Radbod III

**Radbod III** was the King of Great Frisia who lived in the late 9th and early 10th centuries. His father, Edward, had revived the Frisian monarchy after 100 years of Frankish rule, and Radbod succeeded his father in 886 at the age of 23. His reign was marked by the peak of Viking raids against Frisia, as well as Frisia becoming a regional power under Radbod's direction, where dozens of castles were built during his rule.

Radbod was credited with being the first Frisian king to rule over all of the traditional region of Frisia, as his father had only unified most of the country before his death.

## Biography

Radbod's birthdate is unknown, but a contemporary manuscript noted that Radbod was 23 at the beginning of his reign, placing his birth year at either 861 or 862. His father, Edward, had intended from the beginning for Radbod to inherit all of his lands, however Radbod's younger brother, Folkward, ended up ruling Angria and Bremen during Radbod's reign, under Radbod to a certain extent.

Radbod was coronated in 886 after his father's premature death. He married Nienke, another Nordan, but her relation to Radbod and the rest of the royal line is unknown.

### Conflicts

Soon after his coronation, the first Viking raid of his reign occurred when in 887 a large host of raiders, probably from Norway, travelled from Bremen west towards Frisia proper. Folkward, Radbod's brother who probably governed the region, was out of the picture at the time, so Radbod had to assemble his own army in Groningen and march west to face the Norse army. That September, the two sides fought at the battle of Cloppenburg, with a decisive Frisian win. Many prisoners were captured by Radbod's force while the rest fled the scene, and didn't return for several years. This same Frisian army, along with mercenaries of unknown origin, defeated a peasant revolt in East Frisia in 888.

In retaliation for the Norse invasion, Radbod attempted to capture the outpost of Tiesterbant from the Swedish King, who likely didn't have any role in the raid of Frisia. This attempt failed, as the Swedish fleet was in the English Channel at the time, and in days they were able to land a major force at Tiesterbant to defeat the Frisian forces there. However, a second invasion of Tiesterbant in 903 proved to be succeessful, and all land north of the Rhine to Cleves became subject to Radbod.

Radbod's geopolitical situation improved in 893 when he captured Munster, and the duchy began paying tribute to Groningnen directly, freeing it from Carolingian influence, as the dynasty was experiencing quite a bit of infighting at the time.

Radbod faught a three-year war against Burgundy over Western Frisia, including much of what is the Netherlands today. Utrecht was captured in 895, and in 898 Burgundy surrendered all of their Frisian lands to Radbod.

Frisia also helped in the crusade against Burgundy, with Radbod's oldest son, Edward, carving out a fairly powerful duchy under the French crown north of Lyon that historians call the Duchy of Varais.

### Later Reign

After Frisia was effectively unified in 903, Radbod began building castles and fortresses around the country to consolidate power, placing relatives and allies in these new castles to rule in his name. At least 12 castles were constructed across Frisia between 903 and Radbod's death, and these new holdings bolstered the Frisian economy in the early 10th century.

Radbod died in October of 912, apparently after a botched surgery. The doctor performing the surgery was executed, and was supposedly the only Frisian ever executed by Radbod's orders. He was succeeded by Avuko, his nephew, who was merely a teenager at the time.