De Graeff (; also: De Graef, Graef, Graeff, Graaff,Der deutsche Herold: Zeitschrift für Wappen-, Siegel- u. Familienkunde, Band 3, p 91 (Berlin, 1872) Graaf and De Graeff van Polsbroek) is a Dutch noble family.
The family divided into different lines, in Holland, Prussia (Germany) and South Africa including the patrician-aristocratic line of regents at Amsterdam. This line played a role during the Dutch Golden Age and were part of the Amsterdam and Holland public life and oligarchy from 1578 until 1672. They were a part of the Dutch States Party and therefore opponents of monarchist ambitions of the House of Orange. During that time, members of the De Graeff family were also patrons of art and artists, such as Rembrandt, Govaert Flinck, Gerard ter Borch, Jacob van Ruisdael, Caspar Netscher, Gerard de Lairesse, Artus Quellinus and Joost van den Vondel.
In 1677 members of the Amsterdam line were made knights of the Holy Roman Empire. Since 1885 the new founded Den Haag-line has been part of the Dutch nobility with the honorific of jonkheer.Nederlands adelsboek, P. 69Nederlands adelsboek (1914), p 14, 16
Origin According to a family tradition, the family descends from the Austrian Lords Von Graben. Allegedly one Wolfgang von Graben came 1476 to HollandGenealogisches Taschenbuch der Ritter- u. Adels-Geschlechter, Band 3, p 229 (1870) [also named in 1483].Family De Graeff at the Nieuw Nederlandsch Biographisch Woordenboek, part II (dutch)Von Graben Forschung (german) It is said that the family was founded by Wolfgang's son Pieter Graeff (born in Austria as Peter von Graben around 1450/1460) who may lived at the Amsterdam area.Nederlands adelsboek 1914, p 14Familienverband Gräff-Graeff e. V. (german, english) It was affirmed that the family De Graeff was formerly called Von Graben, which was the Dutch spelling during the 14th and 15th century.Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in Beziehung auf Abstammung und Begriffsbildung, p 254, by Conrad Schwenck (1834) This family today shows the same coat of arms as the De Graeff family. That was also mentioned in the imperial Diploma of Nobility which was loaned to Andries de Graeff on 19 July 1677.Pieter C. Vies: Andries de Graeff (1611–1678) `t Gezagh is heerelyk: doch vol bekommeringen. p 5 Pieter Graeff was married to Griet Pietersdr Berents,De Neederlandse Leeuw, 1898, Genealogie van het geslacht "De Graeff", p 130 a descendant from Wouter Berensz and his wife Dieuwer Willemsz de Grebber, called Berents, of the De Grebber family, baljuws of the Waterland,De vroedschap van Amsterdam 1578-1795, Teil 1, S. 85, von Johan Engelbert Elias (1963)Genealogie Pauw, Persijn, de Jong, en Verhee. Von Thijs Postma and Willem Eggert, stadtholder of Holland.Vondels vers Aen den hooghedelen heer Pieter de Graef, vryheer van Zuitpolsbroek, op den oorsprongk van het geslagt der graven The Berents family belonged to the Amsterdam patriciate and low nobility and inherited the fief Randenbroek (Amersfoort) from the De Grebber.Jaarboek van het Genootschap Amstelodamum, S. 46, 47 (1959)
Historical and political legacy
Cornelis de Graeff (1599-1664) said that the ancient Amsterdammers had no habit of keeping genealogical records of their families, and knew no more of their generation than what they have learned from their fathers and grandfathers. The dates of his own family in Amsterdam do not go back very far:
And first I'll start with the family de Graven from which I descended on my father's side. This is a family from Amsterdam, coming from the house 'de Keijser', that was located at the Waeter (= now Damrak No. 91). This house shows the impression of its vaulted appearance, owned by Jan Pieters de Graeff, and then by Dirck Jans de Graeff, who also sold this house. My father Jacob de Graeff and his brothers were also born here.DBNL, Amsterdamse burgemeesters zonder stamboom. De dichter Vondel en de schilder Colijns vervalsen geschiedenis, by S.A.C. Dudok van Heel, p 146 (1990)
Cornelis and his brother Andries de Graeff (1611-1678), together with their cousins Andries and Cornelis Bicker, saw themselves as the political heirs of the old regent family Boelens, whose main lineage, which had remained Catholic, had died out in the male line in 1647. They had received the first names Andries and Cornelis from their Boelens ancestors. As in a real dynasty, members of the two families frequently intermarried in the 17th century in order to keep their political and commercial capital together. Its historical ancestor was Andries Boelens (1455-1519), mayor of Amsterdam fifteen times from 1496 to 1517. Both the Bicker and De Graeff families descend in the female line from Boelens.DBNL, Amsterdamse burgemeesters zonder stamboom. De dichter Vondel en de schilder Colijns vervalsen geschiedenis, by S.A.C. Dudok van Heel, p 147 (1990)
Family lines Amsterdam line (so called main line, includes the Free Lords of Zuid-Polsbroek, Purmerland and Ilpendam) Dutch-Prussian line 'De Graaff'Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Ritter- u. Adels-Geschlechter, Band 3, p 229/230 (1870) Alblasserdam lineAblasserdam.net. Column van Hennie van der Zouw, Wat heeft Alblasserdammer Jan Jacobsz de Graeff met Paleis Soestdijk te maken? (dutch) Lines at Alkmaar, Leiden and Delft Illegitimate line 'Graeff'De Neederlandse Leeuw, 1898, Genealogie van het geslacht "De Graeff", p 131 South African line (founded in 1850)Google books: "Nederland’s patriciaat" (1911), book 2 The Hague line (since 19th century)
