Editing Batavia (region)

{{short description|Historical and geographical region in the Rhine–Meuse delta}}
{{Other uses|Batavia (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name           = Batavia
| native_name    = [[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/Batawjō|*Batawjō]] (''[[Linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]]'')
| native_name_lang = [[Proto-Germanic]]
| alternate_name = Betuwe (modern region)
| image          = 50nc ex leg copy.jpg
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| caption        = The [[Netherlands]] {{circa|50&nbsp;AD}}. The river islands, one of which was Batavia, can be seen slightly below the center. The modern Betuwe region corresponds greatly with the thin island that stretches from the country's centre to the German border, and has roughly a third of its western side brown (meaning [[fen]]s) and two thirds of its eastern side green (meaning river [[valley]]s).
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| location       = [[Netherlands]]
| region         = [[Gelderland]]
| type           = Historical tribal land
| part_of        = [[Germania]]
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| cultures       = [[Batavi (Germanic tribe)|Batavi]]
| dependency_of  = [[Roman Empire]] (after 80 AD)
| occupants      = 
| event          = [[Batavian Revolt]]
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'''Betuwe''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈbeːtyu.ə|-|Nl-Betuwe.ogg}}), also known in English as '''Batavia''' ({{IPAc-en|b|ə|ˈ|t|eɪ|v|i|ə}} {{respell|bə|TAY|vee|ə}}), is a historical and geographical region in the [[Netherlands]], forming large fertile islands in the [[Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta|river delta]] formed by the waters of the [[Rhine]] (Dutch: ''Rijn'') and [[Meuse]] (Dutch: ''Maas'') rivers. During the [[Roman Empire]], it was an important frontier region and source of imperial soldiers. Its name is possibly pre-Roman.

Administratively, the modern version, Betuwe, is a part of the modern province of [[Gelderland]] and although the rivers and provinces have changed over history it is roughly the same. Today it has the [[Waal (river)|Waal]] river on the south and the [[Lek (river)|Lek]] and [[Nederrijn]] in the north (all rivers which start in the delta itself and are branches of the Rhine or Maas). Historically, the former municipality of [[Rijnwaarden]] belonged to Betuwe, now in [[Zevenaar]], which was cut off by the building of the [[Pannerdens Kanaal]].

A major freight railroad, the [[Betuweroute]], passes through the Betuwe. It was opened in 2007 after many years of controversy.
[[File:Riverscape, Lingewaard.jpg|thumb|Lingewaard Riverscape]]
The Betuwe region is divided into nine [[municipality|municipalities]]: [[Lingewaard]], [[Arnhem]] (southern part), [[Nijmegen]] (northern part), [[Overbetuwe]], [[Neder-Betuwe]], [[Buren]], [[Tiel]], [[Culemborg]] and [[West Betuwe]]. The region is characterised by its many orchards, and is for centuries known as the fruit garden of the Netherlands.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Gelderland |first=Erfgoed |title=Ontwikkeling van de fruitteelt in het rivierengebied |url=https://mijngelderland.nl/inhoud/specials/het-verhaal-van-gelderland/ontwikkeling-van-de-fruitteelt-in-het-rivierengebied#:~:text=In%20de%20zeventiende%20eeuw%20werd%20de%20Betuwe%20de,van%20Nederland%E2%80%99.%20Vooral%20de%20meikersen%20waren%20veel%20gevraagd. |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=mijngelderland.nl |language=nl}}</ref>

==Pre-Roman==
{{Main|Batavi (Germanic tribe)}}
The "Batavian island" in the [[Rhine river]] was mentioned by [[Julius Caesar]] in his commentary ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]''. The island's easternmost point is at a split in the Rhine, one arm being the [[Waal (river)|Waal]] and the other the [[Nederrijn|Lower Rhine]]/[[Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland)|Old Rhine]] (hence the Latin name ''Insula Batavorum'', "Island of the Batavi").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0001:book=4:chapter=10&highlight=batavi|title=C. Julius Caesar, ''Gallic War'', Book 4, chapter 10|work=tufts.edu}}</ref> Much later [[Tacitus]] wrote that the Batavians who lived there had originally been a part of the [[Chatti]], a tribe in [[Germany]] never mentioned by Caesar, who were forced by internal dissension to move to their new home.<ref>Cornelius Tacitus, ''Germany and its Tribes'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0083%3Achapter%3D29 1.29]</ref>

Tacitus also reports that before their arrival the area had been "an uninhabited district on the extremity of the coast of [[Gaul]], and also of a neighbouring island, surrounded by the ocean in front, and by the river Rhine in the rear and on either side".<ref>Tacitus, ''Historiae'' iv.12</ref> In a more detailed description he writes: 
<blockquote>The island of the Batavi was the appointed rendezvous because of its easy landing-places, and its convenience for receiving the army and carrying the war across the river. For the Rhine after flowing continuously in a single channel or encircling merely insignificant islands, divides itself, so to say, where the Batavian territory begins, into two rivers, retaining its name and the rapidity of its course in the stream which washes Germany, till it mingles with the ocean. On the Gallic bank, its flow is broader and gentler; it is called by an altered name, the [[Waal river|Vahal]], by the inhabitants of its shore. Soon that name too is changed for the [[Meuse|Mosa]] river, through whose vast mouth it empties itself into the same ocean.<ref>Tacitus, ''The Annals'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0078:book=2:chapter=6 II.6]</ref></blockquote>

