In chronological order here are some other van der Waden's we found:
The relation between Verwa(a)ijn and van der Waden:
After the inundation of 1578/1 579
This family tree is the result of almost forty years' work collecting and processing genealogical data on the Verwa(a)ijen family. It is reproduced in Genealogie Verwa(a)ijen, which is illustrated below. This book was published in October 1993 in an edition of over 300 copies and distributed to those interested.
The earliest recorded ancestor of almost all Verwa(a)ijens who have been traced was Hendricus Verwaeije, whom we know to have been a member of the sheriffs court in Ooij close to Nijmegen in 1494. Below is a detailed discussion of his ancestors - and the probable links with the knightly "van der Waden" family in Over-Betuwe, whose existence was recorded as early as 1260.
Introduction
Where did they come from? Whenever you relate something about the Verwa(a)ijen family tree, this is virtually always the first question asked.
After decades of researching and identifying the most diverse namesakes, this question can he answered with a fair amount of certainty: in the eastern part of the Netherlands, close to the German border, where the rivers Rhine and Waal bifurcate, we find our land of origin.
In the distant past, this area, in the large valley between Montferland and the fringes of the Kleve Reichswald, was by no means a very hospitable region.
Across the whole Guelders Gate, the rivers Rhine and Waal streamed unhindered into our native estuary, finding themthelves a path in the process. Without human interference, the river would constantly change its course and the midstream channels would continuously change their positions. Bends will erode in an outward direction and, as the water supply increases, this effect is magnified. This happens in particular in springtime, when there is a lot of floating ice.
Suddenly released ice floes create rapids upstream and as a result the force of the stream increases. Bends in the river are displaced in an outward direction, shallows appear, silt is deposited and accretion of land takes place. Sand and gravel are swept along, and slowly riverbanks arise.
However, these riverbanks did not comprise a dosed barricade against the water. As a result of countless gaps the river streamed freely into the surrounding lands. Each time the frequent inundation's left a thin layer of sediment, and slowly but surely built up thick layers of river clay, which later would become the basis of the local brick industry. Herein and with hard labour many Verwa(a)ijens would eke out a meagre existence, a select few of them however would make their fortune in this industry.
Sometime during this process of land accretion, people started to settle down in this area. Less than three hundred successive generations left their traces in this territory, except for a few rare archaeological discoveries from a more distant past. Measured against the history of humanity, the above is negligible.
In the search for the origins of our forefathers, however, we barely go back eighteen generations and of the eldest of these we find only scant proof of their existence and very few other details. With the above statement this effort at historiography has been immediately placed into the right perspective.
Initially our ancestors were completely exposed to the unpredictable and capricious water in their environment. About the ninth century they started constructing the first dikes to protect their houses and lands against the free flowing water. This was a tiresome and laborious task and the numerous breaking of the dikes, which continued well into the twentieth century, show that the water was not easily restrained.
Characteristic of this area are the many "kolken": deep pools of water in those places, where the scouring water once more turned out to be superior over the dike builders. These "kolken" were also known as "wiel" or 'waai', and this last denomination brings us to the possible origin of our family name.
In the "middelnederlands" dictionary of Pijnenhurg and v.d. Yoort vd. Kleij, we see under "wade": 'kolk, scour-hole, deep pool of water".
An eminent authority in the field of regional history, mr. A.G. van Dalen, published an impressive sequence of publications on our land of origin.
In these, he repeatedly links the old, knightly lineage
"van der Waden" to the name "Verwa(a)ijen". In
his book "Rondom het Tolhuys aan Rijn en Waal" he states: "...the
knights and servants mainly originated from families as van Hoeckelum; van der
Meer, later on Vermeer; "van der Waden", later on "Verwa(a)ijen",
die Beijer, die Meij, van Avelaick, whose ancestors can he found as servants and
vassals of the liege lord, during the thirteenth and fourteenth century, in this
manner "gemeine erven, van hoeghen en leghen adel" (common descendants
of high and low nobility)...".
In
his book "De Gelderse historie in de Liemers" van Dalen states:
"...Werner ter Waden, whose spouse belonged
to the servant class, was probably a representative of the lineage van der
Waden, which one frequently comes across in Pannerden and Herwen during the
fourteenth and fifteenth century. It probably originated Som the mansion "Die
Waede" or "De Poll' near Huissen...".
