TheCounty of Hollandwas astateof theHoly Roman Empireand from 1433 part of theBurgundian Netherlands,from 1482 part of theHabsburg Netherlandsand from 1581 onward the leading province of theDutch Republicuntil theBatavian Revolutionin 1795. The territory of the County of Holland corresponds roughly with the current provinces ofNorth HollandandSouth Hollandin theNetherlands.
County of Holland | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1091/1190–1431/1795 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms
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| Motto:"Vigilate Deo confidentes"(Latin) "Watch, trusting in God" | |||||||||
 The County of Holland around 1350. | |||||||||
| Status | Stateof theHoly Roman Empire part of theBurgundian Netherlands(1433–1482) part of theHabsburg Netherlands(1482–1581) part of theDutch Republic(1581–1795) | ||||||||
| Capital | The Hague | ||||||||
| Common languages | Old Frisian Old Dutch Middle Dutch Dutch | ||||||||
| Religion | Catholic Church Dutch Reformed | ||||||||
| Government | Feudal monarchy | ||||||||
| Count | |||||||||
• 880–896 | Gerolf(first) | ||||||||
• 1555–1581 | Phillip II(last) | ||||||||
| Stadtholder | |||||||||
• 1433–1440 | Hugo(first) | ||||||||
• 1672–1702 | William III(last) | ||||||||
| Legislature | States | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages,Renaissance,Modern | ||||||||
• Established | 11th century | ||||||||
| 26 July 1581 | |||||||||
| 18 January 1795 | |||||||||
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| Today part of | 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.[1]
Etymology
editThe oldest sources refer to the not clearly defined county asFrisia,west of theVlie(also known asWest Frisia). Before 1101, sources talk about Frisian counts, but in this yearFloris II, Count of Holland,is mentioned asFlorentius 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.[1]Holland is probably from theOld Dutchholt lant,literally "wood land". The counts of Holland generally kept to this single title until 1291, whenFloris V, Count of Hollanddecided to call himselfCount of Holland and Zeeland, lord of Friesland.This title was also used after Holland was united withHainault,Bavaria-Straubing,and theDuchy 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.
History
editFrancia and Lotharingia
edit
Around 800, underCharlemagne,theFrankish Empirecovered much of Europe. In much of this empire, an important unit of regional administration (corresponding roughly to ashireorcountyin England) was thegau(Frankish) orpagus(Latin). Acomes(count) ruled one or moregaue.Because of the low volume of trade, the negative trade balance with theByzantine Empireand the Muslim states and the disappearance of currency, the economy was more or less reduced tobarter.The king'svassalscould be rewarded only with land (beneficiumor, from the tenth century,feodum) andusufruct,andfeudalismdeveloped from that. The vassals, who were generally appointed by the king, strove for a system of inheritance. This informal rule became more widespread and in 877 was legalised in theCapitulary of Quierzy.
Upon the death of a king, the Frankish kingdom was frequently divided among his heirs. The system ofpartible inheritanceoften caused internal strife, which made centralized government problematic. TheVikingraids further undermined centralized government. At the end of the reign of EmperorLouis the Pious,royal power had weakened by theflood of 838and by infighting between the king's sons. After Louis died in 840, his son, EmperorLothair I,who was king ofMiddle Francia,rewarded the Danish Viking brothersRorik[1]and Harald withFrisiain 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 calledLotharingia.
Rorik was granted the right to ruleKennemerlandin 862.[1]
The 880Treaty of Ribemontadded the Kingdom of Lotharingia (which included theLow Countries) toEast Francia,which attempted to integrate it. However, there were no strong political connections like those between the four Germanstem duchiesof east Francia:Franconia,theSaxony,theBavariaand theSwabia.Lotharingia had considerableself-determination;this became clear whenLouis the Child,East Francia's lastCarolingian,died in 911. Although the stem duchies flocked to DukeConrad I of Franconia,Lotharingia chose the Carolingian king ofWest Francia,Charles the Simple.
