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Maeijken or Maeyken Joosten (died after 1606) (born Wijnoxsbergen, Flanders – died after October 17, 1606) married first, in c. 1592 in Leiden, Jan van den Driessche; At least 4 children were born out of this marriage, two of whom died young. Second she married Bertelmina Wale on March 8, 1606 in Leiden, under the name of Abraham Joosten. After this second marriage, Maeyken Joosten ended up on trial for sodomy, after which she was exiled for life.
Maeijken Joosten was interrogated by the Schout van Leiden on 17 October 1606. Her confession shows that after a marriage of thirteen years she had left her husband and Bertelmina Wale, a 'young daughter' in Leiden, had started bombarding her with love letters. She did this under the name Pieter Verburch. She managed to convince Bertelmina that she was a man and persuade her to make wedding promises. Maeijken then left for Zeeland, where she bought man clothes. From now on she called herself Abraham Joosten. The couple asked the preachers for permission to marry, and on March 8, 1606, they had their marriage signed at city hall. The officer described the case as 'sodomy' and therefore demanded the drowning death. Her dead body would then be displayed on the gallows field. The aldermen considered this punishment too high, and sentenced Maeijken Joosten to flogging indoors and life banning from Leiden and the surrounding area.
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