Editing History of the Netherlands (section)

==Early Middle Ages (411–1000)==
{{main|Netherlands in the Early Middle Ages}}

===Frisians===
{{Main|Frisian Kingdom|Dorestad}}
[[File:Frisia 716-la.svg|thumb|left|Map showing roughly the distribution of Franks and Frisians c. 716]]
As climatic conditions improved, there was another mass migration of [[Germanic tribes|Germanic]] peoples into the area from the east. This is known as the "[[Migration Period]]" (''Volksverhuizingen''). The northern Netherlands received an influx of new migrants and settlers, mostly [[Saxons]], but also [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] and [[Jutes]]. Many of these migrants did not stay in the northern Netherlands but moved on to England and are known today as the [[Anglo-Saxons]]. The newcomers who stayed in the northern Netherlands would eventually be referred to as "Frisians", although they were not descended from the ancient [[Frisii]]. These new Frisians settled in the northern Netherlands and would become the ancestors of the modern [[Frisians]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Bazelmans |first=Jos |title=Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity: The Role of Power and Tradition |url=http://s393993344.online.de/ssoar/handle/document/27183 |pages=321–337 |publication-date=2009 |date=2009 |editor-last=Derks |editor-first=Ton |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830194912/http://s393993344.online.de/ssoar/handle/document/27183 |contribution=The early-medieval use of ethnic names from classical antiquity: The case of the Frisians |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fM_cmuhmSbIC&pg=PA321 |place=Amsterdam |publisher=Amsterdam University |isbn=978-90-8964-078-9 |access-date=30 August 2017 |archive-date=30 August 2017 |editor2-last=Roymans |editor2-first=Nico |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://www.bertsgeschiedenissite.nl/ijzertijd/eeuw1ac/frisii.html Frisii en Frisiaevones, 25–08–02 (Dutch)] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003101550/http://www.bertsgeschiedenissite.nl/ijzertijd/eeuw1ac/frisii.html |date=3 October 2011}}, Bertsgeschiedenissite.nl. Retrieved 6 October 2011</ref> (Because the early Frisians and Anglo-Saxons were formed from largely identical tribal confederacies, their respective languages were very similar. [[Old Frisian]] is the most closely related language to [[Old English]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kortlandt |first=Frederik |date=1999 |title=The origin of the Old English dialects revisited |url=https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/1887/1937/1/344_121.pdf |publisher=[[University of Leiden]]}}</ref> and the modern Frisian dialects are in turn the closest related languages to contemporary English.) By the end of the 6th century, the Frisian territory in the northern Netherlands had expanded west to the [[North Sea]] coast and, by the 7th century, south to [[Dorestad]]. During this period most of the northern Netherlands was known as [[Frisia]]. This extended Frisian territory is sometimes referred to as ''[[Frisian Kingdom|Frisia Magna]]'' (or [[Greater Frisia]]).

[[File:Dorestad and trade routes.jpg|thumb|Dorestad and main trade routes]]
In the 7th and 8th centuries, the [[Franks|Frankish]] chronologies mention this area as the [[Frisian Kingdom|kingdom of the Frisians]]. This kingdom comprised the coastal provinces of the Netherlands and the German North Sea coast. During this time, the Frisian language was spoken along the entire southern North Sea coast. The 7th-century [[Frisian Kingdom]] (650–734) under King [[Aldegisel]] and King [[Redbad, King of the Frisians|Redbad]], had its centre of power in [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]].

