# Examination, Torture, And Sentence Of Annetgen Antheunis, Stijntgen Jans, Evert Nouts, And Pieter Van Eynoven, At Rotterdam, In The Year 1558.271

1558 · Historical source

Source: Martyrs’ Mirror. Original heading: EXAMINATION, TORTURE, AND SENTENCE OF ANNETGEN ANTHEUNIS, STIJNTGEN JANS, EVERT NOUTS, AND PIETER VAN EYNOVEN, AT ROTTERDAM, IN THE YEAR 1558.271

Source heading; not independently verified

On the 20th of February, 1558 stilo coj., in
presence of Adriaen Fijck, Adriaen Adriaens,
Adriaen Robberts, Pieter Hendricks, Cornelis Joosten,
and Willem Muylwijck, judges, there was
orally examined, Annetgen Antheunis, aged over
thirty years, born at Buuren.

She says that she always lived at Buuren, except
one year that she resided here in the city, which she
afterwards left, but returned about last St. Victor’s
day, and has since resided here until the present
time.

She says that she did not inquire the name of the
people where she formerly worked.

She says that she and another woman, named
Stijntje van Ick, or Maurick near Buuren, have lived
here in the city since St. Victor’s day, and that she
came here with said woman, from Buuren.

She says that Evert is from Antwerp, and that he
came to her yesterday, at the house where she was
apprehended.

She says that she learned to know said Evert
only about two or three months ago, and that he
came in the daytime, to the house of Arent Willems,
in the wood-yard, to buy a cheese.

She says that she did not go to confession either
at last Easter or Christmas.

She says that she observes all that God has commanded.

553

She says that she was baptized according to the
command of the Lord, but does not know the exact
day; but that it took place at the house of the aforesaid
Arent Willems, in the Wood-yard, and that
she did not inquire the name of him that baptized
her.

On the 20th of February of said year, in the
presence of the abovementioned, there was orally examined,
one Jan Hendricks, of Utrecht, aged 28 or
29 years.

He says that he has lived here in the city since
Bamessche, in the house of Maritgen Jancheelen, in
the Fish-market, and last in Willem Reyer’s house,
where he was apprehended.

He says that at Dordrecht he lived near Starke
Neele.

He says that he does not want to tell where or
from whom he heard the doctrine.

He says that he thinks much of the sacrament,
but nothing of the sacrament of the priests, and
that, since he embraced this doctrine, he has never
been to the sacrament.

He says that he was baptized since he believed, a
certain time ago, and that he does not wish to tell
when, where, or by whom it was done.

He says that his child was washed a little by the
priest, but does not want to tell when.

On the aforesaid day, in the presence of the aforesaid
fudges, there was orally examined, Stijntgen
Jans, aged 40 years, from Maurik, in Guelderland.

She says that she has been here in the city
about two or three years, with Annetgen Theunis,
and that they lodged in the Wood-yard, and afterwards
resided in a house where lace is made, and
which stands behind a stable.

She says that she has no faith in the sacrament
which the priests administer, but esteems the sacrament
as God has instituted it, and that she cannot
believe in the sacrament of the church, because she
cannot comprehend it.

She says that she was baptized at a certain time,
not yet twelve years ago, and not here in this city,
but at Utrecht.

On the same day, and in the presence of the above,
there was orally examined, one Evert Nouts of Antwerp,
aged about 27 years.

He says that it is about three months since he
came here into this city, and that he lodged for a
time in the Wood-yard, and wove lace near the
house called the Falcon.

He says that he believes in the sacrament so far
as the Scriptures speak of it, but does not believe
that God is in the sacrament of the altar, since the
Scriptures do not assure him of this; but he believes
concerning it in this manner that it is so, as far as
it goes.

He says that he was baptized according to the
doctrine of Christ, a little over three years ago, just
outside of Antwerp, in a certain place, by one Gillis
of Aix-la-Chapelle, as he heard him called, who was
executed this summer at Antwerp.

On the same day, and in presence of the abovementioned
judges, there was orally examined one
Pieter van Eynoven, born at Antwerp, aged 28 years.

He says that he has worked here in the city, at
his trade of silk-weaving, since fourteen days before
Christmas, in the house of one Christian, whose wife
is named Anneken.

He says that he believes on the foundation of the
apostles and prophets.

He says that he believes that the administration
of the sacrament in the church is a great abomination
before God.

He says that he was baptized according to the
doctrine of Christ, about two years ago, but does
not want to tell by whom or where it was done.

