In the Dutch language a "geus" – plural "geuzen" – is a familiar word for people who revolted in the 16th century against the Spanish king Philip II. It started with the nobility, then the gentry and finally the common folk. Some years later, when war broke out, the title "geus" or specifically "watergeus" (meaning marine “geus”) was given to the rather irregular force of rebels fighting and living in the estuaries of the large rivers and as a distinction sometimes the name "bosgeus" ("geus" of the forest) was given to the originals.