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{{short description|c. 600–734 realm in northwestern Europe}}{{Disputed|date=April 2024}}

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| common_name = Frisian kingdom| status = | era = 600}}| year_end = 734| date_start = | date_end = | event_start = | event_end = | p1 = Germania| flag_p1 = | s1 = Francia| flag_s1 = | image_flag = | image_coat = | symbol_type = | image_map = Frisia 600-734-la.svg| image_map_caption = The Frisian Realm. The Frisian Kingdom covered only several the western district, and ended in 719, or, at its latest 734.| national_motto = | national_anthem = Dorestad Traiectum (Utrecht)>Traiectum (Utrecht)| common_languages = Old Frisian| religion = Germanic paganism| demonym = Frisian| government_type = MonarchyList of rulers of Frisia#Frisian Kingdom>King| leader1 = Aldgisl650|680}}Redbad, King of the Frisians>Redbad680}}–719Poppo (Frisian)>Poppo| year_leader3 = 719–734SceatDe eerste koningen van Nederland, p. 22, Aspekt útjouwerij, p. 205. {{ISBN>978-90-5911-323-7}}| today = NetherlandsGermanyBelgium}}The Frisian Kingdom (), also known as Magna Frisia, is a modern name for the post-Roman Frisian realm in Western Europe in the period when it was at its largest (650–734). This dominion was ruled by kings and emerged in the mid-7th century and probably ended with the Battle of the Boarn in 734 when the Frisians were defeated by the Frankish Empire. It lay mainly in what is now the Netherlands and – according to some 19th century authors – extended from the Zwin near Bruges in Belgium to the Weser in Germany. The center of power was the city of Utrecht.In medieval writings, the region is designated by the Latin term Frisia. There is a dispute among historians about the extent of this realm; There is no documentary evidence for the existence of a permanent central authority. Possibly, Frisia consisted of multiple petty kingdoms, which transformed in time of war to a unit to resist invading powers, and then headed by an elected leader, the primus inter pares. It is possible that Redbad established an administrative unit. Among the Frisians at that time, there was no feudal system.BOOK,weblink Rondom de mondingen van Rijn & Maas: Landschap en bewoning tussen de 3e en 9e eeuw in Zuid-Holland, in het bijzonder de Oude Rijnstreek, 9789088900785, Dijkstra, Menno, 2011, Sidestone Press,

Pre-Migration Period

The ancient Frisii were living in the low-lying region between the Zuiderzee and the River Ems. In the Germanic pre-Migration Period (i.e., before c. AD 300) the Frisii and the related Chauci, Saxons, and Angles inhabited the Continental European coast from the Zuyder Zee to south Jutland.{{Harvcolnb|Haywood|1999|pp=14}}, Dark Age Naval Power. Haywood uses the term 'North German' to distinguish them from the 'Rhine Germans' (the Caninnefates, Batavians, and "Frankish" tribes). All of these peoples shared a common material culture, and so cannot be defined archaeologically.{{Harvcolnb|Haywood|1999|pp=17–19}}, Dark Age Naval Power. Haywood cites Todd's The Northern Barbarians 100 BC–AD 300 (1987) for this conclusion. What little is known of these early Frisii and their kings is provided by a few Roman accounts about two Frisian kings visiting Rome in the 1st century: Malorix and Verritus. It has been postulated that by AD 400 the Frisii abandoned the land and disappeared from archeological records. However, recent excavations in the dunes of Kennemerland show clear evidence of a continuous habitation.BOOK,weblink Why did they leave? Why did they stay? On continuity versus discontinuity from Roman times to Early Middle Ages in the western coastal area of the Netherlands. In: Kontinuität und Diskontinuität: Germania inferior am Beginn und am Ende der römischen Herrschaft; Beiträge des deutsch-niederländischen Kolloquiums in der Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, (27. bis 30.6.2001), De Koning, Jan, 2003, Walter de Gruyter, 9783110176889, 53–83, en, BOOK,weblink The Dawn of Dutch: Language contact in the Western Low Countries before 1200, Vaan, Michiel de, 15 December 2017, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 9789027264503, 42–44, en,

