This print shows five historical rulers standing in a row, dressed in ceremonial armor and ornate robes lined with ermine. Each figure carries symbols of power, such as scepters and swords, while the central figure, Margaret II, stands before a diamond-shaped heraldic shield. Below the figures, five columns of Dutch verse provide biographical details and dates of their respective reigns.
Created by the leading Haarlem Mannerist Hendrick Goltzius, this series served to bolster Dutch national identity and provide a visual genealogy of the region's rulers during the Dutch Revolt. While political in nature, it showcases the virtuoso engraving techniques that made Goltzius a central figure for later esoteric and alchemical illustrators who adopted his style for complex symbolic works.
William III of HollandWilliam IV of HollandMargaret II, Countess of HainautWilliam V, Duke of BavariaAlbert I, Duke of Bavariascepterheraldic lionermine61B1146C13146C121
VVillem xxij.
t'Iaer 1305. Grave. reg. 33. Iaer.
Dit is Graef VVillem in vroomheydt noyt fijns ghelijcke,
Hy troude s'Conings Suster van Vranckrijcke,
Daer hy by creech een Soon met drie Dochters van eeren.
Binnen Haerlem hieldt hy hof soo ons tuycht die Cronijcke,
Met vvtintich Graven, duyfent Ridders, hondert Banre-heeren.
Den Baliu van Zuyt-hollandt om recht te doen leeren,
Deed hy onthalffen, tsvveert daer toe selfs uyt den schee oock tooch,
Om een Koes veranderingh sonder vvederkeeren.
Als hy tvvee en dertich jaer gheregeert had fpa en vroech
Sterf hy tot Valenchien, beaert onder een tombe hooch.
VVillem xxiij.
t'Iaer 1336. Grave. reg. 8. Iaren.
Als die goede Graef VVillem vvas overleen,
Werde fijn Soon als Graef verheven int landt.
Sijn Wijf was s'Hertochs van Brabandt Dochter soo ick meen,
Hy troc in Spangien om te verdrijven die Saraceen
En vvan die stadt van Granaten met stormender handt,
Die van Utrecht, soo sterck beleyde dees Prins valiant,
Dat se bloots voets uyt quamen hem bidden om ghena.
Sonder kinderen gheregeert hebbende seer triumphant
Neghen jaer trock in Vrieslandt soo ick versta,
En vverde by Staveren verslaghen onlang daer na.
Margarieta xxiiij.
t'Iaer 1345. Gravinne. reg. 6. Iaren.
NA Willem wert fijn suster Margriet vant landt Gravin,
Sy hadde Keyser Lodovvijck tot een Man soo ick bevin,
Daer sy Willem en Aelbrecht twee Sonen by creech met lust:
Den Hoecx en Cabbellaufchen twist nam door haer begin,
Fen partydich vyer twelc niet haest werde gheblust,
De Moeder streedt jegens tkint, twelck sy wel eer had ghecuft:
Nae dat sy op die Maes had verloren den flach,
Quamen dees Landen weder ee weynich in rust.
Mits sy Hollant haer Soon gaf en vertroc hoort mijn ghevvach
In Henegou nae vijf jaer mense daer begraven fach.
Willem xxv.
t'Iaer 1404. Grave. reg. 11. Iaren.
VVillem van Beyeren al was hy met vil fijns Moeders gehult,
Grave van Hollant, Zeelant, en Vrieslant tvvist met nijt vervult,
Bleef t'lant nochtans door voorgaende mede,
En door voorleden schade t'een geslacht op d'ander verdult:
Om twelck te sachten beyde party veel jonst hy dede.
Hy hadde te VVijf eens Hertochs dochter reyn van fede,
Sonder Kinders te crijgen: vvert opt Hof van sinnen berooft,
En floech doodt een Ridder ter selver stede,
VVaerom neghenthien Iaer vast fadt hy s'lants opperste hooft,
Na beaert by fijn Moeder somen die Cronijck ghelooft.
Albrecht xxvj.
t'Iaer 1358. Grave. reg. 46. Iaer
Als Hertoch VVillem dus deerlijck byfinnich vvas,
Quam Albrecht fijn Broeder en regeerde ras
t'Landt, eerst als voocht, na als Graef geprefen,
Eens Hertochs Dochter tot een VVijf hy had opt selfde pas
Daer hy by creech drie Soons met drie Dochters reyn van vvesen.
Die van Delft verloste door bede van desen,
In Vrieslandt fijn volck tvvelck van den Vyant vvas beset.
VVacrom hy haer vryheyt gaf : vveder so vvy lesen
Sterf int ses en veertichste jaer fijns regierings net.
En vverde inden Haech opt Hof inder aert gefet.
Translation
William 22.
The year 1305. Count. Reigned 33 years.
This is Count William, in piety none his equal,
He married the King of France's sister,
By whom he had a son and three honorable daughters.
Within Haarlem he held court, as the chronicle shows us,
With fifty Counts, a thousand Knights, a hundred Bannerets.
The Bailiff of South Holland, to teach him to do justice,
He had beheaded, he himself even drew the sword from its sheath,
For a change of cows, never to return.
When he had reigned for thirty-two years, late and early,
He died at Valenciennes, buried under a high tomb.
William 23.
The year 1336. Count. Reigned 8 years.
When the good Count William had passed away,
His son was raised as Count in the land.
His wife was the Duke of Brabant’s daughter, as I believe,
He marched into Spain to drive out the Saracen
And won the city of Granada by storming hand,
Those of Utrecht, so strongly did this valiant Prince besiege them,
That they came out barefoot to beg him for mercy.
Having reigned most triumphantly without children,
He marched into Frisia for nine years as I understand,
And was slain near Staveren not long thereafter.
Margaret 24.
The year 1345. Countess. Reigned 6 years.
After William, his sister Margaret became Countess of the land,
She had Emperor Ludwig for a husband, as I find,
By whom she joyfully had two sons, William and Albert:
The Hook and Cod strife took its beginning through her,
A partisan fire which was not soon extinguished,
The mother fought against the child, whom she had once kissed:
After she had lost the battle on the Meuse,
These lands came again a little into rest.
Since she gave Holland to her son and departed, hear my account,
In Hainaut, after five years, one saw her buried there.
William 25.
The year 1404. Count. Reigned 11 years.
William of Bavaria, although he was shrouded by much of his mother's,
Count of Holland, Zeeland, and Frisia, filled with strife and envy,
Remained the land nonetheless through previous peace,
And through past damage, one lineage endured the other:
To soften which, to both parties he showed much favor.
He had for a wife a Duke's daughter, pure of faith,
Without having children: he was robbed of his senses at Court,
And struck dead a Knight at the same place,
Wherefore nineteen years firmly sat he as the land's supreme head,
Later buried by his mother, as one believes the chronicle.
Albert 26.
The year 1358. Count. Reigned 46 years.
When Duke William was thus miserably bereft of his senses,
Came Albert his brother and reigned quickly,
The land, first as regent, then as praised Count,
A Duke's daughter for a wife he had at that same time,
By whom he had three sons and three daughters of pure being.
Those of Delft he released through the prayer of these,
In Frisia his people, who were besieged by the enemy.
Wherefore he gave them freedom: again as we read
He died in the forty-sixth year of his reign exactly,
And was laid in the earth at the Court in The Hague.
