First, the executions of Voes and van den Eschen, a stunningly concrete indication that the ideas of the Reformation would not be tolerated within the medieval church, are as dramatic today as they were in 1523. Thus at the heart of this monograph stands an event that is inherently captivating. What is more, the various individuals involved include the most powerful and broadly recognized figures of early modern Europe. In some ways, one could argue that this study possesses many elements of a novel of historical fiction. And as we get closer to 2023, other scholars will undoubtedly capitalize on the five hundredth anniversary of this event. It is my hope that this study sets the tone and point of departure for any such future efforts. Second, the monograph has the advantage that the event at its center is well-known to scholars and students of the Reformation-era Europe. Nonetheless, this study will be an eye-opener, because it will challenge assumptions about the case with much new information and a much broader context. Thus this monograph addresses something familiar, but demonstrates that what most readers thought they knew was inadequate, one component of a much more significant story. Third, this investigation looks at the early Reformation from a perspective other than Wittenberg. In doing so, it crosses traditional national historiographies (German and Belgian in particular), which have until now served to distort and underrepresent the importance of this key event. And fourth, these events make a significant contribution to our knowledge about how the Reformation movement functioned in its earliest phases by addressing such questions as: who and what drove it, how were its ideas disseminated, and what did the interaction between Wittenberg and the Low Countries look like?