The van Cuyck family in Afferden
In the course of the 17th century a branch of the van Cuyck family moved to Afferden. We know that the family was very catholic and when we look at the history of the Low Countries at that time, we can understand why they came to live in a village situated more to the south.
Historical context: Catholics and Protestants
In 1568 the Netherlands, led by William I of Orange, revolted against King Philip II because of high taxes, persecution of Protestants and Philip's efforts to modernize and centralize the devolved-medieval government structures of the provinces. This was the start of the Eighty Years' War. In 1579 a number of the northern provinces of the Netherlands signed the ‘Union of Utrecht’, in which they promised to support each other in their defense against the Spanish army. The treaty was a reaction of the Protestant provinces to the ‘Union of Arras’, in which the southern provinces declared their support for Roman Catholic Spain. The ‘Act of Abjuration’ (1581), the declaration of independence of the northern provinces from Philip II, was the next step.
The ‘Union of Utrecht’ is regarded as the foundation of the ‘Republic of the Seven United Provinces’ or ‘Dutch Republic’, which was not recognized by the Spanish Empire until the ‘Twelve Years' Truce’ in 1609. The ‘Republic of the United Provinces’ was officially recognized in the ‘Peace of Westphalia’ (1648).
The ‘Dutch Republic’ was a confederation of seven provinces, which had their own governments and were each very independent. The provinces were, in official feudal order: the duchy of Guelders (Gelre in Dutch), the counties of Holland and Zeeland, the former bishopric of Utrecht, the lordship of Overijssel, and the free (i.e. never feudalized) provinces of Friesland and Groningen. In fact there was an eighth province, the lordship of Drenthe, but this area was so poor it was exempt from paying confederal taxes and, as a corollary, was denied representation in the States-General.
After the ‘Peace of Westphalia’ several border territories were assigned to the United Provinces. They were called Generaliteitslanden: Staats-Brabant (present North Brabant), Staats-Vlaanderen (present Zeeuws-Vlaanderen), Staats-Limburg (around Maastricht) and Staats-Oppergelre (around Venlo, after 1715). These lands were governed directly by the States-General (Staten-Generaal in Dutch), the federal government. The States-General were seated in The Hague and consisted of representatives of each of the seven provinces.
The provinces were each governed by the Provincial States. At the head stood executive official (raadspensionaris in Dutch). The stadtholder (stadhouder I in Dutch) commanded the army. In theory the stadtholders were freely appointed by and subordinate to the states of each province. But it turned out that the princes of Orange-Nassau, beginning with William the Silent, were always chosen as stadtholders of most of the provinces. A power struggle began between the Orangists, who supported the stadtholders and specifically the House of Orange-Nassau, and the Republicans, who supported the States-General and hoped to replace the semi-hereditary nature of the stadtholdership with a “true” republican structure.
From an economic perspective, the Republic of the United Provinces completely outperformed all expectations. This period is known in the Netherlands as the ‘Dutch Golden Age’. The Dutch dominated world trade, conquering a vast colonial empire and operating the largest fleet of merchantmen of any nation. The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world.
In the ‘Union of Utrecht’ Holland and Zeeland were granted the right to accept only one religion (in practice Calvinism). Every other province had the freedom to regulate the religious question as it wished, although the Union stated every person should be free in the choice of his personal religion and no person should be prosecuted based on his or her religious choice. In practice, Catholic services in all provinces were quickly forbidden and the Reformed Church became the "public" or "privileged" church in the Republic. The extent to which different religions or denominations were persecuted depended much on the time period and regional or city leaders.
Afferden
The village of Afferden (Limburg, the Netherlands) is situated along the river Maas, between Nijmegen and Venlo. Since 1823 it is a part of the community of Bergen. At approximately 45 km north of Afferden, in Gelderland, there is another village with the same name, belonging to the community of Druten.
During the Ancien Régime the lord of Afferden was a vassal of the duke of Gelre. The duchy of Gelre consisted out of 4 parts: Betuwe, Veluwe, Zutphen and the Overkwartier. Afferden was situated in the Overkwartier.
In 1543 the duchy of Gelre became part of the Netherlands (‘Treaty of Venlo’), governed by the Habsburg emperor Charles V. Until the ‘Spanish Succession war’ (1702-1713), the Overkwartier remained part of the Spanish (Southern) Netherlands (Spanish Gelre). Afferden thus was a catholic village.
During the Succession War, part of the Overkwartier was occupied by Prussia, part was occupied by the Republic of the Seven United Provinces. After the ‘Treaty of Utrecht’ (1713) part of Gelre was given to Prussia (Prussian Upper Gelre), another part was given to the Republic. Afferden, occupied by Prussia in 1702-1713, became Prussian territory in 1713.
