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The Manor of Rensselaerswyck, Manor Rensselaerswyck, Van Rensselaer Manor, or just simply Rensselaerswyck ((オランダ語:Rensselaerswijck) (:ˈrɛnsəlaːrsˌʋɛik)), is the name of a colonial estate—specifically, a Dutch patroonship and later an English manor—owned by the van Rensselaer family that was located in what is now mainly the Capital District of New York in the United States. The estate was originally deeded by the Dutch West India Company in 1630 to Kiliaen van Rensselaer, a Dutch merchant and one of the company's original directors. Rensselaerswyck extended for miles on each side of the Hudson River near present-day Albany. It included most of what are now the present New York counties of Albany and Rensselaer, as well as parts of Columbia and Greene counties. Under the terms of the patroonship, the patroon had nearly total jurisdictional authority, establishing civil and criminal law, villages, a church (in part to record vital records, which were not done by the state until the late 19th century). Tenant farmers were allowed to work on the land, but had to pay rent to the owners, and had no rights to property. In addition, the Rensselaers harvested timber from the property. The patroonship was maintained intact by Rensselaer descendants for more than two centuries. It was split up after the death of its last patroon, Stephen van Rensselaer III in 1839. At his death, van Rensselaer's land holdings made him the tenth-richest American in history to date.〔 The manor was split between Stephen III's sons, Stephen IV and William. Tenant farmers began protesting the feudal system and their anti-rent movement was eventually successful. Stephen IV and William sold off most of their land, ending the patroonship in the 1840s. For length of operations, it was the most successful patroonship established under the West India Company system. ==Establishing patroonships== Upon discovery of the Albany area by Henry Hudson in 1609, the Dutch claimed the area and set up two forts to anchor it: Fort Nassau in 1614 and Fort Orange in 1624, both named for the Dutch noble House of Orange-Nassau. This established a Dutch presence in the area, formally called New Netherland. In June 1620, the Dutch West India Company was established by the States-General and given enormous powers in the New World. In the name of the States-General, it had the authority to make contracts and alliances with princes and natives, build forts, administer justice, appoint and discharge governors, soldiers, and public officers, and promote trade in New Netherland. In 1630, the managers of the West India Company, in order to attract capitalists to the colony, offered certain exclusive privileges to the members of the company. The terms of the charter stated that any member who founded a colony of fifty adults in New Netherland within four years of the charter's writing would be acknowledged as a patroon (feudal chief) of the territory to be colonized. The only restriction was that the colony had to be outside the island of Manhattan. To meet such cases, the West India Company adopted the Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions for the agricultural colonization of its American province. The chief features of this charter stated that lands for each colony could extend in length if confined to one side of a navigable river or if both sides were occupied. Additionally, the lands could extend into the countryside and even be enlarged if more immigrants were to settle there. Each patroon would have the chief command within their respective patroonship, having the sole rights to fish and hunt. If a city were to be founded within its boundaries, the patroon would have the power and authority to establish officers and magistrates. Each patroonship was free of taxes and tariffs for ten years following its founding. The patroonships were precisely feudal: no colonists of a patroonship could leave the colony during their term of service without the written consent of the patroon, and the West India Company pledged itself to do everything in its power to apprehend and deliver up all fugitives from the patroon's service. Colonists of a patroonship were limited by the West India Company in some instances. For example, fur trading was illegal for colonists; it was reserved as a Company monopoly. But, patroonships had the right to trade anywhere from Newfoundland to Florida, on the understanding that traders were to stop at Manhattan to possibly trade first with the Dutch. Each patroon was required to "satisfy the Indians of that place for the land", implying that the land must be bought (or bartered) from the local Indians, and not just taken.〔15px Dutch West India Company: Article XXVI of the ''Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions'' on Wikisource.〕 Additionally, the Company agreed to defend all colonists, whether free or in service, from all aggressors,〔15px Dutch West India Company: Article XXV of the ''Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions'' on Wikisource〕 and supply the patroonship— for free —"with as many blacks as it possibly can... for () longer () time than it shall see fit".〔15px Dutch West India Company: Article XXX of the ''Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions'' on Wikisource〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Manor of Rensselaerswyck」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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