- First name
- Cornelis
- Last name
- Witt, de
- Date of Birth
- 1623
- Date of Death
- 1672
- Born in
- Dordrecht
- Died in
- The Hague
Cornelis de Witt studied law in Leiden. He was was Burgomaster of Dordrecht (1666–7), Ruwaard (governor) of the domain of Putten (1654), deputy of Holland, and member of the Gecomitteerde raden in the Zuiderkwartier. During the Battle of Solebay, he was forced to leave the Dutch fleet, a decision that immediately provoked gossipy rumours of treason. Initially, Cornelis refused to sign the document abolishing the ‘Perpetual Edict’ of 1667. He was arrested (July 1672) and tortured for high treason in a fabricated plot to assassinate the young stadholder. He was condemned on August 20 and killed with his brother Johan on the same day by an angry Orangist mob in an uproar at the ‘Gevangenpoort’ in The Hague. See: NNBW, vol. 3, cols 1450–3; Rowen, 1978; Panhuysen, 2005.
