Cornelis Maartenszoon Tromp, ''Count of
Sølvesborg'' (3 September 1629 – 29 May 1691) was a Dutch naval officer who served as
lieutenant-admiral general in the
Dutch Navy
The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world a ...
, and briefly as a general admiral in the
Royal Danish Navy
The Royal Danish Navy ( da, Søværnet) is the sea-based branch of the Danish Defence force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and Greenland). ...
. Tromp fought in the
Anglo-Dutch Wars and the
Scanian War
The Scanian War ( da, Skånske Krig, , sv, Skånska kriget, german: Schonischer Krieg) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, ...
. His father was Lieutenant Admiral
Maarten Tromp.
Biography
Early life
Cornelis Maartenszoon Tromp was born on 9 September 1629, in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
, in the historically dominant
county of Holland. He was the second son of
Maarten Tromp and Dina Cornelisdochter de Haas. His name Maartenszoon, sometimes abbreviated to Maartensz, is a
patronymic
A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor.
Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, al ...
. He had two full brothers, Harper and Johan.
[Tromp, Cornelis]
in ''Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek. Deel 5''. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
In 1633, when he was only four years old, his mother died. His father remarried in 1634, and again in 1640. The two marriages brought Tromp four half brothers and five half sisters.
in ''Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek. Deel 5''. Retrieved 5 May 2009. His father had made career as an officer for the
Admiralty of the Maze. After a conflict with Lieutenant Admiral Philips van Dorp in 1634, Maarten Tromp left the fleet starting to work as a deacon. After Van Dorp was removed from his position
in 1637, his father became lieutenant admiral and supreme commander of the Dutch Navy.
In 1642, Tromp was sent to
Harfleur, France, to learn to speak French from 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 ...
preacher.
Early navy career
On 1 September 1643, he joined his father on his flagship the ''Aemilia''. In September 1645, he was appointed as lieutenant and commanded a small squadron charged to pursue the
Barbary pirates. On 22 August 1649, he was made a full captain. He served in the
First Anglo-Dutch War, fighting in the
battle of Leghorn, but was not given command of the Mediterranean fleet after the death of
Johan van Galen, only being promoted to rear admiral with the
Admiralty of de Maze on 11 November 1653, after the death of his beloved father, Maarten.
In 1656, he participated in the relief of
Gdańsk
Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
. In 1658, it was discovered he had used his ships to trade in luxury goods; as a result he was fined and not allowed to have an active command until 1662. Just before the
Second Anglo-Dutch War
The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667; nl, Tweede Engelse Oorlog "Second English War") was a conflict between England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas and trade routes, whe ...
, he was promoted to vice admiral on 29 January 1665; at the
battle of Lowestoft
The Battle of Lowestoft took place on during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the United Provinces commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer, Lord Obdam attacked an English fleet of equal size comm ...
, he prevented total catastrophe by taking over fleet command to allow the escape of the larger part of the fleet.
Lieutenant admiral
Gaining sudden popularity, he was temporarily given supreme command as lieutenant admiral of the confederate fleet on 23 July 1665, but had to give up this function (but not rank) the next month in favour of Lieutenant Admiral
Michiel de Ruyter; he fought, having been transferred to the
Admiralty of Amsterdam on 6 February 1666, under the latter in the
Four Days Battle and the
St. James's Day Battle.
As this failure off
Nieuwpoort in August 1666 was imputed to him by De Ruyter, he was dismissed, at the same time, being under the suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government, but he was reinstated in April 1673 by
William of Orange, after the Orangists seized power, to fight against the French and English navies in the
Third Anglo-Dutch War
The Third Anglo-Dutch War ( nl, Derde Engels-Nederlandse Oorlog), 27 March 1672 to 19 February 1674, was a naval conflict between the Dutch Republic and England, in alliance with France. It is considered a subsidiary of the wider 1672 to 1678 ...
. There he participated in the last three fleet actions under Lieutenant-Admiral-General
Michiel de Ruyter, distinguishing himself in the double
battle of Schooneveld
The Battles of Schooneveld were two naval battles of the Franco-Dutch War, fought off the coast of the Netherlands on 7 June and 14 June 1673 ( New Style; 28 May and 4 June in the Julian calendar then in use in England) between an allied Ang ...
and the
battle of Texel
The naval Battle of Texel or Battle of Kijkduin took place off the southern coast of island of Texel on 21 August 1673 (11 August O.S.) between the Dutch and the combined English and French fleets. It was the last major battle of the Third Ang ...
in August 1673, fighting out an epic duel with his personal enemy
Edward Spragge, who drowned. During this war, his flagship was the ''
Gouden Leeuw
The ''Gouden Leeuw'' ( nl, Golden Lion) was a Dutch ship of the line armed with 80-82 cannon. The ship was built for the Admiralty of Amsterdam in 1666 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The ''Gouden Leeuw'' was for a time the largest Dutch warsh ...
,'' of 82 cannons.
He was closely involved in the murder of
Johan de Witt and
Cornelis de Witt in 1672.
