in the General for its dimensions fuller planted with People Cities Great Towns Castles Fortresses Bulwarks Forts Garrisons and for Military Defence then any other Countrie in Europe Their Naval Forces were prodigious befitting Wonder rather then Words even a Terrour to the Great Princes of the World For their trade it far exceeded that of the Neighbouring Princes and in the Oeconomy of it more prudently managed To every town they assigned some Staple-Commodity As to Dort the Germane Wines and Corn To Middleburgh the French and Spanish Wines To Trevere the Scotch Trade In Leyden in respect of her long Siege was erected an Vniversity to Harlem Knitting and Weaving and to Rotterdam formerly now Dort the English Cloth this maketh their Towns so equally rich and populous The Hollanders the best Copy of Thrift in Christendom teach their little Ditches to bear Boats not that their Waters are more docible in this kinde then ours but they are the more ingenious and industrious School-Masters of the lesson of publique advantage making every place in their Provinces to have access to others therein by such cheap transportation A thing much to be desired in England and certainly this great Metropolis and other Cities here would attain to much more grandeur and riches if more navigable Rivers were made unto them for nothing can more advance Trade or raise a better Nursery of Sea-men Their Buildings are Splendid and Magnificent In many places as in Amsterdam the Foundations of their Houses cost more then the Superstructure for the Ground being low and spungy they are constrain'd to ram in huge stakes of Timber till they come to a firm Basis so that one said Whosoever could see Amsterdam under Ground should see a huge Winter-Forest But of these as of their more Ancient and Noble Families the Famous Men of their Countries for Learning and Exploits of War their rare Monuments and other admirable Rarities to be found amongst them with many other remarkables which for thy more ample satisfaction I shall refer thee to the following discourse wherein our Author hath gravely and judiciously with singular method and brevity set each memorable particular to thy View in which thou wilt meet with many Occurrences worthy of thy admiration having not only equall'd the best of such Writers as have hitherto treated on this Subject but far out-done them all And therefore I shall no ways doubt of thy candid Interpretation of this his very laudable and worthy Enterprize assuring thee that thy friendly reception of these his present Labours will strongly invite him to commend unto thy judicious consideration another Political Discourse discovering their Arts and Intrigues by which they have attained to their Grandeur a Book which will be of great concern and advantage to the English Nation Of the great pleasure and utility and the excellent use that will be found in the serious perusal of Books of this kind I shall need to say nothing though I first principally intended it it being a truth so generally received amongst all Judicious Readers only I shall tell thee thou hast here Magnum in parvo or Iliades in nuce or the late High and Mighty States of the United Netherlands with all their Provinces brought thee even to thine own home But I shall not inlarge knowing Verbum Sapienti sat est Yours to serve you T. W. An Exact SURVEY OF THE Vnited Netherlands BELGIVM or the Netherlands are Bounded on the East with Westphalen Gulick Cleve and the Land of Tryers Provinces of the higher Germany on the West with the main Ocean which divides it from Britain on the North with the River Ems which parts it from East-Friesland on the South with Picardie and Champaigne two French Provinces upon the South-East with the Dukedom of Lorrain The chief Rivers here are 1. The Rhene 2. The Maes 3. The Ems 4. The Scaldis or Schelt 5. Lis or Ley. The Rhine is divided about the confines of Gelderland into four Channels Of which the first is called the Wael which running thorow Gelderland by Nimmegen and Bommel loseth it self in the Maes The Second which keepeth the name of the Rhene passeth by Arnhem from thence in a contracted channel to Vtrecht and so through Holland The Third called the Leck taketh his course through the Provinces of Vtrecht and Holland and so into the Sea 'twixt Dort and Rotterdam The Fourth called the Yssel passing by the Towns of Zutphen and Deventer 'twixt Gelderland and Overyssel emptieth it self into the South-Sea The Maes runneth by Ruremond and Venlo two known Towns of Gelderland where turning towards the West it takes in a part of the Rhene and from thence passing to Maestricht divides Brabant from Holland watering the Town of Grave in the one and of Dort in the other and falls into the Sea not far from Brill Ems which divides the two Frieslands Scaldis or Schelt which ariseth in Picardy and runs through Artois and between Hainault and Brabant meets with the Sea a little above Antwerp Lis or Ley which runs through Flanders Besides which Rivers and others of inferiour note here are great store of Lakes Pooles and Marishes which do both fortifie the Country and provide it of Fish Belgium is divided into 17 Provinces Whereof there are 4 Dukedoms 1 Limburg 2 Luxemburg 3 Gelderland 4 Brabant One Marquisate viz. of the Holy Empire Seven Earldoms 1 Flanders 2 Artois 3 Hainalt 4 Namur 5 Zutphen 6 Holland 7 Zealand Five Baronies 1 West-Friesland 2 Vtrecht 3 Overyssel 4 Machlin 5 Groninge Of these 17 Provinces only two did acknowledg the Soveraignty of the Kings of France viz. Flanders and Artois the Earls of which were Homagers to that Crown at the Treaty of Cambray Anno Dom. 1550 when they were quitted by Henry the Second of France to Philip the Second King of Spain and to his Successors the rest were held originally of the Germane Empire Nine of which Provinces are under the King of Spain 1 Flanders 2 Artois 3 Hainalt 4 Namur 5 Luxemburg 6 Limburg 7 Brabant 8 Marquisate 9 Machlin Under the States General are 1 Holland 2 Zealand 3 West-Friesland 4 Vtrecht 5 Overyssel 6 Gelderland 7 Zutphen 8 Groning With some Towns in Flanders and Brabant HOLLAND HAth on the East the Zuyderzee Vtrecht and some part of Gelderland on the West and North the Germane Ocean on the South the Islands of Zealand and some part of Brabant Upon the eruption of the Gothish and Danish Nations they here planting themselves in Holland and Zealand as Adrianus Junius conceiveth in reference to Zealand and Orland two Islands in the Baltick Sea out of which they came these two Provinces were called Holland and Zealand And with him agreeth William Heda Petrus Hannius Scriverius and others But Hugo Grotius will have it called Holland from Holtland which is as much as to say a Country of Wood Holt signifies a Wood. And the Annals tell us that heretofore Holland was full of Woods and Bushes This Country
where they ended their most miserable lives and reign A just reward for Rebels The town consisteth of 41 Islands to which they pass partly by Boats and partly by Bridges whereof there are 144 and of them an Hundred and four built with Stone Here 's a Castle said to have been built by Hengist the Saxon at his return out of England This City is scituated at the middle of the mouth of the River Rhene Anno 1574 it held out a gallant Siege and at last the Enemies were enforc'd by the overflowing of the waters to raise their Siege though the Spaniard had built 30 Forts to famish it and there died about 7000 Persons in the town of Famine and Pestilence which made a great confusion in the town insomuch as the people came in great multitudes to Peter Adrianson the Burgermaster declaring their misery and want and using many threatning words that he might agree with the Enemy but he answered them and said My beloved Fellow Citizens I have made an Oath which I mean by the grace of God constantly to keep If my death sith I must die may any ways profit you it 's all one to me whether you or the Enemy kill me and therefore if this Carkass of mine will do you any good in Gods Name take it cut it in pieces and divide it amongst you as far as it may possibly stretch for I shall be contented therewith The Citizens were so amazed at his answer as that they all went away without any more words But certain the deliverance of this Town can be attributed to none but to God Almighty for though the Prince did use all means by breaking of Ditches drawing up of Sluces and drowning all the Country almost to the Town yet the waters were not so deep as to carry Boats until God sent a strong South-west-winde which drave the Sea into the Rivers and Land that great Boats pass'd afloat and victuall'd the Town and two days after it was victuall'd came so strong a North-west-winde that beat back the Sea again from whence it came as doth appear in the History of the Netherlands Balder General for the King of Spain when he raised the Siege left in his Lodgings the Town of Leyden pictur'd with her Royal Ways Paths and Chanels of Water and in such manner as they were guarded and defended with Forts and under the Picture was written Vale Civitas valete Castella parva quia Relict a est is propter aquam non per vim inimicarum They of Leyden