Acquoy () is a
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
in the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
province of
Gelderland
Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...
. It is a part of the municipality of
West Betuwe
West Betuwe is a municipality in the Dutch province of Gelderland.
West Betuwe had 51.948 inhabitants on 1 January 2022.
The municipality was formed on January 1, 2019, by the merger of the municipalities Geldermalsen, Neerijnen, Lingewaal.
Top ...
, and lies about east of
Gorinchem
Gorinchem ( or ), also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It had a population of in .
The municipality of Gorinchem al ...
.
According to popular legend a "Jan van Arkel" was the first to have settled the village of Acquoy, when he returned from the crusades in 1133. However, this is highly unlikely, because there were no crusades in the period around 1133. The first
crusade was from 1096–99 and the second one was from 1147-49. Some sources report that the Jan van Arkel mentioned was in fact
Jan I van Arkel
Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to:
Acronyms
* Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN
* Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code
* Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group
* Japanese Article N ...
. However, he lived a century later and had the nickname "de Sterke", which means "the strong".
In 1305 Acquoy is mentioned as part of the property of the lords of Voorne. In 1364 Catherina van Voornenburgh rented her house together with the stronghold of Acquoy to Otto van Arkel for a period of 10 years and later he bought it. From that moment on, Acquoy, like
Arkel
Arkel is a town in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. A part of the municipality of Molenlanden, it lies about 3 km north of Gorinchem. Arkel is a former municipality; in 1986 it became part of Giessenlanden.
In 2017, the village o ...
itself and Gellicum, belonged to the
Lordship of Arkel. After Acquoy changed hands several times, it was bought by
Floris van Egmond
Floris van Egmond (ca. 1470 – 25 October 1539) was count of Buren and Leerdam and Lord of IJsselstein and Sint Maartensdijk. He was stadtholder of Guelders (1507–1511) and Friesland (1515–1518)
Floris was the son of Frederik van Egmon ...
, Count of Buren, in 1513.
Through the marriage of
Willem of Orange with the granddaughter of
Floris van Egmond
Floris van Egmond (ca. 1470 – 25 October 1539) was count of Buren and Leerdam and Lord of IJsselstein and Sint Maartensdijk. He was stadtholder of Guelders (1507–1511) and Friesland (1515–1518)
Floris was the son of Frederik van Egmon ...
, Anna van Egmond in 1551, Acquoy, together with
Leerdam
Leerdam () is a city and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht.
The municipality was merged with the municipalities of Vianen and Zederik on 1 January 2019. The name of the new municipality is Vijfheerenland ...
, became property of the
House of Orange
The House of Orange-Nassau ( Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands ...
and part of the
County of Holland
The County of Holland was a State of the Holy Roman Empire and from 1433 part of the Burgundian Netherlands, from 1482 part of the Habsburg Netherlands and from 1581 onward the leading province of the Dutch Republic, of which it remained a part ...
. The
shire of Acquoy was made a
barony in that time. Acquoy remained property of the House of Orange until 1795, when it became part of
Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...
, together with
Leerdam
Leerdam () is a city and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht.
The municipality was merged with the municipalities of Vianen and Zederik on 1 January 2019. The name of the new municipality is Vijfheerenland ...
. At this time the title of
Baron of Acquoy disappeared. However, this did happen without protest of the local population. In 1820 it became part of the province
Gelderland
Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...
, because it became part of the municipality of
Beesd
Beesd is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of West Betuwe, and lies about 16 km west of Tiel. It is situated near the river Linge and has a railway station on the railway from Dordrecht to Gelderma ...
. The shield of the Barony of Acquoy can nowadays still be viewed in the
Nieuwe Kerk in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
.
Acquoy is located at the old turn of the river the
Linge
The Linge is a river in the Betuwe that is 99.8 km long, which makes it one of the longest rivers that flow entirely within the Netherlands.
It starts near the village Doornenburg near the German border. A legend tells us that if there w ...
, which was diverted, so it nowadays lies at a dead-end U-formed side arm of the river. The village got its typical long stretched form, parallel to the river, because people used to build their houses on, or directly behind, the Linge dike.
The name Acquoy is mentioned in scripts dating back to 1311, but there is some uncertainty where the name arises from. Some say that the name is from the Germanic *''agaza'', "magpie," and ''ooi'', "low soggy land." "Ooi" is also found in other names; Wadenoijen, Poederoyen and Ammerzoden (= Ammerzoyen). According to the same theory the name "Rhenoy" is a combination of "Rhenus" (=Rijn,
Rhine river
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
) followed again by "ooi". Others point out that "Acquoy" is mentioned in old scripts as Eckoy or Echoy and this would mean that it was the lowland of lord Akko or Ekko. This was supposed to be a Friesian, but this is very uncertain.
Acquoy is famous as the birthplace of
Cornelius Jansenius
Cornelius Jansen (, ; Latinized name Cornelius Jansenius; also Corneille Jansen; 28 October 1585 – 6 May 1638) was the Dutch Catholic bishop of Ypres in Flanders and the father of a theological movement known as Jansenism.
Biography
He ...
(Jansen),
bishop of Ypres (Ieper), whose theological views brought forth the movement called
Jansenism
Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by t ...
.
Gallery
File:Acquoy GM Lingedijk 74.jpg, House in Acquoy
File:Acquoy GM Lingedijk 116.jpg, House in Acquoy
File:Acquoy aan de Linge.jpg, View from the Linge
File:Acquoy. Vanuit het zuiden gezien..jpg, Acquoy from the south
References
{{Authority control
Populated places in Gelderland
West Betuwe