COURT, PIETER DE LA

(1618–1685)

   Author and textile manufac turer in Leiden. De la Court wrote several political treatises, together with his brother Jan (d. 1660), promoting a strong antimonarchical and republican point of view. He made an appeal for economic lib eralism and capitalism, advocating an extreme economic policy of particularism that favored the rich province of Holland. It has been suggested that Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt was a coauthor of some of the de la Court writings.