had a perfect hatred against the Spaniards and therefore a Zealander being in the Town and having shot a Spaniard he rip'd him open pluck'd his heart out of his body as he was half dead and when he had knawn it with his teeth he cast it away from him this knawn heart was afterwards seen in Delph by many credible people and the very print of his teeth in it as it 's delivered to us by good Authority The Fort Waddinghe which the Spaniards had made against the town did much annoy the townesmen whereupon they issu'd out and took the Fort and roasted the Spaniards in it alive though they cry'd out very lamentably Misericordia misericordia They here printed Paper-coyn on the one side Haec libertatis ergo on th' other side Godt behoed Leyden Some of them wore about them in a silver Crescent these words Rather the Turk then a Spaniard because the Turk paying his Tribute gives Liberty of Conscience but the Spaniard none I cannot forget one memorable Passage at this Siege An English Gentleman here had in a Salley his right Arm shot off with a Cannon-Bullet he took it up and carried it along with him unto his Chyrurgeon at his lodging where without being sick or distempered he held it in his left hand saying This is the Arm which to day at Dinner serv'd the whole Body There is a memorable Story if true which we have read in several eminent Authors which is thus Anno 1316 there hap'ning a great Famine a poor Woman went to her own Sister that was very rich to borrow a Loaf of Bread to save her and her Children from starving her Sister denied that she had any in the house she insisted that she had whereupon her rich Sister fell a cursing and swearing praying God that if she had any it might be turn'd into a Stone which God miraculously suffer'd to be done as it 's said to the confusion of this pitiless and wretched Woman In St. Peter's Church in the same City there is one of these Loaves safely kept to this day in a place iron'd about for a perpetual remembrance of the strangeness of this accident But Anno 1575 this Town being delivered of its long and calamitous Siege an University was here Founded in recompence of their great sufferings The chief Towns within the Territories of Leyden are 1 Rinsburgh anciently a well-Fortifi'd town within a League of it 2 Nortvies within a Mile of the Sea and two Leagues of Leyden 3 Valkenbourgh where every September is kept a Horse-fair Here were the Romans Magazins and Store-houses against the English 4 The two Catwicks 5 Wassenere a fair Village two Leagues from Leyden 6 Oestgrest 7 Warmont a League and a half from Leyden on Harlem-side 8 Soutervoude a League distant from it neer it is Lam and the Castle of Gronestren 9 Leyderdrope a Village which hath many Magnificent and Noble Seats in it 10 In Woorschoten a fair Village not far off from Leyden stood that Famous Nunnery of Ramsburgh so plentifully endow'd that 2000 Persons did there dayly receive Relief Here is a Hospital for poor Passengers and decay'd old People and also for Orphans a Noble Building In it are ordinarily 500 Children who are taught to read and write and bound Apprentices as they grow up Their Charity here is very great if any be overburden'd with Children or undone by accident they go to the Masters of the Poor and receive Relief according to their necessities The number within this City which receive Charity amounts ordinarily to 20000. Viane Is a square town seated upon the left bank of the River Leck a free Barony belonging to the House of Brederode it hath a strong Castle in it Heusden Is a fair Town and well built beautifi'd with a strong Castle and goodly Territories It 's scituated on Brabant-side upon the River Wahal There is a Fort in this Island of Hemert which defends Heusden Near it is Voroum a small Town with four Bastions between Lenistein and Gorchum Leerdam Is a wall'd Town upon the River Lyngen which together with Ysselsteyn fell unto Philip Prince of Orange from the Earls of Buren It hath a strong Castle belonging unto it Delfe So call'd from a Ditch which the Batavians call Delph which is brought from the Meuze even to this City It was built by Godfrey the crooked Duke of Lorain who had conquer'd Holland by the assistance of the Bishop of
being pitch'd presently 'twixt them and the water which done the men put off their Disguises and the frighted Fish hastening towards the Sea are caught in Toylâ— There is a good Pâ—â—â—on of Ground which is call'd the Bildt It 's well defended with Ditches from the Sea and the fertilest quarter in all Friesland VTRECHT UTrecht hath on the East Gelderland on the West North South environed with Holland It 's named from the Roman Armies which lay by the Rhene as Munster conceiveth for in that place where the City of Vtrecht now stands the 35th Legion was quarter'd which was thus written by abbreviation V. Trig. Leg. stat that is the Station or Quarter of the 35th Legion But the three Letters LEG were by Antiquity worn out Those that were ignorant of the Latine Tongue reading these words together which should have been divided did pronounce it Vtrigstat afterwards this word Vtrigstat was changed into Vtrecht It contains 70 Villages and five wall'd Towns that is to say Wickter-Duyrsted Scituate on the middle Chanel of the Rhene where it diverts into the Leck well built and fortified with a good Castle It formerly had 32 Parish Churches in it The Princes and Bishops did here keep their Courts Tacitus makes honourable mention of this Town calling it Batavodurum Rhenen Upon the same Branch or Chanel whence it hath its name it 's five Leagues from Vtrecht and as many from Arnhem and Gelders It 's a great passage towards Deventer Zutphen Doesburgh and other places aswell in Gelders as Cleve or to Colen or to any place where they shall please in Germany Amersfort On the River Ems a fair Town and well peopled there 's a little Town all wall'd about in the midst of it It 's very strong with Ramparts and Bulwarks flanking one another and large Ditches It 's three Leagues from Vtrecht standing upon a little River which they call Do. Montfort Upon the Yssel pleasantly seated and of great strength as being anciently a Frontier-Town against the Hollanders It 's a league in equal distance from the towns Woorden Oudewater and Ysselsteyn Vtrecht Is scituate on the middle Chanel of the Rhene first called Antonina from one of the Anthonies at Rome But Dagobert King of France gave it the name of Trajectum or Vltrajectum because there was at that time the common Ferry over the River This City is large beautiful sumptuously built having in it many goodly Churches of which Five were Anciently Collegiate namely our Saviours Church St. Martins St. Peters St. Johns St. Maries but the most magnificent is that of St. Martins it was built by the Emperor Frederick 'T was strange that at the Foundation of this Church there was a Quick-sand found on which they could not build but that it would still sinke At length they cast Oxe-hides into it which made the ground solid and firm so that they built the Church on 't In remembrance whereof these Verses were made and now extant in the Church Accipe Posteritas quod post tua saecula narres Taurinis cutibus fundo solidata columna est It hath a fair strong Castle built by the Emperour Charles the fifth and called in their speech Vredenburgh The private Houses are well contriv'd most of them having goodly Cellars vaulted with wonderful art and skill to which the People did resort in all times of danger Sometimes the Seat-Royal of Radbolt the King of the Frisons then of the Bishops A City so eminently seated amongst wall'd Towns that a man may go from hence in one day to any one of 50 wall'd Towns or Cities thence equally distant or to any one of twenty six towns to Dinner and come home to Bed Betwixt Vtrecht and Leyden is that famous and most noble Castle of Abcoude Here was born Pope Adrian the sixth he was Doctor of both Laws and Schoolmaster to Charles the fifth Anno 1522 he was chosen Pope and being in Spain he receiving the news thereof he made no shew of joy being anointed he would not change his name He liv'd but 20 moneths and some days after in continual trouble and grief of minde His Epitaph was Hadrianus Sextus hic situs est qui nihil sibi infelicius in vita duxit quam quod imperaret The Estate of Vtrecht was so great anciently that the Bishop or Prince thereof could come into the Field with 40000 armed Men of his own Subjects and maintain them But the Bishop being envi'd for his great Revenues and for that the Duke of Gelders made continual War upon him He Anno 1522 resign'd the Temporalities thereof to the Emperour Charles the Fifth as Duke of Brabant and Earl of Holland that he might have the protection of so great a Monarch to defend him and his Subjects from their Enemies and to the end he might quietly enjoy his Ecclesiastical Estate Which Donation was afterwards confirm'd by the Pope and his Subjects did then Homage to him as Duke of Brabant and Earl of Holland and the Bishop did finely discharge them of their Oath which they had made to him Of which Estate of Vtrecht the Emperour made two Provinces that is to say of Overyssel and Vtrecht which make