An Extract, translated into English by Susan Rhoads and Bill Thayer, from Le Magasin Pittoresque, Published under the Direction of M. Édouard Charton, Volume XI, Paris: Aux Bureaux d’Abonnement et de Vente, 1843; p. 96.
Some Dutch chroniclers related that Margaret, Countess of Henneberg, and daughter of Floris IV, Count of Holland, after having refused alms to an unfortunate woman whom she accused of licentiousness, on the following Good Friday, 26 March, 1276, gave birth to 365 children. The boys were named John and the girls Elizabeth. Two basins of brass are still shown at Loosduinen, near The Hague, where those numerous offspring were baptized, and a large/grand painting has perpetuated the memory of this singular feat. — This traditional account, still very popular today, has been explained in quite a satisfactory manner. In 1726, in Holland and in most of the European States, the year began on March 25. The countess gave birth the next day, the second day of the year, to a boy and a girl, that is: of as many children as the new year had days; and this phrase, wrongly interpreted by the ignorant chroniclers, has given rise to the bizarre legend that we have reported.
[Since she lived in the thirteenth century, does this mean that the story arose in 1726 out of thin air? — Elf.ed.]
Some Dutch chroniclers recounted that Margaret, Countess of Henneberg, and daughter of Floris IV, Count of Holland, having refused alms to a wretched woman whom she accused at the same time of want of conduct, was delivered of 365 infants the following Good Friday, 26 March, 1276; the boys were named John and the girls Elizabeth. Two basins of brass are still shown in Loseden, near La Haye, where this numerous posterity was baptized, and a grand painting perpetuated the memory of this singular feat. — This tradition, still very popular today, has been explained in a manner sufficiently satisfactory. In 1726, the year, in Holland and in most of the States of Europe, commenced on March 25. The countess was delivered the next day, the second day of the year, of a boy and of a girl, that is to say of as many infants as the new year had days; and that phrase, wrongly interpreted by some ignorant chroniclers, has given rise to the bizarre legend that we have reported.