The case was widely famed in the contemporary Netherlands, where it was published and popular within literature: it was also the subject of a song, where Catharina de Grebber was described as a rabbit persecuted by a hunter.
Catharina de Grebber was the daughter of the wealthy shipper and patrician Pieter Claeszoon de Grebber and Alyt van Tetrode in Leiden.
In September 1509, at the age of thirteen, she was abducted by the nobleman Gerrit van Raaphorst and four accomplices on her way to church with her father in Wassenaar.
When Raaphorst wished to have her returned, her parents sued him for forcing her to marry him.
The court case continued for years, until 1515, when Raaphorst was judged guilty for rape and sentenced to a public walk of repentance and to pay for a painted window in the church.