County of Holland: Difference between revisions

|year_leader1 common_name = 880–896Holland

|leader2 status = [[Philip II of Spain|Phillip II]]= <small>(last)</small>Vassal

|title_deputy era = [[StadtholderMiddle Ages]], [[Renaissance]], [[Modern history|Modern]]

|deputy1 life_span = [[Hugo van Lannoy|Hugo]] <small>(first)<1091/1190–1431/small>1795

|year_deputy1 capital = 1433–1440[[The Hague]]

|legislature event_start = [[States of Holland and West Friesland|States]]Established

|year_deputy2 date_start = 1672–1702

|flag event1 = <!--- Link target under flag image. Default: Flag[[Act of {{{common name}}} --->Abjuration]]

|image_coat event_end = Holland[[Batavian wapen.svgRevolution]]

|image_map p1 = Locator County of Holland (1350).svg = Lower Lorraine

|capital border_p1 = The Hagueno

The '''County of Holland''' was a [[Imperial State|Statestate]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and from 14321433 part of the [[Burgundian Netherlands]], from 1482 part of the [[Habsburg Netherlands]] and from 16481581 onward, Holland was 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 oldest sources refer to the not clearly defined county as ''[[Frisia]]'', west of the [[Vlie]] (also known as [[West- Frisia]]). Before 1101, sources talk about Frisian counts, but in this year [[Floris II, Count of Holland]], is mentioned as ''Florentius comes de Hollant'' (Floris, Count of Holland). Another early usage of the word is a deed dated 1083 in which Dirk V used the term "Count of Holland" for himself.<ref name=":02" /> Holland is probably from the [[Old Dutch]] for ''{{lang|odt|holt lant''}}, literally "wood land,". The counts of Holland generally kept to this single title until 1291, when [[Floris V, Count of Holland]] decided to call himself ''Count of Holland and Zeeland, lord of Friesland''. This title was also used after Holland was united with [[Hainaut (province)|Hainault]], [[Bavaria-Straubing]], and the [[Duchy of Burgundy]]. The titles eventually lost their importance, and the last count, [[Philip II of Spain]], only mentioned them halfway through his long list of titles.

Around 800, under [[Charlemagne]], the [[Frankish Empire]] covered a great dealmuch 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'' or ([[Countcount]]) ruled over 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 [[barteringbarter]]. The king's [[vassals]] could only be rewarded byonly giving themwith land (''beneficium'' or, from the tenth century on, ''feodum'') and [[usufruct]]., From this the system ofand [[Feudalismfeudalism]] 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]].

In FrisiaAfter the situation was complex. The power was in the handselimination of Rorik's successor [[Godfrid, Duke of Frisia|Godfrid the Sea King]], who became embroiled in the high politics of the Frankish empire. He was allied with the children of the former Carolingian Lotharingian king [[Lothair II]]. Danish rule came to an end in 885 with the murder of Godfrid at [[Spijk, Rijnwaarden|Herispijk]]; subsequently all Danes who were present east of the coastal areas of West-Frisia were murdered or driven out as a consequencelarge of what must have been a complex, but highly successful conspiracy led by [[Henryportion of Franconia]], in which a coalition of Babenberg Franks, Hamaland Saxons and Teisterbant Frisians in cooperation with the bishop of Cologne and the emperor managed to outsmart Godfrid and his Danish party. The main actor in this murder was [[Everard Saxo]]population, the count of Hamaland. One of the people who managed to profit most from the ensuing power vacuum was the Frisian [[Gerolf of Holland|Gerolf]], ''comes Fresonum'' (count of Frisia), whose roots lay in [[Westergo]], in the current province of [[Friesland]], Gerolf was a former envoy of Godfrid the Sea King to the emperor, demanding from the emperor lands in the Mozelle valley, this in order to force a war. After the demise of large parts of the Danish Gerulf managed to somehow getcontrolled a grip on large Frisian partspart of the later county of Holland. This ''fait accompli'' was recognised when Gerolf was given lands [[allodial|in full ownership]] on 4 August 889, fromby the East Frankish king [[Arnulf of Carinthia]], who pragmatically decided he needed some strong warlords in the delta arearegion to keep the Danes and other Vikings out. The lands in question included an area outside of Gerulf's county, in Teisterbant, includingwhich included [[Tiel]], [[Aalburg]] and [[Asch (Netherlands)|Asch]]. It also involved an area inside the county. This last possession consisted of a forest and a field somewhere between the mouth of the [[Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland)|Old Rhine]] (and presumably [[Bennebroek]]), ''Suithardeshaga'', the border between the former Frankish counties of Rijnland and Kennemerland. A line of Gerulf's descendants became the Counts of Holland.<ref name=":02" />