the number of 17 Provinces in the Netherlands OVERYSSEL SO named from its scituation beyond the Yssel It 's bounded on the East with Westphalen on the West with the Zuyder-see on the North with West-Friesland on the South with Gelderland It 's divided into three parts that is to say Twent confining with Westphalen Ysselland on the River Yssel and Drent beyond the River Vecht in all which are contained 11 Towns and 100 Villages The Principal of which are Deventer It 's an Imperial Hanse-Town scituated on the River Yssel three Leagues from Zutphen and four from Swoll the chief Town of all this Province first taken for the States by the Earl of Leicester then Governour of those Countries for Queen ELIZABETH Anno 1586. Their Trade here is great as well by Land to Westphalia and other places of Germany as by the River Yssel which on one side mounts up the Rhene unto Colen and descends down before Campen to the Zuyder-see unto Amsterdam Horn Enchuysen and other Towns of Holland and Friesland It 's wonderfully Fortifi'd with Ramparts and Bulwarks besides that it always had a double Wall of Brick round about it In former times when matters succeeded not well in the Diocess of Vtrecht the Bishops retired themselves thither as we read of the Bishop named Baldrick who to fly the fury of the Normans and Danes which ruined the Town of Vtrecht retired with all his Clergy to this town Swoll Is an Imperial Hanse-town standing on a River which runs into the Vidre Fortified with double Walls double Ditches and very strong Ramparts and Bulwarks a Place of great Traffick It hath two Chanels which pass through it It 's the third Town of this Province It 's three Miles from Campen Campen Scituate on the West-shore and Fall of
the Yssel into the Zuyder-see A fair large and Imperial Hanse-town well Fortified and of very great strength by reason of those inaccessible Marishes amongst which it is scituated It hath a goodly Bridge upon the River at the end whereof there 's a goodly Fort to defend it by which Bridge they may go both on Horse-back Waggon or Foot to all the Towns of Overyssel Friesland and Groning or else if they please by the Chanels which run through the Country Merchants and Workmen with a good winde may go in one night to Amsterdam and going from thence at night after dispatch of business may be again the next day at their own Houses which is a great commodity It 's the second Town in this Province the Burgers can put it under water when they please which is a great security to it These three Towns are in that part hereof which is called Ysselland In that part which is called Twent we have the Town of Enschede A Town of good Traffick a League from Oldenzel and two from Otmarsum Anno 1597 't was reduc'd to the obedience of the States by Prince Maurice and 't was much ruin'd Of which little memorable Delden Almeto Stenwick It 's scituated on a Brook called Blocker-zyel It suffered two great Sieges in the late Belgick Wars and did undergo a sad Fate but since is much recovered and is a Town of good Trade and of considerable strength it 's three Miles from Meppel Hassel Is seated upon the River Vidre which runs into the Zuyder-see at Gheelmuyden being mingled with the two Rivers of Regg and Vect It 's well Fortified Otmarsum A Town which did three times tast the fruits of the Wars as well by Siege as otherwise It 's a place of no great strength lying in an open Country but Anno 1592 taken by Prince Maurice In Latine this Town is called veteros Marsii which are the old Marsians whom Pliny and Livie do often mention being seated in the Country of the Tubantines which is now Tuent Oldenzeel Is a Town of good Trade and reasonable great It suffered much by a long Siege Anno 1605 being beleaguered by Marquess Spinola to whom 't was yielded for Arch-Duke Albert But Anno 1567 't was retaken by Prince Maurice It 's three Miles from Otmarsum Coewarden Is a place of good strength Anno 1593 't was strongly defended against Count Harman van Borgh and Veedugo who beleaguered it From hence you may go by Land into Friesland the Counties of Groning Westphalia Breme and other places It 's about three Miles from Hardenburgh 15 from Linge 15 from Swoll There are many other Towns here but whosoever is Master of the Field is Master of them And in that of Drent the Town and Castle of Valenhoven standing upon the Zuyder-see and two Leagues from Stenwick It suffered much in the Wars but since is repair'd and well fortified Gheelmuyden Stands upon the gulf of Vidre towards the Zuyder-see It 's a league distance from Valenhoven and as much from Hassel it hath towards the Land the pleasant Pastures of Mastubroouck a league distant from Campen It hath a strong Castle in it Hardenbergh A good Town upon the River Beecht the Bishops of Vtrecht took great delight in it by reason of the pleasantness of the Seat It hath a very strong Castle It 's the mid-way between Coewarden and Ommen The Soveraignty of this Province before the War in the Netherlands did belong unto Philip the second King of Spain who succeeded the Emperour Charles the fifth his Father who had the interest confirmed by the Pope from Henry of Bavaria Bishop of Vtrecht GELDERLAND SO called from the Castle of Gelder as Munster conceiveth which Wichard of Ponthe together with his Brother are reported to have built though many do suppose that it was so called from the Town Geldens which Tacitus mentions It 's bounded on the East with Cleveland and the Earldom of Zutphen on the West with Holland and Vtrecht on the North with Overyssel and the Zuyder-see on the South with Brabant and the Land of Gulick The whole Country is divided into two parts 1. Veluwe contain'd within the Zuyder-see and the Yssel 2. Betewe intercepted 'twixt the middle Chanel of the Rhene and the Wael In both Divisions are contain'd 22 wall'd Towns or Cities and 300 Villages The chief whereof are Nimmegen A Town high mounted on the top of a Hill the Wael which is there large and deep running at the Foot of the Hill rich great and populous having beside the modern Fortifications an Ancient Castle with so goodly a Prospect that from thence one may behold the best part of the Countrey built as some say by Julius Caesar to command those parts The Castle was re-edified by Bâ—tto and by him was the Town likewise encompass'd with Walls he being dead his Son Hesus augmented it by adding thereto that quarter which is called Heselbergh or the hele of Hesus which Town the Kings that succeeded him caused to be the Metropolis of Battavia or Holland as we read in Gerrard of Nimmegen This Town was Founded by Magus King of the Gauls who called it after his own name Magus but being deceased it was re-built by â—â—â—to sâ—ncâ— which time it hath been called Nimmegen that is New-megen 〈◊〉 Nemmeghen Anno 1592 it came under the obedience of the States being taken by Prince Maurice The States have built a mighty Fort called Knotsenburgh on the other Bank of the River of Wael opposite to the Town which is a great security to it Tiel Is chief of Tyelweerd it was formerly a Peninsula but since the last Wars a Chanel hath been cut through the Country to sail from the River of Mewze into the Wahal upon the right Bank whereof the said Town is built by which means the said Tyelweerd is now made an Island for there is no entrance into it but by water or through the Town It 's very strong by Nature and Art Anno 1528 it was besieged by the Emperour but was so stoutly defended that they were enforc'd to raise their Siege It hath many rich towns under its Jurisdiction It 's a strong Place and well fortified Bomel Is a fair strong Place the chief Town of all the Territory of Bomel-weerd which the Rhene and Mewze do encompass and make it an Island It 's a Frontier-town upon the confines of Gelderland towards the South and stands upon the River Wael on the North-side of Bomel It 's exceeding strong by Nature It was first walled by Otho The River Wael doth not only make Bomel commodious for Traffick but impregnable on the North-side and free from all Invasion The Country about it is very low and not only unfit for Mines but for continuance of any long Siege for in Winter by reason of great Waters and overflowing of Rivers it enforces the Enemy to leave the Field Besides its natural strength it hath been ever well fortified with Bulwarks and Towers and
