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HISTORY OF THE

FRISIAN FOLK
By Redbad
(redbad@hotmail.com)

Origins of the Frisians (1750 B.C. - 700 B.C.)

The origins of the Frisians lie in an area that roughly covers South
Scandinavia, Denmark and the Weser/Oder region. In the period
between 1750 and 700 B.C. they were still part of a larger group of
peoples called the Germanics. This larger group was of the mainly
of the Nordic race (dolichocranic). (Among the Nordics there also
lived a -smaller- group of brachycranics whom probably had the
position of slave).

Gold bracteate with runes (fozo


gruoba), dating from 750 A.D. found in
Hitsum (Fryslân).

After 1400 B.C. an expansion of


the Germanics into southern
Europe took place.

Around 800 B.C. the original


Germanic group had split into a
West-, East- (Goths and Vandals)
and North Germanic group
(Scandinavians). The differences
can be traced in language and
culture. At the end of the Bronze
Age (700 B.C.) the expansion of
the West Germanics had reached the coastal areas of northwest
Germany (currently the province Hanover).

The West Germanics can be divided, along religious lines, into


three tribegroups, the Inguaeones, Istuaeones and Irminones. The
Frisians belong to the Inguaeones. The name Inguaevones is
derived from the god Inguz; the Frisians believed they descended
from him. Inguz is another name for the Germanic god Freyr. Other
tribes belonging to the Inguaeones were, the Jutes, Warns, Angles,
and the Saxons. Of these tribes the Saxons were closest in kin to
the Frisians. All Inguaeones lived in the coastal areas along the
North Sea. The Chaukians, also a tribe that lived along the North
Sea, belong to the Irminones.

From north-west Germany, to be exact the coastal areas around


the mouths of the rivers Eems and Weser, the Inguaeones
colonized the coastal clay-districts of the current Dutch provinces
of Friesland and Groningen (700 - 600 B.C.).
The Heathen period in Friesland (700 B.C. - 800
A.D.)
So between 700 and 600 B.C. the forefathers of the Frisians
colonized the coastal clay-districts of the current Dutch provinces
of Friesland and Groningen.

Fryslân in the 7th century B.C. (First settlers)

1. Clay: First Frisian settle in striped areas


2. Peat-moor/peat-bog: uninhabited
3. Sand: striped area is inhabited
4. Mud-flat: uninhabited
5. Peat formation locally: uninhabited
(later known as West-Friesland)

* Current borders: dotted line

The largest group came from the


Eems/Weser region. Later also
people came from the higher
sandy regions to the east of
Friesland (currently called
Drenthe).

Between 700 and 400 B.C. one


can't speak of a separate Frisian
group, since there is still one
homogenic culture between Texel
(Netherlands) and the Weser
(Germany).
Between 400 and 200 B.C. significant cultural changes take place.
From Leiden in the south to Delfzijl in the north a 'Proto-Frisian'
culture was evolving. In 200 B.C. a distinctly Frisian culture can be
found between the river Eems (Germany) and Wijk-bij-Duurstede
(Netherlands). For the first time the Frisians are an ethnic entity!
To the north of the Eems lives a tribe called the Chaukians. An
interesting fact is that the Chaukians belonged mainly to the Falian
race (Dolichocranic with a broad face). The Frisians mainly to the
Nordic race (Dolichocranic with narrow face). In the region
currently known as the province of Groningen there was a melting
together of both races.
There was also a small group of brachycranic people living among
the Nordic Frisians, of a non-Germanic origin. They inhabited the
Netherlands before the Germanic-invasion, and were probably of
pre-Indogermanic origin.

Terpbuilders

Two centuries after the colonization of the clay-district the sea


level stars to rise. To encounter the periodical flooding of their
homesteads the Frisians built earth-mounds known as terps. There
were several periodes of sealevel rising (they were accompanied
by storm flooding), consequently there are several separate
terpbuilding periodes that coincide with the periodes the sealevel
rose.