During the French occupation of 1792-1815 the region suffered under heavy taxes. The French soldiers were badly dressed and hungry. They demanded food, clothes, cattle, straw and hay from the villagers. In January 1795 for example, the villagers of Afferden were forced to deliver 355 pairs of shoes or boots for the French troops, to be delivered within 6 hours! Due to this sort of demands, a lot of clashes occurred between the soldiers and the villagers.
From 1798 onwards al men between 20 and 24 years old were bound to military service. Even though this measure was very unpopular, there seem to have been very few deserters in the region.
In 1801 (Peace of Luneville) Afferden became part of France, but after Napoleon was defeated in 1815, Afferden became part of The Netherlands. From 1830 to 1839 it was Belgian territory.
Afferden belonged to the diocese of Roermond since its erection in 1561. Only during the French occupation, Afferden was part of the diocese of Aachen.
The church
The Saint Cosmas and Damianus Church was originally built in the 12th century. Changes and restorations were made in the 16th and 19th centuries. The church was very heavily damaged in 1944 and restored in 1957. The old 12th century tower was rebuilt on that occasion, next to the new church.
In the church you can find magnificent alabaster reliefs (made in Nottingham in the 15th century) in the painted wooden retable (17th century). Dirk Schenk van Nijdeggen, lord of Afferden, and his wife Anna Margaretha van Nassau-Cortenbach-Grimhuizen donated the altar and the retable to the church in 1661.
One of the bells dates from 1616 and was made by Peter van Trier. The bell was ordered by pastor J. van Goch after the fire of 1607. The bell has the following inscription: “DOR.DAT.VIER. BYN.ICH. GEVLOTEN. PETER.VAN.TRIER. HEEFT MY. GEGOTEN.A 1616” (I went through the fire. Peter van Trier made me in the year 1616). The other bells, dating from 1653 and 1705, were destroyed in 1944.
From 1595 to 1606 there was no pastor in Afferden. Due to the 80 Years War the village was almost totally deserted. At that time the lord of Bleijenbeek and Afferden had Wesselius van Solingen come to the village. We may assume that this was an attempt to install Protestantism in Afferden. The lord of Afferden had the right to appoint the pastor.
The Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows
In 1612 the parish priest Jan van Goch built the small chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows, devoted to the passion of Christ. It is a tiny building in the form of a cross. In the tower hangs a little bell with the inscription “AMORE PASSIONIS 1612” (Out of love for the passion of Christ in the year 1612). The altar dates from the 17th century, as does the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows.
The chapel became a place of pilgrimage for the people of the region. It was destroyed during the following turbulent years. Pastor Paulus Vossen ordered the restoration of the chapel in 1688.
In 1909 Pastor Berden decided to build a new and larger chapel next to the old one. The old and the new chapel are connected to each other.
Chapel of Saint Anthony the Abbot
The chapel of Saint Anthony the Abbot in the hamlet of Heukelom is first mentioned in the sources in 1669 and was probably built by the lords of the castle of Bleijenbeek for their tenants. The first chapel was destroyed in the course of the war between Spanish troops and the Dutch States Army. Later it was rebuilt. The building, neglected since 1820, was restored in 1859.
School
Afferden had a small school thanks to Miss Barbara van Lippe Hoen who donated money for the school building and the payment of the teacher (1647). The lord of Afferden appointed the teacher. In the beginning the churchwarden also acted as teacher.
Everything the schoolmaster did, was controlled by the pastor. He also had to take the children to church on Sundays and feast days and he had to make sure that the children went to confession 4 times a year. He was obliged to teach according to the Roman catechism and in Dutch.
Most of the children had to help with their parents at home. Thus school started very early in the morning and ended around noon. In summer, when there was a lot of work to be done on the field, school was often closed. In 1717 the king of Prussia introduced compulsory school attendance. Parents had to send their children to school every day and twice a week in summer.
Every year on Carnival Monday and Shrove Tuesday, the youngsters of Afferden were used to party and drink a lot. The days before the feast, they “begged” for beer money in the village (this was called “voye jaegen”). In 1720, the margravine of Bleijenbeek protested against this (in her eyes) appalling tradition and urged the bailiff and the teacher to ban the begging and the drinking inside and outside the school. Despite their efforts, the youngsters collected the money and started drinking and partying on “raesende” (mad) Monday. The next morning the bailiff entered the school and found two boys with a can of beer in their hands. He cast them out and closed the school. Much to his surprise, the villagers – the parents and grandparents of the children – demanded that the youth of Afferden would be able to drink and feast. They said this had been a privilege of the children for 100 years. The bailiff declined their request and only wanted to open the school for the schoolmaster to teach. The villagers, however, with the support of the aldermen, succeeded in opening the school door. Beer was brought in and the youngsters celebrated until the next day.
