Boisle Duc

Bois-le-Duc, a town of Holland, chief town of the province of North Brabant, arrondissement and canton, 45 miles S.E. of Amsterdam, at the confluence of the Aa and the Dommel. The town is protected by a citadel, and the neighbouring country can be easily laid under water. Founded in 1184 by Godfrey, Duke of Brabant, upon the site of a hunting-lodge in the midst of a wood, it was called Hertogen's Bosch, from which the French Bois-le-Duc. It was enlarged by Philip the Good (1453), taken by the Germans (1629), occupied by the French (1794), and restored to Holland (1814). The early 12th century Gothic cathedral (Johanniskirche) is one of the finest churches of the Low Countries, and the Hotel de ville, designed by Van Campen, has a fine set of chimes. The industries of Bois-le-Duc are varied and considerable, and it possesses an arsenal. Erasmus attended the school here.