Dorestad was the largest settlement ([[Emporia (early medieval)|emporia]]) in northwestern Europe. It had grown around a former Roman fortress. It was a large, flourishing trading place, three kilometers long and situated where the rivers [[Rhine]] and [[Lek river|Lek]] diverge southeast of [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]] near the modern town of [[Wijk bij Duurstede]].<ref>Willemsen, A. (2009), ''Dorestad. Een wereldstad in de middeleeuwen,'' Walburg Pers, Zutphen, pp. 23–27, {{ISBN|978-90-5730-627-3}}</ref><ref name="Atlas">{{Cite book |last1=MacKay |first1=Angus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q50IyzCMQxgC&q=dorestad&pg=PA57 |title=Atlas of Medieval Europe |last2=David Ditchburn |publisher=[[Routledge]] |date=1997 |isbn=978-0-415-01923-1 |page=57}}</ref> Although inland, it was a North Sea trading centre that primarily handled goods from the Middle [[Rhineland]].<ref name="Atlas" /><ref name="MC&OE">{{Cite book |last1=Hodges |first1=Richard |url=https://archive.org/details/mohammedcharlema00hodg_0 |title=Mohammed, Charlemagne and the Origins of Europe |last2=David Whitehouse |publisher=Cornell University Press |date=1983 |isbn=978-0-8014-9262-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/mohammedcharlema00hodg_0/page/99 99] |quote=dorestad. |url-access=registration}}</ref> Wine was among the major products traded at Dorestad, likely from vineyards south of [[Mainz]].<ref name="MC&OE" /> It was also widely known because of its [[Mint (coin)|mint]]. Between 600 and around 719 Dorestad was often fought over between the Frisians and the Franks.

===Franks===
{{Main|Franks|Salian Franks}}
[[File:Franks expansion.gif|thumb|left|Expansion of the [[Franks]] from 481 to 870]]

After [[Roman Empire|Roman]] government in the area collapsed, the [[Franks]] expanded their territories until there were numerous small Frankish kingdoms, especially at [[Cologne]], [[Tournai]], [[Le Mans]] and [[Cambrai]].<ref name="Previté-Orton" /><ref name="Milis, L.J.R. pp. 6-18">Milis, L.J.R., "A Long Beginning: The Low Countries Through the Tenth Century" in J.C.H. Blom & E. Lamberts ''History of the Low Countries'', pp. 6–18, Berghahn Books, 1999. {{ISBN|978-1-84545-272-8}}.</ref> The kings of Tournai eventually came to subdue the other Frankish kings. By the 490s, [[Clovis I]] had conquered and united all the Frankish territories to the west of the [[Meuse]], including those in the southern Netherlands. He continued his conquests into [[Gaul]].

After the death of [[Clovis I]] in 511, his four sons partitioned his kingdom amongst themselves, with [[Theuderic I of Austrasia|Theuderic I]] receiving the lands that were to become Austrasia (including the southern Netherlands). A line of kings descended from Theuderic ruled [[Austrasia]] until 555, when it was united with the other Frankish kingdoms of [[Chlothar I]], who inherited all the Frankish realms by 558. He redivided the Frankish territory amongst his four sons, but the four kingdoms coalesced into three on the death of [[Charibert I]] in 567. Austrasia (including the southern Netherlands) was given to [[Sigebert I]]. The southern Netherlands remained the northern part of [[Austrasia]] until the rise of the [[Carolingians]].

The Franks who expanded south into [[Gaul]] settled there and eventually adopted the [[Vulgar Latin]] of the local population.<ref name="Verhaal" /> However, a Germanic language was spoken as a second tongue by public officials in western [[Austrasia]] and [[Neustria]] as late as the 850s. It completely disappeared as a spoken language from these regions during the 10th century.<ref>[[Urban T. Holmes Jr.|Holmes, U.T]] and A. H. Schutz (1938), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=jbjX4ebc2lsC&q=history+of+french+language A History of the French Language]'', p. 29, Biblo & Tannen Publishers, {{ISBN|0-8196-0191-8}}</ref> During this expansion to the south, many Frankish people remained in the north (i.e. southern Netherlands, Flanders and a small part of northern France). A widening cultural divide grew between the Franks remaining in the north and the rulers far to the south in what is now France.<ref name="Milis, L.J.R. pp. 6-18" /> Salian Franks continued to reside in their original homeland and the area directly to the south and to speak their original language, [[Old Frankish]], which by the 9th century had evolved into [[Old Dutch]].<ref name="Verhaal" /> A Dutch-French language boundary came into existence (but this was originally south of where it is today).<ref name="Verhaal" /><ref name="Milis, L.J.R. pp. 6-18" /> In the Maas and Rhine areas of the Netherlands, the Franks had political and trading centres, especially at [[Nijmegen]] and [[Maastricht]].<ref name="Milis, L.J.R. pp. 6-18" /> These Franks remained in contact with the Frisians to the north, especially in places like [[Dorestad]] and [[Utrecht]].