In Frisia, the situation was complex. Power was in the hands of Rorik's successor,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 atHerispijk,and all Danes east of the coastal areas ofWest Frisiawere killed or driven out in what must have been a complex, successful conspiracy.Henry of Franconialed a coalition of Babenberg Franks, Hamaland Saxons and Teisterbant Frisians (in cooperation with the bishop of Cologne and the Emperor), which outsmarted Godfrid and the Danes. The chief conspirator in the murder wasEverard Saxo,count ofHamaland.One of those who profited most from the power vacuum was the FrisianGerolf,comes Fresonum(count of Frisia), fromWestergoin the present-day province ofFriesland.Gerolf, Godfrid's former envoy to the emperor, demanded lands in theMosellevalley from the emperor to provoke a war.
After the elimination of a large portion of the Danish population, Gerulf controlled a large Frisian part of the later county of Holland. Thisfait accompliwas recognised when Gerolf was given landsin full ownershipon 4 August 889 by the East Frankish kingArnulf of Carinthia,who needed strong warlords in the delta region to keep the Danes and other Vikings out. The lands in question included an area outside Gerulf's county, in Teisterbant, which includedTiel,AalburgandAsch.It also involved a forest and field between the mouth of theOld Rhine(and presumablyBennebroek), Suithardeshaga, the border between the former Frankish counties of Rijnland and Kennemerland. A line of Gerulf's descendants became the Counts of Holland.[1]
KingCharles the Simplegave the church inEgmondand its possessions to CountDirk I of Hollandin 922 in gratitude for Dirk's support in theBattle of Soissonsto suppress a rebellion of his West Frankish vassals. The West Frankish king was able to do this because the lands and churches he granted to Dirk were outside his jurisdiction; Egmond was just north of possessions which Dirk had received from Gerulf and was a good match. He then foundedEgmond Abbey,Holland's oldest monastery. When Charles the Simple was deposed in 923, KingHenry the Fowlerof East Francia allied with CountGilbert of Hainaut(son of DukeReginar of Lorraine) and re-conquered Lotharingia. By 925, the Lotharingian nobles accepted his rule and Lotharingia (with the Frisian lands) became a fifth German stem duchy. Henry's power was limited by his vassal,Gilbert(Duke of Lotharingia), whose power was limited to his own counties.
Imperial State
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The rising status of theHouse of Hollandwas shown when in 938 CountDirk II,probably the grandson of Count Dirk I, married at the age of 8 with Hildegard of Flanders, daughter of CountArnulf I of Flanders.
The County of Holland and other nearby territories had a considerable amount of independence from Holy Roman Empire leadership in the10thand11thcenturies.[1]Until at least the second half of the 10th century, Holland's leadership valued secular principles, a contrast to the nearbyPrince-Bishopric of Utrecht.[1]
The count of Holland was in this period more of a military commander who had to resist Viking raids, and be subject to the authority of theBishopric of Utrecht.In 985, KingOtto III,at the request of his motherTheophanu,granted the ownership (proprium) of a number of lands to count Dirk II. These lands had already been given inloan(beneficium). This was the area between the riversLoiraorLierandHisla(agouwcalledMasaland),villa Sunnimeri(on the Zeelandish island of Schouwen), the area between the riversMedemelakaandChinnelosara gemerchi(Kinheim) and the gouwTexla.