AN EXACT SURVEY OF THE UNITED PROVINCES OF THE NETHERLANDS OF Their Cities Castles Fortresses and other their Dominions there With some Remarques of their Government Antiquities and Memorable Actions Together with an Exact Map of the SEVEN PROVINCES Which is also to be Sold alone Collected by T. W. Vade Liber verbisque meis loca grata saluta LONDON Printed for Edward Berry and William Berry and are to be Sold at their Shops in Holborn-Court in Grays-Inne neer the Hall-door and at the Globe in the Strand betwixt York-House and the New-Exchange 1673. To the Right Honourable William Earl of Craven Viscount Craven of Vffington Baron Craven of Hamsted-Marshal one of the Lords of his Majesties most Honourable Privy Council and Lord-Lieutenant of the County of Middlesex and Borough of Southwark My Lord THe Belgick Provinces for the last Century have been such a Theatre of Mars that all the Princes of Europe have little reason to thank the Spaniard for enforcing the States of Holland to know and use their own power and strength and therefore it was gravely expressed by a sober Person that to have all the Low Countries governed by a few States or by one Prince wholly depending upon the King of Spain would be equally dangerous but it doth most comport with the interest of England in Wisdom and Policy to erect and establish such a Prince as should neither altogether depend upon France or be wholly devoted unto Spain or else to divide the Seventeen Provinces into divers several Cantons whereby some of them being induced to affect England and others to favour Princes of their Religion they could not render themselves so formidable How prudent an expedient this would be for the security of England and to establish peace in Christendom I submit it unto your Lordships grave judgement who is perfectly acquainted with all the Criticismes of State But that which is the just admiration of all wise men the lesser moiety of these Provinces hath far exceeded even the whole and seven Provinces are become greater and more potent then Seventeen In Riches and Power they have out-done some of the greatest Princes in Europe Their Cities are many and splendid and yet there are more Sects among them then Cities and as many Creeds as Heads but if they had imitated your Lordship when you did them the honour to live amongst them the regularity of your Devotions being with such reverence you had made all their Provinces Canonical yet they have learned to vernish their lucre with Devotion and to make godliness a Page to their private Interest and to be so wise in any of their meetings never to discourse of Religion their Opinions therein being as opposite as the sides of the Diameter but they all concentre in this one Ecliptick line to darken the Authority of Princes Your Lordship being so great an Artizan of State understands all their Arcana and Mysteries and so great a Captain as this AGE with much difficulty hath not produced a greater you know all their Policies and Stratagems of War by the first your Lordship hath much engaged your own Nation by the other you may live to oblige all Nations of the World I do beg your Lordships pardon for this interruption leaving the Grandeur of your Actions and the Glory of your Name to be blazon'd by the Heralds of Time and celebrated in the lasting Chronicles of after-Ages I am Your Lordships Humble Servant T. W. THE PREFACE TO THE READER LEst thou shouldest have cause Gentle Reader to Quaere this present Edition of the Exact Survey of the Vnited Provinces of the Netherlands considering the many Essays written of that Subject at the instance of the worthy Author of this excellent and useful Discourse I was desired to advertise thee that some honourable Friends of his put him upon this present work which in their noble conceptions would be very acceptable to the Publick By this Topographical Discourse thou art brought to more familiar acquaintance with the scite strength present state and condition of those Belgick Countries which for this last Century had so bravely quit themselves maugre the utmost Policies and Hostilities of their great and formidable Enemies and when you hear of this or that other Town or Castle of theirs either taken or besieged upon a slight perusal of it upon all occasions you may be able to judge of those matters The Author hereof hath seriously consulted with most of the Grave Writers both Cosmographers Historians and others of the greatest note which have hitherto written of those Countries and Provinces from whom besides his own observations he hath received no small light assistance having brought this Web out of the Loom he here presents it to the judicious Eye of the Candid Reader wherein without much trouble or cost he may behold the sad face in its full dimension of the late most High and Mighty States of the Vnited Provinces that seemed so lately to eclipse and shadow much of the Grandeur and Glory of the most Potent and absolute Princes now lamentably it self eclipsed and rent in pieces and Peace the fairest flower in Paradise and the pleasantest Fruit upon the Tree of Life is here in Exile so that you may say of them as the Poet of Rome Qui miserandae videt veteris vestigia Romae Ille potest merito dicere Roma fuit They who the Ruines of first Rome behold May say Rome is not now but was of old If in Anno 1584 the poor distressed People of the Low Countries was their Epithet in all their humble Addresses to the then Queen of England what they then spake as Politicians possibly the same they may now say as Realists But Pride will have its Fall sooner or later Perfidiousness and Ingratitude will never go long unpunished And truly three of the hardest things in the world are To Quadrate a Circle to finde out the Philosophers Stone and to make the Dutch grateful The first Office of Gratitude is to receive a good turn Civilly then to retain it in Memory and acknowledge it and lastly to endeavour a requital How far they are from these their Insolencies to the English Nation will easily tell you they daily do heap injuries on the English whom they have so highly wronged as if the latter injuries would give countenance of Justice to the former and to speak truly if we should be left to their mercies we should be stript as bare as Diogenes did Plato's Man 'T was England that first raised them and it was the King of Great Britain that under God would have preserved and protected them if they had kept their Ancient Boundaries and not been too ignorant of their true Interest At present they seem to the world a lost People full of intrinsick confusions and upon the point of Ruine and they that have been reckoned for Great and Dominical Letters in the Worlds Alphabet are now almost blotted out For their Country it was
but lost many men in this waterish Countrey the which is rightly call'd Waterland by reason of the many Lakes that it abounds with some of them have been drain'd as Beemster Zijp and Schermer which are now rich Grounds In this Castle Count Florent of Holland was kept Prisoner South-Holland lies next to the middle Channel of the Rhene passing from Vtricht to Leyden and Zealand eminent for these Cities Dort or Dordrecht Is a City of Holland the Figure of it is long like a Galley It 's very rich and plentiful and a Granary or Store-house of Corn and all other Provisions anciently 't was the Staple for Rhenish Wines formerly joyned to the Firm Land but in the year 1421 rent from 't by the violentness of the Sea and made an Island By this Breach there were 72 Villages drown'd and above 100000 Persons perished with all their Goods It 's seated upon the Merew but so as this River is compos'd of the Rhene the Wahall the Mâ—â—â—â— Lingâ—â— which all being joyn'd in one pass before the Town so as we may say 't is seated upon four Rivers the Merew Wahall Meuze and Ling. It 's distant 10 Leagues from Leyden It hath a convenient Port. Dordrecht or Dort hath its name from the River Dort and Drecht which is a passage over Dort and therefore it 's to be observed that all the Towns in the Netherlands ending in Tricht Dricht or Drecht as that excellent Janus Rutgertsius noteth betoken a fare or passage over as appeareth by Maestricht Vtrecht Swynedrecht and other Towns Dort is one of the ancientest and chiefest Cities in Holland having that power and priviledge as Reginus Pruniensis relateth to stop and take of Toll Wares which come down the streams till they be sold having been once the Staple for Wools and Cloaths of Timber for Building houses This is call'd the Maiden-Town because it was never taken though often besieged 'T is of great note in these latter times for an Assembly of Divines out of divers Countries following Calvins Doctrine for condemnation of the Lutheran or Arminian Tenents concerning Universal Grace Anno 1618. This Town hath power to Coyn both Silver and Gold Gorchum Scituate on the Wael where it meeteth with the Lingen a Town of great Trade and riches It hath a fair Church from the Steeple whereof one may behold 22 wall'd towns besides an infinite number of Villages It 's a strong Town fortifi'd with 12 Bulwarks besides Half-Moons and Counter-scarps and together with that abundance of Water as one would say it is impregnable The River of Lingen runs through the midst of it being always full of Ships It falls into the Merew and mingles it self with the Rivers of Wahall and Mouze all which together pass before Dordrecht Rotterdam Delf-Haven Scheidam and Briel where it falls into the British Seas Rotterdam Is scituate near unto the Meuze upon the mouth of the Channel which they call Rotter whereunto adding Dam which is a Sluce it makes Rotterdam the Sluce of Rotter so they are much deceived who fetch this name from Rotarius King of France Without doubt the place where it now stands was heretofore an Arm of the Sea without the River of Meuze which the remainder of the Banks do yet witness the which extended from the Castle of Honingen unto Croeswick which was a Castle upon the Rotter and so went