Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck
Rutger Jan, Count Schimmelpenninck, Lord of Nyenhuis, Peckedam and Gellicum, was a Dutch jurist, ambassador and politician who served as Grand Pensionary of the Batavian Republic from 1805 to 1806. Historian Niek Sas called him the first Dutch liberal politician.
Schimmelpenninck around 1805
Schimmelpenninck with his wife and children ca. 1802
The view from the Batavian embassy, the Hôtel Beauharnais, in Paris on the Place de la Concorde at the time of Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck's ambassadorship.
Schimmelpenninck as Grand Pensionary in 1805–1806
The Batavian Republic was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the Dutch throne. From October 1801 onward, it was known as the Batavian Commonwealth. Both names refer to the Germanic tribe of the Batavi, representing both the Dutch ancestry and their ancient quest for liberty in their nationalistic lore.
A portrait of William V of Orange-Nassau
Naval flag and pennants of the Batavian Republic. The canton features the Netherlands Maiden.
Herman Willem Daendels (1762–1818)
In The first Kiss this Ten Years! —or—the meeting of Britannia & Citizen François (1803), James Gillray caricatured the peace between France and Britain.
