Sophie Harmansdochter, also known as Gele Fye (1505 – 3 March 1562), was a Dutch woman who became notorious for informing on religious minorities, resulting in many deaths. She was eventually convicted of perjury, tortured and executed. Harmansdochter was the daughter of Harman Hoen, an

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

preacher from

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

. She followed him on his preaching tours until his execution in 1534. After encountering difficulties in securing her inheritance after her father's death, Harmansdochter became an informer for the mayor of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. She married a burgher in Amsterdam in 1537. Harmansdochter's information led the arrest of Volckje Ward. This led to the arrests and executions of numerous Anabaptists, then considered heretics, in Amsterdam,

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

and

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

between 1552 and 1553. After the death of her husband, Harmansdochter experienced financial problems. To make money, she attempted to implicate the mayor as a heretic. However, her scheme failed. She was arrested and convicted of

perjury Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...

. After having her tongue cut out, she was executed by burning. Harmansdochter has often been portrayed in Dutch literature.

References

* Maarten Hell, Harmansdr., Sophie, in: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland. URL: http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/Harmansdr 3/01/2014 1505 births People from the Habsburg Netherlands 1562 deaths 16th-century executions People executed by the Netherlands by burning People of the Eighty Years' War 16th-century spies {{Netherlands-bio-stub