Groningen

Netherlands
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Groningen, gemeente (municipality), northern Netherlands, at the junction of the canalized Drentsche Aa and Hunze rivers and several canals. Although it probably existed in the 9th century, little is known before 1040, when it was given, along with the neighbouring districts then known as the Gorecht, to the bishops of Utrecht by the emperor Henry III. Originally an agricultural settlement, it developed into an important commercial centre on the Aa River, providing ships for the Crusades in the 12th century and joining the Hanseatic League c. 1282. By the 14th century, Groningen was a practically independent aristocratic republic that controlled ...(100 of 344 words)