page_title: Frisian Kingdom
section_title: After the Frankish conquest
hierarchical_section_title: Frisian Kingdom / After the Frankish conquest
caption_attribution_description: Dansk: Mindre udsnit forestillende den danske konge Gøtrik/Godfred fra "Veræ effigies regum omnium qvi a primo Dan usqe Christianum IV modo regnantem imperii Danici gloria eminuerunt" udgivet i 1670 af Erico Olai Tormio.
context_page_description: The Frisian Kingdom, also known as Magna Frisia, is a modern name for the Frisian realm in the period when it was at its largest. This empire 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.
context_section_description: 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". 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, 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.
  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 holt lant, literally "wood land", describing the district around Dordrecht, the nucleus of the County of Holland. 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.
caption: The Danish king Gudfred who in 810 let his fleet invade Frisia. 17th century engraving.
exif: {"Image Tag 0x0301": "20000/9091", "Image Tag 0x0303": "0", "Image Tag 0x5110": "1", "Image Tag 0x5111": "3779", "Image Tag 0x5112": "3779"}