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Click here to read the previous part of the story: Situation, The Manor, and Struggle for Independence.

 

Economics:

The Netherlands emerged from its long struggle with Spain as the wealthiest nation in Europe, and as such one of the most powerful. It shone as a jewel coveted by other European nations. It’s ‘Golden Age’ is considered to extend from 1640 through 1740.

Boarder districts such as Tiel and Zaltbommel in western Gelderland, ravaged by warfare since the 1490s, actually began their recovery in 1590. Herwijnen though only a small village would have felt both the positive and negative effects of the greater economy as they came. The demands for farm commodities during years of war sent prices up, so during these times agriculture generally did better than other segments of the economy. When markets were more open, during times of the peace, the importation of grain from the Baltic and dairy products from Great Britain sent commodity prices down. When the Spanish were pushed south of the Waal for the first time in many years, the rivers were open for undisrupted trade. New markets for produce were readily accessible in Germany and Spanish Netherlands [today roughly Belgium (mainly Flanders) and Dutch Brabant].

After the Twelve Year Truce (1609-1621) there would have been good demand for farm produce, spurred by the heavy concentration of the defending army. During the thirty-five years following the expiration of the truce agricultural thro-ughout the country experienced a real boom. In part this was due to the Thirty Year War then taking place in Germany; as the German countryside was devastated and the size of the armies operating there, both defending and adversarial were increasingly compelled to supplement their supplies with provisions imported from outside. It was Dutch agriculture which met their enormous demand for provisions. In 1633 no fewer than 994 of the 1,121 ships which docked in the port of Hamburg were Dutch, the majority bringing fish, meat, and other ag-ricultural produce as well as horses, munitions, tobacco, beer, and wine. Not all these commodities would have come from Gelderland, but the main flow of goods was from west to east. Germany was not the only country to experience a shortage of commodities during this time that the Dutch were able to supplement.

Cattle breeding and the cultivation of fruit trees were the chief agricultural endeavors at Herwijnen. Outside of farming the only industry was the fabrication of brick. According to Bijl a 1633 map of Herwijnen shows the location of a brick oven. In 1663 HENDRICK BRUMULEN was mentioned as a brick maker. Whether or not this was a commercial venture in early times is difficult to say. Bijl does later say that in 1800 JAN WILLEM BOELLAARD rented the brick oven and “does good business”; at this time it is estimated that operation would have provided work for twenty-four to thirty men, producing about two million bricks per year. According to one source a double brick oven was raised at Herwijnen in 1811, but two ovens are mentioned by Bijl, one closing not long after the beginning of the twentieth century and the other in 1980. Herwijnen born, JOHANNES VAN DEN BOSCH, who was in the course of time elevated to the station of Count, attempted in 1840 to have a cotton weaving factory erected to help relieve unemployment and the poor, but in the end his efforts came to naught. Beer was the customary drink, even children drank it in diluted form, as the quality of water left much to be desired. Many large villages had private breweries, there were two in Herwijnen in the seventeenth century.

It is said by Isreal: "Where agricultural investment and expansion took place on a large scale, in the regions of fertile clay soils, roughly corresponding to Holland, Zeeland, Friesland, Groningen, and the western part of Utrecht, the expansion of the rural population was faster than in the inland regions of relatively poor, sandy soil where agricultural investment was on a small scale, and expansion modest... Moreover, the growth of urban population, in northern Brabant and Gelderland especially, was closely linked to the size of fixed military garrison, which meant, since the military establishment reached its peak in the early 1630s and then began to shrink, that urban growth lasted for a much shorter period than in the west... Owing to this difference between east and west, the predominately urban character of the west increased while the predominantly rural character of the east, despite the more static traditional character of rural life and slower agricultural expansion, was reinforced... If rapid urban growth was the most striking feature of the Dutch scene in the period 1590-1647, the rural population also increased, albeit more slowly... The combined effect of a growing rural population and shrinking urban economy in the east of the Republic was a mounting spiral of rural depravation and poverty which became an increasingly striking feature of the Dutch scene after 1647." In any event, from 1647-72 not much of the Netherlands did well outside of the province of Holland. This situation was once again reversed when France and England - (the archenemies together!) invaded the Netherlands in 1672. They were helped by a German bishop: Bernardus van Galen, also called Bommenberend (Berend of bombs). Old fortifications along the embarkation line were expensively rebuilt between 1674-1702. The wars 1672-1713 were, however, less static than those of 1590-1647 and most of the garrisons were positioned deeper into the Spanish Netherlands. Nonetheless, agriculture did reasonably well.

