BARNEVELDT, bliene-viit. JAN VAN OLnEN (1547-1619). A Dutch statesman. He was born at Amersfoort, in Utrecht, and at an early age showed great ardor in the cause of his country's independence. He was an able ally of William the Silent in the struggle against Spain. and after the Prince's death, succeeded, through wise alliances with England and France, in preserving the independence so dearly gained. As Advocate General of the Province of Holland, he proved equally his insight into public affairs and his ad dress in diplomatic negotiations. Penetrating the secret designs of the young Prince Maurice of Orange, whom he had caused to be made Stadt holder of live provinces, he made himself the leader of the Republican party. which aimed at subordinating the Stadtholder to the Legislature, and the Netherlands from a monarchy. It was he, also, who opposed the warlike tenden cies of Maurice, and concluded a treaty with ~pain (1609) which later saved the country from the horrors of the Thirty Years' War. :Maurice of Orange. ambitious and unscrupulous, became Barneveldt's bitterest enemy, and a fierce politi cal struggle was fought out between the two men, under the guise of a religious dispute. The coun try was, at that time, split up into the rival fac tions of the Arminians or Remonstrants, who stood for the doctrine of Free Will, and com prised the magistracy of the country, with Bartle veldt at their head, and the Calvinists, who were known as Gomarists or Contra-Remonstrants, of whom Maurice. for political reasons, now as sumed the leadership. the view of obviat ing a civil war, Barneveldt caused an ecclesiasti cal assembly to be called. which established gen eral toleration. The States at first concurred in
this wise measure. but the partisans of the Orange faction brought about a change of views by representing the Remonstrants as secret friends of Spain. Barneveldt was attacked in scurrilous publications, and was insulted, even in the meetings of the States, by the mob whose idol Maurice real. The strife between the.Re monstrants and the Gomarists, that is, between Barneveldt and Maurice, finally culminated in violence on the part of the Prince of Orange. On August 29, 1618, Barneveldt was illegally arrest ed, together with Grotius and Hoogerbeets, and thrown into prison. In November :Maurice pro cured the smnimming of the Synod of Dort (q.v.), which condemned the liemonstrants with the utmost rigor. In March, 1619, while the Sy nod was still sitting, Barneveldt was brought to trial before a special commission of twenty-four judges. unlawfully appointed, who condemned as a traitor the innocent man to whom the country owed its political existence. The friends of Barne veldt, the Princess of Orange, and the French Ambassador interceded for him in vain. On May 13, 1619, the venerable man—the grandest figure of his time—mounted the seaffold and laid clown his head with the same firmness that he had shown through all his life. Four years after their father's death, Barneveldt's two sons, Wil h•lm and Reinier, took part in a conspiracy against the life of Maurice. The conspiracy was discovered; Wilhelm escaped, but Reinier was seized and beheaded. Consult Motley, Life of Barnereldt, of which numerous editions have been published (London and New York, 1874),