Heren van de Raad - Bossche Encyclopedie

420 De heren van de rand
's-Hertogenbosch could ever becorne a schepen of his city was essentially taken at local
level.
To what degree can the municipal government of 's-Hertogenbosch during the late
Middle Ages and early modern times be described as an oligarchy? The degree of mutation,
i.e. the average number of years in office per schepen, evolves from 1.93 between
1450 and 1500, to 3.27 in the period 1500-1580, to 3.94 in the years 1580-1629. Undoubtedly
over the years the degree of mutation slows down corisiderably.
examination, however, reveals that the rate of deceleration slackens after about 1580.
Compared to other cities in the Low Countries the degree of mutation of the municipal
government of 's-Hertogenbosch is very high and remains so even at the end of the sixteenth
century. Although between 1500 and 1580 's-Hertogenbosch was governed by a
slowly diminishing ~lun~ber of scheperten, the stage of a closed oligarchy was never - not
even remotelv - reached.
The group of schepenen was by no means homogenous. The number of years that
each individual filled the office of schepen differs considerably: 40% of al1 schepenen held
office for only one year, together making up only 12% of al1 mandates. A group of 33
individuals on the other hand each had eight or more mandates: these 17% of al1 schepenen
were responsible for 46% of al1 mandates. This group can justly be considered as the
apex of the ruling elite of 's-Hertogenbosch.
The 193 schepenen who ruled 's-Hertogenbosch between 1500 and 1580, belonged to
116 different families. More than 70 of these families (i.e. families in the male line) produced
only one schepen. Very few families generated more than one schepen, the apex
beirzg formed by 6 families with 5 schepenen each. The degree of continuity of these schepen-families
was not very high: 34% of the families from 1450-1500 still produced one
or more schepenen after 1500; 15.5% of the families frorn 1500-1580 did the Same after
1580. No more than seven families produced schepenen in al1 three periods. The participation
of a family in local government usually iasted no longer than two or three
generations. This obviously does not mean that the ruling elite consisted of a large
iiurnber of unconnectecl families. Genealogical research has revealed a high degree of
u u
interconnection: nearly every schepen-family was part of ai1 inrricate interrelational
network.
Bv mearis of a number of taxation lists, the relative weaith of the members of the
ruling elite can be determined. The relative position of the average schepen ameliorated
throughout the sixteenth century. In the first decade he belonged to the wealthiest 8% of
the population of 's-Hertogenbosch, in the 1570s to the upper 2%. Conversely, the
position of the treasurers of the city decreased somewhar, although remaining within the
upper 10%. The secretaries and pcnsionaries of the city can be situated at a slightly lower
level of wealth. What was this wealth based on? Little is known about the occupational
activities of most of the schepenen. ost schepenen whose occupations are known, were
active in trade and commerce. It is likely that a considerable ilumber of schepenen did not
work for a living at ali, but lived on their private means. Among the treasurers the
commercial element prevailed, but some of thein were artisans.
59 out of the 191 schebenen, that is 3174, had studied at one or more universities.
Similar figures are known ior thé Brabantine Cities of Antwerp and Leuven. During the
period 1500-1580 the participation of university-trained schepenen increased steadily