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Bicker family
Bicker (also: Bicker van Swieten) is a Dutch patrician family, it has been a patrician family since 1390. The family has played an important role during the Dutch Golden Age. They led the Dutch States Party and were at the centre of the oligarchy of Amsterdam from the beginning of the 17th century until the early 1650s, they had influence in the government of Holland and the Republic of the United Netherlands. Their wealth was based on commercial transactions. In their political commitment they mostly opposed the House of Orange.
The family, also known as the "Bickerse league", was one of the leading republican forces striving to end the Eighty Years' War between the United Netherlands and the Kingdom of Spain. This took place in 1648 with the Peace of Münster. In 1650, at the height of their power, the leading protagonists Andries and Cornelis Bicker were briefly expelled from the Amsterdam city government due to internal political problems. After that, the Bicker family could no longer achieve such socio-political influence. Since 1815 the family belongs to the new Dutch nobility with the honorific of jonkheer or jonkvrouw.
The Bicker family is the oldest Amsterdam patrician family still in existence today. Their lineage begins with Dirk Helmer, who was recorded in Amsterdam in 1383 and 1390. His son Jan Dirksz Helmer was burgomaster (mayor) in 1433 and schepen (alderman) of the city and was married to Lijsbeth Eggert († around 1468) from the family of stadtholder Willem Eggert. Their son Dirk Jansz Helmer († 1468), priest and milliner, married with Geertruid Gerritsdr van den Anxter. The couple had Gerrit Dirksz Helmer (around 1450–1521/26), who took his maternal name Van den Anxter and was married to Machteld Pietersdr Bicker (around 1455–1516), daughter of Pieter Meeus Doosz Bicker (1430–1476) and Aeltgen Eggert († around 1455; herself a sister of Lijsbeth Eggert). Their son Pieter Gerritsz van den Anxter, named Bicker (1497–1567), Schepen of Amsterdam in 1534, took the maternal family name Bicker and thus acted as the male progenitor of the upfollowing Bicker family. He was a cousin of Boel Jacobszn Bicker († 1505), Burgomaster in 1495 and 1497. Both the Helmer-Bicker and Bicker families belonged to the urban elite as early as the 15th century.
During the Dutch Golden Age, the Bicker family was very critical against the influence of the House of Orange. They belonged to the republican political movement of the regenten, also referred to as the 'state oriented', as opposed to the royalists. The Bickers were the most powerful family in Amsterdam and decisively determined the fortunes of the city. They were a major trading family involved in the pelt trade with Muscovy and supplying ships and silver to Spain. The Bicker-De Graeff family-faction became the strongest competitor in the years after the Dutch uprising. Through their work on the Amsterdam City Council and the Dutch East India Company, the Bickers gained enormous influence on politico-economic self-determination in the young Dutch Republic due to the city's position of economic power within the Republic.
Gerrit Bicker (1554–1604), great-grandchildren of the familyfounder Pieter Meeuws Soossensz (Doossensz) Bicker (1430–1476), was a wealthy patrician, politician, international grain merchant and beer brewer. and threw his work in the Amsterdam Vroedschap and as one of the founders of the East India Company, he was able to launch the careers of his sons, grandchildren and nephews. He had four sons, the oldest Andries Bicker ruled the city administration for a long time and was mainly supported and carried by his three brothers Jacob, Jan and Cornelis Bicker, his uncle Jacob Dircksz de Graeff and his cousin Cornelis de Graeff. The Bicker brothers had a firm grip on world trade, trading on the East, the West, the North and the Mediterranean. Andries' uncle Laurens Bicker was one of the first to trade on Guinea and seized four Portuguese ships in 1604. This also gave new impetus to the republican States Party, which had been weakened since the assassination of Land's Advocate Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, and was able to determine Amsterdam politics for a long period of time.
