Johan de Witt (September 24, 1625, Dordrecht - August 20, 1672, The Hague) was a significant Dutch political figure. September 24 is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years). ... Events March 27 - Prince Charles Stuart becomes King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland. ... This is about the Dutch city of Dordrecht. ... August 20 is the 232nd day of the year (233rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events England, France, Munster and Cologne invade the United Provinces, therefore this name is know as ´het rampjaar´ (the disaster year) in the Netherlands. ... Arms of The Hague The Hague (with capital T; Dutch: Den Haag, formerly also s-Gravenhage) is the administrative capital of the Netherlands, located in the west of the country, in the province South Holland of which it is also the capital. ... A politician is an individual involved in politics, sometimes this may include political scientists. ...

He studied at the University of Leiden where he excelled at mathematics and law. He received his doctorate from the University of Angers in 1645. He practiced law as an attorney in The Hague as an associate with the firm of Frans van Schooten. Leiden University in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. ... Mathematics is often defined as the study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change. ... Law (from the Old Norse lagu) in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, intended to provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments of/for those who do... Location within France Angers is a city in France in the département of Maine-et-Loire, 191 miles south-west of Paris. ... // Events January 10 - Archbishop Laud executed on Tower Hill, London. ... An attorney is someone who represents someone else in the transaction of business: For attorney-at-law, see lawyer, solicitor, barrister or civil law notary. ... Arms of The Hague The Hague (with capital T; Dutch: Den Haag, formerly also s-Gravenhage) is the administrative capital of the Netherlands, located in the west of the country, in the province South Holland of which it is also the capital. ... Franciscus Schooten (1615 - May 29, 1660) was a Dutch mathematician who is most known for popularizing the analytic geometry of René Descartes. ...

In 1650 he was appointed leader of the deputation of Dordrecht to the States of Holland, the same year stadtholder William II of Orange died. De Witt became, as raadpensionaris (Grand Pensionary), the factual leader of this governing body in 1653. Controlling Holland, the most powerful province, he ruled the Republic of the United Provinces as a whole. He applied his mathematical knowledge to the Republic's financial and budgetary problems. // Events June 23 - Claimant King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland arrives in Scotland, the only of the three Kingdoms that has accepted him as ruler. ... This is about the Dutch city of Dordrecht. ... The States of Holland and West Friesland were the representation of the three Estates (standen): Nobility, Clergy and Commons to the court of the Count of Holland. ... A stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder meaning representative of state, a literal translation of the French lieutenant or the Latin locum tenans) was the person who ruled an area in the name of the land owner, in the Netherlands (which included present-day Belgium) from the 15th to the 18th century. ... William II, Prince of Orange (May 27, 1626 - November 6, 1650), stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands (March 14, 1647 - November 6, 1650). ... A pensionary was a name given to the leading functionary and legal adviser of the principal town corporations in the Netherlands because they received a salary, or pension. ... Events February 2 - New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated. ... Holland is a region in the central-western part of the Netherlands. ... This article is about the Dutch United Provinces. ...

