Editing Utrecht (section)

== History ==
{{For timeline}}

===Origins (before 650 CE)===
[[File:Traiectum - Wttecht - Utrecht (Atlas van Loon).jpg|thumb|left|[[Willem Blaeu]]'s 1652 map of Utrecht (here ''Traiectum Wttrecht'') with its canals and fortifications with nurseries in green on the outside. North is to the left.]]

Although there is some evidence of earlier inhabitation in the region of Utrecht, dating back to the [[Stone Age]] (app. 2200 [[BCE]]) and settling in the [[Bronze Age]] (app. 1800–800&nbsp;BCE),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.utrecht.nl/smartsite.dws?id=163711 |title=Gemeente Utrecht, Geschiedenis Utrecht voor 1528 |access-date=8 September 2008 |archive-date=16 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016132507/http://www.utrecht.nl/smartsite.dws?id=163711 |url-status=live }}</ref> the founding date of the city is usually related to the construction of a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[fortification]] (''[[castellum]]''), probably built in around 50 [[Current Era|CE]]. A series of such fortresses were built after the [[Roman emperor]] [[Claudius]] decided the empire should not expand further north. To consolidate the border, the [[Limes Germanicus]] defense line was constructed<ref name="20eUtrecht">{{cite book |last1=de Bruin |first1=R.E. |last2=Hoekstra |first2=T.J. |last3=Pietersma |first3=A. |author-link3=Albert Pietersma |title=Twintig eeuwen Utrecht, korte geschiedenis van de stad |publisher=SPOU & Het Utrechts Archief |location=Utrecht |year=1999 |language=nl |isbn=90-5479-040-7}}</ref> along the main branch of the river [[Rhine]], which at that time traversed a more northern route (now known as the [[Kromme Rijn]], ''Crooked Rhine'') compared to today's Rhine flow. These fortresses were designed to house a [[cohort (military unit)|cohort]] of about 500 Roman soldiers. Near the fort, settlements grew that housed [[artisan]]s, traders and soldiers' wives and children.

In Roman times, the name of the Utrecht fortress was simply ''[[Traiectum (Utrecht)|Traiectum]]'', denoting its location at a possible Rhine crossing. Traiectum became Dutch Trecht; with the U from [[Old Dutch]] "uut" (downriver) added to distinguish U-trecht from [[Maastricht|Maas-tricht]],<ref>{{cite web |author=Het Utrechts Archief |title=Het ontstaan van de stad Utrecht (tot 100) |url=http://www.hetutrechtsarchief.nl/werkstukken/onderwerpen/ontstaan-utrecht |language=nl |access-date=21 October 2009 |archive-date=2 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502015136/http://www.hetutrechtsarchief.nl/werkstukken/onderwerpen/ontstaan-utrecht |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=van der Sijs |first=Nicoline |title=Chronologisch woordenboek. De ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen |url=http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/sijs002chro01_01/sijs002chro01_01_0010.htm |location=Amsterdam / Antwerp |year=2001 |page=100 |language=nl |isbn=90-204-2045-3 |access-date=21 October 2009 |archive-date=29 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229085936/http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/sijs002chro01_01/sijs002chro01_01_0010.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> on the river [[Meuse]]. In 11th-century official documents, it was Latinized as Ultra Traiectum. Around the year 200, the wooden walls of the fortification were replaced by sturdier [[tuff]] stone walls,<ref>{{cite book |last=Kloosterman |first=R.P.J. |title=Lichte Gaard 9. Archeologisch onderzoek naar het castellum en het bisschoppelijk paleis. Basisrapportage archeologie 41 |url=http://www.utrecht.nl/images/DSO/monumenten/publicaties/Basisrapportages_Archeologie/BRArch_41_Lichte_Gaard/BrArch41_Lichte_Gaard.pdf |publisher=StadsOntwikkeling gemeente Utrecht |year=2010 |isbn=978-90-73448-39-1 |access-date=15 February 2011 |archive-date=6 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206203657/http://www.utrecht.nl/images/DSO/monumenten/publicaties/Basisrapportages_Archeologie/BRArch_41_Lichte_Gaard/BrArch41_Lichte_Gaard.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> remnants of which are still to be found below the buildings around Dom Square.

