Frans Banning Cocq

Biography Background and family

Frans was born on February 23, 1605, as the son of Jan Jansz Cock (1575–1633), a local pharmacist of German descendant in the Warmoesstraat. His father, born in Bremen, moved around 1592 to Amsterdam. Nothing is known about his grandfather. He was married to Lysbeth Fransdr Banninck (1581–1623) of Amsterdam origin. In the Amsterdam patriciate of the 16th and 17th centuries, there were two families with very similar names, the Banning(h) family, also known as Benning(h), and the Banninck family, which were not closely related to each other. The first-named family was of greater importance, since they were members of the city government for a longer period of time. Banninck Cocq's mother belonged to the less important family, and was related to Amsterdam burgomaster Cornelis Hooft. Deviating from the tradition according to which, as the first-born, he was to receive the name of his paternal grandfather, he received the first and last name of his maternal grandfather Frans Banninck (1544–1582), who died at young age. The Bannincks had been members of the Amsterdam City Council for generations and only Frans Banninck Cocq's early death, before he could reach an office, broke the tradition. In this way, the parents documented their right to continue a family tradition. Frans was baptized on 27 February 1605 in the Oude Kerk. As his parents were not married, it caused a scandal, but on 17 September of the same year they went to the townhall to notice the marriage.

Frans Banninck Cocq, who seems to have had one deaf brother, studied law in Poitiers and Bourges between 1625 and 1627. In 1630 he married Maria Overlander van Purmerland, daughter of knight Volkert Overlander, merchant, one of the founders of the Dutch East Trading Company, a few times burgemeester of Amsterdam and Lord of Purmerland and Ilpendam. One of her sisters, Geertruid Overlander van Purmerland (1609–1634), was married to statesman and Amsterdam burgomaster Cornelis de Graeff.

Through his marriage Banninck Cocq became linked with the powerful Bicker and De Graeff families of Amsterdam and also to the family of Johan de Witt, later Grand Pensionary of Holland. When Frans' father-in-law died, Banninck Cocq inherited his properties, including the title Free Lord of Purmerland and Ilpendam along with the castle of Ilpenstein north of Amsterdam and the canal house De Dolphijn in the city. At Ilpenstein, Banninck Cocq decorated the main hall with portraits of his wife's ancestors. The couple had no children.

Political career From 1632 he held a large number of offices in the Amsterdam city administration. In 1632, 1633 and 1636 he became a member of the Commission for Marital Affairs. In 1634, 1635, 1641, 1643, 1644 and 1650 he was a member of the Commission for Small Affairs (Commissaris van Kleine zaken). In 1634 he succeeded his father-in-law as a member of the vroedschap (city council). In 1637, 1640, 1642, 1645, 1646, 1648 and 1649 he was elected to Schepen. From 1638 to 1639 he was a member of the commission for the municipal loan (Commissaris van de Bank van Leening).

The Amsterdam archery militia whose patron saint was St. Sebastian, in 1653 by Bartholomeus van der Helst. Cocq is at the left.

In 1648 he was accepted as a knight in the French Ordre de Saint-Michel.

His inheritance passed to his widow Maria, who named her cousin Catharina Hooft (daughter of Maria's paternal aunt Geertruid Overlander; 1577–1653) and their two sons, her nephews Pieter de Graeff and Jacob de Graeff as heirs on her death in 1678. Catharina and Jacob inherited the Lordship of Purmerland and Ilpendam, while Pieter inherited their fortune of 200,000 guilders and after the death of Jacob (1690) and Catharina (1691) the lordship. Elias did not see through De Graeff's forgeries and combined both families into one, but this could be refuted in the 21st century by new research and the completely different family crests. The family book is still owned by the De Graeff family and is on permanent loan in the Rijksprentenkabinet of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.

In popular culture While The Night Watch itself is widely referenced in media, some works focus specifically on Frans Banning Cocq:

"The Shooting Company of Captain Frans B. Cocq" is the fifth track of the album Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer by the prog rock band Ayreon Nightwatching (2007) is a film directed by Peter Greenaway that depicts a fictionalized rendition of Cocq’s life