Gooswijn van der Lawick

Gooswijn van der Lawick or Goosen van der Lauwick (Diepenheim, ca. 1547 – Bredevoort, June 23, 1629) was a captain, Lord of Geldermalsen, vassal of ter Hegge and ten Velde, bailiff of Bredevoort, and a member of the knighthood of Zutphen and Nijmegen.

Gooswijn was a son of Goossen van der Lawick, Lord of Geldermalsen and bailiff of Buren, and Anna van Asperen van Vueren. He married the widow of Floris van Buckhorst, Joanna Bentinck, and was consequently enfeoffed with the castle and lordship of Buckhorst near Zalk in Overijssel. Two of his sons, Christoffel and Georg Nicolaas, would later also become bailiffs of Bredevoort.

Service to the States

Gooswijn van der Lawick became famous during the siege and relief of Bredevoort in 1606. After the Spaniards managed to overrun Bredevoort, the citizens and garrison were able to flee to Bredevoort Castle to continue the defense of the city while awaiting relief from surrounding States’ armies. However, the Spaniards had no powder and shot. These had coincidentally been brought into the castle by Gooswijn van der Lawick the day before. As a result, the Spaniards failed to take the town; they ran out of ammunition. In 1629, as commander, Van der Lawick also participated in the Capture of Wesel, together with Wolf Mislich.