In 922, King [[Charles the Simple]] grantedgave the church ofin [[Egmond (municipality)|Egmond]] and all its possessions to Count [[Dirk I, Count of Holland|Dirk I of Holland]], asin thanks922 in gratitude for hisDirk's support in the [[Battle of Soissons (923)|Battle of Soissons]] to suppress a rebellion of his West Frankish vassals. The WesternWest Frankish king couldwas easilyable to do this, because the lands and churches he granted to Dirk laywere outside his jurisdiction.; Egmond was located just north of thepossessions possessionswhich Dirk had received from Gerulf, and was thus a good match. ShortlyHe after this hethen founded [[Egmond Abbey]], theHolland's oldest monastery in Holland. Upon the deposition ofWhen Charles the Simple was deposed in 923, King [[Henry the Fowler]] of East Francia allied with Count [[Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine|Gilbert of Hainaut]], (son of Duke [[Reginar, Duke of Lorraine|Reginar of Lorraine]]) and re-conquered Lotharingia. By 925, the Lotharingian nobles finally accepted his rule, whereafterand Lotharingia (with the Frisian lands) were incorporated asbecame a fifth German [[stem duchy]]. However, Henry's power was limited by his vassal, [[Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine|Gilbert]], the (Duke of Lotharingia), whose power in turn was limited to his own counties.

In 993, count [[Arnulf, Count of Holland|Arnulf of GentGhent]] was killed in a battle against Frisian land reclaimers who did not want to pay their due to the count. It's is unknown where this battle took place but it was probably in the Rijnland or in the Maas estuary. Arnulf's son, count [[Dirk III, Count of Holland|Dirk III of Holland]] was too young to rule, so his mother [[Lutgardis of Luxemburg]] acted as regent. In 1005 Dirk was old enough to rule in his own name, but he still made thankful use of the good connections that his mother had made. According to Thietmar of Merseburg, a reconciliation with the Frisians was arranged with help from his uncle -in-law, king [[Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry II]], who travelled with an army and a fleet from [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]] to the Maas-estuary (probably [[Vlaardingen]]) to force the inhabitants to recognize their count. This expedition appears to have been successful since after 1005 no revolts against the count in this southern part of the later county of Holland are known.

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 thisthese 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 totoo 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. In a highly controversial almost, Japanese [[samurai]]style assassination, Godfrey IV was killed at night while defeceating from the castle of [[Vlaardingen]]. A sword punctured him from belowdefecating. 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 thisthese 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}}

The [[Hook and Cod Wars]] were a series of wars and battles in Holland between 1350 and 1490. Most of these wars were fought over the title of count, but some have argued that the underlying reason was because of the power struggle of the [[bourgeois]] in the cities against the ruling nobility. The Cod faction generally consisted of the more progressive cities of [[Holland]]. The Hook faction consisted forof a large part of the conservative noblemen. Some of the main figures in this multi-generational conflict were [[William IV, Count of Holland|William IV]], [[Margaret II, Countess of Hainaut|Margaret]], [[William V, Count of Hainaut|William V]], [[William VI, Count of Holland|William VI, Count of Holland and Hainaut]], [[John, Duke of Bavaria-Straubing|John]] and Philip the Good. Perhaps the most well known, however, is [[Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut]]. By the end of the Hook and Cod Wars, [[Philip the Good]], [[Duke of Burgundy]], had taken control of Holland. Leading noblemen in Holland had invited the duke to conquer Holland, even though he had no historical claim to it. Some historians say that the ruling class in Holland wanted Holland to integrate with the [[Flanders|Flemish]] economic system and adopt Flemish legal institutions.

[[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles]] (1500–58) became the owner in 1506, but in 1515 he left to become king of Spain and later became the Holy Roman Emperor. Charles turned over control to regents (his close relatives), and in practice rule was exercised by mostly French speaking Burgundians he controlled. Holland retained its own governments and court, controlled by the local nobility, and its own traditions and rights ("liberties") dating back centuries. Likewise the numerous cities had their own legal rights and local governments, usually controlled by the merchants, On top of this, however, the Burgundians had imposed an overall government, the Estates General of the Netherlands, with its own officials and courts.<ref>H.G. Koenigsberger, "The Beginnings of the States General of the Netherlands,", ''Parliaments, Estates and Representation'' (1988) 8#2 pp 101-114.</ref>

