Andries Boelens

Andries Boelens (Amsterdam, 1455 – there, 1519), also: Boelenz, Boelensz., Andries Boel Dircksz. or Andries Boelen Dircksz, was an alderman and mayor of Amsterdam. In the period from 1496 to 1517 he was mayor fifteen times. The term of his office is the first to be characterized as a period with a rather closed government elite. Because of this he was one of the founders of the Amsterdam oligarchy. Boelens is considered the progenitor of the Amsterdam regents of the Dutch Golden Age such as the De Graeff and Bicker families who largely claimed descent and their political legality from him. Biography Family Boelens Andries Boelens was the most illustrious member of the Boelens, a wealthy and important patrician family of Amsterdam. He was the son of Boel Dirck Boelens, who was mayor of Amsterdam from 1470 and died there in 1483, and Lijsbeth (Elisabeth) Allertsdr, died 1 September 1482. Andries' grandfather Dirck Boelens was mayor of Amsterdam three times, in 1447, 1453 and 1457. On his death he left his family large estates in the Amsterdam area, three houses in the city and a significant sum of money.