Bertha van Heukelom (died 1322), was a Dutch noble, the legendary heroine of the Siege of IJsselstein Castle in 1296. She was the daughter of Otto I van Arkel lord of Heukelom (fl. 1254-1283) and married around 1280 to Gijsbrecht van IJsselstein (d. 1344). [1]
In 1296, her spouse was imprisoned in Culemborg by Hubrecht van Vianen of Culemborg as a loyalist of the County of Holland, in the then ongoing local feud between Holland and the bishopric of Utrecht. Bertha defended the castle against the siege by Culemborg during the imprisonment of her spouse. Her defense was reported by Melis Stoke in his Rijmkroniek and made her a local heroine. [2]
Culemborg is a municipality and a city in the centre of the Netherlands. The city had a population of 29,386 on 1 January 2022 and is situated just south of the Lek river. Direct train lines run from the railway station towards the cities of Utrecht and Den Bosch.
IJsselstein is a municipality and city in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. IJsselstein received city rights in 1331. IJsselstein owes its name to the river Hollandse IJssel which flows through the city. It is a major commuting suburb for the Utrecht area, along with the neighbouringing towns Houten and Nieuwegein. It's surrounded by the municipalities of Utrecht, Montfoort, Lopik, Vijfheerenlanden and Nieuwegein.
Floris V reigned as Count of Holland and Zeeland from 1256 until 1296. His life was documented in detail in the Rijmkroniek by Melis Stoke, his chronicler. He is credited with a mostly peaceful reign, modernizing administration, policies beneficial to trade, generally acting in the interests of his peasants at the expense of nobility, and reclaiming land from the sea. His dramatic murder, engineered by King Edward I of England and Guy, Count of Flanders, made him a hero in Holland.
The House of Egmond or Egmont is named after the Dutch town of Egmond, province of North Holland, and played an important role in the Netherlands during the Middle Ages and the Early modern period. The main lines Egmond-Geldern, Egmond-Gavere and Egmond-Buren-Leerdam had high noble, princely rank.
Muiden Castle is a castle in the Netherlands, located at the mouth of the Vecht river, some 15 kilometers southeast of Amsterdam, in Muiden, where it flows into what used to be the Zuiderzee. It is one of the better known castles in the Netherlands and featured in many television shows set in the Middle Ages.
Polsbroek is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Lopik, and lies about 10 km southeast of Gouda.
The van Amstel family was an influential dynasty in the medieval Netherlands from the twelfth until the fourteenth century. The family developed the Amstelland and held the stewardship in the ecclesiastical districts in the northwest of the Nedersticht of Utrecht, first in the name of the bishop of Utrecht and later the count of Holland.
Arnold I of Egmond, in Dutch Arnoud, Arend, or Arent van Egmond, was Lord of Egmond and IJsselstein.
John I, Lord of Egmond was Lord of Egmond, Lord of IJsselstein, bailiff of Kennemerland (1353–1354) and stadtholder of Holland.
Catharina Herman was a Dutch heroine of the Eighty Years' War. She was hailed in history as a role model of marital fidelity.
The Nederlandsche Vereeniging voor Ambachts- en Nijverheidskunst (V.A.N.K.) was founded in 1904. It was founded by Jacob Pieter van den Bosch, Herman Hana, Klaas van Leeuwen, Theo Molkenboer, and Willem Penaat. At the turn of the century the idea of artist-craftsmen was emerging. The existing Dutch societies and clubs for painters and architects did not adequately represent these artisans and they formed V.A.N.K., the first society for designers in the Netherlands.
Altena Castle is a former castle in Almkerk. It was home to the lords of Altena, and often of the lords of Horne and Altena.
Wolfert II van Borselen was lord of Veere and Zandenburg.
Moermond Castle is a castle in Renesse on Schouwen-Duiveland.
Wolfert I van Borselen was lord of Zandenburg and Polsbroek and regent for John I, Count of Holland.
Sint-Maartensdijk Castle was a castle with a rich history. Except for a part of the moats nothing remains of it.
The Anglo-Saxon settlement in the Netherlands was a movement of continental Angles, Saxons, Franks and possibly English Anglo-Saxons into the lands formerly inhabited by the ancient Frisii, Cananefates and Batavians. These migrations occurred after the population drop of the Frisii during the 5th century up until the 7th century. These new migrants from northwestern Germany were later referred to as the Frisians by the Merovingian Franks who may have taken this name from older Roman historiography. During these migrations, almost the entire population of the coastal Netherlands was demographically replaced.
The siege of Montfoort took place in 1280 when Count Floris V of Holland attacked the castle of lord Herman VI van Woerden at Montfoort in the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht. The siege ended after half a year when the soldiers inside the castle surrendered. The primary source for the siege is the Rijmkroniek van Holland by Melis Stoke.
The Siege of Vredelant took place from late 1279 to 1280 and was fought between Floris V of Holland and Bishop-Elect John I of Nassau on one side and the rebellious Van Amstel family on the other side. The castle of Vredelant was taken within weeks when Gijsbrecht IV van Amstel was captured by the count's soldiers.