Bolsward (, West Frisian: ''Boalsert'') is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Súdwest-Fryslân Southwest Friesland ( fy, Súdwest-Fryslân ) is a municipality in the Northern Netherlands, located in the province of Friesland. It had a population of 84,092 in August 2017. Sneek is the municipal seat. With a total area of 841.56 km2, Sú ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Bolsward has a population of just under 10,200. It is located 10 km W.N.W. of

Sneek Sneek (; fy, Snits) is a city southwest of Leeuwarden and the seat of the former municipality of Sneek in the province of Friesland, Netherlands. As of 2011 it is the seat of the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân (Southwest Friesland). Th ...

History

The town is founded on three

artificial dwelling mound A ''terp'', also known as a ''wierde, woerd, warf, warft, werf, werve, wurt'' or ''værft'', is an artificial dwelling mound found on the North European Plain that has been created to provide safe ground during storm surges, high tides and ...

s, the first of which was built some time before Christ. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, Bolsward was a trade center and port city connected to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

via the Middle Sea. This connection was lost when the Middle Sea was reclaimed to form arable land. After this, a canal was dug to the Zuiderzee. The town is first mentioned in AD 725. As a trading city, Bolsward was granted

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

Philip the Good Philip III (french: Philippe le Bon; nl, Filips de Goede; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonge ...

in 1455. Bolsward was made a member of the

Hanseatic league The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

in 1422. Before being merged into the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân, the town of Bolsward was an independent municipality.

Notable historical figures

Notable historical figures born here include: *

Juw Juwinga Juw Juwinga (alias Jongema) of Bolsward was a Frisian chieftain that earned great fame in the struggle against the (Dutch) ‘infidels’. When Albrecht of Bavaria, count of Holland, threatened Friesland in 1396, Juw was chosen as potestate of F ...

or Jonghema (14th century), 11th potestate of Friesland *

Petrus Thaborita Petrus Jacobi Thaborita ( Latinised name form of Peter Jacobusz van Bolsward) (Bolsward, 1450–1527) was a Frisian monk, historian and writer. He is best known for his writings on the Frisian freedom fighter Pier Gerlofs Donia, and for writing d ...

(1450–1527), historian * Boetius Adamsz Bolswert (c.1580-1633), engraver *

Schelderic Adamsz Bolswert Schelte a Bolswert (1586–1659) was a leading Dutch engraver, noted for his works after Rubens and Van Dyck. Life He was born in the town of Bolswert, in Friesland, in 1586. Both he and his older brother, Boetius à Bolswert, worked in Amster ...

(c.1586-1659), engraver *

Gysbert Japiks Gysbert Japiks or Japicx or Japix (1603–1666) was a West Frisian writer, poet, schoolmaster, and cantor. Life Japiks was born in Bolsward, Friesland, as Gysbert Japiks Holckema or Holkema. Japiks used his patronym and not his surname in his ...

(1603–1666), poet *

Frederick Philipse Frederick Philipse (born Frederick Flypsen;Appleton, W.S. ''The Heraldic Journal, Recording the Amorial Bearings and Genealogies of American Families'', Wiggen & Lunt, Boston, 1867 1626 in Bolsward, Netherlands – December 23, 1702), first Lord ...

(1626–1702), American progenitor and founder *

Willem Muurling Willem Muurling (27 April 1805, Bolsward – 9 December 1882, The Hague) was a Dutch theologian who was a native of Bolsward. He was father-in-law to theologian Abraham Kuenen (1828-1891). He studied theology at Utrecht, and from 1832 to 1837, se ...

(1805–1882), theologian *

Titus Brandsma Titus Brandsma, OCarm (born ''Anno Sjoerd Brandsma''; 23 February 1881 – 26 July 1942) was a Dutch Carmelite friar, Catholic priest and professor of philosophy. Brandsma was vehemently opposed to Nazi ideology and spoke out against it many t ...

(1881–1942), Carmelite philosopher

Events

Heamiel. A local festival of four days in June. This is an old traditional festival to celebrate that the farmers finished getting the hay from the fields. The name of the festival, Heamiel, is Frisian for 'Hay meal', and is derived from the traditional banquet. Bolletongersdei. Bolletongersdei is Frisian for 'bulls Thursday'. Bolletongersdei includes a street market. Bolletongersdei is held on the first Thursday of October. Simmerwike. A festival of four evenings with musical performances, held in August.

Elfstedentocht

Bolsward is one of the eleven Frisian cities in which the ice skating Elfstedentocht, an

ice skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

, is held. Because the marathon depends on the thickness of the ice, it is not held on a regular schedule and is somewhat rare. Bolsward is also the host city for the yearly Cycling Elfstedentocht, a

road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional sport, professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and ...

tour.

Notable buildings

Protestant church of Bolsward St. Martin's Church (also ''Grote kerk'' or ''Martinikerk'';Alle middeleeuwse kerken: van Harlingen tot Wilhelmshaven, P Karstkarel, p. 57 West Frisian: ''Martinitsjerke'') is a Protestant church in Bolsward, Netherlands, and one of the medieval ...

* Gysbert Japicx House, birth place and museum about Gysbert Japiks. *Broerekerk (burned 1980, repurposed 2006) Bolsward-Broerekerk-May-2018

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2011 Cities in the Netherlands Cities in Friesland Former municipalities of Friesland Populated places in Friesland Súdwest-Fryslân