One of the vital lavish funerals held in Seventeenth-century Netherlands wasn't for a royal or dignitary, however relatively a canine.

Schout Willem de Bont was a chief judicial officer of the Leiden authorities within the 1630s. The story of his pooch's ceremonial send-off has been researched and written about by Cynthia von Bogendorf Rupprath within the Netherlands Yearbook for Historical past of Artwork.

The funeral itself was held on January 29, 1634. The lavish affair was thought of scandalous even on the time.

The federal government Bont belonged to was against the Remonstrant Brotherhood, a Protestant breakaway motion from the Dutch Reformed Church. Remonstrant residents had been typically abused by the elite, so the flowery funeral was seen as including insult to harm.

Bogendorf Rupprath first discovered of the incident from two work of the funeral by Dutch artist Jan Miense Molenaer.

She informed Newsweek: "I questioned why he would paint not only one work, however two of this relatively weird theme."

Bogendorf Rupprath researched the incident and located it induced such a stir on the time, that there have been even road songs written about it.

Bont's beloved canine, Tyter, was all of a sudden overcome with a nasty throat constriction in early 1634.

Bont instantly despatched for a physician, however on January 27 that yr the canine succumbed to his sickness.

Pet dog
A inventory picture reveals a pet canine. The federal government official was accompanied by his canine all over the place. Ksenia Raykova/Getty Pictures

In accordance with satirical retellings of the funeral, Bont requested all kids and canine who knew Tyter to take part.

The canine's lifeless physique was laid on a mattress of straw and held on the head of the funeral procession, adopted by a maid carrying two different canine.

Subsequent within the procession got here Bont and his spouse. His spouse rang a mourning bell whereas kids trailed behind in pairs. All contributors of the funeral had been wearing black clothes.

The procession headed to Bont's backyard, the place everybody walked 3 times across the grounds earlier than heading to a grave dug beneath a pear tree.

Even a cat was there, wearing a black skirt. The cat, nevertheless, fled in terror and bounded up the pear tree when the procession arrived.

As soon as the funeral was over, Bont had his closest pals spherical for a night feast in a chic chamber in his home.

Within the report Bogendorf Rupprath wrote that the procedures on this funeral had been typical for the youngsters of the elite on the time.

The satirical songs and poems that got here out of this funeral mirrored political tensions on the time.