Amsterdam line Beginning Pieter's line was continued by his only known son, Jan Pietersz Graeff (before 1512–1553).Pedigree Jan Pieterszoon (de) Graeff It is known that he lived in Amsterdam in the "Huis De Keyser" (named after the "Keizerskroon" attached outside the building) on the Damrak. There he ran a flourishing cloth trade. In 1542 he became a councilor and in 1543 he was appointed alderman (Schepen) of Amsterdam.Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek. Deel 2: Jan Pietersz Graeff Due to its political activities, the De Graeff family is one of the few patrician families to sit in government before and after the Amsterdam Alteratie of 1578. Jan Pietersz Graeff had five sons. The second-born Lenaert Jansz de Graeff was a leading member of the Amsterdam Reformed Church, and involved in the religious liberation struggle of the Netherlands in the 1560s and 1570s;Lenaert Jansz de Graeff in der DBNL on the one hand he was one of the military and religious leaders of Amsterdam under his friend Hendrick von Brederode and probably as "Monseigneur de Graeff" privateer and captain of the watergeus (Sea Beggars) who were involved in the Capture of Brielle in 1572.De Graeff (Monseigneur de Graeff van Brugge) at „DBNL“ In recent historical books, De Graeff is treated as one of the leaders of the Sea beggars.De Opstand 1568-1648: De strijd in de Zuidelijke en Noordelijke Nederlanden, by Arnout van CruyningenChronicles of the Dutch Republic 1567 - 1702, by Albert Valente His character was also used in a historical novel about De Grote Geus.De erfenis van De Grote Geus, by Jaap van de Wal His third son Dirck Jansz Graeff (1532-1589) continued the main line of the family in Amsterdam. As governing mayor of Amsterdam and friend of William I of Orange (William the Silent), he was able to lay the foundation for the family's political and social influence in Amsterdam. Dirk Jansz was one of the emigrants who fled to Emden from the Spanish army under the Duke of Alba.S.A.C. Dudok van Heel: Van Amsterdamse burgers tot Europese aristocraten. Band 2, 2008, S. 974. After his return, Dirck Jansz had shares in over 100 merchant ships. In the years 1584/1585 he was the richest resident of Amsterdam with a fortune of 140,000 guilders.I.H. Eeghen: De restauratie van Herengracht 77. In: Maandblad Genootschap Amstelodamum (1968) S. 235.
Dutch Golden Age
During the Dutch Golden Age, the De Graeff family was critical of the influence of the House of Orange. the De Graeffs belonged to the republican political movement of the Regenten, also referred to as the ‘state oriented’, as opposed to the Royalists. Together with the Republican political leaders, the Bicker family and Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt, the republican-minded Jacob Dircksz de Graeff (son of Dirck Jansz Graeff) and his sons Cornelis and Andries de Graeff 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. The De Graeff and Bicker families, for example, tried to imitate the centralistic, autocratic style of government of the Florentine Medici.The familial state: ruling families and merchant capitalism in early modern europe, p 101, by Julia Adams The Dutch historian and archivist Bas Dudok van Heel said about the power of families like that of de Graeff and Bicker: In Florence, families like Bicker and De Graeff would have been uncrowned princes.Geert Mak, Die vielen Leben des Jan Six: Geschichte einer Amsterdamer Dynastie
During the two decades from the 1650 to the 1670s the De Graeff family had a leading role in the Amsterdam administration, the city was at the peak of its political power. This period was also referred to by Republicans as the ‘Ware Vrijheid’ (True Freedom). It was the First Stadtholderless Period which lasted from 1650 to 1672 during these twenty years, the regents from Holland and in particular those of Amsterdam, controlled the republic. Even without a stadtholder, things seemed to be going well for the Republic and its regents both politically and economically.
In early 1671, Andries de Graeff was once again put forward as chief-mayor (regent) and managed to gain control with his Republican faction. During the winter of that year it seemed as if – at least in Amsterdam – the Republicans were winning. It was an exceptionally opportune moment to commission a monumental ceiling painting on Amsterdam's independent position for the ‘Sael’ of his mayor's residence. De Graeff had a clear message in mind for the ceiling painting: the ‘Ware Vrijheid’ of the Republic was only protected by the Republican regents of Amsterdam. The paintings by Gerard de Lairesse glorify the de Graeff family's role as the protector of the Republican state, defender of ‘Freedom’. The work of art can be viewed as a visual statement opposing the return of House of Orange as Stadtholders of the republic. In Rampjaar 1672, when the Orangists took power again, the De Graeffs lost their position as one of the key States party families.
Patrons of the arts
Throughout the Dutch Golden Age, the family sponsored art and architecture, and were responsible for the majority of Amsterdam art. Andries de Graeff, the first patron of the arts in the family, aided Rembrandt and, together with his brother Cornelis de Graeff, commissioned Govert Flinck, Artus Quellinus and Jacob Jordaens for the construction of the city hall on the Dam in 1655. Andries de Graeff's other notable artistic associates included Gerard ter Borch, Flinck, and Jan Lievens. Andries' brother Cornelis continued in the family tradition of patronizing artists, commissioning works from Jacob van Ruisdael, Nicolaes Eliaszoon Pickenoy, Quellinus, Flinck and Caspar Netscher. The family were also patrons of the poets Joost van den Vondel, Jan Vos, Caspar Barlaeus und Gerard Brandt.