The Knights’ Hall: meeting place

Imagine what it was like here. A burning fireplace, its light reflecting on the walls, also then whitewashed. A place of celebration, but also sleep. Where fun is had, but where the lord of the castle also administers justice. Here the local government of the drost and the bailiff are seated. Together they govern Muiden and the Gooi.

Walking through the Knights’ Hall today is like going back to the seventeenth century. You see paintings and Delft blue tiles. This is the great hall where castle dweller and writer P.C. Hooft received his friends. Here they made music, wrote poems and talked about ideas. The Knights’ Hall was a safe place for them, where ideas could be exchanged.

Here lies the origin of the story of the Muider Circle. The Muider Circle was a group of artists and thinkers in the 17th century. They met at the Muiderslot, at the home of the writer P.C. Hooft. He invited friends who loved poetry, music, art and conversation. Later this group became famous under the name Muider Circle. It is partly a real story and partly a myth: they did not always meet together at the same time, but the idea of a permanent circle came about later. Nevertheless, the Muiderkring is a symbol of the flowering period of art and culture in the Netherlands of the 17th century.

The Knights’ Hall of the Muiderslot is also the room where, on September 29, 1618, in the presence of Maurice of Nassau, Hooft’s play Isabella was performed for the first time. Maurice was the stadholder of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. That meant he was the most important military leader was and had a lot of political power. That Maurice was present at the first performance of Isabella in the Knights’ Hall of the Muiderslot shows how important that event was: he was one of the most powerful men in the country.

The Ridderzaal is closely linked to the development of Amsterdam’s theater world because it is an early place where theater was played and discussed. It is not for nothing that the Muiderslot is considered the oldest stage in the Netherlands.