Modern archaeologists disagree with Tacitus, noting that that island had a pre-Roman and pre-Germanic population, apparently already called the Batavians. Caesar indeed had not only implied the existence of pre-Roman Batavians, but also mentioned that the Belgic [[Menapii]] of the [[Flemish Region|Flemish]] coast had settlements stretching as far as the beginning of the delta, near the modern border with Germany.<ref>N. Roymans, "The Lower Rhine ''Triquetrum'' Coinages and the Ethnogenesis of the Batavians", in: T. Grünewald & H.-J. Schalles (eds.), ''Germania Inferior: Besiedlung, Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft an der Grenze der römisch-germanischen Welt'' (2000), 93–145, esp. 94.</ref>

==Roman era==
{{Main|Batavi (Germanic tribe)}}
During the [[Roman Empire]] there was a ''[[civitas]]'' of the [[Batavi (Germanic tribe)|Batavians]], a Germanic tribe. It was described as a large island between rivers in the [[Rhine-Meuse delta]], the modern equivalent of Betuwe.<ref>Dirk van Miert (ed.), ''The Kaleidoscopic Scholarship of Hadrianus Junius (1511–1575): Northern Humanism at the Dawn of the Dutch Golden Age'', essay by Nico de Glas, pp. 69&ndash;71, {{ISBN|900420914X}}, accessed at Google Books 2014-03-08</ref> The Batavians shared the island with the [[Canninefates]], to their west near the coast. Their Roman city was [[Nijmegen]].

The name was also mentioned by [[Pliny the Elder]], and it played a role in the account by Tacitus of the [[Revolt of the Batavi|Germanic uprising of 68]]. He said that "In the Rhine itself, nearly {{convert|100|mi|km|disp=sqbr|abbr=off}} in length, Batavia is the most famous island of the Batavi and the Canninefates".<ref>Pliny the Elder, ''The Natural History'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=4:chapter=29 IV.29].</ref>

Its later Roman history is attested by [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] who mentions the [[Franks|Frankish]] [[Salians]] as a people living there. [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]] is the only classical author who claims that they had first crossed the Rhine during the Roman upheavals and subsequent Germanic breakthrough in 260 AD. Both authors agree that from Batavia they were pushed south, into [[Toxandria]].

==Medieval==
In the [[Carolingian]] and [[Ottonian]] periods in the early [[Middle Ages]], Batavia, called ''Batua'' by the [[Franks]], was an example of a Frankish ''[[gau (territory)|gau]]'' that was based on much older Roman ''[[pagus|pagi]]''. Several counts are recorded as having their counties there, and it is mentioned in the treaties such as the [[Treaty of Meerssen]], that divided up Europe among the different Frankish kingdoms.

Later, it was mainly absorbed into the newer county of [[Guelders]] which had become established to the southeast.

==Renaissance==
In the [[Renaissance]], the Dutch wanted to rediscover their pre-medieval Batavi culture and history. This common history raised Batavi to the status of ''cultural ancestors'' to all Dutch people (see [[Batavi (Germanic tribe)#The Batavian revival|''The Batavian revival'']]). They occasionally called themselves, or their things (''[[Batavia (1628 ship)|Batavia]]''), Batavians, resulting even in a short-lived [[Batavian Republic]]. The name ''Batavia'' was also taken to the colonies such as the [[Dutch East Indies]], where they renamed the [[Jakarta|city of Jayakarta]] to become Batavia from 1619 until about 1942, when its name was changed to Djakarta (short for the former name Jayakarta, later respelt Jakarta; see: [[History of Jakarta]]). The name was also used in [[Suriname]], where they founded [[Batavia, Suriname]], and in the United States where the [[Holland Land Company]] founded the city and the town of [[Batavia, New York]]. This name spread further west in the United States to such places as [[Batavia, Illinois]], near [[Chicago]], and [[Batavia, Ohio]].

When the [[Pannerdens Kanaal]] was dug between 1701 and 1709, the easternmost tip of the Betuwe (including the towns of [[Pannerden]] and [[Lobith]]) was cut off from the rest of the region.

==20th century==
[[File:Cherry plantation (Baal, Haalderen, Lingewaard).jpg|thumb|Betuwe landscape is for centuries shaped by fruit orchards.]]
In the aftermath of the failed allied [[Operation Market Garden]], the Germans attempted to retake the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] gains during the [[Battle of the Nijmegen salient]] but were unsuccessful.

In the period 1940-1990, [[land consolidation]] took place throughout the area. This made further [[economies of scale]] and [[Departmentalization|departmentalisation]] in the [[Horticulture industry|fruit production]] possible.<ref name=":0" />

In 1995, a large part of this area had to be evacuated because the rivers threatened to overflow. This did not happen, but it raised the debate again about whether to reinforce the [[dike (construction)|dikes]].

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat-inline|Betuwe}}

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[[Category:Batavi (Germanic tribe)]]
[[Category:Regions of Gelderland]]
[[Category:Regions of the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta]]
[[Category:Historical regions]]