In 993, countArnulf of Ghentwas killed in a battle against Frisian land reclaimers who did not want to pay their due to the count. It is unknown where this battle took place but it was probably in the Rijnland or in the Maas estuary. Arnulf's son, countDirk III of Hollandwas too young to rule, so his motherLutgardis of Luxemburgacted 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, kingHenry II,who travelled with an army and a fleet fromUtrechtto the Maas-estuary (probablyVlaardingen) 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-dayVlaardingenin order to cultivate these lands. He also built a castle atSilva Meriwido,the future Vlaardingen. From this castle, he forced merchants that travelled per ship fromTielto England to pay toll. The Bishop of Utrecht,Adalboldand the merchants of Tiel complained against this piracy at theReichstag of Nijmegenin 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 byGodfrey IIDuke ofLower Lorraine,consisting of a fleet with soldiers from the bishops ofUtrecht,Cologne,CambraiandLiègewas however surprisingly ambushed in a swamp and nearly annihilated by Dirk III Frisian subjects in what was called theBattle 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.[citation needed]
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 ofConrad IIin an attempt to reconcile with the imperial authorities, so as to keep the lands he had acquired or expand them even further.[citation needed]
Emperor Conrad II died during a stay in Utrecht in 1039 during the rule of bishopBernold,after which his organs were interred in theCathedral of Utrecht.His son and successor,Henry III,granted numerous favors to the bishopric of Utrecht. In this way, theOverstichtwas 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 forcedDirk IVto 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 withGodfrey the Bearded,duke of Lower Lorraine, as well as the counts ofFlandersandHainaut.The Emperor responded with a second punitive expedition in which Vlaardingen and the castle atRijnsburgwere 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 ofMetz,Liège and Utrecht. Dirk died young, unmarried and childless. He was succeeded by his brotherFloris I.[citation needed]
Floris I managed to expand his territory with a small area within the Rijnland Gouw, an area calledHoltland( "Woodland" ), orHolland.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 againstBrabant,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 sonDirk Vwas still a minor, so his motherGertrude of Saxonybecame regent. Gertrude remarried in 1063 withRobert the Frisian,a younger brother of thecount of Flanders,Baldwin VIand a grandson of a former French king,Robert II,who also acted as regent for Dirk V.[citation needed]
In 1064, EmperorHenry IVdonated lands belonging to the county of Holland, 'west of theVlieand around the banks of the Rhine' (the gouw of Westflinge), toWilliam, 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 DukeGodfrey IVof 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 toGhent.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 thebattle of Casselhe 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 inIJsselmonde,where theHollandse IJssel(still existing) joined the Merwede (not existing any more in the form of 1000 years ago)[citation needed].In thebattle of IJsselmondethey managed to capture the new bishopConrad 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.[citation needed]
Holland's influence continued to gradually grow over the next two centuries. The counts of Holland were able to conquer most ofZeeland,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 CountFloris Vwas able to bring this long war to an end and subjugate these West Frisians, this only after theSt. Lucia's floodin 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.[citation needed]
Burgundians and Habsburgs
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TheHook and Cod Warswere 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 thebourgeoisin the cities against the ruling nobility. The Cod faction generally consisted of the more progressive cities ofHolland.The Hook faction consisted of a large part of the conservative noblemen. Some of the main figures in this multi-generational conflict wereWilliam IV,Margaret,William V,William VI, Count of Holland and Hainaut,Johnand Philip the Good. Perhaps the most well known, however, isJacqueline, 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 theFlemisheconomic system and adopt Flemish legal institutions.
Under the Burgundians, Holland's trade developed rapidly, especially in the areas of shipping and transport. The new rulers defended Dutch trading interests. The fleets of Holland defeated the fleets of theHanseatic Leagueseveral times. Amsterdam grew and in the 15th century became the primary trading port in Europe for grain from the Baltic region. Amsterdam distributed grain to the major cities of Belgium, Northern France and England. This trade was vital to the people of Holland, because Holland could no longer produce enough grain to feed itself. Land drainage had caused the peat of the former wetlands to reduce to a level that was too low for drainage to be maintained.
