Court of Ryhove

The Ryhovensteen was the heritage of the lord of Ryhove, François van de Kethulle. While to you he may be a noble unknown, it was he who, together with Jan van Hembyse, laid the foundations of the Calvinistic Republic in Ghent (1577).

Just to refresh your national history: the Pacification of Ghent (1576) had united the two Netherlands in a general uprising against the Spanish oppressor. William of Orange was the hero of the day. To serve this man and especially to avoid the risk of being executed, François took the supporters of the Spanish king and the Catholic Church by the collar and imprisoned them in his own house. Alas, his partner in crime, Jan van Hembyse, was just a bit more ambitious than our François. Furthermore, Van Hembyse was a staunch republican who could not stand Ryhove's admiration for Orange. You can guess the rest. François van de Kethulle was sidelined and Jan called the shots. However, through his extreme behavior, he gradually drove the conservatives back to the Spanish camp. Eight years after the establishment of the Calvinistic Republic, Farnèse was able to bring Ghent back under the authority of Philip II. Ryhove fled to the Northern Netherlands, where he laid down his life just before the assassination of Orange in Delft on June 15, 1585.

Dromos