When he elaborates about the fact that some
distinguished families reached the level of knighthood and some of them were
absorbed by the agrarian class, van Dalen gives as an example of the last group:
"... Thus it happened in Pannerden to the lineage
"van der Waeden", knightly even. In the sixteenth century,
however, one and the same person alternately is named "van der Waeijen"
and "Verwa(a)ijen"..."
and a little further on:
"... with the memory of the knightly lineage lost,
the nomenclature was arranged according to daily use, in the same way that
"van der Waden" became here: "Verwa(a)ijen"..."
The above-mentioned estate "Die Waede"
("De Waeij") or "the Poll" is situated just a few
miles Southeast of Arnhem, in the southern corner of Huissen, exactly on the
border with the settlement of Angeren.
It consisted of a number of buildings, surrounded by
walls and moats.
The whole was surrounded by estates, situated on the
Huissen (i.e: Klevian) and on the Angeren (i.e.: Gelders) area.
In 1982 an archaeological survey was carried out in
this place. Cultural relics from the beginning of the fourteenth century up to
and including the eighteenth century were discovered. Drilling operations showed
that even prior to the fourteenth century people occupied a house on the very
place of the former knightly buildings. The first written record of the mansion
"Die Waede' (the denomination "De Poll" came into use not earlier
than the beginning of the seventeenth century) is dated June 8, 1347.
This annotation is found in a charter, which was
provided with the townseal of the town of Huissen.
Henricus de Walla, Judge in Huissen, and Cesarius
Mechtildis, as well as Gerard Duemen, Alderman of Huissen, ratify, that
Philippus de Heecker yields his possessions in Wada, named "dat goeth in
der Waden", to Lord Theodoricus de Bilandt, Knight.
Up to the year 1487 the property stayed in the
possession of the van Bilandts, who never lived there themselves, but gave it
into feudal tenure to others.
According to van Dale, we must seek the first "van
der Waedens" and therefore also the first "Verwa(a)ijens"
among those "others".
In the municipal library of Rotterdam a drawing is kept,
made in 1629 by J. Stellingwerf representing the "Huys Pol in de Overbetuw".
We do not know what the estate exactly looked like in the early days, but when
it is offered for sale in 1656 and once more comes into other hands, the
following definition turns out to he appropriate:
"a nobel house, surrounded by walls and moats, referred to as "de Waede". It is accessible by way of a gate building with a drawbridge. Inside the house are two cellars, a kitchen, a room and a drawingroom, three upstairs rooms, a corn loft and some more lofts to keep pigeons. A cartbarn and a horsestable are situated near the house. It is surrounded by a garden and an orchard. A farm and a barn are situated outside the moated area, surrounded by farmlands, with an ox meadow and a fishery. Furthermore an estate, on which oaktrees, ashes, poplars and fruit trees. The total amounts to 59 "Hollandse morgen" (i.e.: a measure of land equal to about two acres) ofwhich 34 "morgen" are situated in the area of the town of Huissen and 25 in the area of the settlement of Angeren'. (Huissen and Angeren both are situated a few miles southeast of the city of Arnhem.)
Study of source material and soilstudies show that the
estate originated from a knightly homestead. In the fourteenth century such
homesteads consisted of a simple dunjon or residence tower and some outbuildings.
It was the usual kind of accommodation for members of
the knighthood, especially for those members with modest means. A number of old
charters mention a few members of the van der Waeden lineage.
In the book: "Uit de oude
historic van Pannerden" (AG. van Dalen)
we come across the first reference of one of the van der Wadens. In the year
1260 a contract, concerning a Guelders- Klevian marriage, is drawn up. On the
side of Count Otto II of Guelders a number of distinguished noblemen, as the
sovereign lords of Bergh, Wisch and Batenhurg, appear. On the side of Kleve
appears amongst others: "... "Jan van der Wade" of a
"ministerial" lineage from a mansion in Angeren, of which a branch was
established in Pannerden most certainly since the fourteenth century ".
"Ministerialen" were knights in service of a
liege lord. Each sovereign lord owned serfs, i.e. people who had the usufruct of
a predial estate and there fore were obliged to render services. These services
could mean military obligations. The "ministerialen" originate from
the category of serfs, these people served their sovereign as knight with armour
and horse, and were also often used as office-bearers. The military power of a
sovereign lord was therefore based on his landownership. The more "curtes"
with serfs (i.e.: farmsteads with subordinates) he possessed, the more people he
could add to his military potential. This system was developed in a society,
where hardly any money circulated.
Up until the twelfth century the northwestern part of
Europe was an isolated area in the global situation. Worldtrade mainly took
place in the countries around the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea: Italy,
the Creek countries around the Aegean Sea and the Arabian countries. This
isolation restricted trade by barter. There was no trade of any dimension, nor
any industrial activity working for commerce and traffic.