Herwijnen should have done well from the 1590s down to the end of the end of the Thirty Years and Eighty Years War, in 1648 with the rest of the Republic's agricultural areas. After this the village would have done well to remain stagnate, but still the Waal would have provided the means of getting their produce to market

A great agricultural depression, affecting first the inland areas and North Brabant, in the 1650s and early 1660s, became general in nature in the late 1660s. One must wonder if this depression influenced AL(D)ERT HEIJMANSZ ROOSA's decision to immigrate to New Amsterdam in the spring of 1660.) After 1662, grain and dairy prices fell dramatically, and rents, because the Republic had been the only west European county regularly exporting and re-exporting great quantities of agricultural produce. This depression, came also to the rest of Europe, but lasted substantially longer in the Republic, not coming out of it until the mid eighteenth century. This was mainly caused because English ships sealed off the harbors preventing the Dutch to trade.

On the national scale the economy began to show signs of weakness as early as 1700, when complaints were lodged about the cost and the quality of Dutch textiles. England and Antwerp providing better and less expensive goods. Even so, the decline was slow, effecting different segments of the economy at different times until as a world power the Republic simply faded away. Holland had built up the bulk of its trade as a middle man, taking in raw material, repackaging it and sending out a finished product. The gross average income per head in Holland was the highest in the world, but so was taxation. With a population less than half that of England, Holland was raising a public revenue larger than that of England. Foreign visitors from the mid seventeenth century onward were struck by the extremely high level of sales tax on the necessities of life such as food and paper. This was compensated for with higher wages. Nevertheless, that meant higher manufacturing costs that eventually translated into higher prices in the export markets, opening the door to stiff competition. When the Industrial Revolution began in 1740 and other countries began to finish their own natural resources the Netherlands had no other market it could turn to. Nowhere in Dutch industry was the overall decline felt more than in shipbuilding between 1750-95. As a result of the loss of trade, the East and West India Companies faced near bankruptcy.

Other sectors of the economy were effected in varying degrees. The world famous pottery of Delft declined after 1725 but not disastrously. The brandy distilleries were still flourishing in 1771. The dyeing and tobacco industries held their own throughout the century, except in certain areas.  The diamond cutting industry maintained itself down to the last days of the Republic, as did the paper making industry, continued to do well even after local demand dried up as they started shipping to the Baltic and England. On the other hand, the train-oil business inevitably declined with the decrease in whale fishing. The proceeding period of greatness had saddled the state with debts that could only be met by reducing the strength of the army and navy to levels below a safe minimum. One of the main effects of the economic decline was to end the trend towards urbanization followed by a gradual but significant decline in urban populations. Worst hit were the inland towns where manufacturing had contributed goods to the international markets. Maritime centers like Middelburg also experienced contractions. This had a rippling effect throughout the country. The deurbanization led to a rapid depletion of entrepreneurial wealth hitting hard at the middling sort. Inevitably such occupations as baker, brewers, millers, and shopkeepers of these smaller centers were also dramatically reduced.

Agriculture, however, presented a somewhat different picture. During the first half of the eighteenth century, the rural depression that gripped the countryside since the late 1660s not only continued but tended to intensify during the second quarter. Amounting in some areas, such as North Holland, to a veritable agrarian crisis, lasting longer than elsewhere in overall Europe. By 1700, signs of deterioration of sea-dikes led to much inland flooding. But most costly was the sudden infestation - beginning in 1731 - of a sea worm that rapidly rotted the wooden piles, seriously weakening the dikes. From 1730 onward, the dikes and drainage boards were forced to raise ‘dike taxes’ in order to cover the huge sums required to import rock and stone from Scandinavia to reinfore the dikes. The solution was effective, there was far less flooding after 1750.

