ABSTRACT
A striking example is the biography of Reyner van Dorth, the late-sixteenthcentury lord of the manor of Varik, a village in the Dutch province of Guelders. Even when Van Dorth was alive, he attracted attention because of his life choices. Although he was a member of the highest noble circles of Guelders, one of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic, he married his maidservant Jenneke Jans. Moreover, in a time when all the lords of the surrounding villages allowed their churches to become Reformed congregations, he and his sons did not permit this to happen. Roman Catholicism remained the dominant presence in Van Dorth’s Varik. He is, therefore, an example of an atypical and remarkable individual in the context of his time and place. The time he lived in, the restless second half of the sixteenth century, was important in making his idiosyncrasies possible. The existing structures had crumbled, new ones had arisen and individuals were pressed to make choices.
