Breda Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from "brede Aa" ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, it was of strategic military and political significance. Although a direct Fiefdom of the Holy Roman Emperor, the city obtained a municipal charter; the acquisition of Breda, through marriage, by the House of Nassau ensured that Breda would be at the centre of political and social life in the Low Countries. Breda
The Surrender of Breda 1637 Breda was recaptured by Frederick Henry after a four-month siege, and in 1648 it was finally ceded to the Dutch Republic by the Treaty of Westphalia. Velázquez painted "The Surrender of Breda" as a tribute to Spanish arms and Ambrogio Spinola. Diego Velázquez and Ambrogio Spinola had been thrown closely together “During the voyage from Barcelona to Genoa, in 1629… The artist must also have been more deeply affected than others by the tragic result of the siege of Casale, which occurred soon after the voyage – how Spinola was shamefully sacrificed; and how, mortified at the slur cast