‘Met den swaerde geexecuteert ende van levene ten dode gebracht’. Twee onthoofden in het Droevendal te Leeuwarden

Abstract

‘Met den swaerde geexecuteert ende van levene ten dode gebracht’. Two beheadings in the street Droevendal, LeeuwardenDuring excavations in the street Droevendal in Leeuwarden (province of Friesland, the Netherlands), a number of graves were found. These graves lie within the area of the cemetery of the Franciscan monastery known as Galilea, dating from the 16th century AD. Not only monks were buried there but also civilians, as is evident from a number of buried women and (small) children and babies. Two of the graves contained individuals who had been beheaded. It is known that after the closing down of the monastery in 1580, part of the graveyard continued to be used to bury executed convicts. In this article, we propose a couple of historical identifications for the decapitated individuals in these two graves.