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Maria Pypelinckx (20 March 1538 – 19 October 1608) was a writer from the Southern Netherlands, best known today as the mother of the painter Peter Paul Rubens.
1877 plaque in Siegen commemorating the birth of Rubens three centuries before
Early life
Pypelinckx was born in Kuringen, now a part of Hasselt, as the daughter of Hendrik Pypelinckx and Clara Touion.
Little is known of her early life, but she married a lawyer, Jan Rubens, in 1561 in Antwerp who had just resettled there in 1558 after a long trip to Italy. They lived in a house on the Meir. Rubens was a magistrate in Antwerp during the period of upheaval, and survived the beeldenstorm. He became known for his Calvinist sympathies and the family was forced to flee in 1568, possibly to avoid working for the Council of Troubles. Maria had already borne four children by 1567 but it is unknown how many children accompanied them on their flight. They settled in Cologne, but always intended to return to Antwerp once the troubles settled.
