All Saints' Flood (1170)
 | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Date | 1–2 November 1170 |
| Overall effects | |
| Areas affected | Northern Netherlands, and Holland. Marked the beginning of the expansion of the Almere and its opening to the North Sea, ultimately leading to the creation of the Zuiderzee |
The All Saints' Flood of 1170 (Dutch: Allerheiligenvloed) was a catastrophic flood in the Netherlands which took place during the night of 1 to 2 November (All Saints' Day) in 1170. Large parts of the northern Netherlands were flooded. This and the subsequent Saint Nicholas' Flood in 1196, marked the beginning of the expansion of the Almere and its opening up to the North Sea, ultimately leading to the creation of the Zuiderzee and the Wadden Sea.[1][2]
The Annales Egmundenses, a collection of medieval chronicles, are the only known source that reports on the flood in Kennemerland in 1170. The storm surge hit the area completely unexpectedly, resulting in livestock drowning and people having to seek refuge on the beams of their homes. Without the help of ships, most likely from the town of Diemen, to rescue the drowning victims, there would have been even more casualties.[3][4] According to the Annales, the sea water was pushed up to the walls of the city of Utrecht. A sea fish (a whiting) is said to have been caught there.[3][4]
The flooding created the islands of Wieringen and Texel. The Almere was once a fresh water lake, but a sea channel opened a connection from the North Sea into the lake through Creil Woods (Kreilerbos), a peat forest between Stavoren and Enkhuizen, was swept away, removing an important barrier between the Almere and the Wadden Sea and thus also to the North Sea.[5] The Almere began to turn into the salt-water sea which became known as the Zuiderzee. By around 1248, the transformation of the lake into the Zuiderzee was complete.[6] The sea area increased inside the Netherlands and large peat areas developed, which were easily washed away.
The flood rendered the settlement of Rotta (the predecessor of Rotterdam) uninhabitable,[7] and marked the beginning of Amsterdam.[8] The water level of the Almere dropped and the mouth of the Amstel river became drier, causing the river to flow and making it possible to reach other parts of the Netherlands via the IJ, which had turned from a shallow river into a wide estuary because of the floods. The area gained an open connection to the sea. The banks of the Amstel became dry enough for building, whereas previously the poorly drained peatland made human habitation in the area almost impossible, and Amsterdam eventually emerged at a junction of waterways that attracted traders from the Hanseatic cities. This was ultimately perpetuated by the construction of a dam in the Amstel between 1264 and 1275, hence the name Amestelledamme 'at the dam in the Amstel' that became Amsterdam.[2][9]
See also
References
- ^ Arends, Friedrich; Westerhoff, R. (1835). Natuurkundige geschiedenis van de kusten der Noordzee en van de veranderingen, welke zij, sedert den Cymbrischen vloed tot op heden, door watervloeden ondergaan hebben (in Dutch). Groningen: Van Boekeren. p. 138.
- ^ a b Gawronski, Jerzy (2017). "Ontstaan uit een storm: de vroegste geschiedenis van Amsterdam archeologisch en landschappelijk belicht" [Born from a storm: The earliest history of Amsterdam from a landscape and archaeological perspective] (PDF). Jaarboek van het Genootschap Amstelodamum (in Dutch). 109 (Oeroud Amsterdam: Een zoektocht naar de vroegste geschiedenis van de stad). Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bas Lubberhuizen: 54-91. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
- ^ a b Gumbert-Hepp, Marijke; Gumbert, Johan Peter; Burgers, Jan W. J. (2007). Annalen van Egmond (in Dutch). Hilversum: Verloren. p. 257. ISBN 978-90-8704-000-0. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- ^ a b Borger, Guus J. (2021). "De Zijpe en de Zuiderzee". Tijdschrift voor Historische Geografie (in Dutch). 6 (2): 105–125. doi:10.5117/THG2021.2.001.BROG. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
- ^ Bakker, Geert (2001). "Het ontstaan van het Sneekermeer in relatie tot de ontginning van een laagveengebied, 950-1300" (PDF). Tijdschrift voor Waterstaatsgeschiedenis (in Dutch). 10 (2): 54-66. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
- ^ Biggelaar, D. F. A. M. van den; Kluiving, S. J.; Balen, R. T. van; Kasse, C.; Troelstra, S. R.; Prins, M. A. (December 2014). "Storms in a lagoon: Flooding history during the last 1200 years derived from geological and historical archives of Schokland (Noordoostpolder, the Netherlands)". Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. 93 (4): 175–196. Bibcode:2014NJGeo..93..175V. doi:10.1017/njg.2014.14. ISSN 0016-7746.
- ^ Van der Kolk, Donna (3 October 2016). "5x Wat je niet wist over Rotterdamse geschiedenis". Metronieuws.nl (in Dutch). Metro Nieuws. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ Van Soest, Arnoud (9 February 2018). "'Amsterdam is in de storm geboren'". Oneindig Noord-Holland (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 November 2025.
- ^ Gawronski, Jerzy; Kranendonk, Peter. "Origin of Amsterdam". Below the surface: The archaeological finds of the North-Southline. Department of Archaeology, Monuments and Archaeology (MenA), City of Amsterdam. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- Buisman, Jan; Engelen, Aryan F. V. van (1996). Duizend jaar weer, wind en water in de Lage Landen (Deel 1: Tot 1300) (in Dutch) (3e druk ed.). Franeker: Van Wijnen. ISBN 90-5194-075-0.
- Gottschalk, M. K. Elisabeth (1971). Stormvloeden en rivieroverstoromingen in Nederland. I. De periode vóór 1400 [Storm surges and river floods in the Netherlands] (in Dutch). Assen: Van Gorcum. ISBN 9023214919.
- Rome's Greatest Defeat, A Review - All Saints' Flood of 1170 Archived 2018-12-09 at the Wayback Machine. File retrieved March 11, 2007.