutch Republic suffered numerous early defeats in the Rampjaar, due to an alliance of England, France and several German states which planned on invading the Dutch Republic. In the hysteria that followed, he and his brother Cornelis de Witt were blamed and lynched in The Hague, with their corpses at least partially eaten by the rioters.[5][6][7][8] These cannibals were never prosecuted,[6] and some historians claim William of Orange may have incited them.[5]
- ^ Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes – Debt before Dishonour, p. 98, by Will Slatyer (2014)
- ^ "That time the Dutch ate their prime minister". DutchReview. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ The World, by Simon Sebag Montefiore (2022)
- ^ "DeWitt" – an annotation to Thomas Carlyle's "Signs of the Times" Rachel Klotz '13, English 0600J, Brown University, 2010
- ^ a b Rowen 1977, p. 891.
- ^ a b Byrne, Eugene (15 March 2019). "Is it true that an angry mob of Dutchmen killed and ate their own prime minister in 1672?". HistoryExtra. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
- ^ Gedenkwaerdige stukken, wegens den moordt der heeren Cornelis en Johan de Witt: Dienende tot opheldering van 't treurspel, genaemt de Haagsche broedermoordt, of dolle blydschap (in Dutch). Vol. 2. 1676.
- ^ de Witt, Cornelis (1677). Historische verhael en politique bedenckingen aengaende de bestieringe van Staet- en Oorloghs-saken, voor-gevallen onder de bedieningen van de Heeren C. en J. de Witt, beginnende Ao 1653 en eyndigende in het jaer 1672. Met hunne doot (in Dutch). p. 618.