Jean Curtius
Belgian arms trader (1551 – 1628)
title: "Jean Curtius" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1551-births", "1628-deaths", "businesspeople-from-liège", "arms-traders", "businesspeople-from-the-spanish-netherlands", "emigrants-from-the-holy-roman-empire", "immigrants-to-spain"] description: "Belgian arms trader (1551 – 1628)" topic_path: "people/1550s" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Curtius" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Belgian arms trader (1551 – 1628) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Jean Curtius |
| image | Ian Curtius.jpg |
| caption | Jean Curtius in 1607 |
| birth_name | Jean de Corte |
| othername | Curtius |
| birth_date | 1551 |
| birth_place | Liège, Principality of Liège |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Liérganes, Cantabria, Spain |
| occupation | industrialist (arms dealer) |
| parents | Jacques de Corte, Helwy de Doerne |
| spouse | Pétronille de Brazz |
| children | Pierre, Michel |
| relatives | 3 brothers |
| :: |
| name = Jean Curtius | image = Ian Curtius.jpg | caption = Jean Curtius in 1607 | birth_name = Jean de Corte | othername = Curtius | birth_date = 1551 | birth_place = Liège, Principality of Liège | death_date = | death_place = Liérganes, Cantabria, Spain | nationality = | occupation = industrialist (arms dealer) | parents = Jacques de Corte, Helwy de Doerne | spouse = Pétronille de Brazz | children = Pierre, Michel | relatives = 3 brothers Jean Curtius, also known as Jean De Corte and Juan Curcio, called Curtius (1551 – July 12, 1628), was a Liégeois industrialist and manufacturer who obtained the monopoly on providing gunpowder to the Spanish army.
The mansion he built on the banks of the Meuse in Liège is now the Curtius Museum.
Biography
He was the youngest of four brothers. He was in charge of a coal mine and the manufacture of powder and metal.
In 1613, after some economic problems derived from the end of peace of Spain with France, England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands starting in 1609, he goes to Biscay (VIzcaya in Spanish) with the aim of installing his industry there, since he mostly served the Spanish army. However, he was denied the ability to set up his industries there, so he searched for a different place where he would be able to install them. He ended up in Liérganes, Cantabria, Spain, where he built a mill and a forge. He also bought several forested areas as a source of raw materials.
After his death in 1628, Jorge de Bande took control of the industry, which went on to become one of the main weapon factories of the Spanish Empire (Royal Artillery Factory of La Cavada) in the neighbouring town of La Cavada.
Gallery
Image:Curtius-1640.jpg| Image:Musée Curtius.jpg|. Image:Grand Curtius 5-02-2010 19-24-56.png|. Image:Arco La Cavada 1890.jpg|.
References
References
- Awty, Brian G.. (2007). "The Development and Dissemination of the Walloon Method of Ironworking". [The Johns Hopkins University Press, Society for the History of Technology].
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::