Coert or Court Lambertus van Beyma (
Harlingen, 5 February 1753 -
Dronrijp
Dronryp ( nl, Dronrijp) is a village in the Dutch municipality of Waadhoeke. On 1 January 2017, it had 3,281 inhabitants.
History and architecture
Before 2018, the village was part of the Menameradiel municipality. A few centuries BC, a settleme ...
, 7 September 1820), son of Julius Matthijs van Beyma and Fokel Helena van Burmania, was a public notary and auctioneer, delegate and representative of the
Frisian States, and the radical leader of the Frisian
patriots. He was the initiator of a Frisian coup and spent seven years in exile in north-western France. On his return to the Netherlands in 1795, he became a delegate to the National Assembly of the newly established
Batavian Republic.
Life
His father had been Secretary to the
Admiralty of Friesland
The Admiralty of Friesland or Frisian Admiralty ( Dutch: ''Admiraliteit van Friesland'' or ''Friese Admiraliteit''; West Frisian: ''Fryske Admiraliteit'') was one of the five Dutch admiralties of the Dutch Republic. Set up on 6 March 1596, it wa ...
in
Harlingen, and his mother equally descended from a Frisian noble
grietman
A grietman (from Old Frisian ''greta'' to accuse, to summon) is partly a forerunner of the current rural mayor in the province of Friesland, and partly the forerunner of a judge. The area of jurisdiction was the municipality or gemeente. In the ...
family. As a law student, Van Beyma gave a speech in 1769 during the visit of
stadholder William V to
Franeker
Franeker (; fry, Frjentsjer) is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Waadhoeke. It is located north of the Van Harinxmakanaal and about 20 km west of Leeuwarden. As of 1 January 2014, it had 12 ...
. He continued his studies in 1774 at
Leiden University. Court Lambertus became a delegate to the Frisian States in 1776. In 1780, he however failed to become the
grietman
A grietman (from Old Frisian ''greta'' to accuse, to summon) is partly a forerunner of the current rural mayor in the province of Friesland, and partly the forerunner of a judge. The area of jurisdiction was the municipality or gemeente. In the ...
of West-
Dongeradeel
Dongeradeel (; fy, Dongeradiel ) is a former municipality in the northern Netherlands. In 2019 it merged with the municipalities of Ferwerderadiel and Kollumerland en Nieuwkruisland to form the new municipality Noardeast-Fryslân.
History
Donge ...
, though he did achieve the position of Secretary. In that capacity, he corresponded with
Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol
Joan Derk, Baron van der Capellen tot den Pol (; 2 November 1741, Tiel – 6 June 1784, Zwolle) was a Dutch nobleman who played a prominent role in the revolutionary events that preceded the formation of the Batavian Republic. As a member of the ...
. Together they planned petitions for the built-up of a provincial army, the recognition of the new
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
and to restrict the power of the
stadtholder. In February 1782 Van Beyma undertook an attempt in the Frisian States to put into practice article VIII of the
Union of Utrecht
The Union of Utrecht ( nl, Unie van Utrecht) was a treaty signed on 23 January 1579 in Utrecht, Netherlands, unifying the northern provinces of the Netherlands, until then under the control of Habsburg Spain.
History
The Union of Utrecht is r ...
, which would effectively allow for a general arming of the population. When Van Beyma in 1783 achieved a successful alliance between eight Frisian cities, the Patriots gained further influence and power. Through the development of a fixed time-table schedule, the important posts within the Provincial States were subsequently attributed in a more democratic manner.
A provincial army, established a few months after the
Kettle War
The Kettle War ( nl, Keteloorlog Marmietenoorlog) was a military confrontation between the troops of the Holy Roman Empire and the Republic of the Seven Netherlands on 8 October 1784. It was named the Kettle War because the only shot fired hit ...
and the subsequent departure of
Ludwig Ernst van Brunswick-Lüneburg-Bevern in 1784/85, lead to strong resistance among the aristocracy. Most aristocrats were republican, but with little sympathy for the
democratising movement. The Frisian States were increasingly divided over the newly formed local and provincial militia. Within a few weeks of the stadtholder and his family visiting
Leeuwarden
Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Stadsfries dialects, Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Fri ...
, a new city council regulation was introduced, which came into effect on 1 June 1787, providing stricter requirements for the election of new members of the
vroedschap
The vroedschap () was the name for the (all male) city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a ''vroedman'', literally a "wise man". An honorific title of the ''vroedschap'' was the ''vroede vaderen' ...
(i.e. banning Catholics, Mennonites and poor Patriots from being appointed).
Utrecht
Early August 1786, Van Beyma, J. Roorda, A.C.J. de Beere, C. van den Burg and J. L. Huber attended a national meeting of the
vrijcorpsen and
exercitiegenootschap
An exercitiegenootschap (, ''exercise company'') or militia was a military organisation in the 18th century Netherlands, in the form of an armed private organization with a democratically chosen administration, aiming to train the citizens and the ...
pen in
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...
, 'only to hear and to see'. The Utrecht Patriots made skillful use of the presence of more than 13,000 of its members and of many important public figures. Present among them were
H.W. Daendels, still a young lawyer from
Hattem
Hattem () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. The municipality had a population of in . The municipality includes the hamlet of 't Zand.
Name origin
The name “Hattem” is a typical farmyard name. The exact origin of “H ...
, but also
Gerrit Paape, the journalist from
Delft,
Pieter Vreede
Pieter Vreede (October 8, 1750– September 21, 1837) was a Dutch politician of the Batavian Republic in the 18th century. Vreede was born in Leiden and died in Heusden. He was a prominent critic of stadholderian misrule and of the urban pat ...
, a textile manufacturer from
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 wi ...
, and
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...
