Jonkheer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jonkheer (female equivalent: Jonkvrouw) is a Dutch predicate of nobility. Its best-known use among English-speaking people is as the root of the name of the city of Yonkers, New York.
Contents |
[edit] Predicate
The Dutch nobility consists for the greater part of untitled families. The predicate jonkheer, or its female equivalent jonkvrouw, is thus used to show that one does belong to the nobility, but does not possess a title. The abbreviation jhr., or jkvr. for women, is placed in front of the name (preceding academic, but not state titles).
Jonkheer/Jonkvrouw as a predicate is literally translated "young lord/lady", or "esquire", nowadays however one possessing the predicate would be more correctly styled "Sir/Dame X".
The coronet of rank for untitled nobility in the Netherlands is the same as that of a hereditary knight: a plain circlet of gold with eight pearls, five of which are seen in a representation, all on golden points.
[edit] Title
Although jonkheer is not an official Dutch title, as stated above, some families nevertheless use it as such, most notably the Royal Family with the title Jonkheer van Amsberg.
Often however these titles are not acceded by the modern monarchy, either because the family is registered as untitled nobility and may thus only use the predicate, or because the family has never requested to be registered but possesses a grant of nobility which predates the founding of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815; the latter are often Habsburg in origin. These families use this title by means of courtesy and are often styled Edler X or Junker X instead of Jonkheer and do not use the abbreviation, but instead use the form "Name edler/junker X".
A person carrying the title Jonkheer could also be styled "Sir X" when addressed in English, however "Lord X" may be more appropriate, especially if the title predates 1815.
Acceded titles use the same coronet of rank as hereditary knights, described above. Non-acceded titles can not officially use a coronet of rank and thus use the coronet that they have been historically awarded, if any at all.
[edit] Nickname
Jonkheer's most well-known use among English-speaking people is as the root of the name of the city of Yonkers, New York. The word was likely a nickname, as opposed to an honorific, associated with Adriaen van der Donck; a young Dutch landowner in the New Netherlands. While his business ventures largely proved less than successful, the city of Yonkers takes its name from his legacy.
The word, in reference to van der Donck, is variously spelled among modern scholars. In Thomas F. O’Donnell’s introduction to a translation of van der Donck’s A Description of the New Netherlands, it is suggested that van der Donck was known as “The Joncker”, a corruption of the proper Dutch “jonkheer”. Russell Shorto’s The Island at the Center of the World (ISBN 1-4000-7867-9) has “jonker”, while Edward Hagaman Hall’s book on Philipse Manor Hall uses “youncker”.
