biography
| name: |
Beuningen, Coenraad van
|
pronunciation:
[boeningen]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1622–93)
|
| biography:
| Dutch diplomat and politician, born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Pensionary of Amsterdam (1651–60), he was involved in negotiations leading to the Baltic War (1655–60), and persuaded Johan de Witt to support Denmark. He was unsuccessful as an anti-French envoy to France, and later to England, where he tried to thwart the Secret Treaty of Dover. He promoted the anti-French coalition, and his defensive alliance with England endured until the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War a century later. He took a neutral stance between De Witt and Orange policies, but his enthusiasm repeatedly came up against De Witt's caution. After the fall of De Witt, he was burgomaster of Amsterdam several times, but eventually lost favour with Stadtholder William III for promoting the interests of Amsterdam too much and opposing his plans for expanding the army and his English policy, and he was replaced by Nicolaas Witsen in 1655. In 1686 he retired from public life and married, aged 64, for the first time. |
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