The van Cuyck family
A-I
Peter van Cuyck (ca. 1590 – ca. 1650), son of Tyman Jansz. van Cuyck and Catharina van Sompijken, moved to Afferden at an unknown time. We don’t know the name of his wife, but he had at least two children: Hendrik (A-II) and Jan.
Peter van Cuyck moved to Afferden because it was a catholic village, very close to the border with the northern Republic. When he arrived, the region was troubled by the black death or pest.
A-II
Hendrik van Cuyck was born ca. 1640-1645. He married Anna Peters, probably in Afferden before 1672 (the registration of the marriages in Afferden only start in 1672). In 1672 a heavy fire troubled the village and in 1673 the village was plundered by the French. In 1684 the French threatened to burn down the village. The villagers could avoid this disaster by paying a huge amount of money.
Hendrik and Anna had one daughter and three sons: Catharina (° ca. 1670), Petrus (A-III), Johannes, (° 03.03.1673) and Jacobus (° 07.07.1677).
Hendrik was alderman in the village of Afferden. We find him in the records of the city council. He is first mentioned in 1677. We know that he was present at the castle of Bleijenbeek in 1709 when Arnold Schenck van Nijdeggen, lord of Bleijenbeek, made up his testament.
Castle Bleijenbeek was situated in Afferden. It was owned by the family Schenck van Nijdeggen. At the beginning of the 18th century Arnold Schenck van Nijdeggen, lord of Bleijenbeek, and his wife Maria Catharina van Hoensbroeck lived in the castle. They had one son, who died in 1703. In 1709 Arnold was very ill. On 30 August he called Hendrik van Cuyck, alderman of Afferden, and two of his colleagues, to the castle. Arnold was dying, but he still had good memory and all his wits about him. He handed them over his testament. He had written and sealed it himself and he asked Hendrik van Cuyck and his colleagues to take the testament and validate it, which they did. The margrave died the next day. He was buried in the parish church of Afferden. The testament was opened on 23 October 1709, in the presence of Hendrik van Cuyck and his colleagues. According to the testament, the family van Hoensbroeck inherited the castle. The margrave wanted to be buried “zonder faste of pompe” in the burial vault of his ancestors (according to the record in the burial register of Afferden this must have been in the church of Afferden). He also founded two memories (“jaargetijden”), one in the church of Afferden en one in the church of Swalmen. Immediately after his death no less than 800 masses had to be celebrated!
We know that Hendrik van Cuyck had a university degree (he studied law).
Anna Peters died in Afferden on 23 March 1707. Hendrik van Cuyck died in Afferden on 17 February 1717.
A-III
Peter van Cuyck was alderman in Afferden from 1719 to 1741. On 3 November 1695 he married Cornelia Thijssen (Tijssen). They had four children: Sybilla (° 22.06.1698), Jacob (A-IV), Mathias (26.03.1707 – 03.05.1729) and Johannes (° 18.08.1709). He died in Afferden on 13 August 1741. His widow, Cornelia Thijssen, died in Afferden on 15 November 1742.
A-IV
Jacobus van Cuyck was born in Afferden on 2 September 1700. He married Mechtilidis Swijen on 8 May 1740 in Afferden. The marriage was performed by Arnoldus Martinus Neimans, pastor of Afferden. Mechtildis Swijen was born in Bergen on 13 February 1710. She was the daughter of Joannes Swijen and Elisabetha Basten. The pastor of Bergen, the home town of Mechtildis, also recorded the marriage in his register.
Jacobus and Mechtildis had 5 children:
Jacobus is first mentioned as alderman of Afferden in 1751. We find his name continuously from 1751 to 1789 in the archives of the community council of Afferden.
In the “Protocol der Schepenbank Afferden 1767-1785” (RHCL Maastricht, Schepenbank Afferden 01.027), we find a copy of a debt certificate in which Jacob Jaspers and Marie van den Kleff Eluijden declare that they borrowed 200 “daeler Cleefts” (Kleefse daalders or thaler from Kleef) from Jacob van Cuyck in 1760. This is a lot of money, since a day labourer earned about 3 Kleefse daalders a week. Jacobus is also mentioned in the tax list of Afferden of 1745 (Archiv Schloss Haag, 129, fol. 58r°).
For the marriage between Jacobus ans Mechtildis the bishop of Roermond granted dispensation. In the archives of the diocese of Roermond (now in the RHCL in Maastricht) we can find more information about their case. On 30 April 1740 the pastor of Afferden sent a letter to the bishop of Roermond to obtain dispensation for the intended marriage between Jacobus and Mechtildis:
Illustrissime et reverendissime.
