Send Gift Baskets to Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

The city’s official name, ‘Amsterdam,’ is a contraction of the Dutch words ‘Amstel’ and ‘dam’ – which mean hill and water, respectively. The duke in question was Henry I of Brabant, whose family had owned a large estate nearby Orthen for at least four centuries before owning parts of modern-day Amsterdam. The town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch was founded in 1185 by Radboud. This is usually the date given by later chroniclers, but many historians think it may have been established as early as 1178. It has city rights and trade privileges to support its economy that were granted one year later in 1186. The original charter of Amsterdam has gone missing; it was written by the founder, who intended for the city to be a fortress and to protect his interests against outsiders. He wants his descendants (the Patrons) to remain in control of this very foundation. The city of Bruges in Belgium was destroyed for the first time in 1203 after King Philip of France captured it. It was soon rebuilt, and many remnants of the original city walls remain.

In the late 14th century, Amsterdam was rapidly expanding, so an enormous wall was erected to protect its inhabitants. Artificial waterways were dug at that time and ultimately were used to form a moat. Eventually, these rivers were diverted and served as city water sources and were born in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and home to one of the most important painters of the Northern Renaissance period, Hieronymus Bosch. Even though the fire happened over 550 years ago, it’s likely that Bosch witnessed the disaster and was inspired by its vivid imagery.

Until 1520, the city flourished, becoming the second-largest population center in the territory of the present-day Netherlands. The town was also a music center, and composers, including Jheronimus Clibano, received training there. Other people have held roles at the ‘s-Hertogenbosch: one such person is Matthaeus Pipelare, who was the musical director of this place. Moreover, Pierre Alamire was a renowned composer and copyist who had done much of his work here.