in full session. On the 5th of September, the Seigneur de Heze, a young
gentleman of a bold, but unstable character, then entertaining close but
secret relations with the Prince of Orange, appeared before the doors of
the palace. He was attended by about five hundred troops, under the
immediate command of the Seigneur de Glimes, bailiff of Walloon Brabant.
He demanded admittance, in the name of the Brabant estates, to the
presence of the State Council, and was refused. The doors were closed
and bolted. Without further ceremony the soldiers produced iron bars
brought with them for the purpose, forced all the gates from the hinges,
entered the hall of session, and at a word from their commander, laid
hands upon the councillors, and made every one prisoner. The Duke of
Aerschot, President of the Council, who was then in close alliance with
the Prince, was not present at the meeting, but lay forewarned, at home,
confined to his couch by a sickness assumed for the occasion. Viglius,
who rarely participated in the deliberations of the board, being already
afflicted with the chronic malady under which he was ere long to succumb,
also escaped the fate of his fellow-senators. The others were carried
into confinement. Berlaymont and Mansfeld were imprisoned in the Brood-
Huys, where the last mortal hours of Egmont and Horn had been passed.
Others were kept strictly guarded in their own houses. After a few
weeks, most of them were liberated. Councillor Del Rio was, however,
retained in confinement, and sent to Holland, where he was subjected to a
severe examination by the Prince of Orange, touching his past career,
particularly concerning the doings of the famous Blood Council. The
others were set free, and even permitted to resume their functions, but
their dignity was gone, their authority annihilated. Thenceforth the
states of Brabant and the community of Brussels were to govern for an
interval, for it was in their name that the daring blow against the
Council had been struck. All individuals and bodies, however, although
not displeased with the result, clamorously disclaimed responsibility for