On the 19th of March, 1558, stilo coj. in the presence
of Adriaen Fijck Dirks van Hove, Adriaen
Adriaens, Adriaen Robbertszoon, Pieter van Neck
Hendricks, Cornelis Joosten, Willem Corneliss
Muylwijk, and Dirk Dirks, judges, there was examined
by torture, in the morning, at six o’clock,
in the city hall, Pieter van Eynoven, born at Antwerp,
aged about 28 years.

Pieter, when tortured on the rack, said that he
was baptized at Antwerp, about two years ago, by
one Leendert, whose surname he does not know,
nor whence he is, and he had never seen him, except
when he baptized him.

He says that several others, whose names he does
not know, were present when he was baptized.

When asked concerning the women with whom
he spoke at the time of his apprehension, he said
that he did not know where they were going, or
who they were.

He says that he who baptized them, is called a
teacher among them.

He says that before he was baptized he had heard
that he had to live according to the command of
Christ, and that he took a Bible and Testament, and
read therein, and found that it was as had been told
him; but he does not know the names of those who
had previously instructed him herein, because they
often do not inquire the names of others, nor want
to know them, so as not to bring their brethren into
trouble.

He says that his master, Christian, and his wife,
had the same faith as he, but does not know whether
they are baptized.

Jan Hendricks of Utrecht, aged 29 years, severely
tortured on the rack.

He says that he was baptized by one Leenert, but
does not know whence he is, nor had he ever seen
him previously, and that he was baptized by him
here in the city, in the Wood-yard, a year and a
half ago.

He says that his child was baptized by the priest,
at the font, at Dortrecht, and that no others whom
he knows were present when he was baptized.

554

Stijntgen Jans, aged about 40 years, of Utrecht.

Stijntgen says that he who baptized her is named
Leenert, and that it took place in Utrecht, five or
six years ago, in the house of one Gerrit, and that
she does not know the surname of the aforesaid
Leenert, nor whence he is, because they do not
inquire nor have much desire to know the names
or surnames of their fellow members, so as not to
bring them into trouble.

She says that others were baptized with her, but
she did not know them.

The judges being all assembled, resolve to postpone
the matter of the aforesaid prisoners to a
limited day, until the executioner’s return, in order
that said prisoners shall consider the matter, and that
it may be seen whether they can be induced by kind
means: and that they shall then comply with the
wishes of the bailiff, by expediting the matter and
justice, if the judges are all at home.

On the 28th of March.—The judges resolve,
since Cornelis Joosten and Dirk Dirks, judges, are
not at home, to postpone the case of the aforesaid
prisoners, until the former return.

The Bailiff protests costs and interests, since the
judges will not consent to limit a day for said prisoners.

The judges protest and say that since Cornelis
Joosten and Dirk Dirks, of their number, are absent,
and they have agreed together to be present in full
number to consider the case of said prisoners, they
adhere to their former decision.

On the 26th of March all that they had orally
confessed at torture was read to the aforesaid five
prisoners, who publicly, in front of the city hall, acknowledged
it to be true, in the sight of every one,
and a day, namely, Monday, the 28th of March,
was limited for them, by the Bailiff, Gerrardt van
der Mersche. Done as stated above, in presence of
Adriaen Fijck, Adriaen Adriaens, Adriaen Robbrechts,
Pieter Hendricks, Cornelis Joosten, William
Corneliss, and Dirk Dirks, judges.

Sentence of Death, on the 28th of March, 1558,
stilo coj.

According to the written laws pursuant to the decrees
of his Imperial Majesty, confirmed by his
Royal Majesty, who will have them observed in all
their points and articles; and through the demand
of the Bailiff, and the confession of the prisoners,
Evert Nouts, Pieter van Eynhoven, both of Antwerp,
and Jan Hendricks of Utrecht, said prisoners
shall be executed according to the decree. Done in
the presence of Adriaen Fijck, Adriaen Adriaens,
Adriaen Robbrechts, Pieter Hendricks, Cornelis
Joosten, Willem Corneliss, and Dirk Dirks, judges,
and Sir Roeland; pensionary.

In regard to Stijntgen Jans and Annetgen Antheunis,
decision of their case is deferred for certain
reasons, the judges moving postponement until after
Easter.

