Stavoren

Stavoren was an old Frisian town on the shore of the Zuiderzee, granted city rights in the eleventh century. Its harbour gave access to the waters that connected Friesland with Holland and the wider sea. In 1345 Count William IV of Holland lost his life in battle near Stavoren during his campaign against the Frisians. The town declined in the later Middle Ages as a sandbank obstructed its harbour, a misfortune remembered in the tale of the Lady of Stavoren. In 1657 a great flood submerged the town.