Big Beggar

Henry (Hendrik), Lord of Bréderode (December 1531 – 15 February 1568), also styled Count of Brederode, was a member of the Dutch noble family Van Brederode. He was the leader of the allied Dutch nobles, the so-called Compromise of Nobles of 1566 and the Geuzen at the beginning of the Eighty Years' War. Van Brederode was named the "Grote Geus" or the "Big Beggar". Biography Hendrik van Brederode was born at Brussels as son of Reinoud III van Brederode and Philippote von der Marck. He became a convert to the Reformed faith and placed himself at the side of the Prince of Orange and Count of Egmont in resisting the introduction of the Spanish Inquisition and Spanish despotism into the Netherlands. In 1566, he was one of the founders of the confederacy of nobles who bound themselves to maintain the rights and liberties of the country by signing a document known as the Compromise of Nobles.