Around 1566, Jacobus van Deventer was charged by the King of Spain and ruler of the Habsburg empire that included the Netherlands to create maps of all the major cities in the country. This was shortly before the outbreak of the Eighty Years War, which started when several noblemen abjured the King as their overlord to form the independent Republic of the United Netherlands. Maps of Jacobus van Deventer can be found in collections of different archives in the Netherlands and Spain.
Among the maps created by Jacobus van Deventer was one of Brielle. Brielle became the location of a famous coup in the Eighty Years War, when the Dutch water troops (“watergeuzen”) conquered the town on 1 April 1572. This was the start of hostilities.
Map of Brielle, circa 1566. Credits: Jacobus van Deventer, facsimile in collection Streekarchief Voorne-Putten (public domain)
About Yvette Hoitink
Yvette,
Brielle now has a distinct castellated shape with a canal/moat around the city center. This doesn’t appear on this map. Was that formed during the 80 years war?
Matt Newbold,
Syracuse, Utah
Yes, exactly. Most of Jacob van Deventer’s maps date from before the redesign of the fortifications to withstand cannonballs. That was done during the 80 years war.
In 1972 my Uncle took me to visit Den Brielle and taught me the rhyme “Op 1 april verloor Alva zijn bril”. SInce I spoke Afrikaans, I recognised this as a pun on the word “Brielle/bril”. (FOr the benefit of those who do not read Dutch, the word “bril” translates to the English word “glasses”.