Willem van Duvenvoorde

[1] In 1311 he became a squire in the household of William, Count of Hainaut and Holland, perhaps because the seneschal, Thierry van der Waele, was married to his aunt.

[1] He was knighted in 1328, perhaps at the Battle of Cassel, in which he took part, and on 11 August 1329 Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, granted him a patent of legitimisation.

[1] Investing in land and lordships, he acquired extensive rights and possessions in the area south of Dordrecht, including seigneuries in Geertruidenberg (where he founded a Carthusian monastery), Dubbelmonde, Almonde, Drimmelen, Raamsdonk, Waspik, Munsterkerk, Zonzeel, Oosterhout and Dongen.

His lands in both Holland and Hainaut bordered on Brabant, and he had considerable properties and commercial interests within the duchy, giving him good personal reasons to avoid conflict.

Duvenvoorde spent his final years in Brabant, where he expended large sums on charitable and pious works, such as convents, churches and hospitals.