Jan Pietersz Graeff Explained

Jan Pietersz Graeff (Amsterdam, 1512^[1] - there, 1553) was an Amsterdam regent and cloth wholesaler from the 16th century.

Biography

Family

Jan Pietersz Graeff was the son of Pieter Graeff, the first known representative of the Dutch De Graeff family. Pieter was probably a son of Wolfgang von Graben from the Von Graben family.^[2] It is uncertain which one was the first Graeff active in Amsterdam [Pieter or Jan].^[3] Jans mother was Griet Pietersdr Berents^[4] descendant from Wouter Berensz and his wife Dieuwer Willemsz de Grebber, called Berents, of the De Grebber family, baljuws of the Waterland,^{[5] [6]} and Willem Eggert, stadtholder of Holland.^[7]

Jan Pietersz Graeff married to Stein Braseman and had five sons who survived their childhood:^[8]

• Pieter Jansz Graeff (died before 1547), married Maria Jacobsdr Dobbens
• Lenaert Jansz de Graeff (about 1530–35 - before 1578), one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation in Amsterdam, friend and deputy of Henry, Count of Bréderode, the "Grote Geus" and according to a family tradition he was ident with "Monseigneur de Graeff", from Bruges, a Watergeus (Sea beggar), privateer in the Eighty Years' War and treated as one of the leaders of the Sea beggars.^{[9] [10]} His character was also used in a historical novel about his friend Van Brederode, De erfnis van De Grote Geus.^[11]
• Dirk Jansz Graeff (1532-1589), mayor of Amsterdam and one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation
• Cornelis Pieter Jansz Graeff, he remained unmarried
• Jacob Jansz Graeff (died after 1580), he married Geertge Claes Coppensdr van Ouder Amstel, the couple had three children; Jacob Jansz had an extramarital son too:
  • Styntje (Stijntje) Jacobsdr Graeff, married to Hendrik Stuijver, Lord of Ravensberg (died 1590), and afterwards to Herman Roswinkel
  • Jan Jacobsz Graeff (born around 1570/75), founder of a family branch in Alblasserdam;^[12] father of Claes Jansz Graeff, grandfather of Albert Claesz de Graeff (born around 1620), naval officiel and rear admiral at the Admiralty of Amsterdam
  • Claes Jacobsz Graeff
  • Adriaan Jacobsz Graeff, illegitimate son who had descendants,^[13] who are said to have moved to Prussia, Saxony and Austria^[14]

Life

Jan Pietersz Graeff lived in a house on Damrak, called Huis De Keyser, which was owned by his descendants for centuries. His sons Lenaert, Dirk and Jacob ran a hardware store in the house called De Keyzershoed (Huis de Keyser) in the Niezel street, where the Imperial Crown later hung. There he ran a cloth trade, and in 1539 he was chief of the Guild of the Amsterdam cloth merchants. Graeff also traded in Antwerp, the former warehouse of English cloth. When he wanted to establish himself as a trader in North Brabant, his sons intervened to return him to Amsterdam soon. In 1542 he became a councilor and in 1543 he was appointed alderman (Schepen^[15]) of Amsterdam.^[16] 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.

Joost van den Vondel called Graeff in his verse Aen den hooghedelen heer Pieter de Graef, vryheer van Zuitpolsbroek, op den oorsprongk van het geslagt der graven "den braven" (the good one).^[17] Vondel also commemorated him in his Mengeldicht.^[18]

Progenitor Pieter Graeff

Jans father Pieter Graeff was born around 1450/1460 in Austria as Peter von Graben, son of the nobleman Wolfgang von Graben.^{[19] [20]} In 1476 [reported also in 1483], Wolfgang and Peter went to Holland in the entourage of Archduke Maximilian of Austria [the later Emperor]. The latter had just acquired Holland by marrying Mary of Burgundy. Margarethe von Croppenstein is reported as Peter's mother, but this cannot be correct, since she is mentioned as the wife of a Wolfgang von Graben, but only in the 16th century, which therefore applies to a later Wolfgang von Graben. Wolfgang entered the military service and was assigned to the archduke. Peter took the name Pieter (de) Graeff (or De Graaff).^[21] De Graeff was the Dutch spelling of Von Graben during the 14th and 15th century.^[22] In the Diploma of Nobility from 19 July 1677 loaned to Andries de Graeff,^[23] it was affirmed that the family de Graeff was formerly called von Graben, which is the same as de Graeff. This family today shows the same coat of arms as the De Graeff family.