Johan de Witt brought about peace with England after the First Anglo-Dutch War with the Treaty of Westminster in the year 1654. The peace treaty had a secret annex, the Act of Seclusion, forbidding the Dutch ever to appoint William II's infant son as new stadtholder. This annex had been attached on instigation of De Witt. De Witt did his utmost to prevent any member of the House of Orange from gaining any power, convincing many provinces to abolish the stadtholderate entirely. He bolstered his policy by publicly endorsing the theory of republicanism. His power base was the wealthy merchant class. The people supporting him were called the "States faction", opposed by the "Orange faction" that was popular among the artisan class. This antagonism paralleled a division between moderate and intolerant calvinists. For the next thirteen years the Republic increased in wealth and influence under his leadership. De Witt created a strong navy, appointing one of his political cronies, Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam, as supreme commander of the confederate fleet. Later De Witt became a personal friend of Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter. The Second Anglo-Dutch War began in 1665, lasting until 1667 when it ended with the Treaty of Breda, in which Johan de Witt negotiated very favorable agreements for the Republic after the partial destruction of the British fleet in the Raid on the Medway, originally conceived by De Witt himself. At that moment The Republic was one of the Great Powers, dominating world trade and thereby the wealthiest nation in the world. The Battle of Scheveningen, 10 August 1653 by Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraaten, painted c. ... The 1654 Treaty of Westminster ended the First Anglo-Dutch War of 1652–1654. ... Events April 5 - Signing of the Treaty of Westminster, ending the First Anglo-Dutch War. ... The Principality of Orange The title originally referred to the sovereign principality of Orange in southern France, which was a property of the House of Orange (from 1702 Orange-Nassau). ... Republicanism is the idea of a nation being governed as a republic. ... Jacob, Banner Lord of Wassenaer, Lord Obdam, Hensbroek, Spanbroek, Opmeer, Zuidwijk and Kernhem (1610 – 13 June 1665) was a Dutch Lieutenant-Admiral, and supreme commander of the confederate Dutch navy. ... Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter, Lieutenant-Admiral of the United Provinces by Ferdinand Bol, painted 1667. ... The Royal Prince and other vessels at the Four Days Fight, 11–14 June 1666 by Abraham Storck depicts a battle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. ... Events March 4 - Start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. ... // Events January 20 - Poland cedes Kyiv, Smolensk, and eastern Ukraine to Russia in the Treaty of Andrusovo that put a final end to the Deluge, and Poland lost its status as a Central European power. ... The Treaty of Breda was signed at the Dutch city of Breda, July 31, 1667, by England, the Dutch Republic, France, and Denmark. ... Dutch Attack on the Medway, June 1667 by Pieter Cornelisz van Soest, painted c. ... In the context of international relations and diplomacy, power (sometimes clarified as international power, national power, or state power) is the ability of one state to influence or control other states. ...

His pro-French policy however would prove to be his undoing. In the Dutch rampjaar (disaster year) of 1672, when France and England during the Franco-Dutch War / Third Anglo-Dutch War attacked the Republic, the orangists took power by force and expelled him. Recovering from an earlier attempt on his life in June, he was assassinated by a carefully organised lynch "mob" after visiting his brother Cornelis de Witt in prison. He was decoyed into this trap by a forged letter, victim of a conspiracy by the orangists Johan Kievit and Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Tromp. He was killed by a shot in the neck; his naked body was hanged and mutilated and the heart was carved out to be exhibited. His brother was shot, stabbed, eviscerated alive, hanged naked, brained and partially eaten. The latter's heart was exhibited for many years next to his brother's by Dirck Verhoeff. Nowadays most historians assume that his adversary and successor as leader of the government stadtholder William III of Orange was involved. At the very least he protected and rewarded the killers. The rampjaar (disaster year) was the year 1672 in Dutch history. ... Events England, France, Munster and Cologne invade the United Provinces, therefore this name is know as ´het rampjaar´ (the disaster year) in the Netherlands. ... The Dutch War (1672–1678) was a war fought between France and a quadruple alliance consisting of Brandenburg, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, and the United Provinces. ... The Battle of Texel, 11–21 August 1673 by Willem van de Velde, the younger, painted 1683, depicts a battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War. ... Jack Ruby murdered the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, in a very public manner. ... Cornelis, or Cornelius de Witt (1623-1672) was a Dutch statesman. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Cornelis Tromp, 1629–1691 by Sir Peter Lely, painted c. ... William III of England (14 November 1650 – 8 March 1702; also known as William II of Scotland and William III of Orange) was a Dutch aristocrat and a Protestant Prince of Orange from his birth, King of England and King of Ireland from 13 February 1689, and King of Scots...

External links

• Did a mob of angry Dutch kill and eat their prime minister? (from The Straight Dope)