Bicker (also: Bicker van Swieten and Bicker Caarten) is a very old Dutch patrician family (since 1390). The family has played an important role during the Dutch Golden Age. They were at the centre of Amsterdam oligarchy from the beginning of the 17th century until the early 1650s. They led the Dutch States Party and were in opposition to the House of Orange. Since 1815 the family belongs to the new Dutch nobility with the honorific of jonkheer or jonkvrouw.