Editing Kampen, Overijssel (section)

==History==

===Middle Ages===
By 1150, there were already wooden buildings on the site where Kampen is currently located. The name Kampen, however, is not mentioned until 1277. The city has had [[city rights in the Low Countries|city rights]] since 1236. As a result of its convenient location on the busy trade route between the [[Zuiderzee]] and the [[Rhine]], Kampen quickly developed from simple settlements into a prosperous trading town, to become one of the most powerful and leading cities of northwestern Europe. In the 14th century, Kampen exchanged with the [[Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht|bishop of Utrecht]], Jan van Arkel, the [[Mastenbroek]] polder against the right to increase the IJsseldelta.

The silting up of the [[IJssel]] brought a gradual end to the prosperity of Kampen from 1430 on. For a long time Kampen did not want to sign a union and make economic and [[concession (politics)|political concessions]] to other cities, as was usual in the [[Hanseatic League]]. When the [[County of Holland]] went to war with the Hanseatic League this situation came to an end: the city was forced to choose a side in the war. Kampen was originally more oriented toward the Baltic trade and commerce with the hinterland of the Rhine, and therefore in 1441 formally joined the Hanseatic League. The city had much influence in the League; despite loud protests from the other towns in lower reaches of the IJssel and from other Hanseatic cities, the League agreed in 1448 to build a bridge over the river.<ref name="Kok">''Kampen in fragmenten'', drs. René van Mierlo, 1990, Kok.</ref>  This project was accomplished in just five months. With this bridge Kampen hoped to be able to develop closer relationships with the hinterland.

===Post-Medieval===
[[File:Blaeu 1652 - Kampen.jpg|thumb|left|Kampen (''Blaeu's Toonneel der Steden'' Dutch city maps, by Willem and Joan Blaeu, 1652]]
[[File:Hendrick Avercamp - Winterlandschap met schaatsers bij de stad Kampen.jpg|thumb|Winter landscape with skaters c. 1625]]
On 11 August 1572 Kampen was conquered from the Spaniards by Willem van den Bergh, a brother of [[William the Silent|William of Orange]]. After the massacre of [[Zutphen]] on 15 November, the city voluntarily surrendered to the Spanish. In 1578, the city changed ownership again after the [[Siege]] of Kampen, led by [[George van Lalaing]]. Due to its right to increase the IJsseldelta, Kampen was owner of the growing Kampereiland. From 1500 the islands were leased. The rents were so large that the city did not need to raise taxes.

In October 1670, Kampen was the first of four Dutch cities to raise capital by issuing a [[Tontine]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ADsPCAAAQBAJ&dq=kampen+tontine+1670&pg=PA58|title=King William's Tontine: Why the Retirement Annuity of the Future Should Resemble its Past|first=Moshe A.|last=Milevsky|date=April 13, 2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107076129|via=Google Books}}</ref> 

The [[Franco-Dutch War]], fought by the [[Dutch Republic|Republic of the United Netherlands]] against the [[France|Kingdom of France]], [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]], the [[Bishopric of Münster]], the [[Electorate of Cologne|Archbishopric of Cologne]] and the [[Kingdom of England]], marked a definitive end to the enormous power of the city.

Kampen only became well known again in the 19th century. The city was difficult to reach from the sea, because the surrounding wetlands became silted up and shallow. During the preceding centuries, the watercourse of the river IJssel was dredged several times, but the costs were relatively high and within a few years, the river silted up again. As the IJssel had several delta-like mouths here, the main route of the river shifted several times. In the 19th century, a new strategy was put in place to counter this problem: some watercourses were dammed to allow for more water at a higher speed through one or two main routes. This had the advantage that less sand and silt were deposited and resulted in a river course that "swept itself clean". A key figure in this story is city architect {{ill|Nicolaas Plomp|nl}}, who, besides his work for the current IJssel front of the city of Kampen, was also involved in hydraulic engineering. Due to the emerging industry in the 19th century and the importance of roads and railways for the economy, highways and paved roads were constructed to replace transportation over sand and mud roads.