In 1622 the participants opposed the VOC's business operations. The profit that Geurt van Beuningen, Cornelis and Jacob Bicker, Elias Trip and others had made by buying up the entire stock that was in transit, went too far for some. The shareholders accused the directors in a pamphlet of mismanagement, personal enrichment, conflicts of interest and a lack of openness in the VOC's financial situation. When the patent was renewed in 1623, the power of the directors was somewhat limited.
Together with politicians like the republican-minded brothers Cornelis and Andries de Graeff, former Grand pensionary Adriaan Pauw and Jacob de Witt, the Bickers, also called the Bickerse league, strived for the abolition of stadtholdership. They desired the full sovereignty of the individual regions in a form in which the Republic of the United Seven Netherlands was not ruled by a single person. Instead of a sovereign (or stadtholder) the political and military power was lodged with the States General and with the regents of the cities in Holland. At the time of the politically weak Grand Pensionaries Anthonie Duyck and Jacob Cats from the 1620s to the 1640s, Andries Bicker was regarded as the head of the republican regents in Holland and as a politician who resolutely opposed the striving for power of the stadtholders Frederick Henry and William II of Orange. He was considered one of the greatest political opponents of the Frederik Henry. During the two decades from the later 1620s to the early 1650s the Bicker family had a leading role in the Amsterdam administration.
In 1646, seven members of the Bicker family simultaneously held some political position or other. Members of the league where Andries, Jacob, Jan and Cornelis Bicker, and their cousins, the brothers Roelof (1611–1656), Jacob (1612–1676), Hendrick Bicker (1615–1651). The Bickers provided ships to France and silver from Spain, and were interested in ending the Eighty Years War. This brought them in conflict with the stadtholder, some provinces, like Zeeland and Utrecht, and the Reformed preachers. After the Peace of Münster was signed, the Bickers were of the opinion that it was no longer necessary to maintain a standing army, bringing them into vehement conflict with prince Willem II. To regain power William went on the march towards Dordrecht and Amsterdam with an army. His troops, led by Cornelis van Aerssen, got lost in a dense fog and were discovered by the postal courier from Hamburg.
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Bicker family
Bicker (also: Bicker van Swieten) is a Dutch patrician family, it has been a patrician family since 1390. The family has played an important role during the Dutch Golden Age. They led the Dutch States Party and were at the centre of the oligarchy of Amsterdam from the beginning of the 17th century until the early 1650s, they had influence in the government of Holland and the Republic of the United Netherlands. Their wealth was based on commercial transactions. In their political commitment they mostly opposed the House of Orange.
The family, also known as the "Bickerse league", was one of the leading republican forces striving to end the Eighty Years' War between the United Netherlands and the Kingdom of Spain. This took place in 1648 with the Peace of Münster. In 1650, at the height of their power, the leading protagonists Andries and Cornelis Bicker were briefly expelled from the Amsterdam city government due to internal political problems. After that, the Bicker family could no longer achieve such socio-political influence. Since 1815 the family belongs to the new Dutch nobility with the honorific of jonkheer or jonkvrouw.
The Bicker family is the oldest Amsterdam patrician family still in existence today. Their lineage begins with Dirk Helmer, who was recorded in Amsterdam in 1383 and 1390. His son Jan Dirksz Helmer was burgomaster (mayor) in 1433 and schepen (alderman) of the city and was married to Lijsbeth Eggert († around 1468) from the family of stadtholder Willem Eggert. Their son Dirk Jansz Helmer († 1468), priest and milliner, married with Geertruid Gerritsdr van den Anxter. The couple had Gerrit Dirksz Helmer (around 1450–1521/26), who took his maternal name Van den Anxter and was married to Machteld Pietersdr Bicker (around 1455–1516), daughter of Pieter Meeus Doosz Bicker (1430–1476) and Aeltgen Eggert († around 1455; herself a sister of Lijsbeth Eggert). Their son Pieter Gerritsz van den Anxter, named Bicker (1497–1567), Schepen of Amsterdam in 1534, took the maternal family name Bicker and thus acted as the male progenitor of the upfollowing Bicker family. He was a cousin of Boel Jacobszn Bicker († 1505), Burgomaster in 1495 and 1497. Both the Helmer-Bicker and Bicker families belonged to the urban elite as early as the 15th century.
