In the ensuing November, the prisoners, having previously undergone repeated examinations, were separately tried before twenty-six commissioners, chosen from the principal nobility and magistracy of the Seven Provinces. Barneveldt was tried first, and was condemned to be beheaded, for various acts of insubordination towards the States; and in particular for having promoted the insurrection at Utrecht. The trial of Grotius followed a few days afterwards. He complains of having been treated then, and during the previous examinations, with great hardship and injustice: he says that he was pressed to answer ensnaring questions directly, when he required time, and that the commissioners refused to read over his examinations to him, after they had written down his answers. He was, however, found guilty, and sentence was passed upon him, May 18, 1619, recapitulating the heads of the charges of which he had been convicted, and condemning him to imprisonment for life, and the confiscation of his estate. The castle of Louvestein was selected for his place of confinement, a fortress situated near Gorcum, in South Holland, at the point of the island formed at the junction of the Waal and the Meuse. Here he was kept a close prisoner: his father was refused permission to see him, and his wife was only admitted on condition of sharing his imprisonment, being told that if she left the castle she would not be allowed to return. These restrictions were afterwards, however, considerably relaxed: his wife obtained leave to quit the castle twice a week, and Grotius was permitted to borrow books, and to correspond with his friends on all subjects except politics.