WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

The oldest mention of a name that can be connected with the Opdyck-Updike family occurs in a list preserved in the Dominican Archives at Dortmund, Prussia, and enumerating the estates acquired by the Arch-Episcopal See of Cologne during the reign of the Elector-Archbishop Phillip I, 1167-1190. In it Hermanus de Dicka is recorded as having conveyed to the see his freehold estate at Kompe (now Kump) near Hamm in the Prussian Province of Westphalia. Like nearly all other records in Germany prior to 1400, this list is in Latin, the official written language of the Roman Empire. Family names, often originating in that of the place A which the family lived or from which it came, usually at this early time contained a preposition, and the scriveners, in translating them into Latin, :;invariably rendered the old-German prepositions (such as op, at or on, or van, of or from) by the Latin preposition de, of or from, without regard to the meaning in each case. Following the preposition in these old names usually came the German definite article den or der, which was omitted in the Latin translation because that language has no definite article. This lack of precision in the Latin forms makes it hard to determine whether the proper old-German name of Hermanus de Dicka was Herman op den Dyck, (at or on the dike), or Herman van der Dyck (of or from the dike). He may have been the ancestor of one or both of two families of op den Dycks that appear for the first time a little after 1250 in Wesel and Essen, two towns lying about fifty-five miles to the west from Kump and about twenty-eight miles distant from each other. Although there is reason to believe that this Essen family was connected with that of Wesel, from which the American settler Gysbert op den Dyck was descended, the kinship is not proved, and it will suffice for the present to say of the Essen op den Dycks, that they were of knightly rank, that they used armorial bearings (see illustration, page 42), and that they lived continuously near Essen until the sixteenth century, when they seem to have become. extinct, leaving their name attached to an estate and to a castle, both still existing. , The various 1

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mentions of them will be found in the supplemental list of German op den Dycks at page 41.

The Privy Councillor, Dr. Waldemar Harless, the government director of the Royal Prussian Archive Office at Dusseldorf from which most of our material relating to the German op den Dycks is derived, has greatly aided us in our searches, and, besides many other acts of kindness, has allowed us to quote from an unpublished essay by him upon the early history and old families of Wesel. In this essay he says: "Whatever may have been the connection between the Wesel family of op den Dycks and that of Essen, it is quite certain that the former was by no means inferior in age or dignity to the latter. eginning with the Schepen Henric op den Dyck, 1261-1291, and the Town Councillor Herman op den Dyck, 1291, and for the present laying aside the highest dignities of the city (which they also held), we find the family of op den Dyck, occupying the office of Schepen through the successive generations and centuries down to the latter half of the sixteenth century. Although the hereditary character of the post was not formally recognized by law, yet strong custom sanctioned it through this long series of years in the case of the op den Dycks and other prominent families of Wesel. Land holding and commerce were. both sources of wealth to them, as is seen from the mention in the Estate Book of the Counts of Cleves, of Hilla op den Dyck as possessed in 1317 of a large quantity of land near Wesel ; from the entry of Nala and Lisa op den Dyck in the City Account Books as creditors of the municipality, 1345-6, and of Henric op den Dyck in a like capacity, 1323-55, and as munic ipal purveyor of wine, 1346-7."

Before entering upon a detailed account of the family at Wesel, the reader may be interested in a few facts of the early history and government of the town itself. Wesel lies on the north-east or right bank of the Rhine, i the Province of Rhenish Prussia. In former times it stood exactly at the juncture of the Lippe with the, Rhine, but in the last three centuries the course of both rivers has so changed as to leave the town about a quarter mile from the water. There existed earlier at this point one of the many fortresses built by the Romans during their wars with the Teutons. The site may have been chosen by reason of its elevation above the surrounding country, and of its favorable position at the mouth of the Lippe. Around the fort there gradually grew up a village, in which a church was founded, probably by the English monk (afterward Saint) Willibrord, who was the first Bishop of Utrecht, A. D. 696-739, and for whom the church was afterward named. The first mention of Wesel occurs in a charter of Charles Martel, about 740. It lay in and took its name from the old Frankish manor "Wisela,"-perhaps derived from the Wieseln or weasel abounding in the neighboring country ; the city arms of Wesel have Ion borne the white weasel as an emblem. This manor of Wisela was originally

1ST GENERATION; HENRIC OP DEN DYCK. - 3

*possession of the Roman or German Empire, but in the course of time passed into the hands of the Dukes of Lorraine, and later into those of their successors, the House of Brabant. In common with other places on the lower Rhine, the manor enjoyed freedom of trade, but finally became a part the County of Cleves, on the marriage of a Count of Cleves with the daughter of the Duke of Brabant in 1233. The Emperor, however, still possessed feudal rights over Wesel, and granted it town government and freedom in 1241; but the town remained under the direct rule of the House Cleves, and was not known as an "imperial free city." Among other fights held by the Count of Cleves in the early part of the fourteenth century of Wesel, were : those of high and low jurisdiction in the city and parish ; of coinage ; of hunting wild game ; and of choosing the best cattle of the people of Willibrord's Church. The Burgomaster was elected at fixed intervals from and originally by the schepens, but as early as 1308 certain deputies chosen by the citizens were associated in the election. The schepens had their origin before 1241, and performed functions analogous to those of a modern judge, alderman and notory; the nature and tenure of their office will be more fully treated below.

While it is altogether probable that the Henric op den Dyck" mentioned above as Schepen 1261-91, was the father of the Herman that held the office of Town Councillor in 1291, and that he in turn was the father of the later Henric described below; we lack proof of these steps, and so begin with this second Henric as the first proved ancestor of the Wesel line of op den Dycks.

The name of the Wesel family is found in a great variety of spellings up den-, oppen-, opn-, opp-, up den-, uppen-, upn-, Dyck, Dycke, Dike, Dyke, Deick, Dicke, Dick, etc. These are all simply different forms and well-recognized contractions of the name op den Dyck, which means at or on the dike. For use in this book we have chosen the full form, op den Dyck, because it is the correct form, the form toward which all the others tend, and further, because it is the form used in the only signatures so far found of a member of the Wesel family.

HENRIC' (1) OP DEN DYCK.

The earliest proved ancestor of the Wesel Family.

Born about 1297; died between 1368 and 1383; wife's name unknown; she died before 1383.

In the records (given below) Henric appears chiefly as an office holder at Wesel, that is as Burgomaster, as City Treasurer, and as Schepen. Of a Schepen's duties as judge and alderman, we know little more than that he tried both civil and criminal cases at law, joined his brother Schepens in passing ordinances for the government of the town, and saw to it that these

4. - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

ordinances were observed. The records of this part of his work have been for the most part destroyed, and he has usually been preserved from oblivion as an attestor of sealed instruments, of which those that come down to us form probably but a fraction of the whole number to which he affixed his seal, and owe their escape from destruction to the accident of having related to the property of some religious corporation, whose quiet cloisters have proved a safe depository. In early times at Wesel, a man rarely executed an instrument by signing or sealing it personally, and where he did so it may be taken as a mark of his rank and importance. He customarily went before two Schepens, and the document, probably drawn by one of them began with their recital, "We, - and --, Schepens of Wesel, do by, this open instrument witness and attest that came before us and declared that he did etc.," and ended "in witness whereof we have attached our seals to this instrument. Dated etc." The lower edge of the parchment was folded over and cut with two short horizontal slits, through each of which was passed a narrow slip of parchment. The loose ends of each slip were fastened together with a lump of wax, which then received the imprint of the schepens seal. This seal was not official in the sense of being peculiar to the office of schepen, but was the individual seal of the man that held the post. It bore his name and the arms of his family;, it was used by him in his private, and also in any public capacity that he might have, and was used by no one else; it was as personal to him as his signature (for which indeed it stood), and identifies him as definitely as his portrait would now. As will be seen in the records, we have many documents attested between 1329 and 1355 by Henric op den Dyck as Schepen of Wesel, and sealed by him with a seal bearing his name and arms (see plate opposite page 6), and we therefore know positively that Henric lived in Wesel during those years. Schepens and schepens only were eligible to the burgomastership at this time, accordingly Henric's service as Burgomaster in 1323 shows us that he must have held the post of schepen at least as early as that year.,

From the fact that the feudal lords of Wesel twice issued formal decrees that the schepenship should not be held for life or transmitted by descent; and from the further fact that Henric was followed in the office, as we shall see, by five successive generations of his descendants from father to son, we may well infer that the post continued hereditary by custom long after it became by law elective.

This view is confirmed by the eminent Dr. Harless of Dusseldorf, who says

"Touching the life tenure and hereditary character of the schepenship, an edict of Count Johan of Cleves, 24 Sept., 1359, ordained that, instead of the former life-schepens, twelve schepens should in future be chosen to hold office for only one year, and that the election should be made by twelve trusty men or electors chosen for the purpose, three from each quarter of

1ST GENERATION; HENRIC OP DEN DYCK. - 5

the city. This system of yearly schepen-elections seems, however, not to have been strictly followed. * * * It was not until a decree of Duke Johan, 17 Nov., 1514, confirming a municipal ordinance passed shortly before, that the annual election of schepens was firmly established. Therefore, while the hereditary character of the office was not recognized by law, the force of custom was so strong that for centuries the schepens were chosen from a fixed circle of families, as a rule from father to son, the same person being chosen year after year."

This makes it altogether probable that Henric succeeded to the office of schepen immediately upon the death of his father, and increases the likelihood that ho was a grandson of the earlier Henric before mentioned as schepen, 1261-91.

Their official position throws light upon the social rank of the op den Dycks at Wesel. Accustomed as we are in modern times to see men rise by force of intelligence and exertion from ignorance and poverty to the highest positions, we can hardly realize the great importance attached in mediaeval German towns to the accidental circumstances of family. Not only did the ruling lord hold his lands, his titles, and his power by right of birth, but the mass of prosperous citizens received and handed down by heredity their trade, their offices, and their peculiar rights. A man did not become even a burgher of W Wesel simply by being born there; his father before him must have been a member of the municipality. We shall more clearly understand what this municipality was if we dismiss all thought of our own town governments, and imagine a small hereditary body of men, in whom were vested all those functions of government that were not retained by their feudal lord. Besides being the voting body of the town, they enjoyed each an equal share in the property and privileges that were from time to time granted to them in their corporate capacity, and were liable to the duties imposed upon them. In a word, when the city is mentioned, it is they that are to be thought of, and not the whole number of inhabitants. Within the burghers proper there lay a still smaller hereditary body, the members of which held or were eligible to certain offices. They were not necessarily noble in rank, but constituted the Altbuerger (old burgher) class, or what may be called the commercial aristocracy of the town. Writing of this subject, Dr. Harless says:

"We must note that in the thirteenth and the first half of the fourteenth centuries, the boundary line between the lower nobles and the schepen class or Altbeurger of the city was by no means a fixed one ; the two classes intermingled. The distinction lay chiefly in this, that, while the landed gentry clung to their knightly mode of living, the Altbuerger class dwelt in towns, and turned more and more to commercial and industrial pursuits. We must think of the Altbuerger that was eligible to the office of schepen, first of all as a "town-man;" who however could wield his sword and lance in time of war quite as well as the knight, and whose equipment, arms and dress differed in no way from those of the knight. Wherefore it came about, at least from the last third of the thirteenth century, that the Altbuergr in cities like Wesel laid claim to what, from the second half of the

6 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

twelfth century, had been the distinguishing mark of the rising knightly class, namely the privilege of armorial bearings, the German words Waffen (arms) and Wappen (armorial bearings), being originally the same. It was an established axiom of the jurists of the fourteenth century that whoever did not belong to the lowest class of townsmen had a right to bear a coat-of-arms, and to transmit the same to his descendants. The bearings on the heraldic shield of the Altbuerger, as well as its accessory ornament, resemble those of the knight, while his use of the knightly helmet serves to remind us of his equestrian origin."

To this class of old burghers belonged Henric and his line. That they were active members of the class is shown by the uncommon frequency with which they held the chief offices of the city. Further evidence is furnished by the marriage of one of Henries daughters to a man who, while repeatedly occupying the same offices as those held by the op den Dycks, is known to have belonged to the knightly nobility of the Duchy of Cleves.

In Henries receipt from the municipality of annual payments of money during a period of twenty-three years, we have proof that he was a man of means. When the city borrowed money from its citizens, a common way of discharging the debt was to pay the creditor a certain yearly amount by way of annuity for his own life, or sometimes for a longer term as is shown by the continuance of such payments to the creditor's widow or heirs. The annual payment received by Henric was of this character, and proves him to have been a lender to the city. In like manner, when a private land owner wished to borrow money, instead of mortgaging his property for the principal sum of the debt, he customarily charged it with a yearly payment by way of annuity, the lien binding all future holders of the land. The deed regularly recited any prior encumbrance on the property, and to meet the frequent contingency of a depreciated coinage, stipulated that the payments should be made in money minted before the date of the instrument. Henrie's purchase, shown below, of a rent-charge in 1335, was a transaction of this nature, and besides presenting him again in the capacity of investor, is of especial interest because his children's subsequent transfer of the same property, by a deed attached bodily to his original instrument of purchase, gives us proof of the first step in the descent from him.

Much of our information in regard to the offices held by the Wesel op den Dycks comes from a large parchment volume preserved in the archives of Dusseldorf, and called the Wesel "Buergerbuch" or Town Book. Beginning in 1308, it contains the names of those admitted to citizenship; at the head of each year's list is a short Latin memorandum of the burgomasters elected for the year, and then follows the admission-roll, partly in Latin and partly in German. The changes in the handwriting and in the parchment of this book show it to be an original and contemporaneous record. Opposite we give a photographic copy, reduced about one-half in size, of the page of this register containing the list for 1323. The grain of

1ST GENERATION; HENRIC OP DEN DYCK. - 7

of the sheepskin can be seen toward the bottom of the page; in the original the large initial letters are in red, and the whole text is beautifully written. The words occurring in the paragraph marked "1" in the first column of our illustration, and repeated in print in the lower title, may be translated "In the year of our Lord 1323, Henric op den Dyck and Gerard (Cortfelt) were elected to the office of Burgomaster, and under their magistracy the following were received (as citizens)." For the sake of giving it on the same page with the record of Henries nearly contemporaneous burgermastership, we insert a slightly enlarged photographic copy of his seal, from a deed attested by him in 1329. The shield bears six fleurs-de-lys, arranged 3, 2, 1, and separated by two bars, which we shall find to have been the armorial bearings of five successive generations of Henries direct descendants. Around the shield there is a multi-foil ornament, and outside of this, between two concentric circles, stand the words : "S (short for sigillum, seal) HENRICI (of Henric) DE DIKE (op den Dyck) SCABINI (Schepen)." The mention of Henries office does not show that this was merely an official seal, but rather indicates his family rank. After the usual fashion of mediaeval inscriptions, each word is separated by a cross. In the second :;column, opposite the figure 2, occurs the entry of the admission of "Bertoldus oppen Dyke." Although he was probably connected with Henric, we have no knowledge as to who this Bertoldus was.

All the deeds and registers that mention. Henric being in Latin, his name is found only in its Latin form, de Dike, while that of his contemporary and probable brother, Everard, and also that of his son Doric, appear as de Dike in Latin records, and as op den Dyck when written in German. The lamentable lack of material relating to the history of Wesel prior to Henric's time, and the incompleteness of that covering the period of his life, arise from the accidental burning, in 1354, of the Town Hall together with the city archives preserved therein.

Records.