During the Dutch Golden Age, the Bicker family was very critical against the influence of the House of Orange. They belonged to the republican political movement of the regenten, also referred to as the 'state oriented', as opposed to the royalists. The Bickers were the most powerful family in Amsterdam and decisively determined the fortunes of the city. They were a major trading family involved in the pelt trade with Muscovy and supplying ships and silver to Spain. The Bicker-De Graeff family-faction became the strongest competitor in the years after the Dutch uprising. Through their work on the Amsterdam City Council and the Dutch East India Company, the Bickers gained enormous influence on politico-economic self-determination in the young Dutch Republic due to the city's position of economic power within the Republic.
Gerrit Bicker (1554–1604), great-grandchildren of the familyfounder Pieter Meeuws Soossensz (Doossensz) Bicker (1430–1476), was a wealthy patrician, politician, international grain merchant and beer brewer. and threw his work in the Amsterdam Vroedschap and as one of the founders of the East India Company, he was able to launch the careers of his sons, grandchildren and nephews. He had four sons, the oldest Andries Bicker ruled the city administration for a long time and was mainly supported and carried by his three brothers Jacob, Jan and Cornelis Bicker, his uncle Jacob Dircksz de Graeff and his cousin Cornelis de Graeff. The Bicker brothers had a firm grip on world trade, trading on the East, the West, the North and the Mediterranean. Andries' uncle Laurens Bicker was one of the first to trade on Guinea and seized four Portuguese ships in 1604. This also gave new impetus to the republican States Party, which had been weakened since the assassination of Land's Advocate Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, and was able to determine Amsterdam politics for a long period of time.
In 1622 the participants opposed the VOC's business operations. The profit that Geurt van Beuningen, Cornelis and Jacob Bicker, Elias Trip and others had made by buying up the entire stock that was in transit, went too far for some. The shareholders accused the directors in a pamphlet of mismanagement, personal enrichment, conflicts of interest and a lack of openness in the VOC's financial situation. When the patent was renewed in 1623, the power of the directors was somewhat limited.
Together with politicians like the republican-minded brothers Cornelis and Andries de Graeff, former Grand pensionary Adriaan Pauw and Jacob de Witt, the Bickers, also called the Bickerse league, strived for the abolition of stadtholdership. They desired the full sovereignty of the individual regions in a form in which the Republic of the United Seven Netherlands was not ruled by a single person. Instead of a sovereign (or stadtholder) the political and military power was lodged with the States General and with the regents of the cities in Holland. At the time of the politically weak Grand Pensionaries Anthonie Duyck and Jacob Cats from the 1620s to the 1640s, Andries Bicker was regarded as the head of the republican regents in Holland and as a politician who resolutely opposed the striving for power of the stadtholders Frederick Henry and William II of Orange. He was considered one of the greatest political opponents of the Frederik Henry. During the two decades from the later 1620s to the early 1650s the Bicker family had a leading role in the Amsterdam administration.
In 1646, seven members of the Bicker family simultaneously held some political position or other. Members of the league where Andries, Jacob, Jan and Cornelis Bicker, and their cousins, the brothers Roelof (1611–1656), Jacob (1612–1676), Hendrick Bicker (1615–1651). The Bickers provided ships to France and silver from Spain, and were interested in ending the Eighty Years War. This brought them in conflict with the stadtholder, some provinces, like Zeeland and Utrecht, and the Reformed preachers. After the Peace of Münster was signed, the Bickers were of the opinion that it was no longer necessary to maintain a standing army, bringing them into vehement conflict with prince Willem II. To regain power William went on the march towards Dordrecht and Amsterdam with an army. His troops, led by Cornelis van Aerssen, got lost in a dense fog and were discovered by the postal courier from Hamburg.