Gerard Van Velsen
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Gerard de van Velzen (died 1296) was lord of
Beverwijk Beverwijk () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast. A ...
,
Noordwijk Noordwijk () is a town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and had a population of in . On 1 January 2019, the f ...
, and
Velsen Velsen () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located on both sides of the North Sea Canal. On the north side of the North Sea Canal there is a major steel plant, Tata Steel IJmuiden, formerly known as ...
. He was the son of Albrecht van Velsen and Hildegonde. He was married to Machteld van Woerden, a sister of Herman VI van Woerden. In 1275, Van Velzen was named
schout In Dutch language, Dutch-speaking areas, a ''schout'' was a local official appointed to carry out administrative, law enforcement and prosecutorial tasks. The office was abolished with the introduction of administrative reforms during the Napoleon ...
of
Wijk aan Zee Wijk aan Zee (; ) is a village on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk, the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament (formerly called the Corus chess tournament or the Hoogove ...
. In 1296, Van Velzen conspired with Herman VI van Woerden,
Gijsbrecht IV of Amstel Gijsbrecht IV of Amstel or Gijsbrecht IV van Amstel ( – ) was a powerful lord in the medieval County of Holland and a member of the Van Aemstel family. His territory was Amstelland, and his son was . Life His family probably originated from ...
, Jan van Kuyk, and Arnold van Benschop to kidnap
Floris V, Count of Holland Floris V (24 June 1254 – 27 June 1296) reigned as Count of Holland and Zeeland from 1256 until 1296. His life was documented in detail in the Rijmkroniek by Melis Stoke, his chronicler. He is credited with a mostly peaceful reign, modern ...
to bring him to trial from the king in Europe. Eventually, together with Van Woerden and Van Amstel, they imprisoned the count in the
Muiderslot Muiden Castle (Dutch: ''Muiderslot'', ) is a castle in the Netherlands, located at the mouth of the Vecht (Utrecht), Vecht river, some 15 kilometers southeast of Amsterdam, in Muiden, where it flows into what used to be the Zuiderzee. It is one o ...
. After Floris V attempted to escape he accidentally killed the count, stabbing him 20 times. Afterwards he fled to castle Kronenburg near
Loenen aan de Vecht Loenen aan de Vecht (or just Loenen) is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It was the main village in the former municipality of Loenen. Since 2011 it has become part of the newly formed municipality of Stichtse Vecht. It lies about 10& ...
. A few days later, he was arrested and brought to
Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
to stand trial. There, he was tortured for three days before being quartered. His motive for the kidnap was Floris' supposed rape of Van Velzen's spouse, after which she committed suicide.


References

* ''De Nederlandsche Leeuw'', 1965, part I.
Moord op Floris V
13th-century births 13th-century criminals 13th-century people from the Holy Roman Empire 1296 deaths Dutch murderers Dutch torture victims Nobility of the County of Holland People from Beverwijk Year of birth unknown {{Netherlands-bio-stub