Note: Originally an important fortress located at the confluence of the Mark and Aa rivers, it was ruled by family of Godfrey I from the 12th century until it was sold to Brabant in 1327. Important for its wool and cloth trade, it received a charter in 1252. It passed to the house of Nassau in 1404, then to William I of Orange. Occupied by Spaniards in 1590, recaptured by Prince Maurice of Orange, and then captured again by the Spanish general Spinola in 1625, the town's surrender was made famous by the Velásquez painting 'The Surrender of Breda' (ca. 1635). Expanded economically in the 19th century.
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