Editing Friesland (section)

==History==
===Prehistory===
{{Main|Frisii}}
[[File:Continental.coast.150AD.Germanic.peoples.jpg|thumb|left|Map of the North Sea coast, {{Circa|150 AD}}. (erroneously shows late 20th century land masses)]]

The [[Frisii]] were among the migrating Germanic tribes that, following the breakup of Celtic Europe in the 4th century BC, settled along the North Sea. They came to control the area from roughly present-day [[Bremen]] to [[Bruges]], and conquered many of the smaller offshore islands. What little is known of the Frisii is provided by a few Roman accounts, most of them military. [[Pliny the Elder]] said their lands were forest-covered with tall trees growing up to the edge of the lakes.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Pliny the Elder|79_3|pp=340–341}}, ''Natural History'', Bk XVI Ch 2: Wonders connected with trees in the northern regions.</ref> They lived by agriculture<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Tacitus|117|pp=253}}, ''The Annals'', Bk XIII, Ch 54. Events of AD 54&ndash;58. This was confirmed by [[Tacitus]] when he said that in an incident where the Frisii had taken over land, they then settled into houses, sowed the fields, and cultivated the soil.</ref> and raising cattle.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Tacitus|117|pp=147–148}}, ''The Annals'', Bk IV, Ch 72&ndash;74. Events of AD 15&ndash;16. Tacitus specifically refers to the herds of the Frisii.</ref>

In his ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'', Tacitus described all the Germanic peoples of the region as having elected kings with limited powers and influential military leaders who led by example rather than by authority. The people lived in spread-out settlements.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Tacitus|98|pp=18–19, 23–24, 36–37}}, ''The Germany'', Ch V, VII, XVI.</ref> He specifically noted the weakness of Germanic political hierarchies in reference to the Frisii, when he mentioned the names of two kings of the 1st century Frisii and added that they were kings "as far as the Germans are under kings".<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Tacitus|117|pp=253}}, ''The Annals'', Bk XIII, Ch 54. Events of AD 54&ndash;58.</ref>

In the 1st century BC, the Frisii halted a Roman advance and thus managed to maintain their independence.<ref>{{cite book |last=Minahan |first=James |title=One Europe, many nations : a historical dictionary of European national groups |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn |year=2000 |page=264 |isbn=9780313309847}}</ref> Some or all of the Frisii may have joined into the Frankish and Saxon peoples in late Roman times, but they would retain a separate identity in Roman eyes until at least 296, when they were forcibly resettled as ''[[laeti]]''<ref name="Grane 2007 109">{{Citation |last=Grane |first=Thomas |year=2007 |contribution=From Gallienuso Probus - Three decades of turmoil and recovery |title=The Roman Empire and Southern Scandinavia&ndash;a Northern Connection! (PhD thesis) |publisher=University of Copenhagen |publication-date=2007 |location=Copenhagen |page=109}}</ref> (Roman-era serfs) and thereafter disappear from recorded history. Their tentative existence in the 4th century is confirmed by archaeological discovery of a type of earthenware unique to 4th-century [[Frisia]], called ''[[Artificial dwelling hill|terp]] Tritzum'', showing that an unknown number of Frisii were resettled in [[Flanders]] and [[Kent]],<ref name="Looijenga 1997 40">{{Citation |last=Looijenga |first=Jantina Helena |year=1997 |editor-last=SSG Uitgeverij |contribution=History, Archaeology and Runes |title=Runes Around the North Sea and on the Continent AD 150&ndash;700; Texts and Contexts (PhD dissertation) |publisher=Groningen University |publication-date=1997 |location=Groningen |page=40 |isbn=90-6781-014-2 |url=http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties/arts/1997/j.h.looijenga/thesis.pdf |access-date=22 June 2017 |archive-date=2 May 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050502101056/http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties/arts/1997/j.h.looijenga/thesis.pdf |url-status=dead}}. Looijenga cites Gerrets' ''The Anglo-Frisian Relationship Seen from an Archaeological Point of View'' (1995) for this contention.</ref> likely as ''laeti'' under the aforementioned Roman coercion. The lands of the Frisii were largely abandoned by {{circa|400}} as a result of the conflicts of the [[Migration Period]], climate deterioration, and the flooding caused by a rise in the sea level.

