Adriaan Jansz van Smorenburg (ca 1630 – 1681)

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   1. His childhood

Adriaan Jansz “Arie” van Smorenburg was born in ca 1630 at Zeist, Utrecht, Dutch Republic as the son of Jan Schipper (ca 1600 – ?).1-3 Nothing is known about his childhood, including his level of education or his family’s standard of living or social status. It is uncertain when and why Arie started to use the extension ‘(Van) Smorenburg’ as his surname and what the connotation to the surname was.

Arie lived at Zeist his whole live until his death.1,2 Zeist is a town located in central Netherlands in the Utrecht Province. It is located 10 km east of the city of Utrecht. The settlement “Seist” was first mentioned in a charter in the year 838. A branch of the Rhine River flowed close to the centre of the town until medieval times, when it naturally closed off and water was no longer flowing. It became known as the Kromme Rijn.4,5

   2. His wife

2.1 Willempje Corneliusdr Lubberts

Arie married Willempje Corneliusdr Lubberts (ca 1630, Zeist – <1680), daughter of Cornelis Lubbertsz.1,2,6 The couple were married between 1650 and 1655. had three sons and two daughters that could be traced in existing archived records.

2.2 Merritje Jan Bieshaar

Arie married a second time on 13 February 1681 to Merritje Jan Bieshaar (ca 1635 – 1682, Zeist) in the Reformed Church at Zeist. Sadly Arie died later in that same year and no children were born from this marriage.1,7 Since the late 1500s, the Reformed Church was the predominant Protestant denomination in the Dutch Republic, whose theology was based on the teachings of the French reformer, John Calvin (1509 – 1564). It was not a state church, but any person in government or public service was required to be a member of the Reformed Church. The southern part of the Netherlands remained predominantly Roman Catholic.8,9 Following generations of the Van Smorenburgs associated with this church denomination.

   3. His career

Was Arie a farmer? Or a labourer? Or an artisan? This is not known. Being a resident of the Utrecht province, Arie Smorenburg lived during the governance of Stadtholder Frederick Henry from 1625 to 1647, Stadtholder William II from 1647 to 1650, Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt from 1650 to 1672 and Stadtholder William III from 1672 to 1702.10  A stadtholder (a political leader and usually a member of the House of Orange-Nassau or the House of Nassau) governed in conjunction with the States-General, which was an assembly of representatives from each of the seven provinces.11,12Frederick Henry’s reign was characterised by good governance, and his successful negotiations with Spain resulted in the signing of the Peace of Münster at last announcing the end of the long struggle (Eighty Years’ War) between the Dutch and the Spaniards. The Protestant Dutch Republic experienced a cultural renaissance in the local arts and literature, great military and naval triumphs, and global maritime and commercial expansion, including the establishments of trading posts and colonisation in North America (New Netherland, now New York and New Jersey), Brazil in South America and the island Formosa (now Taiwan). These developments were contemporary of a period in Dutch History, known as the Dutch Golden Age, that spanned the 17th century.12-16

The 21 year-old William II, Prince of Orange, succeeded his father Frederick Henry in 1647 but died in 1650 after contracting smallpox. During his short three year reign, he was rather unpopular among the republicans. He opposed the acceptance of the the Peace of Münster for the mere reason that he wanted to extend his own territory by also wanting the southern Spanish-controlled Netherlands included in the independent Dutch Republic. William II was outvoted. After that, any decision by the the States-General or powerful regents that seemingly threatened his authority, was met with aggression.9,17

Johan de Witt was appointed councilor pensionary of the States of Holland in 1653. Since Holland was the most powerful province at that time, he also by default represented the other provinces as the Grand Pensionary (similar but not equivalent to a modern-day Prime Minister) of the Dutch Republic, since there was no ruling Stadtholder in governing office. Johan de Witt was a well-educated and well-traveled lawyer from the wealthy merchant class. Under his leadership the Dutch Republic flourished into an economic empire that dominated naval trading routes between Europe and the Americas, India and Indonesia. Trading posts, and supply stations along the way, developed into permanent Dutch settlements such as the refreshment station at the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. His reign guaranteed a time of peace for the Dutch citizens, religious freedom and Protestant  doctrinal moderation, pragmatic foreign policy and the defense of commercial interests. The latter resulted in naval conflicts with England, the main commercial rivalry of the Dutch trading industry. The outcome of two Anglo-Dutch Wars signified the Dutch as the leading maritime power of the 17th century. Disagreements between the republicans and Orangists, however, continued. Sadly, it was De Witt’s neglect of the Dutch land army that would finally be his downfall, when Louis XIV of France and his English ally unexpectedly invaded the Dutch Republic in 1672 and conquered a large portion of its land. This caused major panic and chaos among the Dutch people. By June 1672, the French army had advanced across Gelderland and Utrecht.18-20 One wonders what Arie and his family’s situation were, there in Zeist in the Utrecht province amidst this crisis. Were their lives or homes seriously threatened? How did the Catholic French army treat the Protestant Dutch burghers?

