Sir Leonhard Bosch II of Berlin

Leonhard Bosch (1719-1804), born Sir Leonhard Bosch II of Berlin is the King of the Netherlands. He was inaugurated in 1749, after serving as the head of the Dutch Parliament for four years. Leonhard served in the Dutch Military for nine years preceding his entry into government.
==Early Life (1719-1735)==
===Childhood===
Leonhard was born on January 8th, 1719 in Berlin, Germany. He was born to his parents, Leonhard Bosch I, and Alisha Faust. The two had met in Berlin, and married a few months afterwards.
Leonhard's mother died during childbirth with him. Leonhard was left to his father, who was a humble farmer. The two lived menial lives, growing and selling their produce on their farm a few miles outside of Berlin. Leonhard and his father would grew potatoes, and cabbages. Their profits were substantial enough to barely live comfortably.
In his youth, Leonhard was a very spry, and lively boy. He did not have many friends, which was attributed to Leonhard's shy nature in his childhood. The boy often would help his father tend to their farm, and spent his free time reading books from a local library.
In 1730, an eleven-year-old Leonhard moved with his father to Holland, Netherlands in search of better success. Potatoes were in higher demand in the Netherlands, as opposed to Germany. Leonhard's father was a very opportunistic man, so it was no surprise to Leonhard that they did move.
===Adolescence===
Leonhard's father introduced him to smoking at the age of fourteen. The young Leonhard viewed the practice as a sign of a refined man, and as a stress reliever. He smoked very often, and does to this day. Leonhard is never seen without a tobacco pipe in his mouth.
In 1735, when Leonhard was sixteen years of age, his father served in the Dutch Military. Leonhard's father bestowed a locket to his son, that was engraved with Leonhard's favorite Bible verse: Romans 6:23.
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Leonhard's father did not return from the military, as he died in battle. He was impaled by a bayonet through his neck.
When Leonhard was informed through a letter, he was grief-stricken. He went into a deep depression, and became a very bitter young man. Leonhard turned into a husk of his former self, becoming prone to conniptions.
Leonhard also took up heavy drinking, following his father's death. He became a raging alcoholic, who started numerous bar fights.
==Adolescence==
===Enlisting in the Dutch Military===
Leonhard also enlisted in the Dutch Military after his father's death, to help keep his mind off of it.
Leonhard served proudly, and made a few friends within the military. He trained himself to his physical peak to allow himself to be a more potent soldier. With this training, Leonhard began to advance through the ranks faster than his peers.
=== The Siege of Tobago ===
Leonhard was eventually deployed to the Caribbean, where he served as a peacekeeper in Tobago, a Dutch Caribbean territory. As a soldier, he was meant to enforce the law.
Leonhard had a relatively easy job, until he was confronted by a small group of natives attempting to overthrow the governor of the island. One night while standing guard outside the governor's office, a group of roughly five native men walked up to him. The men had painted faces, and looked like they belonged to a local tribe. The five men all wore ragged clothing.
One of the men approached Leonhard, holding a torch. Leonhard was not sure what he said, as it was in their native tongue. He was already on defense, keeping his bayonet in his grip. Before he knew it, Leonhard had been attacked by one of the men from the back of the group. He felt the profound anguish in his chest, as a large axe was swung into his abdomen.
Falling over, choking on his blood, Leonhard appeared dead. The native men then proceeded to storm the governor's office, and held the governor hostage until Dutch reinforcements arrived.
The officer lied on the ground with a large gash from his right shoulder to his left side of his kidney area. Leonhard was quickly losing blood, but he decided he must push onward. He struggled to stand up, with blood all over his uniform. Leonhard fought his weakness to find a doctor, eventually finding one about a quarter mile away from the governor's office.
Leonhard gained a deep scar from the axe, that he possessed for the rest of his life.
=== Riots ===
Leonhard's chest wound did not keep him out of serving his country. The young man decided to take off for two days before fighting to go back on duty. His commanding officer argued that it was foolish to return to duty so quickly. However, Leonhard argued that it was necessary. Leonhard was once again stationed in Tobago, near the governor's mansion. There was little action, other than chasing a couple of kids who stole a loaf of broad one time.
After a few months, a riot began to break out in protest of the governor's policies and rule on the island of Tobago. Before long, there were easily hundreds standing outside the gate to the mansion. There were multiple guards, including Leonhard, holding back the crowd of angered citizens. Suddenly, there was gunfire. A riotous man had taken his blunderbuss, and it scraped a few soldiers. However, one of the bullets from the blunderbuss flew directly into Leonhard's right eye. Immediately hunched over in pain, Leonhard managed to get one shot on the man firing at the guards. From the age of seventeen, Leonhard wore a jet black eye-patch over the obsolete eye that he lost from the bullet. Unfortunately, Leonhard possessed insecurities about the loss of his right eye.
==Diplomatic Life (1736-1749)==
===Entry Into Government===
After giving it some thought, Leonhard decided to leave the military, and join the Dutch government. Eventually, he became a member of the Dutch Parliament. Leonhard served for some time, before rising to the head of parliament.
