Lodewijck Huygens
Encyclopedia
Lodewijck Huygens was born in The Hague
, Rotterdam
, The Netherlands, and was the third son of Dutch public servant, poet and musician Constantijn Huygens
(1596–1687). His father was from a family of high dignitaries, under stadtholder
s Frederik Hendrik of Orange and his son Prince William II of Orange (1626–1650).
Huygens was brother to the 17th century physicist Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695). Both brothers are associated with the Actuarial Science
of insurances and risks. The eldest brother, Constantijn Huygens, Jr.
(1628–1697), was a Dutch statesman, soldier, and telescope maker.
Huygens carried out diplomatic missions in England when he was aged 20, travelling to England and meeting some of his father's earlier friends and colleagues during the period 1651–1652 under Oliver Cromwell
.
, knew English, French, Italian, Dutch, Latin and Greek and while the former Ambassador in England had made influential friends, Huygens had no difficulties in renewing friendships and scientific relationships with his fathers close friend Lady Mary Killigrew
(née Woodhouse), who was the niece of the famous scientist and philosopher Sir Francis Bacon
(1561–1626), Attorney General
and Lord Chancellor
of England, Baron of Verulam and Viscount of Saint Alban. She had been apparently in more than flirting terms with Huygens' father, Dutch politician and Ambassador Constantijn.
Around this circle of cultured friends moved people such as the former Bess Throckmorton, (1565 – after 1647), architect Inigo Jones
(1573–1652), poet and dramatist Ben Jonson
(1572–1637) and Sir Francis Bacon
the Attorney general
and Lord Chancellor
of England.
Huygens was also friendly with exiled Huguenots such as Isaac de Caus
(1590–1648), Isaac de Caux and Salomon de Caus
(1576–1626) both conversant with Hydraulic Engineering
and Automata
, Cornelius Drebbel
(1572–1633) a glass lenses grinder and instrument maker who was the inventor of the first navigable submarine in 1620, Nicholas Lanier
(sometimes Laniere) (1588–1666) an English-born composer, singer, lute player and painter who was the purchaser of paintings for the Crown in Italy.
Many of these people were aware of the already important works, in optics and sound, of young physicist Christiaan Huygens, Lodewijck elder brother.
of Holland in 1650, aged only 25, through the canvassing and lobbying of his uncle Cornelis de Graeff
when William of Orange
died leaving his child, the future William III of Orange
King of England, in the protection of Huygens' father Constantijn.
Both eminent politicians and properly educated, the De Witt brothers had been students of mathematics and law at Leiden University and shared an interest in insurance and probability and were later eminent politicians with Christiaan and Lodewijck, also well known in Actuarial Science. They were close relatives to the great Dutch regents Cornelis de Graeff
and Andries Bicker
Johan and Cornelis De Witt were murdered by Dutch mobs in The Hague on 20 August 1672, leaving a door open for the return to monarchy of the Orange family descents, namely William protected by Constantijn as mentioned above.
republican period, led by Oliver Cromwell
Lord Protector
of England, and was meant to defuse the aggressive English politics and the Dutch naval defeats of the time.
The murder of the De Witt brothers by Dutch mobs in August 1672 changed the foreign outlook of Dutch Politics.
In 1672 the newly appointed Stadtholder William III of Orange, later king William III of England and Ireland and William II of Scotland, appointed Huygens as sheriff of Gorinchem
. Huygens' actions as sheriff eventually resulted in considerable strife between local factions, whereby Huygens was faced with a formidable opponent, Jacob van der Ulft.
Accusations of corruption against Huygens eventually resulted in a criminal case before the Provincial Court of Holland and Zeeland, yet Huygens was able to return to his office of sheriff of Gorinchem in 1678. Strife and conflict in the city of Gorinchem continued after Huygens' return, which ultimately resulted in Huygens' fall from grace with his patron William III in 1685. Huygens "voluntarily" gave up his office of sheriff of Gorinchem and was appointed member of the Admiralty of the Meuse instead.
