Barbara Adriaens

Willem Adriaens (born Barbara Adriaens) (1611 – fl. 1636) was a Dutch soldier who lived as a man, and whose prosecution for alleged transvestism and homosexuality is one of the best known and documented from the early modern age in the Netherlands. In 1624, in Delft, at the age of thirteen, Adriaens partook in 3 days of drinking, and was subsequently placed in a house of correction (a Spinhuis, where inmates were taught to spin). worked as a peddler. The couple had been introduced by Hilletje's sister, who was also Willem's landlord. They were officially engaged a mere two weeks after meeting, and married on September 12, 1632. Jans would eventually claim not to have been aware of Adriaens' anatomy at the time of their marriage. After they were married, Adriaens apparently avoided consummating the marriage by claiming to be sick. This time he was banished from the city of Groningen for life, and further biographical details are unknown.