It cannot be determined whether Pieter was live in Amsterdam. Biographical cornerstones of his life cannot be determined, but it is reported that he married Griet Pieters(dr) Berents^{[24] [25]} in 1512,^[26] a woman whose family came from the patriciate of Amsterdam and the low nobility of the area. She may was a daughter of Berend Berends, in 1509 advisor of Amsterdam,^[27] himself a son or second line descendant (grandson, nephew) of Jan Berents, Lord of Randenbroek (Amersfoort), the son of Wouter Berensz and his wife Dieuwer Willemsdr de Grebber (born around 1385 or later), called Berents, of the De Grebber family, baljuws of the Waterland.^{[28] [29]} The Berents family inherited the fief Randenbroek from the De Grebber.^[30]

Griet Pietersdr Berents came from the female line of this family, and through the marriage of her ancestor Willem Grebber Jonge Willem Grebberszoon (born around 1362–1434; father of Dieuwer Willemsdr de Grebber^[31]) to Lijsbeth Willemsdr Eggert (born around 1390 or later; also named Imme Eggert), she was also a descendant of Lijsbeths father Willem Eggert (1360-1417), stadholder of Holland.^{[32] [33]}

Pieter and Griet had one son, Jan Pietersz Graeff, who continued the family line in Amsterdam.^[34] His coat of arms from 1542 or 1543 shows the shovel of the Von Graben and the swan of the De Grebber family.^[35]

About the family crest of Pieter's wife Griet: Jan Berents, Lord of Randenbroek, the ancestor of Griet Pietersdr Berents, had a coat of arms which hangs in a chapel in the Nieuwe Kerk of Amsterdam. It shows a quartered shield with the arms of the Berents, De Grebber, Eggert and Boel (Boelens Loen).^[36] During the 15th and 16th centuries, these families were at the head of the Amsterdam patriciate and, with the exception of the Boelens, belonged to the knightly nobility.

