Christiaan Huygens – A family affair - Proeven van Vroeger

the seemingly dominant position for Constantijn Sr., the family seemed to function as a team
indeed.
The brothers were accustomed to learn and to do useful things for the family together.
For instance, Constantijn Jr. and Christiaan Jr. often helped their father with the grinding of
lenses, and helped making the prints for the publication of their father’s Momenta desultoria,
together with their teacher, Hendrik Bruno. 207 With the death of René Descartes, both
Constantijns and Christiaan Jr. wrote poems remembering the deceased; the efforts of the
boys were taken very seriously by Constantijn Sr.. 208 In the winter of 1657 Christiaan Jr. was
asked by his father (who was sick for some time) to take over the preparations for his new
collection of poems, “Cornflowers” (“Korenbloemen,” published in 1658). This task included
collecting introductory verses for the volume from famous friends – an assignment that
Christiaan Jr. did more than successful. 209 A year earlier, Christiaan Jr. had made a drawing
of his father that was included in the book, and he was awarded with several Latin poems of
his father and Dutch poems of Joost van den Vondel – a good friend of his father’s. All poems
took the theme of “survivance;” how thankful the could be to be given back the life he had once
given to his son, through the beautiful portrait (in which Constantijn Sr. lived forth –
“survived”), made by his son Christiaan. 210
The titles that were attached to the lordships that the family acquired through
Constantijn Sr.’s purchases and lobbying were shared as family property between the sons.
The brothers all received their own title: Constantijn Jr. became lord of Zeelhem, Christiaan
Jr. lord of Zuilichem and Lodewijk lord of Monnickelant – and Christiaan Jr. would often call
his older brother “le Zeelhem.” 211 The children were all urged to address each other according
to their status; Christiaan Jr. was sometimes addressed with “UEd” – meaning “Y[our]
E[xcellency]” 212 – and on the instigation of his father Christiaan started addressing the letters
to his older brother with “Monsieur Secrétaire de Son Altesse [His Highness] d’Orange,” well
207 HUYGENS, C. (1911) BW., Vol. III, Lett. 3497 – Hendrik Bruno to Constantijn Sr. (16 April 1644);
No. 3528 – Hendrik Bruno to Constantijn Sr. (9 June 1644).
208 HUYGENS, C. (1888) OC., Vol. I, No. 77, No. 79 (Mar. 29, 1650), n1; No. 80 (Mar. 29, 1650)
209 Ibid., Vol. I, No. 426 – Christiaan Jr. to J. van den Burgh (Nov. 14, 1657); No. 428 – Christiaan Jr.
to Coppenol (Nov. 16, 1657); No. 429 – Bruno to Christiaan Jr. (Nov. 17, 1657)
210 Vondel’s poem: Ibid., Vol. I, No. 362 – Vondel to Christiaan Jr. (Dec. 1656); Constantijn Sr. poems:
HUYGENS, C. (1888) OC., Vol. I, No. 360 – Constantijn Sr. to Christiaan Jr. (Dec. 20, 1656); Vol. II,
No. 385 – Constantijn Sr. to Christiaan Jr. (Apr. 14, 1657); No. 420 – Constantijn Sr. to Christiaan Jr.
(Oct. 1657)
211 For example HUYGENS, C. (1888) OC., Vol. IV, No. 1140 (Aug. 3, 1663).
212 Ibid., Vol. V, No. 1220
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