By Pike and Dyke - A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic

During the 16th century the Dutch people were overpowered by a barbarous Spanish bigot who was tenacious in his objective to force his religion on the people of the Netherlands or, failing this, to annihilate them. William the Silent who was the Dutch Prince of Orange lead the struggle for freedom by commandeering scattered forces consisting of fishermen, sailors, agriculturalists plus women and children who fought as heroically and died as valiantly as men. Young Edward Martin, the son of an English sea-captain, worked in the house of the Prince and entered into military servitude voluntarily. As a soldier he was responsible for the successful completion of many perilous missions. The savage assault of the Spanish continued for many years on a besieged populace until Dutch religious independence was won.