François Vranck

François Vranck (alternative spellings Vrancke, Vrancken, Franchois Francken), (Zevenbergen, 1555? – The Hague, 11 October 1617) was a Dutch lawyer and statesman who played an important role in the founding of the Dutch Republic.

Vranck was the son of Gielis Vrancken, a burgomaster of his native Zevenbergen. He studied law, probably abroad, and practiced law before the Hof van Holland (high court of the province of Holland) since 1578. He married twice. The name of his first wife apparently has been lost, but he remarried in 1615 with Elisabeth van Westerbeek, daughter of Nicolaas van Westerbeek, Lord of Katendrecht, and Margaretha van Roon. He died without issue.

In 1583 he was appointed Pensionary of the city of Gouda, which he henceforth represented in the States of Holland. Here he became a close ally of the Land's Advocate of Holland, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt. Vrancke was very much opposed to the attempts of the States-General of the Netherlands to procure a new sovereign, after the departure of the Duke of Anjou. When the Treaty of Nonsuch nevertheless introduced a kind of English protectorate over the budding republic, with the arrival of the Earl of Leicester and English representatives on the Council of State of the Netherlands, Vrancke became one of the fiercest opponents of English influence and policies. Leicester encouraged the extreme Calvinist and democratic faction in the Republic's politics against the Regenten, of which Vranck was a leader.

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