Introduction

In 1425, John of Bavaria, count and ruler of Holland and Zeeland, died under suspicious circumstances. Was it murder? It was alleged that someone had smeared his prayer book with poison, and indeed Jan had an unsavoury habit of licking his fingers before turning over... It was also rumoured that Jacoba of Bavaria was involved in the attack.

In Holland, meanwhile, the misery was complete: the county was balancing on the brink of bankruptcy. The real countess Jacoba of Bavaria had run off with an English womaniser, the population was caught up in a hopeless, vicious party war. What now? To do something, the important cities and nobles of Holland decided to bring the half-weak Brabant duke John IV to the north. After all, he was still formally Jacoba's husband. The disastrous consequences of this misstep are not discussed in this text, but the curious dealings with the Duke of Brabant are.

Physical Description

Gothic cursive, written on parchment. Lineation of text mirror. There are a few crosses in the left margin, presumably made when the account was checked. On folio 70 r. the letters V and S, affixed to the verso side, appear through.