The House of Orange-Nassau was again restored in 1672 as the governing entity of the Republic through the appointment of William III, son of William II, after De Witt’s resignation due to public pressure. William III managed to defeat the French and English armies by 1674 and restored stability within the republic. By 1688, William III invaded England and also became King William III of England, Scotland and Ireland. He and his wife, Queen Mary II were co-rulers.20-22

From 1600 until the second half of the 20th century, the north and west of the Netherlands had embraced the Protestant Reformation and were Calvinist. The southeast was predominately Roman Catholic.23 The Van Smorenburgs were Roman Catholics, as evident from marriage and birth records.24

   4. His death

Arie Smorenburg died at the age of about 46 years, six months after his second marriage took place on 30 August 1681.1,7 At this point in time, the Dutch Republic was experiencing a time of peace.

   5. His children

His children were all from his first marriage and were born at Zeist.1

  • Jannitgen/Johanna (ca 1655 – 31 July 1712), who married Hendrik van Egginck, a wig-maker.1,6
  • Jan Aerts (ca 1658 – 1728) became a farmer at Zeist. He later married Gerrigje Theunisse Kuijer (ca 1660 – 1732) and together they had three children: Adrianus (ca 1684 – 1757), Wilhelmus Jansz (ca 1690 – >1731, who married Huberta Ridders on 1 January 1718 at Bunnik) and Jan (ca 1692 – >1729, who married his uncle, Cors Smorenburg’s sister-in-law, Aaltje Theunissen Kuijer on 21 April 1713 at Leusden).1-3,7,24,25
  • Cornelis Aartsz “Cors” (1665 – ca 1718), who gave rise to our family branch.1,3 READ MORE on Cors Smorenburg.
  • Cornelis (ca 1670-25 August 1717), who married Eigen “Aagje” Huyberts (? – 1752).1,6
  • Aaltgen/Aletta (ca 1675 – 1745), who married Jan Lambertsz on 29 April 1699 at Utrecht, Utrecht province.1

 

SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To Marja Ruff of Haarlem in the Netherlands, a huge thank you for your interest and support of my family research work! Your endless supply of information and references to primary documents, researched in your own time, have greatly enriched the story of the Smorenburg family being told here. I am forever in your debt!

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  1. Smorenburg Web Site by Martin Smorenburg. https://www.myheritage.nl/site-family-tree-395529131/smorenburg
  2. Arie Schipper (van Smorenburg). http://search.ancestry.com
  3. Information received between 9 February and 30 March 2024 from Marja Ruff of Haarlem, Netherlands
  4. Zeist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeist
  5. Kromme Rijn. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kromme_Rijn
  6. Jan Smorenburg Schipper (van Seijst). http://94.210.208.15/persons/person616.html
  7. Van der Linden, H. Genealogie Van der Linden en aanverwante families.  https://www.genealogieonline.nl/en/genealogie-van-der-linden/I13299.php
  8. Netherlands Church History. https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Netherlands_Church_History
  9. John Calvin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calvin
  10. List of monarchs of the Netherlands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monarchs_of_the_Netherlands
  11. Stadtholder. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadtholder
  12. States General of the Netherlands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_General_of_the_Netherlands
  13. Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Henry,_Prince_of_Orange
  14. Dutch Golden Age. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Golden_Age
  15. Dutch Empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Empire
  16. History of the Netherlands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Netherlands
  17. William II, Prince of Orange. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_II,_Prince_of_Orange
  18. Johan de Witt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_de_Witt
  19. Grand Pensionary. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_pensionary
  20. Anglo-Dutch Wars. https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Dutch_Wars
  21. William III of England. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_III_of_England
  22. William and Mary. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_and_Mary
  23. History of religion in the Netherlands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_religion_in_the_Netherlands
  24. Marriage record of Wilhelmus Smorenburg. Bunnik RK trouwen 1718-1751, folio 175,  archief DTB_RHC_ZO-Utrecht_65, inventarisnummer 537, Utrecht Archief.
  25. Kuijer. https://oudscherpenzeel.nl/wp-content/uploads/genealogie-pdf/Kuijer.pdf

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