Loevestein is a
water castle that was built between 1357 and 1368. It was built in a strategic location in the middle of the
Netherlands, where the
Maas and
Waal rivers come together (just west of current day villages of
Poederoijen and
Brakel, in the municipality of
Zaltbommel, in
Gelderland). At first it was a simple square brick building, used to extract
tolls from trading vessels plying the rivers. By 1372, the castle was under control of the
Counts of Holland. In the 16th century (around 1575, on orders given by
William the Silent) it was expanded to a larger fortress surrounded by earthen fortifications with two (later three) stone
bastions on the northern side, two
moats, an
arsenal, and
barracks for a commander and soldiers, and castle was integrated into the
Hollandic Water Line. It changed hands twice between the Northern Dutch and the Spanish during the
Eighty Years' War: first on December 9, 1570, it was taken by the
Geuzen, then ten days later by the Spanish; on June 25, 1572, it was retaken by the Dutch. From 1619 the castle became a
prison for
political prisoners. One famous inmate was the eminent lawyer, poet and politician Hugo de Groot (
Hugo Grotius) often presented as the "father of modern international law", who was serving a controversially imposed life sentence from 1619, over his involvement in the controversies over religious policy of the
Dutch Republic. In 1621, his wife
Maria van Reigersberch, who was also staying at the castle, hid with him in a book chest that was regularly brought for them. He subsequently became the Swedish Ambassador to France for 10 years. Another high-profile inmate was the English Vice-Admiral
George Ayscue. ==In literature==