Batenburg

Batenburg received city rights in 1349, but it is believed that the town had already received them around the year 1000. It was ruled by the powerful Lords of Batenburg, who were not subordinate to either the Duke of Guelders or that of Brabant, but only to the German Emperor. Their castle, built around 1250 on a motte, has been a ruin since French times. The Lords of Batenburg (the last were the princes of Bentheim-Steinfurt) controlled their Gelderland possessions remotely ever since. Not much special happens in Batenburg at this time: The vryheerlijkheid Batenburg op de Maes, located in the Betuwe, already came into the possession of the House of Bronckhorst around the end of the XIIIth century. The history of this lordship is of little importance: apart from a few disputes of the whole plaetselyken aerd with neighboring dynasten, zy merges entirely in the general events of Gelderland. On April 30, 1419, a devastating city fire breaks out, killing 112 people. All houses on the east and north side of the market, the guest house, monastery and St. John's Church burn down completely. The damage was estimated at 300,000 guilders, a huge amount at that time. In 1463 the city again fell prey to a city fire. In which 400 houses, the town hall and the monastery fell prey to the flames. In 1557, the city was ravaged by a major plague outbreak, in which an unknown number of people died.

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