Timeline
The lives of Laurens and Abraham Verniers — and what followed
From the first documented persecution to the early nineteenth century — as told in Post II on the blog, the extended story of Laurens and the family history.
Rhetoricians' festival in Ghent: one of the first visible traces of biblical thinking and criticism of Roman Catholic practices such as indulgences and the sacraments. Source
Within the early Protestant movement a split occurs, giving rise to the Mennonites (followers of Menno Simons), the Reformed, and the Calvinists. Source
Biblical ideas and criticism of Roman Catholic practices also resound at the Deinze rhetoricians' festivals (1549–1553 and 1566). Source
The Wonderyear: Calvinists hold field sermons, organise the Iconoclastic Fury across Flanders, and found their own churches and congregations. Source
Philip II sends the Duke of Alva to crush the religious uprising with force; through the Twentieth Penny tax, the population is made to help pay for the Spanish troops. Source
Start of the Eighty Years' War: at the Battle of Heiligerlee, troops of William of Orange defeat a Spanish army for the first time. Source
The Sea Beggars capture Den Briel; the armed revolt against Spain gains a foothold in Holland and Zeeland. Source
Banished in absentia by the Duke of Alva — for secretly baptising fellow believers, among other places in Antwerp and 's-Hertogenbosch. The beginning of our founding ancestor's documented story. Source Source Source
Registered in the Franeker citizens' book (3 December), under the corrupted name "Lourens Wermer". Source
Mediates on behalf of Franeker, together with elders Hendrik van Roosevelt and Jan van Ophoorn, in a church dispute. Source
Sentence of Banishment (26 November): banished under the name Joachim Joos Vernier as a teacher of the Mennonite sect, with confiscation of his goods. Source
Receives a letter from his friend Hans Busschaert, addressed to "Lauwereys Verniers, at Franeker". Source
Birth of Abraham Verniers, son of Laurens, likely in Ghent or Antwerp — though hard to reconcile with Laurens' 1567 banishment from Antwerp; his mother may already have been living in the north. Source
Pacification of Ghent: despite their religious differences, all seventeen provinces unite against the Spanish troops, shortly after the plundering of Antwerp by mutinying Spanish soldiers (the "Spanish Fury"). Source
The Union of Arras (southern provinces, reconciling with Spain) and the Union of Utrecht (northern provinces) split the Low Countries into two camps. Source
Act of Abjuration: the northern provinces formally renounce allegiance to King Philip II. Source
Ghent becomes a Calvinist city, and Flanders largely a Calvinist land. Source
Stepdaughter Giert(e) Jans marries (December) Claes Claesz Anslo — the start of the family's connection to the Anslo family, with possible later links to Rembrandt and Vondel. Source
Following military action, Ghent falls to Alexander Farnese; Flemish Calvinists emigrate en masse to England, the Netherlands, and Germany — contributing to the economic flourishing of the Golden Age. Source
William of Orange is assassinated in Delft by Balthasar Gerards — the first assassination of a head of state with a firearm. Source
After a long siege by Alexander Farnese, Antwerp falls; thousands of Protestants and Mennonites flee north — the same persecution Laurens Verniers had already fled Antwerp for, sixteen years earlier. Source
Catholicism is restored in Flanders during the Counter-Reformation, driven in part by the Jesuits. Source
Owner of a house on the Kalverstraat. Source
Owner of "De Oranjeboom" on the Warmoesstraat. Source
Dies and is buried on 27 December in the Oude Kerk, on the Oudezijds Voorburgwal near the Varkensluis. Source
Founding of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) — the world's first multinational, and a few decades later the context in which Abraham Verniers would become active as a master of navigation in Enkhuizen. Source
Writes his Almanach, centuries later recovered as binding material of a seventeenth-century tax register. Source
Registered as a pedlar, originating from Emden. Source
Citizen and distiller, also originating from Emden. Source
Twelve Years' Truce: an armistice between the Republic and Spain interrupts the Eighty Years' War. Source
Sells land; by then already living in Haarlem. Source
Acts, together with Jacob Ysbrantsz. Bontekoe, as expert witness for the VOC, as "master of navigation" in Enkhuizen. Source
Marries Geertje (Guijrt) Jans on 30 April in the Westerkerk. Source
Draws up his will on 29 June, naming Geertje as his sole and universal heir. Source
Dies on 5 November; he had been warden of the Enkhuizen orphanage. Source
Peace of Münster: end of the Eighty Years' War and formal recognition of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. Source
Four Anglo-Dutch Wars are fought over maritime supremacy and trade — relevant to later generations of Verniers in shipping and trade. Source
Rampjaar ("Disaster Year"): simultaneous attacks by France, England, and the bishoprics of Münster and Cologne bring the young Republic to the brink. Source
The journeys of Laurens and Abraham
Every dot is a place from the timeline. Click a dot, or a place in the list below, to jump straight to the matching event.
Laurens — route
Second city where, according to the Sentence, he baptised fellow believers.
See in timeline →Registered in the citizens' book (1560); formally banished here nine years later.
See in timeline →Not a journey, but a letter: friend Hans Busschaert writes to him from Cologne.
See in timeline →Homeowner on the Kalverstraat and the Warmoesstraat; he dies here in 1600.
See in timeline →Abraham — route
Birth, likely in Ghent or Antwerp (Nationaal Archief) — hard to reconcile with Laurens' 1567 banishment from Antwerp.
See in timeline →Place of origin according to the Amsterdam and Leiden citizen registers.
See in timeline →Master of navigation, orphanage warden, marriage, will, and death.
See in timeline →