Vught, two churches expressing feudal rivalry

The location of Vught on the bank of the Dommel river is also expressed in the name of this town: vught/vocht means riparian land or wet land. The oldest settlement however wasn't located on the lowland along the river but on higher ground where near the hamlet of Vlierd (this name means: where the elder trees grow). The landscape was once characterised by alternating drier higher ground (sand ridges and so-called donken) and low-lying marshland and peat bogs. Vlierd and later Vught was located along an important thoroughfare north towards the Meuse that split here in a route going north towards Utrecht and a route going east toward Nijmegen via Cuijk.

After 1400 dykes are raised to drain the marshland and prevent the arable land from flooding. The foundation of the city of Bois-le-Duc ('s-Hertogenbosch) further north at the confluence of the Dommel and Aa rivers in 1184 had lead to increased seasonal floods as a direct result of filling in and straitening rivulets and raising the ground level in the floodplain here. Dykes were first constructed from the castle of Heymhuizen (now Maurick) along the left bank of the Dommel connecting higher ground across marshland. This in turn lead to more flooding further upstream, so in the 16th and 17th centuries the arable land along the Dommel and Run rivers was dyked-in at Haanwijk, Volmeer, Sint Michielsgestel and Zegenwerp.

The town of Vught has a peculiar layout with two large churches belonging to separate parishes. Directly east of the town two castles once stood on the Dommel; the Castle Maurick and at a distance of a mere 200 m Castle Old Herlaer. This situation is much like the pair of castles that once stood along the Dommel at the city of Eindhoven. Such a pair of castles on each side of river are indicative of competition between feudal overlords along a borderline formed by a river.  The Castle Old Herlaer (Oud Herlaer), together with the Castle Hanwick (Haanwijk), Castle New Herlaer (Nieuw Herlaar), Castles Ruwenberg and Castle Zegenwerp where a fief of the Bishopric of Liège. The Lord of the Manor of Herlaer would also found the town of Sint-Michielsgestel opposite the village of Theere after he had acquired the Manor of Gestel. In this new town a church was built dedicated to his patron saint St Michael.

The patronage of a church or chapel is often expressed in the choice of saint it is dedicated to. The first place of worship was a small chapel that was built around 700. The church of St Lambert built here later fell under the auspice of the Bishop of Liége. The patronage was transferred to the Tuetonic Order in the 14th century. This church stood alongside the old road across a sandy ridge linking De Vlierd and Het Reut. Around 950 a second chapel had been established on higher ground near the river by the Bishop of Cologne. Around 1028 a Market Field (basically a widened street) was laid out next to this Chapel of St Peter. This new settlement was granted the right to mint coins, hold markets (1028) and collect tolls (1050) both over land and over water. The chapel was replaced by a new church and later the Elisabeth Convent, a new Manor House and the Hospital were built near this market. This whole is basically a new town located south of the old village north of a small stream.

 

A pattern reconstruction shows how a new market place was added to an older settlement in a way similar to the Lind of Oisterwijk that was established next to East Tilburg. Incidentally the market was initially also called Lynd in Vught. The Taalstraat connected both churches and overtook the older Dorpsstraat (Village Street) as the main street of the town.Later this Taalstraat was extended north towards the Vughterpoort (Vught Gate) of Bois-le-Duc. The construction of the Halse Brug (Hall Bridge) also lead to a new shorter road (Oude Baan) linking the market and this river crossing further south. The new town is indicated in yellow.

The Twin Town of Vught should be understood as an effort by the Duke of Brabant to gain better control over his dominion by establishing privileged settlements that answered directly or indirectly to him. This is clear in the way the new castle was built behind the new market end new church. Thus Vught had to distinct centres: the Brabantian one around the Market Field and the Teutonic one around the old church where there was a convent, a Komtur (Zionsburg), a hermitage, a hostel, a moated manor (Muiserick) and a school. As the importance of this small town decreased with the rapid expansion of neighbouring Bois-le-Duc the patronage of the Church of St Peter was transferred in the 15th century to the Collegiate Church of St Catherine in  Eindhoven.