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.[2]
Revolt and the Dutch Republic
edit
During the 16th century, theProtestant Reformationrapidly gained ground in northern Europe, especially in its Lutheran and Calvinist forms.[3]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.[4]In a society dependent on trade, freedom and tolerance were considered essential. Nevertheless, the Catholic rulers Charles V and his successorPhilip IIfelt 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.[5]The Catholic Spanish responded with harsh persecution and introduced theSpanish Inquisition.Calvinists rebelled. First, there was theiconoclasmin 1566, which was the systematic destruction of statues of saints and other Catholic devotional depictions in churches. After 1566William the Silent,more or less by accident became the leader of a revolt that by severe mismanagement byPhilip IIand his governor theDuke of Alvaturned into theEighty Years' War.As a consequence, Holland and the other six allied provinces became an independent nation called theRepublic 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."[6]The main breakthrough came when Holland, along with Zeeland, was conquered in 1572 and following years by theWatergeuzen,a somehow effective maritime force of mainly Calvinists who turned pirate and pirates who turned Calvinist.[7][8]
The States General of the Netherlands signed theAct 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 theStates of Holland and West Friesland,which were led by a political figure who held the office ofGrand Pensionary.The county, now a sovereign state within this larger confederation, became the cultural, political and economic centre of theDutch Republic,in the 17th century, theDutch Golden Age,the wealthiest nation in the world. The largest cities in the republic were situated in the province of Holland, such asAmsterdam,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 overEurope,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 aFrankishinfluence on the new dialect of urban Holland (that earlier had more Frisian influences) that in later centuries became thestandard languageof the Netherlands and Dutch-speaking Belgium.
Nominally, the County of Holland formally came to an end in 1795, when theBatavian Revolutionended the republic and reformed it as theBatavian Republic.The territory of the former county was divided between the departments of theAmstel,Delf,Texel,andSchelde en Maas.After 1813, Holland was restored as a province of theUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands.Holland was divided into the present provincesNorth HollandandSouth Hollandin 1840.
Geography
edit
The county covered an area roughly corresponding to the current Dutch provinces ofNorth HollandandSouth Holland,as well as the northwestern part of the current province ofNorth Brabant(roughly between the towns ofWillemstad,GeertruidenbergandWerkendam), and the islands ofTerschelling,Vlieland,UrkandSchokland,though it did not include the island ofGoeree-Overflakkee.
In the early Middle Ages, large parts of the area covered by the present-day Netherlands were covered bypeat bogs.These bogs limited the size ofarable landin 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 were reclaimed between theIJ bayin the north, the dunes in the west, theLekandWaalrivers in the south and theOld Rhinein the east.
Before the Great Reclamation, the borders between the county of Holland and the bishopric of Utrecht were unclear, and there existed a literalno-man's land.However, during the reclamation the counts of Holland managed to expand their influence at the cost of Utrecht.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abcdefgRietbergen, P. J. A. N. (2000).A Short History of the Netherlands: From Prehistory to the Present Day(4th ed.). Amersfoort: Bekking. pp. 35–36.ISBN90-6109-440-2.OCLC52849131.
- ^H.G. Koenigsberger, "The Beginnings of the States General of the Netherlands",Parliaments, Estates and Representation(1988) 8#2 pp 101-114.
- ^R. Po-chia Hsia, ed.A Companion to the Reformation World(2006) pp 118-34
- ^Jonathan I. Israel,The Dutch Republic Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477–1806(1995) p. 104
- ^Hsia, ed.A Companion to the Reformation World(2006) pp 3-36
- ^Jerome Blum et al,The European World: A History(1970) pp 160-61
- ^Israel,The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall, 1477-1806(1995) pp 361-95
- ^Diarmaid MacCulloch,The Reformation(2005) pp 367-72
Bibliography
edit- Block, Dick (1977–1983).Algemene Geschiedenis der Nederlanden.Haarlem: Fibula-Van Dishoeck.ISBN90-228-3800-5.
- Lamberts, J.C.H. (2006).Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden.Baarn: HBuitgevers.ISBN90-5574-474-3.
- Graaf, A.C.F. (1970).Oorlog om Holland 1000-1375.Hilversum: Verloren.ISBN90-6550-807-4.
- Koch, A.C.F. (1970).Oorkondenboek van Holland en Zeeland tot 1299, Deel I – einde 7e eeuw tot 1222.Den Haag: Nijhoff.ISBN90-247-0403-0.
- Beukers, T. de (2002).Geschiedenis van Holland tot 1572.Hilversum.ISBN90-6550-682-9.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)