Maastricht

Maastricht grew at the shallow crossing of the Meuse where a Roman bridge carried the road from Bavay to Cologne, and where Saint Servatius, bishop of Tongeren, was buried in 384. The collegiate churches of Saint Servatius and Our Lady made it a centre of Mosan art and of the septennial pilgrimage that drew crowds of pilgrims, while the river sustained trade in wool and leather. In 1204 a treaty confirmed the town's unusual dual lordship under the prince-bishop of Liège and the duke of Brabant, and a ring of walls rose soon afterwards.

In 1275 the old Roman bridge collapsed under a procession, reportedly killing hundreds; a replacement financed by indulgences was built slightly to the north as the Sint Servaasbrug. Wool and leather remained the staples of its trade, and after a brief revival around 1500 the town's economy declined.

The crossing then made Maastricht a coveted fortress. In 1579 the Duke of Parma's Spanish army sacked it, and the Spanish crown replaced Brabant in the joint rule. Frederick Henry of Orange took the city in 1632, after which the Dutch States General shared sovereignty with Liège. In 1673 Louis XIV besieged it, Vauban applied his systematic siege method, and the captain-lieutenant d'Artagnan was shot dead outside the Tongerse Poort. France held the city until 1678 and returned in 1748; after each siege the fortifications were repaired and enlarged. In 1794 the French revolutionary army ended the old condominium, and Maastricht became capital of the department of Meuse-Inférieure.