Migration Period

Frisia suffered marine transgressions that made the land largely uninhabitable during the 3rd to 5th centuries. Whatever population may have remained dropped dramatically.{{Citation |last=Louwe Kooijmans |first=L. P. |year=1974 |title=The Rhine/Meuse Delta. Four studies on its prehistoric occupation and Holocene geology (PhD Dissertation) |publisher=Leiden University Press |publication-date=1974 |location=Leiden |hdl=1887/2787}}BOOK,weblink Why did they leave? Why did they stay? On continuity versus discontinuity from Roman times to Early Middle Ages in the western coastal area of the Netherlands. In: Kontinuität und Diskontinuität: Germania inferior am Beginn und am Ende der römischen Herrschaft; Beiträge des deutsch-niederländischen Kolloquiums in der Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, (27. bis 30.6.2001), De Koning, Jan, 2003, Walter de Gruyter, 9783110176889, 53–83, en, BOOK,weblink The Dawn of Dutch: Language contact in the Western Low Countries before 1200, Vaan, Michiel de, 15 December 2017, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 9789027264503, 42–44, en, In the 6th century, Frisia received an influx of new settlers, mostly Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who would come to be known as "Frisians" even though they were not necessarily descended from the ancient Frisii.{{Citation |last=Bazelmans |first=Jos |year=2009 |editor1-last=Derks |editor1-first=Ton |editor2-last=Roymans |editor2-first=Nico |contribution=The early-medieval use of ethnic names from classical antiquity: The case of the Frisians |contribution-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 |url=http://s393993344.online.de/ssoar/handle/document/27183 |access-date=2019-02-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830194912weblink |archive-date=2017-08-30 |url-status=dead }}A legendary king of the Migration Period is Finn, associated with the Battle of Finnsburg. In the story, the young Danish prince Hnæf, was staying as an invited guest of the Frisian king Finn. For reasons unknown, a battle broke out between the two parties, probably started by the Frisian side,{{harvnb|Zocco|2007|p=67}}, "in the most generally accepted reconstruction the first assault is from the part of the Frisians in a treacherous onslaught which excites the Danish strenuous defence". The term Frisian side avoids imputing specific responsibility to either Finn, Frisians, Jutes, or others. and Hnæf was killed. Hnæf's retainer Hengest took command, and the sides engaged in a peace treaty; but Hengest and the Danes later avenged Hnæf's death and slaughtered the Frisians. Some late 6th or early 7th-century coins in the Merovingian style survive that commemorate an obscure figure known as Audulf.{{citation |last=Grierson |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Grierson |url=https://jaarboekvoormuntenpenningkunde.nl/jaarboek/1973/1973-1974e.pdf |title=Jaarboek voor Munt- en Penningkunde |volume=60/61 |date=1973–1974 |location=Amsterdam |publisher=Koninklijk Nederlands Genootschap voor Munt- en Penningkunde |editor=H. Enno van Gelder |editor2=H.R. Kiezebrink |editor3=G. van der Meer |editor4=A.T. Puister |editor5=H.J. van der Wiel |display-editors=0 |contribution=Korte Bijdragen: A New Audulfus Frisia Triens |pages=153–156 }}. Some Dutch historians consider him to have been a regional lord or kingK.P.H. Faber, Audulfus, een Friese Koning, in Fryslân, Nieuwsblad voor geschiedenis en cultuur, no.4, 4e jaargang, December 1998. although he is otherwise unattested.The Frisians consisted of tribes with loose bonds, centered on war bands but without great power. In the second half of the 7th century the Frisian kingship reached its maximum geographic development with its center of power in Dorestad.BOOK, Utrecht, Mathijseditor1-first=Willem A. vaneditor2-first=Wilfried A. M.language=nlyear=1994pages=90–91,