===Early Middle Ages===
{{Main|Frisian Kingdom}}
[[File:Frisia 716-la.svg|thumb|The Frisian realm in 716 AD. The Frisian Kingdom covered only the western part of the area.]]

The area lay empty for one or two centuries, when changing environmental and political conditions made the region habitable again. At that time, during the Migration Period, "new" [[Frisians]] (probably descended from a merging of [[Frisii]], [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], [[Saxons]] and [[Jutes]]) repopulated the coastal regions.<ref name="Bazelmans 2009 321–337">{{Harvcolnb|Bazelmans|2009|pp=321–337}}, ''The case of the Frisians''.</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite thesis |last=Halbertsma |first=Herrius |title=Frieslands Oudheid |language=nl, en |chapter=Summary |chapter-url=http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties/arts/1982/h.halbertsma/Halbertsma.PDF |year=1982 |location=Groningen |publisher=Rijksuniversiteit Groningen |oclc=746889526 |pages=791–798 |access-date=22 June 2017 |archive-date=1 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001154120/http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties/arts/1982/h.halbertsma/Halbertsma.PDF |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{rp|page=792}} These Frisians consisted of tribes with loose bonds, centred on war bands but without great power. The earliest Frisian records name four social classes, the {{lang|gmw|'[[etheling]]s}} (''[[Nobility|nobiles]]'' in Latin documents; ''adel'' in Dutch and German) and {{lang|gmw|frilings}} (''vrijen'' in Dutch and ''Freien'' in German), who together made up the "Free Frisians" who might bring suit at court, and the ''laten'' or ''liten'' with the [[slave]]s, who were absorbed into the ''laten'' during the [[Early Middle Ages]], as slavery was not so much formally abolished, as evaporated.{{efn|Homans describes Frisian social institutions, based on the summary by {{cite book |location=Breslau |publisher=Marcus |series=Untersuchungen zur deutschen staats- und Rechtsgeschichte |volume=144 |last=Siebs |first=Benno E. |title=Grundlagen und Aufbau der altfriesischen Verfassung |language=de |year=1933 |oclc=604057407}} Siebs' synthesis was extrapolated from survivals detected in later medieval documents.<ref name="Homans1957">{{cite journal |publisher=Wiley |journal=The Economic History Review |issn=0013-0117 |series=New series |volume=10 |issue=2 |year=1957 |last=Homans |first=George C. |author-link=George C. Homans |title=The Frisians in East Anglia |pages=189–206 |doi=10.2307/2590857 |jstor=2590857}}</ref>}} The ''laten'' were tenants of lands they did not own and might be tied to it in the manner of [[serf]]s, but in later times might buy their freedom.<ref name="Homans1957" />{{rp|page=202}}