From the middle of the 3rd century, [[Germanic Tribes|Germanic tribes]] regularly invaded the Roman territories. After around 275 the Romans could no longer maintain the northern border, and Utrecht was abandoned.<ref name="20eUtrecht"/> Little is known about the period from 270 to 650. Utrecht is first spoken of again several centuries after the Romans left. Under the influence of the growing realms of the [[Franks]], during [[Dagobert I]]'s reign in the 7th century, a church was built within the walls of the Roman fortress.<ref name="20eUtrecht"/> In ongoing border conflicts with the [[Frisians]], this first church was destroyed.

===Centre of Christianity in the Netherlands (650–1579)===
[[File:Dom in Utrecht - panoramio.jpg|thumb|The [[Dom Tower of Utrecht|Dom Tower]] seen from the Stadhuisbrug (Town Hall Bridge) in the city centre, 2013. The remaining section of the [[St. Martin's Cathedral, Utrecht|Cathedral of Saint Martin]] is not connected to the tower (in the background) since the collapse of the [[nave]] on August 1, 1674 due to a storm.]]
{{Main articles|Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht}}

By the mid-7th century, British, English and Irish [[missionaries]] set out to convert the [[Frisians]]. [[Pope Sergius I]] appointed their leader, Saint [[Willibrordus]], as bishop of the Frisians. The tenure of Willibrordus is generally considered to be the beginning of the [[Archdiocese of Utrecht (695–1580)|Bishopric of Utrecht]].<ref name="20eUtrecht"/> In 723, the Frankish leader [[Charles Martel]] bestowed the fortress in Utrecht and the surrounding lands as the base of the bishops. From then on Utrecht became one of the most influential seats of power for the Catholic Church in the Netherlands. The archbishops of Utrecht were based at the uneasy northern border of the [[Carolingian Empire]]. In addition, the city of Utrecht had competition from the nearby trading centre [[Dorestad]].<ref name="20eUtrecht"/> After the fall of Dorestad around 850, Utrecht became one of the most important cities in the Netherlands.<ref>{{cite book |last=van der Tuuk |first=Luit |editor-last=van der Eerden |editor-first=Ria |display-editors=etal |chapter=Denen in Dorestad |title=Jaarboek Oud Utrecht 2005 |publisher=SPOU |location=Utrecht |year=2005 |pages=5–40 |language=nl |isbn=90-71108-24-4}}</ref> The importance of Utrecht as a centre of Christianity is illustrated by the election of the Utrecht-born [[Pope Adrian VI|Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens]] as [[pope]] in 1522 (the last non-Italian pope before [[John Paul II]]).

====Prince-bishops====
{{main|Archdiocese of Utrecht (695–1580)}}
When the Frankish rulers established the system of [[feudalism]], the [[Bishop]]s of Utrecht came to exercise worldly power as [[prince-bishop]]s.<ref name="20eUtrecht"/> The territory of the bishopric not only included the modern province of Utrecht (Nedersticht, 'lower [[Sticht]]'), but also extended to the northeast. The feudal conflict of the [[Middle Ages]] heavily affected Utrecht. The prince-bishopric was involved in almost continuous conflicts with the Counts of [[County of Holland|Holland]] and the Dukes of [[Guelders]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Janssen |first=H.P.H. |title=Geschiedenis van de Middeleeuwen |publisher=Aula |location=Utrecht |edition=12th |year=2002 |pages=289–296 |language=nl |isbn=90-274-5377-2}}</ref> The [[Veluwe]] region was seized by Guelders, but large areas in the modern province of [[Overijssel]] remained as the Oversticht.

