A Dutch Witch Hunt: Day Trip to Oudewater, Gouda and Montfoort

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Let's continue our discovery project by visiting three charming Dutch historical towns. Oudewater, Gouda and Montfoort have each preserved much of their historical center and a quiet small-town atmosphere. Oudewater is famous for its Witches' Scale, which allowed any person accused of witchcraft to prove his or her innocence. Gouda was one of the main cheese production centers in the Netherlands. Together, they should offer us the chance to enjoy a pleasant Sunday and catch another glimpse of the country's rich past.

We will meet at 9:30 AM, in the main hall of the Amsterdam Central Station, in front of the ticket office (on the right side of the main entrance). We will first travel by train to Utrecht, and then take a bus to Montfoort and later Oudewater. In Oudewater, we will stop for a coffee break. We will continue our trip to Gouda, where we will visit the city center and stop for a late lunch (around 5 PM). Then we will take a direct train back to Amsterdam. We should return early in the evening, but if you need to get back faster there are frequent train connections from Gouda. I hope we will spend a pleasant day together and enjoy another bit of Dutch history : )

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Oudewater was granted city rights in 1265 by Hendrik van Vianden, the bishop of Utrecht. It became an important frontier town between the medieval states of Holland and Utrecht, and developed due to its strategic importance. In 1572, at the start of the Protestant rebellion, Oudewater's representatives attended the First Free States Council in Dordrecht. It became one of the twelve cities taking part in the first free reunion of the States-General, an event considered as the founding moment of the State of the Netherlands.

This "independence congress" was followed however by 80 years of war with Spain: the Spanish Habsburg dynasty, which had ruled the Low Countries for a century, was not willing to let go these rich Northern provinces of their empire. A dramatic episode took place in August 1575: after several weeks of siege, Oudewater was conquered by the Spanish, and most of its citizens were massacred.

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The town recovered after the war. In the following two centuries, Oudewater became an important producer of rope, using the hemp cultivated in the surrounding area. The Touwfabriek G.van der Lee, a rope manufacturing company established in 1545, was the oldest family-owned enterprise in The Netherlands until 2013, when it was taken over by Hendrik Veder Group.

However, the town became famous for a different reason: its Weigh house hosts a scale which was used for proving the innocence (or guilt) of people accused of witchcraft. The people accused would have their weight measured on the large scale (dating from 1482), and receive a certificate that "their body weight is in proportion to their build."(which allegedly proved that they were not practicing witchcraft).

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While it may seem a funny idea now, it was a matter of life or death for the accused: the punishment for witchcraft was severe, and many people accused were burned at the stake for this reason in Europe until the 18th century . According to the local tradition, the City of Oudewater received the privilege for a fair weighing process from the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The reasoning behind the weighing is the old belief that a witch has no soul and therefore weighs significantly less than an ordinary person; this distinction allows the witch to fly on a broomstick for example.

In many countries witchcraft trials were usually rigged, resulting in the burning or drowning of hundreds of innocent people. Oudewater became famous for its refusal to participate in this hysteria: since weighing was an objective process, nobody was ever convicted of being a witch in Oudewater. The Weigh House is today a museum, whose exhibition tells the story of witch persecutions.

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Montfoort also has a rich history. Around the year 1170, the Bishop of Utrecht Godfried van Rhenen build a castle along the river IJssel at a strategic point. This castle was supposed to protect the bishopric against the attacks of the counts of Holland. In addition, the bishop could find refuge there against the citizens of Utrecht, who were sometimes rebelling against his authority. The castle was called Montfoort, (literally "strong mountain"), a common name for medieval fortresses. It contained also a windmill, and the inhabitants of the surrounding villages were forced to use it to grind their grain, providing a stable source of income. A settlement developed around the fortress in the following decades, and it received city rights in 1329.

A knight was appointed as the first commander of the fortress, receiving the title of Viscount of Montfoort. The Viscounts of Montfoort came several times in conflict with their lord, the bishop of Utrecht. The bishop besieged the town in 1387 and the Viscounts had to capitulate in the end. In the year 1448, the viscounts conquered the city of Woerden, situated a few kilometers further.

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The Knights Hospitaller built a commandery in Montfoort in 1544 (a part of the building still exists today). It contained a chapel, a cloister and a living area, built in late Gothic style . Following the country's switch to protestantism, the building was secularized only a few decades later.

In 1648 debts forced the viscount of Montfoort to sell his rights and possessions, and the town gained its full independence. In 1672, the "disaster year" in Dutch history, Montfoort was occupied by the French troops and its castle was destroyed.

The town's economy was traditionally based on the agriculture of the surrounding countryside. Like Oudewater, it also had a rope industry, and also a manufacture of buttons, which gave the inhabitants the nickname of "knob turners".

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The name Gouda was first mentioned in 1139, in a document issued by the Bishop of Utrecht. The town developed around a castle, built to defend the local harbor, placed at an important crossroad for trade with Flanders, France and the Baltic Sea. In 1272 Floris V, Count of Holland, granted it city rights.

In the following centuries, Gouda had an agitated history. Great fires destroyed it almost completely in 1361 and 1438. In 1572, it was occupied by Les Gueux (the Dutch rebels against the Spanish King) who also committed arson and destruction. The castle was demolished in this period too, to avoid the risk of it being recaptured by the Spanish. In 1574, 1625, 1636 and 1673, Gouda suffered from deadly plague epidemics. The last one was the most severe: 2995 persons died, about 20% of its population.

Despite these disasters, the city developed economically in the first half of the 17th century, reaching the highest prosperity between 1665 and 1672. But its economy collapsed again in 1672, when war broke out with France, followed by plague in 1673. After 1700, it enjoyed a period of progress and prosperity until 1730. Then another recession followed, resulting in a long period of decline that lasted well into the 19th century. Gouda was one of the poorest cities in the country during that period: the terms "Goudaner" and "beggar" were considered synonyms.

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In the second half of the 19th century, Gouda was able to take advantage of the improving economic conditions of the country, due to the Industrial Revolution. New local companies developed, such as Stearine Kaarsenfabriek (Stearine Candle Factory) and Machinale Garenspinnerij (Mechanized Yarn Spinnery). In 1855, the railway Gouda-Utrecht was inaugurated. Large-scale development took place at the beginning of the 20st century, extending the city beyond its medieval walls. First the new neighborhoods Korte Akkeren, Kort Haarlem and Kadebuurt were built, followed by Oosterwei, Bloemendaal, and Goverwelle after World War II. In the last decades however, there has been a shift from expanding the city towards urban renewal and gentrification.

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Gouda is world famous for its cheese, which is still traded in the local cheese market held each Thursday. The cheese is not made in the city itself, but in the surrounding region. It derives its name from being traded in Gouda, where the city council imposes stringent quality controls.

Another important Gouda product was pottery. Earthenware products were manufactured in in the city as early as the beginning of the eighteenth century; at that time, the town was famous for its clay pipes. At the end of the nineteenth century the emphasis moved to decorative objects, and for three decades beautiful plates, vases and jugs were produced by several local factories, most notably PZH and Plateelbakkerij Zuid-Holland. At that moment the ceramics industry was one of the main employment sources for the city. The products are recognizable by their bright colors and Art Nouveau or Art Deco patterns. By the start of the 1930s however, the global economic climate forced most of their producers to close down. A few companies resisted, but the heyday of Gouda pottery was during the first thirty years of the twentieth century. The products are still very popular among collectors worldwide.

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