Editing Friesland (section)

===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.