unto the Village Ouderschy and ended at the Ditches of Schiedam It 's a strong fair and well-traded Port the Haven is long built all of blew stones which doth resist the violence of the Water In which Haven a great company of Ships may safely lie Every year there are goodly great Ships built in this Town for War and Trade and likewise Galleys when there is any need of them for War upon the Coast of Holland and Zealand Anno 1467 the great Erasmus was here born there is his Statue in Copper upon the Bridge with his Book in his Hand They say when he hears the Clock strike he turns a Leaf Anno 1270 it was first wall'd Schoon-hoven Scituate on the Leck It 's a fair Town having a commodious Haven it takes its name of the pleasant Gardens which are both within and about it for Schoon signifies fair and Hoffe Garden There passes a Channel through this Town which comes out of the River Yssel very convenient to pass from one River to another On the other side of this Town is the great and mighty Castle of Lysfesdman unto the Banks of the River of Leck formerly belonging unto the Duke of Brunswick Goude Is so nam'd from Gou a Town which lieth near it or from the river Gow which runneth through it It 's one of the six Principal Towns in Holland rich and well Fortifi'd with strong Walls and deep Ditches and by their Sluces the Countrey may be drown'd round about It 's seated upon the River Yssel which rising about Ysselsteyn falls into the Leck at a place call'd Ysselmond There runs a Chanel of fresh water through every street in this Town Anno 1272 it was built by Count Florent and adorn'd with many Priviledges It 's two leagues from Leyden and nine English Miles from Rotterdam Oudewater Is a reasonable good Town upon the River Yssel a League distant from Woerden and Montford 'twixt which Towns they sow great abundance of Hemp wherewith they make Ropes Cables and Nets for fishing From this Town you may go to Goude and by the Meuze to Rotterdam This Town Anno 1589 was besieged by Duke Alva and stoutly defended it self but in th' end was taken by Assault Ysselsteyn Is a small Town but very strong It belongs to the Prince of Orange Leyden Is call'd by Antoninus in his Itinerary Lugdunum Caput Germanorum for antiently it was a Town of great Renown The Roman Praetor which governed that quarter kept always his Residence and Garison there and therefore some derive Leyden from Legio there being a Roman Legion quartered there Ptolomy of Alexandria calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lugdunum Batavorum Plutarch makes honourable mention of it It 's one of the six chief Towns in Holland and the fourth in preheminence and suffrage It 's the chief for that quarter of Rhin-lant having under it 49 Towns and Villages In this Town was born Hansvan-Leyden a Cutler by trade a monstrous Anabaptist who so besotted the people that he made himself King of Munster in Westphalia and caused himself to be treated as a King wearing a Crown of Gold and when he did go abroad had always two Boys before him one of which carried a Sword and th' other a Bible those which did not fall down and worship him were immediately condemn'd to die He kept 14 wives and caused one to be kill'd because she despised his inspirations After a years Siege by the Bishop the City was taken and this King and his Councellor Knipperdoling were put into two Cages of Iron and hung out of a high Tower
is Brederode from whence they take their name Besides those Towns on the firm Land or Continent there are some Islands which appertain to the States of Holland call'd by the General name of Voorn signifying as much as before or in old English bevorne but known now directly by their proper Names 1 Somerdike 2 Gaurede 3 Pierschille so call'd of their principal Towns 4 Voorn specially so nam'd and chief of them all The principal Towns hereof are 1 Briel which we call the Brill a strong Town and the first that revolted from the Spaniards Anno 1572. A Cautionary Town to the English with the Town of Flushing chosen by them in regard of the great Command it hath upon the passage to Gertrudenburg and the rest of Brabant and also to Delf Dort and Rotterdam the greatest Town of Trade in the South of Holland Breheel or Brehil is as much as to say Brede-Heel that is a Broad River for Heile signifies a River on the right side of it the Maes receives the Rhene into it and falleth into the main Ocean Geruliet Is a small Town but hath Jurisdiction over many Villages There are also on the North-side of Holland the Isles Vierengen and Texel of which little is memorable but that the last is furnished with a large and capacious Bay for receit of Shipping Goeree Is scituated in a little Island and hath as good and deep a Road as any in Holland where great Ships which go long Voyages cast Anchor attending their last Provision and a good Wind. The Garrisons of Wonde and Hulst and also Hellevoetsluys opposite unto it which is the Sluce of the Island of Voorn on that side towards the Sea whereas Brill lies on th' other side upon the Gulf of the River which is call'd the Mewze Beverwyck A Burg two Leagues from Harlem upon the River Ty not above two Miles distant from the Sea this and Reensburg were in former times reckon'd amongst the strongest and fairest Towns in all this Province Scage A good Burg and well built in which there 's a strong Castle Of ZEALAND ZEaland consisteth of seven Islands the remainder of â—8 the rest whereof the Sea hath swallowed and in them 300 inhabited Towns It 's sever'd from Flanders with the West-Branch or Arm of the Scheldt which the Battavians call Honte and on the East from Brabant with the right Branch of the said River which still keeps its name on the North from Holland with the Gulf call'd the Vlack and on the West with the main Ocean from the Kingdom of England Zealand is so call'd as Levinus Lemnius thinketh from Sea and Land which invironeth it round about and with him agree Guicciardine and Jo. Keygersberg But as Adrianus Junius rather thinks from Zeeland an Island in Denmark as before we observed The whole contains eight Towns and 100 Villages The Islands which remain are commonly divided into the Eastern and Western according as they lie to the River Scheldt These Islands are encompass'd with strong high Banks made with such infinite charge that Emanuel de Meeter saith they cost above 140000 l. sterling so the expence to maintain them must be very great The Western Islands are four in Number Walcheren lyeth to the North of the Sluce in Flanders the richest and most populous of all this Province It 's in compass 10 Dutch Miles or 40 Italian The principal Towns whereof are Middleburgh Seated on a creek off on the Sea well wall'd fortifi'd the Streets spacious the Houses and Churches well built inhabited by wealthy Merchants and industrious Tradesmen so call'd because built in the midst of the Island It 's a quarter of a League from Arnemuyden Flushing Of great Note for its good Port and invincible strength one of the first Towns which the Low Country-men took from the Spaniards by the diligence of Voorst a Sea man and Monsieur de Berland then Bayliff thereof and not long after put into the hands of the English as a Town of Caution A poor Town then it was now the Key of the Netherlands without whose license no Ship can pass either to or from the City of Antwerp insomuch as if the Duke of Alva in the beginning of his Government had bestow'd that pains in the fortifying of this and th' other Martime Towns as he did in the strengthning Antwerp and some midland Cities he had in all probability hindered the Revolt of those flourishing Countries It 's scituate right against Flanders a Mile from Middleburgh There are three goodly Bulwarks towards the Land and one to the Sea which defend the Haven on that side flanking it at the Port. They have made a new Haven there and built a Church for the English It 's also a Marquisate belonging to the Prince of Orange as La Vere Ramne or Arnemuyden A wall'd Town beautifi'd with one of the goodliest and most frequented Havens in Europe out of which one may sometimes see 500 sail of Ships of great burthen set forward on their Voyage to several parts Anno 1574 't was yielded to the Prince of Orange Veer or Camp-veere A very Famous Sea-Town and exceeding strong having many Staples for Herrings and other Commodities here it belong'd to the Prince of Orange From hence came that illustrious and most noble Family of the Veeres now Earls of Oxford By Maximilian Duke of Burgundy and Lord of it was made a Marquisate It hath ample Jurisdiction and nine Villages depend upon 't Rammeken or Zeeburgh Built upon the Dike between Middleburgh Flushing serving for a Bulwark for all Ships which for want of good winde are forc'd to come and Anchor in this Road. This Castle is alwayes well Man'd and Garrison'd with all things necessary for a place of such Importance This was one of the Cautionary Towns delivered to Queen ELIZABETH There are in this Island many good Towns East and West-Suyburgh A quarter of a League one from the other betwixt Flushing and Middleburgh at West-Suyburgh there is a good Castle South-Beverland Scituate betwixt Walcheren and Brabant the greatest of the Isles of Zealand heretofore 20 Dutch Miles in compass but now much diminish'd by the rage and fury of the Sea by which the Town and Seignory of Borhule with all the Country round about it was swallowed up Anno 1532. The chief Towns here are Romerswal seated on the East towards Bergen-Op-Zoome sever'd at the same time from the rest of the Island and made an Island of it self defended with continual charge from following the sad Fate of the Town of Bursule distant about a League from Bergen-Op-Zoome Goes or Tergoes On the Northern Coast a strong Town and well Priviledg'd and the only wall'd in all the Island It hath a good Haven at the mouth whereof there are two Forts one of either side so as nothing can pass without Discovery Not far off are Cloelingen Cruyningen Zeateskerke Capelle Catton-dike and other Villages North-Beverland Lying betwixt South-Beverland and the Isle of
