THE NETHERLANDS in the sixteenth century:

a region of bustling cities and prosperous farms,

fertile plains claimed from the sea and crisscrossed with

ingenious canals, a sophisticated society in which Prot-

estants and Catholics live peaceably side by side

Until late in the century, the Spanish army is ordered by

King Philip 11 to purge the Lowlands of heretics by

extending the shroud of the Inquisition. Rioting breaks

out in Antwerp and normal life comes to a halt as the

army, attacking unarmed men and women, makes a

battlefield of the city.

Caught in the terror are Jan and Hanneke van Cleef, a

young brother and sister who are the children of a pros

perous merchant family, Protestants raised under the

strict Calvinist hand of their father. Neither Jan s "sin-

ful" interest in guns and fighting nor Hanneke s "heart

for truth" has prepared them for the tragedies that are to

occur under the new laws of persecution. Their father

executed, their mother driven mad, Jan and Hanneke are

suddenly set adrift, alone, in a violent and hostile world.

Hanneke remains in Antwerp to care for her mother.

Driven out of their house, destitute, Hanneke earns what

little money she can from sympathetic neighbors while

helplessly watching her mother slip further and further

into the tormented world of her mind. Her own will to

live tested again and again, she at last is compelled to

leave Antwerp, joining the growing number of exiles

making their way toward the German Empire; and it is

only her unfaltering faith that fuels her resolve to go on

living even though there is "nothing left in her at all."

Jan has fled Antwerp already, seeking refuge with a

seaman uncle and casting his lot with the Sea Beggars--

Dutch pirates who plunder the North Sea coast, foiling

the powerful Spanish navy with their breathtaking dar-

ing. Manning his uncle s ship in this illegal fleet, Jan

quickly suits himself to the ways of piracy, becoming an

expert gunner and seaman, thrilling to the danger and

excitement.