User:Vancitters/sandbox

Aernout van Citters (Middelburg 10 December, 1633-Madrid 12 October, 1696) was ambassador at the English court from 1680 to 1694, during the reign of the king Charles II, James II and William and Mary. In 1685 and 1689 he was added as extra-ordinary ambassador to the special embassies from the Dutch Republic for the accession of James II and William and Mary to the English throne. Aernout was involved in secret negotiations with the English supporters of queen Mary, which resulted in the Glorious Revolution and the accession of William & Mary to the English throne.

State affairs
Together with the special envoy Coenraad van Beuningen he tried to negotiate the end of the conflict between France, Spain and the German countries in 1683. The purpose was to convince king Charles II to choose sides. The envoy failed, which was blamed to the independent behavior of van Beuningen who defended more the interest of Amsterdam rather than of the Dutch Republic.

Upon the threat of the revolt in 1688 Aernout was forced to hire fifty guards to protect his residence on Haymarket against supporters of James II, who feared the invasion by William and his protestant followers. Upon the landing of William and his army his residence in London appeared to be unsustainable and he fled to meet the army of William of Orange. Van Citters acted as a representative of the Grand Pensionary, Gaspar Fagel, from whom he received his instructions, rather than of the Prince of Orange, the later King William. In 1690, despite the pressure from King William, he resisted to sign the Act of Navigation, which he considered to be disadvantageous for the Dutch Republic. The Act would negatively influence the trade between the Netherlands and France. Only after the Dutch representative from Amsterdam and other opponent of the Act, mayor Nicolaas Witsen, had signed Aernout gave in with the statement that as a result "the extra-ordinary ambassadors would be treated as scoundrels upon return to The Netherlands". As a consequence he lost his favorable position with with king William.

As of 1691 he requested several times for his resignation, as he considered his role as ambassador finalized with a Dutch king on the English throne. His resignation was only awarded in 1694, when he was appointed the first Dutch ambassador to Spain. He had four of his children return to the Netherlands for study and/or marriage, but these children drowned, when the ship had sunk before the Dutch coast after being hunted down by the French pirate Jean Bart. Before his formal ceremonial appearance to the Spanish court in October 1696 Aernout died. During her return to the Netherlands the ship on which his wife, Josina Parduyn (1642-1718), travelled was seized and brought to La Rochelle after a ransom was paid she returned to Zealand with her other children, where Aernout was buried in January 1698.

Role as ambassador
As ambassador he formally acted on the instruction of the Grand-Pensionary of the Dutch Republic and the Province of Zealand, but had to consider the interest of the Dutch stadholder William also and sometimes the interest of other parties with a sovereign title like the Dutch East India Company. In 1683 he defended the conquest of the Indonesian island Bantam from the English by the VOC. As ambassador Aernout negotiated the return of Bantam to the Dutch Republic in 1683. He intervened also for the return of the Tortola settlement on the Virgin Islands to the Dutch family, who possessed the island. The British Virgin island had been conquered by the British navy. The difference between Dutch law, which recognized state protection of private ownership, and English law, which only recognised all foreign land as state property, complicated a settlement. This was only accomplished long after his death after proof of ownership had been obtained and was recognised by the English court.

Family
His son Caspar van Citters (1674-1734), grandson Wilhem van Citters (1723-1802) and greatgrandson Willem Aarnoud van Citters became Grand-Pensionary of the province of Zealand in the period 1718-1734, 1760-1766 and 1788-1795 respectively. His youngest son Willem van Citters (1685-1758) was burgomaster of Middelburg between 1712 and 1748 and had a pivotal role in the return of the Orange family to stadholdership in 1747.


 * Archief van Citters – Nationaal Archief The Hague file 1.10.09
 * William and Mary – Henri and Barbara van der Zee, Macmillan 1975
 * Koning stadhouder Willem III - Wout Troost 2001, Verloren 2001
 * Staatkundig Zeeland – Pieter de la Rue, M en A Callenfels, 1736
 * A concise history of the British Virgin Islands - Vernon Pickering