Broadside celebrating the execution of conspirators against Maurice of Orange

Unrecorded variant of a 1623 broadside celebrating the execution of conspirators against Maurice of Orange.

The failed attempt to assassinate Maurice in 1623, led by the disgruntled sons of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt together with the preacher Hendrick Danielsz Slatius, was widely depicted in prints and broadsides. The present Tweede basuyne (literally, Second Trumpet) refers to an earlier Triumph-basuyne, which celebrated Maurice’s survival. These broadsides are very rare—especially with the accompanying letterpress text intact.

The engraving at the top of the broadside depicts a large crowd gathered at the so-called Groene Zoodje (the scaffold) in The Hague, eagerly witnessing the execution of two men—one already decapitated, the other kneeling and blindfolded, moments away from losing his head.

From a cloud above the scene, a trumpet (basuyn) emerges, emitting smoke in which the monogram of the publisher, Hondius (“Hh ex cum privillegio”), is visible.

As the caption of the engraving commemorates, conspirators Herman Hermansen, Jan Claesen, Dirck Lenertsz, Cornelis Gerritsz, Reinier van Oldenbarnevelt, David Korenwinder, and Adriaen van Dyck were executed between 27 February and 29 March 1623. Interestingly, the caption omits Slatius, who was executed on 5 May 1623, suggesting that this broadside was published before that date.

On both sides of the engraving, the text of Psalm 64 is printed, portraying Maurice as the righteous man—targeted by evildoers yet protected by God. This theme is further developed in the verses below the engraving. The first, in two columns, is a prayer, depicting Maurice as the defender of the true faith and pleading with God to grant him a long and prosperous life. The last three verses focus on the fatherland, and portraying Maurice as head of state and guardian of justice.

We have located two complete copies of this broadside: in the Rijksmuseum (P-OB-81.025) and in the Atlas van Stolk; New Hollstein adds a third in Dordrecht. The Amsterdam University Library holds an additional copy (OTM: Pfl. port. fol 1623), digitized by Google Books, which lacks the lower half of the broadside containing the letterpress verses.

The mentioned copies feature slightly different wording in the titles of two of the last three letterpress verses: “‘t Vaderlandt” and “De Iustitie”, rather than “‘s Vaderlands Klacht” and “Klacht van de Iustitie” in our copy, which thus appears to be an unrecorded variant.