People lived in a pure agrarian economy, in other words: the products of their own soil had to provide in the bare necessities of life.
No money circulates if there is no trade by barter and
quid pro quo for rendered services had to pay in kind. The serfs, who had the
usufruct of a predial estate from their sovereign lord, had to hand over a part
of their production.
A sovereign lord, who demanded services from his people,
had to provide in their maintenance. He often did so by awarding land to them,
according to the value of the demanded services. Apart from serfs there were
also vassals. A serf was not a free man. This meant, that neither he nor his
descendants could end their obligations except by consent of the sovereign lord.
A serf rendered his services by virtue of his serfdom. Possession of a predial
estate was the reward for it, or better: the usufruct of the estate was the
reward, by which he supported himself. On this estate, however, rested the
annual obligation of delivery of a certain part of the production to the court
of the sovereign. Accordingly, since the twelfth century the circulation of
money started to increase, the annual obligations gradually changed into fixed
annual tithes (partially or wholly).
A vassal, however, was a free man. He was considered to
hold in feud an estate from the lord, i.e. he had the usufruct of it, and as a
service in return he delivered military service. One could say, that to a serf
the usufruct of the estate was a salary, whereas to a vassal the rendered
military service was payment of interest. As a free man the vassal could break
the contract by returning the estate to the sovereign.
A vassal was considered to he of 'higher" birth
than a servant, just as a freehold farmer in our society is held in more esteem
than a leasehold farmer, even though a farmer with a larger leasehold can he
higher up the social ladder than many freehold farmers. This way a serf could he
socially far more weighty than a vassal.
It simply depended on the office he held and in whose
service he was. As the importance of a sovereign rose, so did his serfs'. And as
the serfs moved into more important positions, the class of "ministerialen"
came into existence. They were the servants of knightly stature, socially equal
to vassals or even surpassing them.
In chronological order here are some other van der Waden's we found:
1.June
26, 1326: (feria sexta post festum beati Joannis Baptisti) Gerardus van
Baersdunk, Judge in Bethue, ratifies, that Theodoricus Harolt and Mabylia, his
wife, together with Messr. Petrus, priest; the brothers Wilhelmus and Rabodus,
sons of Theodoricus and Mabylia; Gosuinis de Wade and Hermannus, children of
Mabylia; and Margaretha, sister of Theodoricus, together have sold a garden,
named "Bunghaerdt" in the parish of Angeren, a piece of land named
"Campstucke" and a piece of arable land named "Langhebeme"
to the Commandator and Friars of the House of Johannis of Jerusalem in Arnhem;
whereafter they leased these goods at "tien pond klein penningen"
annually.
2.April 6, 1322: Joannes de Wade, together with five
others, stands surety.
3.In
1325 Hermannus, Goswinus' zoon van Wade, leases a piece of land, situated in De
Winckel in Angeren at 2½ pounds of candles annually.
4.February
5, 1338: (op Sente Agathendaghe, jonckvrouwe) Jan van ter Waden, Judge in
Overbetu, ratifies, that Gese Coppers has yielded etc. ... 
5.March
12, 1380. statement of the Plebaan of Wesel, that Jobya, sister of the late
Messr. Theodoricus, Plebaan of Biesten, acknowledged to have payed in his name 3
Marks to Gerardus Nyle in behalf of Bertrandis van der Wade.
6.In
the year 1422 the municipality of Nijmegen buys, among other things, a young
heifer from Goessen van der Waeden at 4½ Arnhem guilders.
7.In
the year 1440 Aernt van der Waeden is mentioned in a document as one of the
"goede" (i.e.: wealthy), "erbare" (i.e.: honest), "recklicke"
(i.e.: more or less distinguished) "kirspelslude" (i.e.: parishioners)
8.In
the year 1441 Arnt van der Waden is mentioned in a stewards account as tenant of
"De Bouwhoff in de Bylandt", whereas Jan van der Waden also is
mentioned.
9.May
17, 1442: Beert van der Waeden gives her son Johan van der Waeden power of
attorney to dispose over a tithe from her goods.
10.In
the year 1449 Arnt van der Waeden lives in one of the four farmsteads situated
around the "slot Dorenhurg" (i.e. the present Castle of Dorenhurg).