There are three separate terpbuilding generations:


The first terp-generation dates from 500 B.C.; the second terp-
generation dates from 200 B.C. till 50 B.C.; and the third terp-
generation dates from 700 A.D..

In 250 A.D. the sealevel rising and the coinciding storm flooding
was so dramatic that almost all of the Frisians left the clay district
only to return in 400 A.D..

Contact with Romans

Julius Caesar conquered Celtic Galicia between 58 and 50 B.C.


(these are the current countries France and Belgium). In doing so
he moved the borders of the Roman Empire up to the river Rhine.
At this point in history the Frisians still lived north of the Rhine,
and thus fell outside the borders of the Roman Empire. Under
Emperor Augustus (28 B.C. - 14 A.D.) the Romans wanted to make
the river Elbe their most northerly border, instead of the Rhine. The
consequences would be that the entire Frisian Folk would fall
under the influence of the Romans. The Frisians chose to
collaborate with the Romans. This happened when Drusus, and his
army, arrived at the Rhine in 12 B.C. The Frisians and Drusus
negotiated a truce by which the Frisians had to, regularly, pay
taxes in the form of cowhides.

Under Emperor Tiberius the taxes became to high, and the Frisians
could no longer comply with them. The result was that: first the
Romans would take their cattle, after that their land and at last
their women and children were taken to be sold in slavery. In 28
A.D. the Frisians rebelled, and hung the taxmen. To retaliate, the
Romans sent their legions to punish and conquer Friesland. But
the Roman army was slain in a battle at the Baduhennawood. The
name of the Frisians was now a feared one in Rome.
There was no Roman reprisal, since Rome had its own internal
problems. For the next 20 years Friesland was free.

In 47 A.D. the Frisians made another truce with the Romans. This
time with Corbulo. An agreement was made in which their was a
mutual understanding that the Rhine was to be the border that
both parties had to respect. Friesland would fall under a Roman
sphere of influence, but it would no longer be occupied.

In 58 A.D. Frisians colonized an uninhabited strip of land south of


the Rhine, thereby breaking their agreement with Corbulo. Two
Frisian leaders, Verritus and Malorix (these are Roman translations
of their Frisian names), went to Rome to bid the Roman Emperor
Nero if they could stay. Alas, the Frisians were violently extradited
from the region below the Rhine.

In 69 A.D. the Batavians (a Germanic tribe situated in central


Netherlands, and the southern neighbors of the Frisians) also rebel
against the Roman occupiers. This region was the northwestern
cornerstone of the Roman Empire. The Frisians and the
Canninifats (also a Germanic neighbortribe of the Frisians in the
west of the Netherlands) became the allies of the Batavians. Sadly
the uprising fails. The Romans defeat the Batavians.
The Rhine remains the Roman border until the collapse of the
Roman Empire in 410 A.D..

Around 250 A.D. almost all Frisians disappear from the Frisian
coastal-clay districts. The rising of the sealevel makes it
impossible to live in the coastal areas of Friesland for the next 150
years (250 - 400 A.D.). In this period a fraction of the Frisians and
the Chaukians (a Germanic tribe neighboring north of Friesland)
form a new tribal alliance called the Franks. This is the tribe that
will emigrate south and form the Frankish Empire (currently known
as France).

After 400 A.D. the rising of the sealevel halted. Frisian people and
their nobility returned to the Frisian clay-district which, by then,
had already been colonized by peoples from the Elbe and
Sleeswick/Holstein region. These tribes assimilated and continued
as the Frisian tribe we know today.

In 300 A.D. other smaller West Germanics tribes had also formed
larger tribal-groups known as: Allemandes, Saxons, Thuringers,
and Bayerns. The Chaukian tribe disappears altogether. It has
assimilated in the Frisian- and Saxon-tribe.

Migration Period (350 - 550 A.D.)

