Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

UTRECHT

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 826 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

UTRECHT , a See also:

city of See also:Holland, See also:capital of the See also:province of Utrecht, on the Crooked See also:Rhine, which here divides into the 1 See also:Bishop See also:Mathew (b. 1855) about the See also:year 1892 claimed and for a while assumed the See also:title of See also:earl of See also:Llandaff (sic), as See also:grandson of See also:Arnold Nesbit Mathew (d. 182o), who was said to have been the eldest son of the first earl of Llandaff, though neither he nor his eldest son ever claimed the title (see G. E. C(okayne)), See also:Complete See also:Peerage; corrigenda to vol. v. in vol. viii. p. 450). Old Rhine and the Vecht. Pop. (1go5) 114,321. It is an important junction station 22 m. by See also:rail S.S.E. of See also:Amsterdam. Tramways connect it with Vreeswyk on the Lek (where are the large locks of the Merwede See also:canal), Amsterdam, and by way of De Bilt with Zeist, and thence with See also:Arnhem. It is a picturesque and interesting old See also:town with more See also:regular streets and shady squares and fewer canals than most Dutch towns.

It is an important fortress, forming the See also:

principal point d'appui of the See also:line of defensive inundations called the " New Holland See also:Water Line," in addition to its "position as a railway centre. The defences consist of an inner line of See also:works which preserve the See also:place against surprise, and of an outlying See also:chain of detached forts of fairly See also:modern construction, forming roughly two-thirds of a circle of three See also:miles See also:radius. Of these the works facing the See also:east would in See also:war See also:time See also:cover the See also:assembly of troops destined to operate outside the Water Line, while those of the See also:north and See also:south fronts would be surrounded by inundations and serve chiefly to See also:control the sluices. The line of the See also:ancient ramparts, demolished in 183o, is now only marked by the Singel, or See also:outer canal, which surrounds the See also:oldest See also:part of the city, with pleasant gardens and promenades laid out on the inside. Two canals, the Oude and the Nieuwe Gracht, intersect the town from end to end. On the Oude Gracht the roadway and See also:quay are on different levels, the roadway lying over vaults, which open on the quay See also:wall and are used as cellars and poor dwelling-houses. On the east of the town is the Maliebaan or Mall, consisting of an ancient triple See also:avenue of See also:lime trees, now largely replanted. Utrecht is the seat of a university, and of a See also:Roman See also:Catholic archbishopric. It is also the seat of the See also:archbishop of the Dutch Old Catholics. The Domkerk, dedicated to St See also:Martin, the former See also:cathedral See also:church of the bishops of Utrecht, is a large See also:Gothic See also:building, erected in 1254—1267 on the site of the See also:original church founded by St See also:Willibrord about 720 and completed by Bishop Adelbold about 1015. An open space forming the See also:heart of the square in which the church stands separates the solitary western See also:tower (14th See also:century) from the See also:choir and See also:transept, the See also:nave having been blown down by a violent See also:hurricane in 1674 and never rebuilt. The interior (30 ft. wide and 115 ft. high) has been clumsily fitted up with pews and galleries for See also:Protestant See also:worship, so that the effect of its slender columns is spoilt.

It contains the monuments of See also:

Admiral See also:van Gent (d. 1672) and of Bishops See also:Guy of See also:Hainaut (d. 1317) and See also:George of See also:Egmont (d. 1559), while in the See also:crypt are preserved the See also:hearts of the See also:German emperors See also:Conrad IT. (1039) and See also:Henry V. (1125). The Roman Catholic cathedral of St See also:Catherine See also:dates from 1524 and has been restored in modern times. Other Churches of very See also:early See also:foundation in Utrecht are the Pieterskerk and the Janskerk. Attached to the Domkerk by See also:fine old Gothic cloisters is the university, which was founded in 1634 and enlarged in 1894. The students number some 750, and there are five faculties of See also:theology, See also:law, See also:medicine, See also:mathematics and See also:science, and letters. The aula (restored in 1879) was originally the See also:chapter-See also:house' of the cathedral. Connected with the university are a valuable ibrary, occupying the See also:palace built for See also:Louis See also:Bonaparte, See also:king of Holland, in 1807 and containing upwards of 200,000 volumes and See also:MSS.; a museum of natural See also:history; an ophthalmic See also:institute; See also:physical and chemical laboratories; a veterinary school; a botanic See also:garden; and an See also:observatory.

