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Portrait of Cornelis de Witt. Cornelis de Wit, Ruwaert van Putten. Photo By Rijksmuseum-

Top 10 Astonishing Facts about Cornelis de Witt

Cornelis de Witt, born 15 June 1623, was a Dutch politician and naval commandant of the Golden Age. He was a member of the old Dutch patrician family De Witt.

Cornelis鈥� father was Jacob de Witt, an influential regent and burgher from the patrician class in the city of Dordrecht, which in the 17^th century was one of the most important cities of the dominating province of Holland. His mother was Anna van den Corput, niece of an influential Dutch military leader and cartographer.

Cornelis had a younger brother, the famous Johan de Witt.

1. Cornelis Became A Curator After His Occupation As Mayor of Dordrecht

In 1666 and 1667, he was mayor of Dordrecht, and several times deputy of his city in the States of Holland. Between 1663- 1665 and 1669-1671, De Witt was committed as the Council of the Zuiderkwaitier. In 1667, he was appointed curator of the Leiden University by the States of Holland. In 1665, the States General appointed him deputy in the field of war with the Bishop of Munster.

2. His Daughter Married From A Prominent Dordrecht Regent Family

Cornelis de Witt married Maria van Berckel in 1650. The couple had five children; Jacob de Witt, Johan de Witt, Anna de Witt, Maria de Witt, and Wilhemina de Witt. Wilhemina married her first cousin, Johan de Witt Jr., who was the son of Johan de Witt, Cornelis鈥� brother.

Jacob set out to Germany after his father was murdered, where he received his doctorate in 1675. He was unmarried and died the same year in Vienna, where he was buried. Maria married Arend Muys van Holy,a descendant of Lords of Heemstede from Dordrecht Regent Family.

3. Cornelis鈥� Brother Was His Strategist On State Matters

Portrait of Cornelis de Witt and His Brother, Johan de Witt. Photo By Rijksmuseum –

Cornelis associated himself closely with his younger brother, the Raadpensionaris of Holland (鈥淕rand Pensionary鈥�) Johan, and supported him throughout his career with great ability and vigour. Johan relied on his older brother for many matters of state. While Cornelis was a creative person, Johan steered the ship of chief strategist in their collaborative works.

4. Cornelis Participated In The Raid On The Medway

The Dutch burn English ships during the expedition to Chatham (Raid on Medway, 1667)(Jan van Leyden, 1669) Photo By Jan van Leyden –

In 1667, de Witt was the deputy chosen by the States of Holland to accompany Lieutenant-Admiral Michael de Rutyer in his famous Raid on the Medway. This was a successful attack conducted by the Dutch navy on English warships laid in the county of Kent.

Cornelis de Witt distinguished himself greatly by his coolness and intrepidity. He again accompanied de Rutyer in 1672 and took an honorable part in the great Battle of Solebay against the English and French fleets.

5. He Was Tortured To Confess Of Accusations That Were False

During 1672, which the Dutch refer to as the disaster year, France and England attacked the Republic in the Franco-Dutch war. Johan was severely wounded by a knife-wielding assassin on 21 June. He resigned but this was not enough for his enemies.

His brother Cornelis, particularly hated by the Orangists, was arrested on trumped-up charges of treason. He was tortured, as was usual under Roman-Dutch law.  He refused to confess and was sent to exile.

6. It is Believed People Roasted Cornelis鈥� Body Parts After His Assassination

When Johan went to visit Cornelis in jail, members of The Hague鈥檚 civic militia attacked them both. The brothers were shot and then left to the mob.

Their naked, mutilated bodies were strung up on the nearby public gibbet, (an instrument of public execution) while the supporters of William of Orange, the future William III of England, ate their roasted livers in a cannibalistic frenzy. This happened on 20 August 1672.

7. Cornelis And Johan鈥檚 Mutilated Bodies Were A Source Of Inspiration To Artist

The mutilated corpses of Johan and Cornelis de Witt, hung on the stake on the Groene Zoodje in The Hague,. Photo Attributed to Jan de Baen –

The Corpses of the De Witt Brothers is a 1672- 1675 oil on canvas painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter, Jan de Baen, now in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It shows the dead and mutilated bodies of the brothers Johan and Cornelis de Witt hanging upside down on the Groene Zoodje, the place of execution in front of the Gevangenpoort in The Hague.

8. Cornelis And His Role In Dutch Politics Was Featured In A Film And Novel

 Michiel de Ruyter is a 2015 Dutch film about the 17^th century Admiral, Michiel de Ruyter, who chose Cornelis to join him in the battle against the English and French. The film鈥檚 main subjects, apart from Ruyter himself, are the internal politics of the country, including the brutal murder of Cornelis and his brother Johan.

The Black Tulip is a historical novel and a work of poetry by Alexandre Dumas written based on events that took place in the 17^th Century. Dumas begins the story with a detailed re-telling of Johan and Cornelis de Witt鈥檚 brutal murders. The mob is incited and assisted by William of Orange, whose proposal to reinstate a royal office had been opposed by Johan.

9. It is Unknown Who Influenced the Assassination of Cornelis

Whether William of Orange had a hand in the murder of the de Witt brothers remains unanswered, like his exact role in the Massacre of Glencoe. He did not prosecute the well-known ringleaders like Johan van Banchem, Cornelis Tromp, and Johan Kievit, even advancing their careers. In any case, the political turmoil did not enable the allies an opportunity to finish the Republic off.

10. The Commissioned Painting of Apotheosis of Cornelis de Witt Was Destroyed After His Death

Allegory of Cornelis de Witt as the instigator of the victory at Chatham in 1667. Photo By Jan de Baen –

De Baen had painted individual portraits of Cornelis and Johan, and The Apotheosis of Cornelis de Witt with the Dutch Raid on the Medway in the background. The painting was commissioned by the Dordrecht City Hall after Cornelis first became Mayor in 1650.

The city hall painting in Dordrecht was destroyed at the time the mob lynched the brothers. Such was the state of Rampjaar.

The death of Cornelis and Johan de Witt by the Orangists saw the end of the de Witt family’s leadership role in the Netherlands. The Orangists then resumed leadership, which the de Witt family had worked to abolish in order to obtain full sovereignty for individual regions.