Zoetermeer’s mystery: the pastor who was hunted to death

Zoetermeer has a versatile history with highs and lows. One of the more grisly stories from our city is that about Reverend Van den Bosch, who was attacked in Dorpsstraat. What about this story?

Angry crowd in the Dorpsstraat

In the 18th century there was a lot of conflict in the Netherlands, including in Zoetermeer. On September 18, 1787, a violent incident took place in Dorpsstraat. What happened? Reverend Pieter van den Bosch lived in the Dorpsstraat. He was a Remonstrant minister in Zoetermeer from 1757 to 1760 and came to live in our city again in 1783. Van Den Bosch was known as a scholar, publicist, but above all as a fanatical patriot.

Royalists and patriots

Let’s zoom out: what happened to the Orangeists and patriots? In a nutshell: in the 18th century, part of the country was orange-minded, which meant that they were in favor of the House of Orange. Another part was pro-state, which meant that they supported the republic. In addition, there were the patriots, who sought a democratic republic and abolition of existing privileges.

Forced to apologize

On September 18, 1787, the princely supporters in Zoetermeer directed their anger at pastor and outspoken patriot Pieter van den Bosch. An angry crowd gathers around his home in Dorpsstraat, which stood where the current address is Dorpsstraat 89 – 91. Later, princelings from Bleiswijk were also added. The group forces the pastor to come out of his home, hand over patriotic documents and – dressed in orange clothing – express regret. The anger seems to subside for a moment, but in the afternoon things flare up again. Because there is a threat of violence, the pastor flees from his home.

Go into hiding

The pastor and his wife leave their house through the back and the couple secretly goes into hiding with acquaintances. First in the house of Pieter’s sisters and later in that of his gardener. Once again the anger subsides and the danger seems to have passed, but then a (untrue) rumor is spread that a patriotic army is on its way to Zoetermeer. This causes the conflict to flare up for the third time. The gardener no longer dares to let the pastor go into hiding with him, his sisters are also too afraid to take him in. The pastor and his wife therefore have to stay on the wharf in the pouring rain, hoping that they will not be found by the royal family.

On the run

The pastor will probably be caught on the shipyard anyway, or at least he suspected so, because he flees. While he runs away from the Dorpsstraat, he ends up in the water of the canal behind it. Petronella Doornhaag, a niece of the pastor, sees it all happening and tries to help, but out of fear of the angry crowd she flees back inside.

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After death

A little later, the lifeless body of the pastor is pulled out of the water, on September 22, three days after the whole conflict started. For five days his body remains beside the water, where prince-loving passers-by cover him with orange flowers. Ultimately, the minister’s body is pulled to the cemetery by barge and buried without a coffin.

The lugubrious last days of Reverend van den Bosch became a well-known story in not only Zoetermeer, but the entire Dutch history. Various works of art have been made about it, for example by painter J. Buys. Texts have also been written about the incident.

Sources: Memory of Zoetermeer, Biographical Lexicon, Zoetermeer Active