11.October
29, 1459: Theodorus Buck, priest, Arndt van der Waeden and Jacob van Hokelum,
churchwardens in Herwen, ratify the transfer of the interest etc ... 12.February
14, 1460: Hendrik van Aerde and Ermgert, his wife, sign a confession of guilt to
Wilhelm, Lord van de Bergh, Bijlandte and Hedell in the presence of Arnt
van der Waeden.
13.In
the steward's account over the year 1462/1463 both Arent van der Waeden and
Johan van der Waeden are mentioned.
The relation between Verwa(a)ijn and van der Waden:
In every respect it seems indeed acceptable, that the
Verwa(a)ijens descended from the van der Waedens and that the first traces of
our family are to be found in the Huissen-Angeren border region. In spite of its
knightly roots, the Verwa(a)ijen family later on became part of the agrarian
class. The fact that Hendrick Verwaeije, our eldest ancestor, acted as alderman
of the council in Ooij in 1494, points out, that his environment looked up to
him with considerable respect. This also applies to his grandson Petrus, who -
as we shall see later - rose to the position of dike- reeve (holm keeper) and
workmaster under Wilhelm, Lord van de Bergh. Petrus' son Gerardus was alderman
of Gendt and his grandson Henricus was an important man, not only churchwarden
in Leuth, but also alderman, and in the year of 1680 even mentioned as
stadtholder.
With inventorynumber 5000 a heayily damaged list of
dike-taxable people is kept in the archive of the House Bergh, Rijksarchief
Gelderland, Arnhem.
Among the 79 names on the list - of which a dozen names
are completely illegible - we find a Johan van der Waeijen, Geurt van der
Waeijen, Wijer van der Waeijen and finally a Derick van der
Waeijen, all from
the village of Pannerden. In his book "Oude historie van Pannerden"
van Dale also mentions this list and states:
“...
with Derick Vermeer, we once again meet up with a well known family. Formerly,
one usually wrote: van der Meer, so a development as at the manner of writing:
van der Waeden, van der Waeijen to: Verwaeijen ...”.
From this
list one can learn, that at first there has been hard labour to fortify and
heighten the dikes, where a collapse threatened. Wooden cases were put up and
filled with dung trying to prevent overflowing, whereas later repairwork was
done to the dike, which nevertheless had burst. Therefore the inhabitants were
called up as day-labourers whenever was necessary. Among these inhabitants we
come across Peter Verwaeijen, the man who is appointed dike-reeve of the
“Bergische Waard” in Pannerden by the Count van de Bergh on September 4th,
1581.
The fields were left fallow and untended. The strategically extremely valuable entrenchment at Berghse Hoofd was taken and re-taken no less than four times in space of one year. This region was subjected to a whole scala of historic warfare.
We only know a skeleton of facts and dates without further detail. One can only guess the suffering of the population, but reading that the local authorities of Nijmegen demanded, that the entrenchment at Berghse Hoofd should either be retaken or additional entrenchments against it should be put up to: “prevent soldiers from running out”, should give a fair indication.
Looting, warlevy exacted under threat of fire and fights to the death must have been regular occurrences in this period of time. Spaniard or Geus (i.e.: Papist or Protestant), it was all the same to the population: “De Geus die wil ons hencken, de Spangiaart sal ons krencken” (: the Geus is going to torture us, the Spaniard is going to mortify us), said a well-known short rhyme in those days. One way or another: the farmers always had to pay the piper.
In spite of all the tribulations our ancestors managed to survive and to keep their ground until today.
A universal Verwa(a)ijen-coat of arms was not found. The well-known "Collectie Muschart", in which the names van der Wade, van ter Wade, van der Waden, van der Waeden and Verwaijen are mentioned, can be found in The Centraal Bureau voor Genealogy in The Hague.A great number of seals, including the seal of Arndt van der Waeden with three slanting bars from top left to bottom right, attached to the above mentioned document dated October 29, 1459 (no-1 l). In the Muschart-collection we find an index-card regarding a seal, attached to charter nr. 2948A in the ducal archive of Guelders, a letter of alliance between the knighthood and the towns of Guelders, dated april 17th, 1436. “Aernt van der Waeden, squire” signs this letter on behalf of Nijmegen and its region. Muschart describes this seal as: “three slanting bars with the name van der Waden” as circumscription, so no doubt this concerns the same person.
Furthermore Muschart mentions a seal of Lambert van der Wade, who was alderman of Culemborg in the year 1396 and who concludes a marriage settlement with Gertruut, daughter of Henric Rijebeek. Lambert's seal is described as: "three columns, attended with a small star between the two upper columns and a toothed edge around the shield". Another Lambert, whose surname is spelled: van der Waeden, rums out to he Judge in Xanthum on September 2nd, 1515. This Lambert has a seal with: “a cross-bar, attended with a lime-Ieaf in the top right” and as circumscription the name van der Waeden. Incidentally, in the text of this document the surname is spelled: van der Waeijen.