Social classes

The earliest Frisian records name four social classes, the (nobiles in Latin documents) and , who together made up the "Free Frisians" who might bring suit at court, and the laten or liten with the slaves, who were absorbed into the laten during the Early Middle Ages, as slavery was not so much formally abolished, as evaporated.{{efn|Homans describes Frisian social institutions, based on the summary by BOOK, Breslau, Marcus, Untersuchungen zur deutschen staats- und Rechtsgeschichte, 144, Siebs, Benno E., Grundlagen und Aufbau der altfriesischen Verfassung, de, 1933, 604057407, Siebs' synthesis was extrapolated from survivals detected in later medieval documents.JOURNAL, Wiley, The Economic History Review, 0013-0117, New series, 10, 2, 1957, Homans, George C., George C. Homans, The Frisians in East Anglia, 189–206, 10.2307/2590857, 2590857, }} The laten were tenants of lands they did not own and might be tied to it in the manner of serfs, but in later times might buy their freedom.{{rp|page=202}}

History of wars

The exact title of the Frisian rulers depends on the source. Frankish sources tend to call them dukes; other sources often call them kings. Only three Frisian rulers are named in contemporary written sources.

Aldgisl

Under the rule of the king Aldgisl, the Frisians came in conflict with the Frankish mayor of the palace Ebroin, over the old Roman border fortifications. Aldgisl could keep the Franks at a distance with his army. In 678 he welcomed the English bishop Wilfrid, who, like him, was not a friend of the Franks.{{rp|page=795}} While Wilfrid was at Aldegisel's court, Ebroin offered Aldegisel a bushel of gold coins in return for Wilfrid, alive or dead. Aldegisel himself is said to have torn up and burned the letter from the Frankish mayor in front of the ambassadors and his household. It has been surmised by some that Aldegisel's kindness to Wilfrid was a mode of defiance of Frankish domination. During his stay, Wilfrid attempted to convert the Frisians, who were still pagan at that time. Wilfrid's biographer says that most of the nobles converted,Levison England and the Continent pp. 50–51 but the success was short-lived.BOOK, Hindley, Geoffrey, A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The Beginnings of the English Nation, 2006, Carroll & Graf Publishers, 121, New York, 978-0-7867-1738-5,

