Tuyll: Encyclopedia II - Tuyll - History

Tuyll - History

The family dominated the region surrounding the castle of Tuyll (also written Thule and Tuil) in 970 (according to a letter from the first Holy Roman Emperor Otto I). Tuyll is considered to be one of the oldest places of the Betuwe, called Insula Batavorum by Tacitus. The Batavii are thought to be the ancestors of the Dutch.

Tuyll is believed to have been the seat of the court of the region of Teisterbant, of which today's Betuwe was a part.

In 1125, Hugo lord of Tuyll is cited as a famous knight.

In 1371 Gozewijn and Jan van Tuyll take part in the battle of Basweiler, the decisive battle of the wars of Brabant.

In 1483, Pieter van Tuyll, lord of Welland, was ambassador of Charles of Burgundy to Edward IV of England. The lordship of Serooskerke (in Schouwen) came from Philip II of Spain.

From 1483 to 1600 Pieter and his descendants had themselves called van Serooskerke, and van Tuyll van Serooskerken from then on.

In the XVIth century, there were seven castles around Tuyll, of which Bulkestein, owned by Willem van Tuyll who was said to have made a pact with the devil, which gave him powers above those of ordinary mortals, like the ability to fly, and invincibility for the armies he commanded. He is considered by some academics to have been one of the possible sources for the German Historia von D. Iohan Fausten in 1587, which inspired Christopher Marlowe's play, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.

Hieronymus van Tuyll (1510-1571) [1], burgrave (viscount) of Zeeland, married Elisabeth Micault [2], daughter of John, knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece. His tomb is in the Church of Stavenisse [3].

His eldest son, Philibert (died 1579) inherited his father's titles, was lord of a second Serooskerke (in Walcheren), hence the final n in Serooskerken, and was governor of Bergen-op-Zoom since 1572.

Hendrik van Tuyll (1574-1627) was ambassador to the court of England and member of the highest council, the Raad van State (founded in 1531). His son Hendrik Jacob was also member of the council from 1690.

In 1623, King James I of England gives Philibert van Tuyll (died 1661) the right to carry a rose extracted from the royal coat of arms and bearing the crown of England on the family coat of arms.

Jan van Tuyll (1710-1762), baron of Heeze and Leende, lord of Vleuten, married Ursulina, daughter of Frederik, Earl of Athlone and Henriette, countess of Nassau, daughter of the Earl of Rochford, and descendant of William I of Orange.

Isabelle van Tuyll (1740-1805) [4], an XVIIIth century author, also known as Belle van Zuylen and Isabelle de Charrière was the daughter of Diederik van Tuyll (1707-1776) [5], born in the castle of Zuylen. Her mother Helena de Vicq was the daughter of Rene de Vicq, mayor of Amsterdam and administrator of the Dutch West India Company.

Frederik van Tuyll (1742-1805) was colonel of the cavalry regiment van Tuyll van Serooskerken (1777-1793): [6].

Jan Maximiliaan van Tuyll (1771-1843) was the governor of Utrecht and then the first governor of North Holland.

In 1822, The High Council of Nobility, declared members of the family were competent since early times to carry the oldest title of nobility, baron. They are "noblesse immemoriale", without ennoblement, predating 1351, from when on nobles of non knightly origin were created in Italy.

The "baron de Tuyll" was from 1815 Russian plenipotentiary to the Holy See, had colloquies in regard to the union of the two Churches, and from 1822 to 1827, Russian minister to the United States and resident of Stephen Decatur House, and from 1827 to 1834, secretary to the Viceroy of Ireland, the Marquess of Anglesey.

In 1851, Vincent van Tuyll (1812-1860) discovered the biggest tin deposit until today on the island of Billiton and founded what is now the world's largest diversified resources company, Billiton.

His son Reginald van Tuyll (1845-1903) -who may have inspired the eponymous character in Pelham Grenville Wodehouse's book Indiscretions of Archie, 1921- married the countess Anna Mathilda van Limburg Stirum after the death of the Crown Prince Willem of the Netherlands, who had been refused permission to marry her.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki