Editing Netherlands (section)

===Early Middle Ages (411–1000)===
{{Main|Frankish Kingdom|Frisian Kingdom}}
[[File:Frisia 716-la.svg|thumb|upright|[[Franks]], [[Frisians]] and [[Saxons]], c. 716 AD]]
After the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] government in the area collapsed in roughly the year 406,<ref name=":022">{{Cite book |last=Rietbergen |first=P. J. A. N. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/52849131 |title=A Short History of the Netherlands: From Prehistory to the Present Day |publisher=Bekking |year=2000 |isbn=90-6109-440-2 |edition=4th |location=Amersfoort |pages=158 |oclc=52849131}}</ref> the Franks expanded their territories into numerous kingdoms. By the 490s, [[Clovis I]] had conquered and united all these territories in the southern Netherlands in one [[Frankish kingdom]], and from there continued his conquests into [[Gaul]]. During this expansion, Franks migrating to the south (modern territory of France and Walloon part of Belgium) eventually adopted the [[Vulgar Latin]] of the local population.<ref name="Verhaal"/> A widening cultural divide grew with the Franks remaining in their original homeland in the north (i.e. the southern Netherlands and Flanders), who kept on speaking [[Old Frankish]], which by the ninth century had evolved into Old Low Franconian or Old Dutch.<ref name="Verhaal"/> A Dutch-French language boundary hence came into existence.<ref name="Verhaal"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j10lCgAAQBAJ|title=History of the Low Countries|last=Blom|first=J. C. H.|date=30 June 2006|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-84545-272-8|pages=6–18|language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Franks expansion.gif|thumb|left|Frankish expansion (481 to 870 AD)]]
To the north of the Franks, climatic conditions improved, and during the [[Migration Period]] [[Saxons]], the closely related [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], [[Jutes]], and [[Frisii]] settled the coast.<ref name="Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity">{{Cite book |last=Bazelmans |first=Jos |year=2009 |editor1-last=Derks |editor1-first=Ton |editor2-last=Roymans |editor2-first=Nico |chapter=The early-medieval use of ethnic names from classical antiquity: The case of the Frisians |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fM_cmuhmSbIC&pg=PA321 |title=Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity: The Role of Power and Tradition |publisher=Amsterdam University |publication-date=2009 |location=Amsterdam |pages=321–337 |isbn=978-90-8964-078-9 |access-date=3 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830194912/http://s393993344.online.de/ssoar/handle/document/27183 |archive-date=30 August 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Many moved on to England and came to be known as [[Anglo-Saxons]], but those who stayed would be referred to as [[Frisians]] and their language as [[Frisian languages|Frisian]].<ref name="Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity"/> Frisian was spoken along the entire southern North Sea coast. By the seventh century, a [[Frisian Kingdom]] (650–734) under King [[Aldegisel]] and King [[Redbad, King of the Frisians|Redbad]] emerged with [[Traiectum (Utrecht)|Traiectum]] ([[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]]) as its centre of power,<ref name="Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity"/><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> while [[Dorestad]] was a flourishing trading place.<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 |title=Atlas of Medieval Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q50IyzCMQxgC&q=dorestad&pg=PA57 |last=MacKay |first=Angus|author2=David Ditchburn |year=1997 |page=57 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-01923-1}}</ref> Between 600 and around 719 the cities were often fought over between the Frisians and the Franks. In 734, at the [[Battle of the Boarn]], the Frisians were defeated after a [[Frisian–Frankish wars|series of wars]]. With the approval of the Franks, the [[Anglo-Saxon mission|Anglo-Saxon]] missionary [[Willibrord]] converted the Frisian people to Christianity and established the [[Archdiocese of Utrecht (695–1580)|Archdiocese of Utrecht]]. However, his successor [[Boniface]] was murdered by the Frisians in 754.

[[File:Rorik by H. W. Koekkoek.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Rorik of Dorestad]], [[Viking]] ruler of [[Friesland]] (romantic 1912 depiction)]]
The Frankish [[Carolingian empire]] controlled much of Western Europe. In 843, it was divided into three parts—[[East Francia|East]], [[Middle Francia|Middle]], and [[West Francia]]. Most of present-day Netherlands became part of Middle Francia, which was a weak kingdom and subject to numerous partitions and annexation attempts by its stronger neighbours. It comprised territories from [[Frisia]] in the north to the [[Kingdom of Italy (medieval)|Kingdom of Italy]] in the south. Around 850, [[Lothair I]] of Middle Francia acknowledged the Viking [[Rorik of Dorestad]] as ruler of most of Frisia. When the kingdom of Middle Francia was partitioned in 855, the lands north of the [[Alps]] passed to [[Lothair II of Lotharingia|Lothair II]] and subsequently were named [[Lotharingia]]. After he died in 869, Lotharingia was partitioned, into [[Upper Lotharingia|Upper]] and [[Lower Lotharingia]], the latter comprising the Low Countries that became part of [[East Francia]] in 870. Around 879, another Viking expedition led by [[Godfrid, Duke of Frisia]], raided the Frisian lands. Resistance to the Vikings, if any, came from local nobles, who gained in stature as a result, and that laid the basis for the disintegration of Lower Lotharingia into semi-independent states. One of these local nobles was [[Gerolf of Holland]], who assumed lordship in Frisia, and Viking rule came to an end.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=1 June 2023 |title=Lindisfarne raid I Facts, Summary, & Significance |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Lindisfarne-Raid |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref>