Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University

The meeting began on February 17, 1638. 114 Representing the States General were,
among others, Rutger Huygens, Willem Ripperda, and Wolter Schonenborch. Hendrick Nobel,
who represented Rotterdam in the States General in December of 1636, now appeared as a
delegate for the chamber of the Maas. Huygens, Heer van Klarenbeek, was a magistrate from
Arnhem and for many years Gelderland's representative to the States General. 115 Consistent with
the charter, if not the location, the chair of the meeting was Bouderwyn Schot, the senior
delegate from Zeeland. The senior delegate from Amsterdam was Albert Coenraeds Burgh, who
in 1638 was also one of the city's four burgemeesters. Johannes de Laet and Bernard Julsinck
were also present. After examining the letters of credential and reading the charter, Huygens
opened the meeting by imploring the delegates to resolve the issue of free trade to Brazil once
and for all. Schot immediately protested, saying that this already had been decided; that all that
remained was to determine how to deal with the ships of private traders; and that the Zeeland
delegation was not authorized to discuss the matter any further. Burgh responded by indicating
that the delegates from Amsterdam were prepared to continue with all points on the agenda,
beginning with the first, as was normal. 116
It was not an encouraging start. Indeed, the meeting was adjourned on three separate
occasions before there was any tangible progress. The Amsterdam chamber, now joined by
North Holland, remained firmly in favor of opening the trade to Brazil; the Zeeland chamber and
the Maas, along with Groningen, remained firmly against it. Had Maurits' letter not arrived the
situation might well have stayed this way; instead, his letter broke the impasse. Nicholas
114
NA 1.01.07, inv.nr. 12564.6. Minutes of the meeting of the Heren XIX in The Hague, February 26 - May 1, 1638.
115
Personal communication with Jaap Jacobs, April 10, 2012. Huygens is discussed in Jacobs’ forthcoming
biography of Pieter Stuyvesant.
116
NA 1.01.07, inv.nr. 12564.6. Minutes of the meeting of the Heren XIX, entry for February 26, 1638.
205