The Anglo-Dutch Favourite

The Career of Hans Willem Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland (1649–1709)

David Onnekink

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781138259317
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317045007
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

Hans Willem Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland (1649-1709) was the closest confidant of William III and arguably the most important politician in Williamite Britain. Beginning his career in 1664 as page to William of Orange, his fortunes gained momentum with the Prince's rise to power in The Netherlands and Britain, emerging as William's favourite at court from the 1670s onwards. Taking a broadly chronological approach, the central concern of this book is not simply to provide a biographical account of Portland's life, but to explore wider political themes within a European context. By analysing Portland's role within William's government it shows how royal favourites could still wield considerable influence on European events and help shape royal policy, particularly with regard to foreign policy. By engaging with the question of why such a figure emerged, this study helps illuminate the workings of William's government and the central role of his foreign entourage. Drawing from archival material in England, Scotland, France and The Netherlands, it ties the history of post-Revolution Britain with political events in the Netherlands. It also analyses Anglo-Dutch political relations during the crucial period of the Nine Years War, Britain's first major commitment to a continental war since the sixteenth century. In so doing it connects Dutch and British historiography and significantly contributes to our understanding of British politics during the 1690s, both domestically and within an international context.

Chapter 1
The Making of a Favourite (1649–85)

Reflecting upon his long career as the favourite of William III, Hans Willem Bentinck impressed upon his son Henry in 1692 the importance of his duty to be loyal to and serve the King faithfully.¹ Such loyalty was due to the man who was both a prince of Orange and a Stuart king, but also to his cause, which was perceived to be the defence of Protestantism and liberty. That Bentinck’s career would be epitomised by warfare in the service of William III was far from obvious when he was born in 1649, during a prolonged period of peace for the United Provinces after the Westphalia settlement, and on the eve of the demise of the Orange family.

Born the third son of a landed nobleman in the eastern periphery of the United Provinces, Hans Willem Bentinck could not have anticipated a distinguished career when appointed page to the Court of the Prince of Orange in 1664. In 1672, with his fortunes inextricably connected to those of his master, he emerged as William’s favourite, a position he maintained and strengthened largely thanks to his qualities as a military organiser. When the Dutch War ended in 1678, other qualities were required, and Bentinck again managed to adapt to changing circumstances and the emerging demands. His several embassies to London in 1677, 1683 and 1685 offer windows on key moments in Anglo-Dutch relations during these years.

The stadholderly system in the seventeenth century has attracted surprisingly little attention from historians, let alone the phenomenon of favouritism in the Dutch Republic which reached a peak during the age of William III.² The rise of Hans Willem Bentinck and the small circle of confidants around the Orange court were indicative of the quasi-monarchical nature of William III’s court.³ This chapter traces Bentinck’s social background and considers how his education, capacities and character contributed to his career, as he developed considerably as a politician, diplomat and military organiser. It also analyses his position at the Orange court and assesses the nature and limitations of his influence, placing him within the framework of William’s entourage.

I

The Bentincks were predominantly a Protestant and Orangist family. In 1618, Hans Willem’s grandfather Hendrik Bentinck had supported the Contra-Remonstrant⁴ policy of Stadholder Maurice, but with the demise of the House of Orange with the death of William II in 1650 the family lost influence, although Hans Willem’s father remained Proost (deacon) of Deventer. The Bentincks could trace their noble family tree back well into the thirteenth century and had played a significant role in the history of the provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel.⁵ During the fifteenth century two generations had been drosten (stewards) of the Veluwe quarter of Gelderland. Overijssel, responsible for about three and a half percent of the revenue of the Generality (making it the least significant of the seven provinces) was governed jointly by the cities of Kampen, Zwolle and Deventer and the three noble quarters of Salland, Twente and Vollenhoven. This parity between the cities and the nobility tilted towards the latter, whose drosten, the nobility’s spokesmen, also chaired the annual provincial assembly. The drosten played a significant role in local government, supervised the appointment of magistrates and were responsible for jurisdiction.⁶

Hans Willem’s great-grandfather Eusebius had been Drost of IJsselmuiden and was succeeded as such by his son Hendrik. The latter was appointed Drost of Salland, the foremost office in Overijssel, in 1611. Around 1637 Hendrik had acquired three estates which were to be divided at his death amongst his sons Wolf, Eusebius Borchard and Berend. Hence Berend inherited the estate of Diepenheim in 1639 and was accordingly admitted into the Ridderschap (knighthood) of Overijssel, the noble elite of that province.⁷ The Ridderschap consisted of a selection of a few dozen noble families holding a seat in the provincial assembly. They were required to be of noble and ancient lineage, and had to be in possession of a certain fortune and a qualified havezate (country house).⁸ The self-conscious and vigorous Overijssel nobility still regarded itself as a distinct, superior estate, and was remarkably successful in checking the influx of burghers into its ranks.⁹ The Bentincks were among the four most influential families in Overijssel, and consolidated their dynastic position by intermarrying with the foremost families in Gelderland and Overijssel, such as the Van Haersoltes and the Sloets.¹⁰

