(An infamous institution, the Inquisition was charged with investigating whether a suspect was a heretic. There, he was interrogated by members of the Inquisition that had been established by Emperor Charles V in 1522.

Jan de Bakker was transferred to the Prison Gate, which was then the ‘state prison’. In the Prison Gate: imprisonment and interrogation For the governor, Margaret of Austria, who acted on the emperor’s behalf in the Low Countries, this was reason to have him arrested. He nevertheless remained a staunch advocate of reform of the Catholic faith. He returned to Woerden and began working as a baker, for which he earned his nickname, Jan de Bakker. 'He was particularly critical of the ‘indulgences’ sold by the Church, whereby you could obtain forgiveness for your sins.' He objected to some of the Catholic rituals. He was then asked to become pastor in Jacobswoude, where he preached in the spirit of the Reformation (reform). He had not been in the post long when he took up his studies again, this time in Leuven, where his teachers included the humanist Erasmus. After his training, he followed in his father’s footsteps as sexton of the church in Woerden. During his training as a priest, he was taught by Hinne Rode, a follower of Martin Luther. He was a good student and could sing beautifully. Why Jan de Bakker fought against the Catholic Church Emperor Charles V was scared that different forms of belief would lead to unrest in his empire, and he therefore decided to crack down on the unfaithful or ‘heretics’. Reformers such as Martin Luther wanted to modernise the Catholic faith. This faith, which was generally accepted in the Late Middle Ages, came under pressure in the early 16th century. In the 16th century, the Dutch lived under the rule of Emperor Charles V, who appointed himself the great protector of the Catholic faith. Jan de Bakker is seen as the first fatal victim of the persecution of heretics in Holland.

Emperor Charles V cracks down on the unfaithful If you were not, you were viewed as a heretic and risked your life. But things were very different the past when the Spanish ruled the Netherlands, you were only allowed to be Catholic. Believe what you want to believe: it’s something that goes without saying in the Netherlands.

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