Elizabeth I of England sent the Earl of Leicester across the North Sea with 6,000 men in 1585 to halt the Spanish advance. However, his intervention ended in a fiasco. At that time, the earl also stayed with us in Utrecht. He was a party animal: no less than 22 barrels of beer were ordered for his arrival. Evil tongues claim that the count and Elizabeth had a love affair and that he had even killed his wife Amy to marry Elizabeth. Incidentally, that marriage never took place. The hall is bright and spacious too!