Barneveldt

Barneveldt, Johann van Olden, was born of a distinguished Dutch family at Amersfoort in 1549. At the age of twenty he was made councillor and pensionary of Rotterdam, and in 1573 took an active part in the defence of Haarlem against the Spaniards. In 1585 he went as ambassador to England, and succeeded in obtaining the military support of Elizabeth, for which he was appointed Advocate-General, and subsequently became Grand Pensionary of Holland and West Friesland. When Maurice, Prince of Orange, as Stadtholder, revealed a dangerous ambition, Barneveldt opposed him, and in 1609 concluded the treaty with Spain that virtually assured the independence of the United Provinces. Maurice roused the antipathy of the Calvinists against his democratic opponent, who was an Arminian, and in 1618 Barneveldt was condemned to death by the Synod of Dordrecht as a heretic and a traitor. He was beheaded in 1619. His sons, William and Rene, conspired to avenge his death, but their designs were frustrated, and the latter was executed, the former making good his escape.