A Brill Calendar: January 5

Van der Werff's Finest Hour

Few civil servants in Holland ended up so adored by posterity as Pieter Adriaanszoon van der Werff, born in Leyden on June 14, 1529 and dying there on January 5, 1603.

For some quarter-century – until he reached the age of 70, only attained by the ‘very strong’ in biblical parlance – Van der Werff served in Leyden’s City Council, a select body of well-to-do regents, always willing to add to the wealth of their city; and, with a little bit of luck and deftness, to their own accounts. Usually urban magistrates like Pieter Adriaanszoon were not built of the stuff heroes are made of; prudence being closer to their heart & mind than fearlessness.

During the very first stage of rebellion against Habsburg Spain, Van der Werff was active as an agent and ‘fund-raiser’ for the unofficial but undisputed leader of a tangle of military actions on land and sea: Willem, Count of Nassau and Prince of Orange, who was always in need of silver for mercenaries fighting for his lofty aim: freedom of religion and conscience.When he had earned himself a solid reputation in this respect, Van der Werff managed to be elected by his peers in 1573 as the Burgomaster of his home-town, a man who presided over the City Council; the be-all and end-all of city life.

It is seldom that someone’s ‘finest hour’ came so instantly. During the dramatic siege of Leyden Van der Werff’s inspiring leadership and impassioned eloquence worked miracles, particularly – as myth & legend have it – when he offered his body as victual for Leyden’s starving populace.

After the great succour and relief of October 3, 1574, the Prince and the Burgomaster could still look one another straight into the eye and start work on a new political project: to orchestrate for the enduring benefit of Leyden an unsurpassed and most promising new asset: its own municipal University in a country lacking such a centre of study & learning.