Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer (1801-1876) was a statesman, an aristocrat, a historian - he was the Royal Archivist - politician and journalist - he published De Nederlandsche Gedachten and Nederlandsche Gedachten.
He was extremely influential upon Abraham Kuyper. Kuyper took up Groen's mantle in the setting up of the Anti-Revolutionary Party as the first Dutch national political party
A recent important article by Harry van Dyke has described Groen as the godfather of Kuyper and Herman Bavinck (Calvin Theological Journal 47 (1) (2012)).
Many of Groen's works in Dutch and French are available here.
1797 Groen's parents Pieter Jacobus Groen van Prinsterer and Adrinana Hendrika Caan marry
1799 Birth of eldest sister Cornelia Adriana (aka Keetje)
1801 Birth
1805 Spends winter season in mansion on Korte Vijverberg
1806 Birth of youngest sister Maria Clazina
1808/9 attends private school run by the Hague chapter of the Society for the Common Utility
1813 Spends short time at a boarding school in Haarlem
1815 Hieronmymus School, Utrecht
1816 Saves girl from drowning
1817 Enrols at Leyden University to study both law and letters
1817 Poet Willem Bilderdijk comes to live in Leyden
1818 Attends Bilderdijk’s private seminar
1821 Sister Keetje marries Mari Hoffman
1822 Touched by the baptism of Da Costa
1823 Passes qualifying exams – decides to do two doctorates
1823 Defends two doctorates dissertations
1924 Barrister in The Hague
1826 General History of Netherlands invitation by the King issued
1827 Appointed to post of Secretary in King’s Cabinet
1828 Marries Elizabeth Maria Magdalena van der Hoop (b 1807) (21 May)
1829 Moves to small house on Haagse Voorhout, The Hague
1829 First issue of De Nederlandsche Gedachten published (122 issues in total published in its 3 year life)
1830 Belgium revolt
1832 Moves house to Plein Square, The Hague
1832 De Nederlandsche Gedachten ceases publication (July)
1832 Writes to Minister pointing out the inherent injustice of the Education Act.
1833 January mother dies
1833 January seriously ill
1833 July travels to Switzerland for convalescence – meets Merle d’Aubigne
1833 December discharged from role of Secretary to the King – but charged with supervision of family archives
1833 Becomes a Christian
1834 Secession (Afscheiding) movement begins
1835 March first volume of Archives ou correspondance inédite de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau published. He edited 13 volumes, covering the period 1552 to 1688
1837 Father dies
1837 Tract: Measures Against the Seceders Tested Against Constitutional Law
1838 Lives in mansion on Korte Vijverberg
1840 Elected to the Double Chamber of parliament
1841 First instalment of Handboek der Geschiedenis van het Vaderland [Handbook of the History of the Fatherland] published
1842 May wrote an open letter to the Synod with 6 others
1845 Begins to deliver the lectures that became Unbelief and Revolution to an invited audience in his home
1845 The Christian Friends begin to meet in Amsterdam
1846 Handbook completed: over 1100 numbered paragraphs
1848 Writes a series of pamphlets: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Explanation of the Slogan of the Revolution
1848 Essays on Constitutional Revision and National Concord
1849 January takes up seat in the lower house of parliament
1850 Begins editorship of daily De Nederlander and becomes co-owner
1850 Surrenders manorial rights in the village of Ursem
1853 Leyden history teacher, Robert Fruin, launches a written attack on Groen
1855 De Nederlander ceases publication
1855 Re-elected to a seat in Second Chamber
1855 Visits England and Scotland with wife
1857 Second Chamber passes the Primary Education Act (votes 47 to 13)
Groen resigns his seat in protest by walking out of the chamber
1860 Devotes energy to Association for Christian National Primary Education
1862 Returns to Second Chamber
1862 December becomes ill
1864 Election year
Begins correspondence with Abraham Kuyper
1865 Resigns seat in Second Chamber because of illness
1861 Publishes the French tract The Anti-Revolutionary and Confessional Party in the Reformed Church of the Netherlands.
1866 Groen’s friend Levinus Keuchenius. Keuchenius previously secretary-general of the Department of Colonial Affairs and a member of the Council of the Netherlands East Indies takes seat in Second Chamber
1867 Writes two brochures condemning Prussian Chancellor Otto van Bismark’s politics and the idolatry of nationalism
1869 He begins a new series of Nederlandsche Gedachten
1871 Elections – he endorses only Kuyper, Van Otterloo and Baron van Wassenaer
Resigns from the post of Royal Archivist
Fourth edition of Handbook – distributed free to hundreds of school teachers
1872 Kuyper begins De Standaard. Groen had contributed 3000 guilders towards the set up.
1875 Publishes Maurice et Barnevelt
1876 Published a collection of letters related to the conflict with Van der Brugghen over the 1857 Education Bill
1876 19 May death. Buried in Ter Navolging cemetery.
1879 14 March Betsy, his wife, dies
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