Christiaan Huygens – A family affair - Proeven van Vroeger

It seems likely that the father still had his hopes for Christiaan too: the fact that
Christiaan spent a substantial part of his time on scientific work did not necessarily matter, for
in a likely manner, Constantijn Sr. had spent the years before and in between his Grand Tour
on the composition of several poetic volumes, plays and musical pieces. Though Constantijn
Sr. has been seen by many historians as a professional poet, he was not, and would not agree
with the classification (as we have seen in Chapter II). Instead, this talent, whether poetic or
“scientific,” had an important function: it created public fame and appreciation, leading to
favorable circumstances for a future position in public service. This could work for
mathematics as much as for poetry. The most important man in the Dutch Republic at that
point – the Grandpensionary, Johan de Witt, who had shared the classroom with Christiaan
under Van Schooten for several years – had also been regarded as a “mathematician” until his
quick rise in public service.
Though Christiaan did not continue his Tour in the five years before his journey to
Paris in the second half of 1655 – perhaps due to the dangers of the armed conflicts at the
borders of the Dutch Republic, the incapacitating influence of the plague or perhaps his
father’s thought that it was worth waiting for a quick reversal of the political outlook in their
favor, so that he could arrange higher patrons for Christiaan’s Tour 275 – Constantijn Sr. made
sure that Christiaan Jr. moved in the right milieu. During this period, the Zuylichems were
welcomed as members to the illustrious Ordre de l’Union de la Joye, a highly elitist gathering at
the court of the Brederodes in The Hague, 276 allowing as “knights” the initiated who “enjoyed
laughing, dancing, and rejoicing.” Apart from its function of chasing away “lady melancholy
and her full cousin, chagrin,” a facet that Christiaan and his father may have liked, the
membership provided them with yet another informal entrance to the ruling elite, with
members as Willem Frederik of Nassau, the already mentioned de Witt (of course “known as a
skilful dancer, a pleasing versifier, and a good performer on the violin”) and the Brederodes. 277
Furthermore, Constantijn Sr. took his son with him to the nearby court of Elizabeth of
275 HUYGENS, C. (1888) OC., Vol. I, No. 84 (Aug. 2, 1650) – one of reasons why Christiaan stayed
home was a situation of turmoil around the Republic.
276 ZIJLMANS, J. (1997) Life at the Hague Court. IN KEBLUSEK, M., ZIJLMANS, J. &
MUSEUM, H. H. (Eds.) Princely display : the court of Frederik Hendrik of Orange and Amalia van Solms. The
Hague; Zwolle, Historical Museum; Waanders., p33
277 ZUYLEN VAN NYEVELT, S. V. (1906) Court life in the Dutch Republic, 1638-1689, London, New
York,, J. M. Dent & co.; E. P. Dutton & co., p185-6 “envie de rire, danser, gambader et de se réjouir;”
“dame mélancholique et son cousin germain, le chagrin.” My translation. Both father and son are
thought to have suffered from melancholy. See ANDRIESSE, C. D. (2005) Huygens : the man behind the
principle, Cambridge ; New York, Cambridge University Press. and HOFMAN, H. A. (1983) Constantine
Huygens (1596-1687) : a christian-humanist bourgeois-gentilhomme in service of the House of Orange, Utrecht,
HES Uitgevers., p52
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