Johan van Oldenbarnevelt was executed in 1619 on the orders of Maurice of Nassau, having served as Grand Pensionary of Holland for over three decades and negotiated the Twelve Years' Truce with Spain in 1609. The 1997 issue marked the 450th anniversary of his birth. The Dutch state's willingness to honor him on currency is itself notable — his judicial murder remained a politically sensitive fault line in the Netherlands for centuries after the fact.
Johan van Oldenbarnevelt was executed in 1619 on the orders of Maurice of Nassau, having served as Grand Pensionary of Holland for over three decades and negotiated the Twelve Years' Truce with Spain in 1609. The 1997 issue marked the 450th anniversary of his birth. The Dutch state's willingness to honor him on currency is itself notable — his judicial murder remained a politically sensitive fault line in the Netherlands for centuries after the fact.