County of Holland The County of Holland was a State of the Holy Roman Empire and from 1482 till 1581 part of the Habsburg Netherlands in what is now the Netherlands . Etymology . The oldest sources refer to the not clearly defined county as " Frisia " , west of the Vlie . 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 ) . 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 . Geography . The county covered an area roughly corresponding to the current Dutch provinces of North Holland and South Holland , as well as the northwestern part of the current province of North Brabant ( roughly between the towns of Willemstad , Geertruidenberg and Werkendam ) , and the islands of Terschelling , Vlieland , Urk and Schokland , though it did not include the island of Goeree - Overflakkee . In the early Middle Ages , large parts of the area covered by the present day Netherlands were covered by 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 was reclaimed between the IJ bay in the north , the dunes in the west , the Lek and Waal rivers in the south and the Old Rhine in the east . Before the Great Reclamation , the borders between the county of Holland and the bishopric of Utrecht were unclear , and there existed a literal no - man ' s land . However , during the reclamation the counts of Holland managed to expand their influence at the cost of Utrecht . History . Around 800 , under Charlemagne , the Frankish Empire covered a great deal 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 " ( Frankish ) , or " pagus " ( Latin ) . A " comes " or Count ruled over one or more " gaue " . Because of the low 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 bartering . The king ' s vassals could only be rewarded by giving them land ( " beneficium " , from the tenth century on " feodum " ) and usufruct . From this the system of Feudalism developed . The vassals , who were generally appointed by the king , strove for a system of inheritance . This become more and more the rule , 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 . This partible inheritance often caused internal struggle which made centralized government problematic . The Viking Raids further undermined centralized government . At the end of the reign of Emperor Louis the Pious , the royal power had weakened because of the flood of 838 , but also because of infighting between the king ' s sons . After Louis died in 840 , his son Emperor Lothair I , King of Middle Francia , rewarded the Danish brothers Rorik and Harald with Frisia - current day Friesland and Holland - in an attempt to resist the attacks of the Vikings . Lotharingia . Upon Lothair ' s death in 855 , the northern part of Middle Francia was awarded to his second son Lothair II , and called Lotharingia after him . The Treaty of Ribemont in 880 added the Kingdom of Lotharingia - of which the Low Countries were part - to East Francia , which attempted to integrate it . However , there were no connections like there were between the four German Stem Duchies of east Francia : the Franconia , the Saxony , the Bavaria and the Swabia . Lotharingia took a separate position with a large amount of self - determination . This became clear when Louis the Child , the last Carolingian of East Francia , died in 911 . While the Stem Duchies flocked to Duke Conrad I of Franconia , Lotharingia chose for the Carolingian Charles the Simple , king of West Francia . In Frisia , the Counts still saw their power reduced by the Danes . They started cooperating , but in 885 the Danish rule came to an end with the murder of Rorik ' s successor Godfrid by Henry of Franconia . One of the people involved in the murder was Gerolf , " comes Fresonum " ( count of Frisia ) . As a reward he was given lands in full ownership on August 4 , 889 , from the East Frankish king Arnulf of Carinthia . The lands in question included an area outside of Gerulf ' s county , in Teisterbant , including Tiel , Aalburg and 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 Old Rhine and presumably Bennebroek , " Suithardeshaga " . In 922 , King Charles the Simple granted the church of Egmond and all its possessions to Count Dirk I of Holland , as thanks for his support against a rebellion of his West Frankish vassals . Egmond was located just north of the possessions Dirk had received from Gerulf , and was thus a good match . Shortly after this he founded Egmond Abbey , the oldest monastery in Holland . Upon the deposition of Charles the Simple in 923 , King Henry the Fowler of East Francia allied with Count Gilbert of Hainaut , son of Duke Reginar of Lorraine and re - conquered Lotharingia lands . By 925 the Lotharingian nobles finally accepted his rule , whereafter Lotharingia with the Frisian lands were incorporated as a fifth German stem duchy . However , Henry ' s power was limited by his vassal Gilbert , the Duke of Lotharingia , whose power in turn was limited to his own counties . Imperial State . The rising status of the House of Holland was shown when in 938 Count Dirk II , probably the grandson of Count Dirk I , married at the age of 8 with Hildegard of Flanders , daughter of Count Arnulf I of Flanders . The count of Holland was in this period more of a military commander who had to resist Viking raids , and subject to the authority of the Bishopric of Utrecht . In 985 , King Otto III , at the request of his mother Theophanu , granted the ownership ( " proprium " ) of a number lands to count Dirk II . These lands had already been given in loan ( " beneficium " ) . This was the area between the rivers " Loira " ( lier ) and " hisla " ( IJssel ) - a Gau called Masaland - , " villa Sunnimeri " , the area between the rivers " Medemelaka " and " Chinnelosara gemerchi " - Kinheim - and Texla , another Gau . In 993 , count Arnulf of Gent was killed in a battle near Winkel in an attempt to quell the rebellious Frisians . This is seen as the first sign of the " libertas " of the Frisians , but at that time the regions of West - Friesland and Kennemerland were still connected . Arnulf ' s son , count 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 take over the rulership himself , 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 , who travelled with an army from Utrecht to quell the frisian revolt . 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 loaning lands around present day Vlaardingen in order to cultivate it . 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 Merchants complained at the Reichstag of Nijmegen in 1018 , where it was decided to act against Dirk III . An army led by Godfrey II Duke of Lower Lorraine , consisting of a fleet with soldiers from the Bishopric of Utrecht , Cologne and the Prince - Bishopric of Liège was surprisingly defeated by Dirk III in the Battle of Vlaardingen . 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 Heny II in 1024 , Dirk III supported the candidature of 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 . 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 Cathedral of Utrecht . His son and successor , Henry III , granted numerous favors to the bishopric of Utrecht . In this way , the 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 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 Liege . Moreover , Dirk signed treaties with Godfrey the Bearded , duke of Lower Lorraine , as well as the counts of Flanders and 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 the bishops of Metz , Liege and Utrecht . Dirk died young , unmarried and childless . He was succeeded by his brother Floris I . Floris I managed to expand his territory with a small area within the Rijnland Gau , 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 Brabant , Utrecht or Liege . During this war Floris was ambushed and killed . His son Dirk V was still a minor , so his mother Gertrude of Saxony became regent . Gertrude remarried in 1063 with Robert I , who also acted as regent for Dirk V . In 1064 , Emperor Henry IV donated lands belonging to the county of Holland , ' west of the Vlie and around the banks of the Rhine ' ( the Gau of Westflinge ) , to William , Bishop of Utrecht , on whose support the Emperor could count . Dirk V was only allowed to keep the Gau of Masaland . Through battles in 1071 and 1072 , William of Utrecht , with support from Duke Godfrey IV of Lower Lorraine , managed to gain actual control over the lands in questions . After both William and Godfrey died in 1076 , Robert I and his stepson Dirk V besieged IJsselmonde and managed to capture the new bishop Conrad of Swabia , who was forced to return the lands to Dirk V ' s control . The Netherlands . During the Eighty years war , the county of Holland played an important part in the resistance against the Spaniards . After the Union of Utrecht , the county of Holland became the leading province of the new Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , being dominant over all other provinces . Nominally , Holland was still a county , but it had deposed its last count in the Act of Abjuration in 1581 , and from then on essentially functioned as a province and not as a county . The County of Holland formally came to an end in 1795 , when the Batavian Revolution ended the republic and reformed it as the Batavian Republic .