is environ'd with a double Rampier and Ditch It hath many rich Towns under its Jurisdiction Anno 1599 't was beleaguered by D. Francisco de Mendoza High Admiral of Arragon but was enforced to raise his Siege with much loss and dishonour after he had begirt it 20 days The taking of this Town opens a Passage into Holland Vtrecht and the heart of Gelderland The Fort of Voorn Crevecoeur makes the Town impregnable with Hewsden a strong town and seated within an hours journey of Bomel and within two Leagues of Boisleduke Ghent Scituate on the Wael not far off At the first meeting of the Wael and the Maes stands the strong Fort of St. Andrews raised by the Arch-Duke Albert to command the passage of those Rivers But in the year 1600 taken in by Maurice Count of Nassau after Prince of Orange and ever since Garrisoned by the States to secure that Passage It 's the most Noble and strongest Fort in all the Netherlands It 's comprehended in five Bulwarks whereof three are upon the Banks of the Mewze and Wahal and the two other towards Haerwarden either of them having a platform to defend it with broad and deep Ditches without the which is a Counter-scarp the which hath also a Ditch round about it and small Forts to warrant it Ruermond Scituate on the mouth of Ruer Mondt in Dutch signifies a mouth or entrance and so of that word and Ruer is derived Ruermondt as many others are in that Country As Dendermond in Flanders Isselmond in Holland c. It 's five Leagues from Maestricht three from Venlo It 's a rich and populous Town both by Nature and Art full of Fortifications Ramparts and Bulwarks Under the Jurisdiction of Ruermond are comprehended Venlo Gelder Straten Wachtendonck and Erckelam all walled and strong Towns with those Boroughs of Montfort Vucht Nieustadt Kessel Middeter and Greytenberck Kessel stands a League from Ruermond a goodly Village with a strong Castle built upon a Mountain It 's called by Ptolomy Castelleum and he makes it the Metropolis of the Menapians Venloe A strong Town on the Maes the people are Martial and have in former times resisted an Imperial Army It 's half a League from Shalen and three Leagues from Ruermond In this Town the Duke of Cleve having lost all his Dutchy of Cleve and a great part of Juliers yielded himself to Charles the fifth Anno 1543. Gelder Heretofore of such Reputation that it gave Name to all the Country It 's within two leagues of Shalen It hath a good Castle and strong Fortifications Strael or Stralen A strong and well Fortified Town It 's a League and a half from Wachtendonck Arnhem Called by Tacitus and other Authors Arenacum It 's a large and well-built Town It 's seated upon the right Bank of the River Rhene half a League from Issel-Dort It was the ordinary Residence heretofore of the Dukes of Gelders who had here their Chancery and other Supream Courts of Justice established here Anno 1543 by Charles the fifth This is the third Capital City of Gelderland and had under it's Jurisdiction besides divers Villages Wageninghen It 's a strong Town seated on the Rhene It 's on all sides compassed with Moores and Boggs which makes it inaccessible It 's equally distant from Arnhem and Nimmegen and four Leagues from Culemburg Harderwick On the Zuyder-see burnt to the Ground Anno 1503 but since reedified and now more strong and beautiful then ever formerly The Haven is bad so as the Ships are forced to lie in the Road. Hattum Upon the Yssel a good Town and hath a strong Castle the Walls whereof are 24 Foot thick Within the Limits of this Dukedom stands the Town and Country of Culemburg It 's seated upon the bank of the River Leck a League from Buren and two from Vianen on the same side of the River It hath a goodly Castle in it It was erected into a Dukedom by King Philip the Second by reason of the fair Territory which belonged unto it Montford Is a Castle of importance a small Town It lies a League from Ruermond Wachtendonck A small Town with a Castle in it Anno 1588 taken by the Duke of Parma but Anno 1600 Count Lodowick surprized it for the States It 's very considerable by reason of its scituation Battenbourg Is a Town of great Antiquity with a noble Castle It being the first Castle which King Battus did build upon the Mewze in the County of the Sicambrians which now is Gelders The Baron of this place did make a great Revenue of the Toll and Custom which is paid by all Ships that pass that way From Batto Batavia took its name He was descended of the Catts people of Germany of whom Tacitus maketh honourable mention For Batavia signifies the Inheritance of Batto as one should say Battos-haur for Haur in the Dutch-language signifies Heritage Pliny calls this Isle The most Noble Isle of Batto Tacitus who was Commissary for Gaul Belgique makes mention of Claudius Civilis descended from Batto issued from a Royal Branch of the Catts from whom the ancient Town of Catwick had its Name for wic signifies either a Town or a Castle the Town or Castle of Catts And it 's observed that those Towns which end in Wic are the most Ancient and most Honourable This Batto was a great Patron of the Country a Person of much Honour and Gallantry The Romans laying great Impositions upon the Batavians he advised them to take up Arms against them which he being their Generalissimo they did and did much disable the Roman Forces insomuch as Tiberius Caesar coming to a Treaty with him and demanding of him why he had stirred the People to so long and bloudy a War he answered That the Romans themselves were the cause in that they had sent them Wolves for their Guardians not Dogs and Shepherds This and much more is reported by Dion a Roman Historiographer in his 55 and 56 Book ZVTPHEN IT 's bounded on the East with Westphalen on the West with that part of Gelderland which is called the Veleuwe on the North with Overyssel on the South with Cleveland It contains eight wall'd Towns besides many Villages that is to say Dortecum On the Overyssel rising out of Westphalen It 's a League from Doesburgh a good Town with a double Wall about it Doesburgh Seated on the Yssel Bronckhorst A County of it self It 's within a League of Zutphen seated upon the right side of the River Yssel A strong Castle in it and a Garrison Lochem Upon the River Berckel it 's two Leagues from Zutphen well Fortified and strong Heremburgh A good Town with a strong Castle It 's a League and a half from Dortecum Groll Taken by the Prince of Orange for the States Confederates Anno 1627. It is a strong Town wall'd in with Ramparts and Bulwarks having broad and deep Ditches Fortified with Casemates and Counterscarps It 's two Leagues from Bredefort Bredefort A small
Town with a Castle it 's scituate in a Moor which there is but one passage to come unto It 's upon a Causey so as it 's of hard Access Anno 1597 it was taken by Prince Maurice ZVTPHEN or ZVYDFEN SO called of the South scituation of it among the Fens on the right shore of Yssel where it receives to it the River Borthel which runs through the Town It hath been twice or thrice taken and re-taken by the Spaniards and States but hath contined in the possession of the States since the year 1591 it was taken by the Earl of Leicester for the States Here fell that Gallant Gentleman Sir PHILIP SIDNEY Keppel Is a small Town of no importance half a League from Doesburgh Burg Not much better then Keppel it 's a League from Doesburgh GRONINGEN-LAND HAth on the East East-Friesland on the West West-Friesland and on the North the Main Sea on the South Overyssel It contains under it the Country called the Ommelands corruptly for Emmelands as I conjecture because lying along the River Ems and therein 145 Villages The chief whereof are Dam Neer the Ems bordering on the East-Friesland It 's two Leagues from Groning Keykirk Old-Haven Standing on the Sea For the Town of Groning it self it 's rich great and very well built scituate amongst divers small streams which run through it and having divers Chanels for conveyance of waters which adds much to its safety and strength This Town hath two small Rivers Huneso and Aha coming out of the Country of Drenthe through the Ommelands the which compassing about the Town meet in the Suburbs which is cal'd Schayten-dyep from whence passing by the town of Dam with other small Brooks