Van Coevorden is one of the oldest aristocratic families in 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 ...

History

The family was already noble from the earliest times ("

Uradel (, German: "ancient nobility"; adjective or ) is a genealogical term introduced in late 18th-century Germany to distinguish those families whose noble rank can be traced to the 14th century or earlier. The word stands opposed to '' Briefadel'' ...

"). The family's history began with Hendrik van

Borculo Borculo is a city in the eastern Netherlands, in the municipality of Berkelland, Gelderland. Borculo was an independent municipality until 2005, when it merged with Eibergen, Neede, and Ruurlo. Other population centers in the municipality of Bo ...

, who in 1231 married Eufemia, a daughter of the lord of

Coevorden Coevorden (; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Drenthe, in the east of Netherlands, the Netherlands. During the ...

, a municipality in the

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Jan ...

province. Their grandson, Reinolt, started to call himself ''van Coeverden'', after his grandmother. From this time till the 17th century, the family played an important role in the region. Reinolt's descendants still carry this name and belong to the

Dutch nobility The Dutch nobility is a small elite social class consisting of individuals or families recognised as nobility, noble, and with or without a title of nobility in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The existence of nobility was established in the Con ...

. In 1814, three members of the family were given the title of

Jonkheer (female equivalent: ; in the masculine only; ''jonkvrouw'' is used in the feminine, even in French; ) is an honorific in the Low Countries denoting the lowest rank within the nobility. In the Netherlands, this in general concerns a prefix used ...

. In 1991, 1992, 1993, and 2009, several members of the family were given the title of baron. Near the end of 2018, another family member acquired the title of baron.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the family is in gold 3 red eagles (2:1). The family's motto is ''En Dieu mon espérence et mon epée à ma défence.'' (In God my hope and my sword to the defense).

Literature

* Detlev Schwennicke,

Europäische Stammtafeln ''Europäische Stammtafeln'' - German for ''European Family Trees'' - is a series of twenty-nine books which contain sets of genealogical tables of the most influential families of Medieval European history. It is a standard reference work for t ...

Band XXVII (2012) Tafel 82.

References

External links

The family's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coeverden, van Surnames Dutch noble families Dutch barons