De strijd der geuzen

Summary

The period shown is 1572; the peasants of Holland are rising to throw off the Spanish yoke. Amongst the peasants of Volendam who respond to the call are the two grandsons of a miller named Smulders. The young men bid good-bye to their grandfather and their sister Konie and leave them unprotected in the mill. Not long after their departure, a Spanish patrol of four men demand refreshment at the mill. Konie is forced to fetch gin for the soldiers, who are soon drunk. One of the men insults her and old Smulders is aroused to defend her. His action infuriates the Spaniards, who drag him out and tie him to the sails of a mill. In this position he is shot dead by them. Konie witnesses this and she plies the men with more drink until they fall in a stupor underneath the table. Then she hastens to the spot at which her brothers and their comrades have met. She tells her story and the peasants return with her to the mill. Here, dragging out the murderers, they tie them, still unconscious, to the four mill sails, which are immediately afterwards set in motion. They gaze at the spectacle of their revenge consummating itself, and then they go forward once more to rid their country of its tyrants.