===Doubts over archaeological divisions===
[[File:Willibrord e.jpg|thumb|[[Saint Willibrord]], [[Anglo-Saxon]] missionary from [[Northumberland]], Apostle to the Frisians, first bishop of Utrecht]]

In the 19th century, Dutch historians believed that the Franks, Frisians, and Saxons had populated and inhabited the Low Countries, but this theory fell out of favour in the 20th century.<ref name="Marnix Beyen 1850" /> Due to the scarcity of written sources, knowledge of this period depends to a large degree on the interpretation of archaeological data. The traditional view of a clear-cut division between Frisians in the north and coast, [[Franks]] in the south and [[Saxons]] in the east has proven historically problematic.<ref>Blok, D.P. (1974), ''De Franken in Nederland'', Bussum: Unieboek, 1974, pp. 36–38 on the uncertain identity of the Frisians in early Frankish sources; pp. 54–55 on the problems concerning "Saxon" as a tribal name.</ref><ref>van Eijnatten, J. and F. van Lieburg, ''Nederlandse religiegeschiedenis'' (Hilversum, 2006), pp. 42–43, on the uncertain identity of the "Frisians" in early Frankish sources.</ref><ref>de Nijs, T, E. Beukers and J. Bazelmans, ''Geschiedenis van Holland'' (Hilversum, 2003), pp. 31–33 on the fluctuating character of tribal and ethnic distinctions for the early Medieval period.</ref> Archeological evidence suggests dramatically different models for different regions, with demographic continuity for some parts of the country and depopulation and possible replacement in other parts, notably the coastal areas of Frisia and Holland.<ref>Blok (1974), pp. 117 ff.; de Nijs et al. (2003), pp. 30–33</ref>

===Emergence of the Dutch language===
The language from which [[Old Dutch]] arose is unknown with certainty, but it is thought to be the language spoken by the [[Salian Franks]]. Even though the Franks are traditionally categorized as [[Weser–Rhine Germanic]], Dutch has a number of [[Ingvaeonic]] characteristics and is classified by modern linguists as an Ingvaeonic language.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}} Dutch also has a number of [[Old Saxon]] characteristics. There was a close relationship between Old Dutch, Old Saxon, [[Old English]] and [[Old Frisian]]. Because texts written in the language spoken by the Franks are almost non-existent, and Old Dutch texts scarce and fragmentary, not much is known about the development of Old Dutch. Old Dutch made the transition to [[Middle Dutch]] around 1150.<ref name="Verhaal" />

===Christianization===
The Christianity that arrived in the Netherlands with the Romans appears not to have died out completely (in [[Maastricht]], at least) after the withdrawal of the Romans in about 411.<ref name="Milis, L.J.R. pp. 6-18" />

The [[Franks]] became Christians after their king [[Clovis I]] converted to Catholicism, an event which is traditionally set in 496. Christianity was introduced in the north after the conquest of [[Friesland]] by the Franks. The [[Saxons]] in the east were converted before the conquest of [[Saxony]], and became Frankish allies.

[[Hiberno-Scottish mission|Hiberno-Scottish]] and [[Anglo-Saxon mission|Anglo-Saxon]] missionaries, particularly [[Willibrord]], [[Wulfram of Sens|Wulfram]] and [[Boniface]], played an important role in converting the Frankish and Frisian peoples to Christianity by the 8th century. Boniface was martyred by the Frisians in [[Dokkum]] (754).

