The Netherlands' Duke of Alva (Alba) establishes the Council of Troubles (popularly known as the Council of Blood) on September 9, 1567. This special tribunal was designed to punish those involved in the recent religious and political unrest.
The penalty for treason against the King or the Catholic Church was confiscation of property and death. The council issued thousands of sentences of confiscation of estates and perpetual banishment and roughly 1,100 capital condemnations (death). Failure to appear within the allotted time when a summons was issued, automatically resulted in banishment and property confiscation.
