Brittenburg – Lodovico Guicciardini + Willem Blaeu, 1612
“Ruinarum arcis Brittanicae apud Batavos Typus.” [Depiction of the Ruins of the British Fortress near the Batavians.] Copper engraving after the design of Abraham Ortelius, published in the “Beschryvinghe van alle de Neder-landen anderssins ghenoemt Neder-Duytslandt” [Description of all the Low Countries, sometimes called Lower Germany] by Lodovico Guicciardini, published by Willem Blaeu in 1612. Coloured by a later hand. Size: 22,5 x 31 cm.
From the late Middle Ages until the end of the eighteenth century, the remains of a mysterious ruin regularly surfaced along the coast near Katwijk, which from 1543 onward was frequently depicted as a curiosity on Dutch maps. (The map notes the ruin being exposed in 1520, 1552, and 1562.) According to Roman sources, a fort must have stood here at the endpoint of the boundary of the Roman mainland.
This “Huis te Britten,” also known as the Brittenburg, was a Roman frontier fort located between Katwijk aan Zee and Noordwijk aan Zee. It was most likely the location of the westernmost fort of the Roman limes at the mouth of the Rhine and was known as Lugdunum Batavorum. The fort was (partially) demolished, disappeared into the sea, and was washed away.
In this engraving by Abraham Ortelius, we see the foundations of the Brittenburg on the beach near Katwijk, close to the place where, according to him, the Rhine terminates in the dunes. On the beach, we notice a great deal of activity: in addition to various carpentry work on fishing boats and other tasks, people are busy demolishing the exposed ruins.
To the right on the map, south of the Brittenburg, lies “Catwijck op Zee,” where it is immediately noticeable that the church is drawn in the middle of the village. On the seaward side stands Katwijk’s lighthouse. According to the engraving, the outer walls of the ruin measure 240 feet square (approximately 75 x 75 meters). Ortelius depicts double, semi-circular towers at two of the four corners, with a single semi-circular tower in the middle of the sides. The western side of the square is interrupted in the middle by a semi-circular tower, from which two walls extend seaward.
The function and dating of the structure are still unclear. The building in the middle may be a horreum (grain storage) surrounded by a wall, though only on two sides. The wall extends from the eastern point toward/under the dunes and from the western point toward/into the sea. Particularly striking are the double round towers, as military fortifications of that time typically had square towers. Various suggestions have been made: the double towers could be misdrawn very large single towers. The building dates from the 4th century, when round military towers did exist, or the wall was part of the city wall of Lugdunum. The Brittenburg was, in any case, not a castellum, as it lacks the typical buildings such as the principia (headquarters) and barracks.
When scientists flocked to the site after the discovery, the Katwijk fishermen told them that their nets regularly got caught on what they called “Kalla’s tower.” This name comes from the story of the Roman historian Suetonius, who wrote that Emperor Caligula (“Kalla”) had his soldiers and catapults positioned on the beach. He then claimed victory over the ocean and ordered his soldiers to gather seashells as spoils of war. As a monument to this victory, he had a tall lighthouse built, like the one in Alexandria. The square structure in the middle was thought to be the foundation of this lighthouse. However, these stories are now being disputed again.
Price: SOLD
