[294] This Adrian Willems was not mentioned in previous editions.
In the year 1568 the tyranny and persecution waged against the Christians became very sore and grievous, so that in said year many were apprehended and slain.
On the 4th of April of the above year, between one and two o’clock in the morning, Adrian Willems, my father, was apprehended by Steven de Wit, the Bailiff of Vianen, and taken to the castle of Batesteyn, where he was kept confined 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. Being then asked as to who were of the same faith with him, he refused to tell it to them; hence the Bailiff threatened him again and again with severe examination [the torture], and accordingly, on the 5th of June, he had the executioner come, caused his hands to be tied behind his back, and made him climb up a ladder, threatening to have all his members dislocated, or he would know who were his fellow believers; but when he saw that he could not extort it from him, he suffered him to come down, without inflicting any torture upon him.
Said Bailiff also had a Franciscan monk come, to delude him from his faith; but after many words and much disputation the monk left him, without having accomplished anything. Afterwards, at divers times, others also came, namely, priests and monks, to draw him from his faith; however, they all left like the former.
The letters speaking of the conversations with these priests and monks, and of his confession, as also other letters written in prison and received by us, lay, or were put with the others by me, behind the bedstead under the roof, on account of the great fear of persecution and the monstrous tyranny existing at that time. Afterwards it happened, in the year 1570, in February, that the water came rushing from the Diefdijck with such force or volume, that many houses drifted away, and some had their walls broken in, so that said letters fell into the water and perished. I greatly mourned the loss of them, because our children might in them have seen or read how valiantly 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 said year 1568, the aforesaid Bailiff announced that he should hold a court the following day, the 30th of said month; on which he preferred his accusation, demanding that he should be burned at the stake, until death ensued, and his property confiscated for the benefit of the King. Afterwards, many court-days having been held, and both parties having presented their papers, the Bailiff did not cease to request that sentence be passed, whereupon the judges decided that thirty-two guilders be paid in, to go and get advice by way of consultation. This having been done, they of the court went to the court of Holland, and returned with the sentence of death.
Shortly after, the 21st of March, 1569, he was informed that he should receive his sentence the following day. Well knowing that it should 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, desiring to rest a little while. The next day at four o’clock in the morning the monk again came to him, to torment him as much as possible. Afterwards about eight o’clock the same day he was taken from the room in which he had been confined during his entire imprisonment, with heavy iron fetters, with 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 stood a table with victuals, of which he partook a little, and thereupon received a drink from Steven de Wit, which he accepted in a friendly manner, to leave the former no ground for suspecting that he bore any ill will, though he delivered him to death. The monk (as heard before) persisted in his attempts to draw him from his faith, but did not effect 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 thus they led him as a defenseless lamb to the slaughter. When they arrived in the city hall, the court assembled, and the Bailiff himself demanded the sentence. Then the Judges said: “Adrian Willems, do you wish to say something yet in regard to this?” He replied: “I know of nothing to tell you, save that you would remember that you must also appear before the judgment seat of Christ, who shall pass a righteous judgment upon the good and the evil, or the dead and the living.” Then they arose. When they came out of the council-chamber, they pronounced the sentence, passing judgment, that said Adrian Willems should be executed with the sword, and his body be put into a coffin and buried under the scaffold. They then rose again, with pale and sad countenances, 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 hastened to execute the sentence of the judges, which they also did. Thus the aforementioned Adrian Willems voluntarily delivered himself up to death, choosing rather to keep his faith, than to retain his life here for a little while, and forsake his faith; and committed his soul unto God the faithful Creator, and thus departed this life, bearing witness to the Gospel, and confirming his unfeigned faith with his blood. Amen.