Redbad

File:Frisia sceatta 715 701246.jpg|thumb|Frisian sceattassceattasFile:Great fibula of Wijnaldum.jpg|thumb|Great fibula of Winaam from the 7th century, found in 1953]]In 680, Aldgisl died and was succeeded by his son Redbad, King of the Frisians. While AldgislJOURNAL, TeBrake, William H., Ecology and Economy in Early Medieval Frisia, Viator, 1978, 9, 1–30, 10.1484/J.VIATOR.2.301538,weblink 2013-08-30, had welcomed Christianity into his realm, Redbad attempted to extirpate the religion and free the Frisians from subjugation to the Merovingian kingdom of the Franks. In 689, however, Redbad was defeated by Pepin of Herstal in the battle of DorestadBOOK, Bussum, Fibula-Van Dishoeck, Fibulareeks, 22, Blok, Dirk P., De Franken : hun optreden in het licht der historie, nl, 1968, 622919217, 32–34,weblink 2014-09-17, and compelled to cede Frisia Citerior (Nearer Frisia) to the Franks. The battle of Dorestad took place around 690 by the capital city of the Frisians close to the Rhine. The Franks were victorious in the battle under the Austrasian mayor of the palace, Pepin of Herstal.BOOK, Bussum, Fibula-Van Dishoeck, Fibulareeks, 22, Blok, Dirk P., De Franken : hun optreden in het licht der historie, nl, 1968, 622919217, 32–34,weblink 2014-09-17, Dorestad and Utrecht fell into the hands of Pepin, this gave the Franks control of important trade routes on the Rhine to the North Sea. Following this defeat, Redbad retreated to the island of Heligoland. Willibrord, a student of Wilfred's, was sent to christianise the pagan Frisians at the request of Pepin, who had nominal suzerainty over the region. On 21 November 695 Pope Sergius I gave him a pallium and consecrated him as bishop of the Frisians.Mershman, Francis. "St. Willibrord." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 5 Mar. 2014 He returned to Frisia to preach and establish churches, among them a monastery at Utrecht, where he built his cathedral. Willibrord is counted the first Bishop of Utrecht. It is presumed that the influence of the Franks now reached from south of the Oude Rijn to the coast, but this is not entirely clear because the influence of the Frisians over the central river area was not entirely lost. In any case there was a Catholic Church mission to pagan Frisia with a monastery and episcopal see in Utrecht from 695, founded for Willibrord,it Liber Pontificalis (Corpus XXXVI 1, side 168) en Beda Venerabilis (Corpus XLVI9, page 218){{Catholic|inline=1|volume=15|last=Lins|first=Joseph|wstitle=Archdiocese of Utrecht}}{{Catholic|inline=1|volume=15|last=Mershman|first=Francis|wstitle=St. Willibrord}} and a marriage was arranged between Grimoald the Younger the oldest son of Pepin, and Thiadsvind, the daughter of Redbad, in 711.THESIS, Halbertsma, Herrius, Frieslands Oudheid, nl, en, Summary,weblink 1982, Groningen, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, 746889526, 791–798, {{rp|page=794}}After Pepin died, in 714, Redbad took advantage of the battle for succession in Francia and regained southern Frisia. He made a treaty with the Neustrasian mayor of the palace, Ragenfrid.In 716, the king of the Franks, Chilperic II, and Ragenfrid, the mayor of the palace of Neustria, invaded Austrasia to impose their will on the competing factions there: those of Theudoald and Plectrude, Pepin's heir and widow respectively, and those of Martel himself, newly escaped from Plectrude's Cologne prison and acclaimed mayor of the palace of Austrasia. Simultaneously Redbad, King of Frisia invaded Austrasia, forcing Saint Willibrord and his monks to flee, and allied with the king and the Neustrians. Outside of Cologne, held by Plectrude, an ill-prepared Charles Martel was defeated by Redbad, and forced to flee to the mountains of the Eifel. Cologne fell after a short siege to Chilperic, the Frisians and the Neustrians.Kurth, Godefroid. "Charles Martel." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 20 Jul. 2014 Once in the mountains of the Eifel, Charles began to rally his supporters, and in short order was ready to do battle. Many Austrasians, under attack by Neustrians, Frisians, and Saxons in the northeast likely rallied behind Martel because he was the only surviving adult male of the Pippinnid family.Costambeys, Marios, Innes, Matthew, and MacLean, Simon. The Carolingian World, Cambridge University Press, 2011 His forces then attacked the army of Chilperic II and his allies at the Battle of Amblève near Amel as they returned triumphantly from Cologne.WEB, Geschiedenis van het volk der Friezen, nl, 2003, boudicca.de,weblink 2009-01-22,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090608003800weblink">weblink 2009-06-08, dead, {{Self-published source|date=November 2014}} Martel used a feigned retreat, falling on his foes as they rested at midday, and feigning falling back to draw them fully out of a defensive position, where he defeated them, devastating the Frisian army. Willibrord was then joined by Boniface, an Anglo-Saxon bishop. They spent a year together attempting to convert the Frisians to Christianity, but their efforts were frustrated when Redbad retook possession of Frisia, burning churches and killing many missionaries.RKK.nl retrieved 23 June 2014 Willibrord and Boniface were forced to flee to the protection of Charles Martel. The Frisian army returned to the north with a large war loot. Redbad made plans to invade Francia for the second time and mobilised a large army, but before he could do this he died of an illness in 719. It is not certain who the successor of Redbad was. It is believed that there were troubles with the succession, because the Frankish opponent Charles Martel could easily invade Frisia and subjugate the land. The resistance was so weak that Charles Martel not only annexed Frisia Citerior ("nearer" Frisia south of the Rhine), but he also crossed the Rhine and annexed "farther" Frisia, to the banks of the river Vlie.{{rp|page=795}} Now protected by the Franks, Willibrord returned to Frisia.BOOK, Halbertsma, Herrius, 2000, Frieslands oudheid: het rijk van de Friese koningen, opkomst en ondergang, nl, en, Utrecht, Matrijs, 9789053451670, New, {{rp|page=90}}

Poppo

There was a rebellion against Frankish rule in the region of Westergo in 733, which Charles put down.{{sfn|Bachrach|2001|pp=250–51}} The inhabitants gave hostages, converted to Christianity and recognised Frankish overlordship, but after Charles left they were punished by their fellow Frisians. The next year, the Frisians rebelled again, this time under the leadership of King Poppo. Charles gathered a large fleet and ferried an army across the Almere for a naval invasion. Initial landings on Westergo and OostergoThese regions were described as islands (insulae) in contemporary accounts.{{which|date=June 2021}} encountered no resistance, since Charles's aim was to bring Poppo to heel. This time no punitive measures were taken against the Frisians.{{sfn|Bachrach|2001|pp=250–51}} Charles and Poppo's armies met on the banks of the river Boarn, perhaps at Oldeboorne, one of the Frisians' chief commercial centers at the time.{{sfn|Bachrach|2001|pp=250–51}} The Franks appear to have coveted the trade that passed through there and through Domburg and Dorestad.{{sfn|Costambeys|Innes|MacLean|2011|p=48}} The Frisians commanded by Poppo used boats to land their army and surprise the Franks. However the Franks had constructed a fortified encampment once on shore and the Frisian army was defeated in the Battle of the Boarn. Poppo was killed in combat and his army was pushed back to Eastergoa.{{sfn|Bachrach|2001|pp=250–51}} The death of Poppo marked an important phase in the destruction of Frisian paganism. Charles ordered pagan shrines and sanctuaries to be destroyed and carried back to Francia "a great mass of spoils" (magna spolia et praeda).{{sfn|Bachrach|2001|pp=250–51}}The Franks annexed the Frisian lands between the Vlie and the Lauwers. In 752/753 Boniface wrote a letter to Pope Stephen II, in which it is said that Willibrord destroyed the Frisian pagan sanctuaries and temples.{{in lang|la}}{{in lang|nl}} C.J.C. Broer and M.W.J. de Bruijn, Bonifatius en de Utrechtse kerk, in: C. Dekker and E.S.C. Erkelens-Buttinger (1997), De kerk en de Nederlanden, page 63, Verloren, {{ISBN|90-6550-558-X}} In the Life written by Alcuin are two texts about Willibrord and pagan places of worship. In one he arrived with his companions in Walcheren in the Netherlands where he smashed a sculpture of the ancient religion.{{in lang|la}} Alcuin, Vita Sancti Willibrordi, circa 795, chapter 14 (English translation) In the second text passage Willibord arrived on an island called Fositesland (possibly Heligoland) where a pagan god named Fosite was worshipped. Here he despoiled this god of its sanctity by using the god's sacred well for baptisms and the sacred cattle for food.Alcuin, chapter 10M. Mostert (1999), 754, Bonifatius Bij Dokkum Vermoord , Uitgeverij Verloren, page 23, {{ISBN|90-6550-448-6}} {{in lang|nl}} Emboldened by the success of the Frankish subjugation of Frisia, Boniface returned in 754 to once again attempt to convert the Frisians. He baptized a great number and summoned a general meeting for confirmation at a place not far from Dokkum, between Franeker and Groningen. Instead of the converts he expected, a group of armed inhabitants appeared. The Frisian warriors were angry because he had destroyed their shrines and slew the archbishop, looting his chests and destroying his books. The Frisians consisted of loosely bonded tribes centered on war bands but without great power. In the second half of the 7th century the Frisian kingdom reached its maximum geographic development.BOOK, Utrecht, Mathijs, Es, Willem A. van, Hessing, Wilfried A. M., Romeinen, Friezen en Franken in het hart van Nederland : van Traiectum tot Dorestad 50 v.c.-900 n.c., nl, 2nd, 1994, 9789053450499, 90–91,