Sunt primae vices quibus desuper honorem habeo petendi ab illustrissimo et reverendissimo domino dispensationem in bannis pro Jacobo van Kuich ecclesiae parochialis de Aefferden michi commissae subdito, et Mechtilde Sweyen ecclesiae parochialis de Bergen subdita, qui intendunt inire matrimonium, supplicant ut in tribus consuetis ecclesiae denunciationibus gratiose dispensetur in causam allegantes quod incessanter obloquia patiantur et plures sumptus impendere debeant durantibus denuntiationibus.
Quae omnia ita sese habere nullumque aliud ipsis obesse impedimentum, quantum previa diligente inquisitione rescire potui, hisce attestor cum pastore in Bergen et in fidem manu propria subscribor perseverans omni veneratione et debito respectu.
Illustrissime et reverendissime domine.
Paratissimus et humillimus famulus vester,
A. Neimans
Sponsus transmittit (…)campistellam. Si vero omnibus deesset gratis …(re)fundam et humillime et (…) corrigendum per dominum vicarium
Aefferden die 30ma Aprilis 1740.
In this letter the pastor explains that Jacobus and Mechtildis want to get married. The normal procedure is that the impending marriage has to be publicly announced in the parish church. The purpose of these so-called banns is to enable anyone to raise any canonical or civil legal impediment to the marriage, so as to prevent marriages that are invalid. Before the celebration of any marriage the names of the contracting parties had to be announced publicly in the church during Mass, by the parish priests of both parties on three consecutive Holy Days (Sundays).
In the letter the pastor explains that Jacobus and Mechtildis humbly ask the bishop to relieve them of the obligation of the three banns of marriage because of the fact that the couple has been the object of a severe smear campaign. If the marriage should be publicly announced, the gossip and slander will cost them a lot of money. If they can get married right away without the public announcement, they can avoid these costs. The pastor also declares that he has carefully investigated whether there is any impediment to the marriage, but that he could not find one. This is confirmed by the pastor of Bergen (the parish where Mechtildis comes from). A note at the end of this document states that an explanation by Jacobus is attached to the letter. Unfortunately this explanation was not preserved.
The letter is vague about the concrete reason for the smear campaign: what were the people gossiping about? Mechtildis almost certainly was not pregnant. Maybe the gossip had something to do with previous relationships of Jacobus or Mechtildis. According to canon law, if a man or woman had prior sexual relations with the other’s blood kin up to the fourth canonical degree (i.e. the other’s third cousin), this would invalidate the intended marriage. In any case one or both of the families of Jacobus and Mechtildis were opposed to the wedding, which forced (one of) them to leave home. It was unthinkable that they could live under the same roof without being married, so they had to look for lodging in a fitting house for one or both of them (and this of course would cost a lot of money). Jacobus belonged to a distinguished and prominent family. Maybe Mechtildis’ family was considered beneath the van Cuyck family? Mechtildis was the ninth child (out of eleven!) of Joannes and Elisabetha Basten. When her parents got married in 1688, her mother was already pregnant.
The marriage between Jacobus and Mechtildis was witnessed by Godefridus Swijen, Mechtildis’ brother (° Bergen, 1692). This might be an indication that the Swijen family did not object to the marriage. The other witness was Petrus Roeloffs, who could not be identified (no apparent connection to either of the families).
The dispensation was not written down in the “Acta Episcopalia” of the bishop op Roermond (RHCL Maastricht, 14.A002A, inv. 16). This is strange, but might be the consequence of disarray or forgetfulness.
Bibliography
Sources
Historical context: Catholics and Protestants
In 1568 the Netherlands, led by William I of Orange, revolted against King Philip II because of high taxes, persecution of Protestants and Philip's efforts to modernize and centralize the devolved-medieval government structures of the provinces. This was the start of the Eighty Years' War. In 1579 a number of the northern provinces of the Netherlands signed the ‘Union of Utrecht’, in which they promised to support each other in their defense against the Spanish army. The treaty was a reaction of the Protestant provinces to the ‘Union of Arras’, in which the southern provinces declared their support for Roman Catholic Spain. The ‘Act of Abjuration’ (1581), the declaration of independence of the northern provinces from Philip II, was the next step.
The ‘Union of Utrecht’ is regarded as the foundation of the ‘Republic of the Seven United Provinces’ or ‘Dutch Republic’, which was not recognized by the Spanish Empire until the ‘Twelve Years' Truce’ in 1609. The ‘Republic of the United Provinces’ was officially recognized in the ‘Peace of Westphalia’ (1648).
