Arnold Loef van Ruwiel

Sneuvelde met vele andere ministerialen aan de zijde van de bisschop in 1227 in de slag bij Ane tegen de opstandige heren Van Coevordens.
Bisschoppelijke ministeriaal en raad van de bisschop van Utrecht, vermeld 1201/27. In 1226 als ridder vermeld. Hij bouwde waarschijnlijk het kasteel Ruwiel, waarna zijn zonen zich van Ruwiel gingen noemen. De naam Arnold Loef is kennelijk een patroniem naar zijn vader Luidolfus.

Gijsbert I van Ruwiel (c. 1210 - c. 1248)

He married Goede van Loenersloot. They had 3 children:
- Loeff van Ruwiel
- Gijsbert van Ruwiel ( 1232-?)
- Gerard Splinter van Ruwiel ( 1240-> 1297)

Nijenrode castle

Click on pic for a slideshow

In the 13th century, the cathedral city Utrecht was developing into a market town. In that period, around 1270, Knight Gerard Splinter van Ruwiel laid the first foundations for the Nyenrode Castle. The location of the Castle was well-chosen: a strategic spot on the narrowest part of the bank of the river Vecht. The river Vecht was part of the trade route from the town of Utrecht to the Zuiderzee (Dutch South Sea) and was situated in an area which was heavily disputed by the Bishops of Utrecht and the Counts of Holland. In times of need, one could make use of the surrounding water to defend the Castle.
The Lords Nyenrode dedicated their Castle to the Count of Holland. The Castle was destroyed in 1481 and in 1511. In 1539 the Barons Van den Bongard inherited the Domain of Nyenrode. It was Bernard van den Bongard III who turned the Castle into a Castle-like manor between 1632 and 1642. He also modernized and beautified the outward appearance of the building. The Castle thus was given the typical characteristics of a knightly mansion in the Dutch Renaissance style, namely a house with a Castle-like form and a drawbridge. Many examples of those kind of houses could be found in the province of Utrecht.

The name Nyenrode The name Nyenrode literally means 'newly' (Nyen-) 'developed ground' (-rode).
Over the centuries, Nyenrode has been known by many different names. In captions for illustrations, paintings and brass etchings, you will come across names like Nyenroy, Nienroode, Nijenroden, Niewenrode en Nieurode. The spelling 'Nyenrode' is the name of the Van Nyenrode family, as it is found on the family graves in the Breukelen church.

Gerard Splinter van Ruwiel (or Ruweel) b. ~1240

He built the Nijenrode castle in 1270.
He lived and remained in his 'Ruwiel Castle' on the river Aa close by. See pic below.

Ruwiel was not only the name of the castle, but also of an area, where Lord Ruwiel had (limited) judiciary power. He held court and could fine or convict people. However, the death penalty could only be administered by the Bishop (of Utrecht).
He died after 1297.

Ruwiel castle. Engraving by Jacob Schijnvoet c. 1720

Ghijsbrecht I van Nijenrode

He dropped the last name Van Ruweel and is the first person to apply the name Van Nijenrode, which means of or from Nijenrode. Nijen means Newly and rode means developed ground.
He was Lord of the Castle from 1296-1320.

Dirk II Lord of Brederode (1256-1318)

Dirk (Diderik) van Brederode (1256, Santpoort 16 December 1318, Rheims), died on his pilgrimage journey back from Palestine. He was buried in the Dominican church in Rheims (France).

Dirk became Lord of Brederode in 1285, bailiff of Kennemerland in 1288, and was knighted in 1290. In c. 1290 he married Mary van der Lecke, daughter of Hendrik II (Lord of the Leck) and his wife Jutte van Borsele.

Dirk took part in the campaign against Friesland in 1288 under the command of Floris V of Holland, with a fleet of ships. In the same year he led an army, sent by Floris V, to Utrecht to arrest the Lords of Amstel and Woerden.

Jan III Persijn Lord of Velsen and Waterland (<1298-1353)

He was born before 1298

He married on March 2, 1314 (when he was at least 16 years old) with Jutte van Brederode (1291-1346).

He fought with the Cods against the Hooks in some battles in 1351.

Jan and Jutte lived in the Velsen estate Click on above pic for large graphic.
In 1255 Jan's grandfather (Jan II Persijn 1230-1292) had bought the small, but very defensible estate from the Velsen family. It was surrounded by two moats and was situated on a beach wall at the North Sea.
After that, he and his children called themselves, Persijn van Velsen. Descendants lived in the mansion until 1355.
In 1391 Floris van Haemstede sold the mansion to his cousin Gijsbrecht II van Nijenrode, who gave it as a wedding present to his son Jan van Nijenrode for his marriage (on August 16, 1392) to Margaretha van Mijnden.

In c. 1450, during the Hook and Cod wars, when the estate was still in the possession of the Nijenrode family, it was nearly destroyed. Some time later it was totally rebuilt and restored.

Jan died on December 20, 1353 and was buried at the Abbey of the Leeuwenhorst castle (click here for pic)


Read below what the poet Vondel (the Dutch Shakespeare) said about him in the famous history play Gijsbrecht van Aemstel.
The play was written to inaugurate Amsterdam's first city theatre in 1637, but the story is set in the early 1300s.

Wat riemen voert of zeil heeft d'amirael Persijn

Beslaegen in zijn' dienst by Vries en Waterlanderen.

Al 't omgelegen volck ruckt haestigh by malkanderen,

En treckt vast op den brand van kerck en toorens aen.

 

Helaes, wat ga ick aen? wat koomt my weder over?

Waer zendghe my? mijn lief, Persijn, den grooten roover

Uw' vyand in den mond, die op ons vlamt en loert

Uit Zwaenenburgh, daer hy des graeven vlagge voert?

't Verdriet hem zulck een slot en vasten burgh te derven,

Die ongerechte gift. Uw zaed, uw wettige erven.