Aletta Brasser 1579 - 1659

Mavi Boncuk | In the archives in Delft, Holland she is recorded as Alitea. Nowadays she would possibly be called Ali or Thea. 
Dirck Willemsz Brasser 1545 - 1/8/1622, had six children; Govert, Aletta, Joost [1], Maritje, Levina and Servaes. Aletta (b. 1579 in Te Delft. d.July 24, 1655 in Te Schiedam). 
How she met her husband, is not known. She married the Dutch Ambassador to the Porte Cornelis Mr. Haga on August 20, 1622 at Te Delft. At the time she was in her early forties and Cornelis was only a few years older, so there was no gossip of some young lassie marrying a very wealthy old man. There is absolutely no doubt that Cornelis was extremely rich, for as ambassador at the royal court of the mighty emperor, he earned double the salary that Van Oldenbarneveld collected in Holland. The importance and influence on world politics by this lady from Delft can hardly be underestimated. 
While her husband was busy with his duties around the royal court of the sultan, this sister of the mayor of Delft had a very friendly relationship with the 'Valide Sultan', the Queen Mother of the reigning ruler. This mother of the sultan was even less visible than the sultan himself. But very little went past her around the emperor's harem in the wealthy Topkapi palace. This Valide Sultan, mother of the reigning sultan, was in the centre of this over 400 room palace. She also had a great influence on relations between the sultan, his wives and children. Any pretending future sultan had better have her full approval. During the time that Cornelis Hage was in Istanbul, the Valide sultan decided on all political issues and she had more authority than the sultan himself. It is quite acceptable that here was a period that this daughter of the major in Delft had more political influence on happenings in the sultan's empire than the King of Spain and the Emperor of Habsburg together. 
The life and work of Aletta Brasser happened mainly behind the scene. Only from short notes by the 'Yeniceri', the people who protected members of the embassy, we do know that Mrs. Haga was in regular contact with the ladies that really pulled the strings. Source: Mr. M.Elfers of Mokum TV, The Netherlands.


[1]  JOOST BRASSER 1581 - 1653 It appears that the Brassers around the 14th - 15th century were rather prominent people, especially Joost Brasser who was born in Delft. In 1596, when he was 15 years old, he moved to Amsterdam, where he lived in “Het Witte Paard” (The White Horse) at the Herengracht as a trader. In 1602, at the age of 21, he became one of the founders of the Oost Indische Compagnie, a famous shipping company that traded with East India, the present Indonesia. This shipping / trading company was of such national importance that, even though it was just a commercial business, centuries later we still learned about this in history classes at school. It was in business until about 1800 when Napoleon conquered Europe. Joost also founded and owned the Groenlandse and Magenlandse Compagnie, a shipping Company which traded with South America. In 1622, the year his father Dirk died, Joost moved back to Delft, and became the city's treasurer. Seeing his father had just died, he very likely moved into the house of his father, who had been the mayor of Delft. This house is at the Oude Delft, just opposite the Oude Kerk (Old church). It is a beautiful Building which is used nowadays as the City’s archives. Joost married Margareta Jacobsd van der Dussen (1585 - ....) in 1603. After he moved back to Delft, he became the mayor of Delft. Around 1630 he was also a member of the 'Muiderkring', a select club of intellectuals. They had eight children: Geertruid (1609), Hugo (1610), Joost, Govert, Adriana, Dirk, Aletta and Margaretha. In Delft you still find the Brasser Kade (Quay) and Brasser Plein (Square).