Franciscus van den Enden, in later life also known as 'Affinius' (Latinized form of 'Van den Enden') ( – 27 November 1674) was a Flemish

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

, Neo-Latin

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner ( Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through t ...

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

, and

plotter A plotter is a machine that produces vector graphics drawings. Plotters draw lines on paper using a pen, or in some applications, use a knife to cut a material like vinyl or leather. In the latter case, they are sometimes known as a cutting pl ...

against

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ve ...

. Born in Antwerp, where he had a career as a Jesuit and an art dealer, he moved later to the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

where he became part of a group of radical thinkers sometimes referred to as the Amsterdam Circle who challenged prevailing views on politics and religion.Sonja Lavaert and Winfried Schröder, ''The Dutch Legacy: Radical Thinkers of the 17th Century and the Enlightenment''
BRIL, 2017 He was a

Utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island societ ...

planning to set up an ideal society in the Dutch colonies in America and a proponent of democracy in the administration of states. He is mainly known as a teacher of

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 ...

(1632–1677), whose philosophical ideas he may have influenced.

Life

Title page of Franciscus van den Enden - 'Kort Verhael van Nieuw-Nederlants'

Van den Enden was the son of Johannes (Hans) van den Enden and Barbara Janssens. He was baptized in Antwerp on 6 February 1602. His parents were manual labourers who worked as weavers. He was a pupil at the Augustinian and the Jesuit colleges of that city. In 1619 he entered the novitiate of the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

, but in 1633 he was dismissed from the order. In the later 1630s he contributed some Neo-Latin poems to devotional works by the Spanish Augustinian Bartholomé de los Rios y Alarcón. In about the same period he also seems to have been active in the Antwerp art trade, in which his brother

Martinus van den Enden the Elder Martinus or Maarten van den Enden or van den EyndeMartinus van den Enden
at the

...

played an important role, as a publisher of prints by

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditi ...

and

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Duchy of Brabant, Brabantian Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Sou ...

. In 1640 Van den Enden married Clara Maria Vermeeren in Antwerp and in 1641 a first child was born, named after her mother Clara Maria. It is not clear where and when their second daughter Margereta Aldegonis was born. Probably around 1645 the family moved to Amsterdam, where van den Enden started an art shop in the Nes. Only a few engravings and one pamphlet published by him are known. After the bankruptcy of his art shop, he opened a Latin school on the

Singel The Singel is one of the canals of Amsterdam. The Singel encircled Amsterdam in the Middle Ages, serving as a moat around the city until 1585, when Amsterdam expanded beyond the Singel. The canal runs from the IJ bay, near the Central Stati ...

. His pupils performed several classical plays in the Amsterdam theatre and also a Neo-Latin play by his own hand, ''Philedonius'' (1657). By then the family had expanded: in 1648 the twins Anna and Adriana Clementina were born, in 1650 a son, Jacobus, in 1651 a daughter, Marianna, and in 1654 again a daughter, Maria (Anna, Jacobus and Maria probably died very young). In the late 1650s the famous philosopher

and the anatomist Theodor Kerckring were pupils at his school. In the early 1660s some people thought that van den Enden was an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

, while others believed that he was a Roman Catholic. In this period he worked, together with

Pieter Corneliszoon Plockhoy Pieter Corneliszoon Plockhoy (also Pieter Cornelisz Plockhoy van Zierikzee or Peter Cornelius van Zurick-zee; c. 1625, possibly in Zierikzee, Netherlands – c. 1664–1670, Lewes, Delaware) was a Dutch Mennonite and Collegiant utopis ...

, on a project to set up a utopian settlement in

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva P ...

, more precisely in the area of the present

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

. Van den Enden's views on this ideal society are found in the ''Kort Verhael van Nieuw-Nederlants'' (''Brief Account of New Netherland'', 1662). Some years later, in 1665, another political publication appeared, the ''Vrye Politijke Stellingen'' (''Free Political Proposals''), in which he defended democracy and stressed the social and educational duties of a state. In that same year, when 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, wh ...

had just started, he wrote to

Johan de Witt Johan de Witt (; 24 September 1625 – 20 August 1672), ''lord of Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp en IJsselvere'', was a Dutch statesman and a major political figure in the Dutch Republic in the mid-17th century, the F ...

offering to sell him a secret weapon for the navy. Shortly after the marriage of his oldest daughter Clara Maria with Theodor Kerckring (also written as 'Kerckrinck') in 1671, van den Enden moved to Paris, where he opened another Latin school. There he was visited by

Antoine Arnauld Antoine Arnauld (6 February 16128 August 1694) was a French Catholic theologian, philosopher and mathematician. He was one of the leading intellectuals of the Jansenist group of Port-Royal and had a very thorough knowledge of patristics. Contem ...

and

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mat ...

. He also got involved in a plot against

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ve ...

