Andries Vierlingh was a dyke

Levee

A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...

 builder and polder

Polder

A polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments known as dikes, that forms an artificial hydrological entity, meaning it has no connection with outside water other than through manually-operated devices...

 creator in the Netherlands who drew considerable attention to himself.

By 1540 he had already reclaimed some 4000 hectares of new land. This gave investors ideas; they could see a bright future and money to be made in territorial expansion. William of Orange

William the Silent

William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...

was to be one of them.

Shortly before he died Vierlingh published a manuscript entitled Tractaet Dyckagie which is still valid as a warning against fundamental errors in land and water engineering management.

Sources and further reading

, Tractaet van Dyckagie. Waterbouwkundige adviezen en ervaringen van Andries Vierlingh. (in Dutch) Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën [RGP], kleine serie 20 [boek] en 20a [14 platen, losbladig in een map], 's-Gravenhage, 1920 [heruitgave door de Nederlandse Vereniging van Kust- en Oeverwerken, Rotterdam, 1973]

External links

• http://watercanon.nederlandleeftmetwater.nl/view/canon/professionalisation