Leonhard eventually was inaugurated as the Premier of the Netherlands, through appointment of King Nathaniel Huntington I.
===Finding Love===
Leonhard eventually met Richard Venables, a member of the British government. Richard was married to a woman named Hannah Bluefeather. Leonhard immediately fell in love with the woman, but tried his best to repress it, as he knew that she was married to his newfound friend.
Richard fell ill shortly after becoming acquainted with Leonhard, and gave his blessing to Leonhard to marry Hannah. After his death, the two became married afterwards. Leonhard and Hannah married on July 5th, 1749.
Leonhard eventually had a son, who he named after himself and his father: Leonhard Bosch III. At first, Leonhard desired strongly to forge a strong relationship with the boy.
==The Pursuit of Piracy (1749-1760)==
Nathaniel I decided to resign from the Dutch throne for reasons unknown, and Leonhard quickly ascended to King of the Dutch Empire. Almost immediately, Leonhard swore his allegiance to the 9th Brethren Court, lead by Pirate King Richard Cannonwalker. The pair concocted a trade agreement that would guarantee Leonhard's position as Pirate Lord in the Court, along with being the Lord of the Labrador Sea. All of the Dutch-owned Caribbean islands in Leonhard's possession would be governed by the Court, but Leonhard could still garner economic profit from them. With this deal, known as the Dutch Piracy Proclamation of 1749, Leonhard also declared the Netherlands as a nation of pirates.
There was much backlash with the Proclamation, as Leonhard also cut ties with the British and their allies. Although he received much criticism, Leonhard did not accept failure as an option. Leonhard decided to take leave as the King to establish a relationship with the Brethren Court. Leonhard arrived at Tortuga in late December, where he was greeted by Richard Cannonwalker in the Faithful Bride. The two discussed the future of the Court, and decided it was appropriate for Leonhard to purchase his own pirate ship to plunder with. Leonhard bought a Frigate, which he named the Crimson Rose. Its beautiful red sails, and elegant ivory rose sails were feared throughout the Atlantic Ocean, more specifically in the Caribbean and Labrador Seas. Eventually, the white rose became symbolic with death in Leonhard's later years of piracy.
(TBA, will be based off the future of role play.)
==Middle Age (1760-1786)==
Leonhard eventually grew tired of piracy, and felt a growing need to leave his old life behind. He stepped down from the Dutch throne, which his son took over at the age of 21. Additionally, Leonhard left his wife Hannah. Leonhard moved to the American colonies in 1760. He settled in Boston, Massachusetts. The Dutchman decided to become an author, and wrote about his life experiences. His first memoir was very successful. The memoir told of his early life in Berlin, the depression he faced of losing his father, and finding pride in his Dutch military service. It was well received, and remarked as a story of redemption, and how one must seek a purpose in life.
In 1764, Leonhard took an interest in politics. He saw the necessity of British rule in America, but realized that their usual ploy to exploit their inferiors as a usual ploy. Leonhard supported the idea of a revolution, but never spoke out until later years. He enjoyed reading Benjamin Franklin, John Locke, and Niccolo Machiavelli's work.
In 1770, Leonhard began attending meetings of the Sons of Liberty in Boston. Leonhard spoke his mind on the various issues that the colonists faced as a whole with the British. Other members of the Sons of Liberty found Leonhard to be too radical, as he called for the death of British Redcoats. Leonhard screamed at the others in passion that he would happily, "cut out the tongue of that bastard George III himself because a man so corrupt should never speak again." Leonhard began writing short works that expressed Locke's idea of natural rights and self governance, but constantly called for violence against the British in his literature.
During the Revolutionary War, in 1778, Leonhard decided to take action into his own hands. At the age of fifty-nine, Leonhard took his pistol from his service in the Dutch military, and a white rose. He walked out into the street outside his home, and approached a British guard standing on duty. Leonhard handed the rose to the guard and promptly shot the guard in the heart. After the guard fell to the ground, Leonhard screamed "Liberty or death!" and ran off into an alley. Afterwards, Leonhard became a wanted man in Boston. He managed to pay off a guard to remove his bounty the following day, though.
Leonhard moved to Vermont in 1783, where he kept to himself for the next few years. He published a memoir on his life in the Caribbean, but under a different name in order to avoid charges of piracy. The memoirs were ill-received as they condoned acts of piracy and murder, but considered an interesting life story nonetheless.
==Twilight Years and Death (1786-1804)==
At the ripe age of sixty-seven, Leonhard had decided that his life of piracy and writing were over. He wished to return to his home of Berlin. Leonhard moved to Berlin to live the rest of his days in solitude. There he spent his days with scotch, writing, reflection, and battling a deep depression. The life Leonhard lead was full of consistent depression, but this one left him the most crestfallen. Leonhard was a raging alcoholic, who refused to forgive himself for leaving those that he loved in order to pursue his own interests in America. His days of writing philosophy and novels were over asl well, but he wrote a final memoir about his life in America that he never published. Eventually, Leonhard died of complications from Tuberculosis in his home in Berlin, Germany at the age of eighty-five on July 20th, 1804. He was buried in Berlin in an unmarked grave.
Category:Dutch