Bommenede
Encyclopedia
Bommenede or Bommenee is a former island, village, and municipality in the Netherlands
, located about 5 km east of the city of Brouwershaven
.
. The name was first mentioned in 1165, as insula Bomne. The island was a part of Holland, because the boundary between Holland and Zeeland
lay in the Sonnemere
, the water south of Bommenede.
According to the 19th century historian A.J. van der Aa, John of Bavaria ordered the construction of dykes around the island in 1412, creating the polder
of Bommenede. The village of Bommenede was listed in 1153 as property of the Cistercian monastery of Ter Duinen in Flanders. The village survived two floods in 1530 and 1532 and a fire in 1540. In 1570, Bommenede and the neighbouring polder "Kijkuit" were flooded during the All Saints' Flood.
Because of the strategic location of the village, a defensive wall was built around it in 1574. The following year, the Spanish commander Mondragon
besieged it for 20 days, and shot the village to pieces. At the end of the siege, no more than 20 healthy men survived in the village.
The village was flooded again on January 26, 1682. The destruction was so great, that the Estates of Holland decided not to rebuild the village, and the last inhabitants left in 1684. Some remains of the village (now sometimes referred to as Oud-Bommenede) remained visible for years. Nowadays, there is still some overgrown debris in the waters of the Grevelingen
.
Bommenede was a separate heerlijkheid
, and later a separate municipality (also called "Bommenede en Bloois"), until it was merged with the municipality of Zonnemaire
on January 4, 1866.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, located about 5 km east of the city of Brouwershaven
Brouwershaven
Brouwershaven is a small city on the Grevelingen in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, and lies about 45 km southwest of Hellevoetsluis.Brouwershaven received city rights in 1477....
.
The village of Bommenede
Bommenede was founded in the early 12th centure by monks of the Cistercian monastery of Ter Duinen in Flanders. It was located on one of the four islands that later joined up to form the current island of Schouwen-DuivelandSchouwen-Duiveland
Schouwen-Duiveland is a municipality and an island in the southwestern Netherlands.The Brouwersdam is a dam, part of the Delta Works, from Schouwen-Duiveland to Goedereede, the west part of the island of Goeree-Overflakkee in South Holland....
. The name was first mentioned in 1165, as insula Bomne. The island was a part of Holland, because the boundary between Holland and Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
lay in the Sonnemere
Zonnemaire
Zonnemaire is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, and lies about 19 km southwest of Hellevoetsluis.Zonnemaire was a separate municipality until 1961, when it was merged with Brouwershaven....
, the water south of Bommenede.
According to the 19th century historian A.J. van der Aa, John of Bavaria ordered the construction of dykes around the island in 1412, creating the polder
Polder
A polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments known as dikes, that forms an artificial hydrological entity, meaning it has no connection with outside water other than through manually-operated devices...
of Bommenede. The village of Bommenede was listed in 1153 as property of the Cistercian monastery of Ter Duinen in Flanders. The village survived two floods in 1530 and 1532 and a fire in 1540. In 1570, Bommenede and the neighbouring polder "Kijkuit" were flooded during the All Saints' Flood.
Because of the strategic location of the village, a defensive wall was built around it in 1574. The following year, the Spanish commander Mondragon
Cristóbal de Mondragón
Cristóbal de Mondragón y Mercado was a Spanish general of the Eighty Years' War....
besieged it for 20 days, and shot the village to pieces. At the end of the siege, no more than 20 healthy men survived in the village.
The village was flooded again on January 26, 1682. The destruction was so great, that the Estates of Holland decided not to rebuild the village, and the last inhabitants left in 1684. Some remains of the village (now sometimes referred to as Oud-Bommenede) remained visible for years. Nowadays, there is still some overgrown debris in the waters of the Grevelingen
Grevelingen
Grevelingen or Grevelingenmeer is a former Rhine-Meuse estuary on the border of the Dutch provinces of South Holland and Zeeland that has become a lake due to the Delta Works....
.
Nieuw-Bommenede
Part of the former island was reclaimed from the sea in 1701. In the southern part of the new polder, a new hamlet grew: Nieuw-Bommenede. In the middle of the 19th century, it had about 410 inhabitants.Bommenede was a separate heerlijkheid
Heerlijkheid
A heerlijkheid was the basic administrative and judicial unit in rural areas in Dutch-speaking lands before 1800. It originated in the feudal subdivision of government authority in the Middle Ages. The closest English equivalents of the word are "seigniory" and "manor"...
, and later a separate municipality (also called "Bommenede en Bloois"), until it was merged with the municipality of Zonnemaire
Zonnemaire
Zonnemaire is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, and lies about 19 km southwest of Hellevoetsluis.Zonnemaire was a separate municipality until 1961, when it was merged with Brouwershaven....
on January 4, 1866.