County of Holland: Difference between revisions

| native_name = {{native name|la|Comitatus Hollandiae}}<br/>{{native name|nl|Graafschap Holland}}

| conventional_long_name = County of Holland

| common_name = Holland

| status = Vassal

| status_text = [[Imperial State|State]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]<br/>part of the [[Burgundian Netherlands]] {{nowrap|<small>(1433–1482)</small>}}<br/>part of the [[Habsburg Netherlands]] {{nowrap|<small>(1482–1581)</small>}}<br/>part of the [[Dutch Republic]] {{nowrap|<small>(1581–1795)</small>}}

| era = [[Middle Ages]], [[Renaissance]], [[Modern history|Modern]]

| life_span = 1091–17951091/1190–1431/1795

| capital = [[The Hague]]

| common_languages = [[Old Frisian]]<br>[[Old Dutch]]<br>[[Middle Dutch]]<br>[[Dutch language|Dutch]]

| event_start = Established

| date_start =

| year_start = 11th century

| event1 = [[Act of Abjuration]]

| date_event1 = 26 July 1581

| event_end = [[Batavian Revolution]]

| date_end = 18 January

| year_end = 1795

| p1 = Lower Lorraine

| flag_p1 = Lothringen-Nieder.PNG

| border_p1 = no

| s1 = Batavian Republic

| flag_s1 = Flag of the navy of the Batavian Republic.svg

| national_motto = {{native name|la|"Vigilate Deo confidentes"|nolink=yes|italics=off}}<br>{{small|"Watch, trusting in God"}}

|government_type title_leader = Feudal[[Count of monarchyHolland|Count]]

|title_leader leader1 = [[CountGerolf of Holland|CountGerolf]] <small>(first)</small>

|leader1 leader2 = [[GerolfPhilip II of HollandSpain|GerolfPhillip II]] <small>(firstlast)</small>

|year_leader2 title_deputy = 1555–1581[[Stadtholder]]

|title_deputy deputy1 = [[StadtholderHugo van Lannoy|Hugo]] <small>(first)</small>

|deputy2 legislature = [[William IIIStates of EnglandHolland and West Friesland|William IIIStates]] <small>(last)</small>

|flag_type symbol = <!--- DisplayedLink text for linktarget under flagsymbol image. Default: Coat of arms of {{{common "Flag"name}}} --->

|image_map religion = Locator County= of[[Catholic HollandChurch]]<br>[[Dutch (1350).svgReformed]]

The '''County of Holland''' was a [[Imperial State|state]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and from 1433 part of the [[Burgundian Netherlands]], from 1482 part of the [[Habsburg Netherlands]] and from 1581 onward the leading province of the [[Dutch Republic]], of which it remained a part until the [[Batavian Revolution]] in 1795. The territory of the County of Holland corresponds roughly with the current provinces of [[North Holland]] and [[South Holland]] in the [[Netherlands]].

The County of Holland was the first Holy Roman county in the area to reach the level of economic, cultural, military, and technological development it did, having had time to undergo this development before the area became classed as a county.<ref name=":02">{{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=35-3635–36 |oclc=52849131}}</ref>

Around 800, under [[Charlemagne]], the [[Frankish Empire]] covered much of Europe. In much of this empire, an important unit of regional administration (corresponding roughly to a [[shire]] or [[county]] in England) was the ''[[Gau (country subdivision)|gau]]'' ([[Frankish language|Frankish]]) or ''[[pagus]]'' (Latin). A ''comes'' ([[count]]) ruled one or more ''gaue''. Because of the low volume of trade, the negative trade balance with the [[Byzantine Empire]] and the Muslim states and the disappearance of currency, the economy was more- or- less reduced to [[barter]]. The king's [[vassals]] could only be rewarded only with land (''beneficium'' or, from the tenth century, ''feodum'') and [[usufruct]]. From this, and [[feudalism]] developed from that. The vassals, who were generally appointed by the king, strove for a system of inheritance. This becameinformal morerule andbecame more the rule,widespread and in 877 it was legalised in the [[Capitulary of Quierzy]].

Upon the death of a king, the Frankish kingdom was frequently divided among his heirs. ThisThe system of [[partible inheritance]] often caused internal strife, which made centralized government problematic. The [[Viking]] raids further undermined centralized government. At the end of the reign of Emperor [[Louis the Pious]], royal power had weakened because ofby the [[Floodsfloods in the Netherlands|flood of 838]] and by infighting between the king's sons. After Louis died in 840, his son, Emperor [[Lothair I]], who was (king of [[Middle Francia]]), rewarded the Danish Viking brothers [[Rorik of Dorestad|Rorik]]<ref name=":02" /> and Harald with [[Frisia]] — present-day [[Holland]] — in an attempt to resist Viking attacks.

