1795 seal of the Provisional Representatives of the People of Holland

The Provisional Representatives of the People of Holland ( nl, Provisionele Representanten van het Volk van HollandWith "Holland" in this case the province of Holland is meant, not the entire country of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, which is sometimes called "Holland" in colloquial English.) was the name given to the supreme governing body of the province of Holland, instituted after the Batavian Revolution, during the period in which the Netherlands was transitioning from the constitution under 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 ...

to the new constitution of the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...

. After the

States General of the Batavian Republic The States General of the Batavian Republic was the name for the Dutch government between January, 1795 and March 1796. It was nominally the same as the States-General of the Dutch Republic, the predecessor of the Batavian Republic, as the old con ...

had been replaced by the

National Assembly of the Batavian Republic The National Assembly of the Batavian Republic (Dutch: ''Nationale Vergadering'') was the Dutch parliament between 1796 and 1798. The National Assembly was founded in 1796 after general elections. It replaced the States-General of the Batavian Re ...

, in 1796, the Provisional Representatives, and similar bodies, in all Dutch provinces were abolished.

Establishment

During the

Batavian Revolution in Amsterdam The Batavian Revolution in Amsterdam refers to the transfer of power in the city of Amsterdam on 18 January 1795 to a Revolutionary Committee of the new Batavian Republic. The same day the stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, William V, Prince of ...

an "Amsterdam Revolutionary Committee" took over power in the city from the old ''

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'', ...

''. This committee sent invitations to all eighteen cities with a right to vote in the

States of Holland and West Friesland The States of Holland and West Frisia ( nl, Staten van Holland en West-Friesland) were the representation of the two Estates (''standen'') to the court of the Count of Holland. After the United Provinces were formed — and there no longer was a co ...

to attend a

constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

in Amsterdam on 24 January 1795. Representatives of fourteen of those cites attended. They decided to go to

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

The Hague at the time was not one of the represented cities. Besides, its government was still staunchly Orangist. two days later to institute a new governing body for the province of Holland, to replace the States of Holland. Representatives of twelve cities

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 ...

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

Enkhuizen Enkhuizen () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. History Enkhuizen, like Hoorn and Amsterdam, was one of the harbor-towns of the VOC, from where overseas trade wi ...

, Gouda,

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

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 ...

Monnickendam Monnickendam () is a city in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Waterland, and lies on the coast of the Markermeer, about southeast of Purmerend. It received city rights in 1355 and was damaged by the fires ...

Purmerend Purmerend () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and in the region of West Friesland. The city is surrounded by polders, such as the Purmer, Beemster and the Wormer. The city became the tra ...

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 ...

and

Schiedam Schiedam () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft. In the south the city is connected with the village ...

convened in the ''St. Jorisdoelen''The building of the Hague ''

schutterij Schutterij () refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces w ...

'' at the ''Tournooiveld''. and decided to form the Provisional Representatives of the People of Holland. The cities that had not sent representatives

Brielle Brielle (), also called Den Briel in Dutch and Brill in English, is a town, municipality and historic seaport in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, on the north side of the island of Voorne-Putten, at the mouth of the New ...

, Edam,

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( or ), also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of Oc ...

Hoorn Hoorn () is a city and municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the largest town and the traditional capital of the region of West Friesland. Hoorn is located on the Markermeer, 20 kilometers ( ...

and

Schoonhoven Schoonhoven () is a city and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Since 2015 it has been a part of the municipality of Krimpenerwaard, before it had been an independent municipality. The former municipa ...

were invited to send a maximum of four representatives each to the new body.

Pieter Paulus Pieter Paulus (9 April 1753 – 17 March 1796) was a Dutch jurist, fiscal (prosecutor) of the Admiralty of the Maze and politician. He was one of the ideologues of the Dutch Patriot movement and is considered by many Dutch as the founder of their ...

, a representative of Rotterdam, was elected chairman of the new assembly. After a short recess the assembled representatives decided to continue the session in the ''Logement'' of the city of HaarlemEach of the cities represented in the States of Holland had a hotel, called "logement" in The Hague, where their representatives found lodging while the States were in session. which was located a short distance away at the ''Korte Vijverberg''. De Oude of St

From here the Grand Pensionary of the Dutch Republic,

Laurens Pieter van de Spiegel Laurens Pieter van de Spiegel (19 January 1736, in Middelburg – 7 May 1800, in Lingen) was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland and, from 9 November 1787 to 4 February 1795, of Holland. He was an Orangist, which means that he was a supporter of Prince W ...

