In 1672 the Dutch killed their Prime Minister Johan de Witt then they cooked and ate him. After practicing law in The Hague, Johan de Witt was elected ‘raadpensionaris’ (‘Grand Pensionary’) of the States of Holland in 1653, de facto Prime Minister of the Netherlands political system.Under his leadership, the Dutch Republic negotiated peace with England in the Treaty of Westminster in 1654and grew in wealth and influence from a small confederacy to a global economic power. With the onset of the Franco-Dutch warin 1672, however, de Witt’s rival power base, the Orangists, seized power by force and deposed de Witt. Cornelis de Witt, also a politician and a vigorous ally of Johan’s, was imprisoned ontrumped up charges. Johan went to see his brother, allegedly after receiving a forged letter from Cornelis, requesting his visit. When Johan arrived, both brothers were dragged outside and beaten, stabbed and shot to death by an organized mob. Their bodies were stripped, hung upside down from a nearby gallows and mutilated, with fingers, toes and genitalssliced off and hearts gouged out. Bits of the corpses were sold as souvenirs while otherswere cooked and eaten. The gruesome episode is the subject of a painting by Jan deBaen in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, and is also intensely described in the first four chapters of Alexandre Dumas’ novel The Black Tulip. A tongue and finger from one of the brothers are conserved as relics in The Hague Historical Museum.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 07:37:49 +0000
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