Gatse ? (DIJKSTRA line)

Gatse is the earliest known ancestor of this line. Naturally, we would like to find out more about him and who his parents were. Any help you could provide would, of course, be greatly appreciated.

The famous William the Silent 1533-84 49yo was ~15yo when Gatse was born. He later became a Dutch hero and ldr of the 'Dutch Revolt' of 1572 (Gatse ~24yo), which launched the Protestant 'Dutch Republic' on its path to its 17C 'Golden Age'. Sadly, Wm the Silent was ass. at 49yo (Gatse ~34yo) so other ldrs t/o, but Gatse witness 'the birth of the Dutch Republic'. His son Taeckle was born c1588, the year of the famous 'Spanish Armada' which attacked England. In 100yrs [1688], his ancestors would witness 'The Glorious Revolution' as Wm the Silent's ggson Wm III t/o England, bringing Protestant, republican ideas there and cementing the 2 countries as allies in the great Protestant anti-tyranny cause (which later launched the American Revolution.

Dates:
- late 12C Venice captures key spice ports of Malacca, later cntl'd by Arabs, Portugese, Dutch, Brits
- late 12C Amstel-dam built i.e. literally 'a bridge across a swampy area' (city later built up on pilings)
- 15C Portugal #1 European maritime empire (Henry Nav starts it 1415, d1460)
- 1469 Niccolo MACHIAVELLI born (d1527 58yo), fave of Th CROMWELL
- 1470-1520 Humanism and the Origins of the Reformation (TDR)
- 1471 KoE Edw IV to 1483 (Wars of the Roses)
- 1477-1588 Making of the Republic (TDR)
- 1483 KoE Richard III to 1485 (last Plantagenet)
- 1485 KoE Henry VII to 1509 (1st Tudor)
- 1486 Thomas CROMWELL born, lvs home 1500, Antwerp, Italy, soldier, con artist, entrepreneur, returns to England c1512 26yo, later chf advisor to Cardinal WOLSEY, then KoE Henry VIII, ex 1540 54yo
- 1498 Savonarola burned in main Florence square (b1452 46yo)
- 16C Spain #1 European maritime empire (S American gold/silver) early, then Italian city-states Venice, Genoa t/o later
- 1509 KoE Henry VIII to 1547
- 1512-94 Gerhardus MERCATOR, Flemish geographer famous for map projection, famous 1569 map, ocfl map maker for HRE Chas V
- 1513-72 59yo John KNOX, fiery Scot Presby reformer
- 1519-65 Early Dutch Reformation (TDR)
- 1547 Ivan IV crowned tsar of Russia; KoE Henry VIII d., Edw VI t/o to '53, Somerset Protector; KoF Henri II to '59; B of Muehlberg i.e. Chas V defeats Schmalkaldic League
- 1548 HRE Chas V annexes Neth
- 1549-66 Breakdown of the Habsburg Regime (TDR)
- 1549 Intro of uniform Prot svc in England w/Edw VI's Bk of Common Prayer
- 1550 Fall of Somerset in England, Northumberland succeeds him as Protector
- 1551 AoC CRANMER pub's 42 Articles; Treaty of Friedewalde betw Saxony/France
- 1552 War betw Chas V and KoF Henri II to '56; Peace of Passau Saxony/HRE
- 1553 Edw VI d., Jane GREY QoE 9days, then 'Bloody' Mary I t/o to '58
- 1554 Jane GREY ex; Mary I m. Philip of Spain
- 1555 ~300 Prots burned in England; Pope Paul IV to '59; rel. Peace of Augsburg; KoS Philip II inherits 17 Neth provinces
- 1556 Chas V abd., d1558, son Philip II t/o as HRE to '98 (exc Haps lands to bro Ferdinand); alliance Pope/KoF
- 1557 France defeated by Spain/England (B of St Quentin); Portugese settle at Macao, China
- 1558 England loses Calais, last French hldg; Mary I d., Eliz I t/o to 1603; Mary QoS m. Dauphin; HRE Ferd I to '64
- 1559-66 Crisis (TDR)
- 1559 KoF Francois II to '60; Pope Pius IV to '65; Spain/France treaty ends Hapsburg/Valois wars
- 1560 Treaty of Berwick Eliz/Scots; KoF Chas IX to '74; Treaty of Edinburgh Engl/Scot/France
- 1561 Mary QoS widowed, returns to Scotland
- 1562 rel. war in France i.e. Huguenots v. RCC to '98
- 1563 39 Articles i.e. Anglican est. done; Ivan Terrible conq. part of Livonia
- 1564 Peace betw Engl/France; HRE Max II to '76; Shakespeare and Galileo born; reign of terror in Russia
- 1565 Portugese attack French colony -> Rio de Janeiro '67
- 1566 Pope (later St) Pius V to '72
- 1567 Darnley murdered, Mary QoS m. Bothwell, forced to abd; KoS James VI to 1625
- 1567-72 Repression under Alva, including 1568 ex of Flemish nobles EGMONT and HOORN
- 1568 Dutch Revolt begins, 80yrs to 1648; Mary QoS esc to Engl, imprisoned by QoE Eliz I
- 1569 Poland/Lith merge (huge landmass)
- 1570 Peace of St Germain i.e. Huguenots given cond. freedom