Nuremberg, unification across the Pegnitz

Shortly after Neurenberg is mentioned as having gained market rights from the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III of Swabia in 1050 a charter also grants the citizens the right to erect city defences. These rights extended to both settlements, Berg and Wörd, on either side of a ford across the river Pegnitz on an important trade route linking Bavaria and Bohemia. This river was the borderline between the Bishopric Bamberg (with Norenc-Berg) and the Bishopric of Eichstätt (with Wörd or Wörth). This first city of 1050 was a true double city with an oval shaped walled area around a church on each side of the river. With the bestowal of city rights a bridge was constructed linking the two walled settlements thus cementing this Twin City.

The first city was a true double city with the old Salian Burgh (B) perched on a rock overlooking higher ground with a chapel (K) north of the river Pegnitz. The old ford (V) is located further upstream from the first bridge. The low city on the other bank was organised around a road crossing with another chapel (K) surrounded by a high earth bank (shown in green). Outside of these city defences on both sides a Manor House (H) stands on a main route over higher ground directly adjacent to both settlements.

The local Saint Sebald, venerated in a church reputedly built over his resting place in the northern settlement, drew large crowds of pilgrims. The small Salian castle on a rock north of Berg was expanded to guard the new city and its citizens. Quickly Nuremberg grew to be one of the major centres of Franconia. IN 1219 Frederic II grants Nuremberg the Great Letter of Freedom which includes more chartered freedoms and the Imperial Immediacy. This meant that the city became independent from feudal overlords en answered directly to the Holy Roman Emperor. Around 1245 work starts on the construction of a second larger defensive structure. This wall with 5 gates is completed by 1325 and envelopes both settlements across the river.

What is striking about the second city wall is that is connects both settlement in one continuous structure (shown in red) that crosses the river Pegnitz with two water gates. Most monastic freedoms are located outside of this second wall, as ground is cheap, and thus these institutions are exempt from urban taxes (for instance on brewing beer). The urban institutions and churches are all located within the defensive walls: (1) Castle, (2) Church of St Sebald, (3) City Hall, (4) Church of Our Dear Lady, (5) Church of St Lawrence, (6) Church of St Jacob, (7) Monastery of the Teutonic Order, (8) Friar House, (9) Carthusian Monastery, (10) Poor Clares Convent, (11) Hospital of the Third Order, (12) Convent of St Catherine, (13) Heilsbronnerhof, (14) Franciscan Monastery, (15) Ebracher Hof, (16) Carmelite Convent, (17) Hospital of the Holy Ghost, (18) Augustine Monastery, (19) Dominican Monastery, (20) Frauenauracherhof, (21) Neunkirchner Hof, (22) Eichstätter Hof, (23) House of the Dozen Friars and (24) Monastery of St Egid. In 1350 the New Market (the large square in orange) is created at the site of the Jewish Quarter after the Jews had been forcibly evicted. Other markets around the city are shown in orange.

In 1356 Charles VI issued his Golden Bull naming Nuremberg as the city where every German King should hold their first Imperial Diet. With this Golden Bull the city also becomes the location were the Imperial Mint is founded. Not long after, in 1375, work starts on an even more expansive defensive structure. This third city wall encompasses all the suburbs and religious institutions (churches, hospitals, convents and monasteries). From this moment onwards the northern part of the unified city is known as Sanct Sebald and the southern part as Sanct Lorenz, after both main churches and independent parishes. The new defensive structure consists of walls with towers, 7 city gates and after 1425 a second wall with a dry moat. Within 400 years the two separate settlements on either side of the river have been united into one of the larger cities of the German Holy Roman Empire.

Besides bridges built in the 13th century, new bridges were constructed from the 15th century onwards (shown in orange) to better link the upper and lower cities. The new city wall has 9 gates and a separate back gate: (1) Vestner Tor, (2) Laufer Tor, (3) Wörder Türlein, (4) Frauentor, (5) Sterner Barrier, (6) Spittlertor,  (7) Fürther Barrier, (8) Haller Türlein, (9) Neutor and (10) Tiergärtnertor.In the 19th century new gates were constructed to better link the old city with the suburbs around it: (11) Maxtor, (12) Spitzentor, (13) Königstor, (14) Marientor, (15) Kartäusertor, (16) Färbertor, (17) Ludwigstor, (18) Westtor and (19) Hallertor.

