Albert Coenraadsz. Burgh (1593 – 24 December 1647) was a Dutch physician who was mayor of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and a councillor in the

Admiralty of Amsterdam The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the largest of the five Dutch admiralties at the time of the Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven ...

Biography

Burgh was born into a rich brewer's family. He studied medicine in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

in 1614 and became a doctor in 1618 in Amsterdam. In the same year, he entered the city council as a

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

. He changed his view within a couple of years, paying a fine for the famous Dutch poet

Vondel Joost van den Vondel (; 17 November 1587 – 5 February 1679) was a Dutch poet, writer and playwright. He is considered the most prominent Dutch poet and playwright of the 17th century. His plays are the ones from that period that are still most ...

. Vondel had gotten into trouble because of his play '' Palamedes'', in which he was recalling the beheading of

Johan van Oldenbarneveldt Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (), Heer van Berkel en Rodenrijs (1600), Gunterstein (1611) and Bakkum (1613) (14 September 1547 – 13 May 1619) was a Dutch statesman and revolutionary who played an important role in the Dutch struggle for indepen ...

. Around 1624 Burgh became one of the managers of the

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ( ...

and owned land on the New Jersey side opposite the river Delaware. In 1632 Albert Burgh sold his land in

Rensselaerswyck The Manor of Rensselaerswyck, Manor Rensselaerswyck, Van Rensselaer Manor, or just simply Rensselaerswyck ( nl, Rensselaerswijck ), was the name of a colonial estate—specifically, a Dutch patroonship and later an English manor—owned by the va ...

, Albany, to the main investor Kiliaen van Rensselaer. In 1638, as one of Amsterdam's four

Burgemeester Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...

s, Albert Burgh offered

Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...

a meal with

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

, in those days very exotic and hardly known to Europeans. He sold her a famous silver

rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

, captured in 1629 by Piet Hein in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. In 1644 he became a manager of the Admiralty of Amsterdam. During his lifetime he visited Moscovia twice (1629 and 1647), in order to improve trade relations. Both times he entered the country in

Archangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near i ...

. Burgh died on Christmas Eve in

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

. The corpse was returned to Amsterdam.

Dirck Tulp Dirck or Diederik Tulp (1624–1682) was the son of the surgeon professor Nicolaes Tulp and involved in the Dutch East India Company and the Schutterij, Civic guard. Dirck Tulp visited Moscovia with his father-in-law; he was painted in 1653 by P ...

, the son of the famous surgeon

Nicolaes Tulp Nicolaes Tulp (9 October 1593 – 12 September 1674) was a Dutch surgeon and mayor of Amsterdam. Tulp was well known for his upstanding moral character and as the subject of Rembrandt's famous painting ''The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp'' ...

, who had accompanied him on his trip to Moscovia, married his daughter. In 1652

Fort Coenraadsburg Fort Coenraadsburg or Conraadsburg, also Fort São Tiago da Mina, is a small Portuguese chapel built in honor of Saint Jago and it is situated opposite the Elmina Castle in the Central region of Ghana, to protect Fort Elmina from attacks. Owing ...

on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

was named after him.Het kasteel van Elmina: in het spoor van de Nederlandse slavenhandel in Afrika door Marcel van Engelen (2013)
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Offspring

One of Albert Burgh's grandsons, also named Albert Burgh, was a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and argued with his former teacher

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...

in a couple of curious and famous letters; another grandson of Albert Burgh was the mayor of Amsterdam

Coenraad van Beuningen Coenraad van Beuningen (1622 – 26 October 1693) was the Dutch Republic's most experienced diplomat, burgomaster of Amsterdam in 1669, 1672, 1680, 1681, 1683 and 1684, and from 1681 a Dutch East India Company director. He probably was bipolar, ...

References

Sources

* Elias, J.E. (1903–1905, reprint 1963) ''De vroedschap van Amsterdam 1578-1795'', two volumes.
KNAW

External links

The governors of the civic guard, including Albert C. Burgh

Fulfilling God’s Mission: The Two Worlds of Dominie Everardus Bogardus, 1607 ... by Willem Frijhoff
They are not the same Albert Burgh! {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgh, Albert 1593 births 1647 deaths 17th-century Dutch physicians Mayors of Amsterdam Muiderkring Administrators of the Dutch West India Company Physicians from Amsterdam Remonstrants Dutch West India Company people from Amsterdam