The archiepiscopal museum (1872) contains examples of all branches of sacred See also:

art in the See also:Netherlands. In the Museum Kunstliefde is a small picture-See also:gallery, chiefly remarkable for some pictures by See also:Jan Scorel (1495-1562); the museum of antiquities contains a See also:miscellaneous collection. Other buildings of See also:interest are the museum of See also:industrial art; the so-called " See also:Pope's house," built in 1517 by See also:Adrian Floriszoon Boeyens, afterwards Pope Adrian VI., and a native of Utrecht; the royal See also:mint of Holland; the Fleshers' See also:Hall (1637); the See also:home for the aged, occupying a 14th-century See also:mansion; the town hall (183o); and the large See also:hospital See also:prison and See also:barracks. The most important industrial establishments are See also:cigar manufactories, manufactories of chemicals and earthenware, and See also:brass foundries, and there is also an active See also:trade in the agricultural produce of the surrounding See also:country. The country See also:round about Utrecht is See also:pretty and plentifully studded with country houses, especially on the road to Arnhem. See also:Close by, on the north-east, is the See also:village of De Bilt, the seat of the Dutch Meteorological Institute. In this See also:parish was formerly situated the famous See also:Benedictine See also:convent of Oostbroek, founded in the beginning of the 12th century. The See also:abbey was demolished in 185o. The See also:manor of Zuilen on the Vecht, four miles north-See also:west of Utrecht, was partly held in See also:fief from this abbey and partly from the bishops of Utrecht. The lords of Zuilen See also:grew very powerful and built a See also:castle here at the end of the 13th century. In 1302 this See also:possession passed by See also:marriage to the influential See also:family of van Borsele, lords of Were and See also:governors of See also:Zeeland. But on the extinction of that house towards the end of the 15th century the castle passed through various hands until it came by marriage in 1665 to the family of See also:Baron van Tuyll van Serooskerke.

The castle was carefully restored in 1752, and is still in excellent preservation. Five miles east of Utrecht is the village of Zeist, the seat of a Moravian See also:

settlement established here in 1746. There are also a fine castle (1667) and grounds, a See also:sanatorium for See also:children and numerous modern See also:villa residences. At Ryzenburg, close by, is a Roman Catholic See also:seminary, founded in connexion with the See also:establishment of the Roman Catholic See also:hierarchy in 1853 and practically serving as an archiepiscopal palace. Utrecht (i.e. Oude Trecht or Old See also:Ford, rendered-in Latin documents Vetus Trajectum) is a city of See also:great antiquity and much historic interest, especially as illustrating the growth of civic liberties during the See also:middle ages. The place existed in Roman times and is mentioned in the itinerary of See also:Antoninus. Though the name Trecht or Trajectum is almost universally found in old documents and on coins, the town was known by another name among the See also:Frisians and See also:Franks. See also:Bede, See also:writing in the 8th century, speaks of Wiltaburg, id est oppidum Wiltorum, lingua autem Gallica Trajectum vocatur. That any such See also:people as the Wilten existed there is little See also:evidence, but Wiltaburg (or variants of it) occurs in See also:chronicles as See also:late as the See also:lath century, and it is still preserved in the_ name Wildenburg, given to a Roman See also:camp near the city. The earliest See also:authentic See also:record of the town is that of the building of a See also:chapel—afterwards destroyed by the See also:heathen Frisians—by Dagobert I., king of the Franks, in 636; but the importance of the place began when St Willibrord (q.v.), the apostle of the Frisians, established his see there. This fact determined the development of the city.

