Originally from Dordrecht, the genealogy of the family begins with Jan de Witte, a patrician who lived around 1295.

They were at the centre of Dordrecht and Holland oligarchy from the end of the 16th century until 1672,[3] and belonged to the Dutch States Party.

During the Dutch Golden Age, the republican de Witt family opposed the royalists associated with the House of Orange-Nassau.

They sought full sovereignty for individual regions, so that the Republic of the United Seven Netherlands would not yield to authoritarianism.

Instead of a sovereigns (or stadtholder), political and military power would be entrusted to the States General and Holland's city regents.