Eindhoven

Eindhoven began at the meeting of the Dommel and Gender, on a trade route between Holland and Liège. Duke Henry I of Brabant granted it town rights in 1232, when some 170 houses stood within its rampart and a small castle lay outside. A weekly market drew farmers from nearby villages. The fortifications were strengthened around 1388, but troops from Guelders plundered and burned the town in 1486.

Rebuilding brought stronger defenses and a new castle by 1502, yet Eindhoven fell again in 1543. A fire in 1554 destroyed much of the town; William of Orange helped finance reconstruction. During the Dutch Revolt it changed hands repeatedly, and Spanish troops took it in 1583 and demolished the walls. It became part of the Dutch Republic in 1629, remaining a small town through the following centuries.