===Frankish dominance and incorporation into the Holy Roman Empire===
{{Main|Frisian-Frankish Wars}} 	
[[File:Radboud doopvont.jpg|thumb|left|An early 16th-century tapestry depicting the near baptism of [[Redbad, King of the Frisians]], who died in 719]]
In the early 8th century the Frisians came increasingly into conflict with the [[Franks]] to the south, resulting in a [[Frisian–Frankish wars|series of wars]] in which the [[Frankish Empire]] eventually subjugated Frisia. In 734, at the [[Battle of the Boarn]], the Frisians in the Netherlands were defeated by the Franks, who thereby conquered the area west of the [[Lauwers]]. The Franks then conquered the area east of the Lauwers in 785 when [[Charlemagne]] defeated [[Widukind]].

The linguistic descendants of the Franks, the modern [[Dutch people|Dutch]] [[Dutch language|-speakers]] of the [[Netherlands]] and [[Flanders]], seem to have broken with the [[Exonym and endonym|endonym]] "Frank" around the 9th century. By this time Frankish identity had changed from an ethnic identity to a national identity, becoming localized and confined to the modern ''[[Franconia]]'' and principally to the French province of ''[[Île-de-France]]''.<ref>van der Wal, M., ''Geschiedenis van het Nederlands'', 1992 {{Full citation needed|date=November 2012}}, p. {{Page needed|date=October 2011}}</ref>

Although the people no longer referred to themselves as "Franks", the Netherlands was still part of the Frankish empire of Charlemagne. Indeed, because of the Austrasian origins of the Carolingians in the area between the Rhine and the Maas, the cities of Aachen, Maastricht, Liège and Nijmegen were at the heart of Carolingian culture.<ref name="Milis, L.J.R. pp. 6-18" /> Charlemagne maintained his ''palatium''<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Charlemagne: Court and administration |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |date=15 May 2023 |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/106546/Charlemagne/256621/Court-and-administration}} ("Charlemagne relied on his palatium, a shifting assemblage of family members, trusted lay and ecclesiastical companions, and assorted hangers-on, which constituted an itinerant court following the king as he carried out his military campaigns and sought to take advantage of the income from widely scattered royal estates.")</ref> in [[Nijmegen]] at least four times.

The [[Carolingian empire]] would eventually include France, Germany, northern Italy and much of Western Europe. In 843, the Frankish empire was divided into three parts, giving rise to [[West Francia]] in the west, [[East Francia]] in the east, and [[Middle Francia]] in the centre. Most of what is today the Netherlands became part of Middle Francia; Flanders became part of West Francia. This division was an important factor in the historical distinction between Flanders and the other Dutch-speaking areas.

Middle Francia ({{Langx|la|Francia media}}) was an ephemeral [[Francia|Frankish]] kingdom that had no historical or ethnic identity to bind its varied peoples. It was created by the [[Treaty of Verdun]] in 843, which divided the Carolingian Empire among the sons of [[Louis the Pious]]. Situated between the realms of East and West Francia, Middle Francia comprised the Frankish territory between the rivers Rhine and [[Scheldt]], the [[Frisia]]n coast of the [[North Sea]], the former [[Kingdom of Burgundy]] (except for a western portion, later known as [[Duchy of Burgundy|''Bourgogne'']]), [[Provence]] and the [[Kingdom of Italy (medieval)|Kingdom of Italy]].

Middle Francia fell to [[Lothair I]], the eldest son and successor of [[Louis the Pious]], after an intermittent civil war with his younger brothers [[Louis the German]] and [[Charles the Bald]]. In acknowledgement of Lothair's [[Holy Roman Emperor|Imperial]] title, Middle Francia contained the imperial cities of [[Aachen]], the residence of Charlemagne, as well as Rome. In 855, on his deathbed at [[Prüm Abbey]], Emperor Lothair I again partitioned his realm amongst his sons. Most of the lands north of the [[Alps]], including the Netherlands, passed to [[Lothair II of Lotharingia|Lothair II]] and consecutively were named [[Lotharingia]]. After Lothair II died in 869, Lotharingia was partitioned by his uncles Louis the German and Charles the Bald in the [[Treaty of Meerssen]] in 870. Although some of the Netherlands had come under Viking control, in 870 it technically became part of East Francia, which became the [[Holy Roman Empire]] in 962.

