BREDA, the capital of Dutch Brabant, was anciently a city of considerable eminence, and was governed by sovereigns of its own. About the year 1100, it was wrested by the Duke of Brabant from the county of Stryen, to which it originally belonged ; in 1212, it was held by Godfrey of Bergue as a fief of Brabant ; in 1284, John I., Duke of Brabant, conferred the sovereign ty of Breda upon Rason de Gavre ; in 1326 it was sold to John III., Duke of Brabant ; in 1351 it was transfer red to John de Polano, Lord of Lieck ; in 1404, it passed with his grand-daughter Johanna to her husband Engel bert of Nassau, and remained in the family of Nassau, till William III. of England dying without issue, cau sed it to be left in abeyance.
Breda suffered severely during the sanguinary strug gles in the sixteenth century, between the Spaniards and the United Provinces, and passed in rapid succes sion from one master to another. In 1567, it was re duced by the Duke of Alva, in consequence of the resistance made by William of Nassau, prince of Orange, to the claims of the crown of Spain ; but, in 1577, was again delivered to the states-general. In 1581, it was taken by the Spaniards under Claude de Berlaimont, an officer of the Duke of Parma ; but, in 1590, it was regained by Prince Maurice, who sent a party of 60 Dutch soldiers into the place, concealed un der planks and turf in a small trading vessel, by whose means he was admitted during the night, and received the submission of the garrison. It is related, that one of these adventurers being unable to refrain from cough ing while concealed in the boat, requested one of his companions to put him to death, lest the noise which he made should occasion the discovery and defeat of their enterprise. In 1625, it was invested by Spinola the Spanish general, with an army of 30,000 men, who being well aware of its great strength, made his ap proaches with the utmost caution, and confined his ope rations chiefly to a blockade, in the hope of reducing it by famine. The garrison, which consisted of French, Dutch, and English troops, under their respective offi cers, colonels Hauterive, Lohre, and Morgan, and which amounted only to 7000 infantry, with a few troops of horse, made a most vigorous and gallant defence under the able direction of their commandant Justin of Nassau, natural son of William, Prince of Orange. Besides maintaining an incessant and spirited fire upon their assailants, they had recourse to various other modes of annoyance ; collected an immense bason of water, by stopping the course of the river Merck, and directing it against the quarters of Spinola, swept away numbers of his forces, covered the neighbouring country with water, and introduced so great a mortality into his camp, that there was scarcely 12,000 men fit for service. The Spanish commander, on his part, though labouring un der severe sickness, prosecuted the siege with extraor dinary skill and perseverance ; caused himself to be car ried round his works in a litter ; visited every post, and directed every operation in ',croon; and having received considerable reinforcements to his army, reduced the beseiged, on the one hand, to the greatest extremity, and, on the other hand, repulsed every attempt of the Prince of Orange to raise the siege, or to throw relief into the place. Still the garrison and inhabitants, though severely afflicted with disease and scarcity, as well as hard pressed by the enemy, continued to make the most obstinate resistance ; and, by the united good conduct of the governor and magistrates, in the manage ment of their provisions, were able to hold out four months longer than had been calculated. Henry Prince of Orange, seeing no prospect of relieving his faithful subjects, sent a permission to the governor to surrender upon the best terms that he might be able to procure.
This note, which had no signature, was intercepted by Spinola, who took care that it should be forwarded to the governor of Breda, and also accompanied it with the offer of an honourable capitulation. Justin of Nassau, however, suspecting that the whole might be a strata gem on the part of the enemy, observed in reply, that a permission was not a command to submit ; and though the garrison was reduced to one half of its number, they all resolved to continue the defence till they should re ceive from their prince a positive order to yield. Hen ry having- been made acquainted with their brave deter mination, transmitted an express command, that they should surrender to the Spaniards; but requested, at the same time, that he should be informed, by signal, how many days they were still able to hold out ; and was answered by eleven fires kindled in different parts of the city. A duplicate of these instructions fell into the hands of Spinola; but though he was thus enabled to understand, by the:signals of the besieged, that they must necessarily surrender at discretion within the space of eleven days, he generously resolved to testify his re spect for their bravery, by offering them instantly the most honourable and advantageous conditions. These having been accepted, and the garrison, which had sus tained a siege of 10 months, and lost two-thirds of their number, having marched through the gates, the Spanish general drew up his army to recieve them, complimented the governor, and the officers upon their distinguished good conduct, commanded the sick and wounded to be treated with the utmost tenderness, distributed money among the soldiers, and displayed all the sentiments of a hero, in the testimony which he paid to the merit of the vanquished. In 1637, it was recovered by Henry prince of Orange, after a siege of four months, who requited the generosity of Spinola, by allowing the Spanish garrison to march out with all the honours of war, and loading their gallant commander, Omer de Fourdin, with dis tinguished praises and valuable presents.
In 1667, Breda was the seat of the famous conference, in which a general peace was established between Louis the XIV. of France, Charles II. of England, Frederic III. of Denmark, and the government of the United Provinces. In 1793, though the fortifications had been greatly augmented by the Dutch, this important place was surrendered to the French after a siege of ten days; but, in the same year, was again delivered up by capitu lation to the States.
Breda is situated at the confluence of the rivers Aa and Merck, in a fertile but marshy country, and capable of being surrounded with water, so as to be altogether inaccessible to an army. It is neatly built, and regu larly fortified, surrounded with a wall three miles in circumference, and a ditch well filled with water, pro tected by bastions and a strong citadel. The whole city is of a triangular form, with a gate built of brick at each angle ; and the ramparts are adorned with rows of elm trees. It contains about 20 streets, 2200 houses, and 10,000 inhabitants Its principal structures arc, the castle, a magnificent square building, surrounded by the waters of the Merck ; the great church, which is a very handsome edifice, with a remarkable spire 362 feet in height ; and the mausoleum of Angelbert or Engel bert II. of Nassau, adorne:: with various statues and in scriptions. Its woollen manufactures weror•formerly in a prosperous state, but have greatly declined since the revolution. It is 46 miles south of Amsterdam, and 22 south south-east of Rotterdam. North Lat. 61° 37', East Long. 4° 45'. See Foster's Travels. (9)