During my many travels, I have visited many places, towns, cathedrals and castles. Allow me to tell you about one of those today.
I will take you to the town of Lisse, which is 25 miles south-west of Amsterdam. In the 10th century it isn’t more than a handful of farms. Lisse is near the ocean and farmers live of fish and grain that can be grown. Life isn’t bad. In the year 1182 Count Diederik V van Kleef married Margaretha van Holland, daughter of Count Floris III of Holland; the wedding took place in Lisse and after that the town grew in name and importance.
The wedding of Diederik and Margaretha was held in a wooden tower, which was later replaced. Read on! Around the year 1250 a chapel was built in the small town of Lisse.
The castle of Lisse, called ‘t Huys Dever, that I am telling you about today, was built around 1370 by or for Reinier Dever or d’Ever (*1345-+1417), a loyal subject of Duke Albrecht van Beieren. Reinier was the son of Gerard Dever and Clara van Heemstede, nobles with quite an amount of influence at the Dutch court of the Counts of Holland. Reinier married the noble lady Janna/Johanna van Leyenburch, from the town of Voorschoten. They had at least two children, one daughter and a son named Gerard. Here is the family tree, in case you are interested in medieval names.
Here is a map from 1580, the earliest map with Huis Dever.
The house D’Ever was lived in well into the 19th century after which the stronghold collapsed. In 1960 renovations started, which were completed about 10 years alter. You can now visit Huys D’Ever every afternoon. If you are ever in the area, go and knock on the door!
Ava's Corner 