Gelderland

“ Chief among these states were the duchy of Brabant, the counties of Flanders, Hainault, Holland, Gelderland, Limburg and Luxemburg, and the bishoprics of Utrecht and Liége. For their separate local histories and their dynasties, their wars and political relations with one another and with neighbouring countries, reference must be made to the separate articles Flanders, Holland, Brabant, Gelderland, Limburg, Luxemburg, Utrecht, Liége.
During the 9th and 10th centuries the Netherlands suffered cruelly from the attacks of the Northmen, who ravaged the shores and at times penetrated far inland. ”

“ What would be termed provinces to-day were the duchies of Gelderland, Brabant, Limburg, and Luxemburg, the counties of Holland, Zeeland, Flanders, Namur or Namen, Hainaut or Henegouwen, and Artois, and the lordships of Utrecht, Friesland, Groningen with Drenthe, Overyssel, and Mechlin or Malines. ”

“ Gelderland sends Two, Holland Three, Zealand and Utrecht Two apiece, Friezeland, Overyssel and Groninghen, each of them One, making in all Twelve. They Vote not by Provinces, but by Personal Voices; and every Deputy presides by turns. In this Council the Governour of the Provinces has Session, and a decisive voice; And the Treasurer-General, Session, but a voice only deliberative; yet he has much credit here, being for life; and so is the person deputed to this Council from the Nobles of Holland, and the Deputies of the Province of Zealand. ”

“ On the 25th of May, 1585, at an hour after midnight, he had a secret interview with Count Meurs, stadholder for the States of Gelderland, and agreed to transfer his mercenary allegiance to the republic. He made good terms. He was to be lieutenant-governor of Gelderland, and he was to have rank as marshal of the camp in the States' army, with a salary of twelve hundred and fifty guilders a month. He agreed to resign his famous castle of Blyenbeek, but was to be reimbursed with estates in Holland and Zeeland, of the annual value of four thousand florins. ”

“ The provinces Holland, Zeeland, since enlarged by the addition of a small part of Flanders, the northern part of Gelderland including the county of Zutphen, Overyssel, Friesland, and Groningen, together with Drenthe, cover the whole territory of the present kingdom of the Netherlands except North Brabant and Limburg. ”

“ The greater part of the Province of Gelderland, they said, with all Friesland, Utrecht, Groningen, and Overyssel were inclined to a permanent peace. Being all of them frontier provinces, they were constantly exposed to the brunt of hostilities. Besides this, the war expenses alone would now be more than 3,000,000 florins a year. ”

“ Considerable administrative powers were given to the local governments, and the boundaries of the eight departments, Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Overyssel (in which Drente was included) , Gelderland, Groningen, Friesland, and Brabant, were made to coincide largely with those of the old provinces. The aim of the new Constitution was efficiency, the reconciliation of the moderate elements both of the federalist and unitarian parties, and the restraint alike of revolutionary and Orangist intrigues. ”

“ The woollen manufacture, the tapestry, the embroideries of Gelderland, and Friesland, and Overyssel, were becoming as famous as had been those of Tournay, Ypres, Brussels, and Valenciennes. The emigration from the obedient Provinces and from other countries was very great. It was difficult to obtain lodgings in the principal cities; new houses, new streets, new towns, were rising every day. ”

“ The Vale of Gelderland, across which this runs, is to this day a difficult and only partially cultivated country, with a good deal of wooded high ground on the eastern or further side of the stream. If the Dutch army is at all able to face its enemy in the open field, somewhere here would be the proper position to take up for the purpose of fighting an action. ”

“ Between Zealand and Holland proper, between Holland and Friesland, between Friesland and Gelderland, between Groningen and Brabant, although they are closely bound together by local and historical ties, there is a difference as great as that existing between the most distant provinces of Italy and France. They differ in language, in costume and in character, in race and in religion. The communal régime has impressed on this nation an indelible stamp, because nowhere else has it so conformed to the nature of things. ”

“ There is good reason, however, to believe that they were the counterparts of the contemporary Cod and Hook parties in Holland, and of the Schieringers and Vetkoopers in Friesland. In Gelderland the quarrel between them was converted into a dynastic struggle, the Hekeren recognizing Duke Reinald, while the Bronkhorsten set up his younger brother Edward. At the battle of Tiel (1361) Reinald was defeated and taken prisoner, and Edward held the duchy till 1371. ”

