Johan van Oldenbarnevelt

Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (September 14, 1547 – May 13, 1619) was a Dutch statesman, who played an important role in the Dutch struggle for independence from Spain.

Arrest and Trial

On the 23rd of August, by order of the states-general, the advocate and his chief supporters, Hugo Grotius and Hoogerbeets, were arrested.

Related Topics:
Hugo Grotius - Hoogerbeets

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Oldenbarneveldt was with his friends kept in the strictest confinement until November, and then brought for examination before a commission appointed by the states-general. He appeared more than sixty times before the commissioners and was examined most severely upon. the whole course of his official life, and was, most unjustly, allowed neither to consult papers nor to put his defence in writing. On the 20th of February 1619 he was arraigned before a special court of twenty-four members, only half of whom were Hollanders, and nearly all of them his personal enemies. It was in no sense a legal court, nor had it any jurisdiction over the prisoner, but the protest of the advocate, who claimed his right to be tried by the sovereign province of Holland, whose servant he was, was disregarded. He was allowed no advocates, nor the use of documents, pen or paper. It was in fact not a trial at all, and the packed bench of judges on Sunday, the 12th of May, pronounced sentence of death. On the following day the old statesman, at the age of seventy-one, was beheaded in the Binnenhof in The Hague. Such, to use his own words, was his reward for serving his country forty-three years.

Related Topics:
Binnenhof - The Hague

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