When Lothair died in 855, the northern part of Middle Francia was awarded to his second son, [[Lothair II]], and was called [[Lotharingia]].

The 880 [[Treaty of Ribemont]] added the Kingdom of Lotharingia (which included the [[Low Countries]]) to [[East Francia]], which attempted to integrate it. However, there were no strong political connections like those between the four German [[Stem duchy|stem duchies]] of east Francia: [[Duchy of Franconia|Franconia]], the [[Duchy of Saxony|Saxony]], the [[Duchy of Bavaria|Bavaria]] and the [[Duchy of Swabia|Swabia]]. Lotharingia had considerable [[self-determination]]; this became clear when [[Louis the Child]], East Francia's last [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian]], died in 911. Although the stem duchies flocked to Duke [[Conrad I of Germany|Conrad I of Franconia]], Lotharingia chose the Carolingian king of [[West Francia]], [[Charles the Simple]].

In Frisia, the situation was complex. Power was in the hands of Rorik's successor, [[Godfrid, Duke of Frisia|Godfrid]], who became embroiled in the politics of the Frankish empire and was allied with the children of Lothair II. Danish rule ended in 885 with the murder of Godfrid at [[Spijk, RijnwaardenZevenaar|Herispijk]], and all Danes east of the coastal areas of [[West Frisia]] were killed or driven out in what must have been a complex, successful conspiracy led by. [[Henry of Franconia]] in whichled a coalition of Babenberg Franks, Hamaland Saxons and Teisterbant Frisians (in cooperation with the bishop of Cologne and the emperorEmperor), which outsmarted Godfrid and the Danes. The chief conspirator in the murder was [[Everard Saxo]], count of [[Hamaland]]. One of those who profited most from the power vacuum was the Frisian [[Gerolf of Holland|Gerolf]], ''comes Fresonum'' (count of Frisia), from [[Westergo]] in the present-day province of [[Friesland]]. Gerolf, Godfrid's former envoy to the emperor, demanded lands in the [[Moselle]] valley from the emperor to provoke a war.

As a result of a promise he had made during the Frisian rebellion, Dirk III went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When he returned, the northern side of his county had become unsafe, so he travelled south and started granting rights to reclaim lands from nature around present-day [[Vlaardingen]] in order to cultivate these lands. He also built a castle at ''Silva Meriwido'', the future Vlaardingen. From this castle, he forced merchants that travelled per ship from [[Tiel]] to England to pay toll. The Bishop of Utrecht, [[Adalbold II of Utrecht|Adalbold]] and the merchants of Tiel complained against this piracy at the [[Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)|Reichstag of Nijmegen]] in 1018, the merchants of Tiel effectively pointing out that the emperor was losing tax revenue when he allowed the Tiel merchants to being plundered by Dirk III. It was decided to act against Dirk III. An army led by [[Godfrey II, Duke of Lower Lorraine|Godfrey II]] Duke of [[Lower Lorraine]], consisting of a fleet with soldiers from the bishops of [[Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht|Utrecht]], [[Archbishop of Cologne|Cologne]], [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai|Cambrai]] and [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège|Liège]] was however surprisingly ambushed in a swamp and nearly annihilated by Dirk III Frisian subjects in what was called the [[Battle of Vlaardingen]], Dirk III himself playing a coordinating role, only to appear from his castle to officially take prisoner the duke of Lower Lorraine, when Godfrey was on the verge of being killed.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

So as not to weaken the protection the county of Holland offered against the Viking raids, King Henry II decided to let the matter rest, though he did strengthen the position of the Bishop of Utrecht, the nominal feudal lord of the counts of Holland. Nonetheless, Dirk managed to expand his territory to the east at the cost of the Bishopric of Utrecht. After the death of Henry II in 1024, Dirk III supported the candidature of [[Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor|Conrad II]] in an attempt to reconcile with the imperial authorities, so as to keep the lands he had acquired or expand them even further.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

