Adrian Willems, in the Year 1568

In the year 1568 the tyranny and persecution waged against the Christians became very severe and grievous, so that in that year many were arrested and put to death.

On the 4th of April of that year, between one and two o'clock in the morning, Adrian Willems, my father, was arrested by Steven de Wit, the bailiff of Vianen, and taken to the castle of Batesteyn, where he was kept in confinement fifty weeks and one day.

On the 8th of May the bailiff and part of the members of the court came from Vianen, to examine him concerning his faith, which he freely confessed to them. [n921-1] Then he was asked who were of the same faith with him, and he refused to tell them; so the bailiff threatened him again and again with severe examination [the torture], and accordingly, on the 5th of June, he had the executioner come, had his hands tied behind his back, and made him climb up a ladder, threatening to have all his limbs dislocated, or else he would know who his fellow believers were; but when he saw that he could not force it out of him, he let him come down, without inflicting any torture upon him.

That same bailiff also had a Franciscan monk come, to lure him away from his faith; but after many words and much disputing the monk left him, without having accomplished anything. Afterwards, at various times, others also came, namely, priests and monks, to draw him away from his faith; however, they all left like the first one.

The letters that told of the conversations with these priests and monks, and of his confession, as well as other letters written in prison and received by us, lay, or were put with the others by me, behind the bedstead under the roof, because of the great fear of persecution and the monstrous tyranny of that time. Afterwards it happened, in the year 1570, in February, that the water came rushing from the Diefdijk with such force or volume that many houses drifted away, and some had their walls broken in, so that those letters fell into the water and were destroyed. I greatly mourned the loss of them, because our children might have seen or read in them how bravely and cheerfully their grandfather confessed the Gospel, and died for it, and how glad he was when he was visited in prison; for I was there myself at great peril.

On the 29th of June of that same year 1568, the bailiff mentioned above announced that he would hold a court the following day, the 30th of that month; at it he brought his accusation, demanding that he should be burned at the stake until death followed, and his property confiscated for the benefit of the king. Afterwards, when many court days had been held, and both parties had presented their papers, the bailiff did not stop asking that sentence be passed, whereupon the judges decided that thirty two guilders be paid in, to go and get advice by way of consultation. When this had been done, the members of the court went to the court of Holland, and returned with the sentence of death.

Shortly after, on the 21st of March, 1569, he was informed that he would receive his sentence the following day. Knowing well that it would be a sentence of death and not of life (according to the time appointed), he resolved to write his wife and children a last farewell letter. When he had begun to write, a monk came to harass him, in order, if possible, to hinder him in his faith. He withstood him, and left the monk in the evening, wanting to rest a little while. The next day at four o'clock in the morning the monk came to him again, to torment him as much as possible. [n921-3] Afterwards, about eight o'clock the same day, he was taken out of the room in which he had been confined during his entire imprisonment, with the heavy iron fetters in which he was shackled night and day, except that they unlocked them when he took off or put on his garments and stockings, namely, in the evening when he went to bed, and in the morning, when he rose. They brought him into a kitchen, where a table stood with food, of which he ate a little, and then received a drink from Steven de Wit, which he accepted in a friendly manner, so as to leave the man no ground for suspecting that he bore him any ill will, though he was delivering him to death. The monk (as heard before) kept on trying to draw him from his faith, but did not accomplish his purpose. From there they took him to the city hall to receive his sentence; with his hands tied, a monk at his side, and the executioner and two beadles before and behind him, all well armed; and so they led him like a defenseless lamb to the slaughter. When they arrived at the city hall, the court assembled, and the bailiff himself demanded the sentence. Then the judge said: "Adrian Willems, do you wish to say anything more about this?" He replied: "I know of nothing to tell you, except that you should remember that you must also appear before the judgment seat of Christ, who will pass a righteous judgment upon the good and the evil, or the dead and the living." Then they rose. When they came out of the council chamber, they pronounced the sentence, giving judgment that the said Adrian Willems should be executed with the sword, and his body be put into a coffin and buried under the scaffold. Then they rose again, with pale and sad faces, without closing the court, and left him in the hands of cruel men, who stripped him, took him out of the city hall with his eyes blindfolded, and hurried to carry out the sentence of the judges, which they also did. So the aforementioned Adrian Willems willingly gave himself up to death, choosing rather to keep his faith than to hold on to his life here for a little while and forsake his faith; and he committed his soul to God the faithful Creator, and so departed this life, bearing witness to the Gospel, and confirming his sincere faith with his blood. Amen.