The origin of Brederode Castle The House of Brederode was a noble family, who descended from the Lords Of Teylingen, who would again descend from the Counts of Holland
The origin of Brederode Castle
The House of Brederode was a noble family, who descended from the Lords Of Teylingen, who would again descend from the Counts of Holland. Dirk van Teylingen (also called Dirk I van Brederode), a younger son of William van Teylingen, is seen by historians as the founder of the House of Brederode, although this is not entirely certain. In 1226 he was appointed as a landdrost at the court of the Count of Holland and, in the absence of the Count, was his first substitute.
The Counts of Holland continually fought against the surrounding regions and also against West Frisia. Count William II was killed in that battle. His son Floris V took revenge, defeated the West-Frisians and built a number of strong castles to nip further rebellions in the bud.
One of those castles, Brederode, was built at the end of the 13th century by Dirk van Brederodes son William (2nd Lord) and his wife Hillegonda van Voorne. The castle was located in a strategic position, near the house Aelbertsberg. This hunting lodge of Count Floris V, probably was at the present Caprera at Bloemendaal. William was, as well as many of his male offspring, bailiff (a senior civil servant) of Kennemerland.
His granddaughter Catherine married John I of Polanen and became an ancestress of the House of Orange, the present Dutch royal family. One of the titles of the Dutch monarch, King Willem-Alexander, is still Lord of Polanen.
The Castle destroyed for the 1st time
Around 1350 a battle broke out to the county of Holland between Margaret of Bavaria and her 13-year-old son William V. This was the beginning of the Hook and Cod Wars. Dirk III (5th Lord) chose the side of Margaret and became the captain of de Hook faction. Dirk was defeated and captured and Brederode Castle was destroyed. Three years later Dirk was released and in 1354 he rebuilt his castle. But the Hook and Cod Wars continued until the end of the 15th century and in 1426 the castle was destroyed again. This time by the Cods from Haarlem.
From 1414 onwards, the Lords of Brederode used to live at Batestein Castle in Vianen, after the marriage of Walraven I (8th Lord) with Joanna of Vianen.
Half a castle
Reinoud II (9th lord) made the north side of Brederode Castle habitable again in a slimmed-down form, as a nobleman’s house, around 1464. After his death, his widow Yolande de Lalaing, who was the daughter of William de Lalaing, stadtholder of Holland, moved into the castle. She would be the last occupant, until 1492. The castle was damaged by German mercenaries during the ‘Bread and Cheese Revolt’. Habitation was no longer possible. The final blow for the castle was in 1573 after the siege of Haarlem by Spanish soldiers during the Eighty Years War. The castle turned into a ruin.
A national monument
In the 19th century Brederode Castle became one of the first national monuments of the Netherlands where experience with restoration was gained. The restoration was carried out by Pierre Cuypers, architect of the Rijksmuseum building and the central station, both in Amsterdam. Nobody knows how the castle looked like. Nowadays we know mistakes were made during this restoration. For instance, the courtyard was dug out too deeply, because they wrongly thought there had been cellars underneath. There are also embrasures in the walls around the courtyard that originally never were there.
Brederode during World War II
In the book ‘Velsen Bezet en Bevrijd’ (Velsen occupied and liberated), written by G.G.E. Hartendorf, you will find description of the Castle during wartime.
Click here for the chapter (in Dutch) ‘Joden en NSB-ers samen naar de film’ (p. 119-121)
During his hiding period, Mr. M.P. van Dijk made a scale model of Brederode Castle. He made the little bricks out of real bricks. After the war, the then manager of the Castle, Mr Van der Kort, also made a scale model. This is on display in the chapel tower of the Castle.
It is not known at this time where Mr Van Dijk was hiding. The scale model is in the possession of the Museon in The Hague.
Brederode nowadays
Nowadays, many descendants of the Lords of Brederode still live, but only in the female and bastard lines, see www.huisbrederode.nl (Dutch) The castle has been owned by Monumentenbezit since 2016, is managed by the volunteers and administrators of the non-profit foundation Stichting Heerlijkheid Brederode and is open to the public from March to October.
Free
Free
Free
Free
Souvenir Shop
info@ruinevanbrederode.nl
Castle ruins