Bicycle Bunker: taking it underground

The bicycle is ubiquitous in the Netherlands, and an icon for the country abroad. This doesn't mean that everyone looks favourably upon cyclists and bicycles. Motorists protested the creation of cycle lanes and one-way systems with through-traffic capability for cyclists and pedestrians. More recently changes made to many roundabouts to improve safety for cyclists and the roll-out of so-called cycle streets (a whole street laid out as a cycle path that is passable for car traffic in a single direction) have caused some local protest. But even the automobile lobby group is in favour of improving road safety for vulnerable road users. Which is an intelligent stance benefitting motorists.

During the years of plenty (2000-2008) many local councils had big plans for making their city centres and shopping areas more attractive. This included many high-cost new buildings and vanity projects, but was also focussed at regeneration by remodelling the streets and creating a pleasant outdoor urban environment. This meant new street furniture, new lighting, new paving stones and more often than not, resulted in the removal of all bicycle stands to park one's bicycle conveniently near the shops in the shopping street. The retailers craved space, and local government provided this as visible proof of their decisiveness. Instead very expensive plans were hatched for large underground bicycle parking facilities. And of course these were promised to be free of charge as long as shops and cafes were open. Many people ignored these new facilities with healthy distrust (as some would prove to have limited opening hours) and rested their bikes against waste bins, benches, lampposts and the like.

The underground bicycle parking in Tilburg was planned at the site of an old lime tree, which was conveniently condemned as too rotten and too sick to survive. The centuries-old imperial lime was hastily removed and replaced by this bike bunker. Granted, it is open until late, free of charge and much-used, it is a shame of the tree.

A tale of Twin Cities

Most towns and cities have a single historic core or point of origin. Some towns and cities however are the result of the amalgamation of two -seldom more- (proto)urban settlements. There are several examples in continental Europe where there is also a specific name used for these types of towns and cities: for instance Doppelstadt in German and Dubbelstad in Dutch. The equivalent in English is: twin city, although the literal translation would be "double city", which is more apt and leaves no room for confusion with contemporary twinned cities.

There are several types of such Twin Cities. Some are fairly recent, where due to rapid expansion as a result of industrialisation or suburbanisation two hitherto separate settlements amalgamated. The way the City of London and the City of Westminster merged is a famous example of this process. However, no-one would typify   Westminster and London as a Twin City, but rather as part of London cum annexis. The older settlements have thus become part of an urban landscape. Another example of such an urban landscape is the Ruhr Area in the Rhineland.

The Twin Cities I'm speaking of here are pre-industrial settlements that stand out against their rural surroundings, either physically by a man-made border of some sort (paling, earth embankments, moat, walls) or legally (so-called freedoms and city rights bestowed on the settlement and its inhabitants). Such Twin Cities come in several types. The first type of Twin City is one where two nuclei are enveloped within a single urban designation; for instance a trade settlement and a clerical centre, or an administrative settlement and a civilian settlement. Examples of this type are Utrecht, Maastricht, Cologne, Lier and Leeuwarden (where three proto-urban Oldehove, Nijehove and Hoek settlements merged into a single city).

The second type involves the designation of a new trade or government centre opposite or next to a pre-existing settlement. This was often a way of re-establishing the power of the Overlord over a local Nobleman. This type of settlement is widespread in the Low Countries; examples include Oisterwijk, Vught, Eindhoven and Geel. Most of the Twin Cities of this type developed into towns or even market villages if not well positioned rather than cities.

A third type of Twin City involves cities that were born out of a union of two separate dominions. Most often these separate dominions are ecclesial in nature with two nearby settlements -more often than not separated by water as a borderline- and a church and market square each. The most famous example of this type is Nuremberg.  

A fourth type involves the conscious duplication by building a new city next to a pre-existing one, often across a borderline in the shape of  a river or brook. This type is rare and the best known example is Brandenburg on the Havel.

The four types of Twin Cities: (1) Multiple Nuclei, (2) Adjoining Nucleus, (3) United Nuclei and (4) Duplication of Nuclei.

Weathering Winter...

The recent snow showers have blanketed the city showing off all the evergreen foliage. One of the few indigenous species with green leaves in winter is Ivy. As such it is a symbol of everlasting love and of hope. Ivy is quite unique,. not only for its evergreen character but more so for the fact that its life cycle is not dissimilar to that of a tropical plant. Ivy flowers in the autumn and the berries develop during winter ready for germination in the spring. This means that the developing clusters of berries have to weather the winter which can bring snow and ice...