William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland

Johann Wilhelm (Jan Willem ) Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland KG, PC ( born July 20, 1648 Diepenheim, † November 23, 1709 in Bulstrode Park, Bucks ) was a Dutch- English courtier and diplomat.

Life

Johann Wilhelm Bentinck was the son of Hendrik Bentinck, Lord of Diepenheim and Schoonheten ( in the Dutch province of Overijssel). He was at the court of William of Orange ( the future King William III. Of England) behaved. When he fell ill with smallpox in 1675, Bentinck nursed him. Since that time both had a special friendship.

1675 Johann Wilhelm acquired the Catshuis in The Hague. 1677 he drove for the first time on behalf of William to England to convey there for this marriage to Mary, the daughter of Jacob, Duke of York, later King James II in the following years was followed by further visits to England.

In the years 1687/1688 he prepared by further visits before the landing of William, which then led to the Glorious Revolution. Bentinck was also responsible for the logistical preparation of the invasion and accompanied William to England in 1688. In 1689 he became a member of the Privy Council and to the Earl of Portland, and thus raised to the English peerage. In the battle of the Boyne Bentinck commanded a portion of the cavalry. Also in the Nine Years' War he took part in several battles, as in the battle of Neerwinden, where he was wounded, and in 1695 at the siege of Namur. Two years later he helped then to bring the Peace of Rijswijk about.

After he left still in 1698 as ambassador to Paris, he laid in spring 1699 his court offices down from jealousy to another favorite of William, Arnold van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle, and only led the negotiations with France by the end of the second division of the contract about the Spanish monarchy to an end. But the king showered him with gifts further, he received nearly 550 km ² of land in Ireland. Therefore, and because his life he remained a foreigner in England, he was extremely unpopular in the country. For this he was indicted in 1701 by the House of Commons, but was left to later drop the charges again.

Later Bentinck reconciled with William, who took in his final illness by his touching farewell in March 1702. After William's death, he withdrew from all shops and died on his estate in Buckinghamshire.

Bentinck was married twice. From the first marriage he had five children from his second marriage six. His eldest son, Henry, in 1716 became the Duke of Portland, his second son, William, in 1732 raised to the German Imperial Count. The daughters married English nobles all.