Note.—On the 28th of March, 1558, stilo coj.,
after the above sentence had been pronounced by
Matthijs Bark, the secretary, and the aforesaid prisoners
had been condemned to be executed with fire,
all the necessary preparations were made here
before the city hall; three large stakes were placed
near together, at which to strangle said prisoners
first, before burning them; and the place having
been shut off with planks and stakes, it was proclaimed
in the name of the Bailiff, Magistrate, Burgomasters
and judges, in front of the city hall, with
the striking of the bell, that every one should leave
the ring, on pain of forfeiting his upper garment;
and that no one should hinder or resist justice by
word or act, on pain of life and property. Between
eleven and twelve o’clock, every preparation necessary
for the execution having been made, the
aforesaid Jan Hendricks was first brought out to be
executed, and placed at the middle stake upon a
little stool, and a cord put around his neck, to
strangle him. Thereupon Master Aert, the young
constable, as substitute for Master, Jan van Haarlem,
the executioner from behind, twisted said cord tight
with a stick, and then took away the little stool
from under Jan Hendricks’ feet, and while thus
hanging pulled him with all his might by his body
and legs; whereupon said Master Jan came with a
bundle of oat straw, into which a quantity of gunpowder
had been put, and held it before his face, to
singe it; but Master Aert had a pair of tongs with a
red-hot coal, to cast into the gunpowder. He threw
it three or four times, without being able to touch
the gunpowder, so that the straw smoked, but the
powder was not ignited.

In consequence of this a great cry arose, one saying:
“You throw the fire badly;” another: “You
inflict a thousand deaths upon the man;” and finally,
“Stone the constable to death,” and the like. Then
a woman threw a slipper, and others of the bystanders
began to throw stones at the constable. Master
Hans was then pushed by the citizens, into the
house of Jan Sampel, in the Golden Waggon,
opposite the City Hall and concealed; while the
young constable, called Master Aert, together with
the servants of the procurator-general, also of
Schielandt, and of this city, who had been summoned
to the assistance of justice, fled into the city
hall, followed by Gerrit van der Mersche, the Bailiff;
leaving said Jan Hendricks still suspended by the
cord. The Judges, the Pensionary, and the Secretary,
seeing the great tumult and uproar, took refuge up
in the square of the city hall tower. The first ones
who arrived there were Adriaen Robberts, the
Judge, and Matthijs Bark, the Secretary, who, from
the square of the tower, saw Jan Hendricks still
hanging at the stake. With great violence the
planks were torn off, and the stakes pulled out,
from the enclosure that had been erected to keep
the people from getting to the officers of justice. A
lad then came and passed the stake, intending to
cut the cord by which said Jan had been strangled;
but he did not venture to do it, whereupon another
came, who cut the chord, so that Jan fell to the
ground. And as the perpetrators of this crime were
mostly strangers, the citizens who lived in the
neighborhood, locked their doors. The bailiff, together
with the servants of the Procurator-General,
and of Schielandt, barricaded the front of the city
555
hall with benches, planks, and other wood, in order
to keep the two others that had been sentenced, and
the women. But as the tumult and uproar increased
more and more, the rioters pulled out the stakes,
and other stakes from the street, and came with violence
before the door of the city hall, in order to
force it open. The door, however, being firmly barricaded,
they went with the stakes upon the hospital
stairs, and forced open the back door of the
city hall, which leads to the chamber of Schielandt,
and the treasury. Hearing this, the Bailiff and his
servants, who were there with the prisoners, left the
two women behind, since Annetge was a cripple,
and not able to walk, and took the other two prisoners
that had been sentenced, and fled with them
from the lower part of the city hall up into the tower.
The rioters thus forced open the front as well as the
rear of the city hall, broke the doors in pieces, and
first took the aforesaid two women, brought them
without the city, and led them away. Thereupon
they returned into the front of the city hall, and
smashed in the door leading up into the tower,
calling and crying aloud for the two men prisoners;
or they would kill them all, and set the tower on
fire; so that the servants released said prisoners,
whom the rioters then brought without the city.

After this they cried as loud as ever, and demanded
the young constable, and also the Bailiff
and the members of the court. And as the servants
were in a story of the tower below the one occupied
by the lords of the court, they told the rioters aloud
that the lords and the constable had already left the
city hall. Deeper silence could not have reigned in
a convent, than prevailed at this time among the
lords; for though some did not make an outward
manifestation of the regret which they felt in their
hearts, he that had sharp eyes, could read it in their
face. And though it was past noon, and no one had
eaten much that day, yet I believe, if there had been
an abundance of the most tempting viands, none
would have made very great inroads upon them.

But at last, God be praised for it, the tumult and
uproar ceased; so that through the faithfulness of
Adriaen Jacobs Tromper, councilor of said city, who
had left the ark, but returned with an olive twig,
and informed the lords of the court, in their anxiety,
that the uproar had subsided, and that the rioters
had all gone away. Thus, about two o’clock in the
afternoon, the lords left the tower; but the city was
still in great commotion, and Jan Hendricks, the
prisoner that had been cut down, was brought into
the house of one Kers Goverts Brouwer, near the
city hall, where he remained until about five or six
o’clock in the evening, when he was openly put into
a boat, and taken out of the city, and it is said that
he is still living.

