Reward letter for the family of Balthasar Gerards

Filips II, Ban ende edict by forme van proscriptie, Jan Schoeffer, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, 1580.

On 10 July 1584, Balthasar Gerards assassinated William of Orange on the steps of the Prinsenhof in Delft. Having accused William of Orange of high treason, King Philip II of Spain bestowed a handsome reward upon Balthasar for the act but because he was executed soon after the murder, this award was passed on to the Gerards family. This reward letter from 1590 is the official declaration of the Spanish king in which he promises the family of Balthasar Gerards 25,000 gold crowns, worth about 3 million euros in today's money. In the end, they did not receive any money but were rewarded with tracts of land in Franche-Comté, an area in France. Officially, this letter was known as a letters patent or lettre patente.

Contents of the letter

The reward or letters patent, written on behalf of King Philip II of Spain, first discusses in detail the life and death of Balthasar Gerards. According to the letter, Gerards had "an ardent desire" to serve his king, which led him to travel to the Netherlands to punish William of Orange, who had led the rebel uprising.

The letter goes on to describe how Gerards showed "great courage" by shooting William of Orange, before praising his fortitude during the "terrible and cruel torture" he had to endure during his imprisonment. As a reward, the king bestowed on the Gerards family three seigneuries near Balthasar's home village of Vuillafans: Lièvremont, Hostal and Dommartin. These lands were taken from the possessions of William of Orange.

History of the reward letter for the family of Balthasar Gerards

The KB bought the reward letter at an auction in France in 2019, following a tip-off from the Rijksmuseum. This masterpiece is part of the collection of post-medieval and modern manuscripts.

Special details of the reward letter

Coat of arms from the reward letters, 1584.

The manuscript is written on vellum, while paper was used for the coat of arms. The document is bound with gold thread and, if you look closely, you can see remnants of the official seal of the King of Spain. The signature belongs to King Philip II but the text was penned by his secretary, Alonso de Laloo.

The Gerards family coat of arms

It was not until 1589 that Philip II bestowed the promised noble title on Gerards' relatives, elevating his entire family, including his mother, brothers, sisters and their offspring, to the peerage. As a result, the Gerards family would henceforth be allowed to bear a coat of arms. The coat of arms, designed by the Spanish crown, was attached to the reward letter: per argent and gules, lion rampant argent and gules (a red-silver lion on a field of red and silver). The lion rampant holds a lightning bolt in his right paw, symbolising the divine punishment meted out to Orange.

Short-lived benefits for Gerards family

The Gerards family did not get to enjoy their newly acquired lands for long. In 1595, Philip William (1554-1618), William of Orange's first son who had remained a Catholic, reclaimed his father's property, explicitly refusing to pay Balthasar Gerards' siblings himself. In the end, the Spanish crown gave them a piece of land near Vuillafans and a sum of 15,000 francs. However, this land also quickly slipped through their fingers. The family's reputation as hired assassins ultimately ended up lingering longer than the reward they got for the murder.

How to access the reward letter

The manuscript cannot be accessed or consulted. For a viewing, please contact curator Jeroen Vandommele. The signature of this masterpiece is KW 1930 A 008. Images of the letter can be found via Wikimedia Commons.

Would you like to know more?

Jeroen Vandommele
Curator of post-medieval and modern manuscripts