Notes and References

1. http://www.genealogieonline.nl/alle-begijnen-van-amsterdam/stambos_I4010.php Stamboom van Jan Pieterszoon (de) Graeff
2. https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/molh003nieu02_01/molh003nieu02_01_1035.htm Family de Graeff at DBNL
3. https://books.google.com/books?id=Zfw8htPxJK8C&dq=Jan+pietersz+Graeff&pg=PA467 De werken van Vondel, Band 3, p 467, by Joost van den Vondel
4. https://books.google.com/books?id=CpMSAAAAYAAJ&dq=Adriaan+Claesz+graeff+pieter+de+graeff&pg=RA4-PA131 De Neederlandse Leeuw, 1898, Genealogie van het geslacht "De Graeff", p 130
5. De vroedschap van Amsterdam 1578-1795, Teil 1, S. 85, von Johan Engelbert Elias (1963)
6. https://www.thijspostma.nl/Pauw-Persijn.pdf Genealogie Pauw, Persijn, de Jong, en Verhee. Von Thijs Postma
7. https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/vond001dewe10_01/vond001dewe10_01_0156.htm Vondels vers Aen den hooghedelen heer Pieter de Graef, vryheer van Zuitpolsbroek, op den oorsprongk van het geslagt der graven
8. https://books.google.com/books?id=ucrKDwAAQBAJ&dq=pieter+Graeff+Amsterdam&pg=PA14 Nederland's adelsboek 1914 (14 - De Graeff)
9. https://books.google.com/books?id=kj04EAAAQBAJ&dq=lenaert+jansz+de+graeff&pg=PT31 De Opstand 1568-1648: De strijd in de Zuidelijke en Noordelijke Nederlanden, by Arnout van Cruyningen
10. https://books.google.com/books?id=jiUGEAAAQBAJ&dq=lenaert+jansz+de+graeff&pg=PT197 Chronicles of the Dutch Republic 1567 - 1702, by Albert Valente
11. https://books.google.com/books?id=jiUGEAAAQBAJ&dq=lenaert+jansz+de+graeff&pg=PT197 De erfenis van De Grote Geus, by Jaap van de Wal
12. https://web.archive.org/web/20150509022835/http://www.alblasserdam.net/column/2015-01-08/wat-heeft-alblasserdammer-jan-jacobsz-de-graeff-met-paleis-soestdijk-te-maken.html Alblasserdam.net. Column van Hennie van der Zouw, Wat heeft Alblasserdammer Jan Jacobsz de Graeff met Paleis Soestdijk te maken?
13. https://books.google.com/books?id=CpMSAAAAYAAJ&dq=Adriaan+Claesz+graeff+pieter+de+graeff&pg=RA4-PA131 De Neederlandse Leeuw, 1898, Genealogie van het geslacht "De Graeff", p 132
14. https://www.familienverbandgraeff.at/english-version/origin-of-the-graeff-family/family-de-graeff/ family association "Familienverband Gräff-Graeff e.V."
15. https://books.google.com/books?id=XzXRAAAAMAAJ&dq=Jan+pietersz+Graeff&pg=PA332 Historische beschrijvinghe der seer wijt beroemde coop-stadt Amsterdam, p. 342, Johannes Isacius Pontanus (1614)
16. https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/molh003nieu02_01/molh003nieu02_01_1043.htm Biography Jan Pietersz Graeff at DBNL
17. https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/vond001dewe10_01/vond001dewe10_01_0156.htm Vondels vers Aen den hooghedelen heer Pieter de Graef, vryheer van Zuitpolsbroek, op den oorsprongk van het geslagt der graven
18. https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_gid001183701_01/_gid001183701_01_0064.php G. van Enst Koning, 'Het Huis te Ilpendam en deszelfs voornaamste Bezitters', in De Gids jaargang 1837, p. 325
19. https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/molh003nieu02_01/molh003nieu02_01_1035.php Family De Graeff at DBNL
20. https://books.google.com/books?id=QAtTAAAAcAAJ&dq=wolfgang+von+graben+graeff&pg=PA91 Der deutsche Herold: Zeitschrift für Wappen-, Siegel- u. Familienkunde, Band 3, p 91/92, von Verein Herold
21. https://books.google.com/books?id=jXBSsVwyu_wC&q=de+graeff+von+graben Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Ritter- u. Adels-Geschlechter, Band 3, p 229 (1870)
22. Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in Beziehung auf Abstammung und Begriffsbildung, p 254, by Conrad Schwenck (1834)
23. http://www.triomfdervrede.nl/images/andries_de_graeff_20100113.pdf Pieter C. Vies: Andries de Graeff (1611–1678) `t Gezagh is heerelyk: doch vol bekommeringen. p 5
24. Maandblad van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Genootschap voor Geslacht- en Wapenkunde, Bände 1895-1900, p 130
25. https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/molh003nieu02_01/molh003nieu02_01_1035.php Family De Graeff at DBNL
26. De werken van J. van den Vondel, Bände 29-30, p 378, von Joost van den Vondel
27. De werken van J. van den Vondel, Bände 29-30, p 378, von Joost van den Vondel
28. De vroedschap van Amsterdam 1578-1795, Teil 1, p 85, von Johan Engelbert Elias (1963)
29. https://www.thijspostma.nl/Pauw-Persijn.pdf Genealogie Pauw, Persijn, de Jong, en Verhee. Von Thijs Postma
30. Jaarboek van het Genootschap Amstelodamum, p 46, 47 (1959)
31. Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie, Jaarboek, deel 16, 1962, blz 55 e.v., 'De Grebber', door Ir. J. G. Kam.
32. https://www.thijspostma.nl/Pauw-Persijn.pdf Genealogie Pauw, Persijn, de Jong, en Verhee. Von Thijs Postma
33. https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/vond001dewe10_01/vond001dewe10_01_0156.php De werken van Vondel. Deel 10. 1663-1674 (1937), Aen den hooghedelen heer Pieter de Graef, vryheer van Zuitpolsbroek, op den oorsprongk van het geslagt der graven
34. https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/molh003nieu02_01/molh003nieu02_01_1035.php Family De Graeff at DBNL
35. De wapens van de magistraten der stad Amsterdam sedert 1306 tot 1672, Band 1, von Pieter Anthony und Johan van den Brandeler (1890)
36. Veilingcatalogus, boeken van Slagregen, 20 oktober 1891, Amsterdamsche gebeurtnissen, p 2