Hans van den Wege, Janneken van Hulle, and Janneken van Rentegem, in the Year 1570

Jan van den Wege rose early one morning, and then, about seven o'clock, went with his cousin to the market. He was arrested at the fish market in Ghent in Flanders by master Klaes (who used to ride out with the Dean of Ronse in order to help arrest those called heretics) and two other officers, and taken to the Sausselet (the city prison), where master Klaes asked him where he lived, which he refused to tell. He was then searched, but they found nothing on him except a hymn; so they went away from him, leaving him securely locked in prison. After many examinations and troubles he boldly confessed his faith, and refused to fall away from it in any way. So on the 7th of November 1570, together with two young maidens named Janneken van Hulle and Janneken van Rentegem, he was sentenced to death for the living word of God. When they were brought out, almost entirely stripped, the executioner put a gag into each one's mouth to keep them from speaking. So they went along in silence like sheep to the slaughter, and greeted the brothers and sisters by nodding to them. A brother was heard to say to them: "Be valiant." And a sister said

"Contend valiantly for the truth." Their sentence stated that they had been rebaptized, contrary to the royal decree, and also that they had strayed from the true faith and joined with heretics, and that they were therefore sentenced to be burned with fire. The executioner then placed each one at a stake, and strangled and burned them. So they finished their course, and are now lying under the altar, awaiting the reward of their sufferings.