Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University

Why did these candidates all refuse what would appear to have been a quite prestigious
and lucrative position? We catch a glimpse on an answer from the case of Alexander van der
Capellen, Hendrick van der Capellen's younger brother and the fifth name on the list. Alexander
was born into a noble family from Zutphen along the United Provinces' eastern border with
Germany sometime between 1590 and 1600. He studied law, history, and Arabic at Leiden and
spent several years abroad, primarily in France. When he returned to the United Provinces in the
early 1620s he was selected to join the city council of Zutphen; shortly thereafter he was
appointed deputy from Gelderland to the Generaliteitsrekenkamer (Generality Accounting
Officer), the Raad van Staat (Council of State), and finally the States General. Around 1635 he
moved into the circle around the Prince of Orange, Frederik Hendrik, whom he served as a
trusted advisor under the latter's death in 1647. 54 Like other Dutch nobleman of the period who
chose to remain active in state service, he maintained his estate in Gelderland but spent the
majority of his time at the court and in the daily conduct of public affairs at The Hague. 55
According to one of his descendants—a partial, though not therefore necessarily inaccurate,
source—Alexander was a pious but un-dogmatic public servant, who “understood fundamentally
the limitations of our system of government, and likewise the difficulties involved in reforming
it.” 56
54
Alexander van der Capellen, Gedenkschriften van Jonkheer Alexander van der Capellen, Heere van Aartsbergen,
Boedelhoff, en Mervelt, ed. Robert Jasper van der Capellen (Utrecht: J. v. Schoonhoven en Comp., 1777), xxxiii;
Molhuysen, Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek, 569–570. Vol. 1.
55
Van Nierop, Van Ridders tot Regenten: De Hollandse Adel in de Zestiende en de Eerste Helft van de Zeventiende
Eeuw, 151.
56
Van der Capellen, Gedenkschriften van Jonkheer Alexander van der Capellen, Heere van Aartsbergen,
Boedelhoff, en Mervelt, xlii. “De gebreken van ons Staatsbestuur kende hij grondig; doch hij wist te gelijk, hoe
moeielijk het zij, dezelven te verbeteren.”
150