Gevangenpoort

We have left the Binnenhof (Inner Court) and are now on the Buitenhof (Outer Court). It used to be filled with houses and stables and, in the reign of Count Albert I, it even featured a zoo. In those times, the only entrance to the square was the Gevangenpoort, Prison Gate. 

The Gevangenpoort was used as a prison from 1420 to 1828. It housed people who had committed serious crimes, awaiting sentencing. Its most famous prisoner was Cornelis de Witt, who was held on the charge of plotting the murder of the stadtholder. He was lynched by a crowd of people, together with his brother Johan on 20 August 1672 on the square in front of the building called groene zoodje. Named after the grass mat used for the scaffold.

The lynch mob was incited by Orange partisans. The brothers De Witt were arrested on false accusations of treason. Cornelis never confessed, despite heavy torture and was ultimately unlawfully condemned to be banished. After lynching his brother, the crowd demanded Cornelis being turned over to them as well. Both the brothers' bodies were mutilated and their remains were cannibalized. Their hearts were carved out to be exhibited as trophies. The scene was painted by Jan de Baen, the same painter who had twice painted his portrait, in The Corpses of the De Witt Brothers.