“ The middle ages were marked by constant wars between the bishops of Utrecht and the counts of Holland and Gelderland. The growth of the power of Holland, however, under a succession of strong and capable rulers led to the bishopric becoming, during the 14th century, almost a dependency of the county. The death of every bishop was always the signal for violent disputes among the neighbouring feudal states, each of them intriguing to secure the election of its own candidate; but, as stated above, Brabant and Gelderland had at last to recognize the fact of the supremacy of Holland over the see. ”

“ On his death without legitimate issue, Gelderland passed to the young Arnold of Egmont, grandson of his sister Johanna, who had married John, lord of Arkel, their daughter Maria (d. 1415) being the wife of John, count of Egmont (d. 1451) . Arnold was recognized as duke in 1424 by the emperor Sigismund, but in the following year the emperor revoked his decision and bestowed the duchy upon Adolf of Berg. Arnold in retaliation laid claim to the duchy of Jülich, which had likewise been granted to Adolf by Sigismund, and a war followed in which the cities and nobles of Gelderland stood by Arnold ”

“ He went to enormous expense, got everything outside boycot limits, put up temporary buildings on his place for workmen from Rotterdam, fed them and himself from Rotterdam, and so in the end his house was built. But things are different in Gelderland now. People who were rich then are poor, and glad of any one's money. Arnhem is as cosmopolitan as The Hague, though it has the same curious Indian-Dutch set you find there, keeping quite to itself. ”

“ In 1393 he inherited the duchy of Jülich, and died in 1402. He was succeeded by his brother, Reinald IV. (d. 1423) , in the united sovereignty of Gelderland, Zutphen and Jülich, who, in accordance with a promise made before his accession, ceded the town of Emmerich to Duke Adolf of Cleves. He took the part of his brother-in-law, John of Arkel, against William VI. of Holland, and in a war of several years’ duration was not successful in preventing the Arkel territory being incorporated in Holland. ”

“ The province of Overyssel, which has been mentioned as one of those which from the first strongly supported that of Holland in its rupture with the Stadtholder, lies on the eastern or German side of this stream, and might be supposed therefore ready to aid in resisting the Prussian passage. But on the other hand, that of Gelderland lay to the west of it; and the Prince of Orange, by his faithful contingent from that province, held secure passages over the river more than sufficient for his coming allies. ”

“ To gain the support of the estates of Gelderland in this war of succession, Arnold had been compelled to make many concessions limiting the ducal prerogatives, and granting large powers to a council consisting of representatives of the nobles and the four chief cities, and his extravagance and exactions led to continual conflicts, in which the prince was compelled to yield to the demands of his subjects. In his later years a conspiracy was formed against him, headed by his wife, the violent and ambitious Catherine of Cleves, and his son Adolf. ”

“ Its foundations had been laid by the union of the seven provinces of Holland, Zealand, Friesland, Utrecht, Groningen, Overyssel and Gelderland. It had grown firmer and stronger year by year, and the people, after a time, had not only found themselves able to thrive generally in the midst of their desperate war with Spain, but the war itself opened their way to wealth and power. ”

“ The country is divided into eleven provinces—North and South Holland, Zealand, North Brabant, Utrecht, Limburg, Gelderland, Overyssel, Drenthe, Groningen, and Friesland. There are three large rivers—the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt. The inhabitants are Low Germans (Dutch) , Frankish, Saxon, Frisian, and Jews, the latter numbering some sixty thousand, though their influence is, owing to their wealth and activity, larger than these figures would normally represent. The leading religion of the country is Lutheran ”

“ I thought, "by his knowledge of history and Royalties past and present. I'll paint each of the girls a picture, and they'll forget that he exists."
But I did not yet know my Alb and his resources. I had forgotten that Gelderland is his special "pitch," the province he annexed at birth. Fate, however, did not forget.
We got to Appeldoorn that first night; and the palace of Het Loo is close to Appeldoorn, so we drove out and slept at a hotel near the palace gates. Here it was that the worm turned. In other words, Alb became a persona grata, while I remained an ordinary tourist. ”

