Cornelis Musch (Rotterdam, 1592 or 1593 – The Hague, 15 December 1650) was Griffier (Chief Clerk) of the States-General of the Netherlands, the governing body of the Dutch Republic, from 1628 till the start of the First Stadtholderless Period.
Her sister Maria Elisabeth married Matthijs Pompe, lord of Slingelandt, a prominent Dordrecht Regent.
This makes the study of the registers of the States-General unduly onerous for the years in which Musch was chief clerk.
[1] Besides this important office on the federal level, he also acquired offices on the local level, like hoogheemraad (a member of the governing body) of the polder Delfland (1643)[2] and groot baljuw of Het Vrije van Staats Vlaanderen (an area in present-day Zeelandic Flanders; 1645).
Also, in this period the Grand Pensionaries of Holland (who would normally perform a leading role in the affairs of the States-General) were selected for their incompetence and weakness, to protect the power position of the Stadtholder Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange.
However, he was known to have played an important role during the coup d'état of William II against the Holland Regents in August 1650.
[6] When William suddenly died in October, Musch was exposed to the wrath of the newly resurgent Regents, who decided to make an example of him.
After his death Joost van den Vondel wrote the following satirical epitaph: which amounts to an elaborate play on Musch' name (English: Sparrow) and how sparrows spoil food and dump on people's heads, while alluding to the fact that important Orangists like Van Aarsens profited from his corrupt practices.