Brielle, Netherlands

Card no 348 - Ron

Brielle (Brill in English) is a town, municipality and historic seaport in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, on the north side of the island of Voorne-Putten, at the mouth of the New Maas. The municipality covers an area of 31.12 km² (12.02 mile²) of which 3.63 km² (1.40 mile²) is water. In 2004 its population was 15,948.  The municipality of Brielle also includes the communities Vierpolders, and Zwartewaal.

Brielle is a very old, fortified town. Its name is derived from the Celtic word brogilo (meaning "closed area" or "hunting grounds"). The oldest writings about Brielle indicate that the current location is the "new" Brielle. Den ouden Briel (Old Brill) must have been situated somewhere else on the Voorne-Putten Island. It received city rights in 1306. The city was for a long time the seat of the Count of Voorne, until this fiefdom was added to Holland in 1371. It had its own harbour and traded with the countries around the Baltic Sea. Brielle even had its own trading colony in Sweden.

In August 1585, Brielle was one of the four Dutch towns that became an English possession by the Treaty of Nonsuch when Queen Elizabeth I received it as security of payment for 5000 soldiers used by the Dutch in their struggle against the Spanish. In 1617, these cities returned to the Netherlands.

Note the excellent postcrossing stamp on this card. This is the third time I have received a postcrossing stamp from the Dutch series of them.  The previous ones were on cards 87 (Mike) - the same stamp - and 90 (Roland), this one -

There is one more Europe stamp in the series...