Under the rule of King [[Aldgisl]], the Frisians came in conflict with the Frankish [[Mayor of the Palace|mayor of the palace]] [[Ebroin]], over the old Roman border fortifications. Aldgisl could keep the Franks at a distance with his army. During the reign of [[Redbad, King of the Frisians|Redbad]], however, the tide turned in favour of the Franks; in 690, the Franks were victorious in the [[Battle of Dorestad]].<ref>{{cite book |location=Bussum |publisher=Fibula-Van Dishoeck |series=Fibulareeks |volume=22 |last=Blok |first=Dirk P. |title=De Franken : hun optreden in het licht der historie |language=nl |year=1968 |oclc=622919217 |pages=32–34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YjTrAAAAMAAJ |access-date=17 September 2014 |archive-date=22 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922022128/https://books.google.com/books?id=YjTrAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> In 733, [[Charles Martel]] sent an army against the Frisians. The Frisian army was pushed back to [[Eastergoa]]. The next year the [[Battle of the Boarn]] took place. Charles ferried an army across the [[Almere (lake)|Almere]] with a fleet that enabled him to sail up to De Boarn. The Frisians were defeated in the ensuing battle,<ref name="auto"/>{{rp|page=795}} and their last king [[Bubo, Duke of the Frisians|Poppo]] was killed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Geschiedenis van het volk der Friezen |language=nl |date=2003 |website=boudicca.de |url=http://www.boudicca.de/friezen-nl1.htm |access-date=22 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608003800/http://www.boudicca.de/friezen-nl1.htm |archive-date=8 June 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The victors began plundering and burning heathen sanctuaries. Charles Martel returned with much loot, and broke the power of the Frisian kings for good. The Franks annexed the Frisian lands between the [[Vlie]] and the [[Lauwers]]. They conquered the area east of the Lauwers in 785, when [[Charlemagne]] defeated [[Widukind]]. The Carolingians laid Frisia under the rule of ''grewan'', a title that has been loosely related to [[count]] in its early sense of "governor" rather than "[[Feudalism|feudal overlord]]".<ref name="Homans1957" />{{rp|page=205}} About 100,000 Dutch drowned in a flood in 1228.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-l9TxQUgaEC&q=1228+flood+netherlands+killing+100%2C000+people&pg=PT29 |title=Who Killed New Orleans?: Mother Nature Vs. Human Nature |page=29 |isbn=9780595373918 |last1=Holloway |first1=Diane |last2=Cheney |first2=Bob |last3=Spreen |first3=Johannes |year=2005 |publisher=iUniverse |access-date=17 October 2020 |archive-date=22 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922022128/https://books.google.com/books?id=m-l9TxQUgaEC&q=1228+flood+netherlands+killing+100%2C000+people&pg=PT29 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Frisian freedom===
{{Main|Frisian freedom}}
[[File:Dapperheidgrotepier.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pier Gerlofs Donia]] in 1516 as depicted in a 19th-century painting by [[Johannes Hinderikus Egenberger]]]]

When, around 800, the [[Scandinavia]]n [[Vikings]] first attacked [[Frisia]], which was still under [[Carolingian]] rule, the Frisians were released from military service on foreign territory in order to be able to defend themselves against the heathen Vikings. With their victory in the [[Battle of Norditi]] in 884 they were able to drive the Vikings permanently out of [[East Frisia]], although it remained under constant threat. Over the centuries, whilst [[Feudalism|feudal lord]]s reigned in the rest of Europe, no aristocratic structures emerged in Frisia. This '[[Frisian freedom]]' was represented abroad by ''redjeven'' who were elected from among the wealthier farmers or from elected representatives of the autonomous rural municipalities. Originally the ''redjeven'' were all judges, so-called ''Asega'', who were appointed by the territorial lords.<ref>Heinrich Schmidt: ''Politische Geschichte Ostfrieslands.'' 1975, p. 22 ff.</ref>

After significant territories were lost to [[County of Holland|Holland]] in the [[Friso-Hollandic Wars]], Frisia saw an economic downturn in the mid-14th century. Accompanied by a decline in monasteries and other communal institutions, social discord led to the emergence of untitled nobles called ''haadlingen'' ("headmen"), wealthy landowners possessing large tracts of land and fortified homes<ref>Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia, John M. Deep, Pub. 2001, Germany.</ref> who took over the role of the judiciary as well as offering protection to their local inhabitants. Internal struggles between regional leaders resulted in bloody conflicts and the alignment of regions along two opposing parties: the [[Vetkopers and Schieringers|Fetkeapers and Skieringers]]. On 21 March 1498,<ref>Markus Meumann, Jörg Rogge (Hg.). Die besetzte "res publica". Zum Verhältnis von ziviler Obrigkeit und militärischer Herrschaft in besetzten Gebieten vom Spätmittelalter bis zum 18. Jahrhundert, Pg. 137. Papers from a conference held 20–21 Sep 2001, at the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg. By Markus Meumann, Jörg Rogge. Published 2006 LIT Verlag Berlin -Hamburg-Münster.</ref> a small group of Skieringers from Westergo secretly met with [[Albert III, Duke of Saxony]], the [[List of governors of the Habsburg Netherlands|Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands]], in [[Medemblik]] requesting his help.<ref>The New Encyclopædia Britannica, Published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 1993, p. 214.</ref> Albrecht, who had gained a reputation as a formidable military commander, accepted and soon conquered all Friesland. [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg]] appointed Albrecht hereditary potestate and gubernator of Friesland in 1499.<ref>''The Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century: The Golden Age'' by Maarten Prak, Pub 2005</ref>