That evening the arquebusiers were ordered on
guard. The next day, the 29th of March, a delegation
went in behalf of the city to the Hague, to the
lords of the council, where they reported the matter,
presented an excuse in behalf of the city, and
requested that commissioners be sent to inquire into
the matter, that the city might be exculpated from
the uproar. Next day, Sir Guiljand Zeegers, Lord
van Wassenhoven, and Sir Christian de Waert,
Procurator-General, arrived here, and made some
inquiries concerning the crime, and reported the information
obtained to the council. His Royal
Majesty, having been informed that full control had
been gained over the city, speedily dispatched
(since my lord the margrave van Veere was sick)
the count of Boussu and my lord of Cruyningen,
who passed through here secretly, on Easter eve,
on their way to the Hague, where they, on Easter-day,
convened the whole council. They wrote to
the Bailiff, to close the gates and bars, and to fetch
those who had been designated and reported, from
their beds, in the night; which was done after the
close of Easter-day, and there was apprehended in
the night, with the assistance of the arquebusiers,
and in presence of the burgomasters, one Chiele
Pot. On the following day, the second Easter-day,
there arrived in the city the Count of Boussu, my
lord of Cruyningen, Sir Gerrit van Assendelft,
President of the Council, Guiljand Zeegers, lord of
Wassenhoven, Sir Cornelis Zuys, Aernoult Sasbout,
Cornelis van Weldam, and Dominicus Boot.

On the 21st of April, 1558, after Easter.

Whereas Jacob Theunis, alias Mosselman, born
at Rotterdam, at present a prisoner, has confessed,
without torture and iron bonds, before the count of
Boussu, Knight of the order of the Golden Fleece,
the lord of Cruyningen, as commissaries from his
Royal Majesty, and the court of Holland; that he,
the prisoner, after the tumult and uproar in this
city of Rotterdam had taken place, went to the city
hall, to see what was going on there, and that as he
ascended the steps of the city hall, a crutch was
thrown at his neck, whereupon he picked it up,
went with it into the city hall, where the servants
were still in the tower, and threw it up from below
at the servants; all of which are things of bad example,
and must not go uncorrected, but must be punished,
as a warning example unto others; therefore,
the aforesaid court, after mature deliberation, in the
name of the King of Spain, of England, of France,
etc., as Count of Holland, Zeeland and Vriesland,
has condemned and does sentence by these presents,
the aforesaid prisoner Jacob Theunis, to appear in
audience, and there to ask, with uncovered head,
on his knees, the forgiveness of the court, on behalf
of his Royal Majesty and justice, and to declare
that he is sincerely sorry that he threw the crutch at
the servants, in the city hall: and that after this is
done, he is to be brought upon the scaffold erected
in front of the city hall of this city, and to remain
standing there until after the execution of the rioters.
Done at Rotterdam by Sir Geraerdt van Assendelft,
Emskerk, etc., first President of the council, Guiljand
Zeegers, lord of Wassenhoven, etc., Knight, Sir
Cornelis Zuys, Aernout Sassebout, Cornelis van
Weldam, Dominicus Boot, Damas van Drogendijk,
Quintijn Weytszoon, and Aernout Nicolai, Councilors
of Holland, and pronounced on the 21st of
April, 1558, after Easter.

Whereas Avicenna Jans, born at Delft, at present
a prisoner, has confessed, without torture and iron
bonds, before the count of Boussu, Knight of the
556
Golden Fleece, and the lord of Cruyningen, as commissaries
of his Royal Majesty and the court of Holland,
that he, the prisoner, at the time of the tumult
and uproar which recently occurred in this city of
Rotterdam, stood at the house of Kors Goverts
Brouwer, and that after said uproar was almost
over, he, intending to go home, in his consternation
went eastward, and again passed the house of the
aforesaid Kors, and having seen that the condemned
and strangled man, who had been cut down from
the stake at which he had been strangled, was
brought to the house of the aforesaid Kors Goverts,
he, the prisoner also went into the house; and that,
while the strangled man was yet lying in the street
near the door, and because some of the other
bystanders had said to him: “Take the man
(meaning the strangled man) further back,” he, the
prisoner, also seized hold of him; and that after the
strangled man had been lifted up and carried into
the house, he, since some had told him to see
whether there was yet life in the strangled man,
tapped the soles of his feet, and afterwards, in the
evening, returned home from the aforesaid house—

Here the account in said book of criminal sentences
abruptly ends; so that it remains uncertain what
was further done in the matter.





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