For two centuries (350 - 550 A.D.) the tide of the Migration of
Nations sweeps over Europe. Germanic tribes migrate all over
Western Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire. Thereby
forming new tribes in the newly conquered areas, and for the first
time large organized Germanic states. In Europe the major
Germanic states were the Jutish, Saxon, Anglo-Saxon, Frankish,
Burgondish, West-Gothic, East-Gothic, Vandal and Frisian.

Around 450 A.D. Angles, Saxons, Jutes and a Frisian fraction


cross the North Sea and establish the Anglo-Saxon empire
(currently known as England). The Frisians colonized the county of
Kent in southeast England.

Around 480 A.D. Clovis establishes the Frankish Empire (currently


known as France). As said before the Frankish tribe originated
from the Chaukans and Frisians.

Around 400 A.D. the Frisians started establishing their Frisian


Empire. In 500 and especially 600 A.D. there was a fast expansion
and a strong increase in trade. At its peak, in the 7th century, this
empire consisted of the coastal areas from north Belgium to
southern Denmark. And it controlled a large part of the North Sea
traderoutes from Friesland to England, France, Scandinavia and
northwest Russia.
The Migration Period seems to have had only a slight change in
racial characteristics.

In the sixth century the written


sources begin to speak again about
the Frisians. A 'Great-Friesland'
(Magna Frisia) has been created. This
historical Great-Friesland consisted
of a long narrow strip of land along
the North Sea, from the Swin
(Belgium) in the south, to the Weser
(Germany) in the north. This historic
Frisian empire lasted from 500 A.D.
to 719 A.D. It neighbored to the
Saxons in the north and east, the
Franks in the south and the Anglo-
Saxons in the west across the North Sea.

Frisian expansion under Heathen kings (400 A.D.-


719 A.D.)

Very little is known about this period in history. There are no


historical documents of Frisian origin, and a few documents of
Frankish and Anglo-Saxon origin. The Frankish writings do not
always present a historically just picture of the Frisians. Ever since
the Frankish convertian to Christianity under Clovis (496 A.D.) the
Frisians had become their major antagonists, as a result the
Frankish texts had become colored for political and religious
reasons.
Clovis converted to Catholicism for power-political reasons. The
Gallo-Roman aristocracy in France and the church in Rome, whose
support Clovis needed during his empire-building period, were
both Catholic. Other Germanic tribes in the former hemisphere of
the Roman Empire (Goths and Vandals) had converted to a form of
Christianity more suitable to the Germanic soul, called Arianisme.
The Germanic tribes in the north, including the Frisians, were still
practicing the religious believes of there forefathers, currently
known as Odinism or Asatru. In this article the term 'Heathen' will
be used.
In becoming Catholic the Franks automatically became the
greatest antagonists of the Frisians.

Around 500 A.D. Clovis had formed his Frankish Empire, which
was to be the heir of the Roman Empire with blessings of the pope
in Rome. The most northerly border of this empire was formed by
the cities Utrecht and Dorestad, neighboring to the Frisians.
After the death of Clovis in 511 A.D. the Frisians took advantage of
the internal Frankish power struggle and captured Utrecht and
Dorestad. Both cities would stay Frisian for over a hundred years
(511 - 628 A.D.). The capture of these cities was of very great
interest to the Frisians, since they were the gateways of trade from
the Saxon and Frankish hinterlands to the North Sea. In the sixth
and the seventh century the Frisians were the major traders on the
North Sea. The North Sea was even called 'Mare Frisicum' during
this period.
From a religious point of view the Frisian heatenisme was no
longer under threat of Frankish Christianity since there was no
sally port (Utrecht).

In the year 628 A.D. the Frankish/Christian king Dagobert defeats a


combined force of Saxons an Frisians (both Saxons and Frisians
were Heathen). By doing so the city of Utrecht fell to the Franks.
Dagobert erected a church in Utrecht and ordered a bishop to start
converting the Frisians. Christianity had become a tool in the
hands of the Franks to destroy the Frisian independence north of
the Rhine.

King Finn Folcwalding (lived somewhere in the beginning of the


6th century)
King Finn may have been a Frisian king in the sixth century. He is
only named in Anglo-Saxons epics (Widsith, Beowulf and
Finnsburg-fragment) which have been written some 50 to 100
years later.

King Eadgils ( ? - 677 A.D.) King Eadgils is the first Frisian king
known by name. Two Christian scribes, Beda and Eddius, name
him in their works. Under the rule of Eadgils the Frisians and the
Franks live in peace with one and other. There are two reasons for
this: The Franks were still in internal division, as to whom was to
be the heir of the Frankish empire Clovis built, and Eadgils let
bishop Wilfried (a pawn of Rome and the Franks) preach
Christianity freely in the Frisian regions. This peaceful time was to
change drastically ten years later, when the Redbad had become
king of Friesland and Pippin leader of the Franks.

King Redbad (679 - 719 A.D.) The heathen king Redbad is the
greatest folk hero of the Frisians. He is the defender of the Frisian
freedom against the invading Frankish armies and against the
Church of Rome. Redbad was a devout heathen. So when the
Franks were internally divided as whom was to rule, he attacked
the Franks, conquered Utrecht and distroyed the church.
Christianity was then forcefully removed from the Frisian empire.
In 689 A.D. Pepin II leads the Frankish conquest in the Frisian
lands and he takes Dorestad. Between 690 and 692 A.D. Utrecht
also falls into the hands of Pepin. Thereby controlling the
important gateways of trade from the Frankish hinterland to the
North Sea via the river Rhine.
In 714 A.D. Pepin dies. Redbad takes advantage of this and he
beats the Frankish armies under Charles Martel in 716 A.D. at
Cologne, thereby winning back the Frisian Empire. King Redbad
dies in 719, leaving behind a Great and Heaten Friesland.
King Poppa (Hrodbad) (719 - 734) Fifteen years after Redbad's
death Charles Martel reached the peak of his power and he saw the
opportunity to deal with Friesland. In 734 A.D. he sent his forces to
Friesland. In the heart of the Frisian land, on the river Boorne
('Middelsea'), the decisive battle was waged, with Poppo (in full
Hrodbad) at the head of the Frisian land- and sea-forces. Poppo
was the son of Redbad, but not as successful as his father. He was
killed in battle, and the Frisian forces (in disarray) were slain.
Friesland, uptill the Lauwers, was incorporated in the Frankish
Empire. It lost its freedom and the church got a foothold.
The son of Poppa, Abba (in full Alfbad), became the first Frisian
count under Frankish rule (749 - 775 A.D.).

East-Friesland (east of the Lauwers) was conquered 50 years later.


The East-Frisians had bonded with their Heathen neighbors the
Saxons. Martel's son, Pepin the Short, was unable to defeat this
coalition. Only under the leadership of Martel's grandson,
Charlemagne (Charles the Great), is the Saxo-Frisian alliance
defeated in 785 A.D.. The legendary Widukind led this Saxo-Frisian
heathen alliance.

During the eight century the Frisian language is born. This birth
can be traced by sound changes in the language. Thereby setting
the Frisian language apart from other Inguaeonish languages.

The Frankish-period (785 A.D.- 925 A.D.)


ûleboerd (decoration on barntops)

Charlemagne ruled his Frankish


Empire in a strong centralized
manner. Frisians had to serve in
his armies. They served under the
Franks in the war against the
Wilts (789 A.D.) and against the
Avars (791 A.D.). When in 800 A.D.
the first Scandinavian Viking
attacks upon Friesland under
Carolinian rule start, the Frisians
are discharged from military
service abroad. Instead they are
left to organize their defenses
against the Heathen Vikings.
After Charlemagne defeated the
Saxons in 785 A.D., the Frankish
Empire bordered in the north to
the Danish Empire.

The Danes were very well aware


of the terrible atrocities
Charlemagne, in name of the Church, had inflicted on their
Heathen kinfolk the Frisians and the Saxons. The Danish/Viking
raids on Charlemagne's empire and on the wealthy churches and
monasteries in it, can be seen as a heathen reprisal.

Next to the Franco/Christian invaders, another enemy of the


Frisians reared its ugly head. In the Christmas of 838 A.D. an
enormous stormflood flooded nearly all of Friesland, drowning lots
of people and livestock.
Friesland county of Frankish Empire (749 - 840
A.D.)

After Charlemagne victory in 785 A.D. the entire Frisian Empire


became a county of the Frankish Empire. As seen before the
grandson of the legendary Redbad, Abba, became the first Frisian
count under Frankish rule (749 - 775 A.D.) over Friesland west of
the Lauwers. The two main duties of a count were: to maintain the
rule of law, and to organize the conscripts for the Frankish armies.
From 734 until 1100 A.D. Frankish Emperors (and after them
German Kings) have been represented by counts. These counts
were feudal tenants. Very little is known about these counts. East-,
West- and Middle Friesland have probably each had their own
count.

The counts of Friesland we know by name:

• 754 count Abba (Boppa) is leader of the building of the


Bonifatius Church in Dokkum
• 791 count Diderik (Durk) leads the Frisians in the Frankish
struggle against the Avars
• 839 count Gerlof sides with the rebellious son of the Frank
Louis the Pious
• 873 count Albdag defeats Vikings (Rudolf) in Westergo
• 885 count Gerlof and count Gerdolf are present at the murder
of Godfried the Norwegian

Count Gerlof is the father of Diderik I, the count of Holland, and of


count Waltger in Teisterbant. The sons of count Waltger are named
"Redbad" and "Poppo".
These names highlight the fact that the counts in Friesland are
Redbadings (kindred of Redbad).

The counts of Middle Friesland:

• 966 count Egbert of the Brunoanen dynasty; which by


marriage and inheritance get Middle Friesland
• 1038 count Liudolf of the Brunswik dynasty dies
• 1038-1057 Bruno count of Middle Friesland
• 1057-1068 Egbert I count of Middle Friesland
• 1068-1088 Egbert II count of Middle Friesland
• The counts of West Friesland:
• 885 count Gerlof
• 922 count Diderik I (Durk I); for the first time this dynasty is
called "House of Holland" count Diderik II (Durk II)
• 993 count Arnulf dies in battle with West Frisians, count Durk
III beats the army of emperor Hendrik II
• 1049 count Durk IV is killed
• 1049-1061 count Floris I is killed
• 1076 count Durk V; County Holland is born (also trough
Flemish influences), and Count Durk V and his County
Holland become the antagonists of West- and Middle
Friesland.

In East Friesland there is nearly no trace of counts.

Frankish Christianity (688 - 734/785 A.D.)


The convertian of Heathens to Christianity could only be
realized in areas that were under Frankish rule.
West Lauwers Friesland became a Frankish county in 734
A.D. The entire Frisian Empire came under Frankish rule in
785 A.D.

The Christianization of Friesland started in 688 A.D. when


Wigbert preached in Friesland and was completed in 800 A.D.
when Friesland was firmly in the grip of Frankish ruler
Charlemange.
In 800 A.D. the Friesians "seem" to be converted. But only
the ruling elite (the counts and other Frankish vassals) has
become Catholic. Large portions of the population are still
heathen, and will remain for a long time.
But the voices of the Frisian Heathen priests and Frisian
skalds of the epic poems (in the likes of Beowulf) are
silenced. Thereby the chain of the oral tradition that connects
the Frisians with their heathen past is broken, and
Christianity -in the end- wins.

Some (tragic) dates:


• 688 A.D. Wigbert preaches in Friesland
• 690 - 754 Willibrord and Bonifatius preach
• 770-789 Willehad preaches
• 775 Liudger (a Frisian) preaches
• 800 A.D. Friesland has Christian social structures (diocese in
Urecht) but ……, the larger part of the population remains
heathen.

Highlights in Heathen terms are:

• in 714-719 A.D. when Willibrord flees Utrecht after Redbad


conquers the city;
• in when 754 A.D. Bonifatius is killed in Dokkum;
• in 782 A.D. when Liudger flees for Saxo-Frisian uprising
under Widukind.

In 793 A.D. Liudger meets the only Frisian skald known by name
"Bernlef". Bernlef sang epic songs of the Frisian Heroic Age (like
Beowulf).

Viking raids and Danish rule (800 - 1014 A.D.)

In 807 A.D. a war starts between Charlemagne and the Danish king
Godfried. Godfried raids Friesland with a fleet of 200 ships,
mocking the Frankish defenses. Shortly after Godfried dies (810
A.D.). After Godfrieds death, the Danish raids concentrate mostly
on the British Isles and less upon Friesland.

After the death of the Frankish emperor Lewis the Pious in 840
A.D., the Carolinian defense of Friesland had collapsed. Since
there was no Frisian King to organize a defensive force, the Danish
raids on this Carolinian outpost intensified. And in the rest of the
9th century the Frisians frequently lived under Danish rule and had
to pay taxes to the Danish feudal-tenants.
The Danes forced the weakened Carolinian Kings to give them
Friesland as a feudal estate.
Feudal tenants in Friesland were:

• Harald (840 - 844 A.D.)


• Rorik and Godfried (844 - 857 A.D.)
• Rorik (a Christian) (862 -872 A.D.)
• Godfried (881 - 885 A.D.)

In 885 the last Scandinavian ruler of Friesland, Godfried the


Norwegian, is murdered and the ruling Danes are evicted from
Friesland by the Frisians. The great tidal waves of Heathenistic
Viking raids (sometimes accompanied with occupation) in
Friesland, had come to an end. Smaller raids still took place until
1014 A.D. when the Christian Knut the Great became king of
Denmark, Norway and England.

The German-period (925 A.D. - 1498 A.D.)

In 843 A.D. Lotharius II became ruler of Friesland. In 925 A.D. most


of the Lotharingian rulers accepted Henry I of Germany as king.
Friesland became part of the "Heilige römische Reich deutscher
Nation". The executive power was, until 1217 A.D., in hands of
feudal tenants (counts).

After 1217 A.D. Middle-Friesland did not have a count, no feudal


tenant, almost no knights, no slaves and a few cities. They were a
people of farmers, fishermen and bargemen.
Since there was no overruling authority, everywhere indigenous
administrative organs developed. It was a booming period;
agriculture and trade flourished and raised it prosperity. Frisian
cities joined the "Hanze" (West-European trade alliance). But
already dark clouds were drifting over, which would eventually
(1498 A.D.) end the Frisian Freedom.

Dyke Building (starts ± 1000 A.D.)

After the terpbuilding, which was in fact a defensive measure


against the sealevel rising, the Frisians went on the offensive and
started taking land out of the reach of the sea by dikebuilding.
Around 1000 A.D. larger parts of land were surrounded by dykes.
This happened in Friesland on both sides of the Lauwers.
Between 1000 and 1100 A.D. large parts of Friesland were
protected by dykes, and there were extensive regulations
concerning maintenance of dykes and wateringsluices.
These first dykes had a height of 1,50 meters above fieldlevel.
Behind the dyke there were roads with a width of approximately 4
meters, so that in case of an emergency two wagons could pass
one-and-other. In terms of total earth movement necessary for the
dyke building one can speak of a worldwonder.
These large dykebuilding projects were first organized by so called
'skeltas'. In the 13th century the dykes became the responsibility of
'grietmannen' and 'asegas'.

Despite the dyke building there were frequently stormfloods that


broke the dykes and flooded Frisianlands with all the tragic
consequences.

Opstalboom (± 1000 - 1327 A.D.)

