Brielle (), also called Den Briel in Dutch and Brill in English, is a town and historic seaport in the western

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 ...

, in the province of South Holland, on the north side of the island of Voorne-Putten, at the mouth of the New Maas. The former municipality covered an area of of which was water. In its population was . The former municipality of Brielle also included the communities of Vierpolders and Zwartewaal. On 1 January 2023, the municipality of Brielle merged with Hellevoetsluis and Westvoorne into the new municipality of Voorne aan Zee. Brielle, New Jersey was named after Brielle by the Dutch colonists of New Jersey, originally New Netherland.

History

Brielle is a very old, fortified town. Its name is derived from the Celtic word ''brogilo'' (meaning "closed area" or "hunting grounds"). The oldest writings about Brielle indicate that the current location is the "new" Brielle. ''Den ouden Briel'' (Old Brill) must have been situated somewhere else on the Voorne-Putten Island. It grew into a town of prestige in the 14th century. In 1330, Gerard van Voorne, independent Lord of Voorne and Viscount of Zeeland, granted town rights to Brielle. This gave the town governmental and jurisdictional powers and certain trading rights, such as the right to trade fish and collect port taxes. The town was for a long time the seat of the Lords of Voorne, until this fiefdom was added to the

County of Holland The County of Holland was a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire from its inception until 1433. From 1433 onward it was part of the Burgundian Netherlands, from 1482 part of the Habsburg Netherlands and from 1581 onward the leading pro ...

in 1371. It had its own harbour and traded with the countries around the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. Brielle even had its own trading colony in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. During the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...

between the Netherlands and Spain, the Capture of Brielle on April 1, 1572, by Protestant rebels, the Watergeuzen, marked a turning point in the conflict, as many towns in Holland then began to support William of Orange against the Spanish Duke Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba who was sent to pacify The Netherlands. This event is still celebrated each year on April 1 and the night before (known as Chalk Night (kalknacht) when the town is defaced with chalk - and now also white paint). Dutch students are taught a short rhyme to remember this fact, which rhyme refers to

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day (rarely called All Fools' Day) is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool " at the recipient. ...

: In Dutch, "de bril" is the word for "the glasses," and closely rhymes with Den Briel; as does "Fles" which stands for the town of

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an importan ...

or Flushing, the next town to be captured by the Dutch rebels. After the capture of Brielle the Protestant rebels tortured and murdered the Catholic Martyrs of Gorkum and Brielle has become a pilgrimage location since then. In August 1585, Brielle was one of the three Dutch towns that became an English possession by the Treaty of Nonsuch when Queen Elizabeth I received it as security of payment for 5000 soldiers (led by the

Earl of Leicester Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837. History Earl ...

) and used by the Dutch in their struggle against the Spanish. The first English governor of Brielle was Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, succeeded by Edward Conway, 1st Viscount Conway who named his daughter Brilliana in honour of the town. English garrisons were stationed here and at Flushing. Garrett Mattingly (1959), '' The Armada'', Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Ch. V, "Plans of Operations", p. 44. Edmund Sheffield, 3rd Baron Sheffield governed the town from 1598. In 1617, these cities returned to the Netherlands.

Twin cities

Brielle is twinned with:

Notable people

* Anneke Esaiasdochter (1509 in Brielle – 1539), a Dutch

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

executed as a heretic, a Protestant martyr. * Willem Bloys van Treslong (1529–1594), a nobleman, led the Sea Beggars and the Capture of Brielle in 1572. * Maarten Tromp (1598 in Brielle – 1653), a Dutch army general and admiral in the Dutch navy * Witte de With (1599 in Hoogendijk – 1658), a Dutch naval officer during the Eighty Years War and the

First Anglo-Dutch War The First Anglo-Dutch War, or First Dutch War, was a naval conflict between the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic. Largely caused by disputes over trade, it began with English attacks on Dutch merchant shipping, but expanded to vast ...

* Ludowyk Smits (1635 in Zwartewaal – 1707), a Dutch Golden Age painter *

Philips van Almonde Philips van Almonde (29 December 1644 – 6 January 1711) was a Dutch States Navy officer who served in his nation's maritime conflicts of the 17th and early 18th centuries. Philips was born in Brielle, Den Briel, the son of Pieter Jansz van ...

(1644 in Den Briel – 1711), a Dutch Lieutenant Admiral * Constantijn van Daalen (1884 in Brielle – 1931), a Dutch gymnast who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics * Toon Tellegen (born 1941 in Brielle), a Dutch writer and poet, known for children's books and a physician

Gallery

Image:Brielle, Sint Catharijnekerk positie2 foto1 2011-06-26 14.21.JPG, Brielle, church: de Sint Catharijne kerk Image:Brielle, het Wellerondom foto5 2011-06-26 14.04.JPG, Brielle, monumental houses at the Wellerondom File:Briele 9-10-2004 - panoramio.jpg, Brielle - panoramio Image:Brielle, voormalig weeshuis in monumentaal pand RM10647 foto3 2011-06-26 14.16.JPG, Brielle, former orphanage Image:Brielle, monumentaal panden aan de Vischstraat 21 en 23 2011-06-26 13.07.JPG, Brielle, monumental houses Vischstraat

References

External links