====Religious buildings====
Several churches and monasteries were built inside, or close to, the city of Utrecht. The most dominant of these was the [[Cathedral of Saint Martin, Utrecht|Cathedral of Saint Martin]], inside the old Roman fortress. The construction of the present [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] building was begun in 1254 after an earlier [[Romanesque architecture|romanesque]] construction had been badly damaged by fire. The [[Choir (architecture)|choir]] and [[transept]] were finished from 1320 and were followed then by the ambitious [[Dom Tower of Utrecht|Dom tower]].<ref name="20eUtrecht"/> The last part to be constructed was the central [[nave]], from 1420. By that time, however, the age of the great cathedrals had come to an end and declining finances prevented the ambitious project from being finished, the construction of the central nave being suspended before the planned [[flying buttress]]es could be finished.<ref name="20eUtrecht"/>
Besides the cathedral there were four [[collegiate church]]es in Utrecht: [[St. Salvator's Church]] (demolished in the 16th century), on the Dom square, dating back to the early 8th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stöver |first=R.J. |title=De Salvator- of Oudmunsterkerk te Utrecht, Stichtingsmonument van het bisdom Utrecht |language=nl |year=1997 |location=Utrecht}}</ref> Saint [[John the Baptist|John]] (Janskerk), originating in 1040;<ref>{{cite web |title=Janskerk Informatie |url=http://www.janskerkutrecht.nl/ |access-date=6 January 2008 |archive-date=30 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230083733/http://www.janskerkutrecht.nl/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Pieterskerk, Utrecht|Saint Peter]], building started in 1039<ref>{{cite web |title=Sint Pieterskerk Utrecht |url=http://www.planetware.com/utrecht/st-pieterskerk-nl-ut-piet.htm |access-date=5 January 2008 |archive-date=3 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080303170005/http://www.planetware.com/utrecht/st-pieterskerk-nl-ut-piet.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Saint Mary]]'s church building started around 1090 (demolished in the early 19th century, cloister survives).<ref>{{cite book |last=Haverkate |first=H.M. |title=Een kerk van papier. De geschiedenis van de voormalige Mariakerk te Utrecht |language=nl |year=1985 |location=Zutphen, the Netherlands}}</ref>
Besides these churches, the city housed [[St. Paul's Abbey, Utrecht|St. Paul's Abbey]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Broer |first=C.J.C. |title=Uniek in de stad. De oudste geschiedenis van de kloostergemeenschap op de Hohorst sinds 1050 de Sint-Paulusabdij te Utrecht |language=nl |year=2000 |location=Utrecht}}</ref> the 15th-century [[Begijnhof, Utrecht|beguinage of St. Nicholas]], and a 14th-century chapter house of the [[Teutonic Knights]].<ref name="Karel V">{{cite web |title=Karel V |language=nl |url=http://www.karelv.nl/ |access-date=6 January 2008 |archive-date=17 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217220152/http://www.karelv.nl/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Besides these buildings which belonged to the bishopric, an additional four [[parish church]]es were constructed in the city: the [[Jacobikerk]] ([[James, son of Zebedee|dedicated to Saint James]]), founded in the 11th century, with the current Gothic church dating back to the 14th century;<ref>{{cite web |title=Jacobikerk |url=http://www.jacobikerk.nl/ |access-date=6 January 2008 |archive-date=9 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109205733/http://www.jacobikerk.nl/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the Buurkerk (Neighbourhood-church) of the 11th-century parish in the centre of the city; Nicolaichurch (dedicated to [[Saint Nicholas]]), from the 12th century,<ref>{{cite web |title=Nicolaikerk |url=http://www.nicolaikerk.nl/ |access-date=6 January 2008 |archive-date=24 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224223244/http://www.nicolaikerk.nl/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and the 13th-century Geertekerk (dedicated to Saint [[Gertrude of Nivelles]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=Geertekerk – Remonstrantse Gemeente Utrecht |url=http://www.geertekerk.nl/ |access-date=6 January 2008 |archive-date=5 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205235942/http://www.geertekerk.nl/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

====City of Utrecht====
Its location on the banks of the river Rhine allowed Utrecht to become an important trade centre in the Northern Netherlands. The growing town was granted [[City rights in the Netherlands|city rights]] by [[Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry V]] at Utrecht on 2 June 1122. When the main flow of the Rhine moved south, the old bed which still flowed through the heart of the town became ever more [[canal]]ized; and the wharf system was built as an inner city harbour system.<ref>{{cite web |title=De Utrechtse (Werven |language=nl |publisher=Gemeente Utrecht |url=http://www.utrecht.nl/smartsite.dws?id=168424 |access-date=27 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016132529/http://www.utrecht.nl/smartsite.dws?id=168424 |archive-date=16 October 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On the wharfs, storage facilities (''werfkelders'') were built, on top of which the main street, including houses, was constructed. The wharfs and the cellars are accessible from a platform at water level with stairs descending from the street level to form a unique structure.<ref group=nb>Almost all other canal cities in The Netherlands (such as Amsterdam and Delft) have the water in canals bordering directly to the road surface</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Historic wharf photos from the Utrecht City Archive |publisher=Utrecht City Archive |url=http://www.hetutrechtsarchief.nl/atlantis_treffers.asp?trefwoord=werven |access-date=27 January 2008}}{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The relations between the bishop, who controlled many lands outside of the city, and the citizens of Utrecht was not always easy.<ref name="20eUtrecht"/> The bishop, for example dammed the [[Kromme Rijn]] at [[Wijk bij Duurstede]] to protect his estates from flooding. This threatened shipping for the city and led the city of Utrecht to commission a canal to ensure access to the town for shipping trade: the Vaartse Rijn, connecting Utrecht to the [[Hollandse IJssel]] at [[IJsselstein]].

