Culture: The Five Heads

Crossroads proudly presents an original short story by Anke Scheeren, a promising young writer from Maastricht. Anke’s imagination was triggered by a sinister event that took place here almost 400 years ago…

De la Court and brother Nottijn had discussed the meaning of life for a while, but now they looked puzzled. They stared into the direction of the Spanish fort in Navagne. Caters, Lansmans and father Vinck did the same. The five men did not blink. Their mouths hung slightly open as if their trip to the city wall had exhausted them and they had to gasp for air.

‘Has anyone of you ever met my wife?’ de la Court asked. ‘She had a lovely head, my wife…’ De la Court’s eyes suddenly seemed wet.

De la Court was a young French soldier who had craved for only one thing in life: to have a beautiful woman by his side. However, after he married, he became strongly preoccupied with another goal: to live among the high and mighty. When he was given the opportunity to earn more money in a quicker and less honourable way, he didn’t hesitate long.

De la Court wasn’t too bright though; he had lost it all.

‘She was beautiful then?’ brother Nottijn finally asked.
‘Oh definitely,’ de la Court eagerly said. ‘Blue eyes, sweet little nose, blushing cheeks.’
‘That is nice.’
If brother Nottijn could, he now would have rubbed his chin with his right hand. Instead he kept his grey eyes slightly pinched on the horizon.

Brother Nottijn had craved for only one thing in life: to have a beautiful woman by his side. However, he radically changed his plans and decided to devote his life solely to God. Brother Nottijn most likely would have led a simple and long life had he not been suspected of treason.

‘They beheaded her, you know,’ de la Court said. ‘They beheaded my wife…’ For a moment the young man laughed a strange laugh, but soon his smile was replaced by a frown filled with horror.

‘Two beliefs in one city… well, Maastricht was bound for trouble if you ask me,’ Caters said.

‘It is a pity the plan didn’t succeed,’ father Vinck pensively said in his low melancholic voice. ‘At least the Spaniards value Catholicism the way it should be …’
‘Apparently they value it very highly ,’ Lansmans cynically added. ‘Considering the amount I received for.. well.. you know.. Otherwise I never would have cooperated with them. It looked like a good deal at the time…’
‘Don’t you have any ideals, Lansmans?’ father Vinck asked.
‘Of course I do, father. They just aren’t the same as yours..’

‘Let me ask you something, father,’ Caters interrupted Lansmans. ‘We have been here for what? Three days? Four maybe? And every day we have seen the sun come up in the East and gradually move toward the West, haven’t we? How can anyone claim that the sun is not moving, but, instead, that the earth revolves around the sun?’

Father Vinck sighed, coughed, and finally dryly said: ‘Psalm 93: ‘Now the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved.’ There is your answer, my friend.’

‘She had a lovely head, my wife,’ de la Court whispered.

De la Court looked miserable. He locked his sad eyes on the sky. Judging from the bright orange colours that were now being replaced by shades of grey it had to be almost eight o’clock. It was getting colder too. The five men didn’t feel it though, except for the wind on their pale faces.

‘I would have liked it if a woman had shed some tears for me,’ brother Nottijn said with his delicate voice. ‘A beautiful young woman.. Blue eyes, curly blond hair…’
‘My wife was a brunette,’ De la Court said. ‘Sometimes, in the sunlight, her hair also appeared red…’

‘Facta infecta fieri nequeunt,’ father Vinck muttered.
‘What is he saying?,’ de la Court asked brother Nottijn.
‘What has happened, cannot be undone. That is what he said.’

Brother Nottijn’s thin brown hair softly moved around his yellow skull and the silence that now fell everywhere around the five men filled itself with idle hope and sad resignation.

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In 1638 five heads rose above the city wall of Maastricht. The five heads belonged to French soldier de la Court, brother Nottijn, father Vinck, brewer Lansmans and bricklayer Caters.

Six years earlier Maastricht had been freed from the Spanish occupation by the Dutch Republic of Seven Provinces. As a consequence, Catholicism was no longer the only religion practised in the city, but Calvinism was allowed too. But because of local distrust toward the Dutch Republic and sympathy with the Catholic Spaniards, a pact with the Spaniards was not deemed unlikely. Therefore, the city commander and the secret police investigated possible signs of treason.

When soldier de la Court drew their attention through his excessive expenses, he admitted having been bribed by the Spaniards to help them reconquer Maastricht. De la Court was put on the rack and revealed the names of other collaborators. He mentioned brewer Lansmans, whose backyard led to an old gate in the city wall. De la Court also named bricklayers Caters and Rompen (the latter managed to escape), who would reopen the gate one night, so that the Spaniards could take the city by surprise. Under torture Lansmans also gave up father Vinck and brother Nottijn as conspirators. Father Vinck had conveyed his support for the planned take-over by the Spaniards. The role of brother Nottijn remains unclear.

They were all beheaded, as well as de la Court’s wife because she had known of her husband’s plans. Their five heads were placed on stakes on the bastion of the Three Doves, with their gruesome faces turned south-east towards the Spanish fort in Navagne. Today this place is still known as the Five Heads.

By Anke Scheeren

Anke Scheeren, 24, graduated in Psychology at the University of Maastricht and writes short stories. Her stories have been published in Hollands Maandblad, a Dutch literature magazine, which has also awarded her a writer’s grant. Anke lives in Maastricht.

The Spanish Fort was located in Navagne, to the southeast of Maastricht

Further reading:
The sacrifice made by Father Vinck, by Hennie Reuvers (in English, Dutch, German and French)
‘Navagne / Van ‘t gruwelijk verraet in den jaere 1638 op Maestricht gepractiseert’, by Breuk Henket (in Dutch)