, the American envoy at the time. On Wednesday morning, 2 August 1786, in the presence of the assembled
exercitiegenootschap
An exercitiegenootschap (, ''exercise company'') or militia was a military organisation in the 18th century Netherlands, in the form of an armed private organization with a democratically chosen administration, aiming to train the citizens and the ...
pen, sixteen "democratically" chosen Patriots were elected to the Utrecht
vroedschap
The vroedschap () was the name for the (all male) city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a ''vroedman'', literally a "wise man". An honorific title of the ''vroedschap'' was the ''vroede vaderen' ...
. Van Beyma left the next day and handed over the presidency to Jacob van Manen, secretary of the Utrecht vrijcorps. Probably Van Beyma, who - according to advertisements in the "Leeuwarder Courant" from those days - led weekly public auctions, no longer could or wanted to be present in person at the parades and celebrations.
Franeker
Mid August 1787, Friesland's disavow of Holland, which was threatened with an occupation by a Prussian army of 26.000 because it had refused to apologize after the apprehension of
Wilhelmina of Prussia, lead to a crisis. Van Beyma subsequently led a coup against the Frisian States out of
Franeker
Franeker (; fry, Frjentsjer) is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Waadhoeke. It is located north of the Van Harinxmakanaal and about 20 km west of Leeuwarden. As of 1 January 2014, it had 12 ...
, a local University town. Franeker was put in a state of defence and the coup leaders organized the supply of a wagon-train with munitions via
Makkum, a small port. A flying-column of volunteers occupied a number of the Frisian cities, putting their internally divided
vroedschap
The vroedschap () was the name for the (all male) city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a ''vroedman'', literally a "wise man". An honorific title of the ''vroedschap'' was the ''vroede vaderen' ...
pen under pressure to recognize the so-called ''Pretense Staten'' in Franeker. On the approach of the Prussian troops, Van Beyma panicked and threatened to breach the dike near
Lemmer
Lemmer () is a town in the municipality of De Fryske Marren, in the Dutch province of Friesland. Lemmer lies adjacent to the IJsselmeer and the Frisian Lakes and is one of Friesland's best-known surface water sports locations. Lemmer is a bustlin ...
, so that the Prussians would be halted by the resulting floodings. On Sunday, September 23, 1787 - after the religious service - the Patriots in Friesland however came to realize that there had been insufficient support, that their financial means were limited, and that France would not come to their aid, as hoped for. They therefore fled and retreated to Amsterdam and Northern France. As a consequence of their hurried retreat, either Van Beyma, or his secretary Van Altena, left behind a bundle of important and highly compromising petitions concerning the recovery of rights and freedoms. Thus, two years later it became very easy for a court to convict the leading group of Patriots from Friesland (19 from Franeker, 12 from Bolsward and two from Leeuwarden).
Johan Valckenaer, the professor in
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Ju ...
, who had been van his travelling-companion between Amsterdam and Brussels, took van Beyma's carelessness very hard.
Saint-Omer
On 15 May 1791 van Beyma held a speech in the Jacobin club and asked the French for support. After his visit to Paris, Van Beyma was put in charge of the management of the payments to the dutch
émigrés in
Pas-de-Calais. A new quarrel arose with Valckenaer who meanwhile defended the
French Constitution of 1791. The exiles, divided into 'Valckenaerists' and 'Beymanists', fought it out through pamphlets. The dispute reached a climax when Valckenaer - still not getting payment from Van Beyma - considered emigrating to the USA. Valckenaer won the support of the aristocratic Patriots who had been members of the former political establishment but also of the committees in Paris. Van Beyma was involved in the "Comité Révolutionaire Batave", organized the
Batavian Legion in connection with
Jean Conrad de Kock. In February 1794 Van Beyma and four others were imprisoned, but released in September.
[J. Rosendaal, p. 442]
The Batavian Republic
Between the summer of 1795 and early 1796 van Beyma was not politically active but he returned to the political scene when the new National representatives were elected, winning five out of eleven districts. As Secretary to the First National Assemblee he turned out, however, to be mainly preoccupied with indemnity claims and taking vengeance over his old adversaries, the former regents.
In a subsequent fight between the Federalists (to which van Beyma belonged) and the more centrally-oriented Unitarists in December 1797, the first fraction lost and van Beyma was removed from his function and effectively detained. After his release on August 22, 1798, he obtained the position of 'Advokaat-fiscaal' at the former Admiralty of Friesland in Harlingen, which he kept until 1806.
He died at his house Schatzenburg in
Dronrijp
Dronryp ( nl, Dronrijp) is a village in the Dutch municipality of Waadhoeke. On 1 January 2017, it had 3,281 inhabitants.
History and architecture
Before 2018, the village was part of the Menameradiel municipality. A few centuries BC, a settleme ...
on September 7, 1820.
Further reading
* Kuiper, J. (2002) Een revolutie ontrafeld. Politiek in Friesland 1795-1798.
* Rosendaal, J. (2005) ''De Nederlandse Revolutie. Vrijheid, volk en vaderland 1783-1799'', Nijmegen, Vantilt, p. 256,
* Schama, S. (1977) Patriots and Liberators. Revolution in the Netherlands 1780 - 1830, p. 120, 131, 145-8, 241, 249, 260, 264, 267-8, 291, 293, 325, 374, 309, 324, 258.
References
* ''This article is based partially on its equivalent on Dutch Wikipedia''.
External links
Parlement & PolitiekWebsite van de Van Beijma Stichting
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beyma, Coert Van
1753 births
1820 deaths
18th-century Dutch people
19th-century Dutch people
19th-century Dutch politicians
Members of the Dutch Patriots faction
People from Harlingen, Netherlands
Deputies of the National Assembly of the Batavian Republic