The origins of the telescope - DWC - KNAW

Ill. 1. Letter of recommendation for Hans Lipperhey, written by the ‘Gecommiteerde
Raden’ of the province of Zeeland, dated 25 September 1608. [Zeeuws Archief,
Middelburg].
The archives of the States General in The Hague reveal that ‘the bearer of
this letter’ was in fact the Middelburg spectacle maker Hans Lipperhey, born
in Wesel ca. 1570, married in Middelburg, the capital of Zeeland, in 1594
and, a citizen (‘poorter’) of that city since 1602. 12 It was Lipperhey’s intention
to present his ‘art’ to the authorities of the young Dutch Republic in The
Hague, and request a patent for this device.
At that very moment The Hague was a city crowded with diplomats from
all over Europe. In February 1608 a peace conference had started in The Hague
between the Dutch authorities and representatives of the former sovereign of
the Netherlands, the King of Spain. In 1609 these negotiations would lead to
a long cease-fire, a period which would become known in Dutch history as
the ‘Twelve-Year Truce.’ The main negotiator for the Spanish sovereign was
Ambrogio de Spinola, (later Marquis of Los Balbases), commander-in-chief
of the Spanish army in the Low Countries. As the Spanish-Dutch negotiations
were coming to an end, he was preparing to depart from The Hague on
30 September in order to report to his direct superior, Archduke Albertus of
Austria in Brussels, viceroy of the part of the old Burgundian territory still
ruled by Spain.
12 De Waard, Uitvinding (1906), 109-110.
12
huib j. zuidervaart