Antwerp 1080

*CRASH!*

“Curses!” muttered the merchant, observing the sorry fragments of a fine earthenware jar that now lay broken upon the cobblestones.

Jan de Vries, a Frisian merchant of reasonable standing, was in Antwerp for the week selling his wares. Although he would hardly have been considered wealthy by the standards of the nobility or the Church, he had nevertheless earned more than enough to keep himself and his family in a sufficient state of comfort and distinction in his hometown of Groningen.

He knew the city and her history well. From the early days of her foundation all the way through her gradual rise of prominence to her current status as the court of the Dukes of Holland.

For many years the Leuven family ruled Antwerp as Landgraves of Brabant, and had been responsible in part for the gradual restoration of the city’s population. Their rule was considered reasonably fair, though they themselves hardly set foot in the city: their power lay in the county of Leuven itself. This was not unwelcomed by the merchants and burghers of the city, who, being freed from political interference, encouraged the growth of trade and did much to undo the effects of centuries of warfare and wanton destruction.

This state of affairs had continued without trouble until the year 1054, when the last landgrave, Lambert the Bearded, died with no male heir. The city then passed to Liudolf Hümmel, Count of Holland, who had married Lambert’s only daughter Matilda. Liudolf had proved an ambitious ruler, expanding his lands at the expense of the Count of Flanders, and in 1056 Henry III elevated Holland to the rank of a duchy.

Liudolf had died in 1078, and his son Andreas succeeded him as duke. So far, Andreas appeared to be content with merely maintaining his father’s gains. But just last month Andreas had marched into Antwerp at the head of 700 men. Rumours spread rapidly: trouble was clearly brewing in the heart of the Reich. And it appeared that Hümmel would be part of it…