Maria was the daughter of the Veere schepen and burgomaster Pieter van Reigersberg[Note 1] and Maria Nicolai (also known as Mayken Claesdr.). Her parents fled to Boulogne sur Mer during the troubled times of the reign of Governor General Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester over the Dutch Republic and may only have returned to Veere after her birth, so that her birthplace is a matter of speculation.[1].