1323, 52, 63, 68, Henric was elected Burgomaster.... (C. C. D.; B. B. D.; Ac. Bks. D.)

1323-55, received from the city a yearly payment of annuity. (Ac. Bks. D.)

1329-55, as Schepen attested many documents with his seal ..... (Urk. D.)

1335, Nov. 7, invested money in a rent-charge on house of one Long.. (Urk. D., cert. cop.)

1341, was elected one of the two City Treasurers..... (C. C. D.; B. B. D.)

1346-7, was purveyor of wine to the city ............. . . . . . Ac. Bks. D ).

1383, Jan. 4, referred to in a deed as dead . . . . . . . . . .(Urk. ., cert. cop.)

Children.

When property bought by a man was afterward sold by him or his heirs, it was customary to bind both deeds together by the seals attesting the second, in order to preserve the chain of title. The deed by which Henric

8 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

bought the rent-charge on the house of Long, in 1335, has attached to it in this way a later deed of 1383, by which the rent-charge is conveyed to a charity by "Hildegard op den Dyck, daughter of the late Henric op den Dyck, with the consent of her brothers Wilhelm and Deric op den Dyck, of her sisters Margaret and Ludegard, of Everard van der Capellen, husband of said Ludegard, and of Emma, wife of said Deric." (The original Latin of this passage is given below under Deric op den Dyck, whom we shall call Deric'. )

1. Hildegard, of whom the deed of 1383 contains the only mention so far found.

2. Deric', below treated at length.

3. Wilhelm, first mentioned in the deed of 1383.

1389, was elected one of the two City Treasurers. . . (C. C. D.; B. B. D.; Ac. Bk. D.)

1396, began to receive an annuity from the city .......... (Ac. Bk. D.)

1399; mentioned as adjoining owner of land near Ringenberg, a town a little north from Wesel .................. (Urk. D., cert. cop)

1401-9, made a yearly payment to Willibrord's Church on account of his house ........................... (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 37, no. 1.) The left-hand half of the illustration opposite shows the upper part of the. page of the church account book bearing the record of Wilhelm's first payment. The first line of the page, turned down shows the date MCCCC "p" (first); while the line just below the part turned down reads, "Wyllem op den Dyke ix d," (probably 9 pence.)

1404, mentioned as holder of life interest in meadow near Wesel.. (Urk. D., cert. cop.)

1407, cited before Ecclesiastical Court and ordered to discontinue successful suit against Overdorp Cloister at Wesel.. . (MSS. D. B129, fol. 62)

1409, Aug. 15, died................................... (Ac. Bk. D.)

1409-18, his house payment to Willibrord's Church continued by Emma op den Dyck, doubtless his widow.. (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 37, no. 1.)

4. Margaret, mentioned only in deed of 1383.

5. Ludegard, mentioned only in same deed, as wife of Everard van der Capellen, who is known to have belonged to a knightly family of the Duchy of Cleves.

DERIC <2> OP DEN DYCK.

Son of Henric op den Dyck, page 3.

Born about 1340; died 1410-12; married before 1383 Emma . . .., who died in 1419.

Deric was Schepen and Burgomaster, but does not appear as Treasurer, that office having been held by his brother Wilhelm. Although Wilhelm died before Deric; and is mentioned before him in the deed of 1383 by which they and their sisters conveyed property to a charity, the fact that

2D GENERATION; DERIC OP DEN DYCK. - 9

Wilhelm did not act as Schepen makes it probable that he was younger thn Deric. Deric's service as Schepen, extending as it does over the whole period of his mature activity, together with the known hereditary character of the office, leads us to believe that he became Schepen immediately upon the death of his father, and held the post continuously throughout his life.

About this time there arose at Wesel a cheerful custom, which we shall find to have been continued down to the Reformation, and by which the city gave yearly Christmas gifts of wine to its municipal officers. The gift amounted to from two to four quarters in the case of the Schepens, Town Councillors and Treasurers, and to eight quarters in the case of the Burgomasters, and was additional to their salaries. The records given below show that in each of the two years in which Deric was Burgomaster he was paid a salary of 36 marks, and further that he received the official Christmas gifts of wine.

Apart from his magistracy and his attestation of deeds we derive most of our knowledge of Deric from the "Kaemmerei-Rechnungen" or City Account Books, a series of original detailed records of the yearly income and expenditure of Wesel, beginning with 1342, and extending continuously with the exception of a few years for which the books have been lost, destroyed or injured; and from a series of similar records of Willibrord's Church, beginning in 1401. The entries are far from explicit; for instance, we find that in 1410 Deric made a payment to the church on account of a house, but are left in doubt whether it was a payment of rent in our sense of the word, or in the nature of a rent-charge placed by Deric upon his house to secure a debt or a fixed annual contribution. Besides exercising their respective functions of government, of religious ministration, and of charity, the municipality, the Church, and the various foundations of the city, acted also as monied institutions, owned and rented land, loaned money, and held rent-charges on the property of their debtors. Yearly receipts by such institutions for the use of their land, or in payment of rent-charges, were entered in the account books under the common heading "Renten." Where the receipt is isolated as was the one from Deric in 1410, we infer that it was of rent proper; but where it is continued for several generations of the same family, always on the same land, we conclude that the property was an hereditary possession, and that the payment was of a rent-charge placed upon it.

Although by no means peaceful, the period of Deric's life seems to have been one of great material prosperity for Wesel. Its ancient fortified wall was repaired, and three new gates were built. A fourth, the "Stone Gate," was enlarged; it is shown on the plan (given below, under Lodowick (6) ), just above the letter "f " of the word "fortification " in the lower title. Of its two towers one was in the city, and the other stood outside serving as an approach to a bridge. The first was faced with stone, and ornamented with a square tower, in which hung a bell to give morning and evening signal of

10 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

the opening and closing of the door. The outer tower was surmounted by a stone warrior standing on a block upon which were carved the words, "I remain open for the pious," a sentence that acquired, as we shall see, fresh significance during the Reformation. A stone school-house, a chapel, and two cloisters were built, and additions were made to a third cloister, that of the Carthusians, the appearance of which a century later is shown at ^" E," on the plan above referred to. Indeed the city was full of old cloisters, both of monks and of nuns; one of them dated back to 1125. Although two centuries later in date, our plan represents fairly well the arrangement of the principal streets and buildings of Dories time. At figure "1" are shown an open square and a street leading from it toward the figure "3." This street, called Bridge Street, was the chief thoroughfare of Wesel, and was first paved at this time, as was also the Great Market from which it starts. The market was used daily, but especially on Wednesdays and Saturdays, for all kinds of provisions, and supplied also the neighboring villages. In order that everybody might have an equal chance, no one was allowed to buy, before ten o'clock in the morning. The modern appearance and uses of the market are represented in the illustration opposite, which is taken from a drawing made in 1882. The large gothic church in the background is Willibrord's, the older parts of which were built before 1182 on the site of a much earlier chapel believed to have been founded by St. Willibrord. The recent Franco-Prussian war monument in the middle occupies the place of an old mediaeval cross. The handsome building on the left is the Town Hall, begun in 1390 to replace the one burned in 1354, and completed in 1396, under Dories burgomastership. Since then it has been repeatedly repaired and restored, but its present condition is substantially that in which it originally stood. In one of its rooms were kept twelve large pewter tankards in which the drink of honor was presented to strangers of distinction, as remained the custom until about one hundred years ago.

Although somewhat injured by time, the seals attached by Deric to the documents that he attested as Schepen all bear the same arms as those of his father Henric. The specimen selected for illustration (No. 2, plate opposite) is the best preserved that we could find, and shows with per feet clearness the six lilies separated by two bars, as in Henrie's seals The pretty gothic tracery around the shield was merely ornamental and formed no part of the arms proper. The diameter of all the seals in the illustration is about twice that of the originals.

Records.

1379-1409, Deric as Schepen attested many documents with his seal. (Urk. D.) 1383, Jan. 4, joined his wife Emma in consenting to a deed of gift (to a charity) by his sister Hildegard, daughter of the late Henric op den

3D GENERATION; JOHAN OP DEN DYCK. - 11

Dyck. A translation of the material parts of the deed has been given under Henric <1>; the original Latin reads: "Hildegardis de, Dike flia olim Henrici de Dike * * * cum consensu Wilhelmi et heodorici de Dike suorum fratrum Grete et Lutgardis suorum (sic) sororum et Everardi de Cappella mariti predicti (sic) Lutgardis et Emeze uxoris predicti Theodorici * * * ................. (Urk. D., cert. cop.)

1391, 1404, paid money into the city treasury.............. (Ac. Bks. D.)

1391, 1396, was elected Burgomaster ............... (C. C. D.; B. B. D.)

1396, as Burgomaster received a salary of 36 Marks.. (Ac. Bk. D., fol. 197.)

1404-11; received from the city a yearly Christmas gift of two quarters of wine ; in each of the same years there is entered, under the heading "Salaries of Schepens and Town Councillors," a payment to Doric of two shillings and six pence from the city malt-tax. . (Ac. Bks. D.)

1408, Apr. 22, joined his wife Emma in exchanging lands near Wesel with one Amelong and wife ...................... (Urk. D., cert. cop.)

1410, paid money to Willibrord's Church on account of his house. .... (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 37, no. 1.)

1410, June 21, conveyed to Johan van der Capellen lease-hold of a house held of the Count of Cleves .................. (Urk. D., tort. cop.)

Children.

Two years after Doric ceases to be mentioned in the records of Wesel, we find a deed whereby his widow Emma and her children Johan and Emma confirm the transfer of the lands exchanged by Doric in 1408 ; and in a fragmentary steward's book, dating between 1400 and 1450 and relating to estates of the city, Johan and his sister Emma appear as in possession of lands formerly held by their father Doric op den Dyck. To distinguish this Johan from later Johans and to indicate his generation, we shall call him Johan <3>.

1. Johan (3).

2. Emma, mentioned only in the deed and steward's book above referred to, and in a later deed executed by her and Johan and mentioned below.

JOHAN <3> OP DEN DYCK.

Son of Deric op den Dyck, page 8 ; son of Henric op den Dyck, page 3.

Born about 1380 ; died 21 Mch. 1459 ; married Judith ....

Johan appears in the records as Schepen, Treasurer, and Town Councillor, as Burgomaster eleven times, and as receiving the usual salaries and Christmas gifts incident to these offices. For two years he was custodian of one of the four keys of the city chests, and he was repeatedly chosen with others by the Council to represent the city at the court of its feudal lord, the Duke of Cleves, and also in foreign towns. The mission on which he served in 1449 was to Deventer in Holland, to procure the release of Wesel citizens wrongfully imprisoned there, while that of 1431 had for its object the remission by the Duke of Cleves of an excessive tax that he had levied upon the town. Besides paying various taxes and imposts, the townsmen were occasionally invited to meet the pressing needs of their feudal lord by

12 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

lending him money. One of these loans was of 400 gulden, of which amount Johan alone contributed one-twentieth part.

The records contain numerous mentions of Johan as holding land at and near Wesel. It is this continued tendency towards land-ownership, quite as much as their hereditary office-holding, that distinguishes the Wesel op den Dycks and others of the Altbuerger class, and suggests for them as origin in the equestrian rank. While we have no reason to suppose that they were more honest or able, or better educated than many other citizens of the place, we are forced to conclude that they enjoyed a dignity and an consideration to which their less fortunate neighbors hardly aspired. As an instance of this we find such expressions as "Sir" and "Honorable" attached to Johan's name in the records. Whatever ground he and his line may have had for family pride, we must still think of them as chiefly engaged in manufactures or commerce. One of the most important industries of Wesel was its woolen trade, and we find Johan appearing as a member of the City Woolen Guild.

Although the burghers were peaceful by inclination and habit, the history of Wesel gives ample proof that they were by no means unfitted for war when war became a need, and they showed their bravery and fidelity to their feudal lord on many occasions. In 1397, while Johan was still a boy, Count Adolf of Cleves was attacked by his uncle William, Duke of Berg, who with the aid of several neighboring princes and a large army marched into the County of Cleves, laid waste many places with fire and sword, and threatened the Count's castle itself. In the fierce battle that ensued the Clevish forces were overpowered, many of their knights were made prisoners, and the defeat promised to be complete, when the citizens of Wesel, hearing of their lord's danger, crossed the Rhine in hot haste, boldly attacked the enemy and rescued the captured knights, who again took up the battle, and bravely supported by the Weselers, won an extraordinary victory. The enemy fled, leaving William of Berg and another duke, six counts, 600 knights, and 2,000 horsemen as prisoners, for whose ransom several cities were ceded and large sums of money paid. In such troublous times it was the custom to prepare muster-rolls stating the names of those burghers capable of military service and the degree of completeness with which each man was able to arm himself. In the only three muster-rolls found during the period of Johan's activity, he is named among the few that were prepared to appear in full armor. Only eight years before his death he is credited also with ability to come to the field on horse, and a little earlier he is voted by the Town Council the sum of 65 gulden as compensation for his horse shot in the "Land of Lynne." This doughty old burgher, ready to serve his prince at the age of seventy, on horse and clad in complete steel, suggests a picture of exciting interest. Unless thrown to the ground, such a warrior was nigh well invincible in battle, and almost an even match for a host of common

3D GENERATION; JOHAN OP DEN DYCK. - 13

soldiers. In his life-time defensive armor reached its highest point of perfection, in effectiveness, in adaptability to the movements of the wearer, and in beauty of workmanship and design. The armor of the German and Dutch Low Countries was renowned throughout Europe, and a suit of steel often represented in itself a moderate fortune. Later the general use of gun-powder introduced a heavier and more ungainly style, and gradually led to the extinction of the armorer's art.

Even at this early period the citizens of Wesel deserved great praise for their numerous charities, not only hospitals for immediate relief, but institutions for the future support of the needy and their successors. To these purposes the merchants devoted a considerable part of the wealth acquired by them through fortunate trade, and the still existing benevolent foundations are so many monuments of their virtue and wisdom. Among these was the Orphan Asylum, built by the town before 1450. It was controlled by two managers, one selected by the magistrates, and one elected by the people. The orphans were dressed in ashen gray cloth, with a stripe on the shoulder; they must not beg; they were taught reading, writing and a trade, and were maintained until the age of sixteen years or later. They knelt morning and evening to say the Lord's Prayer and the articles of faith, and ate their breakfast at eight o'clock, none being allowed to rise before grace. Those that worked outside carried their dinners, but all returned to an afternoon meal at four o'clock, and again had a six o'clock supper of bread and butter and. beer. There were also many smaller institutions, which were usually supported by rent-charges placed by the founders upon their estates, and which often bore their name. One of these was the Offerman Charity, of which the original deed of foundation, 1443, recites that :

" Before - and - , Schepens of Wesel, came Deric Offerman and his lawful wife Ludegard, who, in the honor of God, His Mother Mary, and all the Saints, and for the comfort of their own souls and of those of their children, relatives, and friends, have given their house and land for the use of eight or nine persons forever, said persons to be chosen by the founder and his wife and their heirs. Each person so chosen shall be received in the house, have his chair, his place by the fire, his food, his candle, etc.; shall wash the spoons in his week, shall carry fire-wood, and prepare what is to be cooked, etc., but shall carry away no beds, wood, or coals, etc. All shall live quietly and peacefully together, and pray for the souls of Deric, his wife, children, relatives, and friends. What each brings shall remain at his death in the house for the common good of the poor. If any is discontented and troublesome so that the others can not live with him, and does not mend his ways after two or three warnings by Deric, his wife, or his heirs, then shall such a one be expelled with all the goods that he has brought."

