Kaat Mossel

You are standing on the Doelenstraat, and this is exactly where she lived. Catharina Mulder, born here on March 25, 1723, was better known by her nickname: Kaat Mossel. The name came from her job as a mussel inspector, a perfectly ordinary profession in a port city like Rotterdam. But Kaat herself was anything but ordinary.

The Netherlands in the late 1700s was tearing itself apart. Trade had collapsed, unemployment was climbing, and Rotterdam's streets were tense with political fury. On one side stood the Orangists, loyal to Stadtholder William V. On the other, the Patriots, who wanted a democratic republic. Kaat planted herself firmly in the Orangist camp, loudly and without apology.

In 1783, she led an Orange procession right through this city that left a trail of broken windows and raw nerves. The Patriots responded by forming an armed militia. A year later, Orangists attacked that militia, and 4 people were killed. Kaat was arrested, charged with incitement, and given a punishing sentence. Her lawyer, the poet Willem Bilderdijk, appealed on her behalf, and in 1787 William V himself granted her a pardon.

She died in 1798, never quite escaping her reputation. Though given her talent for causing trouble, she probably would not have wanted to.