“ Dordrecht, Leiden, Haarlem, Delft, Vlaardingen, Rotterdam in Holland, and Middleburg and Zierikzee in Zeeland, repeated with modifications the characteristics of the communes of Flanders and Brabant. But the growth and development of the northern communal movement, though strong and instinct with life, was slower and less tempestuous than the Flemish. In the bishopric of Utrecht, in Gelderland and Friesland, the privileges accorded to Utrecht, Groningen, Zutphen, Stavoren, Leeuwarden followed rather on the model of those of the Rhenish “free cities” than of the Franco-Flemish commune. ”

“ The environs of Arnhem are much admired. Following either the Zutphen or the Utrecht road, numerous pleasing views of the Rhine valley present themselves, and country houses and villas appear among the woods on every side. At Bronbeek, a short distance east of the town, is a hospital endowed by King William III. for soldiers of the colonial army. Beyond is the popular summer resort of Velp, with the castle of Biljoen built by Charles, duke of Gelderland, in 1530, and the beautiful park of the ancient castle of Rozendaal in the vicinity. ”

“ Arnhem is a gay and fashionable town prettily situated at the foot of the Veluwe hills, and enjoys a special reputation for beauty on account of its wooded and hilly surroundings, which have attracted many wealthy people to its neighbourhood. The Groote Kerk of St Eusebius, built in the third quarter of the 15th century, contains the marble monument to Charles (d. 1538) , the last duke of Gelderland of the Egmont dynasty. High up against the wall is an effigy of the same duke in his armour. ”

“ The extreme eastern corner is occupied by older Tertiary loam, which is used for making bricks, and upon this and the river-banks are the most fertile spots, woods, cultivated land, pastures, towns and villages. The highlands of the Veluwe lying west of the Ysel really extend as far as the Crooked Rhine and the Vecht in the province of Utrecht, but are slightly detached from the Utrecht hills by the so-called Gelders valley, which forms the boundary between the two provinces. ”

“ The further south one goes--Zeeland excepted--the lower becomes the standard of life, and the peasants seem to care for little else than their fields and cattle, while the people of Noord Brabant are the poorest and dirtiest of them all. The produce of the soil varies according to the ground cultivated. In Utrecht and Brabant many thousand acres are devoted to tobacco, while Overyssel and Gelderland, as a rule, grow rye, oats, buckwheat, and flax. In Drenthe the greater part of the province yields peat, and North and South Holland are famous all over the world for their rich pastures. ”

“ In 843, by the treaty of Verdun, it became part of Lotharingia (Lorraine) , and in 879 was annexed to the kingdom of East Francia (Germany) by the treaty of Meerssen. The nucleus of the later county and duchy was the gau or district surrounding the town of Gelder or Gelre, lying between the Meuse and the Niers, and since 1715 included in Rhenish Prussia.
The early history is involved in much obscurity. There were in 556 the 11th century a number of counts ruling in various parts of what was afterwards known as Gelderland. ”

“ In summer there is a general exodus to foreign countries; in winter, dinners, bazaars, balls, theatre, opera, a few officiai Court functions, which may become more numerous in the near future if the young Queen and Prince Henry are so disposed, are the order of the day. For the present, 'Het Loo,' that glorious country-seat in the centre of picturesque, hilly, wooded Gelderland, continues to be the favourite residence of the Court, and only during the colder season is the palace in the 'Noordeinde,' at The Hague, inhabited by the Queen. ”

“ Charlemagne: in the eighth century of our era becomes sovereign of the Netherlands, 44
Charles V, Emperor: from his Burgundian ancestors inherits the sovereignty of all the Netherlands except Gelderland, Utrecht, the Frisian provinces, Liege, Artois, and Flanders, 48; in 1524 he adds Friesland to his dominions, in 1528 Overyssel and Utrecht, in 1536 Groningen and Drenthe, in 1543 Gelderland, and in 1544 Flanders and Artois, ib.; so that in and after 1544 the whole country, with the exception of the bishopric of Liege, is united under one monarch with Spain, 49 ”