The
Grand Pensionary (
Dutch: raad(s)pensionaris) 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. In practice the Grand Pensionary of Holland was the
political leader of the entire Dutch Republic when there was no
stadtholder (in practice the
Prince of Orange) at the centre of
power.
The Dutch name
raad(s)pensionaris literally translates as
"pensionary of council". Indeed, other provinces could also have a
raadspensionaris, e.g.
Zeeland
, but only
the one of Holland was considered by foreign powers to be of any
importance, so they called him the Grand
Pensionary.
The position of the Grand Pensionary was in many ways similar to
what through later political and constitutional developments came
to be a
Prime Minister.
The Office of Grand Pensionary
The office started in 1619 and replaced the title of
Land's Advocate. When there was a
stadtholder, then the Grand Pensionary was often the second leader
of the republic. Being the
raadspensionaris of Holland,
the Grand Pensionary acted as the chairman of
States of Holland. He was appointed by the
Estates and could be fired instantly by the Estates. A decision of
the Estates was made by a summarizing of all the statements of the
delegates by the Grand Pensionary, with an implicit conclusion
about what collective decision had been made. He had the first say
on a subject during a meeting of the Estates and controlled the
agenda. This way, if he was a competent man, he could control the
entire decision-making process, especially as one of his "duties"
was to represent the ten members of the Nobility delegates (the
Ridderschap) in their absence
and phrase the single opinion they as a body had the right to
express. The office existed because all delegates of the States
were, although ranked according to ancient feudal hierarchy, still
basically equal (
pares) and none among them could thus act
as a head.
The
Batavian Republic first
abolished the office but in its last year, 1805-1806, the title had
to be reinstituted on orders of
Napoleon as
part of a number of measures to strengthen the executive power;
Rutger Jan
Schimmelpenninck thus acted for a short time as the last Grand
Pensionary. He officially functioned as a president of the entire
Republic, not just of Holland.
Notable Grand Pensionaries
The most famous and most significant Grand Pensionary was
Johan de Witt, who held the office between
1653 and 1672.
Johan van
Oldenbarnevelt, who played an extremely important role in the
Dutch struggle for independence should also be mentioned, though he
held the position when it was still called Land's Advocate.
See also
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