The fortification of Maastricht

The fortification of Maastricht became urgent only when the city acquired great military significance after 1204. Because of its location and the bridge across the Meuse - the only one between the Luiker country and the sea until the 2nd half of the 19th century - it became the starting point for the Brabant expansion to the east, which aimed at controlling the (trade) road to Cologne. urban matter.

The construction of fortifications

The construction of fortifications, like military defense in general , was an urban affair. It was paid for and carried out by the bourgeoisie, but stimulated, supported and later directed from Brussels. Liege played a completely subordinate role in this area despite its bicameralism. In 1229, Duke Henry I authorized the citizens to fortify their city with a wall.

2 stages of confirmation of a city.

Maastricht's confirmation, as in other cities, took place in two stages:

  1. A provisional defense line, digging a moat and raising an earthen wall with post fences and wooden gates
  2. How much time was involved in the construction of the first city wall cannot be determined. It was probably largely completed around the middle of the 13th century. The wall was about 2400 m long. It followed the western bank of the Meuse and narrowly encircled the residential areas around the churches of Our Lady, Saint Servatius, the marketplace with its cloth hall and belfry, and the buildings in between. Its course can still be discerned from - old street names "Grote Gracht" and "Kleine Gracht" - from scattered fragments, overgrown by later construction, and - larger contiguous sections, which have retained their original character in spite of sometimes extensive restoration. From what has been preserved, it appears that the first enceinte (ring wall) was built of native coal sandstone in irregular masonry bond, and that the rampart on the city side was supported by pillars in the same material, connected by half arches executed in marl blocks.