Jump to content

Willem Boreel: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
dates, places, categories
 
(31 intermediate revisions by 21 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Dutch diplomat (1591–1668)}}
⚫
'''Willem Boreel''' (2 March 1591, [[Middelburg]] – 29 September 1668, [[Paris]]) was a Dutch diplomat.
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}{{Infobox person
| birth_date = 2 March 1591
| birth_place = [[Middelburg, Zeeland]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1668|09|29|1591|03|02|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Paris]]
| occupation = Diplomat
| family = [[Boreel Baronets|Boreel]]
}}
⚫
'''Sir Willem Boreel, 1st Baronet''' (2 March 1591 – 29 September 1668) was a Dutch diplomat.


==Life==
==Biography==
He was the son of Jacob Boreel (1552-1636), burgomaster of [[Bergen-op-Zoom]].<ref>[[John Penry Lewis]], ''List of inscriptions on tombstones and monuments in Ceylon, of historical or local interest, with an obituary of persons uncommemorated'' (1913) p. 110; [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924007648516#page/n127/mode/2up archive,org.]</ref> [[Adam Boreel]] and the jurist Abraham Boreel were brothers; Johan Boreel was a half-brother.<ref>{{nl icon}} [http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/retroboeken/nnbw/#accessor=accessor_index&accessor_href=accessor_index%3FSearchSource%253Autf-8%253Austring%3Dboreel&view=transcriptiePane&page=94&source=7 Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek, ''Boreel, Jacob''.]</ref> He was knighted by [[James I of England]] in 1618.<ref name="HeldenDupré2010">{{cite book|author1=Albert Van Helden|author2=Sven Dupré|author3=Rob van Gent|title=The Origins of the Telescope|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XguxYlYd-9EC&pg=PA21|year=2010|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-90-6984-615-6|pages=21–2}}</ref> As a lawyer, Boreel worked for the [[Dutch East India Company]],<ref>{{cite book|author1=Siegfried Huigen|author2=Jan L. De Jong|author3=Elmer Kolfin|title=The Dutch Trading Companies As Knowledge Networks|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=q8d09WTv7fUC&pg=PA133|year=2010|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-18659-X|page=133}}</ref> and was part of a mission to resolve the Dutch and British commercial rivalry in the East Indies by a treaty.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bibliotheca Visseriana Disserationvm Ivs Internationale Inllvstrantivm Cvra Facvltatis Ivridicae Lvgdvno-batavae Edita|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=_IkeAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA131|publisher=Brill Archive|page=131|id=GGKEY:20UJADURTEJ}}</ref>
Willem Boreel was born in [[Middelburg, Zeeland]] on 2 March 1591 into the [[Boreel baronets]], the son of Jacob Boreel (1552–1636), burgomaster of [[Bergen-op-Zoom]].<ref>[[John Penry Lewis]], ''List of inscriptions on tombstones and monuments in Ceylon, of historical or local interest, with an obituary of persons uncommemorated'' (1913) p. 110; [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924007648516#page/n127/mode/2up archive.org.]</ref> [[Adam Boreel]] and the jurist Abraham Boreel were brothers; Johan Boreel was a half-brother.<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/retroboeken/nnbw/#accessor=accessor_index&accessor_href=accessor_index%3FSearchSource%253Autf-8%253Austring%3Dboreel&view=transcriptiePane&page=94&source=7 Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek, ''Boreel, Jacob''.]</ref> From 1618 Boreel worked for the [[Dutch East India Company]] as a lawyer,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Siegfried Huigen|author2=Jan L. De Jong|author3=Elmer Kolfin|title=The Dutch Trading Companies As Knowledge Networks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q8d09WTv7fUC&pg=PA133|year=2010|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-18659-0|page=133}}</ref> and was part of a mission to resolve the Dutch and British commercial rivalry in the East Indies by a treaty.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bibliotheca Visseriana Disserationvm Ivs Internationale Inllvstrantivm Cvra Facvltatis Ivridicae Lvgdvno-batavae Edita|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_IkeAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA131|publisher=Brill Archive|page=131|id=GGKEY:20UJADURTEJ}}</ref> He was knighted by [[James I of England]].<ref name="HeldenDupré2010">{{cite book|author1=Albert Van Helden|author2=Sven Dupré|author3=Rob van Gent|title=The Origins of the Telescope|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XguxYlYd-9EC&pg=PA21|year=2010|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-90-6984-615-6|pages=21–2}}</ref>