Hans Willem Bentinck was born on 20 July 1649 at Diepenheim, the havezate of Berend Bentinck (1597–1668) and his wife Anna van Bloemendaal (1622–1685).¹¹ Little is known about his early years, which must have been spent in relative tranquillity. Berend Bentinck was Proost of Deventer and did well for himself. He had Diepenheim rebuilt, Hans Willem being the first to be born in the new house in 1649. The house was situated in a rural setting close to the village of Diepenheim. It must have been a lively, pleasant and uncomplicated atmosphere with eight children growing up in this relatively small but also luxurious house.¹² Hans Willem’s youth was quite different from that of William, who grew up an orphan and a sole child in a hostile environment. The fifth of nine children and the third son, Hans Willem could not expect to inherit the estate and would be required to pursue an alternative career.¹³ A second son, Wolf Willem, died in infancy, and Hans Willem’s elder brothers Hendrik (1640–1691) and Eusebius (1643–1670) inherited the two estates of their father and uncle after their deaths. Hans Willem must have been close to his elder sister, Eleonora Sophie, as she would take care of his children after the death of his wife Anne Villiers. There were four younger sisters, Isabella, Anna Adriana, Agnes and Johanna Elizabeth.¹⁴

Unlike William, Hans Willem was a healthy boy with a strong constitution. As a young man he once took the field as officer immediately after having recovered from near-fatal smallpox.¹⁵ According to the anonymous chronicler ‘Monsieur de B.’, describing him as a grown-up, Hans Willem ‘was quite tall, a bit stiff, blond-haired tending to red … the face, though not irregular, had nothing attractive’.¹⁶ He had little inclination for intellectual pursuits; Gilbert Burnet later spoke of the ‘defects of his education’.¹⁷ As a younger son, Hans Willem was probably trained and prepared for service in the army.¹⁸ Overijssel was particularly vulnerable to invasion; Hans Willem’s family experienced an attack from Munster in 1665 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Hence the province’s nobility had acquired a strong sense of responsibility with regard to military service. Overijssel had suffered heavily from the invasion, but Hans Willem was already residing in The Hague by then.

In 1651 the abolition of the stadholderate in five of the seven provinces was confirmed at the Grand Assembly, the Frisian Nassaus remaining in office in the North. Three years later Oliver Cromwell forced Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt to accept the secret clause of seclusion, preventing the Oranges (suspected of being in league with the Stuarts because of the marriage of William II and Mary) from regaining the stadholderate.¹⁹ Factional rifts between William’s mother, Mary Stuart, and his grandmother, Amalia van Solms, deepened the misfortunes of the Orange family. Throughout the 1650s the low tide in the fortunes of the Oranges and Stuarts darkened the spirits of those two women. In 1660, months after the return of her brother, Charles II, to England, Mary died, leaving the young prince an orphan. The Court remained a hotbed of intrigue. Despite the political insignificance of the Orange court, a rudimentary court structure was maintained, and the first and foremost noble family in the United Provinces functioned as a centre of Dutch noble society. Traditionally the connection between the nobility and the Orange family was strongest in the eastern provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel, where the nobility was strong in the States Assemblies and had sympathised with the continental strategy of the stadholders Maurice, Frederick Henry and William II.²⁰ Hence it was not surprising that Hans Willem, the son of an Orangist squire from one of the eastern provinces, was accepted as page to the Prince of Orange at the Court in The Hague in 1664.

Two years after Hans Willem’s arrival a major change took place at the Orange court which swept a number of influential courtiers out of office. The Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–67) had prompted De Witt to purge the princely household of a number of sympathisers of the Stuarts. Boreel and the dashing nobleman and governor of the Prince, Frederik van Nassau-Zuylestein, of whom William was particularly fond, were forced to leave Court despite the latter’s appeal to the Grand Pensionary. It is difficult to estimate the impact of these measures. Although the Kamerheer (Chamberlain), the Hofmeester (Steward) and the Stalmeester (Master of the Horse) were replaced by Holland noblemen, the ramifications of this purge may not have reached down to the lower echelons at Court.²¹ One of the newcomers at Court was Stalmeester Hendrik van Nassau-Ouwerkerk, who like Bentinck would remain an esteemed courtier; William rewarded loyalty of the members of his entourage, most of who would continue to play an important role in his reign.

Of Hans Willem’s early years at Court only fragments are known. As page – of which there would be two or three – he became a member of the entourage of the Prince and accompanied him on various occasions. One of the first appearances of Jonker Bentinck was at the funeral of the Frisian Stadholder Willem Frederik in 1664 on behalf of the Prince of Orange, with two other pages and Nassau-Zuylestein.²² In 1668 he...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Notes on Style and Dates
• Introduction
• 1 The Making of a Favourite (1649–85)
• 2 For Religion and Liberty? The Crises of 1688
• 3 The Consolidation of the Williamite Settlement (1689–91)
• 4 ‘Lord Portland takes all’: The Re-emergence of the Favourite
• 5 ‘The Spirit of Contention’: Politics and Parties
• 6 ‘The Great Affair’: War on the Continent
• 7 Ganymede: The Image of the Favourite
• 8 Arcana Imperii: War and Peace (1697–1700)
• 9 The Vestiges of Power (1697–1709)
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index