In this series after Flemish author Gerard Walschap, the life of Thijs Glorieus, the "man of good will" the Dutch title refers to, shows that virtue is rarely rewarded. All his life Thijs (a diminutive of Matthew) is an upright Christian gentleman: honest, modest, trusting, hard-working, helpful, loyal, dutiful... but time and a again disappointments trough bad luck and abuse at the hand of others, sometimes even sheer wickedness, are his share, more then one mortal's courage can bear at length.