We also know the sign, which alderman Gaerdt Verwaeijen in Gendt had attached to charters, made up in his presence as a member of the Gendt judiciary. The sign is extremely simple and has two variations, both based on the same basic theme.
Gaerdt acts as Alderman of Gendt on May 16th, 1615. His seal, covered with rhomboidal paper, is on a document in the archive “Civiele Processen van het Hof van Gelderland”, the year 1620 II (Rijksarchief Gelderland). Other documents furthermore state, that Gaerdt Verwaijen is married to Jenneken liffers and lives in Gendt on January 6th, 1617. Jenneken is illiterate, Gaerdt is with surety a farmer, for he speaks of his plough, which was cultivating his field". Many people, who could not read or write, used a mark as signature as depicted above. Even today one can find these marks in the shape of a “house-sign” very often, for instance a cramp iron in the front of a house.
In the Muschart-collection we find yet another sign, based on the same foundation. On May 4th, 1634 Jan Ver Waijen is Alderman of Bijlandt and Millingen and uses this seal; it is found as a seal covered with a rhomboidal paper in the archive “Civiele Processen van het Hof van Gelderland”, the year 1637 II (RijksarchiefArnhem). In view of the similarity in shape of this mark and the one used by the abovementioned Gaerdt, it seems acceptable that Jan and Gaerdt are brothers.
Finally, there is the coat of arms used by the Verwa(a)ijens from Griethausen (Germany) in the beginning of the previous century. It is certainly not a noble coat of arms nor is it mentioned in heraldic registers. Most probably it is inspired by the source of prosperity in this branch of the family: the corn-millery.
The picture of a corn-mill is clearly recognizable on a shield in this metal seal, formerly in the possession of late mr. Ernst Delheek in Kleve (Germany). The vanes are set in the shape of a cross of St. Andrew at an angle of 45 degrees. In "miller-language" this means, that the mill will be inoperative for an extended period of time.
Above the shield we see a helmet-cover and a helmet on top of which a flail, hayfork and scythe. The mill itself is flanked on the right side by a sheaf of corn and on the left side by a farm cart, loaded with sheaves (?). The colours of this coat of arms are unknown.
In the avent of a possible family reunion, this would truly produce an impressive group-portrait, but seen in relation to the total population of our country, this is a small number. In the process of composing this genealogy this became abundantly clear. Up till now virtually every Verwa(a)ijen that was 'unearthed' could be put into place within our family with little or no trouble.
A small number of them is spreadout over the world. Today we find family members in North and South America, in Canada, Asia, Australia, South Africa and various European countries. One must not be surprised, that above all things Germany- and especially that part bordering on the original Dutch region accommodates so many family-members.
Natural barriers, such as the great rivers, often formed a barricade more difficult to pass, than the official frontiers. Not only did the latter repeatedly change position, but while passing those frontiers, one did not or hardly ever have to comply with formalities.
Also in the historical enclaves in our area members of our family left their traces. These enclaves were of the old Klevian-Prussian territories in our country, such as Hulhuizen, Huissen, Zevenaar, Liemers and Wehl. Especially Hulhuizen was of the greatest importance to our ancestors, who were mainly Roman-Catholic.
After the reformation in many areas it was no longer possible to fulfil Roman-Catholic obligations as taking the Sacrament at Easter and religious marriages or baptism, contrary to places like Hulhuizen however.
As one can still see today in the registers of baptism and matrimony in our archives that people from many miles around came to these enclaves.
Yet it is quite remarkable, that even today many Verwa(a)ijens live so close to the place, where the first were found six centuries ago. If one draws a circle on a map and takes the abovementioned mansion “De Waede” as the centre, he only has to make a radius of about twenty kilometres to include the majority of all the Verwa(a)ijen descendants. As for the remainder, by going back a few generations you can trace them to this area as well.
It goes with out saying that the Genealogy Verwa(a)ijen which follows this introduction is far from complete, while undoubtedly here and there mistakes have sneaked in.
The computerisation of archives shall no doubt produce far more names, dates and details about out ancestors in the future. Also bear in mind that as this is written, children are born, people get married and die.
Therefore this genealogy of our family will never he complete and that is just as well. Thus the coming generations in their turn will have the opportunity to contribute to these chronicles of the Verwa(a)ijens family.