The ‘Dutch Republic’ was a confederation of seven provinces, which had their own governments and were each very independent. The provinces were, in official feudal order: the duchy of Guelders (Gelre in Dutch), the counties of Holland and Zeeland, the former bishopric of Utrecht, the lordship of Overijssel, and the free (i.e. never feudalized) provinces of Friesland and Groningen. In fact there was an eighth province, the lordship of Drenthe, but this area was so poor it was exempt from paying confederal taxes and, as a corollary, was denied representation in the States-General.
After the ‘Peace of Westphalia’ several border territories were assigned to the United Provinces. They were called Generaliteitslanden: Staats-Brabant (present North Brabant), Staats-Vlaanderen (present Zeeuws-Vlaanderen), Staats-Limburg (around Maastricht) and Staats-Oppergelre (around Venlo, after 1715). These lands were governed directly by the States-General (Staten-Generaal in Dutch), the federal government. The States-General were seated in The Hague and consisted of representatives of each of the seven provinces.
The provinces were each governed by the Provincial States. At the head stood executive official (raadspensionaris in Dutch). The stadtholder (stadhouder I in Dutch) commanded the army. In theory the stadtholders were freely appointed by and subordinate to the states of each province. But it turned out that the princes of Orange-Nassau, beginning with William the Silent, were always chosen as stadtholders of most of the provinces. A power struggle began between the Orangists, who supported the stadtholders and specifically the House of Orange-Nassau, and the Republicans, who supported the States-General and hoped to replace the semi-hereditary nature of the stadtholdership with a “true” republican structure.
From an economic perspective, the Republic of the United Provinces completely outperformed all expectations. This period is known in the Netherlands as the ‘Dutch Golden Age’. The Dutch dominated world trade, conquering a vast colonial empire and operating the largest fleet of merchantmen of any nation. The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world.
In the ‘Union of Utrecht’ Holland and Zeeland were granted the right to accept only one religion (in practice Calvinism). Every other province had the freedom to regulate the religious question as it wished, although the Union stated every person should be free in the choice of his personal religion and no person should be prosecuted based on his or her religious choice. In practice, Catholic services in all provinces were quickly forbidden and the Reformed Church became the "public" or "privileged" church in the Republic. The extent to which different religions or denominations were persecuted depended much on the time period and regional or city leaders.
Afferden
The village of Afferden (Limburg, the Netherlands) is situated along the river Maas, between Nijmegen and Venlo. Since 1823 it is a part of the community of Bergen. At approximately 45 km north of Afferden, in Gelderland, there is another village with the same name, belonging to the community of Druten.
During the Ancien Régime the lord of Afferden was a vassal of the duke of Gelre. The duchy of Gelre consisted out of 4 parts: Betuwe, Veluwe, Zutphen and the Overkwartier. Afferden was situated in the Overkwartier.
In 1543 the duchy of Gelre became part of the Netherlands (‘Treaty of Venlo’), governed by the Habsburg emperor Charles V. Until the ‘Spanish Succession war’ (1702-1713), the Overkwartier remained part of the Spanish (Southern) Netherlands (Spanish Gelre). Afferden thus was a catholic village.
During the Succession War, part of the Overkwartier was occupied by Prussia, part was occupied by the Republic of the Seven United Provinces. After the ‘Treaty of Utrecht’ (1713) part of Gelre was given to Prussia (Prussian Upper Gelre), another part was given to the Republic. Afferden, occupied by Prussia in 1702-1713, became Prussian territory in 1713.
During the French occupation of 1792-1815 the region suffered under heavy taxes. The French soldiers were badly dressed and hungry. They demanded food, clothes, cattle, straw and hay from the villagers. In January 1795 for example, the villagers of Afferden were forced to deliver 355 pairs of shoes or boots for the French troops, to be delivered within 6 hours! Due to this sort of demands, a lot of clashes occurred between the soldiers and the villagers.
From 1798 onwards al men between 20 and 24 years old were bound to military service. Even though this measure was very unpopular, there seem to have been very few deserters in the region.
In 1801 (Peace of Luneville) Afferden became part of France, but after Napoleon was defeated in 1815, Afferden became part of The Netherlands. From 1830 to 1839 it was Belgian territory.
Afferden belonged to the diocese of Roermond since its erection in 1561. Only during the French occupation, Afferden was part of the diocese of Aachen.
The church
The Saint Cosmas and Damianus Church was originally built in the 12th century. Changes and restorations were made in the 16th and 19th centuries. The church was very heavily damaged in 1944 and restored in 1957. The old 12th century tower was rebuilt on that occasion, next to the new church.
In the church you can find magnificent alabaster reliefs (made in Nottingham in the 15th century) in the painted wooden retable (17th century). Dirk Schenk van Nijdeggen, lord of Afferden, and his wife Anna Margaretha van Nassau-Cortenbach-Grimhuizen donated the altar and the retable to the church in 1661.
