Ommen, Schuilenburg, Den Ham

When the cat is away the mice dance on the table. That is what a number of prominent and noblemen did in Overijssel. Over the centuries, they built fortified houses and castles along the river Regge without permission. Looting and pillaging, these knights tried to expand their possessions and power.

At the time, Overijssel, like Drenthe, was part of the Oversticht. An area over which the bishops of Utrecht (Het Sticht) exercised lordship in the Middle Ages. Due to the lack of urban areas, the Bishop of Utrecht had great difficulty in asserting his power in the northern area.

Because of the lack of supervision, the knights on the Regge became increasingly bold. They hindered merchants on the Regge, appropriated land and harassed travellers. Some locals were completely fed up with these rude plunderers. To stop the robber barons, local residents regularly complained to the bishop of Utrecht.

Besides the local inhabitants, emerging towns like Deventer, Kampen and Zwolle also suffered greatly from the robber knights. To protect their merchants, the towns made a pact with the bishop of Utrecht in 1352 to act together.

As complaints from the Regge Line continued to pile up, the brand-new bishop Floris van Wevelinckhoven, together with the lords of Egmond, IJsselstein and van Arkel, decided to act against the robber knights of the Regge Line in the year 1380.

A punitive expedition followed to assert power in the Oversticht. The bishop of Utrecht targeted the strategically located castles from which the robber knights operated. The stakes were high: the castles had to be completely destroyed. On the agenda were the following looting knights' estates: Azoelen, Gerner, Schuilenburg, the Laar and Eerde.

The expedition was pricey. An army force was set up using the best techniques for the time. The towns participating in the expeditions had to contribute heavily to pay for the expensive cannons.

This cycle route takes you to a number of castles that were targeted in 1380 and tells you what the robber knights had to do.


This Premium cycle route was compiled by our editor: Elwin Croeze.