At this point agriculture becomes the one more or less bright spot in the economy. The raising of beef cattle, sheep and pigs was much less important than dairy production, the outstanding aspect of Dutch farming. The cattle industry was subjected to a series of plagues throughout the century but this actually had at least one positive effect and that was more farmers took to the plow as an alternative. The potato had been introduced about 1740 in an effort to combat the agricultural crisis. As a commodity it gradually became one of the most important corps, however in another 100 years would be the source of yet another crisis. (The potato blight that hit Ireland so badly in the mid-1840s also wreaked it's havoc in The Netherlands.) While formerly large Dutch cities were shrinking, eighteenth century Europe as a whole was experiencing rapid population growth stimulating an overall rise in food prices, particularly grains, in the second half of the century. Although some of the profit would have been offset by an ever increasing tax burden. Technical improvements were introduced in the field of agriculture, but these came late and incomplete, neither were they readily accepted. The average farmer and peasant clung to the techniques employed by their seventeenth century ancestors and regarded all innovations with suspicion.

Herwijnen as a Member of the Republic

The year 1672 is well known as the rampjaar (disastrous year). In that year the French invaded and it was also a period when dikes broke in this area of Gelderland virtually every month. A compulsory loan from the villagers, within the quarter of Nijmegen, was instituted whereby 300 guilders had to be raised. An interesting article appeared in the Dutch genealogical quarterly, Gens Nostra, concerning this year. The title translated is: "A Inquiry into the Wealth of the Rural Population of the Bommeler and Tielerwaard" (original can be found in the archive of Zaltbommel). The money was raised for the benefit of the province to get the defending walls around the larger towns in better shape. From this article something of the local governing system is learned as well as the names of the wealthier inhabitants of each village. It became apparent to the inhabitants in these districts, in the beginning of 1672, that the Republic was in danger of invasion. It was only at this point that there arose a sudden consciousness of the long neglected defense system for the region, neglected because of the constant monetary drain. The governing body of these districts was at this time in the hands of the Geldersche Ridderschap (Gelderland Knighthood), which convened town meetings early in the year at Zutphen. In April it was finally decided that a mandatory loan, bearing interest at five percent, was to be raised to cover the costs to bring the defense system back up to standards. This compulsory loan was levied on each town magistrate, directors and officers alike, as well as professional people whom it was deemed could best afford it. Then a list of those expected to make the loan was made by village. At Herwijnen there were eleven residents who's names appear on this list:

  1.     JHR. REIJNDER VAN DORTH;

  2.     JHR. JOHAN VAN OOSTERWOLD;

  3.     MARTEN HOLL;

  4.     MARTEM ADRIANXZ DEN JONGEN [DE JONGH];

  5.     JOHAN ABRAMSZ "DE" ROSA,

  6.     TEUNIS ARTSEN [DE FOCKERT], schout;

  7.     GIJSBERT NOOTBOOM;

  8.     EIJNGELTGEN, widow of GEURT ALERSZ ROSA;

  9.     GIJSBERT JANSEN [possibly DE COCK];

  10.     JAN CLAESZ DE WAEL;

  11.     WILLEM ROOCK.

From the standpoint of total population, as well as total land size, Herwijnen was the largest of the thirteen villages in the Tielerwaard. So perhpas it is not suprising that it had the most residents who were deemed affluent enough to pay this loan, followed closely by Ophemert and Varik each with ten such residents. Click here for a picture of Herwijnen. The artist, Nicolaas Wicart, lived in the 18th century, but the village changed little over the ceturies.