One of the bells dates from 1616 and was made by Peter van Trier. The bell was ordered by pastor J. van Goch after the fire of 1607. The bell has the following inscription: “DOR.DAT.VIER. BYN.ICH. GEVLOTEN. PETER.VAN.TRIER. HEEFT MY. GEGOTEN.A 1616” (I went through the fire. Peter van Trier made me in the year 1616). The other bells, dating from 1653 and 1705, were destroyed in 1944.
From 1595 to 1606 there was no pastor in Afferden. Due to the 80 Years War the village was almost totally deserted. At that time the lord of Bleijenbeek and Afferden had Wesselius van Solingen come to the village. We may assume that this was an attempt to install Protestantism in Afferden. The lord of Afferden had the right to appoint the pastor.
The Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows
In 1612 the parish priest Jan van Goch built the small chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows, devoted to the passion of Christ. It is a tiny building in the form of a cross. In the tower hangs a little bell with the inscription “AMORE PASSIONIS 1612” (Out of love for the passion of Christ in the year 1612). The altar dates from the 17th century, as does the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows.
The chapel became a place of pilgrimage for the people of the region. It was destroyed during the following turbulent years. Pastor Paulus Vossen ordered the restoration of the chapel in 1688.
In 1909 Pastor Berden decided to build a new and larger chapel next to the old one. The old and the new chapel are connected to each other.
Chapel of Saint Anthony the Abbot
The chapel of Saint Anthony the Abbot in the hamlet of Heukelom is first mentioned in the sources in 1669 and was probably built by the lords of the castle of Bleijenbeek for their tenants. The first chapel was destroyed in the course of the war between Spanish troops and the Dutch States Army. Later it was rebuilt. The building, neglected since 1820, was restored in 1859.
School
Afferden had a small school thanks to Miss Barbara van Lippe Hoen who donated money for the school building and the payment of the teacher (1647). The lord of Afferden appointed the teacher. In the beginning the churchwarden also acted as teacher.
Everything the schoolmaster did, was controlled by the pastor. He also had to take the children to church on Sundays and feast days and he had to make sure that the children went to confession 4 times a year. He was obliged to teach according to the Roman catechism and in Dutch.
Most of the children had to help with their parents at home. Thus school started very early in the morning and ended around noon. In summer, when there was a lot of work to be done on the field, school was often closed. In 1717 the king of Prussia introduced compulsory school attendance. Parents had to send their children to school every day and twice a week in summer.
Every year on Carnival Monday and Shrove Tuesday, the youngsters of Afferden were used to party and drink a lot. The days before the feast, they “begged” for beer money in the village (this was called “voye jaegen”). In 1720, the margravine of Bleijenbeek protested against this (in her eyes) appalling tradition and urged the bailiff and the teacher to ban the begging and the drinking inside and outside the school. Despite their efforts, the youngsters collected the money and started drinking and partying on “raesende” (mad) Monday. The next morning the bailiff entered the school and found two boys with a can of beer in their hands. He cast them out and closed the school. Much to his surprise, the villagers – the parents and grandparents of the children – demanded that the youth of Afferden would be able to drink and feast. They said this had been a privilege of the children for 100 years. The bailiff declined their request and only wanted to open the school for the schoolmaster to teach. The villagers, however, with the support of the aldermen, succeeded in opening the school door. Beer was brought in and the youngsters celebrated until the next day.
The van Cuyck family
A-I
Peter van Cuyck (ca. 1590 – ca. 1650), son of Tyman Jansz. van Cuyck and Catharina van Sompijken, moved to Afferden at an unknown time. We don’t know the name of his wife, but he had at least two children: Hendrik (A-II) and Jan.
Peter van Cuyck moved to Afferden because it was a catholic village, very close to the border with the northern Republic. When he arrived, the region was troubled by the black death or pest.
A-II
Hendrik van Cuyck was born ca. 1640-1645. He married Anna Peters, probably in Afferden before 1672 (the registration of the marriages in Afferden only start in 1672). In 1672 a heavy fire troubled the village and in 1673 the village was plundered by the French. In 1684 the French threatened to burn down the village. The villagers could avoid this disaster by paying a huge amount of money.
Hendrik and Anna had one daughter and three sons: Catharina (° ca. 1670), Petrus (A-III), Johannes, (° 03.03.1673) and Jacobus (° 07.07.1677).
Hendrik was alderman in the village of Afferden. We find him in the records of the city council. He is first mentioned in 1677. We know that he was present at the castle of Bleijenbeek in 1709 when Arnold Schenck van Nijdeggen, lord of Bleijenbeek, made up his testament.
