Rombertus van Uylenburgh or Rombout van Uylenborgh (1554 – 4 June 1624) is best known as the father of

Saskia van Uylenburgh Saskia van Uylenburgh ( fy, Saakje fan Uylenburgh; 2 August 1612 – 14 June 1642) was the wife of painter Rembrandt van Rijn. In the course of her life, she was his model for some of his paintings, drawings and etchings. She was the daug ...

, the wife of Rembrandt. Rombertus was one of the founders of the

University of Franeker The University of Franeker (1585–1811) was a university in Franeker, Friesland, the Netherlands. It was the second oldest university of the Netherlands, founded shortly after Leiden University. History Also known as ''Academia Franekerensis'' ...

in 1585. Gerrit van Uylenburgh, who may have been Rombertus' brother, tended to

Mennonitism Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radica ...

, left for Poland to become the royal furniture maker in

Crakow Crakows or crackowes were a style of shoes with extremely long toes very popular in 15th century Europe. They were so named because the style was thought to have originated in Kraków, the then capital of Poland. They are also known as poulain ...

, and became the father of the art-dealer

Hendrick van Uylenburgh Hendrick Gerritszoon van Uylenburgh (c. 1587 – 1661) was an influential Dutch Golden Age art dealer who helped launch the careers of Rembrandt, Govert Flinck, Ferdinand Bol and other painters. Biography Van Uylenburgh came from a Frisian f ...

Life

Rombertus was born at Bergum. He studied law at the Catholic University of Leuven or

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

and graduated in the year 1578. In this same year, he became a lawyer in Leeuwarden. He married Siuckien Ulckedr Aessinga (or Sjoukje Osinga) and probably had three sons and four daughters: Jeltje, Romke, Ulke, Antje, Edzert, Hiskje (= Hiskia) and Saakje (= Saskia). With a career constantly on the rise, he became a pensionaris and mayor of Leeuwarden. He was also chosen in 1584 as a delegate of the states of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

and one of the Frisian envoys in

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 o ...

. Because votes were per region, the number of delegates made no difference. Van Uylenburgh was present at Delft on the day of the murder of prince William of Orange — 10 July 1584 — for discussions with the prince over difficulties in the Frisian States. Rombertus, embarrassed, was invited to the lunch, because there were no other guests. At the end of the meal, William of Orange stumbled on the stair, and was then murdered with a pistol by

Balthasar Gerards Balthazar, or variant spellings, may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Balthazar'' (novel), by Lawrence Durrell, 1958 * ''Balthasar'', an 1889 book by Anatole France * ''Professor Balthazar'', a Croatian animated TV series, 1967-1978 ...

Cornelis van Aarsens Cornelis van Aerssen (also ''Aerssen'', ''Aersen'', ''Aarsens'') (1545 - 22 March 1627) was a statesman in Holland. Van Aerssen was born in Antwerp. From 1611 he was ''Heer van Spijk'' (Lord of Spijk, sometimes spelt Spyck) and was the father ...

— according to Uylenburgh not present at the event — jotted down the prince's last words. The bishop Morillon wrote ''"Je le tiens mentir de ce qu' auroit dit ledict Orangier estant féru, puisqu' il advint après boire, lorsqu' il estoit tousiours raoust."'' Until 1591 Uylenburgh rose as a state lawyer (landsadvocaat), but was forced — because of the variety of positions he held — to give up that post. In his later legal career he became the supreme-court lawyer (raadsheer) at the Court of Friesland. In 1595 he bought a house on the Ossekop, where Saskia was born. (Today the building is in use by the famous twins and lawyers Wim and Hans Anker.) Van Uylenburgh owned two farms, one in

Rijperkerk Ryptsjerk ( nl, Rijperkerk) is a village in Tytsjerksteradiel municipality in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 767 in January 2017. There is a restored windmill A windmill is a structure that converts ...

, the other in Gaasterland. Two sons became lawyers, one son-in-law was the Polish theological professor

Johannes Maccovius Johannes Maccovius (1588 – 24 June 1644), also known as Jan Makowski, was a Polish Reformed theologian. Early travels and personal life Makowski was born in Lobzenica, Poland. After visiting various universities (1607 in Danzig, 1610 in Marbu ...

, and the other was Gerrit van Loo, municipal secretary in Het Bildt, the place where Rembrandt and Saskia married in 1634. Uylenburgh died at

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 ...

External links

Leeuwarden Archive

Bibliography

*Graaff, A. & M. Roscam Abbing (2006) Rembrandt voor Dummies. Addison Wesley. *Mak, G. (1996) Ooggetuigen van de vaderlandse geschiedenis. Meer dan honderd reportages uit Nederland, p. 70-1. {{DEFAULTSORT:Uylenburgh, Rombertus Van 1554 births 1624 deaths 16th-century Dutch lawyers People from Tytsjerksteradiel 17th-century Dutch people University of Franeker faculty