Mechelen

After spending several days in the occupied city of Antwerp, Samuel Kiechel departed. He planned to return to Germany, with Cologne as his destination. He and his new companions, four merchants and a messenger, travelled four miles to Mechelen.

Kiechel does not provide any details about Mechelen; however, it is worth noting the excellent view of the city drawn by Anton van den Wijngaerde, which is available in the digital collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. As is typical of his style, van den Wijngaerde depicts the city in profile. The image appears very lifelike, especially as one of the gates of Mechelen and the activity around it are prominently featured in the foreground. The houses surrounding the gate and the traffic on the road suggest how this place might have appeared to a traveller like Samuel Kiechel.

A profile view of Mechelen is also included in volume one of the “Civitates Orbis Terrarum”.

Mechelen, 1572

While both images offer a glimpse of how the city may have looked in the past, by the time of Kiechel’s visit, it had become a victim of the war. In 1572, Mechelen was captured and looted by a Spanish army. Eight years later, in 1580, it was taken by a combined Dutch and English force. After taking control, the English mercenaries ransacked the city again. In July 1585, just months before Kiechel’s visit, Mechelen was retaken by a Spanish army under the command of Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma (1545-1592), who had also captured Antwerp. Like Antwerp, discipline among the soldiers was strict, and the city was spared a third sacking.

Samuel Kiechel and his companions spent the night in Mechelen. Before they left the city the following day, they inquired about the dangers on the road to Maastricht. According to our traveller, Mechelen was only four miles from Bergen op Zoom, and Dutch raiding parties regularly made incursions into this area.

The war between the independent Dutch provinces and the Kingdom of Spain was fought not only through large battles and sieges but also through minor incursions and raids. The mercenaries and soldiers of both sides did not particularly care whether their victims were soldiers or civilians, Dutch, Spanish, or uninvolved travellers. In fact, travellers often promised more loot than the local population did. Such ambushes and robberies were common enough to be depicted in contemporary Dutch art.

Now that Kiechel was travelling through the Spanish Netherlands, he needed to be cautious of Dutch ambushes. Especially with both Antwerp and Mechelen taken by Spanish forces just months earlier, the area around both cities was dangerous, with groups of Dutch mercenaries and raiding parties waiting for an opportunity to retaliate in some manner.

By asking around, Kiechel and his companions learnt that the previous day, a merchant convoy from the German region of Hesse had arrived in Mechelen. The convoy consisted of forty-eight horses and carried grain, wine and other foodstuffs. The merchants sold their cargo and left the city in the evening. Seventeen soldiers accompanied the convoy as an escort for the return journey. Three miles outside of Mechelen, a group of sixty armed men ambushed the merchants. The bandits had watched the convoy approach and opened fire immediately. Most of the escorting soldiers and four carters were killed, and the others were captured and taken to Bergen.

Upon hearing this story, Samuel Kiechel and his companions were worried that the same fate might befall them. They discussed their options. One of them, a messenger from Aachen, urged the others not to wait and argued that after the recent attack, the bandits would have left the area. The group eventually agreed to take the risk and continue their journey along the planned route.

Weapons and Travelling

The issue of weaponry must be addressed here. Unlike modern journeys, weapons were a common piece of equipment in the early modern period. Most travellers were armed, with the choice of weapon depending on their social status and financial means, ranging from a knife to larger blades or firearms. The destination and regions along the route influenced how well a traveller was armed. The safety of a road depended on the will and resources of local lords or the towns and cities along the way to enforce it. Generally, war zones or remote, sparsely populated areas were hard to control and required every traveller to carry some form of personal protection.

Kiechel seldom mentioned his weapons. Occasionally, he stated he carried a firearm, but he never gave details. There is also no instance in the journal where he reports having to use his weapon. We do not know if our traveller was already armed when he left Ulm or if he acquired a weapon upon entering a dangerous region.

Leaving the Netherlands

Whatever the reason, the following morning, Kiechel and his companions left the inn very early to avoid any argument with the innkeeper about an escort. However, the quick departure was hindered because the town’s gate was still closed. The group had to wait, and eventually, none other than the innkeeper arrived with the keys. The man was in a foul mood because the travellers had disregarded his advice. After he unlocked the gate, the group hurried away. They worried that the governor’s mercenaries might turn up and demand to be taken as an escort. Kiechel and his companions, therefore, rode the whole day without pause and arrived in Maastricht in the evening.

According to our traveller, Maastricht was at the border between the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Spain. It was heavily fortified, and the river Meuse divided the city. One part of Maastricht belonged to the King (of Spain) and the other part, across the bridge on the opposite side of the river, belonged to the Bishopric of Liège.

Maastricht, 1575

A profile view of Maastricht is in volume two and a plan view in volume three of the “Civitates”. The name “Traiectum ad Mosam” is found in both images and is the Latin name of the city.

The plan view shows the network of streets of Maastricht and provides a clear impression of the city’s size and fortifications. A few buildings are labelled. The profile view shows the impressive skyline of Maastricht as a visitor might have seen it. Additionally, the view includes a legend with forty-one entries referencing key buildings. In both images, the river Meuse is depicted, dividing the city into the two parts Kiechel mentioned.

Maastricht, 1581

Maastricht was captured by a Spanish army in 1579. Due to its strategic position on the Meuse River and proximity to the Holy Roman Empire’s border, the Spanish retained control of the city for most of the war. In 1632, the Dutch eventually besieged and seized it.

After arriving at Maastricht, our traveller and his companions had to wait at the gate for a lengthy period. The guards asked for their names, places of origin and where they had arrived from. They had to answer the same questions at the inn.