[''Schittering en schandaal, Biografie van Maerten en Cornelis Tromp.'', p.. 306–307.] In 1675, he visited England and was created an English baronet and a Dutch
erfridder by
Charles II of England, but he refused an
honorary doctorate when visiting Oxford.
Danish Navy and
Scanian War
The Scanian War ( da, Skånske Krig, , sv, Skånska kriget, german: Schonischer Krieg) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, ...
On 8 May 1676, he became admiral general of the Danish Navy and Knight in the
Order of the Elephant
The Order of the Elephant ( da, Elefantordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutiona ...
; in 1677, Count of
Sølvesborg – then a Danish nobility title. He defeated the Swedish navy in the
Battle of Öland
The Battle of Öland was a naval battle between an allied Danish-Dutch fleet and the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea, off the east coast of Öland on 1 June 1676. The battle was a part of the Scanian War (1675–79) fought for supremacy over th ...
, his only victory as a fleet commander. Tromp led the successful landing at Ystad in Scania in June 1677, where there was a minor but still notable fighting before the Swedes withdrew and left the city in Danish hands. Tromp summoned all the local noblemen of Danish origin to his presence in order to promise they would stay still on their estates and not cause any trouble. He then took a two-week holiday at Baron
Jörgen Krabbe
Baron Jörgen Iversen Krabbe of Krogholm Castle (now Krageholm) (1633–1678) was a Danish jurist and later a Swedish nobleman, who was one of the most influential men in the province of Scania and played an important role during the Scanian War ...
's Castle Krogholm (now
Krageholm), just north of
Ystad. During this period Tromp also licensed the local Danish bailiffs to recruit as many males as possible for the local Danish militias and sheriffs' teams. Tromp is mentioned in the local court registers for having licensed a Sheriff by the name of Bendix Clausen to recruit men in six different districts (hundreds) and there was some fierce fighting between these troops and the Swedes. Clausen and his men were branded as criminal 'snapphanar' by the Swedes. For that reason Tromp also played a role for the
snapphanar
A ''snapphane'' was a member of a 17th-century pro- Danish guerrilla organization, auxiliaries or paramilitary troops that fought against the Swedes in the Second Northern and Scanian Wars, primarily in the eastern former Danish provinces that ...
, who were in essence the local resistance and Danish para-military troops.
Lieutenant-admiral general
On 6 February 1679, he became lieutenant-admiral general of the Republic but never fought in that capacity, having become a liability to the new regime of
William III. He died in
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 ...
in 1691, his mind broken by alcohol abuse and remorse, still officially commander of the Dutch fleet, after having been for a period replaced by
Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest.
Character
Tromp was a very aggressive squadron commander who personally relished the fight, preferring the direct attack having the
weather gage over
line-of-battle tactics. As a result, he had to change ships often: four times at the Four Days' Battle, three times at Schooneveld and two times at Texel. He was popular with his crews, despite the danger he put them in, because of his easy-going manners and his supporting the cause of the
House of Orange against the States regime of Johan de Witt. However, he often treated his fellow officers with contempt, both his equals and superiors.
Tromp is infamous for his insubordination, although the two examples most often mentioned in this context, not following De Ruyter on the second day of the Four Days' Battle and chasing the English rear in the St James's Day Fight, seem to have been honest mistakes. He was very jealous of De Ruyter but generally treated him with respect, though he considered him too common. Tromp tried to imitate the lifestyle of the nobility, marrying a rich elderly widow, Margaretha van Raephorst, in 1667. He had no children. At home, without fighting to distract him, Cornelis, or Kees as he was normally called, grew quickly bored and indolent. He had the reputation of being a heavy drinker, so much so that many inns at the time were named after him.
Tromp was a vain man, having an extremely high opinion of himself, which he never hesitated in sharing with others. He felt that, son of a famous father, he had a natural right to the position of naval hero. During his life he posed as a sitter for at least 22 paintings, a record for the 17th century, many by top artists such as
Ferdinand Bol. His art possessions were displayed in his estate, that long after his death was called '
Trompenburgh
Trompenburgh is a 17th-century manor house in 's-Graveland
s-Graveland is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Wijdemeren, and lies about 4 km northwest of Hilversum.
The former municipality ...
', the
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals with ...
built in the form of a warship.
As his wider family was among the most fanatical supporters of Orange, he participated in most of their schemes, especially those of his brother-in-law
Johan Kievit, a shrewd and unscrupulous intriguer. Tromp however had no great enthusiasm for subtle plotting; later in life he came to regret many of his actions. He died in great mental anguish, convinced he would go to hell as punishment for his crimes.
Legacy
The Dutch
Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...
names Maarten Tromp and Cornelis Tromp as
naval heroes. Since 1777, nine navy ships have been named ''Tromp'' in honour of them, most recently the frigate .
[Hr. Ms. Tromp. Naam & embleem]
. Royal Netherlands Navy. Retrieved on 2009-05-05.
References
Notes
Footnotes
Sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tromp, Cornelis
1629 births
1691 deaths
17th-century Dutch military personnel
Admirals of the navy of the Dutch Republic
Dutch naval personnel of the Anglo-Dutch Wars
Dutch Orangists
Baronets in the Baronetage of England
Military personnel from Rotterdam