, a staunch Orangist, was ordered to make the hall of the States of Holland at the

Binnenhof The Binnenhof (; en, Inner Court) is a complex of buildings in the city centre of The Hague, Netherlands, next to the Hofvijver lake. It houses the meeting place of both houses of the States General of the Netherlands, as well as the Ministr ...

available for the use of the representatives, that same evening. During the evening session Jacobus Spoors and Cornelis de Lange (a Gouda representative) were elected ''Griffiers'' of the new body. The States of Holland were formally abolished and its powers assumed by the new assembly

Arrest of Van Spiegel and Bentinck

The assembly decided on 28 January 1795 to depose Grand Pensionary Van Spiegel (who was also

Keeper of the Seals The title keeper of the seals or equivalent is used in several contexts, denoting the person entitled to keep and authorize use of the great seal of a given country. The title may or may not be linked to a particular cabinet or ministerial offi ...

of the province of Holland), and to impound his seal and official documents. He was arrested six days later and imprisoned in the Gevangenpoort. The ''baljuw'' of The Hague, count Willem Bentinck, had already been arrested. With this, the executive of the old States of Holland was overthrown (the

stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...

William V of Orange William V (Willem Batavus; 8 March 1748 – 9 April 1806) was a prince of Orange and the last stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. He went into exile to London in 1795. He was furthermore ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau until his death in ...

, had already resigned and fled to England).

Organisation

Each of the represented entities Initially the eighteen cities that had been represented in the States, but later also other towns and villages, like The Hague, after the abolition of

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

made all municipalities equal. was entitled to four representatives, though sometimes less were sent. The assembly was made up of a number of standing committees that were responsible for tasks that were delegated to them. The ''primus interpares'' was the ''Comité van Algemeen Welzijn '' (Committee of General Welfare, which was clearly inspired by the French

Committee of Public Safety The Committee of Public Safety (french: link=no, Comité de salut public) was a committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror, a violent phase of the French Revolution. S ...

).Another important one was the ''Comité van Waakzaamheid'' (Committee of Vigilance), which was the equivalent of the French

Committee of General Security The Committee of General Security () was a parliamentary committee of the French National Convention which acted as police agency during the French Revolution. Along with the Committee of Public Safety it oversaw the Reign of Terror. The Committe ...

. In a demonstration of constitutional continuity this committee worked according to the 1751 Instruction for the ''Gecommitteerde Raden'' (Executive) of the old States of Holland. The committees remained active until the newly elected National Assembly came into being in April 1796.Onderzoeksgids, Aantekeningen

Decrees

The Provisional Representatives made a number of decrees that often were very consequential for the constitutional history of the Netherlands, even after several regime changes. A selection: *Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (31 January 1795) *Emancipation of all religious denominations *Abolition of the States of Holland, and the ''Ridderschap''The remnant of the medieval Second Estate that in the States of Holland represented the Dutch nobility, and nominally the countryside in the province. *Abolition of the offices of Stadtholder, Captain-General of the States Army, Admiral-General of the Navy, and Grand Pensionary *Declaration of popular sovereignty *

Universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...

for all male citizens *Repeal of the

Act of Guarantee The Act of Guarantee (Dutch: ''Akte van Garantie'') of the hereditary stadtholderate was a document from 1788, in which the seven provinces of the States General and the representative of Drenthe declared, amongst other things, that the admiralty ...

and the Oath on the Constitution that accompanied it *Abolition of the principle of instruction and obligatory consultation (''last en ruggespraak'') for members of the Provisional Representatives, and replacement of voting by constituency with roll-call voting *Abolition of

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

*''Dagbladen van het verhandelde ter vergadering van de Provisionele Representanten van het volk van Holland''. 4 dln. (The Hague, 1795-1796). *''Decreeten van de Provisioneele repræsentanten van het volk van Holland. 26 January 1795--2 Maart 1796'' ('sLands drukkerij 1799) *Kretzschmar, L.P.E., P.J. Margry en W.E. Meiboom,'' Archieven van de Gewestelijke Besturen in de Bataafs-Franse tijd, 1795-1807 en hiermee samenhangende commissies, 1782-1802''. 's-Gravenhage, 1987.
Onderzoeksgids Bestuur en administratie van de Bataafs Franse tijd 1795-1813, J. Roelevink, 2001 e.v.
* Schama, S. (1977), ''Patriots and Liberators. Revolution in the Netherlands 1780-1813'', New York, Vintage books,
De geëxtendeerde notulen, behelzende de decreeten van de vergadering der provisioneele representanten van het volk van Holland. Zints XXVI. jann. - XXVIII. febr. MDCCXCV
*Zoodsma, L., ''Archief van de Provisionele Representanten , 1795-1796'' in: L.P.E. Kretzschmar, P.J. Margry en W.E. Meiboom, Archieven van de Gewestelijke Besturen in de Bataafs-Franse tijd, 1795-1807 en hiermee samenhangende commissies, 1782-1802 ( 's-Gravenhage, 1987) pp. 49–166 {{DEFAULTSORT:Representatives of the People of Holland, Provisional National lower houses * Political history of the Batavian Republic Former polities in the Netherlands Republicanism in the Netherlands Patriottentijd * 1795 establishments in Europe 1795 in the Dutch Republic 1790s establishments in the Dutch Republic *