It is documented by Isreal that particularly in Overijssel and Gelderland the grip of the jonkers (minor nobility) on office-holding, taxation, and the administration of justice, greatly increased during the ascendant of the Orangist. This was especially noticeably between 1675 and 1702. In part, this would have compensation for the declining incomes of the nobles due to the collapse of agriculture and land values. In 1683 the ridderschap of the Arnhem quarter pushed through new rules for rural taxation in their quarter, which gave local jonkers an unprecedented degree of control over the setting and collection of taxes. This same phenomenon may also have been taking place within the Nijmegen quarter. There is evidence that the de Jongh family had a good deal of influence in the town of Herwijnen at an early date. CORNELIS MEERTENS DE JONGH held one of the most prominent posts, that of buurmeester there in 1647, the time of the zenith of the Golden Era, as did his brother ADRIAEN MEERTENSZ, and after the latter, his son ADRIAEN ADRIAENSZ. These de Jonghs also held extensive fowler preserves in the general vicinity in the seventeenth century. The De Fockert family held the most influential position, that of schout, the most important municipal post -- something like holding the powers of a mayor combined with those of police commissioner. In an action filed 6 September 1638 at the Hoge Bank of Tuil (local judicial court), AERT ANTONIS DE FOCKERT is described as machtig, which translates to powerful, mighty, tremendous, and/or rich. Such positions where almost hereditary in nature, the de Fockerts held their position as schout for at least three generations in a row late in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, at the end of which time it passed to a son-in-law.

As previous mentioned three of the Herwijnen castles were destroyed in the struggle with the French and what was left was washed away by floods. The Engelenburg was the only one left reasonably intact. Nevertheless, the holder of the property Frissestein continued as “lord” of the manor Herwijnen; to the beginning of the next century this appears to be the family Van Brederode or their heirs. Soon after the eighteenth century begins, all this changes, both the estates Engelenburg and Frissestein are pledged with new lords.

ADRIAAN BOUT becomes pledged with the Engelenburg in 1700 soon after which he also purchases the manorial rights to Herwijnen, Hellouw and Haaften. Marking the first time that a non nobleman held the rights to Herwijnen. It is also the first time, since the Middle Ages, that the manor Herwijnen was not in the possession of the owner of the Friessstein.

In May 1704 a new minister comes to Herwijnen, PETRUS BIERMAN. The Biermans  shall have a great impact on the village for many years to come. Petrus, born in Nijmegen, was for a time a clergyman in the East Indies. Nine years after his arrival, the Count van Lippe turns the Friesstein over to the Herwijnen clergyman. It shall also come to pass that the Engelenburg is transferred to Bierman from ADRRIAAN BOUT in 1723. Petrus’ son, ADOLPHUS BIERMAN, Lord of Herwijnen and Engelenburg, was on 27 June 1732 also pledged with Frissestein, once again continuing the alliance between the manor Herwijnen and the Frissestein estate. 

The lord of Herwijnen continues, as in earlier years, to appoint the local officers of the village. In 1740 some of these where: ANTONY DE FOCKERT, schout; LEENDERT DE FOCKERT, secretary and waarsman (one who looks after the property, both real and personal of the lord); GOVERT VAN BALLEGOOIJEN and CORNELIS VAN DEN BOSCH, buurmeesters. Click here to see a full map of Herwijnen of 1754.

In 1743 the family of Boellaard first comes to Herwijnen. The Boellaards were a family stemming from Asperen, South Holland, where, since the sixteenth century, owned substantial property and had successfully held many offices in the western Tielerwaard and eastern Alblasserward. In 1743 PIETER BOELLAARD van Tuil married CATHARINA BIERMAN, the daughter of ADOLPHUS BIERMAN, Lord of Herwijnen, Engelen-burg and Frissestein. Another daughter, ELISABETH BIERMAN, married Mr. JAN VERPLOEGH, Lord of Hellouw. Their son AARNOLDUS VERPLOEGH married CORNELIA DUTRY, daughter of Cornelis Dutry, Lord of Haaften. Such marriages between the leading families of the western Tielerwaard were not unusual. The heirs of Adolphus and Elisabeth continue to hold the Frissetein and Engelenburg properties to 1793 and 1806 respectively. 