which joyn there they fall by the Sluces of Delf-ziel into the Dullart which is of the River Ems by the which all Ships both great and small take their course to joyn with the greater which Anchor upon the Dullart and so to go from thence to the Sea This City is strongly fortified with Ditches and Trenches A Town of great Jurisdiction both within and without judging without Appeal in Cases Civil and Criminal Anno 1594 it was taken by the Prince of Orange Some hold that the name of this Town was given by Grunnius issued from the Bloud of the Kings of Friesland which was the Founder of it but being seated in a pleasant Soyl and goodly Pastures it 's so called from the greenness thereof this word Groen signifying green ingen being an Adjective which makes up the word as Fine-lingen and others This City is ennobled with many Priviledges as that no King Prince or Commonwealth can call any Burger or Citizen out of this City into justice nor cause him to be cited or adjourned before any Court but only before the Senate or his Ordinary Judge No man can appeal from any Sentence that is given here either in Civil or Criminal Causes They may make Laws and abrogate them at pleasure without the authority of any Person The Ommelands are divided into three Quarters 1. The Feuelingo 2. Himsing 3. The West quarter They have many Priviledges here in their places of Judgment which they call their Gretonies or Bailiwicks Delfzyel Is a great and mighty strong Fort in Form of a Town We have given you a short view of the Towns and Forts which the States General hold in these Provinces We shall now observe what other Towns they hold in other Provinces under the King of Spain especially in the Dutchy of Brabant and County of Flanders which they have gain'd by their Arms. In the Dutchy of BRABANT Bergen Op-Zoome It 's called Bergen by the Normans which invaded Brabant who so called it from a Town in Norway and Bergen-Op-Zoome from the River Zoome upon which it is scituated about half a League from Scheld and not far from the Sea it hath a good Haven belonging unto it Anno 1533 't was made a Marquisate It 's within six hours journy of Antwerp It 's opposite to Rommerswael and Tholen Towns of Zealand It hath a very high Earthen Rampier and Ditches round about it It 's in some places Fortified with Palisadoes in other parts with Walls on the top of the Rampiers there are many Bulwarks about it for defence of the Town It came under the power of the States Anno 1577. If Bergen be subdued the Islands of Zealand would easily be reduced one after another especially the Isle of Terthole Anno 1588 it gave a Famous repulse unto the Duke of Parma who Beleaguered it with 30000 Men and after a long Siege with much loss and dishonour was forced to retire with the loss of 12000 Souldiers as it is credibly reported Anno 1605 Marquess Spinola made two furious Assaults upon this Town but by the valour of the Burgers and Souldiers was repulsed with great loss It 's held impregnable and one of the best Fortified Towns in the Low Countries Anno 1605 Prince Maurice took Woud-Castle within a Mile of Bergen-Op-Zoome It 's strongly fortified with Bulwarkâ— and seated in a Fenny plaâ—â— and therefore naturally stâ—â—ng It 's one of the chiefest Castles belonging to the Marquess of Bergen Breda Is a very fair Town it 's seated in the Land of Kempen scituate on the River Merck eight Miles from Antwerp six Miles from Boisleduc or s'Hertoghen bosch six Miles from Bergen-Op-Zoome and two from Gertrudenburg It 's the residence Barony and chief Town of the Prince of Orange Count Henry of Nassaw caused the Town to be Fortified with Rampiers Anno 1534 both in the Castle round about the Town he caused five great Bulwarks to be made which defended one another together with very deep Ditches He built here a most Princely Palace moated round about and with that a very magnificent Edifice with a most noble Gallery supported with Pillars of Blewstone with a gilded Frontispiece within the Palace there is a most noble Hall built on Pillars in the Hall there is a Chappel there is also a goodly Armory stored with all sorts of Warlike Provision and much Cannon It hath under it the Town and Territory of Steenberg the Franchise of Rosindale and the Seignory of Osterhout Anno 1567 't was taken by the Duke of Alva the Prince retiring into Germany for 's own security and so continued as a Garrison for the Spaniard till 1577 and then it returned again unto the Prince In whose possession it was for four years Anno 1581 ' was taken by the Prince of Parma he kept it till the year 1590. It now doth continue in that illustrious Family It 's invested with many Priviledges and Jurisdictions it hath an Exchequer or Court-trial whereunto the Town of Steenberghen and the 16 Villages of the Country of Breda with those of Eycheren Mewxem Schotem Loetrout and Oestmael make their Appeals And besides the said Court there is a Seat of Justice belonging to a Sheriff before whom upon the first Summons the Burgers must appear
together with them of Tettering Motengracht Sandberg Vijsluyce and the Haeghstrate None may Appeal from the Sentence given in either of the said Courts or any other Court of Justice Dirst On the River Dennere a strong Town and invested with a noble Territory belonging to the Prince of Orange in right hereof he is Burgrave of the City of Antwerp Gertruydenburgh Stands on the Douge not far from the influx of it into the Maes the furthest Town in the North of Brabant where it joyns to Holland A Town of great Trade for Fishing plenty of Salmons and Sturgeons being taken here but of Stades or Trouts especially whereof 18000 are sometimes caught in a day salted and sent into Forreign parts This Town is of the Inheritance of the Prince of Orange Anno 1593 't was recovered by the Prince of Orange in the view of the Earl of Mansfield who then had the Command of an Army of 30000 for the King of Spain It 's a Town of great strength and well Fortified Grave The chief City of the Land of Cuyck seated in Brabant upon the Maes It 's strong by Nature it 's now so Fortified with Bulwarks Ravelins and Counterscarps that it is one of the strongest Towns in the Netherlands It 's six Miles from Ravesteyn and 15 from the Bosch It 's the Inheritance of the House of Nassau Anno 1586 't was besieged by the Prince of Parma and to him delivered and so it continued till 1602 when it was re-taken by Prince Maurice after a stout Resistance Maestricht in Latine Trajectum ad Mosam So called of a Ferry over the Maes in former times It 's a very strong Town subject in part to the Bishop of Liege and partly to the Duke of Brabant Anno 1632 't was besieged and taken by the Confederate States Hertogen-Bosch Boisleduc or the Bosch So called from a pleasant Wood belonging to the Dukes of Brabant where the Town now stands scituate on a little River called Deese some two Leagues from the Maes near the Borders of Gelderland a large and well-built Town very strongly Fortified and of great Trade for Cloathing It 's one of the principal Towns in Brabant properly so called comprehending under it four Countries of Compenland Maesland Peeland and Osterwick and was taken by the Confederate States from the King of Spain Anno 1628. It 's environ'd with seven or eight Bastions and some Half-Moons and Horn-works this with the bredth of the River secures it against all Danger and Holland from all Fear It hath seven Ports or Gates 51 Stone-Bridges 58 Wooden The Jurisdiction of the City of Bosch and the Majorality thereof extends over 109 Villages The Town and Seignory of Ravesteine Scituate on the Banks of the Maes between Grave and Meghen six Miles distant the one from the other It belongs to the Duke of Cleve and his Successors Sevenburgh It 's seated upon the River of Merew three Leagues beneath Gertrudenburgh and as much from Breda there was a most strong and mighty Fort during all the time of the late Wars Crevecoeur A most strong Fortress lyeth about four English Miles from the Bosch and hath held out many Sieges Steenberghen Is a little Town betwixt Bergen-Op-Zoome and Breda along the Sea-Coast Anno 15â—0 yielded to the States General Willem-Stadt Built by William of Nassaw Prince of Orange who gave it that name it 's scituated in the Island of Rogheville a good and strong Town It serves as a Rendezvouze to the States Army when they have any Enterprize or Incursion to make It hath seven Bastions a double Ditch and a fair Haven It hath Brabant on the South and Zealand on the North. Cluyndert Here the States have built an exceeding strong Fort where for the importance thereof they entertain a Garrison it hath eight Bastions and some Ravelins Lillo Is a strong Fort upon the River Escault within three Leagues of Antwerp not far from the Gulf of the said River It 's a place of great Importance to stop the Navigation to Antwerp It 's opposite to another Fort which the States now hold in Flanders called Liefskenhoek Fer Heyden Is a very strong Fort at the mouth of the River the which coming from Breda falls there into the Sea For all which Townes and Places together with their Jurisdictions there 's a Councel of Brabant held at the Hague before