Every year in February Stichting Michiel de Ruyter invites the Embassy of Hungary in The Hague to the commemoration of the life of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter. For this year’s commemoration, a special video was created about de Ruyter’s crypt in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, his liberation of 28 Hungarian protestant preachers, the Canon of the Royal Navy in which the Admiral plays an important role and another mystery about his life is revealed.
In the video (around 5:35 min.) the Embassy’s consul Ádám Bágyi explains how the liberation of 28 Hungarian protestant preachers who were imprisoned by Spain after being expelled by the Habsburg emperor and put to work as galley slaves in Naples was one of de Ruyter’s last heroic acts.
Looking back on his life de Ruyter considered the liberation of his Hungarian fellow believers as one of his most precious achievements. Various memorial plaques can still be found throughout Hungary as a sign of gratitude for this heroic feat.
