The heyday of the city Vollenhove was in the first half of the 15th century. Vollenhove was important because of the sturgeon fishing and was a "bijstad" of the League. Earthen walls and gates were also constructed to defend the city. In the first half of the 16th century the city flourished. Joris Schenck van Toutenburg became sheriff and later became governor of Overijssel for Karel the Fifth. Just outside the city Schenck built a castle called Toutenburg. This residence was the administrative center for the three northern provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Overijssel. Drenthe did not count because it was considered to poor. At the outbreak of the Eighty Years' War Vollenhove lost the role of administrative center, and in the following centuries, the town withered away.