In 1515, an army of haadlingen and peasants, with the help of mercenaries known as the [[Arumer Zwarte Hoop]], started a fight for freedom from oppression by the Habsburg authorities.<ref name="Wûnseradiel">{{cite web |url=http://www.wunseradiel.nl/index.php?simaction=content&pagid=289 |publisher=Gemeente Wûnseradiel |title=Greate Pier fan Wûnseradiel |language=fy |access-date=4 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120907012626/http://www.gemeentesudwestfryslan.nl/ |archive-date=7 September 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> One of the leaders was [[Pier Gerlofs Donia]], whose farm had been burned down and whose kinfolk had been killed by a marauding [[Black Band (landsknechts)|''Landsknecht'' regiment]]. Since the regiment had been employed by the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] authorities to suppress the civil war of the [[Vetkopers and Schieringers|Fetkeapers and Skieringers]], Donia put the blame on the authorities. After this he gathered angry peasants and some petty noblemen from Frisia and Gelderland and formed the ''Arumer Zwarte Hoop''.The rebels received financial support from [[Charles II, Duke of Guelders]], who claimed the Duchy of [[Guelders]] in opposition to the House of Habsburg. Charles also employed mercenaries under command of his military commander [[Maarten van Rossum]] in their support. However, when the tides turned against the rebels after the Donia's death in 1520, Charles withdrew his support, without which the rebels could no longer afford to pay their mercenary army.<ref name="Kalma-pg50">{{cite book |title=Grote Pier Van Kimswerd |last=Kalma |first=J.J. |editor=de Tille |year=1970 |location=Netherlands |isbn=90-70010-13-5 |pages=50}}</ref> The revolt was put to an end in 1523 and Frisia was incorporated into the [[Habsburg Netherlands]], bringing an end to the Frisian freedom.<ref name="Wûnseradiel"/>

===Modern times===
[[File:Gemme van Burmania voor Philips II.jpg|thumb|The Frisian representative refusing to kneel before [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]] at his coronation]]

[[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], the Holy Roman Emperor, became the first lord of the [[Lordship of Frisia]]. He appointed [[Georg Schenck van Toutenburg]], who had crushed the peasants' revolt, as [[Stadtholder]] to rule over the province in his stead. When Charles abdicated in 1556, Frisia was inherited by [[Philip II of Spain]] along with the rest of the Netherlands. In 1566, Frisia joined the [[Dutch Revolt]] against Spanish rule.

In 1577, [[George de Lalaing, Count of Rennenberg]] was appointed Stadtholder of Frisia and other provinces. A moderate, trusted by both sides, he tried to reconcile the rebels with the Crown. But in 1580, Rennenburg declared for Spain. The [[States of Friesland|States of Frisia]] raised troops and took his strongholds of Leeuwarden, Harlingen and Stavoren. Rennenburg was deposed and Frisia became the fifth Lordship to join the rebels' [[Union of Utrecht]]. From 1580 onward, all stadtholders were members of the [[House of Orange-Nassau]]. With the [[Peace of Münster]] in 1648, Frisia became a full member of the independent [[Dutch Republic]], a federation of provincies. In economic and therefore also political importance, Friesland was next in rank to the provinces of [[Holland]] and [[Zeeland]].

In 1798, three years after the [[Batavian Revolution]], the provincial lordship of Frisia was abolished and its territory was divided between the Eems and Oude IJssel departments. This was short-lived, however, as Frisia was revived as a department in 1802. When the Netherlands were annexed by the [[First French Empire]] in 1810, the department was in French renamed [[Frise (department)|Frise]]. After [[Napoleon]] was defeated in 1813 and a new constitution was introduced in 1814, Friesland became a province of the [[Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands]], then of the unitary [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands|Kingdom of the Netherlands]] a year later.