Historical note
In the thirteenth century a beginning of national consciousness arose in what is now called the Low Countries. These consisted at that time of the following main components. The County of Holland, in the North, occupied that part of the present Netherlands in which lie the cities of Amsterdam, Leiden and The Hague. To its East lay the domains of the Bishop of Utrecht, around the city of that name. These bordered on the Duchy of Brabant which extended southwards from the river Meuse to include Antwerp, Brussels and Louvain and so straddled the great trading route from Cologne to Bruges. This latter town was, with Ghent, foremost among the prosperous cities of the county of Flanders. Between Flanders and Holland lay the islands of Zeeland where both these Counties strove for supremacy.
While Holland, Utrecht and Brabant tried to affirm their independence from the Holy Roman Empire, Flanders' struggle was, and always would be, with France.
What follows is not, of course, a history but a play.
Auteursrechtelijk beschermd