Emperor Conrad II died during a stay in Utrecht in 1039 during the rule of bishop [[Bernold]], after which his organs were interred in the [[St. Martin's Cathedral, Utrecht|Cathedral of Utrecht]]. His son and successor, [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry III]], granted numerous favors to the bishopric of Utrecht. In this way, the [[Overijssel#History|Oversticht]] was assigned to the bishopric in 1040. Though the count of Holland had been reconciled with the emperor, Henry III still decided to punish the count. In 1046 the emperor forced [[Dirk IV, Count of Holland|Dirk IV]] to relinquish the lands he had conquered. However, the emperor was not able to maintain himself in the area and was forced to retreat, after which Dirk IV started to raid and plunder the bishoprics of Utrecht and Liège. Moreover, Dirk signed treaties with [[Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine|Godfrey the Bearded]], duke of Lower Lorraine, as well as the counts of [[County of Flanders|Flanders]] and [[County of Hainaut|Hainaut]]. The Emperor responded with a second punitive expedition in which Vlaardingen and the castle at [[Rijnsburg]] were taken from Dirk IV. The castle was completely destroyed. However, the emperor suffered heavy losses during his retreat, upon which Dirk's allies openly revolted against the emperor. In 1049 Dirk IV was lured into a trap and killed by assassins hired by the bishops of [[Prince-Bishopric of Metz|Metz]], Liège and Utrecht. Dirk died young, unmarried and childless. He was succeeded by his brother [[Floris I, Count of Holland|Floris I]].{{cn|date=April 2024}}

Floris I managed to expand his territory with a small area within the Rijnland Gouw, an area called ''Holtland'' ("Woodland"), or ''Holland''. It is most likely that this name soon became synonymous with Floris' whole territory. In 1061 a war broke out, in which it is not clear whether it was against [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]], Utrecht or Liège. During this war, Floris was ambushed while relaxing too much and in too small a company when he was raiding in the former Teisterbant county, now Utrechtian territory. He was killed by either Utrechtian or Gueldrian troops. His son [[Dirk V, Count of Holland|Dirk V]] was still a minor, so his mother [[Gertrude of Saxony]] became regent. Gertrude remarried in 1063 with [[Robert I, Count of Flanders|Robert the Frisian]], a younger brother of the [[county of Flanders|count of Flanders]], [[Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders|Baldwin VI]] and a grandson of a former French king, [[Robert II of France|Robert II]], who also acted as regent for Dirk V.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

In 1064, Emperor [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]] donated lands belonging to the county of Holland, 'west of the [[Vlie]] and around the banks of the Rhine' (the gouw of Westflinge), to [[William I (Bishop of Utrecht)|William, Bishop of Utrecht]], on whose support the Emperor could count. Dirk V was only allowed to keep the gouw of Masaland. Through battles in 1071 and 1072, William of Utrecht, with support from the highly competent Duke [[Godfrey IV, Duke of Lower Lorraine|Godfrey IV]] of Lower Lorraine, managed to gain actual central control over nearly the entire later county of Holland for the first time. Robert the Frisian and Dirk V had to flee to [[Ghent]]. This could have been the end of the Gerulfingian dynasty. Robert the Frisian managed however against some odds to become count of Flanders in 1076 when in the [[Battle of Cassel (1071)|battle of Cassel]] he managed to beat a grand coalition of Hainaut, French and Normandian forces. Being now the count of Flanders he was able to assist his stepson to reclaim the county of Holland. The pair started by taking out their most dangerous adversary. Godfrey IV was killed at night while defecating. Shortly afterwards the formidable bishop William of Utrecht also died. After this Robert I and his stepson Dirk V besieged the new Utrecht/Lotharingian castle at a strategic place at the delta in [[IJsselmonde (Rotterdam)|IJsselmonde]], where the [[Hollandse IJssel]] (still existing) joined the Merwede (not existing any more in the form of 1000 years ago){{cn|date=February 2023}}. In the [[battle of IJsselmonde]] they managed to capture the new bishop [[Conrad (Bishop of Utrecht)|Conrad of Swabia]], who was now forced to return the lands to Dirk V's control. In 1101, the name "Holland" first appears in a deed.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

Holland's influence continued to gradually grow over the next two centuries. The counts of Holland were able to conquer most of [[Zeeland]], to diminish the power of bishops of Utrecht and from the start of the 12th until the 13th century fight a 150-year-long war against the inhabitants of the area living at the east side of North Holland, also confusingly known as "West-Frisians". It was not until 1289 that Count [[Floris V]] was able to bring this long war to an end and subjugate these West Frisians, this only after the [[St. Lucia's flood]] in 1287 had completely devastated nearly all the lands of the West-Frisians. After this, the county was officially known until 1795 as the county of Holland and West Friesland.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

*{{cite book |title=Oorlog om Holland 1000-1375 |last=Graaf |first=A.C.F. |year=1970 |location=Hilversum |isbn=90-6550-807-4 |publisher=Verloren}}