William of Orange
Leader of the Revolt against Spanish rule and Maria’s older brother.
Love, loyalty and war
Caught between two sides
Her brother William of Orange led the Revolt. Her husband Willem van den Bergh became suspect because of contacts with the Spanish side. Maria lived at the centre of a conflict in which relatives could become political threats to one another.
Question
What do you do when love and politics no longer point in the same direction?
We know dates, offices, arrests and political contacts. We know much less about conversations behind closed doors. Maria’s dilemma is therefore not one proven scene, but a historical situation that became increasingly acute.
The war did not only run through towns and provinces. It ran straight through families.
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Willem van den Bergh
Count of Bergh, soldier and stadtholder who ultimately chose the Spanish side openly.
Dilemma
What would you do?
There is no score and no perfect answer. Each option shows one possible consequence.
November 1583: from family crisis to affairs of state.
Willem’s secret contacts with the Spanish side were discovered. He and Maria were arrested. After their release the couple moved to House Ulft and did not return to House Bergh.
What did Maria say during the arrest?
The event can be reconstructed historically, but a full personal account of Maria’s thoughts is missing. What she thought or said during those days remains unknown.
Was Willem a traitor?
That word makes the story simple, perhaps too simple. Political disappointment, property, religion, loss of power and survival may all have played a role.