that's My World, ABC Wednesday, L for Leiden

The photos are not mine but by courtesy of Wikipedia.


It's a pity that have only been at a few places in Leiden. I visited several times a museum and I studied English for some years, but I know that Leiden is a very beautiful city.The city of Leiden has a long history: university town since 1575, Leiden houses Leiden University and Leiden University Medical Centre. It is twinned with Oxford, the location of England's oldest university.Many members of our royal family studied here, including our Queen Beatrix, who studied law.

In 1572, the city sided with the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule and played an important role in the Eighty Years' War, which ended in 1648 and as a result of this war the Netherlands became an independent republic under the leadership of the Prince of Orange.

Besieged from May until October 1574 by the Spanish, Leiden was relieved by the cutting of the dikes, thus enabling ships to carry provisions to the inhabitants of the flooded town.

As a reward for the heroic defence of the previous year, the University of Leiden was founded by William I of Orange in 1575. Yearly on 3 October, the end of the siege is still celebrated in Leiden. Tradition tells that the citizens were offered the choice between a university and a certain exemption from taxes and chose the university.

The siege is notable also for being the first instance in Europe of the issuance of paper money, with paper taken from prayer books being stamped using coin dies when silver ran out.
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With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with L.

Townhall, Leiden