Boekel () is a municipality and a town in the southern

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Etymology

Previously it was assumed the name Boekel referred to the forest ("loo" in Dutch) of the lords Boc, similar to places like

Boxmeer Boxmeer () is a town and former municipality in upper southeastern Netherlands. Boxmeer as a municipality incorporated the former municipality of Beugen en Rijkevoort and that of Vierlingsbeek. One of the population centers of the former municip ...

and

Boxtel Boxtel () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. The name derives from Buchestelle and is presumably a combination of 'stelle' (Dutch for stable, safe place) and (deer) deer, buck.2019. Etymolog ...

. The lords Boc were the first lords of

, but have no connection to the other two places. Currently, it is presumed that the name derives from ''Beukeloo'', which is a type of

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

forest.

Population centres

*Boekel *

Huize Padua Huize Padua is a hamlet in the Dutch province of North Brabant, in the municipality of Boekel Boekel () is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. Etymology Previously it was assumed the name Boekel referred to the fores ...

Venhorst Venhorst is a village in the municipality of Boekel, Netherlands. History The village was founded as Sint-Jozefpeel after the large-scale Peel (Netherlands), Peel reclamation began, that is after 1920. In 1934 the parish church was consecrated: e ...

History

Land van Herpen

Boekel was founded at some point in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

as a settlement with a number of farms. In the 13th century Boekel was part of de

heerlijkheid A ''heerlijkheid'' (a Dutch language, Dutch word; pl. ''heerlijkheden''; also called ''heerschap''; Latin: ''Dominium'') was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and Judiciary, judicial unit in rural areas in the Dutch-speaking ...

Uden Uden () is a town and former municipality in the province of North Brabant, in the Netherlands. Since 2022 it has been part of the new municipality of Maashorst. History Uden was first recorded around 1190 as "Uthen". However, earlier settle ...

. In 1233 a separation took place between the

Land van Cuijk Land van Cuijk is a municipality in the province of North Brabant, Netherlands, formed from the merger of Boxmeer, Cuijk, Sint Anthonis, Mill en Sint Hubert and Grave on 1 January 2022. It belongs to the region of De Peel. The municipality is ma ...

and the and Uden. At that time Uden, together with Herpen, formed a unit of government called a

. Until the foundation of the city of

Ravenstein Ravenstein may refer to: Places * Ravenstein, Germany in the district Neckar-Odenwald, Baden-Württemberg * Ravenstein, Netherlands in Oss, North Brabant * Ravenstein railway station Films Ravenstein a 2020 British Horror film People with the ...

Herpen Herpen is a village in North Brabant. It lies between Oss and Nijmegen. Since 2003, Herpen is part of municipality Oss. In the period 1941 - 2003 it was part of municipality Ravenstein, a small city near the river Maas. Before 1941, Herpen had i ...

was the main city of this region.

Rutger van Herpen Rutger is a male given name common in the Netherlands, and a cognate of the first name Roger. People *Ruotger (died 931), archbishop of Trier * ( – 1050), First Duke of Cleves * (died 1075), Second Duke of Cleves *Rutger von Ascheberg (1621–16 ...

sold or leased in 1313 or 1314 the community rights (''gemene gronden'') to the residents of Boekel and

Volkel Volkel ( Brabantian: ''Vollekul'') is a village in the Netherlands. It is situated in the north-east corner of the province of North Brabant, south-east of the town of Uden. On 1 January 2021, Volkel had 3,435 inhabitants. It used to be part of t ...

. When the noble lord wanted to improve his cash position, he charged the use of any of its soil, beginning with the wasteland in his

. This ''common land'' was mainly marshy land and barren higher grounds, such as heaths.

Land of Ravenstein

In 1324 the

administratively belonged to the Land van Ravenstein, under the rule of the House of Valkenburg until 1396. From the aldermen

and

the ''Heikantsgericht'' was created in 1339. These stretched across the entire former

of Uden, consisting of

, Boekel and

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

. Of these aldermen, which in total had seven members, two were from Boekel. After Reinoud of Valkenburg (married to Elisabeth of Cleves) died childlessly, the Land van Ravenstein passed to Adolph of Cleves in 1397, becoming part of

Cleves Kleve (; traditional ; ; ; ; ; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century onwards, Cleves was capital of a county and later a duchy ...

. The area came under the rule of

Palatinate-Neuburg Palatinate-Neuburg () was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1505 by a branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Its capital was Neuburg an der Donau. Its area was about 2,750 km2, with a population of some 100,000. History The Du ...

in 1629. Under the Neuburgs' rule, the area had religious freedom. Because the neighbouring provinces of Brabant and Gelderland from 1648 officially fell under the States-General, this more and more was seen as "foreign". The religious freedom provided opportunities for Catholics in Brabant of the States. The Catholics of Erp built their own barn church on the border with Boekel. Due to the religious freedom several Catholic religious orders also settled in the Land of Ravenstein. In 1741 members of the Brothers Penitent, from the ''Handelse Kluis'' themselves wanted to settle in Boekel. Led by the brothers laid the foundation for the Psychiatric Hospital

. From the 17th century various conflicts arose among the villages of Boekel,

and

Gemert Gemert is a town in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Gemert-Bakel. Gemert was a separate municipality until 1997, when it merged with Bakel. The spoken language is Peellands (an East Brabantian dialec ...

around the demarcation lines between the Ravenstein, Cuijk and Gemert areas. In 1663 the boundary dispute with the ''Vrije Heerlijkheid Gemert'' was settled. In 1729, a similar problem with Uden was settled.

Notable people

* Hans Gruyters (1925 in Boekel – 1980) a Dutch criminal, bankrobber, burglar and escaped convict *

Leontien van Moorsel Leontien Martha Henrica Petronella Zijlaard-van Moorsel (born 22 March 1970) is a Dutch retired racing cyclist. She was a dominant cyclist in the 1990s and early 2000s, winning four gold medals at the Olympic Games and holding the hour record f ...

(born 1970 in Boekel) a Dutch retired racing cyclist, four time gold medallist at the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Mirella van Melis Mirella van Melis (born 8 January 1979) is a retired female track and road racing cyclist from the Netherlands. She was born in Venhorst, North Brabant, and started her career as a cyclo-cross rider. Career ;1996 :2nd in Gieten, Cyclo-cross ( ...

(born 1979 in Venhorst) a retired female track and road racing cyclist *

Hannes van Asseldonk Hannes van Asseldonk (born 10 January 1992) is a retired Dutch racing driver, who most recently competed in the Formula 3 Euro Series for Fortec Motorsport. Career Karting and junior formulae Born in Boekel, Netherlands as the only son of f ...

(born 1992 in Boekel) is a Dutch racing driver

Gallery

File:Boekel kapel achter kerk.JPG, Boekel kapel achter kerk File:T.T Boerderij Berkhoek 14 Boekel 526428 (1).JPG, T.T Boerderij Berkhoek, Boekel File:Venhorst, monument op kerkplein zijden 1 en 2.JPG, Venhorst, monument op kerkplein zijden File:Venhorst (Boekel) Sint-Josefkerk.jpg, Sint-Josef kerk, Venhorst, Boekel File:Boekel Standerdmolen 02.JPG, Boekel Standerdmolen

References

External links

* {{Authority control Municipalities of North Brabant Populated places in North Brabant