To the southwest of Aurich in East-Friesland, on a burialmound


dating from the Bronze Age, lies a place called the Opstalboom
(Opstalsboom; Upstallboom; Upstalesbame (Old Frisian)). In the
11th, 12th and 13th an alliance called the "Opstalboom" gathered
on the burialmound. The alliance consisted of representatives of
the 7 Frisian "Zeelanden" (lands by the sea). These representatives
gathered once a year (on the Tuesday after Whit Sunday) and they
drew up rules of law and. The alliance also joined forces if one of
the individual of the 7 members was attacked.

Struggle against the Dutch counts (993 - 26


September 1345 A.D. ("Slag bij Warns"))
The end of the West-Frisian freedom .

After the period of the Scandinavian/Viking rule, the counts of the


"House of Holland" become the ruling elite in the lands along the
North Sea south of West-Friesland. These counts of the house of
Holland were of Frisian origin. But after the birth of the province
Holland in 1075 A.D. the Frankish influences dominated the
Frisian. At this time a deep rift developed between the Frisians in
West-Friesland and the counts of Holland. Several attempts were
made by these counts to forcefully submit the West-Frisians.
Count Arnulf: undertakes a military expedition; he gets killed in
993 A.D.
Count Willem II:attacks West-Friesland in the winter of 1256 A.D.,
he falls through the ice while on horseback and is beaten to death
by Frisians.

Floris V, son of Willem II, is bent on revenging his father's death


and attacks and defeats West-Friesland. Around 1200 Frisians die
in battle. The de-Friezing of West-Friesland starts.
After the death of Floris V the West-Frisians arise again against
Jan I. His successor, Jan II, defeated the West-Frisian uprising,
killing 3000 Frisians. Middle-Friesland set troops to abide the
West-Frisians, but they came to late. West-Friesians lost their
freedom, and in the coming centuries also the Frisian language
(their mother tongue)

Battle of Warns

After the defeat of West-Friesland, the counts of Holland set their


eye on Middle-Friesland.
In 1345 A.D. count Willem IV sets out on a military expedition to
conquer Middle-Friesland. With a large fleet and with the help of
French and Flemish knights he sailed over the "Zuiderzee". The
approach of the aggressor united the Frisian fractions (the
Upstallboom played a role in this unification). On 26 September
1345 A.D. Friesland had its finest hour. Willem IV and the cream of
the Hollandish, Flemish and French knights were in the forefront of
their army, and near Warns they were surrounded by Frisian
landfolk and beaten to death. In disarray the rest of the army fled,
leaving the body of Willem IV behind.
The 26 of September became an annual festive day in Middle-
Friesland.

Schieringers en Vetkopers (1217 - 1489 A.D.)


In 1392 we first hear of the "Schieringers" and the "Vetkopers".
These two infamous names indicate the end of the Frisian
freedom. It came from the Frisian heart itself. The Schieringers and
the Vetkopers were two rivaling parties of Frisian origin. They led
Friesland into a civil war. Village fought against village, stins
against stins and son against father.

It was Friesland darkest hour, and it started in 1217 A.D.. At this


time the rule of Charlemagnian counts in Middle Friesland ends.
This results in the lack of one overruling authority eventually
resulting in a severe weakening of law and order. The power of the
civil service no longer came from above, but out of the community
itself. The result of this was that the Grietman (judge) did not have
anybody of authority to support him in his actions against
disobedient people. In the 14th century this resulted in the
partisanship of the Schieringers and Vetkopers.
The Frisians remained in this stalemate because of a character
trait; there strong individuality. Their personal freedom was more
valuable than the freedom of the people as a whole.

In 1489 A.D. the aid of a foreign authority, Albrecht of Saxony, was


accepted to end the catastrophic partisanship. Thus ending the
Frisian freedom!

End of the Frisian freedom (1498 A.D.)

Albrecht of Saxony, on request of the Schieringers, created a


centralist authority and installing Saxon civil servants. Law and
order returned to Middle-Friesland, but culturally Middle-Friesland
impoverishes. The language of civil service is German, which
results in the de-Friesing of most cities. The de-Friesing was also
hastened because after reformation in the 16th century the Bible
and the preaching in churches was in Low German language only.

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