Castle Bleijenbeek was situated in Afferden. It was owned by the family Schenck van Nijdeggen. At the beginning of the 18th century Arnold Schenck van Nijdeggen, lord of Bleijenbeek, and his wife Maria Catharina van Hoensbroeck lived in the castle. They had one son, who died in 1703. In 1709 Arnold was very ill. On 30 August he called Hendrik van Cuyck, alderman of Afferden, and two of his colleagues, to the castle. Arnold was dying, but he still had good memory and all his wits about him. He handed them over his testament. He had written and sealed it himself and he asked Hendrik van Cuyck and his colleagues to take the testament and validate it, which they did. The margrave died the next day. He was buried in the parish church of Afferden. The testament was opened on 23 October 1709, in the presence of Hendrik van Cuyck and his colleagues. According to the testament, the family van Hoensbroeck inherited the castle. The margrave wanted to be buried “zonder faste of pompe” in the burial vault of his ancestors (according to the record in the burial register of Afferden this must have been in the church of Afferden). He also founded two memories (“jaargetijden”), one in the church of Afferden en one in the church of Swalmen. Immediately after his death no less than 800 masses had to be celebrated!
We know that Hendrik van Cuyck had a university degree (he studied law).
Anna Peters died in Afferden on 23 March 1707. Hendrik van Cuyck died in Afferden on 17 February 1717.
A-III
Peter van Cuyck was alderman in Afferden from 1719 to 1741. On 3 November 1695 he married Cornelia Thijssen (Tijssen). They had four children: Sybilla (° 22.06.1698), Jacob (A-IV), Mathias (26.03.1707 – 03.05.1729) and Johannes (° 18.08.1709). He died in Afferden on 13 August 1741. His widow, Cornelia Thijssen, died in Afferden on 15 November 1742.
A-IV
Jacobus van Cuyck was born in Afferden on 2 September 1700. He married Mechtilidis Swijen on 8 May 1740 in Afferden. The marriage was performed by Arnoldus Martinus Neimans, pastor of Afferden. Mechtildis Swijen was born in Bergen on 13 February 1710. She was the daughter of Joannes Swijen and Elisabetha Basten. The pastor of Bergen, the home town of Mechtildis, also recorded the marriage in his register.
Jacobus and Mechtildis had 5 children:
- Matthias born in Afferden on 03.04.1741; died in Afferden on 03.08.1745.
- Johanna born in Afferden on 13.03.1744; died in Bergen in 1820.
- Petrus born in Afferden on 18.02.1747; died in Afferden 06.02.1763.
- Gerardus born in Afferden on 30.10.1749; died in Bergen in 1831.
- Cornelius born in Afferden on 17.07.1752 (G-I)
Jacobus is first mentioned as alderman of Afferden in 1751. We find his name continuously from 1751 to 1789 in the archives of the community council of Afferden.
In the “Protocol der Schepenbank Afferden 1767-1785” (RHCL Maastricht, Schepenbank Afferden 01.027), we find a copy of a debt certificate in which Jacob Jaspers and Marie van den Kleff Eluijden declare that they borrowed 200 “daeler Cleefts” (Kleefse daalders or thaler from Kleef) from Jacob van Cuyck in 1760. This is a lot of money, since a day labourer earned about 3 Kleefse daalders a week. Jacobus is also mentioned in the tax list of Afferden of 1745 (Archiv Schloss Haag, 129, fol. 58r°).
For the marriage between Jacobus ans Mechtildis the bishop of Roermond granted dispensation. In the archives of the diocese of Roermond (now in the RHCL in Maastricht) we can find more information about their case. On 30 April 1740 the pastor of Afferden sent a letter to the bishop of Roermond to obtain dispensation for the intended marriage between Jacobus and Mechtildis:
Illustrissime et reverendissime.
Sunt primae vices quibus desuper honorem habeo petendi ab illustrissimo et reverendissimo domino dispensationem in bannis pro Jacobo van Kuich ecclesiae parochialis de Aefferden michi commissae subdito, et Mechtilde Sweyen ecclesiae parochialis de Bergen subdita, qui intendunt inire matrimonium, supplicant ut in tribus consuetis ecclesiae denunciationibus gratiose dispensetur in causam allegantes quod incessanter obloquia patiantur et plures sumptus impendere debeant durantibus denuntiationibus.
Quae omnia ita sese habere nullumque aliud ipsis obesse impedimentum, quantum previa diligente inquisitione rescire potui, hisce attestor cum pastore in Bergen et in fidem manu propria subscribor perseverans omni veneratione et debito respectu.
Illustrissime et reverendissime domine.
Paratissimus et humillimus famulus vester,
A. Neimans
Sponsus transmittit (…)campistellam. Si vero omnibus deesset gratis …(re)fundam et humillime et (…) corrigendum per dominum vicarium
Aefferden die 30ma Aprilis 1740.
