Isaac Dorislaus

Background

Isaac Dorislaus was born in 1595 at Alkmaar, Holland (Netherlands), the son of a minister of the Dutch reformed church.

Education

Dorislaus was educated at Leiden.

Career

Isaac moved to England about 1627, and was appointed to a lectureship in history at Cambridge, where his attempt to justify the Dutch revolt against Spain led to his early resignation. In 1629 he was admitted a commoner of the College of Advocates. In 1632 he made his peace at court, and on two occasions acted as judge advocate, in the bishops’ war of 1640 and in 1642 in the army commanded by Essex.

In 1648 he became one of the judges of the admiralty court, and was sent on a diplomatic errand to the states general of Holland. He assisted in preparing the charge of high treason against Charles I. , and, while negotiating an alliance between the Commonwealth and the Dutch Republic, was murdered at the Hague by royalist refugees, 1649.

Achievements

• Dorislaus came to England as a historian. His lectures were seen as political rhetoric, with references to kings with unjustified power aimed at portraying reigning monarch, Charles I of England, as a tyrant. He was remembered for his part in the High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I, although his role was not prominent, and being assassinated by Royalists while on a diplomatic mission in his native country.

Politics

Isaac Dorislaus was against the legitimacy of kings.