which there 's Appeal from inferiour Judges Towns and Forts which the States hold in FLANDERS Sluce IS a strong Fortified City being intrench'd with Walls and double Ditches During the Prosperity and Traffick of the town of Bruges 't was the Store-house for their Wines which came from Spain the Canaries and France It 's three Leagues distant from Flushing five Miles from Middleburgh and three from Bruges It 's in the Isle of Cadsant which the States do enjoy with all the other Forts opposite to the Haven of that Town In the Isle of Cadsant there are two Fortresses the one called Hoolstede both won by Prince Maurice 1604 with the Sluce in which there were 70 Cannon of Brass and Iron besides those in the Forts The Haven is very large where 200 Sayl of Ships of great Burthen may safely ride There are two Block-houses in the Haven the one in the very mouth of the Haven called Haseschant zee the other not far from the Town called Beck-of Ardenburgh A strong Town neer the Isle of Cadsant 't was heretofore call'd Rodenburgh and was the Metropolis of all Flanders containing Touront Ostburg Bruges and all the Sea-Coast even to Bononia It hath a Church consecrated to the Virgin MARY which is the fairest and most magnificent in all Flanders this Town is a Mile distant from Sluce Ysendick Is a mighty Fort right against Flushing standing towards the Sas of Gant and Bocholdt It hath a very convenient Haven able to contain many Ships of 4 or 500 Tun very well scituated upon the Sea Lyefkenhoech A strong Fort built at the same time with that of Lillo and opposite unto it upon the River Escault so as all Ships as come from the Sea to go to Antwerp must pass 'twixt these two Forts Ferneuse Is a strong Village and well-Garrisoned It 's scituate in the midst of drown'd Land and therefore not easie to approach nor Camp before it Axelle Is a strong Town in the Island of Waes one of the best Quarters of Flanders Anno 1587 Colonel John Peron surpris'd and delivered it to the States which they have powerfully Fortified by drowning a great part of the Country which makes it inaccessible The States have in this Quarter many Sconces as the Tetter-Sconce by Ysendicke St. Philips St. Catharines Newet-Sconce Henries-Sconce Slyckenbergh and Hansfriezes all Forts between Sluce and Ysendicke the Hoffle Oistictirt the Old and New Pass-Sconces by Sluce the Crabb the Oly the Alder and Spitsbroeck-Sconces lying about Ardenburgh they have besides about Sluce St. Fredericks Donaes the Star St. Jobs and Blemkenleige sconces Plassendate-sconce
lies so low that Ramparts only keep it from inundations and restrain the Rivers within their bounds In many places one may see the Sea far above the Land and yet repuls'd with those Banks The compass of Holland is about 180 Miles every part of it within three hours Journey of the Sea The bredth is not above 24 Miles and contains 28 wall'd Towns or Cities and 400 Villages some scituate in North and others in South-Holland North-Holland lies 'twixt the middle channel of the Rhene and the Zuyder-Sea The Towns or Cities of most importance are Alcmaer encompassed with deep Fens and Marshes divers great Lakes which are made by the Brooks which fall from the Downs so it hath its name from these Lakes the which in the Cymbrian Tongue they call Meeren as if they would say Almeer It hath the first Place and the first Voice in the Estates of the said Provinces It 's Eminent for the Defeat the Inhabitants gave the Duke of Alva meerly because he had left them no way to escape It 's a Town well fortified with goodly Ditches and mighty Walls Flanck'd with nine great Bulwarks which were made after the Spaniards had besieged it It 's three Leagues distant from Horn. Near unto it is the strong Castle of Astenburg Anno 1328 it was burnt The Frieslanders have often besieged it and in the year 1517 it was taken and plundered for eight days by those of Guelders Earl Florence the Fifth made a Ditch to the very extremities of the Country to hinder the Frieslanders incursions It 's not only one of the chiefest Towns of Holland but of all the Low Countries for the beauty of its Buildings and the neatness of its Streets Near this Town is Seayne a great Village The Lords hereof are descended from the House of Bavaria Amsterdam Is scituated on the Gulf called the Fie and the Ditch or Channel call'd Amstel whence it hath the name of Amsteldam in Latine Amstelodamum built upon Piles like Venice It consisted at the first of a few Fishermens houses and was under the Jurisdiction of the Lords of Amstel About 300 years since Gilbert Amstel fortified this City with Bulwarks and Towers which being burnt by ill Neighbours 't was walled about Anno 1482. And afterwards 't was inlarged and it is now become one of the greatest Mart-towns in Europe Here a 1000 Ships of all sorts have been seen to go out and in They of Amsterdam made a great present of Money to the Emperor Maximilian the First of that name for the which and other their good Services he granted them leave to bear an Imperial Crown upon the Arms of the City a Dignity never granted to any Town before There is yet to be seen in a Glass-window of the old Church certain Purses painted with their Mouths down scattering Gold and Silver to signifie their liberality It 's strong by reason of the Scituation but stronger by Art It 's flanck'd about with great Bulwarks which answering one another make it impregnable What with the Walls about it and the industry of man it 's warranted towards the Sea with a long double Pallisadoe from th' east to to the West in which above 1000 Ships and innumerable lesser Vessels may safely lie out of danger By reason of Trade it 's grown exceeding rich by diverting it from Antwerp hither It 's inhabited by People of all Nations and of all Religions and those nor tolerated or conniv'd at in private but openly and freely exercis'd without any disl ke It 's seven Leagues from Leyden The Town-house is the prodigie of the world and a miracle beyond the Seven that Antiquity brags so much of the Foundation of which cost many hundred thousand pounds The Revenue of this City cometh to above 4000 l. a day Near St. Katharin's Church are laid the Foundations of a Tower which is to be exceeding high 6300 great Trees have been driven into a piece of ground of about 100 Foot square to be Piles for the foundation of the said Tower They have here a House of Correction called the Tutchthuyse for vain idle and extravagant persons and also for those children which will not be obedient to their Parents at the coming in there are two Lyons upon the doors bridled as an emblem of the wild youth of the Town They make them here work according to their offences If they refuse to work they are put into a low Cellar and water is let in upon them if they will stand still they may if they will pump and deliver themselves then they are help'd out again They come out of this House when they give Testimony of their repentance Anno 1595 was here set up the like house for young Maids which liv'd a licentious and idle life In Amsterdam notwithstanding their precise observance of the Sabbath yet every Sunday Morning they have a publique Mart for Dogs and Rags Harlem On the Lake called Harlem-meer It 's a Noble Town both for the largeness of the City the fairness of the Houses and pleasantness of the Scituation being seated amongst many goodly Meadows famous for the invention of Printing invented here by Laurence Jans The first Book that ever was Printed being Tullies Offices Anno 1245 Pope Innocent at the Councel of Lions made St. Lewis King of France and William Earl of Holland undertake the relief of the Holy Land the Army being come before Pelusium now called Damietta a great Chain did hinder the approach of the Navy this the Harlem-men undertook to break and did execute their Design giving entry to the whole Fleet. In memory of which the Emperour gave the Town for Arms which before was a dry tree a Sword compass'd with six stars to the which the Patriarch of Jerusalem added upon the point a Cross Pattee They have many silver Bells which they brought from thence hang up in their Steeple It hath the fairest Church in all Holland being supported with great Columns or Pillars The River Sparr passeth through this Town Anno 1572 't was greatly afflicted by the Spaniards lying before it eight moneths to their great loss and discharged 10256 Cannon shot against the Town yet in the end by reason of Famine it was constrained to yield to the mercy of Duke d'Alva who put them to the Sword the Papists crying they were Catholiques expecting to receive mercy at his hands but they were answered that it was good for their Souls but their Bodies must die for the King This Town and Castle was built by the Harmelois who issued from the bloud of the Kings of Friesland and from thence it took its name as the learned Adrianus Junius conceiveth It 's the second Town in Holland for Rank and Dignity The Castle hereof was seated upon the Chanel that runs towards Egmont not far from Heemskirk and built of Brick but at this day there is nothing to be seen but the ruines of it The Lord of this place by his cruelty having made himself odious