===Viking raids===
[[File:Rorik by H. W. Koekkoek.jpg|thumb|[[Rorik of Dorestad]], [[Viking]] conqueror and ruler of [[Friesland]]; a romantic 1912 depiction by [[Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek|Johannes H. Koekkoek]]]]
In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Vikings raided the largely defenceless Frisian and [[Franks|Frankish]] towns lying on the coast and along the rivers of the [[Low Countries]]. Although Vikings never settled in large numbers in those areas, they did set up long-term bases and were even acknowledged as lords in a few cases. In Dutch and Frisian historical tradition, the trading centre of [[Dorestad]] declined after Viking raids from 834 to 863; however, since no convincing Viking archaeological evidence has been found at the site (as of 2007), doubts about this have grown in recent years.<ref>More info about Viking raids can be found online at L. van der Tuuk, [http://home.tiscali.nl/gjallar/index.html Gjallar. Noormannen in de Lage Landen]</ref>

One of the most important Viking families in the Low Countries was that of [[Rorik of Dorestad]] (based in [[Wieringen]]) and his brother the "younger Harald" (based in [[Walcheren]]), both thought to be nephews of [[Harald Klak]].<ref>Baldwin, Stephen, [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/GEN-MEDIEVAL/2002-09/1031544685 "Danish Haralds in 9th Century Frisia"]. Retrieved 9 October 2011.</ref> Around 850, [[Lothair I]] acknowledged Rorik as ruler of most of Friesland. And again in 870, Rorik was received by [[Charles the Bald]] in [[Nijmegen]], to whom he became a vassal. Viking raids continued during that period. Harald's son Rodulf and his men were killed by the people of [[Oostergo]] in 873. Rorik died sometime before 882.

Buried Viking treasures consisting mainly of silver have been found in the Low Countries. Two such treasures have been found in Wieringen. A large treasure found in Wieringen in 1996 dates from around 850 and is thought perhaps to have been connected to Rorik. The burial of such a valuable treasure is seen as an indication that there was a permanent settlement in Wieringen.<ref>"[http://www.museumkennis.nl/lp.rmo/museumkennis/i000412.html Vikingschat van Wieringen"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718064223/http://www.museumkennis.nl/lp.rmo/museumkennis/i000412.html |date=18 July 2011}}, Museumkennis.nl. Retrieved 9 October 2011.</ref>

Around 879, Godfrid arrived in Frisian lands as the head of a large force that terrorised the Low Countries. Using [[Ghent]] as his base, they ravaged Ghent, [[Maastricht]], [[Liège]], [[Stavelot]], [[Prüm]], [[Cologne]], and [[Koblenz]]. Controlling most of Frisia between 882 and his death in 885, Godfrid became known to history as [[Godfrid, Duke of Frisia]]. His lordship over Frisia was acknowledged by [[Charles the Fat]], to whom he became a vassal. Godfried was assassinated in 885, after which [[Gerolf of Holland]] assumed lordship and Viking rule of Frisia came to an end.

Viking raids of the Low Countries continued for over a century. Remains of Viking attacks dating from 880 to 890 have been found in [[Zutphen]] and [[Deventer]]. In 920, King [[Henry I of Germany|Henry]] of Germany liberated [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]]. According to a number of chronicles, the last attacks took place in the first decade of the 11th century and were directed at [[Tiel]] and/or [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]].<ref>Jesch, Judith, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=RkNY2KrdvscC&pg=PA82 Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse]'', Boydell & Brewer, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-85115-826-6}}. p. 82.</ref>

These Viking raids occurred about the same time that French and German lords were fighting for supremacy over the middle empire that included the Netherlands, so their sway over this area was weak. Resistance to the Vikings, if any, came from local nobles, who gained in stature as a result.