1605

The novel names 1605 as the year in which the Dutch used Voetspoelen, or feet washing, to execute pirates from Dunkirk. The reference anchors Ludwig’s unsettling encounter with a painting in a shop window in a specific historical practice: prisoners tied back to back on a ship, with sailors preparing to cast them into the sea.

Historical Reference

The date applies to the Dutch use of the punishment against the pirates; the passage also mentions a separate instance in which the Spaniards used it against the Dutch during the massacre that followed the siege of Haarlem. The two examples place the same method on opposing sides of a history of violence, without suggesting that the later massacre occurred in 1605.

Place in the Narrative

Ludwig remembers the painting while the boys are settling down for the night. Though it is poorly painted, he finds the pirates’ faces—sullen and despairing, yet cruel and malignant—convincing, and had felt secret satisfaction at seeing them helpless. The ill-looking man by the fire brings the image back to mind; as he capers toward bed, Ludwig hopes that Voetspoelen will not haunt his dreams.