Boreel became Baron of Vreendijk and Vreenhove. From 1627 to 1649 he was Pensionary of [[Amsterdam]].<ref name="Mijers">{{cite book|author1=Esther Mijers|author2=David Onnekink|title=Redefining William III: The Impact of the King-stadholder in International Context|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=9J75Re5MLkQC&pg=PA237|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-8639-2|pages=237–8}}</ref> During that period he travelled to England, with [[Johan van Reede van Renswouden]], in an attempt to mediate in the [[First English Civil War]].<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=23279|title=Reede van Renswouden, Johan van|first=Marika|last=Keblusek}}</ref> Then from 1650 for the rest of his life he served as Ambassador from the [[Dutch Republic]] to France.<ref name="Mijers"/>
Boreel became Baron of Vreendijk and Vreenhove. From 1627 to 1649 he was Pensionary of [[Amsterdam]].<ref name="Mijers">{{cite book|author1=Esther Mijers|author2=David Onnekink|title=Redefining William III: The Impact of the King-stadholder in International Context|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9J75Re5MLkQC&pg=PA237|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-8639-2|pages=237–8}}</ref> During that period he travelled to England, with [[Johan van Reede van Renswouden]], in an attempt to mediate in the [[First English Civil War]].<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=23279|title=Reede van Renswouden, Johan van|first=Marika|last=Keblusek}}</ref> Then, from 1650, until his death in [[Paris]] on 29 September 1668 he served as Ambassador of the [[Dutch Republic]] to France.<ref name="Mijers"/>


==Telescope investigation==
In 1655 Boreel intervened almost decisively in the controversy over the invention of the [[telescope]]. He gave credit to [[Zacharias Janssen]], over others who were more celebrated.<ref name="HeldenDupré2010"/> This conclusion was adopted by [[Pierre Borel]] in his 1656 book on the subject.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Albert Van Helden|author2=Sven Dupré|author3=Rob van Gent|title=The Origins of the Telescope|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XguxYlYd-9EC&pg=PA25|year=2010|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-90-6984-615-6|page=25}}</ref>
In 1655, Boreel assisted in the controversy over trying to figure out who invented the [[telescope]]. He had a local magistrate in [[Middelburg, Zeeland|Middelburg]] in the [[Netherlands]] follow up on his recollection of a spectacle maker who told Boreel in 1610 about inventing the telescope. The magistrate was contacted by a then unknown claimant, Middelburg spectacle maker Johannes Zachariassen, who testified that his father, [[Zacharias Janssen]] invented the telescope and the microscope as early as 1590. This testimony seemed to convincing to Boreel, who now recollected that Zacharias must have been who he remembered.<ref name="HeldenDupré2010"/> Boreel's conclusion that Zacharias Janssen invented the telescope a little ahead of another spectacle maker, [[Hans Lippershey]], was adopted by [[Pierre Borel]] in his 1656 book on the subject.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Albert Van Helden|author2=Sven Dupré|author3=Rob van Gent|title=The Origins of the Telescope|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XguxYlYd-9EC&pg=PA25|year=2010|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-90-6984-615-6|page=25}}</ref>