Waterworks is the primary focus of the municipality during this period, as flooding and seepage continue to ruin harvests and prevent new crops from being planted. Finally in 1765 it is read that agriculture is doing better than at any time during the last thirty years only to be followed in 1769-84 by the last of three cattle plagues which ravaged Europe in the eighteenth century. Then in 1784 a devastating flood struck, 127 inhabitants qualified for assistance the next year.

The Provincial States take away the right of lords to appoint local officials in 1795. The head of municiple governement becomes called maire, under the French influence, replacing schout. From this time forward church and state are offically separated. H. VAN BALGOIJEN was the last buurmeester appointed under the old system, he had served with W.A. VERPLOUGH the year before. In this year PIETER ANTHONIESZ DE FOCKERT had been schout for thirty years, and may have been retiring anyway. A. VAN ARENDONK and BASTIAAN VROEGH are still conducting various administrative functions, at the time, but were soon replaced by AART JAKOB DE FOCKERT and MAARTEN VAN ARENDONK. The following year the new schepens are A. VAN ARENDONK, A. VAN DALEN and CORNELIS HENDRIK BLOM. Blom also steps in as substitute schout/maire. ADOLPHUS BIERMAN remains to 1795 the polder board councilor of the Tielerwaard. At this time there are 1040 inhabitants in the village.

In January 1809 several dike breaches causing extensive flooding throughout the Tielerwaard, whereby 84 parish. The cattle at Herwijnen are moved onto the dike for safety, roughly forty houses are damaged, at least two totally destroyed, and a great number of fruit trees uprooted. In the storm that followed, two more houses and a barn washed away and seven people are report to have lost their lives. The church too suffered serious damage, which receives yet more damage in 1820. In 1823 the church is rebuilt.

Under Napoleon, the French had conquered the Netherlands in 1794/5. In mid - 1810 the kingdom actually became annexed to France for about two years. The occupation by the French does not seem to have an effect on the government at Herwijnen. Since 1787 the manor had been in the possession of PIETER VERMEULEN, and in 1812 it goes to his son, Gijsbert. Meanwhile, the Boellaards continue to have a strong influence. The Patriot JANS WILLEM DIRKSZ BOELLAARD, grandson of Pieter, became burgemeester in 1811 and eventually purchases the Herwijnen manor in June 1822. After the death of JAN WILLEM BOELLAARD in 1833 the manor is sold for the last time, to JOHAN EBERWARD PAUL GERICKER van Herwijnen, Councilor and Governor of the province of Limburg. His heirs continue to hold it today.

Since 1805 LEENDERT VAN ZANDWIJK was mayor and A.L.D. DE FOCKERT, secretary; while CORNELIS HENDRICKSZ BLOM and WILLEM VAN ZEE were schepens. Six years later LEENDERT VAN ZANDWIJK was assistant burgemeester under JAN WILLIAM BOELLAARD, burgemeester. At this time the total population is 1152 people, Herwijnen continues still to be the largest village in the Tielerwaard.

Of the one castle, which still stands, the Engelenburg in 1817 is put up for auction. The only bidder, AART DE KOCK gets it for thirteen hundred fifty guilders. However after 1834 only the moat remains intact.

By 1844 there were 381 families, with a total population of 1900; although the core of the village had only 430. Most of the population belonged to the Reformed Church but there were, in 1844, ten catholic families and twenty-five Jews. As in the past the chief industry continues to be the raising of dairy cattle and growing of fruit; gradually oats, sugar beets and potatoes were becoming increasingly more important corps. By this time, due to the extensive flooding in the first part of the century, nothing was left of the old village except one square tower. From this time until 1960 the population is again stagnant, fluctuating between 1700 to 1900 souls.