Another endowment was of seven small houses for seven widows; another for two poor women; and another for poor maidens of good character. Johan and his wife twice gave property to similar godly and charitable purposes, and are mentioned as members of a religious association at a neighboring town.

14 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

The specimen that we give of Johan's seal (numbered "3 " in the illustration opposite page 10), is admirably preserved, the wax impression being almost as sharp as when first made by him. The ornamental work around the shield is seen to be more elaborate than in the case of Deric's seal (No. 2), but its character is still distinctly gothic.

Records.

1400-1450, sometime between these years Johan and his sister are mentioned in a fragmentary Steward's Book of the "Meer" Estate, near and belonging to Wesel. Steward following is a translation of the material passages : "Item, Emma op den Dyck has possession of the other side of the land at Jokeren that her father Deric op den Dyck was accustomed to hold ; her brother Johan op den Dyck of the other side * * * Item, Johan op den Dyck has possession of the farther side of the property at Rede, called the Blekessche Estate, that his father Deric op den Dyck was accustomed to hold.". (M SS, D., caps. 348, no. 3)

1412, Oct. 2, joined his sister Emma and his mother Emma (named as the widow of the late Deric op den Dyck) in confirming transfer of lands exchanged by Deric in 1408. 1 Dec., 1419, a release of the same property is executed by Johan and his sister alone, (the inference being that their mother had died) ............ (Urk. D., cert. cop.)

1415-28, received out of the city malt-tax two shillings yearly salary as Schepen or as Town Councillor .................... (Ac. Bks. D.)

1415-59, was given by the city an annual Christmas gift of from two to eight quarters of wine. Account book for 1444 missing. (Ac. Bks. D.)

1416, 20, 31, 49, served with others on diplomatic missions . . (Ac. Bks. D.)

1418, 20, was elected one of the two City Treasurers, and as such was paid a salary of six Marks........... (C. C. D.; B. B• D.; Ac. Bks. D.)

1420, 35, 51, is inscribed on Wesel muster-rolls as capable of appearing in full armor; in 1435 as of the Stone Way Ward, and in 1451 as ready to serve on horseback................. (MSS. D., caps. 253, no. 3.)

1421-1457, in almost every one of these years Johan as Schepen attested documents with his seal ...........................(Urk. D.)

1422, the city account books begin to speak of a mill, on which it had been accustomed to receive yearly payments, as "Johan op den Dyck's Mill Tower."

1423, Johan is mentioned as then living in the Mathena or Cow Gate Ward .............................. (MSS. D., caps. 253, no. 3)

1424, Sept. 11, Johan and his wife Judith mentioned as associates of a religious brotherhood at the neighboring town of Emmerich . .. (Urk. D., cert. cop.)

1425-1458, was eleven times elected Burgomaster, and as such was paid a salary of from 12 to 26 Marks. . . . (. C. D.; B. B. D.; Ac. Bks. D.)

1428-1441, paid an annual sum to Willibrord's Church on account of his garden............................ (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 37, no. 1.)

1429, 30, 40, 46, Johan is mentioned as owning various lands in and near. Wesel .........(Urk. etc., D., cert. cop.)

1429, July 15, at request of some Yellow townsmen, "the Honorable" Johan op den Dyck attested an instrument of theirs by affixing his seal in a private capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Urk. D., cert. cop.)

1436, contributed one-twentieth of town loan to Duke of Cleves. (Ac. Bk. D.)

1437, Apr. 7, one Croen charged his half interest in lands near Wesel (already charged with a yearly payment of 5 1/2 Marks to the city poor),

4TH GENERATION; JOHAN OP DEN DYCK. - 15

with a further annual charge Of 13 1/2, Marks to Johan op den Dyck. Croen's deed bears an endorsement of which the following is a translation: " Item, the said Johan op den Dyck has given this aforesaid deed to the poor, and has declared and witnessed that it is released, and that he is no longer to be paid the rent-charge of 13 1/2 Rhenish gulden "............................... (Urk. D., cent. cop.)

1445, Johan paid the city 12 gulden for a half year's use of a horse belonging to it.. . .. (Ac. Bk. D.)

1448, a Wesel Magistrates' Register for this year contains an entry of which the following is a translation: "Item, Nov. 26, voted that Johan op den Dyck be paid 65 Rhenish gulden for his horse that was shot and remained in the land of Lynne ........ (MSS. D., caps. 345-7, no. 7, p. 67, cent. cop.)

1451, Feb. 5, conveyed to the religious order of St. John some land a little south from Wesel........................... (Urk. D., cert. cop.)

1452, as a member of the Wesel Woolen Guild, paid the city six shillings, apparently by way of tax........................... (Ac. Bk. D.)

1453-6, was paid by the city an annuity of 50 gulden ....... (Ac. Bk. D.)

1457-9, was keeper of one of the four keys of City Chest. He died 1459, Mch. 21............. (MSS. D., caps. 345-7, no, 7, p. 84, cert. cop.)

Children.

Two years after the death of Johan', we find a second Johan, "son of the late Johan op den Dyck," confirming a grant made by the elder Johan to the Carthusian Cloister. In order to distinguish this second Johan from his father and also from later Johan op den Dycks we shall call him Johan (4). Besides many instruments attested by Johan <4> as Schepen with a seal bearing his name and the same arms that had been used by Johan <3>, Deric <2>, and Henric <1>, we find a deed executed by him in his private capacity with the same seal used by him as Schepen. By this deed he conveyed land to a Cloister, on condition that masses be said in perpetuity for the repose of the souls of his parents Johan and Judith op den Dyck and others.

l. Johan (4).

JOHAN <4> OP DEN DYCK.

Son of Johan op den Dyck, page 11; son of Deric op den Dyck, page 8; son of Henric op den Dyck, page 3.

Born about 1420; died 1504; married Ida, daughter of Engelbrecht and Gilliken Renwalts.

Johan was a Schepen of Wesel, Treasurer, and nine times Burgomaster; he received the usual salaries and official Christmas gifts, served on various diplomatic missions and also appears as an officer of St. John's Hospital. Toward the end of his life we find him acting as Mint-warden. This post Was held directly of the Duke of Cleves, and among its duties was the auditing of the ducal Mint-master's accounts. Sometimes Johan was asso-

16 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

ciated with another in the office, but in some years he served alone. Although relating to the affairs of the whole Duchy of Cleves, and involving large sums of money, his service as Mint-warden is even more interesting to us in that it furnishes an authentic specimen of his handwriting. In 1486, on the occasions of one of his accountings with " Master Herbert," the Duke's Mint-master, Johan drew up a memorandum of the state of the mint funds. This document is preserved in the archives of Dusseldorf, and bears a contemporaneous endorsement to the effect that it is in Johan's own hand. The autograph printed above is a photo-engraved facsimile of one of the two signatures that Johan wrote upon the instrument, and is seen to show the family name in full, " op den Dyck," and not in any of its abbreviated forms, oppen-, uppen-, opn-, upn- or opp-Dyck. His penman ship throughout the memorandum is beautifully neat and regular, hardly inferior to the formal parchments of the period, for a specimen of which see our reproduction of a deed attested by Johan in 1469 (plate opposite), the original of which and also the fragments of the seal that Johan attached to it are in possession of the writer. While there is reason to believe that this, or at least some of the many deeds attested by Johan and his line, may have been written by them, still his memorandum as Mint-warden is the only scrap of writing so far found that we know beyond all doubt to be the autograph of a Wesel op den Dyck. A translation of the document will be found in the records given below.

During nearly the whole span of Johan's activity we find in the city account books the record of his yearly payment of a sum of money on account of a house of his in the Stone Way Ward. The precise nature of these payments is not known; they may have been a ground-rent for the land on which the house stood, or a rent-charge securing some municipal loan to Johan, or more probably a simple land tax. Their chief interest lies in the evidence that we shall find in them of the next step in the descent. Johan's active prominence in public affairs was even greater than that of, his father, and in his life-time the prosperity of the Wesel family seems to have reached its height. In conveying some lands to a cloister in 1474, Johan executed the deed personally and attested it with his own seal without going before the schepens as was customary. For his mere declaration and seal to suffice, he must have been a well-known and eminent person. The subject of his grant is also of significance. When an ordinary citizen wished to secure the prayers of the Church, he was usually content to pay so much money for so many masses ; Johan, however, transferred certain lands to the Church outright in order to secure the perpetual continuance of yearly services for the souls of his family. His devoutness is further shown by his appearance in 1460 on the account book of St. Willibrord's among the very few that paid money for making of their wills. Certain; church contributions made by him on account of his garden seem to-have

4TH GENERATION; JOHAN OP DEN DYCK. - 17

been similar to those of his father and grandfather, and lead us to believe that some charitable ancestor had charged a part of the family property with an annual gift to the church.

It may aid us to realize the character of Johan's period if we recall that it was during his life that the New World was discovered, and that printing was invented. The famous pictures, the carved furniture, the quaintly wrought iron, the dainty glass and porcelain, the rich woven stuffs, and the exquisite work in gold and silver, that are preserved in the museums of Holland and Germany, give us a vivid impression of the wealth and luxury of the time. Houses of wealthy burghers of the Rhine towns have come down to us with their costly fittings nearly intact. The most intelligent patrons of art were prosperous merchants, and in their portraits we see the picturesque elegance of their daily lives. Rich furs protect them from the cold; their stately persons are clothed in heavy silk and velvet; golden chains hang around their necks, and seal rings adorn their bands. About them lie ponderous books, the beauty of whose print and the richness of whose binding have never been surpassed; the implements of writing on their desks are delicately ornamented, and the slightest written memorandum of their trade is in a hand so regular and precise that we wonder how they found time to transact the business it records. They may have lacked some of the conveniences that we now regard as essential to comfort, but in hardly any age or country have the material surroundings of life been more sumptuous than those of the German or Dutch Altbueryer of an's time.

Yet Wesel was not allowed to forget the arts of war. In 1480, the Duke of Cleves, who had been forced to take up arms in support of his rights, made two expeditions into Gelderland, in which his success was largely due to the to the valor of the burghers of Wesel, who made both campaigns at their own cost. When the Duke of Gelderland suddenly attacked the Clevish city of Huissen in 1502, its inhabitants defended themselves bravely, although short of provisions, until the Weselers, under the burgomastership of Johan, manned some vessels, loaded them with supplies, and hurried to the rescue. Having first destroyed the enemy's ships and brought the longed-for food to the starving garrison, they assaulted and took the the hostile camp with all its cannon and stores, made prisoner the Duke of Gelderland himself, slew or captured many of his troops and put the rest to flight.

Johan's seal is the one numbered 4 in the plate opposite page 10. Owing to an error of the photographer, it and its neighbor No. 5 stand inverted on the page: The shield is round at the bottom, instead of pointed as in the case of the first three seals ; this change and the scroll-like character of the ornament around the shield mark the transition from the gothic to the renaissance style. In the instrument to which the seal was attached,

18 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

Johan's name is spelled "oppen Dyck;" upon the seal it reads "op den Dich;" while, as we have seen, Johan himself wrote his name "op den Dyck." Instances of a like variety in spelling are very common, it being almost exceptional for a scrivener to write a name twice alike even upon the same page.

Records.

1460, Oct. 6, Johan and other Weselers owning land. on the Rhine, grant to the Carthusian Cloister the right to sow the shore belonging to them...................................... (Urk. D., cert. cop.)

1461, Aug. 23, Johan, mentioned as son of late Johan op den Dyck, confirmed his grant to the Carthusian Cloister, especially with reference to land formerly appertaining to the op den Dyck mill on the Lippe. (Urk D., cert. cop.)

1461-1486, (excepting 1468 and 1473, for which years the books are respectively missing and mutilated), " Ydken (Ida) Renwaltz, the wife of Johan op den Dyck," is paid by the city annuities amounting yearly to 20 gulden ................................ (Ac. Bks. D.)

1461-1505, (excepting also 1502, for which year the book is missing), Johan received from the city a yearly Christmas gift of from two to eight quarters of wine............................... (Ac. Bks. D.)

1462, was elected one of the two City Treasurers, and was paid 15 Marks salary .......................... (C. C. D.; B. B. D., Ac. Bk.D.) He is mentioned as having a servant................ (Ac. Bk. D.)

1463-1503, (excepting the years above mentioned), Johan made an annual payment of six "albus" to the city on a house of his, usually described as " at Wylack," a quarter of the city identical with the Stone Way Ward, and called Wylack from a noted house there belonging to an old family of that name .............. (Ac. Bks. D.)

1463, Dec. 1, attended a meeting of co-proprietors of Wesel Forest..... (MSS. D., B129, fol. 21)

1464-1504, in most of these years we find documents attested and sealed by Johan as Schepen ..................... ............... (Urk.D.)

1465-70, paid the city two gulden yearly on account of land outside the Cloister Gate .................................... (Ac. Bks. D.)

1466, was one of deputation of four (including Burgomaster) to wait upon Duke of Cleves at Buederich on dike business; also engaged in other like duties in same year .............................. (Ac. Bk. D.)

1469-1496, was nine times elected Burgomaster, and was paid from 12 to 46 Marks annual salary. . (C. C. D.; B. B. D.; Ac. Bks. D.)

1471, mentioned as holding a garden outside the Lion Gate...... (Urk.D.)

1474, Apr. 14, as officer of St. John's Hospital at Wesel, Johan joined in sale of a house belonging to it ....... . ........ (Urk. D., cert. cop.) Dec. 22, joined his wife Ida in conveying land to a Cloister...(Urk. D., cert. cop.)

The original language of their deed is as follows : "Wy Johan uppen Dyck ind Idken syn Echte Wyff Join kunt ind bekennen' desen openen brieve dot wy recht ind redeliken voir eye summe gelts g die uns wael vernuegt is verkofft hebn ind verkopen avermyds desen brieve voir uns ind unse erven den erbaren ind gesteliken pr ind gemeynen convente des Cloisters gehieten ingen Marienvrede ind oeren nakomelyngen Twee deel van unsen kampe gehieten Crae kamp gelegen in Ringenberger breech haldende umbtrynt vier morgen lants soe die myt synre tobehorynge ind slachter nut gelegen is tusschen

4TH GENERATION; JOHAN OP DEN DYCK. - 19

erve Rutgers van Haenpel ind Derick Snackertz alz man seget in eynen rechten sacken vasten erffliken koip voirt soe bekennen wy Johan uppen Dyck ind Idken syn echte wyff vurs. in desen selven brieve dot wy den vurss. prior ind gemeynen convente gegeven hebben ind gheven voir uns ind unse erven myt unsen guden vryen willen in eyner rechten steden ind vaster erffliker gifften unse derde deel vanden selven kamp vorss voir wellick derde deell Sie ind oere nakomelynge Alle Jair toe ewigen tiden up sunt Lucien dach der heliger Junfferen Eyn ewige memorie halden ind doen sullen in oeren Cloister vurss. myt vigilien Commendacien ind myssen as dot ghewantlick is ind bidden truiweliken voir Johan uppen Dyck ind Idken syn wyff vorss. voir seligen Johan uppen Dyck ind seligen Jutten syns wyffs mynre ailderen Johans vurss. unde voir seliger Empsen uppen Dyck sielen ind voir seligen Engelbrechts Renwalts ind Gilliken syns wyffs sielen mynre ailderen Idken vurss. ind voirt dair wy des voir begerende synt ind dot alsoe ten ewigen tyden sunder ennyge versumenysse ind hyr up hebn wy vertegen ind rechte vertichnysse gedaen voir uns ind unse erven vanden alyngen kamp vorss. alz twe deell dair van toe koip ind dot derdedeell ter ghiffte so vurss. steit ind hebn den upgedragen ind upgedragen den myt alle synree tobehorynge den prior ind convent vurss. ind aren nakomelyngen myt alle den rechten ind vorderingen die wy dair an hadden ind in allen alsuliken rechten alz die gelegen is ind bekennen uns noch unsen erven dairan voirt meir geyn recht toe hebn noch toe beholden. Sander alle arglist ind dis toe orkunde ind tuge der wairheit heb ich Johan uppen Dyck meynen segell voir my ind myn erven ind umb beden wille Idkens myns wyffs vorss. mede voir sie ind oir erven des ich Idken vurss. hyrinne toe gebraken an desen brieff gehangen. gegeven inden Jair ons heren dusent vierhondert vier ind tsevenich up den neisten dondredach na sunte Thomas doge Aposteli." The following is as good a translation as I have been able to make of those parts of the deed that chiefly interest us, beginning with the words, voir wellick derde deell : " For which third share, they (the prior of the cloister and his associates) and their successors shall perpetually on St. Lucien's day in every year for all time hold a memorial service in their said cloister as is customary, and shall faithfully pray for the souls of Johan op den Dyck and his said wife Ida ; of the late Johan op den Dyck and his late wife Judith, the parents of me the said Johan; of the late Emma op den Dyck; and for the souls of the late Engelbrecht Renwalts and his wife Gilliken, the parents of me the said Ida. * * * * Free from all fraud; and to execute this, and in witness of the truth thereof, I Johan op den Dyck have attached my seal to this instrument, for me and my heirs, with the consent of my said wife Ida, given for her and her heirs, that is, of me the said Ida here present. Given in the year of Our Lord one thousand four hundred and four-and-seventy on the Thursday next after St.-Thomas-the-Apostle's Day."

