Anneken Botson, Janneken her Daughter, and Maeyken Pieters, in the Year 1585

About the year 1585, three women were imprisoned at Sint Vyt, in the country of Lutzenborg, having been brought there from a village called Nieuwstadt. Among them were a mother and a daughter; the mother's name was Anneken Botson, and her daughter's name was Janneken Botson; the other woman was named Maeyken Pieters. All three of them were simple, God-fearing persons, who had forsaken popery and, through the grace of God, had given themselves to the obedience of the holy Gospel. The priests could not endure this, but showed their envy and reported these persons to the authorities; and so they were seized and put in prison at Sint Vyt, as already mentioned. There they were not confined long, but were at once examined about their faith, which they cheerfully and in simplicity confessed, and to which they also steadfastly held, though many attempts were made to make them recant the truth; but when they could not be prevailed upon, they were sentenced to be burned to ashes. As innocent sheep for the slaughter they went to the place where they were to be offered up, and so died a valiant death, offering up their bodies as a sacrifice to the Lord.