GORCUM, or Gorkum (Dutch, Coηnchem), a town of the Netherlands, chief town of a circle in the province of South Holland, 22 miles E.S.E. of Rotterdam, on the right bank of the Merve or Merwede, at the influx of the Linge, by which it is intersected. It is surrounded by walls, and has an old town-house adorned with fine old paintings, a prison, a custom-house, barracks, an arsenal, and a military hospital. The old church of St Vincent contains the monuments of the lords of Arkel. The charitable and benevolent institutions are numerous, and there is also a library and several learned associations. Gorcum possesses a good harbour, and carries on a considerable trade in grain, hemp, cheese, potatoes, and fish, although it is still destitute of railway communication. The population in 1876 was 9301.

The earliest notice of Gorcum is in a document of John L, duke of Brabant (in the close of the 13th century), granting the town’s folk free trade throughout his duchy. The history in the 15th century is closely connected with that of the countship of Arkel. It was within its walls that William, the last lord of Arkel, perished in 1417, on the capture of the town by the Kabeljaus; and it was the burghers of Gorcum who in 1573 laid the castle of Arkel in ruins. In 1572, when the town was taken by William de la Marek, he put to death 19 priests and friars, who have a place in the Romish calendar as the Martyrs of Gorcum. The place defended itself successfully against the French in 1672, but was taken by the Prussians in 1785, by the French in 1795, and by the allies in 1814.