====The end of independence====
In 1528 the bishop lost secular power over both Neder- and Oversticht—which included the city of Utrecht—to [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]]. Charles V combined the [[Seventeen Provinces]] (the current [[Benelux]] and the northern parts of France) as a personal union. This ended the prince-bishopric of Utrecht, as the secular rule was now the [[lordship of Utrecht]], with the religious power remaining with the bishop, although Charles V had gained the right to appoint new bishops. In 1559 the bishopric of Utrecht was raised to archbishopric to make it the religious centre of the Northern [[ecclesiastical province]] in the Seventeen Provinces.

The transition from independence to a relatively minor part of a larger union was not easily accepted. To quell uprisings, Charles V struggled to exert his power over the city's citizens who had struggled to gain a certain level of independence from the bishops and were not willing to cede this to their new lord. The heavily fortified castle [[Vredenburg (castle)|Vredenburg]] was built to house a large garrison whose main task was to maintain control over the city. The castle would last less than 50&nbsp;years before it was demolished in an uprising in the early stages of the [[Dutch Revolt]].

===Republic of the Netherlands (1579–1806)===
[[File:Lambert de Hondt (II) - The Surrender of Utrecht.jpg|thumb|[[Lambert de Hondt (II)]]: the Surrender of Utrecht on 30 June 1672 to the French king [[Louis XIV]] on a white horse, 1672, [[Centraal Museum|Centraal Museum Utrecht]]. The city keys are proffered to him on a cushion.]]
[[File:Het afdanken der waardgelders door prins Maurits op de Neude te Utrecht, 31 juli 1618 (Joost Cornelisz. Droochsloot, 1625).jpg|thumb|[[Joost Cornelisz Droochsloot|Joost Cornelisz. Droochsloot]]: The Disbanding of the 'Waardgelders' (Mercenaries in the Pay of the Town Government) by [[Maurice, Prince of Orange]] on Neude Square, Utrecht, 31 July 1618. Painting 1625.]]

In 1579 the northern seven provinces signed the [[Union of Utrecht]] treaty (Dutch: Unie van Utrecht), in which they decided to join forces against Spanish rule. The Union of Utrecht is seen as the beginning of the [[Dutch Republic]]. In 1580, the new and predominantly Protestant state abolished the bishoprics, including the archbishopric of Utrecht. The [[stadtholder]]s disapproved of the independent course of the Utrecht bourgeoisie and brought the city under much more direct control of the republic, shifting the power towards its dominant province [[Holland]]. This was the start of a long period of stagnation of trade and development in Utrecht. Utrecht remained an atypical city in the new republic being about 40% Catholic in the mid-17th century, and even more so among the elite groups, who included many rural nobility and gentry with town houses there.<ref>{{cite book |author=Wayne Franits |title=Dutch Seventeenth-Century Genre Painting |page=65 |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-300-10237-2}}</ref>

The fortified city temporarily fell to the French invasion in 1672 (the [[Rampjaar|Disaster Year]], Dutch: Rampjaar). The French invasion was stopped just west of Utrecht at the [[Hollandic Water Line#Old Hollandic Waterline|Old Hollandic Waterline]]. In 1674, only two years after the French left, the centre of Utrecht was struck by a [[tornado]]. The halt to building before construction of flying buttresses in the 15th century now proved to be the undoing of the cathedral of St Martin church's central section which collapsed, creating the current Dom square between the tower and choir. In 1713, Utrecht hosted one of the first international peace negotiations when the [[Treaty of Utrecht (1713)|Treaty of Utrecht]] settled the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]. Beginning in 1723, Utrecht became the centre of the non-Roman [[Old Catholic Church]]es in the world.

