Yesterday i went to the Prinsentheater in Delft to see the musical Willem van Oranje.
for the people who don't know, Willem van Oranje (William van Orange) was the first dutch king and made the first laws dictating what the Netherlands would become.
it was a really immersive play with a rotating set and actual water on stage, and what captured me the most was the story.
In the 1500s the Netherlands was under Spanish rule by king Philip II and with that comes the Spanish inquisition (which no one expects /j) which forced everyone into Christianity and those who didn't were killed.
Oranje didn't like that very much, so he fought tooth and nail to get rid of them, but when he did that the Protestants would basically do the same and take the Spanish's place.
This led Oranje to play in a Grey area where he was neither for or against the Protestants or Christians, and in the end the Oranje got his way and the Netherlands got The freedom of religion AND freedom from religion Willem van Oranje wanted.
This goes on and is reflected even in the Netherlands today.
this was a gross oversimplification of the entire story but it did actually happen!
I cam out of that theater having found a new appreciation for my freedoms.
I love history :)