Maasdam is a village in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

. It is located about 14 km south of the city of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, in the municipality of

Hoeksche Waard The Hoekse Waard (; pre-1947 spelling: Hoeksche Waard) is an island between the Oude Maas, Dordtsche Kil, Hollands Diep, Haringvliet and Spui rivers in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. The island, part of the namesake munic ...

, on the rural

island. From the 14th Century until around 1800, Maasdam was also the name of the local administrative area, the

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

and later the "ambacht". Subsequently, from 1 January 1812 until 1 January 1984, it became the name of the local

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, which comprised the village of Maasdam and the surrounding

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains s ...

s. In the periods 1812 - 1817 and 1832 - 1984, the hamlet of

Cillaarshoek Cillaarshoek is a hamlet in the western Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Hoeksche Waard, South Holland, about 15 km south of Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest ci ...

and the hamlet and

of Sint Anthoniepolder were also part of the municipality of Maasdam. The municipality of Maasdam was eventually merged with some surrounding municipalities to become part of the new municipality of Binnenmaas. The exception was

which was split and partly merged into the existing municipality of Strijen. On 1 January 2019 Binnenmaas was merged with Cromstrijen, Korendijk, Oud-Beijerland, and Strijen to form the municipality of

History

Maasdam was founded in the 13th Century in an area which at the time was part of the

County of Holland The County of Holland was a State of the Holy Roman Empire and from 1433 part of the Burgundian Netherlands, from 1482 part of the Habsburg Netherlands and from 1581 onward the leading province of the Dutch Republic, of which it remained a part ...

, a state within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

. The current village covers areas that were separated by the river Maas until a permanent dam was built around 1270, from which the village took its name. However, archaeological findings have indicated that the area hosted significant human habitations as early as the start of the Roman

Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty ruled the Roman Empire between AD 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian (69–79), and his two sons Titus (79–81) and Domitian (81–96). The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as ...

. Excavations in several locations have suggested that there was a large Roman settlement in the Maasdam area (on the northern shore of the river) probably from around 70 AD. Remains have been found of Roman roads, a bridge, a burial field, a harbor complex and even a Roman version of a dam in the river Maas suggesting that it was seen as a location of strategic importance on the North Western border of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. The more permanent foundation of "the Maasdam" around 1270 created a connection between the areas known as Poelwijk in the Tiesselijnswaard (north of the river) and Weede in the

Grote Hollandse Waard The Grote Waard or Hollandse Waard was a farming region in the County of Holland at the border of the Duchy of Brabant, that disappeared in the St. Elizabeth's flood. Parts of this polder are now separated by water: Hoekse Waard, Eiland van Dor ...

(south of the river). The establishment of the Maasdam took place during the reign of

Floris V 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, moder ...

. It was part of the establishment of the

which in itself was part of the long term policy of

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

by the

Counts of Holland The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century. House of Holland The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests th ...

(since the reign of

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...

) who saw it as a way to strengthen their political and territorial powers in the region. Maasdam was founded nearby a substantial castle on the banks of the river Maas, the remaining foundations of which were discovered in 1958 in a parcel of land near the road in Maasdam known as "Kromme Elleboog". For a long time, it was assumed that the ruins in Maasdam were those of the castle Duivestein. However, it has more recently been suggested that the ruins could instead be those of a castle that belonged to the Lords of Weede. The area with castle ruins in Maasdam is officially protected as a

Rijksmonument A rijksmonument (, ) is a national heritage site of the Netherlands, listed by the agency Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE) acting for the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. At the end of February 2015, the Netherlands ...

. Most of the village of Maasdam and surrounding areas, including the castle, were destroyed during the second St. Elizabeth's flood (1421), although the main dyke in Maasdam as well as the hamlet and polder of Sint Anthoniepolder and hamlet of

survived. Successful restoration was hindered by further floods as well as the

Hook and Cod Wars The Hook and Cod wars ( nl, Hoekse en Kabeljauwse twisten) comprise a series of wars and battles in the County of Holland between 1350 and 1490. Most of these wars were fought over the title of count of Holland, but some have argued that the un ...

but eventually Maasdam was restored to its former size soon after

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 ...

allowed his

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

Jan Nemery, who had been the

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

of Maasdam for almost two decades, in 1435 to reclaim the polders next to the surviving dyke in Maasdam from the sea. Former

s of Maasdam * Jan Nemery, 1416 - 1438 * Jacob Nemery, 1438 - 1497 * Jacob Heerman, 1497 -1505 * Gijsbrecht Heerman, 1505 - 1541 * Boudewijn Heerman, 1541 - 1578 * Pieternella van Hooghlande, 1578 * Jonkheer Arent van Dorp, 1578 - 1600 * Anna van Dorp, 1600 * Philips van den Bossche, 1600 - 1612 * Jacques Manrycque, 1612 - 1615 * Anthonie Manrycque, 1615 - 1653 * Frederik van Dorp, 1653 -1700 * Carel Filips van Dorp, 1700 - 1726 * Anna Maria van Dorp, 1726 - 1738 * Adam Filips van der Duin, 1738 - 1739 * Arnold Joost van der Duin, 1739 - 1793 * Adam François Maximiliaan van der Duyn, 1793 - 1814 * Frans Adam Jules Armand van der Duyn van Maasdam, 1814 -1848 The last vasal of Maasdam,

Frans Adam van der Duyn van Maasdam Adam Frans Jules Armand, Count van der Duyn, ''Lord of the manor, lord of Maasdam and 's-Gravenmoer'' (13 April 1771 - 19 September 1848) was Netherlands, Dutch officer and politician. He was part of the Triumvirate of 1813 that invited Prince Wil ...

(1771 -1848), was one of the three noblemen who briefly formed the provisional government of the Netherlands after its liberation from

Napoleonic France The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eu ...

by Prussian and Russian troops in 1813. He was part of the

Triumvirate of 1813 The Triumvirate of 1813 (''Driemanschap van 1813'') formed the provisional government of the Netherlands after Charles-François Lebrun and the French troops had left the country. It consisted of Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp, Frans Adam van der D ...

that declared the

Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands The Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands ( nl, label=Dutch language, Dutch, old spelling, Souverein Vorstendom der Vereenigde Nederlanden) was a short-lived Sovereignty, sovereign principality and the precursor of the United Kingdom of ...

and invited William Frederick, Prince of Orange-Nassau to return from exile in England and accept sovereignty over the principality.J.W. Regt, "Geschied- en aardrijkskundige beschrijving van den Hoekschen-Waard", J. Boden, 184

/ref>

Notable people

Kees Verkerk Cornelis Arie "Kees" Verkerk (born 28 October 1942) is a former speed skater from the Netherlands.

, Olympic speed skater

Gallery

File:Maasdam.gif, Map of the former municipality of Maasdam around 1871 File:Maasdam molen de Hoop.jpg, Windmill De Hoop File:Maasdam straat.jpg, Street view File:Maasdam and surrounding area in 1421.jpg, Detail of a 20th-century map of the

, depicting the geography of Maasdam and surrounding area just before the second St. Elizabeth's flood (1421) which submerged most of the land shown.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in South Holland Former municipalities of South Holland Hoeksche Waard