In 1528, the Holy Roman Empire annexed the Bishopric of Utrecht, and Emperor Charles V immediately ordered the construction of a castle in Utrecht, not only to protect the domain from invasion by the duke of Guelders, but also to retain control over the city's unruly population.

On 8 November 1576, the States General of the Seventeen Provinces ratified an agreement, known as the Pacification of Ghent, to remove Spanish occupying soldiers.

The abandonment was part of a general withdrawal agreed upon by the new Governor-General Don Juan one day later, on 12 February.

The citizens of Utrecht demanded that the castle be demolished to prevent the Spanish or other foreign powers from dominating the city again in future.

Despite doubts about the historical accuracy of this tale, a statue of Trijn van Leemput was erected on the Zandbrug bridge [nl] in Utrecht in 1955.