In like manner, they shall be bound, if they know the place where any of such heretics keep or shelter themselves, to indicate it to the officer of said place, on pain of being considered, as stated before, favorers, entertainers and adherents of heresy, and punished with the same punishment as would be inflicted upon the heretic or offender, if he should be apprehended.
And in order that the aforesaid judges and officers, who shall apprehend said heretics, Anabaptists, and transgressors of our aforesaid ordinances and prohibitions, may have no reason, under the pretense that the punishments seem too great and severe, and were only decreed to deter the delinquents (Anabaptists), and offenders, to dissemble with them, their accomplices and favorers, or to punish them less than they have deserved, as has been found to have frequently been done heretofore; therefore, we will that those whom they know to have acted contrary to these ordinances, or who have kept in their possession, printed, sold, distributed, or published any heretical scandalous books, writings . . . or have contravened the points already indicated, or to be stated hereafter, or some of them, shall be actually punished and corrected with the punishments set forth above.
We forbid all our judges, justiciaries and officers, as also our vassals and subjects, temporal lords, who exercise high justice, and their officers, in any wise to alter, mitigate or change the aforesaid punishments, (those ordained to be inflicted with the sword, earth, or fire); but, on having taken cognizance of such contravention plainly do declare and decree the aforesaid punishments, pursuant to these present ordinances, on pain of being severely punished; unless that in some particular case, said judges, because of great and important considerations, should find difficulty as to the exact execution of the punishment decreed against the transgressor by our aforesaid ordinances.
In which case they may nevertheless not mitigate the punishment of their own accord; but shall be bound to carry or send the criminal process, faithfully closed and sealed, to the sovereign or provincial council, under whose jurisdiction they shall belong, there to be examined and deliberated on as to whether any alteration or mitigation of the aforesaid punishment is proper or not.
And if our aforesaid councilors find, that in good justice, according to right and reason (in regard to which we charge their consciences), any mitigation or alteration is proper, in such a case they may advise them by writing, and send it all to said judges and officers, that the latter may finish and terminate said process in accordance with it.
We command them to do nothing less, and enjoin them very expressly and strictly, on pain of being arbitrarily corrected and punished, not to make use of said consultations without great and important reasons, but be governed, as much as they can, by the contents of these present ordinances.
Extracted from the great book of decrees of Ghent in which are collected all the decrees, mandates, and ordinances of Emperor Charles V., and of King Philip II.; and cited by William I., Prince of Orange, in his defense against his adversaries, edition 1569, from p. 165–174 inclusive.
AUGUSTINE THE BAKER, A. D. 1556.
A. D. 1556, or thereabouts, there was in Beverwijk, a brother named Augustine, a baker by trade, who had forsaken the world, and been baptized upon his faith, according to the ordinance of Christ, which the papists could not endure. There was at that time a burgomaster who was very bitter, and filled with perverted zeal, who sometimes said that he would furnish the peat and wood to burn Augustine. The Bailiff had said that he should not apprehend Augustine without previously warning him; but he did not keep his word; for he came upon a time when Augustine was at his work, kneading dough. Perceiving him, Augustine attempted to flee, but was instantly seized by his pursuers, and cast into prison; and as he was a man who was much beloved, it greatly grieved the Bailiff’s wife, who said to her husband: “O you murderer, what have you done!” but all in vain, he had to follow his Lord Jesus as a lamb is led to the slaughter. As he steadfastly adhered to his faith, they passed a cruel sentence on him, namely that he should be tied to a ladder, and thus cast alive into the fire, and burnt. On his way to death, he saw one of his acquaintances, to whom he said: “Farewell, Joost Cornelissen.” The latter, prompted by his good opinion of him, replied in a friendly manner: “I hope that we shall hereafter be together forever;” whereupon said Burgomaster replied out of a heart judging with partiality: “He will not get to the place whither you will go; but he goes from this fire into the eternal.” Thereupon Augustine said to the Burgomaster: “I cite you to appear within three days before the judgment seat of God.” As soon as the execution was over, the Burgomaster was instantly smitten with a raging sickness, and continually cried with a guilty conscience: “Peat and wood, peat and wood!” so that it was terrible to hear; and before the three days had expired, he died; which was a great sign of the all-seeing eye of God, who would not suffer such cruelty to go unpunished, as an example to all those who from perverse blindness should commit such deeds. For it is often seen that those who think to do God service by exercising tyrannical cruelty over the pious, come to a bad end; for the apostle James also says that they shall have judgment without mercy that have shown no mercy. May the Lord enlighten those who are in such blindness.