VI. Jacques de Cleercq (c1555-1609) x Passchijntgen Grijspeert
Son of Lieven de Cleerck and Lievyne van Houcke
Jacques de Cleercq, born Ghent 1554/55, buried Haarlem 19 Aug. 1609, married Passchijntgen Grijspeert (Grispere), born Rumbeke (Flanders), died Haarlem ? Aug. 1638, dr. of Pieter.
When Jacques de Clercq grew up, Flanders was in turmoil, as a result of the Reformation: the spreading of Protestantism throughout Northwestern Europe. There were consecutive but overlapping waves of reform: a Lutheran, followed by a militant Anabaptist, then a Mennonite, and finally a Calvinistic movement. These movements existed independently of each other.
The Low Countries were part of the Habsburg Empire and the emperors were staunch defenders of the Roman Catholic Church. Dissenters were heavily persecuted; in the course of a few decades countless Protestants died as martyrs in public executions.
Several De Clercqs were drawn to the body of thoughts, propagated by the Protestants. As early as 1543 two sisters Elisabeth and Catherine de Clerc (nieces of Jacques’ father), who lived in the city of Leuven, were arrested as part of a larger group of Leuven citizens, suspected of Lutheran beliefs and activities. Like the others, Elisabeth and Catherine were heavily interrogated several times. Luckily for them, their sentence was relatively mild; after they were released they had to pay large fines and do public penance for their sins. Their aunt Antonia van Roesmale (sister of their deceased mother) was not that fortunate; she was burried alive on the Main Market of Leuven!
Forty years later it was Jacques who was arrested. He had joined the Mennonite congregation in Ghent and played an prominent role in it. From 1577 to 1584 the Ghent Mennonites were relatively free to practice their beliefs. Calvinists had seized power in Ghent in 1577 and had exclaimed the city a ‘Calvinist republic’. However, in November 1584 the city was recaptured by the Spanish army and the protestants were again heavily persecuted.
A few months later, in March 1585, Jacques and eight other Mennonites had secretly gathered in a house that belonged to Jacques. Their meeting was for distributing money that was collected for the poor of their community. But somehow, the magistracy was informed, the house was invaded and the nine were arrested and put into prison.
After they were heavily interrogated, a trial followed, that lasted half a year and in which even the Spanish governor, Allesandro Farnese, duke of Parme, was personally involved. At one point it was suggested that the nine should be sentenced to 'sackinge ende verdrinckinge' (put in a sack and then drowned in a barrel, not an uncommon way of executing heretics in those days). But in the end, their sentence was more mercyfull. Jacques and his companions were banned from Flanders for fifty years; they had to leave the city before dawn.
Jacques de Clercq fled to the north and settled in Haarlem; his wife Passchijntgen soon followed with their children. Haarlem was at that time a booming city and gave ample oppurtunity for entrepeneurs, especially in the textile manufacturing and trade. Jacques became a well to do merchant, living in the Grote Houtstraat. And also in Haarlem, Jacques played a prominent role in his Mennonite community.
Signatures of Jacques de Cleercq and of Passcintgen Grisper (Passchijntgen Grijspeert)
Interestingly, one of the sisters of Jacques, Elisabeth de Clercq, who stayed in Ghent, was married to Hercules van Hembyse. Hercules was a bastardson of the notorious nobleman Jan van Hembyse, who played a remarkable role in Ghent’s history. For it was Van Hembyse who, supported by another Protestant nobleman Francois de la Kethulle, and a leading Calvinist preacher, overthrew Ghent’s Roman Catholic-dominated government and exclaimed the ‘Calvinist Republic of Gent’. However, in 1584, before the city was recaptured, Van Hembyse was suspected of treason (secret negotiations with the Spaniards), arrested and decapitated.
The youngest son of Jacques was Lucas de Clercq
