The Early Years in Cologne
Rubens was born in 1577 probably in Siegen, in what is now Germany – possibly in Cologne. His story, however, does not start with his birth. At age 32 his father, Jan Rubens, was magistrate for the entire Antwerp region. His mother, Maria Rubens, was the daughter of a wealthy merchant. They were married about the time when the thriving paradise of Antwerp had reached its peak. Nothing can last forever, and uprisings because of the recession broke out, so the couple fled Antwerp. Jan Rubens found good employment in Cologne in 1572. There, the family heard stories of what they had escaped. Ten to fifty thousand people in Antwerp were killed. It’s difficult to say exactly how many. Few were left to assess the damage.
At the same time in Cologne, William of Orange had moved his court to his castle there. Soon he left it on an expedition to muster troops to free the Netherlands from the Spanish which would span more than two years. During this trip he left his very lonely, spoiled, miserable wife, Anne of Saxony, at home. The lack of attention did not suit her so she searched for it elsewhere. First she found it in a young officer who soon died in combat, then a banker’s son, and then the banker. However, none of them left the lasting impression that her affair with Jan Rubens did. Their affair went on for years and they even retreated together to a private chalet. A with all of the other affairs, when William of Orange was written to of it he did nothing. Eventually he told his brother, Count John of Nassau to give the order to Anne to end the affair. They did not and in the spring of either 1571 or 1572 Anne became pregnant.
His father was imprisoned. Maria Rubens made frequent pleas for his release, but to no avail. Fortunately, Count John waited for a royal order for the execution that never came. Finally Jan Rubens was released to his house on a set of restrictions. He could not travel more than 2 kilometers from his home, he could not set foot inside a church, and a guard of the House of Orange would watch him. Soon, Spain restored the properties of the residents of Antwerp. The poverty of the Rubens family was relieved. Maria Rubens wanted to move to where they could make better usage of this and she was allowed to with her children, but her husband was not.
In 1578 William of Orange was a victor. He had freed the Netherlands from Spain and Anne of Saxony was dead. Jan Rubens was allowed to leave the territory controlled by Count John, but he could not return to Flanders or any area of Prince William’s jurisdiction. They returned to Cologne where Jan Rubens began his law practice again and Maria opened a rooming house.
The family, by the time Peter Paul Rubens was born, had already had six children, five of whom remained alive. Jan-Baptiste, Blandine, Claire, Henrik, and Phillip were all born before Peter Paul. Bartholomeus died in infancy. The older children never spoke to Phillip or Peter Paul of their father’s disgrace and they had not been in Siegen to know themselves. The children were tutored at home instead of sent to school so they were not teased because of their father’s indiscretions there. Also, Jan Rubens’ practice was unsuccessful, so he had time to teach his children. Peter Paul’s lessons included, Latin, Greek, Spanish, French, English, the classics, and mathematics.
William of Orange was assassinated in 1584. This ended Jan Rubens’ ban of setting foot on his soil. They sent in letters for passports that would allow them to travel to Flanders. However, before these passports were processed, Jan Rubens died of a heart attack in 1587. Later that year Maria was allowed to take her children and move back o Antwerp, where many other refugees finally had the chance to return. The people began to rebuild the city. The public buildings were rebuilt first, the entire harbor was cleared and the obstacles of passage removed before the volunteers were permitted to build new homes.
Continue to Rubens Biography Part 2: Antwerp 1587-1600