, Paulus born 24 August 1677 at Gorinchem. The other five children died within 48 hours of birth apart from Maurits born circa 1686, who died aged under 1 year. Susanna Christina born and died circa 1679, Christiaan Hendrik born 19 April 1680 at Gorinchem died after a few days, Christiaan Philips born 29 July 1681 at Gorinchem died a few hours after and Adriaan born 18 August 1682 who died a few hours afterwards.
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, The Netherlands, and was the third son of Dutch public servant, poet and musician Constantijn Huygens
Constantijn Huygens
Constantijn Huygens , was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist Christiaan Huygens.-Biography:...
(1596–1687). His father was from a family of high dignitaries, under stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
s Frederik Hendrik of Orange and his son Prince William II of Orange (1626–1650).
Huygens was brother to the 17th century physicist Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695). Both brothers are associated with the Actuarial Science
Actuarial science
Actuarial science is the discipline that applies mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk in the insurance and finance industries. Actuaries are professionals who are qualified in this field through education and experience...
of insurances and risks. The eldest brother, Constantijn Huygens, Jr.
Constantijn Huygens, Jr.
Constantijn Huygens Jr. was a Dutch statesman also known for his work on scientific instruments and as a chronicler of his times...
(1628–1697), was a Dutch statesman, soldier, and telescope maker.
Huygens carried out diplomatic missions in England when he was aged 20, travelling to England and meeting some of his father's earlier friends and colleagues during the period 1651–1652 under Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
.
Career in England
Huygens' father, educated at Leiden UniversityLeiden University
Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
, knew English, French, Italian, Dutch, Latin and Greek and while the former Ambassador in England had made influential friends, Huygens had no difficulties in renewing friendships and scientific relationships with his fathers close friend Lady Mary Killigrew
Killigrew
-Family of, or descended from, Arwenack, Falmouth, Cornwall and Hanworth, Middlesex:* Anne Killigrew , the poet* Catherine Killigrew * Henry Killigrew , English diplomat* Henry Killigrew , playwright...
(née Woodhouse), who was the niece of the famous scientist and philosopher Sir Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
(1561–1626), Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
and Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
of England, Baron of Verulam and Viscount of Saint Alban. She had been apparently in more than flirting terms with Huygens' father, Dutch politician and Ambassador Constantijn.
Around this circle of cultured friends moved people such as the former Bess Throckmorton, (1565 – after 1647), architect Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
(1573–1652), poet and dramatist Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
(1572–1637) and Sir Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
the Attorney general
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
and Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
of England.
Huygens was also friendly with exiled Huguenots such as Isaac de Caus
Isaac de Caus
Isaac de Caus was a French landscaper, and architect. He arrived in England in 1612 to carry on the work that his brother Salomon de Caus had left behind. He is noted for his work at Wilton House, and Lincoln's Inn....
(1590–1648), Isaac de Caux and Salomon de Caus
Salomon de Caus
Salomon de Caus was a French engineer and once credited with the development of the steam engine.Salomon was the elder brother of Isaac de Caus. Being a Huguenot, he spent his life moving across Europe....
(1576–1626) both conversant with Hydraulic Engineering
Hydraulic engineering
This article is about civil engineering. For the mechanical engineering discipline see Hydraulic machineryHydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive...
and Automata
Automata
Automata is the plural form of automaton, a self-operating machine. It may also refer to:* "Automata", a short story by E. T. A. Hoffmann* "Automata", a hardboiled science fiction crime series by Penny Arcade...
, Cornelius Drebbel
Cornelius Drebbel
Cornelis Jacobszoon Drebbel was the Dutch builder of the first navigable submarine in 1620. Drebbel was an innovator who contributed to the development of measurement and control systems, optics and chemistry....
(1572–1633) a glass lenses grinder and instrument maker who was the inventor of the first navigable submarine in 1620, Nicholas Lanier
Nicholas Lanier
Nicholas Lanier, sometimes Laniere was an English composer, singer, lutenist and painter....
(sometimes Laniere) (1588–1666) an English-born composer, singer, lute player and painter who was the purchaser of paintings for the Crown in Italy.
Many of these people were aware of the already important works, in optics and sound, of young physicist Christiaan Huygens, Lodewijck elder brother.