- 1571 B of Lepanto i.e. Pope/Venetians led by Don Juan defeat Turks
- 1572 Pope Greg XIII to '85; St Barth massacre
- 1572 capture of Brill by Sea Beggars -> Dutch Revolt begins (in Holland and Zeeland, 80yrs war v. HRE/RCC [1568] to 1648)
- 1574 failure of Spanish Siege of Leiden; KoF Henry III to '89
- 1575 Leiden Univ fnd'd (by rebels?)
- 1576-9 Wm Silent works HARD to form United Provinces incl. N and S (ult fails)
- 1576 HRE Rudolf II to 1612; Neth. prov's unite to drive out Spaniards; Prot-ism outlawed in France
- 1577 England/Neth. alliance; Francis DRAKE sails around world to '80
- 1578 D of Parma subdues S provinces of Neth (later -> Belgium); Amsterdam joins rebels (in coup aka Alteratie)
- 23 Jan 1579 Prince of Orange (Wm Silent) signs Union of Utrecht, 7 provinces eventually join, in order: Holland (ldr), Zeeland, Friesland, Utrecht, Groningen, Gelderland, Overijssel (Drenthe later, cf tax chart on tDR p286); at the time ~1.5M pop of 7 rebel prov's, not [yet] the richest or most populous of the 17 inherited 1555; sparked 134yr Golden Age of Dutch ldrshp (to 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, after which relative decline)
- 1580 Spain conq. Portugal (so new #1 in intl trade, TDR later t/o as #1, then Brits)
- 1581 UoU -> TDR w/WmSilent as ldr (Stadtholder), ass. Jul 1584, so States General t/o
- 1582 Gregorian calender introduced in RCC countries; peace among Russia/Poland/Sweden
- 1583 Hugo Grotius born (d1645 62yo), 1 of 2 most important writers of Dutch Golden Age
- 1584 Wm the Silent ass.; England sends aid to TDR; Bern, Geneva, Zurich ally v. RCC cantons
- 1585 Spaniards under Parma recapture Antwerp, England sends troops under DUDLEY
- 1586 Sir Francis DRAKE exped to W Indies; Mary QoS conspiracy v. QoE Eliz I
- 1587 Mary QoS ex; England v. Spain war to 1603; DRAKE destroys Spanish fleet at Cadiz; SAVOY and RCC cantons ally w/Spain
- 1588 Spanish Armada defeated (ldrs L Howard of Effingham, DRAKE, Sir John HAWKINS)
- 1589 KoF Henri III ass., Prot ldr Henri of Navarre -> (RCC) KoF Henri IV to 1610 'Paris worth a mass'
- 1590 Wm's son (w/Anna of Saxony pic1 pic2) Maurice t/o as TDR ldr (never m. pic3)
- 1596-1687 Constantijn HUYGENS advisor to stadholders, lived ~3/4 of 134yr Golden Age (pic1 pic2)
- 1598 Edict of Nantes (toleration)
- 1599 Irish rebels defeat E of Essex, he returns to England in disgrace
- 17C Dutch 'Golden Age'
- 1601 Essex attempts rebellion, exec
- 1602 DEIC fnd'd; SAVOY attacks Geneva; Prot cantons ally w/France
- 1603 QoE Eliz I dies, KoE James I t/o to 1625; Champlain explores St Lawrence river
- 1605 Guy Fawkes 'Gunpowder' Plot
- 1606 anti-RCC laws passed in England
- 1607 Jamestown fnd'd by Capt. John SMITH; Henry HUDSON begins voyage
- 1608 Prot Union formed in Germany led by Fred IV
- 1609-21 12yr truce w/Spain
- 1610 Galileo reveals astro observations; tea introduced to Europe; KoF Henri IV ass., Louis XIII t/o to 1643
- 1611 KJV; Ulster Plantation est.
- 1616 Dutch navigator Willem SCHOUTEN rounds Cape Horn
- 1618-48 30Yrs War
- 1618-9 Synod of Dort
- 1619 trial and exec of Advocate, OLDENBARNEVELT
- 1620 'Pilgrim Fathers' lv Holland for America; C Wm LODEWIJK d. 60yo after ruling Friesland w/wisdom for 36yo, succeeded by younger bro Ernst Casimir of Nassau
- 1621 War w/Spain resumes; DWIC fnd'd
- 1623 Dutch massacre English at Amboina in Moluccas Islands
- 1624 James I allies w/France, Parliament votes war w/Spain, Card Richelieu Chf Min to 1642; VA becomes a crown colony
- 1625-6 New Amst fnd'd on Manhattan Island
- 1625 Grotius' famous bk 'The Laws of War and Peace' pub'd (intl law pioneer)
- 1625 Spain recaptures Breda (cf painting)
- 1625 Maurice dies, bro Frederick Henry t/o (pic m. Amalia of Solms, lady in waiting to the 'Winter Queen' Eliz, dau of KoE James I); KoE James I dies, son Chas I t/o to 1649
- 1627 Siege of La Rochelle i.e. Huguenots besieged by Richelieu, Chas I helps H
- 1628 hero Piet Hein captures Spanish silver fleet off Cuba; Huguenots surrender to Richelieu, lose all pol. pwr; Wm HARVEY demonstrates blood circ
- 1628-92 Constantijn HUYGENS Jr (m. Susanna RYCKAERT), Sec'y to Wm III, doc'd 1688 invasion 'on the scene'
- ... p/u at TaeckleG page

Sources:
- Dykstra family book
- for b/g cf Michael BARONE's book 'Our First Revolution' and Jonathan ISRAEL's book 'The Dutch Republic'