Walking route 1572

This walk takes you past a number of places that recall the Martyrs and Beggars in 1572; from monasteries to the Gasthuispoortje and the Blauwe Toren. Unfortunately, not all the buildings are there anymore, but the story behind them never fades!

Heretics
During the 16th century, new Protestant religious movements came to the Netherlands, which were suppressed by Catholic Spanish rule. Protestants were called heretics. They were imprisoned, tortured and murdered. This created bad blood, and unrest ensued.

War
The Spanish general Alva was sent with an army to bring order. He established a blood council to try heretics and taxes were also raised substantially, including the Tenth Penny. This caused great discontent, also among the nobles, so even more bad blood. The Revolt (Eighty Years' War) began, which freed us from the Spanish yoke and marked the beginning of our independent state and freedom.

Beggars
On 1 April 1572, the Water Beggars (pirate-like freedom fighters) lay in front of Den Briel and then other cities. On 26 June 1572, the Water Beggars came with 13 ships across the Merwede to Gorinchem and claimed the city for the Prince of Orange. After brief consultations, the city let the Water Beggars in, becoming one of the rebellious cities on the side of the Prince of Orange. But they also switched from the Catholic to the Protestant faith, even though more than half of the inhabitants were Catholic.

Martyrs
Evil blood from the time of the persecution of heretics led to the immediate capture, torture and deportation to their headquarters, the town of Den Briel, of all Catholic monks in Gorinchem that the Beggars could get hold of. There they had to renounce their faith, but they "remained steadfast in their faith" and were therefore hanged in a peat barn. Later, these monks were canonised for remaining trouw to their faith. They went down in history as the Martyrs of Gorcum and became posthumously world-famous.

Suppression
Now the Catholic faith was suppressed. People were not allowed to openly profess the Catholic faith and therefore were not allowed to have church buildings. With the proclamation of the Batavian Republic in 1795, Catholics finally got official religious freedom. But in practice, discrimination continued for a long time. After 1900, improvement occurred and faith defence gave way to faith expansion.

Walk
Due to the Revolt, Gorinchem became a modern fortress around 1600 and was heavily shelled at the end of the French period in 1813/1814. The former St Martin's Church and many other buildings and houses were badly damaged. Therefore, there are virtually no medieval buildings left in Gorinchem that were important in 1572. Nothing remains that refers to the persecution of heretics or the Sea Beggars. This walk therefore takes you past some remnants of Catholic religious leven at that time and of the centuries of suppression afterwards.