GORINCHEM – High above the Dalemsedijk a kite floats. It stays in the air for a moment, but then a gust of wind catches it and the thing crashes to the ground. Pieter Floore, city archaeologist for the municipality of Gorinchem, says an ugly word. There is an expensive camera hanging from the kite. He wanted to use it to map the terrain to help with the investigations into the old castle of the Lords of Arkel to be able to carry out in a more targeted manner.
Part of the excavation site along the Dalemsedijk
Until now it was assumed that the castle, which was demolished in 1412, stood on the other side of the dike.
Last week a coin hunter went to look at the excavations between the dike and the Merwede, near the De Hoop mill he suddenly came across the remains of a foundation. He called Martin Veen, who was involved in the excavations of the castle on the other side of the dike in 1977. "At the time someone wanted to build a villa there with an underground garage," says Veen. "And then the remains of a castle were found. People also found stone balls. Unfortunately, an excavation was never possible there. We thought that was where it ended, but now it turns out that the castle is much larger than we ever thought."
Veen does not dare to say exactly how big the castle was. "For the time being, we assume that the main castle was on the other side of the dike and that the outer bailey was between the river and the current dike. But it could also be that this is the middle castle and the outer bailey is even closer to the river."
Arkels' grave monument in the Great Church in Gorinchem
The castle was owned by Jan van Arkel, feudal lord of the Land van Arkel in those days, the land between the Lek and the Merwede. This included Gorinchem, Schelluinen, Noordeloos, Hoornaar, Hoogblokland, Arkel, Nieuweland, Oosterwijk, Rietveld, Kedichem, Leerbroek, Dalem, Leerdam and the fortresses of Hagestein and Everdingen. The land was wedged between the duchies of Brabant and Gelre, the Sticht Utrecht and the county of Holland. The ambitious Jan van Arkel owed allegiance to the count of Holland.
In those days, the son of Albrecht of Holland, Willem of Bavaria, was busy expanding his position of power. He marched with his army to Friesland to strengthen the Dutch authority there and also to curb piracy on the Zuiderzee. Jan van Arkel also had to participate in this, but it was not done wholeheartedly. In 1401, Jan had had enough and renounced his allegiance to the county of Holland.
This also had to do with the Hoekse and Kabeljauwse disputes that were in full swing. The Arkels belonged to the Kabeljauwen and the Count of Holland to the Hoeken. A reaction was inevitable. William of Bavaria persuaded his senile father to take up arms against the Arkels. He found allies among the Dutch cities, including Dordrecht. These cities did not appreciate the high toll that Jan van Arkel had imposed on the Lek. The city of Utrecht also joined William for this reason.
The first attack came from Jan van Arkel. In 1401 he attacked Oudewater, part of the county of Holland. When this failed he razed the castle of Giessenburg to the ground. Willem, who was the de facto ruler of Holland due to the mental decline of his father, then invaded the Land of Arkel and plundered several villages. Between Hoornaar and Hoogblokland his army was attacked in the flank by Jan van Arkel and put to flight.
Arkel Wars
This was the beginning of the Arkel wars. These ended in 1402 with a defeat for Jan van Arkel who had to swear allegiance to the count of Holland again in order not to lose his possessions. The Dutch cities were satisfied with the result because they were relieved of the toll on the Lek.
One of the stone cannonballs used in the siege of the castle
The imperious William was less pleased with the result. He had wanted to destroy the Arkels completely, but this time his father asserted his authority. In 1402, however, Count Albrecht laid down his weary head and William became ruler of Holland. It was clear to everyone that only a small cause was needed to reignite the battle.
This happened in 1404 after a border incident. This time the bishop of Utrecht, Frederik van Blankenheim, joined Holland. Together they besieged the fortresses of Hagestein and Everstein, conquered them in 1405 and had them demolished to the ground. Jan van Arkel had lost control of the Lek. Jan van Arkel only really got into trouble when the citizens of Gorinchem started to stir. There was growing discontent in the city about the hopeless war, which left the land undeveloped.
The Gorcumers therefore persuaded Jan van Arkel's son, Willem van Arkel, to take over the government of the city in 1406. He accepted and promised to defend the city against his father. Shortly afterwards, Willem reconciled with his father, because he noticed that the aldermen of Gorinchem were abusing him and did not give him any real power.
The citizens quickly sent a message to Count Willem van Beieren. He was offered the keys to the city if he would protect it from the revenge of Jan van Arkel. It goes without saying that Willem seized this windfall with both hands. Jan van Arkel was then able to lay siege to his own city out of desperation, which he only managed to capture in 1407.
But the protracted war had so depleted the reserves of the Arkels that they could no longer maintain their fief. Jan van Arkel refused to ask his arch-enemy, Count Willem, for peace. Instead, he sought rapprochement with the Duke of Gelre, Reinald. Jan van Arkel accepted the Duke as his liege lord on condition that the Land of Arkel would never be separated from Gelre. In 1409, the transfer was sealed.
Rubble and wall anchor from collapsed castle walls.
This turn of events did not please Count Willem at all and then the battle broke out between Gelre and Holland. This war lasted two long years in which neither party could achieve a major victory. The duke and the count decided to negotiate. The once so powerful Land van Arkel had meanwhile become a plaything of the great lords.
The Arkels had no influence on the talks and the final peace treaties meant the death blow for Jan van Arkel. He was forced by Reinald to transfer his fief to his arch enemy Willem. In return, Jan van Arkel received the small lordship of Ooyen in Gelre. Reinald received 100.000 crowns from Count Willem for the Land of Arkel.
Break down
Count Willem, when he was inaugurated as lord of the land in Gorinchem on 24 August 1412, immediately had the castle of his hated enemy demolished. The Land of Arkel was from that moment on Dutch possession.
The Arkel wars ended with a total defeat for the proud Jan van Arkel who was captured in Brabant in 1415 and handed over to Count Willem. He was held captive in Gouda until 1425. In 1428 the once so powerful Lord of Arkel died.
With the demolition of the castle, a lot of knowledge about these turbulent times was lost to posterity. "All maps of the castle have disappeared. We do not know what the castle looked like," says Veen. The upcoming excavations will not change much, according to Veen and Floore. There is no money and time for expensive excavations.
However, the archaeologists are pleased that the Polder district Tieler and Culemborgerwaarden, the current owner of the site, wants to make the area an ecologically responsible bank. "Because nothing is being built on it, we may be able to scan the site with ground radar in the future," says Floore. "Then we can find out exactly how big the castle was. That is even better than excavations, because then nothing is lost. That is the ambivalent thing about archaeology. You destroy what you have excavated. And we do not want to start that. The castle is too valuable for that.
The Dordrecht resident
August 28, 1996
Arjan de Heer