Explanation:
Van der Donck was born in approximately 1618, in the town of Breda in the southern Netherlands. His father was Cornelis Gijsbrechtszoon van der Donck and his mother was Agatha Van Bergen.[5] His family was well connected on his mother's side, as her father, Adriaen van Bergen, was remembered as a hero for having helped free Breda from Spanish forces during the course of the Eighty Years' War.[6]
In 1638, van der Donck entered the University of Leiden as a law student. Leiden had rapidly become an intellectual center due to Dutch religious freedom and the lack of censorship. At Leiden, he obtained his Doctor of both laws, that is, both civil and canon law.[6] Despite a booming Dutch economy, van der Donck decided to go to the New World. To this end, he approached the patroon Kiliaen van Rensselaer, securing a post as schout, a combination of sheriff and prosecutor, for his large, semi-independent estate, Rensselaerswijck, located near modern Albany.[7]
