Van Oldenbarnevelt (1547-1619) was appointed grand pensionary of the mighty province of Holland in 1586, and as such he became the most influential politician of the young Republic. When he tried to negotiate peace with Spain, relations with the city of Amsterdam became strained. During the long war Spain had been supplied with a variety of goods by Amsterdam, and obviously peace would not do that trade any good. When an armistice was eventually reached, the quarrel got worse, coming to a head in 1617, when the government of Amsterdam fell into the hands of the orthodox Calvinists, who would not have anything to do with Van Oldenbarnevelt, since he was a moderate Calvinist. He was also defeated by stadholder Maurits in the struggle for political power, and was beheaded in 1619.