Christiaan Huygens – A family affair - Proeven van Vroeger

e knighted – even some of the ambassadors had not received this honor 78 – but this was Van
Aerssen’s objective: he wanted Constantijn Sr. to be promoted to Knight of the Order of St.
Jacob. As Van Aerssen lobbied via the Earl of Holland (a courtier at the court of James I),
ambassador Caron and the Killigrews, Constantijn Sr. published a poem on the university of
Oxford and performed for the English King in the same year in which he was eventually
knighted: 1622. 79 The efforts of Constantijn Sr.’s significant patrons, combined with his
visibility through his diplomatic audiences and musical performance with the King ultimately
paid off well in the form of his first title.
There were limits to Van Aerssen’s power, however. His title notwithstanding,
Huygens was not appointed Dutch ambassador to England when Caron died in 1624. 80
Constantijn Sr.’s father died in that same year, much concerned about his son’s future – as a
diplomatic aide, Constantijn Sr. did not receive an income. When repeated attempts of Van
Aerssen and others failed to get Constantijn a high diplomatic position – even approaching the
King of Denmark for a position under his protection 81 – Constantijn Sr. eventually took a
relatively ‘safe’ path by requesting the position of secretary to the Stadholder, against the
wishes of his patron Van Aerssen, who had greater plans with his protégée. 82
Constantijn Sr. knew as no other that courtly self-fashioning was neither a private, nor
a straightforward endeavor. One’s talents in language, music and poetry counted only when
applied in high social contexts under tutelage of a powerful patron – in order to obtain even a
higher one. Erudition, courtly behavior and disinterestedness needed to be demonstrated in
both diplomatic negotiations and writings – and all this with sprezzatura, artfully displaying
perfect naturalness. Constantijn Sr. learned to see his linguistic, poetic and musical skills as
assets in courtly, diplomatic surroundings. In Chapter VI, section ii, it will be seen that
Constantijn Sr. saw Christiaan Jr.’s talents in the sciences in much of the same way: useful for
obtaining a good professional position at court. At court, the possibilities for maintaining a
high social position were by far the best (see the following chapter), and one’s other talents
78
STRENGHOLT, L., HUYGENS, C. & HEER, A. R. E. D. (1987) Constanter: het leven van Constantijn
Huygens, Amsterdam, Querido., p44
79
HOFMAN, H. A. (1983) Constantine Huygens (1596-1687) : a christian-humanist bourgeois-gentilhomme in
service of the House of Orange, Utrecht, HES Uitgevers., p65
80
HUYGENS, C. & BLOM, F. R. E. (2003) Mijn leven verteld aan mijn kinderen in twee boeken (De vita
propria sermonum inter liberos), Amsterdam, Prometheus., p13
81
HUYGENS, C. (1911) BW., Vol. I, Introduction, xlii.
82
HOFMAN, H. A. (1983) Constantine Huygens (1596-1687) : a christian-humanist bourgeois-gentilhomme in
service of the House of Orange, Utrecht, HES Uitgevers., p135
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