The stolen stained glass windows
An Italian family, a jewel called The Three Brothers, wild parties, highwaymen, an inconvenient castle, the skull of a saint and a beautiful nun are the ingredients of this book with a double storyline. 1542 – 1545. After the Italian merchant Gian Carlo Affaitati prevented the capture of Antwerp, Charles V rewards him with the noble title of Lord of Gistel. He installs himself as lord of the castle and commutes with his family between his new domain in Gistel and their palazzo in Lier, where he is known as a benefactor. When his son is born, he donates two stained glass windows to the St. Gummarus Church. 1910 – 1918. The stained glass windows from the St. Gummarus Church are collected for restoration and disappear without a trace. The theft only comes to light at the end of WWI. Further research takes the reader back to the sixteenth century, when the nobleman Gian Carlo Affaitati also appears to be not without blemish...