==Notes==
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg|en-bt}}
{{s-new|creation}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Boreel baronets|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Amsterdam)''' | years=1645–1668}}
{{s-aft|after=John Boreel}}
{{s-end}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
Line 16: Line 33:
[[Category:1591 births]]
[[Category:1591 births]]
[[Category:1668 deaths]]
[[Category:1668 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century Dutch people]]
[[Category:17th-century Dutch diplomats]]
[[Category:17th-century Dutch lawyers]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the Netherlands to France]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the Netherlands to France]]
[[Category:Dutch lawyers]]
[[Category:People from Middelburg, Zeeland]]
[[Category:Dutch nobility]]
[[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of England]]
[[Category:People from Middelburg]]
[[Category:Dutch barons]]

Latest revision as of 22:53, 28 June 2024

Willem Boreel
Born2 March 1591
Middelburg, Zeeland
Died29 September 1668(1668-09-29) (aged 77)
Paris
OccupationDiplomat
FamilyBoreel

Sir Willem Boreel, 1st Baronet (2 March 1591 – 29 September 1668) was a Dutch diplomat.

Biography

[edit]

Willem Boreel was born in Middelburg, Zeeland on 2 March 1591 into the Boreel baronets, the son of Jacob Boreel (1552–1636), burgomaster of Bergen-op-Zoom.[1] Adam Boreel and the jurist Abraham Boreel were brothers; Johan Boreel was a half-brother.[2] From 1618 Boreel worked for the Dutch East India Company as a lawyer,[3] and was part of a mission to resolve the Dutch and British commercial rivalry in the East Indies by a treaty.[4] He was knighted by James I of England.[5]

Boreel became Baron of Vreendijk and Vreenhove. From 1627 to 1649 he was Pensionary of Amsterdam.[6] During that period he travelled to England, with Johan van Reede van Renswouden, in an attempt to mediate in the First English Civil War.[7] Then, from 1650, until his death in Paris on 29 September 1668 he served as Ambassador of the Dutch Republic to France.[6]

Telescope investigation

[edit]

In 1655, Boreel assisted in the controversy over trying to figure out who invented the telescope. He had a local magistrate in Middelburg in the Netherlands follow up on his recollection of a spectacle maker who told Boreel in 1610 about inventing the telescope. The magistrate was contacted by a then unknown claimant, Middelburg spectacle maker Johannes Zachariassen, who testified that his father, Zacharias Janssen invented the telescope and the microscope as early as 1590. This testimony seemed to convincing to Boreel, who now recollected that Zacharias must have been who he remembered.[5] Boreel's conclusion that Zacharias Janssen invented the telescope a little ahead of another spectacle maker, Hans Lippershey, was adopted by Pierre Borel in his 1656 book on the subject.[8]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ John Penry Lewis, List of inscriptions on tombstones and monuments in Ceylon, of historical or local interest, with an obituary of persons uncommemorated (1913) p. 110; archive.org.
  2. ^ (in Dutch) Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek, Boreel, Jacob.
  3. ^ Siegfried Huigen; Jan L. De Jong; Elmer Kolfin (2010). The Dutch Trading Companies As Knowledge Networks. BRILL. p. 133. ISBN 978-90-04-18659-0.
  4. ^ Bibliotheca Visseriana Disserationvm Ivs Internationale Inllvstrantivm Cvra Facvltatis Ivridicae Lvgdvno-batavae Edita. Brill Archive. p. 131. GGKEY:20UJADURTEJ.
  5. ^ a b Albert Van Helden; Sven Dupré; Rob van Gent (2010). The Origins of the Telescope. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 21–2. ISBN 978-90-6984-615-6.
  6. ^ a b Esther Mijers; David Onnekink (2007). Redefining William III: The Impact of the King-stadholder in International Context. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 237–8. ISBN 978-0-7546-8639-2.
  7. ^ Keblusek, Marika. "Reede van Renswouden, Johan van". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23279. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  8. ^ Albert Van Helden; Sven Dupré; Rob van Gent (2010). The Origins of the Telescope. Amsterdam University Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-90-6984-615-6.
Baronetage of England
New creation Baronet
(of Amsterdam)
1645–1668 		Succeeded by
John Boreel
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Willem_Boreel&oldid=1231552209"