Maria Pypelinckx was a writer from the Southern Netherlands, best known today as the mother of the painter Peter Paul Rubens.
11 Facts About Maria Pypelinckx
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Maria Pypelinckx became known for his Calvinist sympathies and the family was forced to flee in 1568, possibly to avoid working for the Council of Troubles.
3.
Maria Pypelinckx had already borne four children by 1567 but it is unknown how many children accompanied them on their flight.
4.
Maria Pypelinckx had felt herself a prisoner in the stronghold of the Nassaus in Dillenburg.
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Maria Pypelinckx promptly moved to Siegen and began to write letters of support to her husband, who thought at the time he might be put to death.
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Maria Pypelinckx wrote to various members of the Nassau family, including Anna's brother-in-law Johann VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg.
7.
Maria Pypelinckx had managed to get five professors of the new University of Leiden to annul his marriage to Anna of Saxony who was then sent in secret to Dresden where she was locked up in a windowless room.
8.
In 1583, they were asked to leave Cologne due to Calvinist sympathies, but again through letters, Maria Pypelinckx was able to gain permission to stay.
9.
Maria Pypelinckx had a gravestone installed in which she complimented his qualities as a scholar and a husband, mentioning 25 years of marriage without arguments.
10.
Maria Pypelinckx took a house in the Kloosterstraat and sent young Peter Paul to work as a page for Margaretha de Ligne-Arenberg, widow of Philip de Lalaing.
11.
Maria Pypelinckx then announced he wanted to become a painter, and with support from her family, Maria sent him as an apprentice to Tobias Verhaecht, a distant relative.