Municipal Museum The Prinsenhof

In 1580, the Spanish King Philip II outlawed William of Orange, the leader of the Rebellion, making him an outlaw. The king even placed a bounty on William's head. The fiercely Catholic Balthasar Gerards from Franche-Comté saw his chance in 1584. As a Huguenot (a French Protestant), he traveled to Delft, where William of Orange lived in the Prinsenhof. Balthasar hid there on July 10, 1584, with two pistols behind a pillar and awaited the prince. He struck William of Orange with several deadly shots. The staircase in the Prinsenhof, where the shots were fired, is still there.

The murderer was captured and sentenced to the harshest corporal punishment available. He was worked on with hot tongs, poured over with boiling lead, and finally torn apart by horses. Despite this, Gerards taunted his executioners, who consequently believed they were dealing with the devil himself. The head was displayed for some time as a deterrent on the city wall until the priest Sasbout Vosmeer - he was the apostolic vicar in Delft - took it to the Bishop of Cologne, who, by the way, did not value it much. Philip II kept his promise and favored Gerards' family with money and title.

INFO:
Municipal Museum Het Prinsenhof, Sint Agathaplein 1, Delft

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