Editing Kampen, Overijssel (section)

===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.