In this letter the pastor explains that Jacobus and Mechtildis want to get married. The normal procedure is that the impending marriage has to be publicly announced in the parish church. The purpose of these so-called banns is to enable anyone to raise any canonical or civil legal impediment to the marriage, so as to prevent marriages that are invalid. Before the celebration of any marriage the names of the contracting parties had to be announced publicly in the church during Mass, by the parish priests of both parties on three consecutive Holy Days (Sundays).
In the letter the pastor explains that Jacobus and Mechtildis humbly ask the bishop to relieve them of the obligation of the three banns of marriage because of the fact that the couple has been the object of a severe smear campaign. If the marriage should be publicly announced, the gossip and slander will cost them a lot of money. If they can get married right away without the public announcement, they can avoid these costs. The pastor also declares that he has carefully investigated whether there is any impediment to the marriage, but that he could not find one. This is confirmed by the pastor of Bergen (the parish where Mechtildis comes from). A note at the end of this document states that an explanation by Jacobus is attached to the letter. Unfortunately this explanation was not preserved.
The letter is vague about the concrete reason for the smear campaign: what were the people gossiping about? Mechtildis almost certainly was not pregnant. Maybe the gossip had something to do with previous relationships of Jacobus or Mechtildis. According to canon law, if a man or woman had prior sexual relations with the other’s blood kin up to the fourth canonical degree (i.e. the other’s third cousin), this would invalidate the intended marriage. In any case one or both of the families of Jacobus and Mechtildis were opposed to the wedding, which forced (one of) them to leave home. It was unthinkable that they could live under the same roof without being married, so they had to look for lodging in a fitting house for one or both of them (and this of course would cost a lot of money). Jacobus belonged to a distinguished and prominent family. Maybe Mechtildis’ family was considered beneath the van Cuyck family? Mechtildis was the ninth child (out of eleven!) of Joannes and Elisabetha Basten. When her parents got married in 1688, her mother was already pregnant.
The marriage between Jacobus and Mechtildis was witnessed by Godefridus Swijen, Mechtildis’ brother (° Bergen, 1692). This might be an indication that the Swijen family did not object to the marriage. The other witness was Petrus Roeloffs, who could not be identified (no apparent connection to either of the families).
The dispensation was not written down in the “Acta Episcopalia” of the bishop op Roermond (RHCL Maastricht, 14.A002A, inv. 16). This is strange, but might be the consequence of disarray or forgetfulness.
Bibliography
- G. Geraedts, ‘De langdurige rechtsstrijd over het testament en over de nalatenschap van Markies Arnold Schenck van Nijdeggen (1662-1709)’, in: Maas‑ en Swalmdal, 3 (1983), pp. 83-96.
- A. Goossens, Geschiedenis van Afferden, 1957.
- R. van der Hoek, Tussen groene streep en rode beek. 200 jaar gemeente Bergen, Bergen, 2000.
- J.I. Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.
- P.J.H. Ubachs, Handboek voor de geschiedenis van Limburg, Hilversum: Verloren, 1990 (Maaslandse monografieën, 63).
- ‘Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden’, on Wikipedia.
Sources
- Bergen (Limburg), Gemeentearchief, Parochie S. Cosmas en Damianus Afferden (Limburg), Parochiearchief.
- Heerlen, Rijckheyt, Archiv Schloss Haag, 129.
- Leeuwarden, TRESOAR, 103, Decama-, Cuyck- en Foeyts Veencompagnie.
- Leeuwarden, TRESOAR, 319, Familie Van Beyma thoe Kingma.
- Maastricht, Regionaal Historisch Centrum Limburg, 01.027 Schepenbank te Afferden, (1574) 1706-1798
- Maastricht, Regionaal Historisch Centrum Limburg, 01.060 Schepenbank Heijen 17de-18de eeuw. 199, 200 en 201 Stukken over de grens en het plaatsen van grensstenen tussen Heijen en Afferden (1685, 1691 en 1777).
- Maastricht, Regionaal Historisch Centrum Limburg, DTB registers. R.J.I. Goossens & A.M.S. van Hees, Beschrijving van de doop-, huwelijks- en overlijdensregisters ter inzage op het Rijksarchief in Limburg, Inventarissenreeks RAL 19, Maastricht 1980.
- Maastricht, RHCL, 01.027 Schepenbank te Afferden, (1574) 1706-1798
- Maastricht, RHCL, 14.A002A Visitaties van de bisschop van Roermond. 73.2 Afferden.
- Maastricht, RHCL, Hof van Gelder te Roermond, 01.004, inv. nr. 236, fol. 129vs-130; copy d.d. 9-9-1711.
- Utrecht, HUA, 26 Familie Des Tombe.