During the 16th century, the [[Protestant Reformation]] rapidly gained ground in northern Europe, especially in its Lutheran and Calvinist forms.<ref>R. Po-chia Hsia, ed. ''A Companion to the Reformation World'' (2006) pp 118-34</ref> Protestants in Holland, after initial repression, were tolerated by local authorities. By the 1560s, the Protestant community had become a significant influence in the county, although it clearly formed a minority then.<ref>Jonathan I. Israel, ''The Dutch Republic Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477–1806'' (1995) p. 104</ref> In a society dependent on trade, freedom and tolerance were considered essential. Nevertheless, the Catholic rulers Charles V and his successor [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]] felt it was their duty to defeat Protestantism, which was considered a heresy by the Catholic Church and a threat to the stability of the whole hierarchical political system.<ref>Hsia, ed. ''A Companion to the Reformation World'' (2006) pp 3-36</ref> The Catholic Spanish responded with harsh persecution and introduced the [[Spanish Inquisition]]. Calvinists rebelled. First, there was the [[Beeldenstorm|iconoclasm]] in 1566, which was the systematic destruction of statues of saints and other Catholic devotional depictions in churches. After 1566 [[William the Silent]], more or less by accident became the leader of a revolt that by severe mismanagement by [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]] and his governor the [[Duke of Alva]] turned ininto the [[Eighty Years' War]]. As a consequence, Holland and the other six allied provinces became an independent nation called the [[Dutch republic|Republic of the Seven United Provinces]]. Over William of Orange Blum says, "His patience, tolerance, determination, concern for his people, and belief in government by consent held the Dutch together and kept alive their spirit of revolt."<ref>Jerome Blum et al, ''The European World: A History'' (1970) pp 160-61</ref> The main breakthrough came when Holland, along with Zeeland, werewas conquered in 1572 and following years by the [[Watergeuzen]], a somehow effective maritime force of mainly Calvinists who turned pirate and pirates who turned Calvinist.<ref>Israel, ''The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall, 1477-1806'' (1995) pp 361-95</ref><ref>Diarmaid MacCulloch, ''The Reformation'' (2005) pp 367-72</ref>

The States General of the Netherlands signed the [[Act of Abjuration]], deposing Philip as Count of Holland and forming a confederation between the seven liberated provinces. From then on, the executive and legislative power would again rest with the [[States of Holland and West Friesland]], which were led by a political figure who held the office of [[Grand Pensionary]]. The county, now a sovereign state within this larger confederation, became the cultural, political and economic centre of the [[Dutch Republic]], in the 17th century, the [[Dutch Golden Age]], the wealthiest nation in the world. The largest cities in the republic were situated in the province of Holland, such as [[Amsterdam]], [[Rotterdam]], [[Leiden]], [[Alkmaar]], [[Delft]], [[Dordrecht]], [[Haarlem]], and the nation's capital, [[The Hague]]. From the great ports of Holland, Hollandic merchants sailed to and from destinations all over [[Europe]], and merchants from all over Europe gathered to trade in the warehouses of Amsterdam and other trading cities of Holland. Many Europeans thought of the United Provinces first as "Holland" rather than as the "Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands". A strong impression of "Holland" was planted in the minds of other Europeans, which then was projected back onto the Republic as a whole. Within the provinces themselves, a gradual slow process of cultural expansion took place, leading to a "Hollandification" of the other provinces and a more uniform culture for the whole of the Republic. In the early decades of the uprising, a great number of refugees from Flanders and Brabant settled in the big cities of Holland. They had a [[Francia|Frankish]] influence on the new dialect of urban Holland (that earlier had more Frisian influences) that in later centuries became the [[standard language]] of the Netherlands and Dutch-speaking Belgium.

In the early Middle Ages, large parts of the area covered by the present -day Netherlands were covered by [[Bog|peat bogs]]. These bogs limited the size of [[arable land]] in the Netherlands, but also proved to be a good source of fuel. Around 950, small -scale reclamation was started on the enormous bogs in Holland and Utrecht, probably set in motion by the minor nobility. In the 11th century the 'Great Reclamation' started, under the control of the counts of Holland and the bishops of Utrecht. Until the 13th century, large amounts of land waswere reclaimed between the [[IJ (Amsterdam)|IJ bay]] in the north, the dunes in the west, the [[Lek (river)|Lek]] and [[Waal (river)|Waal]] rivers in the south and the [[Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland)|Old Rhine]] in the east.

== References ==

{{reflist|2Reflist}}

*{{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}}

*{{cite book |title=Oorkondenboek van Holland en Zeeland tot 1299, Deel I -– einde 7e eeuw tot 1222 |last=Koch |first=A.C.F. |year=1970 |publisher= Nijhoff |location=Den Haag |isbn=90-247-0403-0}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, County Of Holland}}

[[Category:Counties of the Holy Roman Empire|Holland]]

[[Category:Seventeen Provinces|Holland]]