Gerard de van Velzen (died 1296) was lord of

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, and

Velsen Velsen () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located on both sides of the North Sea Canal. On the north side of the North Sea Canal there is a major steel plant, Tata Steel IJmuiden, formerly known a ...

. He was the son of Albrecht van Velsen and Hildegonde. He was married to Machteld van Woerden, a sister of

Herman VI van Woerden Herman VI van Woerden ( – after 1303) was a lord of Woerden. He was the son of Herman V van Woerden and Badeloch Clemeta van Amstel, daughter of Gijsbrecht III van Amstel. It is assumed he became ruler of Woerden after 1252, the last year that ...

. In 1275, Van Velzen was named

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. In 1296, Van Velzen conspired with

Gijsbrecht IV of Amstel Gijsbrecht IV of Amstel or Gijsbrecht IV van Amstel ( – ) was a powerful lord in the medieval County of Holland and a member of the Van Aemstel family. His territory was Amstelland, and his son was . Life His family probably originated from ...

, Jan van Kuyk, and Arnold van Benschop to kidnap

Floris V, Count of Holland Floris V (24 June 1254 – 27 June 1296) reigned as Count of Holland and Zeeland from 1256 until 1296. His life was documented in detail in the Rijmkroniek by Melis Stoke, his chronicler. He is credited with a mostly peaceful reign, modern ...

to bring him to trial from the king in Europe. Eventually, together with Van Woerden and Van Amstel, they imprisoned the count in the

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. After Floris V attempted to escape he accidentally killed the count, stabbing him 20 times. Afterwards he fled to castle Kronenburg near

Loenen aan de Vecht Loenen aan de Vecht (or just Loenen) is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It was the main village in the former municipality of Loenen. Since 2011 it has become part of the newly formed municipality of Stichtse Vecht. It lies about 10&nb ...

. A few days later, he was arrested and brought to

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to stand trial. There, he was tortured for three days before being quartered. His motive for the kidnap was Floris' supposed rape of Van Velzen's spouse, after which she committed suicide.

References

* ''De Nederlandsche Leeuw'', 1965, part I.
Moord op Floris V
13th-century births 13th-century criminals 13th-century people of the Holy Roman Empire 1296 deaths Dutch murderers Dutch torture victims Nobility of the County of Holland People from Beverwijk Year of birth unknown {{Netherlands-bio-stub