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
See also
*
Historisch Museum Den Briel
*
Districts and neighbourhoods of Brielle
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
Official website(some pages in English)
*http://www.catharijnekerk.nl Website of St Catharijnekerk
{{Authority control
Voorne aan Zee
Cities in the Netherlands
Former municipalities of South Holland
Populated places in South Holland
Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2023