Nijmegen

Nijmegen overlooks the Waal from a site long valued for its command of the river valley. Roman soldiers established a camp here, and the settlement later known as Noviomagus received Roman municipal rights under Trajan. In the early Middle Ages Charlemagne maintained a palace at Nijmegen, while the river encouraged trade. Frederick II granted the town rights in 1230; seventeen years later it was pledged to the count of Guelders as security for a loan that was never repaid.

Nijmegen's merchants joined the Hanseatic world, and the city was also home to the celebrated Limbourg brothers, painters of illuminated manuscripts. The Dutch Revolt interrupted its trade. Dutch forces captured Nijmegen from Spain in 1591, bringing it into the United Provinces, but its frontier position exposed it to further sieges. In 1678 the city hosted negotiations among European powers seeking an end to years of war. The resulting treaties of Nijmegen redrew borders and brought peace between several of the combatants. During the War of the Spanish Succession, a French surprise attack in 1702 was repelled with the help of an Anglo-Dutch army and the city's defenders. The old castle was demolished in 1797.