GENEALOGY

The family tree shown here is taken from the book « les van der Dussen » by Jean Kestergat (1992). It includes a few gaps and errors that will be explained below.

It begins with Jan I, around 1260, who founded branch A of the genealogy. Other branches gradually emerged,
from B to U: 21 branches in all, all extinct except branch N, known as the Belgian branch.

This official genealogy has been contested in recent years, and the beautiful van der Dussen family tree, continuous from 1250 to the present day, may contain several fractures. See below.

Family tree

Branches, Events and Characters

complete genealogy by jk

« He must have been born around 1250. He was a knight and his name appears in the registers of knighthoods of Holland and Brabant. He was also Lord of Dussen. At that time, Dussen Castle did not yet exist, but there was a « slot », or fortified house, on the river, as well as an agricultural estate. »

« Almost nothing is known about the first of the van der Dussens, except that on 4 June 1288, he was at the side of John I, Duke of Brabant, in the famous battle between Duke John and Henry, Count of Luxembourg, at Worringen (or Woeringen), a castle on the Rhine between Nuyts (Neuss) and Cologne, where, says Ferwerda, « Count Henry of Luxembourg, his brother and many brave knights were killed and Sire Jan van der Dussen was wounded. «

Here, in PDF format, is the full text of JK’s « Genealogy of the Dussens » (1992). This text deserves a few comments and corrections, which are summarised in an attached document, « comments and corrections ».

Comments & corrections

I.Genealogists’ objections to the official family tree

In an article published in the July-August 1999 issue of « Parchemin », M Douxchamps expressed reservations about the family tree as reproduced by JK in 1992. Among other things, he relies on the work of JC Korts, in a study of the Dutch VDD archives. Here is a summary of his reservations.

NB: for greater clarity, keep the drawing of the general tree in front of you.

JC Korts removed branch B from the family tree: its first representative, Jacob VDD, and his wife Deliana Oom, were in fact called Jan Jacob Bruinszoon, and his wife Klaasje Ewoutsdochter (with patronymic names still in use at the time, the use of surnames became widespread later). Klaasje was a van der Dussen, and Jacob or rather his descendants would have adopted her surname after the disappearance of branch A at the end of the 16th century.
When branch B fell, the branches C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M fell with it. So the whole of the great Dutch VDD family (including Bruno etc.) is not related to the Lords of Dussen, whose family is extinct. (But it is linked to them by a woman, Klaasje, alias Deliana Oom).
JC Korts continues to prune the O branch: Cornelis (1481-1556) is not from the same family. He is said to have taken the maiden name of his mother-in-law, Machteld Sasbout, née van der Dussen. And there goes another big branch, taking the P-Q-R-S-T branches with it.
Douxchamps himself has some reservations about the filiation of the N branch (the so-called Belgian branch). Josse VDD, who died in 1532, the first inhabitant of Brussels, was the son of Pieter VDD. There may be confusion with another Josse VDD, who was also mentioned in the council of Brabant, and some possible errors concerning his marriages. Despite all this, the filiation between Pieter, Josse and the VDD of Kestergat is validated. On the other hand, Pieter’s connection to the Lords of Dussen is not really proven. Douxchamps suggested to JK that he look into the matter, as evidence might exist somewhere. Unfortunately, JK died a few months after these exchanges, and this research work has yet to begin.

II.Minor corrections

These are the names of additional children (for example the descendants of Nicolas B XII 4), or new details discovered since 1992, but of no major importance. The van der Dussen children born since 1992 have been updated.