Lucas van Leyden, also named either Lucas Hugensz or Lucas Jacobsz, was a Dutch engraver and painter, born and mainly active in Leiden. van Leyden was among the first Dutch exponents of genre painting and is generally regarded as one of the...

Jan van Scorel was an influential Dutch painter credited with the introduction of High Italian Renaissance art to the Netherlands. It is not known whether he began his studies under Jan Gossaert in Utrecht or with Jacob Cornelisz in Amsterd...

Menno Simons is without doubt the greatest figure in the history of the Mennonite Church. He was not the founder but is often called the regenerator of the Anabaptist movement. He certainly was its most important leader in the Netherlands d...

Charles V was Holy Roman Emperor from 1519-1558; he was also King of Spain from 1516-1556, officially as Charles I of Spain, although often referred to as Charles V ("Carlos Quinto" or "Carlos V") in Spain and Latin America. He was the son...

Mary of Austria, also known as Mary of Hungary, was queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia as the wife of King Louis II, and she was later Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands. The daughter of Queen Joanna of Castile and King Philip I of C...

Juliana of Stolberg was the mother of William 1 of Orange (Willem van Oranje), also known as William the Silent (Willem de Zwijger). Juliana was the daughter of Botho VIII of Stolberg-Wernigerode and Anna of Eppstein-Königstein. Her first m...

Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, the third Duke of Alba was a Spanish general and governor of the Spanish Netherlands (1567 - 1573), nicknamed "the Iron Duke" by Protestants of the Low Countries because of harsh rule. Although the Duke led oppre...

John of Leiden was an Anabaptist leader from the Dutch city of Leiden. Raised in poverty, young John became a charismatic leader who was widely revered by his followers. According to his own testimony, he went to the German city of Münster,...

Hadrianus Junius, also known as Adriaen de Jonghe, was a Dutch physician, classical scholar, translator, lexicographer, antiquarian, historiographer, emblematist, school rector, and Latin poet. Junius was dubbed a 'second Erasmus' by some o...

Gerardus Mercator, Flemish cartographer. He received a master's degree in 1532 from the University of Louvain (Belgium), where he settled. By 24 he was a skilled engraver, calligrapher, and scientific-instrument maker. He and his colleagues...

Andreas Vesalius was an anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, De humani corporis fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body). Vesalius is often referred to as the founder of modern human anato...

Cristóbal de Mondragón y Mercado was a Spanish general during the Eighty Years' War. He was a prominent military figure of the sixteenth century, and was colonel of one of the Tercios of Flanders under the Duke of Alva, Luis de Requesens...

Johann Weyer (in Dutch Jan/Johan/Johannes Wier, in Latin Ioannes Wierus and Piscinarius), was a Dutch physician, occultist and demonologist, disciple and follower of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. He was among the first to publish against the...

René of Châlon was a Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht and Gelre. René was born in Breda, the only son of Count Henry III of Nassau-Breda and Claudia of Châlon. Claudia's brother, Philibert of Châlon, and the anc...

Count Lamoral of Egmont was a Flemish general and statesman. He was Fillips II's supreme commander and achieved important victories on the French. Therefore he became appointed by Fillips II as governor of Flanders and Artesia, as a member...