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Click on any of the following links to find out more about churches in cities and villages in Drenthe: (Links in bold refer to pages showing a selection of churches in specific towns, villages or municipalities (these are marked "mun."), all others refer directly to descriptions of a specific church. For an overview of all churches in Drenthe that are described in more detail on Archimon see the pictorial index.) Anloo |
Drenthe is one of the least
populated province of the Netherlands. It's economic position has
always been one of the weakest of the country. In the early Middle Ages
Drenthe was a county, but in 1024 German emperor Henry II handed the
area to the bishop of Utrecht. In that period parts of the current
province of Groningen, including the town of Groningen, belonged to
Drenthe. In 1522 Drenthe was conquered by Gelre, which itself was
absorbed by the empire of emperor Charles V in 1536. In 1559 Drenthe
became part of the newly founded diocese of Groningen. The Reformation
at first had little effect on Drenthe. This changed after 1596, when
stadtholder Willem Lodewijk started an eventually very effective
campaign against the catholics. Although Drenthe was a part of the
Republic it continued to be an isolated part of the country, due to the fact
that it had no representatives in the government. The government in
Holland kept Drenthe poor with high taxes. The province had only two
towns, Meppel and Coevorden, althoughl in the 17th and 18th century the
village of Assen became the centre of the regional
government. In 1809 Assen became a town. In 1815 Drenthe became a true
province, with the same rights as the other provinces of the Kingdom of
the Netherlands. In the 19th century peat-digging became a majore trade in Drenthe, and settlements emerged in parts of the province that until then had been uninhabited. Immigration of workers increased the numbers of catholics and jews, as well as of members of dissident protestant denominations. |
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