===Modern history (1815–present)===
[[File:Een uitzinnige menigte verwelkomt de Canadese bevrijders in Utrecht - An ecstatic crowd in Utrecht welcomes the Canadian liberators (4502667274).jpg|thumb|upright|People celebrating the [[Liberation Day (Netherlands)|liberation of Utrecht]] at the end of [[World War II]] on 7 May 1945. [[Amersfoort]]?]]
[[File:Lange Elisabethstraat Mariaplaats, 3511 Utrecht, Netherlands - panoramio.jpg|thumb|left|Zadelstraat (Saddlers' Street), Utrecht, with Dom Tower in the background, 2009]]
[[File:Utrecht-plaats-OpenTopo.jpg|left|thumb|Contemporary map of Utrecht with the new suburb [[Leidsche Rijn]] ([[De Meern]]) to the left, 2014]]

In the early 19th century, the role of Utrecht as a fortified town had become obsolete. The fortifications of the [[Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie]] were moved east of Utrecht. The town walls could now be demolished to allow for expansion. The moats remained intact and formed an important feature of the Zocher plantsoen, an [[English garden|English style landscape park]] that remains largely intact today. Growth of the city increased when, in 1843, a railway connecting Utrecht to Amsterdam was opened. After that, Utrecht gradually became the main hub of the [[Train routes in the Netherlands|Dutch railway network]]. With the [[Industrial Revolution]] finally gathering speed in the Netherlands and the ramparts taken down, Utrecht began to grow far beyond its medieval centre. When the Dutch government allowed the bishopric of Utrecht to be reinstated by [[Roman Catholic Church|Rome]] in 1853, Utrecht became the centre of Dutch Catholicism once more. From the 1880s onward, neighbourhoods such as Oudwijk, [[Wittevrouwen]], Vogelenbuurt to the East, and Lombok to the West were developed. New middle-class residential areas, such as Tuindorp and [[Oog in Al]], were built in the 1920s and 1930s. During this period, several [[Jugendstil]] houses and office buildings were built, followed by [[Gerrit Rietveld|Rietveld]] who built the [[Rietveld Schröder House]] (1924), and [[Willem Marinus Dudok|Dudok]]'s construction of the city theatre (1941).

[[File:Oudegracht 158.JPG|thumb|The [[Winkel van Sinkel]], the first department store in the Netherlands. Oudegracht, Utrecht, 2010]]

During [[World War II]], Utrecht was held by German forces until the general German surrender of the Netherlands on 5 May 1945. [[British army|British]] and [[Canadian Army|Canadian]] troops that had surrounded the city entered it after that surrender, on 7 May 1945. Following the end of World War II, the city grew considerably when new neighbourhoods such as [[Overvecht]], [[Kanaleneiland]], {{Interlanguage link multi|Hoograven|nl}} and [[Lunetten]] were built. Around 2000, the [[Leidsche Rijn]] area was developed as an extension of the city to the west.{{Cn|date=April 2023}}<ref>KILLICK, UTRECHT BY STEVE. "Green Heart Beat Intruders." ''FT.com'' (2002): 1. ''ProQuest.'' Web. 25 Mar. 2025.</ref><ref>''PUBLIC EYE; the Unzipped 'Zipper': PUBLIC EYE''. New York: New York Times Company, 1999. ''ProQuest.'' Web. 25 Mar. 2025.</ref>

The area surrounding [[Utrecht Centraal railway station]] and the station itself were developed following modernist ideas of the 1960s, in a [[Brutalist architecture|brutalist]] style. This development led to the construction of the shopping mall {{Interlanguage link multi|Hoog Catharijne|nl}}, the music centre Vredenburg ([[Herman Hertzberger|Hertzberger]], 1979), and conversion of part of the ancient canal structure into a highway ([[Catharijnesingel|Catherijnebaan]]). Protest against further modernisation of the city centre followed even before the last buildings were finalised. In the early 21st century, the whole area is undergoing change again. The redeveloped music centre TivoliVredenburg opened in 2014 with the original Vredenburg and Tivoli concert and rock and jazz halls brought together in a single building.  {{Clear}}