Reyer or Reynier Pauw, (Amsterdam, July 29, 1564 - February 19, 1636 ) was an influential Amsterdam regent of the Golden Age. Pauw was pensionary and eight times

mayor of Amsterdam Below is a list of mayors (Dutch: ''burgemeesters'') of Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands. The city had four burgomasters, serving four years. Since 1389 the mayors were elected on 1 February. In the 17th and 18th century, a new mayor was ele ...

. He was involved in the

Compagnie van Verre The Compagnie van Verre (''long-distance company'') was one of the forerunner companies that were later merged (united) into the Dutch East India Company. History It was set up in 1594 by nine citizens of Amsterdam, to break Portugal's monopoly ...

, the

VOC VOC, VoC or voc may refer to: Science and technology * Open-circuit voltage (VOC), the voltage between two terminals when there is no external load connected * Variant of concern, a category used during the assessment of a new variant of a virus ...

, and the trial of

Johan van Oldenbarnevelt 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 ...

Biography

Reynier Pauw was a member of the patrician Pauw family, originally from Gouda. His father was Adriaen Pauw, an influential merchant in grain, who had fled to

Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of E ...

at the arrival of the

Duke of Alva Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

. His mother was Anna Jacoba Lucasdr. van Persijn (1520-1586). The family returned to Amsterdam in 1578, and Adriaen Pauw was elected mayor after the Alteration. He died after four months. Reynier traded in salt shipped from Portugal to the Baltic and had grain and wood shipped back. He was elected alderman in 1590 and a member 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' ...

in 1591. Pauw lived on

Warmoesstraat Warmoesstraat ('Chard Street') is one of the oldest streets in Amsterdam, running parallel to Damrak from Nieuwebrugsteeg to Dam Square. Its origins are in the 13th century. In the 16th and 17th century it was the shopping street. During the Dut ...

and it is likely that the Compagnie van Verre formed in Amsterdam in 1594 was founded at his home. He arranged for his relative

Cornelis de Houtman Cornelis de Houtman (2 April 1565 – 1 September 1599) was a Dutch merchant seaman who commanded the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies. Although the voyage was difficult and yielded only a modest profit, Houtman showed that the Po ...

to become chief merchant at what later became known as the First Dutch Expedition to East Indies. In 1597, he participated in equipping ships to Guyana and Brazil. In 1602 he was among the largest investors in the

Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

, of which he became administrator. In 1605 he became mayor, as in 1609, 1611, 1614, 1616, 1617, 1619 and 1620. At the formation of the Twelve Year Truce, a controversy arose between him and Van Oldenbarnevelt over the establishment of the

WIC The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is an American federal assistance program of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for healthcare and nutritio ...

. From 1611 he was involved in the Third Enlargement of Amsterdam. With Gerrit Jacobsz. Witsen, he traded with Moscow via Archangelsk. In addition, he equipped ships to Venice. In 1617, a reign of terror against the

Remonstrants The Remonstrants (or the Remonstrant Brotherhood) is a Protestant movement that had split from the Dutch Reformed Church in the early 17th century. The early Remonstrants supported Jacobus Arminius, and after his death, continued to maintain his ...

began. The highlight of his mayoralty were the years 1618 and 1619, when he was an elder and maintained correspondence with

Stadholder 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 ...

Maurits of Orange. Between 1618 and June 24, 1622, he was a deputy at the

States-General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States ...

, in which capacity, in February 1619, he was appointed a member of the court charged with hearing the trial of the attorney, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt. Pauw was one of the judges who sentenced him to death. Rombout Hogerbeets and

Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius (; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Huig de Groot () and Hugo de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, poet and playwright. A teenage intellectual prodigy, he was born in Delft ...

were also captured and imprisoned at

Loevestein Castle Loevestein Castle ( nl, Slot Loevestein) is a medieval castle in the municipality of Zaltbommel, Gelderland, the Netherlands. The castle was built by the knight Dirk Loef of Horne (hence "Loef's stein" (stone) house) between 1357 and 1397. Unt ...

. A legislative adjournment followed in February 1618, in which seven Remonstrants lost their seats. Gradually, the government of Amsterdam broke away from the fiercest

Calvinists 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 ...

. Pauw fell in disgrace after 1620 and was passed over in the mayoral election of 1622. As compensation, he was appointed ambassador to king

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

, who resided in Bremen. There he was assisted by Foppe van Aitzema. In 1628 he tried to regain his position within Amsterdam by pitting the

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

against the liberal mayors. A Pauw would never again be appointed mayor of Amsterdam. After Pauw's political end, the management of the city government fell into the hands of the

Arminian Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...

clique around

Andries Bicker Andries Bicker, ''lord of Engelenburg'' ( Amsterdam, 1586 – 24 June 1652) was a powerful Amsterdam regent and Dutch politician during the Dutch Golden Age. He was the leader of the Bickerse league and controlled the city's politics in clos ...

and his uncle

Jacob Dircksz de Graeff Jacob Dircksz de Graeff, '' free lord of Zuid-Polsbroek'' (Emden 1571 – Amsterdam, 6 October 1638) was an illustrious member of the patrician De Graeff family. He was a powerful politician of the States Faction, regent and mayor of Amsterdam ...

. Reynier married twice: in 1584 to Cornelia Michiels de Lange and in 1618 to Elbrich Jansdr.Joh. E. Elias: ''De Vroedschap van Amsterdam 1578–1795.'' Haarlem 1903, . He was the father of Michiel Pauw, Adriaan Pauw and Cornelis Pauw. In 1631, his fortune was estimated at 200,000 guilders, making him one of the wealthiest people in Amsterdam.

References

{{reflist

Sources

* Balbian Verster, J.F.L. de (1942) Burgemeesters van Amsterdam in de 17e en 18e eeuw. * Joh. E. Elias ''Geschiedenis van het Amsterdamsche Regentenpatriciaat.'' Den Haag 1923. * Jonathan I. Israel: ''The Dutch Republic – Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall - 1477–1806''. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1995, ISBN 0-19-820734-4, p. 451–452.
''Reinier Pauws.''
In: ''

Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland The ''Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland'' (BWN) is a Dutch biographical dictionary, in which short biographies of well-known and less well-known but still notable Dutch people are listed. The BWN is the successor to the ''Nieuw Nederlandsch ...

.'' 1564 births 1636 deaths Administrators of the Dutch East India Company 17th-century Dutch politicians History of Amsterdam Mayors of Amsterdam