The bishop's seat had to be fortified against the incursions of the heathen Frisians and Northmen, and the See also:

security thus afforded attracted See also:population till, after the destruction of its See also:rival Dorestad by the See also:Normans in the 9th century, Utrecht became the See also:chief commercial centre of the See also:northern Netherlands. Bishop See also:Balderic (A.D. 918–976) was the real founder of the prosperity of the town. On his See also:accession to the see Utrecht had just been sacked by the Northmen. He succeeded in See also:driving the raiders away, rebuilt the walls, and during the fifty-eight years of his episcopate the town grew and prospered. Its See also:gradual acquisition of civic rights followed the same line of development as in the German episcopal cities. At first the bishop, holding immediately of the See also:Empire, was supreme. In feudal subordination to him a royal See also:count, who was also See also:Vogt (advocatus) of the cathedral church of St Martin, had his seat at Utrecht as the chief town of the Gouw (See also:Gau, pagus) of Ifterlake. In the 11th century a See also:burgrave (See also:chatelain, castellanus), who was an episcopal officer, is found exercising See also:jurisdiction in the city as well as the Vogt. Bishop Godebald (1122–1127) granted to the inhabitants of Utrecht and of Muiden, the neighbouring See also:port on the Zuider Zee, their first privileges, which were confirmed on the nand of See also:June 1122 by the See also:emperor Henry V., who died at Utrecht in 1125. The extant imperial See also:charter does not specify what were the municipal rights that were conceded, but it is certain that at this time they were very limited. The magistrates, the Schout or high See also:bailiff and his assessors, the Schepenen (scabini, echevins), were nominated by the burgrave from the See also:order of knights.

In 1196 we read for the first time of councillors (consules, consiliarii, adjurati) as assessors of the magistrates, but these, who a little later were known as the Raad or See also:

council, were also nominated. The position was simplified when, in 1220, See also:Albert van Cuyck, the last of the hereditary burgraves, sold his rights to the bishop. These ecclesiastical princes were churchmen in little but name, and their See also:desire to be See also:absolute rulers found itself confronted by the determination of the burghers to secure greater See also:independence. As the 13th century advanced, the council, representing the wealthy and powerful gild of merchants, began to take a larger See also:share in the See also:government, and to restrict more and more the See also:direct exercise of the episcopal authority. Of the rise of the See also:craft See also:gilds in Utrecht there is no record. They appear suddenly as fully See also:developed organized corporations, able to impose their will upon bishop and See also:aristocracy. All through the 13th century a continual struggle went on, but at last the gilds were victorious and were able to secure in the Gildebrief of 1304, confirmed by the bishop in 1305, a new constitution for the city. According to this, as emended by a later Gildebrief of 1347, the existing See also:board of seven Schepenen were to retain See also:office for See also:life, but the new ones, elected yearly, were in future to be chosen by the Raad either in or outside the gilds. The Raad itself was to be chosen by the aldermen of the gilds. Two aldermen, later styled burgomasters, were to preside, the one over the Schepenen, the other over the Raad, sharing this See also:presidency with two episcopal officials. The Schout was still to be nominated by the bishop from among the knights, but his See also:powers were now comparatively insignificant. The two chief aldermen of the gilds, with the two episcopal See also:official presidents above mentioned, together were to See also:form the supreme government of the city.

The victory of the democratic principle was entirely new in the Netherlands, though it had been anticipated in See also:

Florence, and was perhaps inspired by See also:Italian example. In all other cities of the Netherlands the craft gilds remained in humble subjection to a council co-opted from a limited number of wealthy patrician families. In Utrecht, however, See also:power was henceforth concentrated in the gilds, which became not only trade but See also:political associations, which together constituted the See also:sovereign community. In this government, though the Schepenen retained a dignified See also:precedence, all power was practically concentrated in the popularly elected Raad, even the estates of the see (Sticht) had nothing to say in the city." The new liberties, as might be expected, did not tend to improve the relations between the town of Utrecht and its ecclesiastical sovereign; and the See also:feud reached its See also:climax (1481–84) in the " groote vorlag," or great See also:quarrel, between the citizens and Bishop See also:David, the See also:Bastard of See also:Burgundy, who had been foisted upon the unwilling chapter by the combined pressure of See also:Duke See also:Philip of Burgundy, his See also:half-See also:brother, and the pope. With the aid of See also:John, burgrave of Montfoort, who had been called in, after the manner of the Italian podestas, and endowed with supreme power for the See also:defence of the town, the Utrechters defeated all the efforts of their bishop, aided by the Hollanders and an aristocratic See also:faction. They only succumbed when the See also:weight of the See also:archduke See also:Maximilian was thrown into the See also:scale against them (1484). Even then Bishop David was once more expelled in 1491. The last See also:prince-bishop of Utrecht was Henry of See also:Bavaria, who was elected, in May 1524, in See also:succession to Philip of Burgundy. He took the part of the nobles against the burghers, but Duke See also:Charles of See also:Gelderland, jealous of the growing power of the house of See also:Habsburg, intervened, put an end to the strife, and, in 1527, himself occupied the city. In See also:July of the next year Bishop Henry was back again, having gained possession of the city by surprise; and in the following See also:October he sold; his temporal rights to the emperor Charles V. Utrecht, thus brought into immediate relations with the See also:Spanish Habsburgs, proved no more tolerant of their See also:rule than of that of its bishops, and took a leading part in the revolt of the Netherlands. The See also:union of the seven northern provinces, proclaimed at Utrecht in 1579, laid the foundation of Dutch independence (see NETHERLANDS).