Dr. Harless has furnished a copy of this deed, and has added a certificate to this effect." The accurate agreement of the foregoing copy with the original, (on which is found the known Opdyck family seal), is here and hereby attested. Dusseldorf, 22 July 1887. Royal Prussian Archive Office, Harless. "

1476-7, Johan paid a contribution to St. Willibrord's on account of a garden. (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 37, no. 2.)

1480, paid money to same church for making his will..... (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 37, no. 2.)

20 - WESEL OP DEN DYCK.

1486-1499, served eight years as Mint-warden of the Duchy of Cleves The following is a translation of one of the memoranda of his accountings with the Clevish Mint-master : " Item: I, Johan op den Dyck, have had an accounting on my gracious lord's behalf, with hisGrace's Mint-master, Master Herbert; on the Friday after Sacrament Day 1486, the mint treasure amounted to 3,112 Marks, which in money equals 300 gulden and 6 stivers over, to his Grace's account etc. Item: on the aforesaid accounting which I had with my lord's Grace at Cleves, Master Herbert was left debtor to my lord's Grace 100 current gulden etc. Item: my lord's Grace sent 100 gulden to Wachtendonck. Item: His Grace brought to Cleves, according to his Grace's writing, 200 gulden on the Sunday after Sacrament Day 1486. Item: the Mint-master, Master Herbert, also remained debtor to my lord's Grace for 86 gulden and 13 stivers."

The document bears an evidently contemporaneous endorsement, "Hand-writing of Johan op den Dyck as Mint-warden." (Cleve. Mint Acs. D.)

1488, Dec. 3, "the Honorable Burgomaster Johan op den Dyck" rented land of one Algerden ........................... (Urk. D., cert. c.)

1503. In the account book of this date the yearly payment on account of Johan's house in the Stone Way Ward is entered in the name of his heirs. The discrepancy between his apparent death in 1503 and his attestation of a deed as Schepen in 1504, is explained by the fact that the fiscal year included the first few months of the next calendar year. The payment by his heirs must have been made early, and the deed attested, still earlier, in 1504 .............. . . . . (Ac. Bks. D.)

1507, the house of "the late Johan op den Dyck" is spoken of as being in the Great Market Place ................................ (Urk. D.)

Children.

During the two centuries prior to 1505, we have found the office of Schepen at Wesel held for successive periods that never overlap, by Henric <1>, by his son Deric <2>, by his grandson Johan <3>, and by his great-grandson Johan <4>. The inference that the charter of 1359 forbidding hereditary schepenship had become inoperative and that the post passed regularly from father to son at the time of the second Johan's death, is confirmed by the fact that schepen elections were established only by a charter granted a few years afterward, in 1514. The office being therefore practically hereditary at the death of Johan, we should confidently expect to find him succeed as Schepen by a son, if he had one. Now between 1469 and 1514 the Wesel records make almost yearly mention of a Gysbert op den Dyck, always in connection with affairs appropriate to a man of the Schepen class. He does not appear in the office before the death of Johan <4>, but after that event we find him attesting documents as Schepen with a seal bearing his name and the same arms used by four generations of the family before him - that is, by the Schepens Johan <4>, Johan <3>, Deric <2>, and Henric <1>. We may conveniently designate this new op den Dyck Schepen as Gysbert <5>. From his succession to the hereditary office and his use of the hereditary arms of Johan <4> we conclude that he was the latter's son. The proof is made stronger by

5TH GENERATION; GYSBERT OP DEN DYCK. - 21

the facts that he named his eldest son Johan, and that in 1518, after his death, his heirs made the payment on the Stone Way Ward house made, during every other year of its continuance, by Johan <4> or the heirs of Johan <4>.

In 1503-5 the name "Johan op den Dyck the Younger" occurs on the same page of the records with that of Johan <4>, and we infer that he was another son of Johan <4>. He may be designated as Johan <5>. That he was a younger son appears probable from the fact that he did not act as Schepen, and is not mentioned in the records until long after the beginning of the continuous entries relating to his brother Gysbert <5>.

1. Gysbert <5>.

2. Johan <5>.

1503-10, received from city Christmas gifts of wine customarily given to its officers; probably was a Town Councillor of Wesel.. . . (Ac. Bks. D.)

1516-19, received out of the city "Fat Scales "a yearly sum of 15 gulden.

1520-24, his widow Aletta continued to receive the same yearly sum, in place of which she accepted in 1525 a capital sum of 300 gulden. (Ac. Bks. D.)

GYSBERT <5> OP DEN DYCK.

Son of Johan op den Dyck, page 15; son of Johan op den Dyck, page 11; son of Deric op den Dyck, page 8; son of Henric op den Dyck, page 3.

Born about 1447; died early in 1513; married Helena ....

He was ten times elected one of the Town Treasurers of Wesel, held the office of, Schepen after his father's death, and received from the city, as had three generations of his ancestors, the usual salary and Christmas gifts of wine. His appearance in the records less often and somewhat less conspicuously than his father and grandfather may be explained by the fact that Johan <4> continued very active in public affairs almost to the end of an uncommonly long life, and was survived by Gysbert only nine years. Gysbert acted as agent for the disbursement of church money, and for long periods received an annuity from the city; he was probably well-to-do.

To the student of the records he is one of the most interesting of the eight Wesel ancestors of the American settler Gysbert, whose baptismal name he was the first of them to bear. He forms the connecting link between the earlier or mediaeval group of op den Dycks whose descent is proved by documents, and the later group, the chief evidence of whose descent is found in their continuous yearly payment to, and receipt from, the city of certain identifiable sums of money. In 1492 (the year of the discovery of America), Gysbert began to pay an annual sum to the city on account of a house of his near the Mathena Church, the continuance of which by four generations of the family first enabled us to push the descent of the American settler's father beyond what seemed the insuperable obstacle placed in our way by the destruction of all the early birth registers of Wesel.

22 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

In the records printed below, we find three series of almost continuous yearly mentions of Gysbert coming to an end in 1513, and, as he nowhere appears later, we conclude that he died in that year. The city account book for 1512, in which the payment on the Mathena house is entered for the first time in the name of Gysbert's heirs, includes the first few months of 1513, and the payment in question must have been made early in 1513, and not in 1512.

Although the official use of the German language had become well established in Gysbert's time, Latin was still occasionally employed, and it was the happy accident of his name as treasurer appearing in the two languages in two separate record-books of the same date, that led us to discover the identity between de Dyck and op den Dyck, and so enabled us to trace the line of ancestry through the five previous generations back to the Schepen Henric <1>.

In 1514, the year after Gysbert's death, the Duke of Cleves granted to Wesel a new charter renewing the obsolete prohibition against hereditary schepenship, and prescribing the form of future elections. This form is described by Gantesweiler, the chronicler of Wesel, as follows:

On the Monday after Reminiscere Sunday, the election was to be held, having been announced by the city officers in all parts of the town, days in advance. The magistrates assembled in the Town Hall at nine A. M., upon the first ringing of the bells of St. Willibrord's, and listened to the reading of the new charter; then, upon the second ringing of the bells, they went to church. The people being already assembled, those that had not the rights of citizenship must depart at the third ringing; the remainder listened to the reading of the charter, and then divided themselves in the four quarters of the church, according to the city ward to which they respectively belonged. In each section passage-ways were made with gates of entrance and exit, before each of which stood a citizen to see that none voted twice. The clerks recorded the votes, counted them, and had the successful candidates notified of their election. The twelve electors thus chosen then repaired to the Town Hall, where an oath was administered to them by the older of the retiring burgomasters, who laid the city seal, and the key of the archives upon the table in their presence, and returned to his home. Thereupon the electors chose twelve new schepens, who being notified by a city official, came at once to the Town Hall, took the oath of office, and selected from their number two burgomasters, one for the city proper, and one for outside matters. The new schepens then chose six councillors, from whom and six other councillors elected by the twelve electors, (all having taken the oath), the new schepens selected two new city treasurers, one for the city and one for the Mathena suburb. The proceedings often lasted till midnight. * * * At about nine o'clock on the morning of the following Wednesday, the bells of St. Willibrord's were rung twice, whereupon the new magistrates, all dressed in blue mantles with an ornament of thin golden cord, marched together from the Town Hall to church, there to listen to an appropriate sermon, in which they were besought to administer equal justice without respect of persons, and received the preacher's good wishes for their prosperous magistracy.

In this way the Wesel elections were conducted without change for two

5TH GENERATION; GYSBERT OP DEN DYCK. - 23

hundred years, until the father of Frederick the Great, whose family had succeeded to the rights of the Dukes of Cleves, substituted a system of royal appointment.

The coming Reformation had not yet begun in Gysbert's life-time, and, in spite of the abuses and corruptions that 'had crept into the Church, the people were for the most part faithful to their old beliefs. Shortly before 1500, two citizens of the town traveled to Jerusalem in order to visit the places where Christ had suffered. They measured the distance of these places from each other and from Jerusalem, and on their return erected as a memorial, in what became the Mathena suburb, various stations marked with crosses, images and paintings, before which the passer-by might pay his devotions. This Mathena suburb, which took its name from Matten or meadows with which it was originally covered, was gradually built upon as the city grew in size, and was early enclosed by a moat and wall.

Although sadly mutilated, the specimen of Gysbert's seal given in our illustration opposite page 10 is the best that we have found, and shows the family arms with sufficient clearness. Of his name, inscribed around the shield, only the word op can be distinguished with certainty, but the eye can still find traces of den Dick also.

Records.

1469-72, Gysbert was annually paid 10 gulden by the city out of the rent on its house in the Bridge Street, formerly belonging to Henric van Galen ...................................(Ac. Bks. D. )

1473-1506, was ten times elected one of the two City Treasurers, and was paid the usual salary........... (C. C. D.; B. B. D.; Ac. Bks. D.)

1476-1513, received from the city in most of these years a yearly Christmas gift of from two to eight quarters of wine ........... (Ac. Bks. D.)

1492, acted as agent for disbursement of church money . .. . . (Ac. Bk. D.)

1492-1511 (excepting two years in which the account books are respectively missing and rat-eaten), Gysbert paid the city two shillings yearly on account of a house of his near the school by the Mathena Church... (Ac. Bks. D.)

1501-1513 (excepting one year in which the account book is missing), there is continuous record of an annuity of 10 gulden due to Gysbert from the city . (Ac. Bks. D.)

1510-1513, between these years we find deeds attested and sealed by Gysbert as Schepen. (Urk. D.)

1512-37 (excepting 1526, when it stands credited to "Helliken opp Dyck, widow"), Gysbert's payment on the Mathena house is made in the name of his heirs; but, as we know that in 1513, on the "Thursday after the Conversion of St. Paul " (about Feb. 1) Gysbert was present at a city leasing meeting (Wesel Rent Bk. D.), and further that the fiscal year 1512 included the first few months of 1513, we conclude that the first of these payments by his heirs was not made until after 1 Feb., 1513 ............... .... (Ac. Bks. D.)

1518, the payment regularly made by Johan (4) and then by his heirs on the Stone Way Ward house, is this year entered in the name of Gysbert's heirs................................... (Ac. Bk. D.)

24 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

Children.

We find that a Johan op den Dyck was annually elected a schepen of Wesel, 1541-1553, and that during these years he attested many documents with a seal bearing his name and the same arms as those of Gysbert <5> and four generations of schepen forefathers. Although the office had been made elective, the electors in their choice would naturally recognize the fitness of a man whose ancestors had held the post continuously during two cent and a half, and whose own title to it had accrued before it ceased to hereditary. This new Johan was also thrice elected Burgomaster. His use of the arms of the earlier op den Dycks, and his appearance in the offices that they had so long held, leads us to believe that he was their direct descendant, the son of Gysbert (5). The matter is removed from doubt through the continuance by this Johan and his brother Lodowick of the payment formerly made by Gysbert <5> on account of the house near the Mathena Church. These two sons of Gysbert <5> may be conveniently designated as Johans and Lodowick <6>. The form and continuity of the payments prove that the property on which they were made was an hereditary possess` and leave no room for a reasonable question that Johan' and Lodowick' sons of Gysbert <5>. To show more clearly the significance of their payments on the Mathena house, we give a table of all the payments made by the family upon it.

1492-1512, Gysbert <5>.

1513-1537 (excepting 1526, when the payment is in the name of Helena opp Dyck, widow of Gysbert <5>), the heirs of Gysbert <5>.

1538-1545, Lodowick <6>. In the first few years of this period, the entry reads, "the heirs of Gysbert op den Dyck now Lodowick op den Dyck."

1546-1571 (excepting 1557, when the payment is made in the names of Lodowick alone), Lodowick <6> and Johan <6> jointly. Contemporaneous records show that these men were brothers and operated a mill together. It also appears that Johan died in 1553; after his death it was natural that the payments on property held by him and his brother jointly should be continued by the survivor, Lodowick as in their joint name: In 1563 other records mention Lodowick as concerned in common interests with the heirs of his brother Johan. Lodowick died in 1571.

1572-1598, the heirs of Lodowick <6> and Johan <6>, (excepting in 1597, when the entry is in the name of the heirs of Lodowick <6>.)

1599-1615, a Lodowick op den Dyck whom we shall call Lodowick<8> and show to have been a grandson of Lodowick <5>.

The yearly sum of ten gulden that had been paid to Gysbert <5> from 1469 almost continuously down to his death in 1513, and after that year to his

5TH GENERATION; GYSBERT OP DEN DYCK. - 25

heirs, was paid in 1528 to Johan <6> ^" on account of his sister Arentheit," and in 1529 to Johan <6> on account of his brother-in-law Johan van Orell."

1. Johan <6>. Being mentioned in 1528 in connection with affairs that imply maturity on his part, he must have been born as early as 1498; from the age of his father we may place the date of his birth still earlier, about 1486. The year after his death his widow, Helena, appointed four men to act as her attorneys. Johan's seal is the one numbered 6 on the plate opposite page 10. It is larger than those of his ancestors, and bears, in addition to the family arms on a shield of ornamental form, a crested helmet. The shape and position of this helmet indicate that the user of the arms held the rank of esquire or gentleman. The crown above the helmet has no significance; above the crown is the crest proper, consisting of the breast, neck, and head of a swan. In the original wax seal, the bird is seen to be "lambent," that is, with its tongue protruding. The scroll-like ornaments on each side of the shield are what are known in heraldry as lambrequins, and serve only as embellishments, although at one time they probably stood for the leather trappings of the helmet. In early heraldry the crest was personal to the man that bore it, and was usually granted to him as a reward for some conspicuous military service. At the time of this seal, the middle of the sixteenth century, crests seem to have become hereditary, and we cannot be sure that this swan's head was not borne by the earlier op den Dycks of Wesel, because in their time it was not customary to engrave the crest upon the seal.

1533-53, Johan received almost continuously from the city a yearly Christmas gift of wine .......................... (Ac. Bks. D.)

1535, paid five gulden to the city ....................... (Ac. Bk. D.)

1535, 40, 53, was elected second or extra-mural Burgomaster. . (C. C. D.; B. B. D.; Ac. Bks. D.)

1537, was several times a witness to city leases.(Wesel Rent Bk. D., cert. cop.)

1541-53, was annually elected a Schepen ...... (C. M. D.; Ac. Bks. D.)

1543, Dec. 18, reported to Council payment to Treasurer of Duke of Cleves of 1,000 thaler, and receipt therefor ..........(C. M. D.)

1544, July 1, deposited in City Chest receipts for outstanding debt contracted by Duke of Cleves in war against Burgundian'. (C. M. D.)

1544-52, often mentioned in connection with his brother Lodowick', whose records see below.

1545, Oct. 20, gave Council information about new dike to be built at Meer. (C. M. D.) 1553, June 1, as Burgomaster, went to Bisslich to examine new dike there, and to superintend election of dike-inspector; spent money for a half a cask of beer on this occasion.... ....... (Ac. Bk. D.) July 1, died," nocte intempesta" (on a stormy night). (Ac. Bk. D).

2. Lodowick <6>.

3. Arentheit, apparently married to Johan van Orell, 1528-29; mentioned as alive in 1563, when she applied to Council for alleged arrears of annuity. (C. M. D.)

26 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

LODOWICK <6> OP DEN DYCK.

Son of Gysbert op den Dyck, page 21; son of Johan op den Dyck, page 15; son of Johan op den Dyck, page 11; son of Deric op den Dyck, page 8; son of Henric op den Dyck, page 3.

Born about 1492; died 27 May, 1571; married Aletta Zailen, 1522.

Held the post of Werkmeister, an office corresponding to that of a modern Commissioner of Public Works, and involving the superintendence of the fortification and building done by the city. As Werkmeister Lodowick controlled the disbursement of considerable sums of money, and received a yearly salary of twenty-five thalers. He also served one year, at a like salary, as Municipal Inspector of the master butchers of the city.

The earliest direct mention of Lodowick occurs in a deed of 1523, whereby he and his wife Aletta charge their house in the Bridge Street, between the houses of Elverick and Voewynckel, with a yearly payment of five gulden to one Pelsser. They had the year before received the house as a gift from Aletta's mother, Gesina Swartwalt, with the consent of her brother Gerlich and her sister Anna, and the circumstances of the gift point clearly to a marriage settlement. To bestow a house upon the newly married couple, the bride's family must have been people of means, and the bridegroom's position in Wesel honorable. Bridge Street was and still is the chief street of the town, and, as has been said, leads from the Great Market Place towards the Mathena Church, (see very small number 64 on the plate opposite). The house "near the Mathena Church," on which yearly payments were made by four successive generations of op den Dycks including Lodowick, is spoken of as in the Sand Street, (see very small number 55 on the same plate). The two streets intersect (at large number 3) and it is not improbable that Lodowick's house stood on or near the corner. From deeds of 1522 and 1530, mentioned in the records below, we see that Aletta's father must have been a Zailen, dead in 1521, and that her mother Gesina must have married a second husband, Saliken Swartwalt.

By their deed of 1530, Lodowick and Aletta granted a rent-charge to the Burgomaster at Wesel, as patron of one of the twenty-nine vicaries in Willibrord's Church. These were private endowments for the purpose of providing a series of special religious services, commonly in honor of some particular saint. Each vicary supported the priest having charge of the services, who was called a vicar. In this matter of religious benefaction Lodowick followed what we have seen to be the generous example of his ancestors.

In the table given above we saw that the annual payment made on the Mathena house by Gysbert <5> was continued by his heirs and his widow after his death down to 1538. In that year there seems to have been a settlement of the estate, his son Lodowick taking the house in question, and beginning to make the yearly payment on it.

6TH GENERATION; LODOWICK OP DEN DYCK. - 27

In 1544, Lodowick and his brother Johan, the Schepen, were directed by the Council to pay a debt owing from them jointly to St. John's Hospital, and in the next two years a disagreement of some kind arose between the brothers in regard to their joint affairs. In 1545 we find Lodowick promising to pay all that is due his brother, and "within eight days to enter into negotiations with him touching the mill " operated by them together. There was an attempt to bring about an arbitration, but the trouble continued, and finally reached its height on the last day of May, 1546, when Lodowick and his son were driven by Johan into the Lion Ward. Both parties were bound over to keep the peace for one year and six weeks, the obligation being taken by shaking hands with the Burgomaster. As to the nature and merits of the original controversy, we have no evidence other than the fact that in the next year Johan seems to have been admitted to a share in the Mathena house, for the payments on it begin to be made by the two brothers jointly. Lodowick's conduct in this disagreement can hardly have been blameworthy, for it was only two years afterward that he began to hold the office of Werkmeister above referred to. The op den Dyck mill is often ten mentioned in the records. In 1552, the year before Johan's death, Lodowick and he made an arrangement with the Council under which they were to receive a subvention for the repair of the "Dyck" mill on the river Lippe. In 1563 a vote was passed by the Council, apparently to prepare for threatened war, directing Lodowick and the heirs of Johan to put the mill in working order, and to pay the city what was due upon it. Our plan of Wesel, drawn by the geographer Mercator in 1585, and given in reduced form just above, shows only one mill on the Lippe (see large number 4 on the plan), probably the same as that operated by Lodowick and his brother. During his first visit to Wesel, in November, 1887, the writer found standing on this site an ancient wind-mill, and had it photographed in the hope to td identify it with its predecessors of 1552 and 1585, with the old mill called "Johan op den Dyck's Mill Tower" in 1422, and even with the stone mill, a half share in which was sold in 1394 by the priest Henric op den Dyck (perhaps a brother of Deric <2>) to the Burgomaster of Wesel, and which was then described in the deed as standing on the city walls. An extended search failed to bring any further evidence to light, but it seems wholly probable that all these mills occupied the same position.

After ter Johan's death, the payments on the Mathena house continued to be made in the name of the two brothers jointly until the death of the survivor, Lodowick, in 1571. There is no mention of any children of Johan, and these payments after his death were doubtless made by Lodowick alone, a probability that is strengthened by the fact that one of the series of joint entries stands in his name only. From 1572 to 1599 the payments are in the name of the heirs of both brothers, except in 1597, when the credit stands in the name of the heirs of Lodowick. Our conclusion that Lodo-

28 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

wick was more actively interested in the property than his brother Johan, is confirmed by the succession in 1599 of Lodowick's grandson in making the annual payment.

Toward the end of Lodowick's life the activity of Wesel in favor of the Protestant cause attracted the enmity of the Spaniards, and an attack being threatened, it was decided to extend the fortifications of the town so as to include several outlying suburbs. The citizens were called upon to assist in the work, under penalty of a fine in case of failure to present themselves for duty at six o'clock in the morning. Their labor seems, however, to have of little service, and it was soon found better to assess upon them the cost of employing workmen in their stead, and to replace the two Town Councilmen that had superintended the work, by the trained services of Lodowick op den Dyck as Werkmeister. To meet these expenses, a special fortification tax was levied, and the list stating the names of the burg the wards in which they lived, and the sums due from each, is preserved in the Dusseldorf Archive Office. In it both Lodowick and his son Gysbert appear as of the Cow Gate Ward, early so called from the fact that the city gate situated in it was the one through which, when the town was smaller the cows were driven out to pasture in the fields, Matten, lying about and beyond the Mathena Church. At this time the pasture fields had been covered by houses, and composed the Mathena suburb, but the original name was still retained. Both wall and gate have long since disappeared, and the place is now near the geographical centre of the city.

The last direct mention of Lodowick is in 1571, when money was paid to Willibrord's Church for ringing the great bells on the occasion of his death. During his life-time occurred the capture by the Duke of Cleves of the city of Munster then held by the sect of Anabaptists, 1535. The assistance rendered by Wesel to its feudal lord on this and many other occasions was the more creditable, because under their free charter of 1277 the citizens were not bound to make any warlike expedition at their own cost, or against their will, or unless they could return the same night to Wesel.

Records.

1523, Apr. 14, Lodowick and his wife Aletta charge their house in the Bridge Street with a yearly charge of 5 gulden to one Pelsser. The deed recites a deed of gift of the year before whereby Gesina, relict of late Saliken Swartwalt, bestowed said house upon her daugher

Aletta and Lodowick jointly................. (Urk. D., cert. cop.)

1530, July 26, they charged their same house with a further yearly payment of 2 gulden to Burgomaster of Wesel as patron of the vicary of Saints Isabel and Florian in Willibrord's. The deed recites a prior deed of 1521, whereby Roeloff Zailen had surrender his share (apparently in this property) to his brothers and sisters Johan Gerlich, Aletta, and Anna Zailen............ (Urk. D., cert. cop.)

1538-1571, Lodowick, sometimes alone and sometimes jointly with his brother Johan, continued the yearly payment on the house near the

6TH GENERATION; LODOWICK OP DEN DYCK. - 29

Mathena church, that had been previously made by Gysbert <5>, his widow, and his heirs........................ . . , .(Ac. Bks. D.)

1541, Lodowick paid the city 2 gulden for a year's use of a small meadow, called "the Holt Meadow .......................... (Ac. Bk. D.)

1544, Apr. 23, Johan and his brother Lodowick were directed by the Council to pay their debt to St. John's Hospital, on pain of distraint of their meadow................................ (C. M. D., fol. 16)

1545, Sept. 30, Lodowick promised the Council to pay all that was due to his brother, and in eight days to enter into negotiations with him touching their mill .......................... (C. M. D., fol. 25.)

1546, May 11, the brothers agreed before the Council to the appointment of two men on each side to arbitrate the differences between them.. (C. M. D., fol. 11.) June 2, Johan on one side and Lodowick and his son on the other, are bound over to keep the peace mutually for one year and six weeks, by shaking hands with the Burgomaster, but without prejudice to any future penalty due to the city or to the Duke for Johan's violence in having driven Lodowick and his son into the Lion Ward " the day before yesterday.............................. (C. M. D., fol. 16)

1548, Nov. 27, Lodowick was appointed city Werkmeister (Commissioner of Public Works) at a a salary of 20 thalers..... (C. M. D., fol. 37.)

1549, Lodowick received from the city a salary of 20 thalers as Municipal Inspector of the master butchers of Wesel ............ (Ac. Bk. D.) 1552, May 3, Lodowick and Johan made an arrangement with the Council whereby they were to receive from the city a subvention in aid of the repair of the "Dyck" mill on the river Lippe...(C. M. D., fol. 10.)

1560, Lodowick was again appointed and took the oath as Commissioner of Public Works ............................... (C. M. D., fol. 34.)

1561-6, received as Commissioner a yearly salary of 25 thalers. . (Ac. Bks. D.)

1563, Mch. 8, Lodowick and the heirs of his brother Johan were directed by the Council to put their water mill in working order, and to pay the rent therefor .................................... (C. M. D.)

1568, in a fortification tax list Lodowick is mentioned as of the Cow Gate Ward. The only other op den Dycks in the list are: a Gysbert of the same ward, and a Peter of the Cloister Ward.... (MSS. D, caps. 253, no. 8.)

1571, May 27, money was paid to Willibrord's Church for ringing the great bells on Lodowick's death...(Ch. Arch. W. gef. 37, no 7.)

1572-98, the heirs of Lodowick and Johan make the yearly payment on the Mathena house, except in 1597 when it is credited to the heirs of Lodowick. In 1574 the house is described as in the Sand Street.. (Ac-Bks. D.)

Children.

The yearly payments on the Mathena house having been made successively by Gysbert <5>, his widow, his heirs, his sons Lodowick' and Johan', and then by their heirs, it is clear, as has been before stated, that the property was an hereditary possession, and we therefore conclude that the next succeeding holder of it (whom we have found to be a second Lodowick op den Dyck and shall call Lodowick$), was a descendant of one of the last joint proprietors, Lodowick <6> and Johan <6>. We shall show later that this Lodowick <8> was a son of a Gysbert op den Dyck, whom we may conveniently designate as

30 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

Gysbert <7>. That this Gysbert <7> was a son of Lodowicke, we have the following evidence:

a. Gysbert <7> is mentioned shortly after the death of Lodowick <6> as having inherited the house settled upon Lodowicke by Gesina Swartwalt in 1522.

b. The widow and then the heir of Gysbert <7> succeed to the receipt of an annuity that had been previously paid during its whole continuance to the widow of Lodowick <6>.

c. A son of Gysbert <7> continued the Mathena house payments that had been before made by Lodowicke and his father Gysbert'.

d. Gysbert <7> was often elected Commissioner of Public Works, an office that had been repeatedly held by Lodowicke.

e. Gysbert <7> lived in the same city ward in which Lodowick <6> had lived.

f. Gysbert bore the same baptismal name as that of the father of Lodowick <6>, and gave to his son the same baptismal name as that of Lodowick <6>, in accord with the well known custom of naming a son for his paternal grandfather.

In 1574 we find Gysbert and his wife Maria Ryswyck joining in a lease with his sister Anna and her husband Deric Kalenbuiter.

1. Gysbert. <7>

2. Anna, the wife of Deric Kalenbuiter, mentioned only in the lease of 1574.

GYSBERT <7> OP DEN DYCK.

Son of Lodowick op den Dyck, page 26; son of Gysbert op den Dyck, page 21; son of Johan op den Dyck, page 15; son of Johan op den Dyck, page 11; son of Deric op den. Dyck, page 8; son of Henric op den Dyck, page 3.

Born about 1528; died 19 April, 1585; married Maria Ryswick.

He was seven times elected Town Councillor from the Cow Gate Ward, was Supervisor of the City Poor one year, and for the last six years of his life served and received salary as Werkmeister or Commissioner of Public Works, an office held by his father before him. As Supervisor and Commissioner he received from the city the usual Christmas gifts of wine. His wife acted one year as Inspectress of city washerwomen, and as such received a like gift. He appears as of the Cow Gate Ward on two fortification tax lists, in 1568 as paying the tax (see Lodowick <6>) and in 1582 as excused from contributing by reason of his services as Commissioner of Public Works. He was busied with the construction of the very works to pay for which the tax was levied, and it is pleasant to think that to his skill and energy the city in part owed its strong walls and picturesque towers, shown in the drawing made by Mercator in the year of Gysbert's death, and reproduced in the illustration opposite this page.

In the midst of his official work, Gysbert's next neighbor in the Cow Gate Ward, the widow van Elverick, brought suit against him, and obtained` judgment that he repair the party wall between her house and his. The court record incidentally mentions that he had inherited the house in question, and there is no reason to doubt that it was identical with the one set,

7TH GENERATION; GYSBERT OP DEN DYCK. - 31

tled upon his father and mother on their marriage in 1522, and then described as next to the house of a van Elverick in the Cow Gate Ward. We infer that Gysbert's efforts to put the city in a state of defense had prevented him from giving due attention to his private affairs. It was probably owing to the same reason and to the general disturbances of the time 'the estate of his father was not settled until after Gysbert's death, and that during his life-time we find the payments on the Mathena house entered in the name of the heirs of his father and uncle.

In 1585 Gysbert's name appears on the account book of St. Willibrord's among the very few citizens on whose death the great bells of the church were rung. Wesel was still a Romanist town when he came into the world; before he died it had become Protestant. The reader may be interested in some of the incidents of this mighty change.

The Romish Church at Wesel had followed the corrupting tendencies of the period. Divine honors had been paid to St. Anthony, and in 1517, the year in which Luther launched his ninety-five propositions, an attempt was made to introduce trade in dispensations by bringing the relics of St. Willibrord to Wesel. Meanwhile the new leaven was working ; the pastor of a church near by began to preach the evangelical religion, and in 1521 his example was followed at Wesel by some Dominican Monks. Two years later Clarenbach,-who is said to have anticipated some of the teachings of Luther, Melancthon, and Zwingle, was made associate rector of the Wesel school, but was soon banished as a heretic, and, after four years of wandering and preaching, was burned alive at Cologne in 1529. His cruel fate impressed his doctrines only the more deeply upon the citizens of Wesel who had personally known his pious life, and many of them deserted the Romish churches to listen to the new teaching at a neighboring town. The Reformed preachers had still, however, to observe great caution, and when one of them acknowledged in a sermon his friendship for Luther, the women of his congregation seized their chairs to hurl at him; and another, who had come to Wesel, was ordered to leave the city before sun-set. For a time the town magistrates remained true to the old faith, and caused some of Luther's books to be publicly burned in 1529. In the following year they were moved by a more tolerant spirit, and treated gently a preacher who maintained that purgatory was a human invention to fill the purses of the priests. To check the growing movement, the Romanists bribed a woman to declare that she had been possessed of a devil, and miraculously cured by a pilgrimage to the chapel of St. Anthony in the Mathena. When this fraud was exposed, the Church lost much of its dignity at Wesel, and the indulgence-sellers were driven from the city under threat that their ears and noses would be cut off if they returned; for this purpose knives were hung up at the gates, and were still hanging there in 1700.

Now zealous to introduce Protestant teaching, the magistrates filled the pulpit of St. Willibrord's with a Reformed preacher, at a yearly salary of 60 gulden, 40 loads of fire-wood, 100 measures of grain, and a new coat. Finally, on Easter Sunday, 1540, the sacrament of communion was public1y administered at that church in both bread and wine to no less than 1,500 people,- an event commemorated by a parchment inscription still hanaging in the Town Hall. Soon this double form of communion was allowed also in the Mathena Church, and the magistrates established a Protestant preacher there, placed him in possession of the lands and rectory of the Romish pastor, and instructed the sacristan to arrest the Prior in

32 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

case he should make any disturbance in support of his right of presentation to the church. The magistrates also abolished the celebration of mass and the hearing of confessions in either of the two churches, forbade the carrying of the cross, and ordained that the German language should be used in performing baptisms. The people tore down and burned a famous wooden image of St. Anthony outside the Cow Gate, and thus put an end to the profit derived from the frequent pilgrimages that its alleged miraculous power had attracted. The schools were filled with eminent Protestant divines, the fame of whose teaching brought many scholars to Wesel, and it was in vain that the Emperor Charles V forbade the inhabitants of the Netherlands to send their children to the town. Besides being a centre of Protestant teaching, the place was regarded as the safest asylum for religious refugees, who flocked there in large numbers. From the brave generosity with which these were received, the town was called "Wesel, the Hospitable," while by the Jesuits it and Rochelle were named "the Devil's two Hells on Earth." One of these visitors returned to his home in Dornick three times, trying in vain to convert his wife and friends. 0n his last visit home, in 1555, when a priest elevated the host in saying mass, the man snatched the cup and broke it under his feet, saying, "Ye foolish people! Do ye take this for the true God!" Imprisoned and condemned to death, he declared that he had learned his belief at Wesel, and an imperial edict was again issued forbidding all trade or other intercourse with the town. But it was impossible to prevent visits from the Netherlanders; Wesel still belonged to the ancient and powerful Hanseatic League, and was an important commercial city, and the merchants coming there continued to hear the teachings of the Reformation, and to carry them back to their homes. In 1556 the town had public Protestant preaching in several languages for the benefit of the strangers within her gates. One of the monuments in Willibrord's Church records a picturesque incident of this period. Among the many refugees that sought shelter at Wesel, were an English baronet, Sir Richard Bertie, and his wife the Duchess of Suffolk, who had been driven from their native land by the persecutions of the Bloody Mary. In 1555, while living in one of the forecourts of the church they were blessed with a son, and gave him the name of Peregrinus from the circumstance of his birth in exile. The boy afterward became commander of Queen Elizabeth's army in the Netherlands, and was raised to the peerage as Viscount Lindsey.

In 1578, the Spanish tyranny subsiding somewhat in the Netherlands, many Dutch and French Protestants returned to their homes. 0n their departure they delivered an address of thanks to the magistrates a and citizens for their hospitality, and also presented to the city two large silver and gold vases, which are still preserved in the Town Hall. The carving of one of these represents Abraham receiving the Angel, the widow receiving Elijah, Zaccheus returning to Christ, and is surmounted by the statuette of a pilgrim, whose shield is inscribed, "I was a stranger and you received me." The other vase is carved with the figures of Lot harboring the angels, the Shunamite receiving Elisha, and Lydia entertaining Paul, and bears another statuette of a pilgrim, upon whose shield are the words, "Lord, protect the celebrated Wesel, the harbor of Thy Church."

Records.

1568, in an official list of this year, Gysbert appears as of the Cow Gate Ward, and as paying a special fortification tax. ..(MSS. D., caps. 253, no 8.)

1568-1578, was eight times elected Town Councillor from the Gate Ward ........ (C. M. D.)

7TH GENERATION; GYSBERT OP DEN DYCK. - 33

1572, as Supervisor of the City Poor, received from the city, a Christmas gift of two quarters of wine ........................ (Ac. Bk. D.)

1574, Feb. 22, Gysbert and his wife Maria Ryswick lease a garden in Wesel jointly with his sister Anna and her husband Deric Kalenbuiter... (Urk. D., cert. copy)

1579-85, as Commissioner of Public Works received from the city a yearly salary of twenty-five thalers ....................... (Ac. Bks. D.)

1580-85, received from the city a yearly Christmas gift of two quarters of wine. In the first of these years his wife received an additional two quarters as Inspectress of Washerwomen ............ (Ac. Bks. D.)

1582, Apr. 23, Gysbert's neighbor, the widow van Elverick, obtained a judgment against him to the effect that he repair the party wall between her house and his, which he is incidentally said to have inherited . (C. M. D.)

May 29, in an official list of this date Gysbert appears as of the Cow Gate Ward, and as excused from paying a special fortification tax because of his service as Commissioner of Public Works. . (MSS. D. caps. 62, no. 1.)

1585, Apr. 19, one thaler was paid to Willibrord's Church for ringing the great bells on the occasion of Gysbert's death.. (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 37, no. 7.)

Children.

Gysbert's mother and widow were succeeded in the receipt of certain annuities from the city by a Lodowick op den Dyck, whom we have called Lodowick <8>, and who is mentioned as the heir of Gysbert. The annuities were four in number: one of four and a half gulden, which we may designate as Annuity A; and three of smaller sums, which we shall call Annuities B. The force of this evidence will be better seen if we present the payments in tabular form.

Annuity "A" was paid: Annuities " B " were paid

1599-1602 to Lodowick op den Dyck's widow; to Lodowick op den Dyck's widow;

1603-1607 to Lodowick op den Dyck's widow, to Gysbert op den Dyck's widow;

1608 to Gysbert op den Dyck's Erven; to Gysbert op den Dyck's Erven;

1610-1614 to Gysbert op den Dyck's Erven, to Gysbert op den Dyck's Erven,

now Lodowick op den Dyck. now Lodowick op den Dyck

1615 to The New School in place of Gys- to The New School in place of Gys-

bert op den Dyck's Erven namely bert op den Dyck's Erven namely

Lodowick op den Dyck. Lodowick op den Dyck.

(The account book for 1609 is missing.)

The only Lodowick op den Dyck appearing on the records of this period as dead, is Lodowick <6>, who died in 1571, and there is no reason to doubt that it was his widow that began to receive these annuities in 1599, apparently on the settlement of the family estate. The only Gysbert op den Dyck who appears at this time as dead, and whose widow could have been still alive, is Lodowick's son Gysbert <7>, who died in 1585, and our conclusion that it was he to whose widow Annuities "B" were paid 1603-7, and to whose Erven all four annuities were paid in 1608, is confirmed by the previous payment of them to the widow of his father Lodowick <6>. The old German word Erven, used in these account books for "heir," has the same form in both singular and plural. That the singular was here meant is

34 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

shown by the entry of 1615, which records the payment of all the annuities to "The New School in place of Gysbert op den Dyck's Erven namely Lodowick op den Dyck." In German, as in English, the word heir was commonly used to mean son, and, as Lodowick' is the only Lodowick op den Dyck found in Wesel at this time, we conclude that he was the son and heir of Gysbert <7>.

The proof does not rest, however, on these payments alone. We also find that:

a. Lodowick <8> was admitted to citizenship the very year of the death of Gysbert <7>.

b. Lodowick <8> continued the Mathena house payments that had been made successively by the grandfather and father of Gysbert.<7>

c. Lodowick <8> lived in the same city ward in which lived both Gysbert <7> and the father of Gysbert <7>.

d. Lodowick <8> bore the same baptismal name as that of the father of Gysbert <7>, and gave to his only recorded son the baptismal name of Gysbert <7>, in accord with the custom, above referred to, of naming sons of their paternal grandfathers.

1. Lodowick <8>.

LODOWICK <8> OP DEN DYCK.

Son of Gysbert op den Dyck, page 30; son of Lodowick op den Dyck, page 26; son of Gysbert op den Dyck, page 21; son of Johan op den Dyck, page 15; son of Johan op den Dyck, page 11; son of Deric op den Dyck, page 8; son of Henric op den Dyck, page 3.

Born about 1565; alive in 1615; married Gertrude van Wesek before 1597.

His wife may have been a sister of Nicholas and Deric van Wesek, who were elected Schepens of Wesel in 1603, and who are believed by Dr. Harless to have been descended from a knightly family of the name van Woesik, found in Gelderland as early as the fourteenth century.

There is no record of Lodowick having held any of the offices so often occupied by his ancestors. He appears for the first time, as admitted to citizenship in 1586, upon a page of the Wesel Town Book, of a part of which we give a photographic reproduction opposite. In former times this privilege of burghership was regularly transmitted from father to son, but in the sixteenth century it seems to have become personal to the individual, and a deceased burgher's son wishing to receive it had to be accepted by the Council, and to pay a fee.

For at least a part of the thirty years during which he appears on the Wesel records, Lodowick was engaged in brewing, and was also host of the "Dragon" Inn. An explanation of his undertaking these somewhat humble occupations is to be found in the great decadence suffered by Wesel in his life-time. The prosperity of the city depended on its commerce. In the latter part of this century the long and unsuccessful efforts of Spain to conquer Holland, and political dissensions in other countries, involved

8TH GENERATION; LODOWICK OP DEN DYCK. - 35

Wesel in dangers and difficulties. These were increased, as we shall see, by the confusion arising from the death of the Duke of Cleves without male issue, and finally resulted in the siege, capture, and long occupation of the town by a Spanish force. Some account of these war troubles will be found at the end of this sketch. The burghers saw their substance consumed and their commerce stifled. At such a time it would be natural for a man of active mind to profit by the crowds of strangers that overran the city, and to try, by selling them the necessaries of life, to repair some of the losses occasioned by their hostile presence. We may infer that Lodowick did not lose caste by so doing from the fact that his marriage to a member of the Altbuerger class seems to have occurred after he became a brewer.

The records printed below show Lodowick to have been concerned in several suits before the Council. The incompleteness of the court minutes, and the haste with which they were written, bear testimony to the confusion of the times. The details given are very meager, but we know that one of the suits was brought by Lodowick to recover access to his garden, from which the defendant had sought to exclude him by closing a road-way; Lodowick was denied possession of this road, but was awarded the right of way to his garden. In another case he was granted judgment for nine thalers as the price of three kegs of beer sold to the defendant. Later he brought an action of slander for having been falsely accused of selling short measure. On another occasion he was charged before the Council with the utterance of blasphemy against the Virgin Mary. Although cleared through the testimony of friends, he may have been too outspoken in his zeal against Catholicism. He was also defendant in suits for the violation of city ordinances, relating in one case to the quantity of beer that he had a right to brew and sell, and in another to an obstruction of the street by windows and hooks projecting from his house. There is mention of two other suits in whick he was defendant and plaintiff respectively, but their nature and rsult are unknown.

In 1599 the estates of Lodowick's grandfather Lodowick <6> and great-uncle Johan <6> appear to have been settled. He then began to make the payment on the Mathena house previously made by them and their heirs, and by their father and his heirs. In the same year four annuities, previously paid by the city to a stranger, began to be paid to Aletta, the aged widow of Lodowick <6>, mother of Gysbert <7>, and grand-mother of Lodowick <8>. They were probably bought for her on the settlement of her husband's estate, with the proceeds of a part of his property. She must have been not far from one hundred years old at this time, and the cessation of her annuities after 1607 and her disappearance from the records make it altogether likely that she died in that year. The payment in her life-time of some of these annuities for five years to her son's widow, was doubtless made by her direction, and suggests the existence of pleasant relations between the old

36 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

lady and her daughter-in-law. In 1608 all of these annuities were entered in the name of the heir of Lodowick's father, and thereafter until 1615 in the name of Lodowick as heir. In 1614 Lodowick surrendered the a annuities to the New School recently established in the city, in return for the release of two yearly payments secured by rent-charges upon his house in favor of two certain charities controlled by the city. The next year he made payment for the last time on the Mathena house, and the subsequent payments on it are made in the name of a stranger. His termination of these payments, his surrender of the annuities, and the absence of all subsequent mention of him as living in Wesel, coincide perfectly in time, and support the theory that he left his native town about 1615. That he did not die at this time appears clear from the fact that the records, in continuing to mention him as the predecessor of the New School in the receipt of the annuities, do not contain the customary expression " the late."

Only the year before Lodowick'' disappearance, Wesel had been captured by the Spaniards, and the emigration arising from their occupation of the town is known to have been so great that the population was reduced to a small fraction of its former size. The larger number of the refugees sought an asylum in Holland, the sturdy inhabitants of which country, after years of heroic struggle, had thrown off the Spanish yoke and firmly established their political independence and religious freedom. Intimate relations had long existed between the Protestants of Holland and Wesel, and in the preceding century the town had generously received the crowds of Dutch that were driven out of their native land by the Spanish-Catholic oppressions Holland now returned that hospitality. Most of his fellow emigrants going to the Netherlands, and his son appearing as an officer in the West India Company of that country, it seems more than likely that Lodowick established his new home in Holland, but we are reluctantly compelled to leave to future research both his subsequent life there and the circumstances of his son's emigration to America.

Records.

1586, Apr. 29, Lodowick was admitted to citizenship of Wesel; he paid fee of four thalers, and gave a measure of wine... (B. B. D.; C. M. D.; Ac. Bk.)

1592, Jan. 9, ordered by Council to pay fine of two gulden for violating brewing ordinance.

Apr. 21, began suit for having been excluded from his garden; June 30, in suit against one Wirtz (apparently same suit) was awarded only right of way............................... (C. M. D.)

1597, May 18, had a daughter baptized Margarein Willibrord's Church. (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 74, vol. 1, p. 29)

Nov. 25, pleaded ignorance of former judgment against him, and was excused from paying the penalties, but was ordered to remove his hooks and to make his windows open inward; promised to do so, (C. M. D.)

SIEGES AND CAPTURE OF WESEL. - 37

1599-1615, made yearly payments on the Mathena house, same house on which his grandfather and great-grandfather had previously paid, but often called the "Dragon" during the period of Lodowick's payments........................................... (Ac. Bks. D.)

1599, Dec. 14, obtained judgment and execution against one Hundebeek for nine thalers, the price of three kegs of beer ......... (C. M. D.)

1603, June 15, Lodowick and his wife, Gertrude, had a daughter baptized Maria, in Willibrord's Church -(Ch . Arch. W., gef. 74, vol. 1, p. 79.) Sept. 4, concerned in charge of having uttered blasphemy against the Virgin Mary, but seems to have been cleared through the testimony of friends; incidentally mentioned as host of "Dragon " inn. (C. M. D.) 1605, Sept. 25, Lodowick and his wife, Gertrude, had a son baptized Gysbert, in Willibrord's Church. (Ch. Arch. W.; gef. 74, vol. 1, p. 102.) 1607, Mch. 27 et seq., brought suit for having been slanderously accused by one Pyl of selling short measure; record incomplete.. (C. M. D.) Nov. 6 et seq., brought suit against one Prick; nature and result of suit unknown ....................................... (C. M. D.)

1610, Nov. 10, paid Willibrord's Church three thalers as two years' back rent on land near the dike .......... (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 37, no. 8.)

1610-14, as the heir of Gysbert <7>, Lodowick received from the city four annuities, of which the first had been paid 1599-1607 to the widow of Lodowick <6>, and 1608 to the heir of Gysbert <7>, and the rest had been paid 1599-1602 to the widow of Lodowick <6>, and 1603-7 to the widow, and 1608 to the heir of Gysbert <7>............. (Ac. Bks. D.)

1612, Jan. 10 et seq., was defendant in a suit of unknown nature and result, brought by one Well........................... (C. M. D.)

1614, Jan. 28, made an arrangement with the Council, whereby the four annuities payable by the city to him were in future to be paid to the New School, and two certain rent-charges, secured upon his house in favor of St. Gregory's Vicary and the Brotherhood of Mary, were discharged .............................. (C. M. D.; Ac. Bk. D.)

1616, et seq., the payments on the Mathena house are entered in the name of "Johan Hisfeldt in place of Lodowick op den Dyck " (Ac. Bks. D.)

It may be worth mention that a Barbara op den Dyck married a Johan Hisfeldt, 15 Oct., 1613, (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 74, vol. 37, p. 296.) and that a Johan Hisfeldt acted as attorney for Christina op den Dyck and her husband, Billis van Schindel, 26 Sept., 1619 (MSS. D., caps. 19, no. 16.)

Children,.

1. Margaret, baptized 18 May, 1597; married 5 May, 1618, Bernhardt Kalden ......................... (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 74, vol. 11, p. 144.)

They had a son baptized Bernhardt, in Willibrord's Church, 8 July, 1628.......................... (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 74, vol. 1, p. 307.)

2. Maria, baptized 15 June, 1603.

3. Gysbert, the "American Settler," baptized 25 Sept., 1605.

SIEGES AND CAPTURE OF WESEL. PRESENT CONDITION OF THE CITY.

Through its friendship to the Protestant Archbishop of Cologne, Wesel becam involved in a religious war, in which the soldiers of the Duke of

38 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

Parma, sent by the King of Spain to aid the Catholic cause, captured some and threatened others of the neighboring towns. Wesel saw its danger and in 1582 thought prudent to make itself secure against attack. The citizens agreed to raise money by voluntary six months' subscriptions, and those that had no property labored on the walls, the collections and the work being done under the direction of the city authorities. The schepens and councillors acted weekly by turn as chiefs of the guard, and the burgomasters visited the watch at the gates by day. The preparations were costly, and even the clergymen contributed their share. Old walls bastions were made strong, and new ones built; moats were deepened and outlying buildings demolished.

When an attack was imminent in 1586, the Duke of Cleves showed disposition to curry favor with the Spanish by leaving Wesel to their mercy. This only increased the energy of the city. The works were further extended and strengthened; absent citizens were called home to aid in defense; a tannery was turned into a grist-mill to furnish flour in case of a siege; and each neighborhood was directed to furnish two pans filled with pitch to serve as lanterns. At the same time, to propitiate the Duke of Parma, then besieging a town near by, he was sent a gift of wine and fat oxen. In the autumn however the Spanish general laid siege to Wesel. building forts and other works, and so shutting m the place that no one could go outside the walls without danger of death, and no food could be brought in. The farmers, who had brought their families within the town for refuge, only increased the misery of the citizens, so that, as the siege continued, food became very scarce and was sold at famine prices. A plague broke out and in a few months carried off no less than 13,000 of the inhabitants. At last, after four years of suffering, the city was relieved by a Netherland army.

In 1592 the Duke of Cleves died, and the regency consequent upon the insanity of his successor gave rise to long disputes, by taking part in which the Spaniards were enabled to use the Duchy of Cleves as a convenient base for attacking the Netherlands. Although neutral in this Dutch-Spanish war, Wesel fared hard from the marchings, countermarchings, and encampments of the various armies. Being irregularly paid, the Spanish soldiers were wont to plunder without discrimination, and even to devastate wantonly the surrounding country. The roads were very unsafe, and the town, often hemmed in between hostile forces, suffered hardly less than if it had been besieged. Commerce was at a stand-still, and many citizens emigrated. Scarcity of food was not infrequent, and some. of the people died of the pestilence. In 1598 the Spanish general demanded a ransom from the city of 200,000 golden crowns and a month's provisions for his army, but, owning to the general poverty, finally accepted 50,000 crowns and 1,000 measures of rye. In this way the town secured a short immunity from the outrages and cruelty to which some of its neighbors were subjected, but, in spite of his promises, the Spaniard soon insisted upon a restoration of the Romish religion, and again threatened Wesel with capture. The magistrates maintained a garrison at private cost, and made all possible preparations for defense. Absentee citizens were again recalled, and heavily taxed in case they did not return. Perhaps owing to these vigorous measures the intended attack was not made; and the priests and Papal Nuncio were forced to flee the city in 1599. Still Wesel had to endure much from warlike incursions in its neighborhood, and there was great joy when a twelve years' truce was signed by the Spanish and the Dutch in 1609.

The period of quiet however was very short. Only a few days after the making of the truce, the last Duke of Cleves died without male heirs, and his inheritance was at once claimed by different contestants, each of whom

SIEGES AND CAPTURE OF WESEL. - 39

sought the aid of various Continental powers. This famous question of the Cleves Succession, made even more famous by Carlyle's graphic description, involved nearly the whole of northern Europe in quarrel for more than half a century. The little duchy, and particularly its city of Wesel, suffered so severely, that at one time the claimants called a truce, and requested their respective allies to retire, lest the subject of the dispute, the land itself, should be reduced to ruin. Espousing the cause of one of the two contestants, between whom the matter at last lay, Spain promptly took part in the struggle, and began again to march, to besiege, to fight, to plunder, and to burn.

In the autumn of 1614 a veteran Spanish army under Spinola, having seized several other towns, appeared before Wesel. In order to preserve her neutrality the city had refused a foreign garrison, but there were 6,000 citizens able to bear arms, 80 pieces of heavy cannon, and sufficient stores. It was plainly seen that it would end in a siege, and the inhabitants did not neglect to provide everything necessary, even the women urging on the men, and aiding them to bring the cannon to the walls. Before the Spaniards had intrenched themselves, the burghers made several sallies, with such effect that, if the same energy had been continued, the enemy would in all probability have been kept at bay until driven off by the brave Hollanders who were marching up with a large army. Suddenly courage failed the Weselers. Perhaps they had no trustworthy information of the approach of the Hollanders, and feared by an obstinate resistance to lose a favorable capitulation. Then also, one of the two claimants, to whom jointly they had sworn allegiance, was in the Spanish camp. After a thirty days' siege, the city was surrendered under the pledge that no prejudice should result to the other claimant; that the artillery and military supplies should remain in charge of their proper officers; and that the town garrison should be allowed to depart in peace with their guns and arms. The city was to receive 1,000 Spaniards and to supply them with fire, light, salt, and vinegar; but the inhabitants were to retain their Reformed religion and their churches, and to be free to come and go. The Duke of Neuburg, the claimant favored by Spain, signed this agreement in person. The thousand Spaniards took possession of Wesel, and compelled the citizens to give them food and drink, contrary to the compact, until a weekly commutation of 14,000 thalers was agreed upon instead. In Spain, Italy, and other Catholic countries, the joy was extraordinarily great over the capture of Wesel, which had long been a thorn in their flesh, and whose return to the Catholic faith had been eagerly sought.

Many vain attempts were made to recapture the city. All efforts to compromise the original dispute about the Cleves Succession were brought to naught by the steadfast refusal of the Spanish to give up the town, which had proved of great strategic importance to them and which they made their chief base of supplies. They occupied it fifteen years, and during this time practiced such exactions and cruelties upon the inhabitants, and especially upon those that would not renounce their religion, that the place was almost depopulated. In flagrant disregard of the articles of capitulation, the church services were interrupted by brutal soldiers, and, after, vainly trying to gain the consent of the magistrates by threats of fine and imprisonment, the Spaniards forcibly seized Willibrord's and the Mathena churches installed Romish pastors therein took possession of the parochial schools, and drove the Protestants to worship in the Town Hall or in the open air. Many monks and numbers of the hated Jesuits flocked into city from time to time. All trade with Holland, or with any place occupied by Holland troops, was forbidden, and commerce dwindled away. Supplies were brought troop in by was the for Spanish soldiers' wives to sell of the citi-

40 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

zens, and the Governor had a share in the profits. The farms, orchards and gardens about the city were laid waste, and women were insulted.

At last, in 1629, Wesel was delivered from the Spanish yoke through the skill and bravery of three of its citizens, who discovered a weak spot in the works, and introduced a force of Hollanders at night. The watch ws quickly overpowered, and the whole town and its garrison of 1,300 men captured, with a loss of only ten men killed. Some idea of the importance of the post may be gathered from the fact that no less than 200 cannon, 550 tons of gunpowder, 2,400 horses, and several hogsheads of gold coin fell into the hands of the captors. There was universal rejoicing among the Protestants of Europe, and the Netherland States ordered a day of thanksgiving in celebration of the happy event. The whole country was freed from the baneful presence of the Spanish in 1631, but the long-vexed question of the Cleves succession was not settled until 1666, when the Duchy proper was assigned to the Elector of Brandenburg, a direct descendant of , of the last Duke of Cleves's eldest sister, upon whose issue the succession had been originally settled. When the Elector of Brandenburg took the title of King of Prussia, Wesel became, and has since remained, a part of the Kingdom of Prussia.

With the subsequent history of the town we have little to do. Owing to its exposed position on the German frontier and to its military importance, its fortunes have been far from peaceful. After an obstinate defense it was captured by Louis XIV, in 1672, and occupied by the French eight years. Again, in the next century, it suffered severely in the Seven Years War, and still more severely from the conscriptions and exactions of its Prussian kings, so that, just before the beginning of this century, it contained less. than 4,000 inhabitants, including a strong garrison.

Its present condition is more flourishing. The modern city is a commercial and railway centre of importance, and a fortress of enormous strength, forming one of the great western bulwarks of Prussia. It holds a permanent garrison of about 5,000 men, and its peaceful inhabitants number about 21,000 more. The extensive and very complicated fortifications are. in part based upon the line of the old city walls, but embrace also districts that were formerly outlying suburbs. The exact plan of the works is, of course, a carefully guarded secret, and in taking photographs to illustrate this book, some diplomacy had to be used, and the camera kept pointed well inward and away from the neighboring bastion and curtain, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the military authorities. The city is compactly built, and quite fills the space enclosed by the fortifications, while the land beyond, on all but the river side, has been planted with trees and laid out as a pleasant park. Wesel wears a clean and prosperous air; its houses, even those of the poorer sort, are in good repair, and the Town Hall an the two chief churches are the only buildings that have not been so modernized as to lose their historical interest. The old maps of the city show that the arrangement of the narrow streets has changed but little, and the open market places occupy their old positions and still serve their uses. It was in the larger of the two most important and oldest churches, St. Williambrord's, that Gysbert op den Dyck, and probably many of his ancestors were baptized. Decidedly the most imposing public edifice in Wesel, it stands just inside the western wall of the city. The present church was begun in the twelfth century, and had so far progressed in 1181 as to suffice for the holding of services, but was finished only by slow degrees, as money could be found for the work. In 1594 the spire, which had been built less than a century before, was struck by lightning and wholly destroyed. Other damage done at the same time was repaired in a bungling fashion, but the spire was not rebuilt. The beauty of the church was also marred by

PRESENT CONDITION OF WESEL. - 41

injudicious alterations and additions, which are now happily disappearing in the course of the present restoration. This work has been in progress several years, and will probably need five more; its cost is met partly by the German Evangelical Church Society and partly by a public subscription to which the old Emperor of Germany contributed. The plate opposite, showing the interior and the southern side of the church, is made from photographic negatives taken more than twenty years ago, and while they resent fairly well what must have been its condition at the time of Gysbert's baptism, they fail to give a proper idea of its great size.

In 1795 an ex-judge of the Royal Land Court at Wesel, P. Th. A. Gantesweiler, wrote a chronicle of the city, giving the results of his investigation during thirty-eight years. It was not put in print however until 1881, when its publication was undertaken by a committee of the chief citizens of the town. To it we are indebted, not only for much of the material embodied in our sketches of the Reformation and war troubles at Wesel, and for many historical details of the time of the early op den Dycks, but also for our illustrations showing Mercator's plan and drawing of the city as it stood toward the end of the sixteenth century. This celebrated geographer, who originated and gave his name to the method of representing the earth's surface with the meridians of longitude drawn parallel, was born in Duisburg, an old town on the same side of the Rhine, a little above Wesel.

Chronological List of Mentions at Wesel of op den Dycks not yet Connected with the Ancestors of Gysbert op den Dyck, the American Settler.

1320. Everard op den Dyck held himself bound to pay to the Brothers of the Jerusalem Hospital at Wesel 10 shillings yearly, and charged said payment upon three parcels of meadow near Wesel, which he held of the Brothers by hereditary right...... (Urk. D., cert. copy.)

