Loevestein Castle ( ) is a

medieval 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 World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

in the municipality of

Zaltbommel Zaltbommel (), also known, historically and colloquially, as Bommel, is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. History The city of Zaltbommel The town of Zaltbommel was first mentioned as "Bomela" in the year 850. Zaltbommel received ...

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

, the

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 ...

. The castle was built by the

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

Dirk Loef of Horne (hence "Loef's stein" (stone) house) between 1357 and 1397. Until

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Loevestein Castle was part of the Dutch Waterline, the main Dutch defense line that was based on flooding an area of land south and east of the western provinces. Currently the castle is used as a medieval museum and function centre.

History

Loevestein is a

water castle A water castle, sometimes water-castle, is a castle which incorporates a natural or artificial body of water into its defences.Forde-Johnston (1979), p. 163. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbo ...

that was built between 1357 and 1368. It was built in a strategic location in the middle of the

, where the Maas and

Waal WAAL (99.1 FM broadcasting, FM; "The Whale") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station continuou ...

rivers come together (just west of current day villages of Poederoijen and Brakel, in the municipality of

, in

). At first it was a simple square brick building, used to extract tolls from trading vessels plying the rivers. By 1372, the castle was under control of the Counts of Holland. In the 16th century (around 1575, on orders given by

William the Silent William the Silent or William the Taciturn (; 24 April 153310 July 1584), more commonly known in the Netherlands as William of Orange (), was the leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish Habsburg Netherlands, Habsburgs that set off the ...

) it was expanded to a larger fortress surrounded by earthen fortifications with two (later three) stone bastions on the northern side, two moats, an

arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, and

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

for a commander and soldiers, and castle was integrated into the Hollandic Water Line. It changed hands twice between the Northern Dutch and the Spanish 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 ...

: first on December 9, 1570, it was taken by the

Geuzen ''Geuzen'' (; ; ) was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called ''Watergeuzen'' (; ; ). In the Eigh ...

, then ten days later by the Spanish; on June 25, 1572, it was retaken by the Dutch. From 1619 the castle became a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

for

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

s. One famous inmate was the eminent lawyer, poet and politician Hugo de Groot (

Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius ( ; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Hugo de Groot () or Huig de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft an ...

) often presented as the "father of modern international law", who was serving a controversially imposed life sentence from 1619, over his involvement in the controversies over religious policy of the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

. In 1621, his wife Maria van Reigersberch, who was also staying at the castle, hid with him in a book chest that was regularly brought for them. He subsequently became the Swedish Ambassador to France for 10 years. Another high-profile inmate was the English Vice-Admiral

George Ayscue Admiral Sir George Ayscue (c. 1616 – 5 April 1672) was an English naval officer who served in the English Civil War and the Anglo-Dutch Wars who rose to the rank of Admiral of the White. He also served as Governor of the Isles of Scilly (164 ...

In literature

Alexandre Dumas, père Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

's novel La Tulipe Noire, the main character Cornelius Van Baerle is imprisoned at Loevestein.

Gallery

File:Loevenstein De Ruyter.JPG, Siege of Loevestein during the

, 1570 File:Ontsnapping van Hugo de Groot in de boekenkist uit Slot Loevestein, 1621 Het huis te Loevesteijn, zoo als het zig vertoonde ao. 1619. benevens het vervoeren van Hugo de Groot (titel op object), RP-P-OB-80.936.jpg, Loevestein Castle at the time of

' imprisonment in 1618–21 File:Loevenstein kruittoren.jpg, Gunpowder tower at castle Loevestein. File:2024-08-14 Slot Loevestein ZvD 66.jpg, Wall File:2024-08-14 Slot Loevestein ZvD 60.jpg, Former service houses File:2024-08-14 Slot Loevestein ZvD 36.jpg, Remise File:2024-08-14 Slot Loevestein binnen ZvD 15.jpg#, Interior of the castle File:2024-08-14 Slot Loevestein binnen ZvD 01.jpg, Trunk that allegedly was used by De Groot to flee the castle

References

Literature

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External links