The city proved indeed a refractory member of the new See also:

league; and, after the See also:death of See also:William the Silent, the Utrechters, jealous of the See also:influence of their old enemies the Hollanders, refused to recognize the authority of the council of See also:state, and elected a See also:stadtholder of their own. Inside the city the old aristocratic and democratic factions still carried on their traditional struggle, complicated now by religious difficulties. The Roman Catholics, though still in the See also:majority in the bishopric, had little influence on the politics of the city, where the aristocrats inclined to the moderate (libertine) opinions advocated by the preacher Hubrecht Duifhuis, while the democrats were organized in the new church order introduced by the uncompromising Calvinist Petrus Dathenus (d. 1581). The See also:adhesion of Utrecht to the party of revolt was the See also:work of the aristocratic party, and the See also:critical state of affairs made it for a while dominant in the town. The gilds and burgher See also:militia were deprived of all See also:voice in the government, and the town council became an hereditary See also:body. After the See also:advent of the earl of See also:Leicester as See also:governor-See also:general of the Netherlands in 1585, a See also:change took place. The ultra-Calvinistic Adolph, count of Nuenar, who was elected stadtholder,overthrew the aristocratic government and placed the people in power. The Utrechters, under the See also:leader-See also:ship of See also:Gerard Prouninek, otherwise See also:Deventer, vehemently took the See also:side of Leicester in his quarrel with the estates of Holland, and the See also:English governor-general made the town his headquarters during See also:residence in the Netherlands, and took it under English See also:protection. Though heartily disliked in Holland, Leicester made himself so popular in Utrecht that the burgher guard even presented him with a See also:petition that he would assume the See also:sovereignty. The withdrawal of Leicester from the Netherlands was followed by the defeat of Deventer and the return of the aristocratic party to power. The issue was decided (October 5, 1558) when the democrats were defeated in See also:battle.

Deventer was imprisoned and banished, and the former Schout, See also:

Nicolas van Zuylen van Sevender, was restored to office. An See also:attempt of the democratic party to regain power was temporarily successful (See also:January io, 161o) ; but the estates appealed to the States General and See also:Maurice of See also:Nassau, who had been appointed stadtholder on the death of Nuenar, put down the See also:movement with a strong See also:hand, and the Utrechters found themselves compelled to yield. From this time, until the See also:French Revolution, the ancientdemocratic institutions of the city remained nothing but a name; the rights of the community were exercised by a municipal aristocracy, who held all power in their own hands. The gilds, once supreme, henceforth ceased to have any political importance. At Utrecht the treaty which closed the War of the Spanish Succession was signed on the 11th of See also:April 1713. (G. E.) Au'rH0RlrIEs.–Pieter Bondam, Charterboek der Hertogen van Gelderland, &c., orig. documents with notes (1783); Codex diplomaticus Neerlandicus, tome i. (Utrecht, 1848)—the documents of the first part concern the trade of Utrecht; De Geer van Oudegain, Het oude Trecht (1875) ; W. Junghans, " Utrecht See also:im Mittelalter (in Forschungen zur See also:deutsch. Desch. ix. 513-52D); See also:Laurent P. C. van Bergh, Handboek der Middel Nederlandsche Geographie (See also:Leiden, 1852) ; Karl See also:Hegel, Stadee der Germanischen Volker im Mittelalter (See also:Leipzig, 1891), vol. ii. pp.

291–300. Other works are cited in the bibliography to the See also:

article on the see and province of Utrecht, above.

End of Article: UTRECHT

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
UTOPIA 		[next]
UTRECHT, TREATY OF

Site © 2006 - Net Industries