One of the most significant events which occurred during the first half nineteenth century was the advent of the Christian Separatists, a movement towards orthodoxy in the Calvinist Church. Under the leadership of Professor Hofstede de Groot and the preachers de Cocq and Scholte, a segment resolved to secede from the Reformed Church, and did so in October 1834. These Separatists suffered severe persecution in the beginning since the government refused to recognize their church, forbiding them to worship and impossing heavy fines for doing so. Dr. H.P. Scholte out of Genderen in North Brabant and Doeven played a particularly import roll in the movement in the western Gelderland river territory. On January 1st, 1836 there were but nine households in Herwijnen constituting 49 members. Local authorities were warned to watch the house of DIELIS VAN ZANTE in connection with meetings. Inspite of the harastments the group grew to 158 members by the end of the year. A formal request for acknowledgement signed by forty-six Herwijnen Separatists was made to the King in 1839. Permission was finally granted two years later. Nevertheless, all this came to late for some. Then more economic debacle followed, the potato famine of 1845-46 hit the entire county hard. These events culminated for many in 1846 when minister Van Raalte migrated with a large number of these Separatists to the U.S. founding Holland, Michigan. Another group of paramount importance out of the Separatist stand, follow Scholte to Iowa where they extablished the town of Pella. This second group left on 19 April 1847 on the ship ‘Pieter Floris’ out of Amsterdam, arriving about June 11th in Baltimore. Many of Scholte’s followers were from Herwijnen, of those that left with this group included the households of JAN VAN MAAREN, COENRAAD VAN ZEE, STEPHANUS VAN ZEE, AART DE KOCK, AART BENTHEM VAN ZANTE and KORNELIS DE JONGH. The potato famine was followed by a country wide flue epidemic in 1847-8, followed the next winter by outbreak of cholera, which plunged the wage workers into misery. These events encouraged more emigration in the following years, making the years 1846-77 the greatest migration of the Dutch to America. During all of this not all came claiming ‘religious freedom’ nor did they all move to the mid-west; my own VAN ZEEs came in 1850 for ‘economic improvement’ and went no further west than New Jersey. Though in less dramatic numbers the emigration continued well into the next century. Other Herwijnens left for land newly reclaimed from the sea within Holland. These emigrations are the leading cause as to why the population of Herwijnen remained so flat while in the rest of the country it grew from 3 to 12 million. For a map of Herwijnen in 1867 click here

Flooding in Herwijnen and surrounds continued to be what seemed an insurmount-able problem. After much delay in approval, not to mention the acquisition of funds from both the state and provincial level, construction finally began in 1856 for yet the most promising project to relieve the flooding, the instal-lation of a steam powered pumping station. Soon completed, hopes are dashed due to a poor foundation and improper maintenance causing frequent breakdowns. Finally replaced in 1877 much of the flooding is relieved, though never completely. The new town hall with residence was built in 1887.

To the beginning of the twentieth century few changes are evident at Herwijnen, but then slowly change begins to take place: the introduction of the telephone, the improvement to public roads with the advent of the motor car, the steam powered pumping station is replaced by an oil engine. Not surprisingly, the most devastation to Herwijnen during the twentieth century came as a result of World War II; occupied by German forces from 1940. In May 1943 the two Jewish families, van Stratens, were removed to concentration camps and gassed. Also from 1943 the resistance movement grew strong. The village was almost completely destroyed on 1 January 1945 -- not by German forces, but by bombardment from the Allies. The Allies were south of the Waal for over half a year trying to liberate the rest of the Netherlands. Herwijnen was finally declared as ‘free’ in May 1945.

After 1960 Herwijnen grew quickly, after more than a century of stagnation. Today there is little visual evidence of past centuries. Bricked lanes lead to brick fronted houses which totally hid the rich history stored in this little village. In 1986 Herwijnen became a part of the new jurisdiction, Lingewaal; together with Vuren, Spijk, Heukelum and Asperen. This meant an end to more than thirteen centuries of independent evolution, whereby ‘the Gelderland character’ prevailed. 

 

Compiled by: Valentine Van Zee

 

Compiler's notes: The above is not intended to be a full history of Herwijnen. This is submitted to help the reader understand at least some of the events that would have effected the inhabitants there. For a more complete picture of The Netherlands and other events going on in Gelderland, Israel's book, "The Dutch Republic, Its Rise, Greatness and Fall 1477-1806", is highly recommended.

 

For those readers with a knowledge of Dutch and access to books published in the Netherlands, Drs. Aart Bijl’s, "Over Heren, Weiden en Kastelen" is a MUST READ.

 

Sources: