The Mayan calendar’s last date of December 21, 2012 gave rise to revelry scheduled for the “End of the World Party,” which I was unable to attend. Perhaps the Mayan attendant to that calendar project suffered their demise before chiseling out December 22, 2012.
Let’s reconsider the thorny question over the Oldenbarneveldt connection, which claims Pieter Van Stoutenburg as son of William, Lord of Stoutenburg, son of Johann Van Oldenbarneveldt, the great Dutch statesman who cofounded the Dutch East India Company and brought the Low Countries out of bankruptcy, suspending the Thirty Year War to achieve this endeavor.
Elizabeth, Queen of England called him John Barnfield, a favorite at her court. His time was significant in many respects, as ours today also is exploding with new capabilities and connections. Some Europeans take offense that we exhibit the coat of arms of Stoutenburg, which bears the motto of Oldenbarneveldt “Nils scire tutissima fides.”
At one time, the interpretation was suggested, “Nothing is known of them but their integrity,” however Oldenbarneveldt’s maxim was “To know nothing is the safest faith.” Considering the bloody times during which he lived, it was a wise position.
The Gutenberg Project is an online collection we may share freely, which includes the volumes given by our family to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, The Life and Death of Johann Van Oldenbarneveldt. (See below.)
Use the book below to peruse and learn how complicated it can all become when you add political intrigue, religious discrimination, vendettas, intolerance of tyranny, and insistence upon freedoms we now are free to so flagrantly disrespect and misuse in this country and throughout the world.
John Lothrop Motley, author 1880. (See THE LIFE AND DEATH of JOHN OF BARNEVELD, ADVOCATE OF HOLLAND)
Enjoy.
THE LIFE AND DEATH of JOHN OF BARNEVELD, ADVOCATE OF HOLLAND
Read the Full Book Below