Royalist views of the Huygens family
Johan de Witt had reached the position of Grand PensionaryGrand Pensionary
The Grand Pensionary was the most important Dutch official during the time of the United Provinces. In theory he was only a civil servant of the Estates of the dominant province among the Seven United Provinces: the county of Holland...
of Holland in 1650, aged only 25, through the canvassing and lobbying of his uncle Cornelis de Graeff
Cornelis de Graeff
Cornelis de Graeff, also Cornelis de Graeff van Polsbroek was the most illustrious member of the De Graeff family. He was a mayor of Amsterdam from the Dutch Golden Age and a powerful Amsterdam regent after the sudden death of stadholder William II of Orange...
when William of Orange
William II, Prince of Orange
William II, Prince of Orange was sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 14 March 1647 until his death three years later.-Biography:...
died leaving his child, the future William III of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
King of England, in the protection of Huygens' father Constantijn.
Both eminent politicians and properly educated, the De Witt brothers had been students of mathematics and law at Leiden University and shared an interest in insurance and probability and were later eminent politicians with Christiaan and Lodewijck, also well known in Actuarial Science. They were close relatives to the great Dutch regents Cornelis de Graeff
Cornelis de Graeff
Cornelis de Graeff, also Cornelis de Graeff van Polsbroek was the most illustrious member of the De Graeff family. He was a mayor of Amsterdam from the Dutch Golden Age and a powerful Amsterdam regent after the sudden death of stadholder William II of Orange...
and Andries Bicker
Andries Bicker
Andries Bicker was a wealthy merchant on Moscovia, a member of the vroedschap, the leader of the Arminians, an administrator of the VOC, representative of the States-General of the Netherlands and colonel in the Civic guard...
Johan and Cornelis De Witt were murdered by Dutch mobs in The Hague on 20 August 1672, leaving a door open for the return to monarchy of the Orange family descents, namely William protected by Constantijn as mentioned above.
Travel to Spain
Huygens' trip to Spain during 1661–1662 was after the CommonwealthCommonwealth
Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...
republican period, led by Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
Lord Protector
Lord Protector
Lord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of state at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church...
of England, and was meant to defuse the aggressive English politics and the Dutch naval defeats of the time.
Dutch residence
In 1672 the newly appointed Stadtholder William III of Orange, later king William III of England and Ireland and William II of Scotland, appointed Huygens as sheriff of Gorinchem
Gorinchem
Gorinchem , also called Gorkum , is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 21.99 km² of which 3.03 km² is water...
. Huygens' actions as sheriff eventually resulted in considerable strife between local factions, whereby Huygens was faced with a formidable opponent, Jacob van der Ulft.
Accusations of corruption against Huygens eventually resulted in a criminal case before the Provincial Court of Holland and Zeeland, yet Huygens was able to return to his office of sheriff of Gorinchem in 1678. Strife and conflict in the city of Gorinchem continued after Huygens' return, which ultimately resulted in Huygens' fall from grace with his patron William III in 1685. Huygens "voluntarily" gave up his office of sheriff of Gorinchem and was appointed member of the Admiralty of the Meuse instead.
Personal life
He married Jacoba Teding van Berkhout (1645–1711), the daughter of Paulus Teding van Berkhout and Jacomina van der Vorst, on 5 May 1674 when he was aged 43. They had eight children but only the first 3 males survived any significant amount of time: Constantijn born 10 March 1675 at Gorinchem, Gorkum, Louis Diederik born 2 May 1676 at 's-Gravenhage, DelftDelft
Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....
, Paulus born 24 August 1677 at Gorinchem. The other five children died within 48 hours of birth apart from Maurits born circa 1686, who died aged under 1 year. Susanna Christina born and died circa 1679, Christiaan Hendrik born 19 April 1680 at Gorinchem died after a few days, Christiaan Philips born 29 July 1681 at Gorinchem died a few hours after and Adriaan born 18 August 1682 who died a few hours afterwards.
See also
- Constantijn Huygens, Jr.Constantijn Huygens, Jr.Constantijn Huygens Jr. was a Dutch statesman also known for his work on scientific instruments and as a chronicler of his times...
– brother