When he was a student, Aernt van Buchell disliked Protestants, though perhaps that was only to be expected from the son of a canon of the Utrecht chapter of St Pieter. After all, Aernt could reasonably hope that his family connections – his wealthy uncle, Hubert van Buchell, was also a canon – would ensure him a bright future in the church. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that when William of Orange was shot in 1584, Aernt – who heard the news while studying in Douai – wrote in his diary that the prince had ‘died the death that he deserved’. Shortly afterwards he wrote about the religious situation in his country: ‘In confusion they run in so many different directions that truth can hardly be distinguished from falsehood, nor Christ from the devil, and nothing in the world is certain.’ Clearly, he blamed the Protestants for this state of affairs.

Van Buchell was not the only one who was worried about the spiritual health of the Low Countries. There was in fact every reason for concern, certainly in Utrecht, which had traditionally been an ecclesiastical centre whose bishop held sway over the numerous clerical exemptions and possessions – which embodied the economic power the church wielded in both city and province – and over the many church buildings, which were a solid expression of the spiritual authority of the church.