Siege of Venlo (1373)
Encyclopedia
The siege of Venlo in 1373 is one of the many sieges which the Dutch city of Venlo
Venlo
Venlo is a municipality and a city in the southeastern Netherlands, next to the German border. It is situated in the province of Limburg.In 2001, the municipalities of Belfeld and Tegelen were merged into the municipality of Venlo. Tegelen was originally part of the Duchy of Jülich centuries ago,...

 has known. This siege was the first in a long line of sieges which the city has known for centuries.

By the end of the 13th century, Johan van Broeckhuysen was lent the allodium of Venlo
Venlo
Venlo is a municipality and a city in the southeastern Netherlands, next to the German border. It is situated in the province of Limburg.In 2001, the municipalities of Belfeld and Tegelen were merged into the municipality of Venlo. Tegelen was originally part of the Duchy of Jülich centuries ago,...

 as Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

 by the Count of Guelders
Reginald I of Guelders
Reginald I of Guelders . was Count of Guelders from January 10 1271 until his death.He was the son of Otto II, Count of Guelders and Philippe of Dammartin....

. Around 1300, Van Broeckhuysen had build an enhanced Stone House (City Hall
City hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...

). The underground vaults of the house still exist, but in 1597, from the ground floor a new City Hall was built.

In 1343, Venlo was given city rights by Reinoud II of Guelders (who died later that year), and was therefore allowed to build city walls. The construction of this stronghold
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...

 took several decades, but gradually it became a solid structure.

In 1373, the reigning house of Guelders died off (reigning duke Reinoud III of Guelders had no children), and a fight burst out between the two surviving sisters Reinoud III had, Mary and Margaret. Meanwhile, Johan van Broeckhuysen also deceased, but his grandson (also named Johan) wanted the former alodium of his family not to fall into Jülich
Jülich
Jülich is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Jülich is well known as location of a world-famous research centre, the Forschungszentrum Jülich and as shortwave transmission site of Deutsche Welle...

 hands. That same year he organized a force, joined John II of Blois who was married to Mary, and thus took part in the First Guelders Succession War
Guelders war of succession
The Guelders War of Succession was a battle for the throne of the Duchy of Guelders that raged between 1371 and 1379.The war originated when Duke Rainald III died without issue in 1371. His brother, Edward, who had been killed in the Battle of Baesweiler earlier that same year also left no offspring...

.

John of Blois lost the battle, and thus the city of Venlo, and the duchy was joined to the Jülich duchy.
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