1323. Bertoldus op den Dyek admitted to citizenship of Wesel...... (B. B. D., p. 14.) .

1329. Everard op den Dyck bought a rent-charge on land of one op den Brincken ................................. (Urk. D., cert. copy.)

1332. Everard op den Dyck mentioned as a regular contributor to the support of the Cathedral of Essen. This is interesting because it tends to show a connection between the op den Dycks of Wesel and those of Essen........................................ (MSS. D., A. 96.)

1334. Bernardus op den Dyck admitted to citizenship of Wesel.. ....(B. B. D., p. 16.)

1338. Aletta, the widow of Everard op den Dyck, several times mentioned as owning land near Wesel in common with Johan op den D ck..... Urk D. )

Aletta sold some of her land to one Vierlings and wife... Urk D., cert. copy.)

1340. Lodowick op den Dyck witnessed a deed at Essen.(Urk. D., cert. copy.)

1343. With the consent of her daughters, Elizabeth and Richgelendis, of her father, Godfrey, and of Thomas Stecken; the future husband of her daughter, Elizabeth, Aletta, the widow of Everard op den Dyck, made an exchange of the rent-charge bought by him in 1329. (Urk. D., cert. copy.)

1347. The widow of Everard op den Dyck, here named as "Nala," with the consent of her daughters, Elizabeth and Ricbgelendis, and of Thomas Stecken, the husband of her daughter, Elizabeth, granted land to the Mathena Church, at Wesel .............. (Urk. D., cert. copy)

42 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

This Everard apparently was of the same generation as Henric <1>, and may have been his brother.

1357. Lodowick op den Dyck witnessed a deed at Essen. Among the other witnesses was a knight.......................... (Urk. D., copy.)

1362. Lodowick op den Dyck, for the good of. his soul, and with the consent of his children, Hugo and Elizabeth, endowed an altar in the Cathedral of Essen with a quarter of certain lands at Horst, a small town between Essen and Wesel. The seals of Lodowick and Hugo, attached to the instrument, bear the arms shown in the illustration opposite, and numbered respectively 1 and 2. (Urk. D., cert. copy.)

1376. Adam op den Dyck attested a deed as Schepen at Wesel. The deed has lost its seal, but we may assume that the arms upon it were the same as those of the other Wesel op den Dycks.Appearing only between the schepenships of Henric <1> and Deric <2>, this Adam may have been the former's son and the latter's brother................ (Urk. D,)

1386-1422. A yearly payment was made to the city on account of the "Molen Domo Dyck," or Dyck Mill.. (Ac: Bks. D.)

1394. Henric op den Dyck, Canon of the Premonstrant Abbey at Hamborn, between Wesel and Essen, sold to Thomas Stecken, as Burgomaster of Wesel, his half share in a stone tower standing on the Wesel city walls in the same place where a wind mill, called the "Dyck Wind Mill" formerly stood................. (Urk. D., cert. copy.)

In 1422 this mill began to be called "Johan op den Dyck's Mill" and a yearly payment began to be made upon it by Johan <3>, and it is not improbable that Henric was an elder brother of Johan<3>, and was named for his grandfather, Henric <1>.

1398 and 1403. Erngard and Aletta, the widow and daughter of, Lodowick op den Dyck, sold their fifth share of an estate near Bocholt, from Essen ........................ .. (Urk. D., cert. copy.)

1411. Rutger op den Dyck appears on a Rent-List of the County of Cleves. (MSS. D., cert copy.)

1412. Margaret op den Dyck mentioned in a deed as "Jungfrau" (title of respect), and as formerly holding a house at Wesel. (Urk D., cert copy.)

1423. Rutger op den Dyck appears on a Wesel Muster-Roll as able to furnish a mail shirt ..................... (MSS. D., caps. 253, no. 3.)

1428. Herman op den Dyck mentioned in a deed as owning house in Field Street, at Wesel ................................... (Urk. D.)

1438. An Essen deed mentions Rutger op den Dyck and his wife, Gertrude. (Urk. D., cert. copy.)

In executing a deed in this year Butger op den Dyck and his wife, Gertrude, used a seal bearing the same arms as those of Hugo, in 1362, (see illustration above, seal No. 2.) ..... (Urk. D., cert. copy.)

1439. Henric op den Dyck mentioned as holding land apparently near Wesel (Ur. D.)

1443. Johan op den Dyck, of Bisslich, (a town not far from Wesel) and his wife Aletta, granted land to the Carthusian Cloister, at Wesel (Urk. D., cert. copy.).

1444. Bernard op den Dyck and his sister Metten, having rented some land of the Convent of St John at Wesel, and being unable to pay the rent thereon, restored the property to the Convent. (Urk. D., cert. cop.)

OTHER OP DEN DYCKS MENTIONED AT WESEL. - 43

1445, The heirs of Johan op den Dyck (probably the Johan of 1443) mentioned as owning house at Wesel....................... (Urk. D.)

1451. Rutger op den Dyck appears on a Wesel Muster-Roll as able to furnish a mail shirt ..................... (MSS. D., caps. 253, no. 3.)

1457-64. Johan op den Dyck, "Bastert," pays the city rent (as tenant-atwill) for two booths behind his house by the Lion Gate. (Ac. Bks. D.)

1457, Johan op den Dyck, "Herman's son," sold land to one Kuenen. He was probably the son of the Herman of 1428. (Urk. D., cert. copy.)

1466. Deric op den Dyck appears on a list of the knights of, the Duchy of Cleves that had sworn allegiance to the Duke of Gelderland.. (MSS. D., cent. copy.)

1469-96. Thomas op den Dyck, "the needle maker," paid the city an annual sum on account of his garden before the Cow Gate. (Ac. Bks. D.)

1473. Deric op den Dyck, his wife, Anna, and his son, Bernard, granted a yearly rent to the church at Castrop (a town N. E. from Essen), as atonement for the commission of a murder. Deric's seal bears the same arms as those of Hugo, in 1362, and of Rutger, in 1438; see the illustration opposite, no. 2. The deed is preserved in the Dominican Archives at Dortmund, and is cited in Fahne's History of Westphalian Descents, Cologne, 1858, page 118.

1483. John Daems, "called op den Dyck," and his wife, Elizabeth, rent from St. John's Convent at Wesel the property at Loenen (near Wesel), called " op den Dyck." The seal of this Johan bears arms very different from those of the Wesel and Essen op den Dycks, and it is probable that he received his appellation, op den Dyck, merely from the land that he rented................ (Urk. D., cert. copy.)

1511-13. A register for these years of the Brotherhood of Our Lady, at Wesel, records the death of: Rutger op den Dyck's wife; Margaret op den Dyck ; Butger op den Dyck, and his children; Telman op den Dyck, and Deric op den Dyck.......................... (MSS. D.)

1513, 21-8. The priest Deric op den Dyck received from the city a yearly Christmas gift of two quarters of wine .............. (Ae. Bks. D.) In 1514 he is mentioned in a deed as holding a vicary in Willibrord's Church, and in 1519 he received 10 guldens from the city.. (Urk. D.; Ac. Bk. D.)

1522, Johan op den Dyck and his wife Meina, of Essen, released a mortgage to one op den Berg and wife. In another deed of the same year, Dame Agnes op den Dyck is mentioned with respect.. (Urk. D., cert. copies.)

1529. Meina op den Dyck of Essen mentioned in a deed. . (Urk. D., cert. copy.)

1530-56. The priest Deric op den Dyck received from the city two guldens annually for the uses of his vicary, which is named sometimes in honor of one saint and sometimes of another. It is noteworthy that in the very year in which these payments begin Lodowick <6> op den Dyck and his wife charged their house with a yearly payment of the same amount in favor of two vicaries in Willibrord's Church.

In 1558 Deric's two guldens begin to be paid to another, and in the following years he is spoken of as dead.............. (Ac. Bks. D.)

1539. Two deeds of this year mention Aletta op den Dyck "Spinster" . . (Urk. D.)

1543-6. As Provisor of the Holy Ghost Alms House, Johan op den Dyck received from the city an annual Christmas gift of wine . . (Ac. Bks. D.)

1552, In order to cancel a debt due from him as Provisor of the Holy Ghost Alms House, Johan op den Dyck and his wife Christina charged their house and land in the Stone Street with a yearly payment of over 12 thalers in favor of the incumbent Provisor (Urk. D., cert. copy.)

44 - WESEL OP DEN DYCKS.

The Provisor Johan, whose wife was Christina, is distinguished from the Schepen Johan <6> by the fact that the latter's wife was Aletta.

1559-64. Two marks were paid yearly by the city to the priest Deric op den Dyck for his vicary of the High Altar in the Mathena Church. (Ac. Bks. D.)

1561-79. Peter op den Dyck paid an annual sum to the Mathena Church (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 37, no. 5.)

1567. Peter was admitted to citizenship of Wesel....... (B. B. D., p. 63.)

1568. Peter appears on a special fortification tax list of this year as of the Cloister Gate Ward, and as paying the tax. (MSS. D., caps. 253, no. 8.)

1572. Werner op den Dyck was admitted to citizenship of Wesel.. (B. B. D. p. 64.)

1573-1605. The city received a yearly payment of 3 shillings and 14 pence on account of a house in the Sand Street. The payments are entered in the name of Peter op den Dyck down to 1595, and after that year in the name of Peter's widow or heirs............... (Ac. Bks. D.)

1575-1602. The city paid an annuity of six shillings, to Peter down to 1591, and after that year to his widow, son, or heirs ....... (Ac. Bks. D.)

1577, 80. Peter was concerned in law-suits in these years ...... (C. M. D. )

1580, 2. The city gave Peter a Christmas gift of two quarters of wine in his capacity of "Stall Master," an officer whose duties seem have included the superintendence of the city's horses..... (Ac. Bks. D.)

1582. Peter op den Dyck appears on a special fortification tax list of this year, 21 May, as of the Cloister Gate Ward, and as paying a tax of two shillings, while the widow of Peter op den Dyck appears on the same list, 29 May, as of the Cow Gate Ward, and as paying a tax of two shillings ............................. (MSS. D., caps. 62, no. 1.)

1589. Christina op den Dyck brought suit to recover a legacy . . (C. M. D.)

1593-4. The widow Isabel op den Dyck was voted spiritual and temporal aid at the hands of the church elders of her ward ... (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 72, no. 3.)

1597. Doric op den Dyck, "of Kerbhallen," was admitted to citizenship of Wesel ...... (B. B. D. p. 71)

1600. Franz op den Dyck was admitted to citizenship of Wesel . (B. B. D. p. 72.)

1602. Deric and Sweder op den Dyck mentioned as brothers living in the same house.... (C. M. D.)

1603 et seq. Herman op den Dyck paid a yearly sum to Willibrord's Church. (Ch.. Arch. W., gef. 37, no. 8.)

1610. Doric op den Dyck was admitted to citizenship of Wesel.. (B. B. D. p. 75.)

1610-13. Pranz op den Dyck paid money to the city ........ (Ac. Bks. D.)

1610. At request of widow of Sander op den Dyck, the Council appointed guardians for his children ............................ (C. M. D. )

1618. Conrad op den Dyck elected deacon for the Stone Gate Ward. (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 72, no. 5.)

1622. Sweder op den Dyck conveyed a garden apparently for street purposes but retained the easement of light...... (MSS. D., caps. 261, no. 4.)

1631. Sweder op den Dyck was elected deacon. . (Ch. Arch. W., gef. 72, no. 6.)

1634. Johan op den Dyck was refused by the Council an extension of time in which to pay rent on his "Morian Schlag," and was advised to prosecute those that had allowed their cattle to stray upon his land. (C. M. D.)

MARRIAGES AND BAPTISMS OF WESEL OP DEN DYCKS. - 45

A Chronological List of all the Marriages of Male op den Dycks recorded in the Wesel Registers before the arrival of Gysbert op den Dyck in America.

"M" and "W "signify the Mathena and Willibrord's Churches respectively. The original spelling is followed in every case.

Vol. Page.

1567, Joressen op den Dyck married Eymken Dossen, 37 M. 28

1567, Weyssel op den Dyck do Beyl Regelfort, 37 M. 28

1570, Henryck op den Dyck do Geys Bonnen, 37 M. 52

2 Mch., 1597, Herman op den Dyck do Stinken Rutgers 37 M. 217

5 Oct., 1597, Derick op den Dick do Alhart Scherten, 37 M. 219

24 Sep., 1600, Peter op den Dick do Elsken Forthmans, 11 W. 20

1 Oct., 1600, Xander op den Dick do Enneken Busmans, 11 W. 20

9 May, 1610, Stoffel op den Dick do Gertruid Goldenmunt, 11 W. 71

26 Nov., 1624, Jan op den Derk do Altgen Steckelings, 38 M. 30

A Chronological List of all the Baptisms of op den Dycks recorded in the Wesel Registers before the arrival of Gysbert op den Dyck in America.

Date. Father. Mother. Child. Vol. Page.

30 Oct., 1594, Gisbert op ten Dick, Anna, Christina, 1 W. 2

30 Oct., 1594, Conradt op den Dick, Heltgen, Heltgen, 1 W. 2

5 May, 1596, Herman op den Dick, Gesken, Stynken, 1 W. 18

18 May, 1597, Lodwight op den Dick, MARGRIT, 1 W. 29

6 Jun., 1599, Hermen op den Derck, Steynn, Henderyck, 29 M. 23

22 Jul., 1601, Henderyck op gen Dyck, Enneken, Henderyck, 29 M. 30

7 Oct., 1601, Hermen op gen Dyck, Sthyn, Wyllem, 29 M. 31

14 Dec., 1602, Derryck op den Dyck, Enneken, Grytgen, 29 M. 35

23 Feb., 1603, Sander op den Dick, Sander, 1 W. 77

15 Jun., 1603, Lodwigh op den Dyck, Gertrudt Van Wesek, Maria, 1 W. 79

22 Feb., 1604, Derryck op den Deyck, Enneken, Jan, 29 M. 40

25 Sep., 1605, Lodwigh op den Dyck, Gertrudt, Gisberth,* 1 W. 102

17 Aug., 1608, Derryck op den Dyck, Henrycksken, 29 M. 58

24 Aug., 1608, Derick op den Dieck, Bernt, 29 M. 58

26 Sep., 1610, Mewes op den Dyck, Styn, Grytgen, 29 M. 66

26 Sep., 1610, Deryck op den Dyck, Enneken, Gysgen, 29 M. 66

24 Mch., 1613, Derich op den Dick, Enneken, Catrina, 29 M. 76

22 Sep., 1613, Herman op den Dyck, Styn, Catrina, 29 M. 77

17 Nov., 1613, Stoffel op den Dick, Gertrud, Cornelius, 1 W. 182

26 Apr., 1615, Derich op den Dyck, Aelgen, 29 M. 84

25 Nov., 1615, Stoffel op den Dick, Gertru (d), Christina, 1 W. 203

12 May, 1619, Hermen op Dick, Stingen, Hendrick, 29 M. 96

29 Jun. 1625, Jan op den Dick, Aeltgen, Derick, 29 M. 112

11 May, 1629, Jan op den Dick, Beltgen, 29 M. 137

29 Jun., 1631, Jan op den Dick, Stingen, Enneken, 29 M. 156

21 Jan., 1634, Jan op den Dick, Altgen, Bernt, 29 M. 181

21 Jan., 1634, Jan op den Dick, Altgen, Lisabet, 29 M. 181

* For f right hand half of illustration opposite page see third and fourth lines from the bottom of right-hand half of illustration opposite page