Maria van Reigersberch (1589-1653)

In 1618 her husband, legal scholar Hugo de Groot, was arrested for treason. He was sentenced to the very harsh term of life imprisonment. Van Reigersberch joined her husband at the prison, Loevestein Castle, and planned the escape. On 22 March 1621 she hid her husband in a book chest. Her servant Elsje van Houweningen then accompanied the chest out of the castle and across the water to Gorinchem. The plan worked and De Groot escaped! But it was impossible for him to return to the county of Holland, so the couple settled in Paris. Van Reigersberch often returned to the Netherlands to deal with her husband’s financial and legal affairs.