, but the conspirators were caught before they could execute their plans, which included the establishment of a

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. Franciscus van den Enden was condemned to death and on 27 November 1674, after the decapitation of the noble conspirators, he was hanged in front of the Bastille.

A pioneer of the democratic idea

Title page of Franciscus van den Enden - 'Vrije Politijke Stellingen'

In his 'Kort Verhael van Nieuw Nederlants Gelegenheit' (1662 - 'a Short Story of a New Dutch Occasion'), Van den Enden gives his views on the political notion of 'Gelijkheidsbeginsels" -

equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elite ...

. "The state must bring benefits in equal measures to all. The well-being-increasing effect of the state must become apparent independently of a person's abilities, sex, property, and social status. He opposes explicitly that equality comes down to equalization. The laws should aim towards the general benefit, while they give to all in the same manner give space for individuality." (A translation as close as possible to his originally Dutch wordings as per Dutch Wikipedia article on Franciscus van den Enden - A pioneer of the democratic thought). In his "Vrije Politieke Stellingen" (1665- 'some Free Political Theses'), Van den Enden advocates for

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogn ...

and the general right to develop. He further develops the idea of

popular sovereignty Popular sovereignty is the principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. Popular sovereignty, being a principle, does not imply any p ...

. He is convinced that the people, by the practice of democracy in popular assemblies and concertations, will gain experience and insight. As an example of democratic functioning, he gives the method of such working as used in Holland during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

against Spain. But he also warns that all officers must be followed with a watchful eye, especially those who excel in eloquence and greed. In a sense, Van den Enden can be considered a forerunner of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...

where the concepts of liberty, equality and fraternity became the yardstick of a new model for society.

Importance

One of the central questions concerning Franciscus van den Enden is whether and in how far he was an influence on the philosophy of Spinoza, a question already raised by Meinsma. In 1990 Marc Bedjai and Wim Klever, independently from each other, established that Van den Enden was the author of two anonymous pamphlets, the ''Kort Verhael van Nieuw-Nederlants'' (Brief Account of New Netherland) and the ''Vrye Politijke Stellingen'' (Free Political Proposals). Mainly on the basis of the last work the claim was made, most strongly by Klever, that the whole of Spinozist philosophy had been developed by Van den Enden. The idea of a strong influence on Spinoza was later adopted in the most recent biographies of Spinoza (by Stephen Nadler, and more outspokenly by Margaret Gullan-Whur). However, a thorough analysis of both pamphlets shows that a possible influence was rather limited and the chronology of the sources does not allow it to be determined whether it was the teacher who influenced the pupil or whether it was the other way around. Apart from this question, which due to the fragmentary source material will probably never be answered with certainty, Van den Enden's later writings are of great interest. It is clear, for instance, that together with Johan de la Court, he should be counted among the earliest Dutch-writing and Early-Modern promoters of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose go ...

. His defence of religious toleration, a secular state, public education and less cruel forms of justice situate him within the Early Enlightenment. Moreover, his radical rejection of slavery is unique, even within his circle of Amsterdam freethinkers. Finally, Van den Enden's concern for social problems and his proposals for organized forms of solidarity, presumably influenced by Plockhoy, must be considered original for his time.

Works

*''Philedonius'' (1657) *''Kort Verhael van Nieuw-Nederlants'' (1662) *''Vrye politijke stellingen, en consideratien van staat, Gedaen na der ware Christenens Even gelijke vryheits gronden; strekkende tot een rechtschape, en ware verbeeteringh van Staat, en Kerk'' (1665)Franciscus van den Enden, ''Vrye Politijke Stellingen''
online version *''Vrije Politijke Stellingen'' (ed. W. Klever, 1992)

Bibliography

* M. Bedjai, 'Metaphysique, éthique et politique dans l'œuvre du docteur Franciscus van den Enden (1602- 1674)', ''Studia Spinozana'', nr. 6 (1990), pp. 291– 301. * J. Israel, ''The Radical Enlightenment'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. * W. Klever, 'Proto-Spinoza Franciscus van den Enden', ''Studia Spinozana'', nr. 6 (1990), pp. 281– 289. * J. v. Meininger & G. van Suchtelen, ''Liever met wercken, als met woorden'', Weesp: Heureka, 1980. * K.O. Meinsma, ''Spinoza en zijn kring'', Den Haag, 1896, pp. 125–157. * F. Mertens, 'Van den Enden and Religion', in S. Lavaert & W. Schröder (eds.), ''The Dutch Legacy. Radical Thinkers of the 17the Century and the Enlightenment'', Leiden & Boston: Brill, 2017, pp. 62-89. *

References and notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Enden, Franciscus van den 1600s births 1674 deaths Flemish philosophers Enlightenment philosophers Writers from Antwerp 17th-century executions by France Flemish Jesuits Former Jesuits Flemish educators Flemish merchants Art dealers Flemish writers (before 1830) People associated with Baruch Spinoza Authors of utopian literature Democracy activists