According to this article an angry—one might add hungry—Dutch mob feasted on the mutilated remains of their ‘Grand Pensionary’ (i.e. Prime Minister) De Witt and his brother:
There are accounts of some among the mob taking parts of the bodies, and eating them. One man is even said to have eaten an eyeball.
What primary source(s) documents these gruesome accounts?
It happend in 1672, known in Dutch history as the 'rampjaar' or Year of Disaster. The Dutch republic was attacked by an alliance of France, England and (the Bishop of) Munster at the same time. The Republic was on the brink of defeat.
The prime minister, known then as Raadspensionaris, was Johan de Witt. His brother Cornelis was minister of defense. The Republic had (past tense) another person of power, the Prince of Orange, his official position was hereditary stadtholder. At that time the prince was a young man, and the office of stadtholder was abolished.
He would later become William III, king of England, but at that moment he was 22 years and barely adult. He didn't hold any official power, apart from his royal title, not Stadtholder. The Republic was going through the First Stadtholderless Period. The prince was looking for a way to gain power. And he found it...
In Dutch politics of the time there were two parties: The Orange party and the Staten (States) party. Usually the business elite and coastal provinces were Staten, the population and the army Orange. The Staten party was usually moderate and more liberal, the Orange party was more strict and Calvinist.
The Staten party was firmly against war and in favor of appeasement. War is bad for business, after all. Johan de Witt blundered by not preparing for war. His intelligence was faulty, and he thought he could solve any issue diplomatically.
The combined attack of France, England and Munster came as a rude surprise. French and Munster troops occupied large parts of the country. The people panicked. They (with some encouragement of supporters of the Prince) wanted a strong man to solve this crisis, and most of all: anyone else in charge than Johan the Witt and his brother.
Under immense political pressure Johan de Witt stepped down, and his brother also resigned. However, this was not enough. His policy of appeasement looked very much like treason. He was widely seen as a spy of France, or bought by the French king.
His brother Cornelis was arrested for treason, locked up in The Gevangenpoort, and interrogated under torture. While he was recuperating (in that prison) his brother Johan visited him. The charges were debatable, even then, and questioning under torture was definitely unusual.
Then, mysteriously, a mistake was made. The prison was under guard by the militia (schutterij), mainly to protect the brothers the Witt from being lynched. At a certain moment the old guard withdrew, while the new guard detachement wasn't there yet. How could this happen? Someone must have made a dreadful mistake scheduling! That meant the prison was unguarded, with only the Witt brothers present.
The mob (lower class citizens of The Hague) didn't wait, stormed the prison, captured the brothers, and tore them to pieces. Literally. Some parts were eaten indeed. Not over a barbecue with some sauce, but bites out of body parts. Raw, in other words, during the frenzy.
There certainly was no feasting. Though the people were hungry indeed, there was no widespread starvation or cannibalism. The documents in the comments from @Njuffa indicate there was no cannibalism. If someone did eat parts of the bodies, it was to spite the victims; to insult and humiliate them.
Afterwards, the prince very much regretted the whole affair. He shed some crocodile tears, and was very very sorry. After he gained full control of the government, that is. Nobody was convicted. The whole affair was hushed up.
From @Njuffa:
Funny side note: This is all common stuff most Dutch know about. Perhaps not in this much detail, but it's common knowledge. A few months ago a blog published a cartoon with the face of Mark Rutte, at that time the prime minister, next to a portrait of Johan de Witt. With the caption: Mark, remember. We ate the the last prime minister we didn't like!