After the Frankish conquest

In 772, the Frankish king Charlemagne attacked the Frisians east of the Lauwers with a large army. He defeated them in several battles and so brought an end to the Frisian independence, expanding the Frankish Empire further to the east, where the Saxon Wars would begin. The Saxon leader Widukind organized resistance to the Franks, in 782 the Frisians east of the Lauwers also joined the uprising. The uprising expanded to Frisian lands in the west that had been pacified earlier. This led to an en masse return to paganism by the population, marauders burned churches and the priests had to flee south. The Carolingians conquered the area east of the Lauwers in 785, when Charlemagne defeated Widukind. They laid Frisia under the rule of grewan, a title that has been loosely related to count in its early sense of "governor" rather than "feudal overlord".{{rp|page=205}} Charlemagne eventually crushed this revolt, but faced another uprising by the Frisians in 793 - driven by the conscription of Frisians into the Frankish army. Under the leadership of dukes Unno and Eilrad,{{rp|page=310}} the uprising arose east of the Lauwers and spread to other Frisian lands. This again led to a temporary return to paganism, and again priests had to flee. This uprising was also suppressed by the Franks. During this time Charlemagne imposed the Lex Frisionum, a penal code which stratified Frisia into Nobility, Freemen, Serfs and Slaves.In 810 the Danish king Gudfred let a fleet consisting of 200 ships invade Frisia, and claiming the territory as a part of his Danish kingdom. The Danish king though was shortly after the invasion killed by one of his own men, and his fleet withdrew to Denmark before it came to any clash with regular Frankish forces.Frisia was granted to the Danish Viking Rorik of DorestadBOOK, Per Ullidtz, 1016 The Danish Conquest of England, 2014, BoD – Books on Demand, 978-8771457209, 177, between 841 and 880, followed by another Danish Viking Godfrid, Duke of Frisia until he was killed in 885.BOOK, Simon Coupland, Carolingian Coinage and the Vikings: Studies on Power and Trade in the 9th Century, 2007, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, 978-0860789918, 99–111, The area was subsequently under Gerolf of Holland.BOOK, Maria Brouwer, Governmental Forms and Economic Development: From Medieval to Modern Times, 11 August 2016, Springer, 978-3319420400, 185, Before 1101, sources talk about counts ruling over Frisia, west of the Vlie as Frisian counts. But in this year count Floris II is mentioned as Florentius comes de Hollant (Floris, Count of Holland). Holland is probably from the Old Dutch , literally "wood land", describing the district around Dordrecht, the nucleus of the County of Holland.WEB,weblink Holland | Origin and meaning of the name holland by Online Etymology Dictionary, The counts 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 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.

Footnotes

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References

{{reflist}}

Bibliography

• {{citation |author-link=Bernard S. Bachrach |first=Bernard |last=Bachrach |title=Early Carolingian Warfare: Prelude to Empire |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia |year=2001}}
• {{citation |title=The Carolingian World |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |first1=Marios |last1=Costambeys |first2=Matthew |last2=Innes |first3=Simon |last3=MacLean}}
• {hide}citation |last=Haywood |first=John |year=1999 |title=Dark Age Naval Power: Frankish & Anglo-Saxon Seafaring Activity

publisher=Anglo-Saxon Books publication-place=Frithgarth |isbn=1-898281-43-2{edih}

• {{citation|last=Zocco |first=Nicola |year=2007 |title=The Episode of Finn in Beowulf. Discharging Hengest |journal=Linguistica e Filologia |volume=24 | url =weblink |pages = 65–83}}

Further reading

• {{Aut|G. Verwey}}, ''Geschiedenis van Nederland, Amsterdam, 1995.
• {{Aut|P. Pentz e.o.}}, Koningen van de Noordzee, 2003.
• {{Aut|J.J. Kalma e.o.}} Geschiedenis van Friesland, 1980.

{{Early Germanic Kingdoms}}{{Netherlands topics}}{{authority control}}History of Friesland