Edward Grutbard

**Edward Grutbard**, also known as **Edward II** (Dutch: *Eduard;* 916 -) was the King of Great Frisia from 931 until his death. He is often seen as the greatest of the early Frisian kings, and is considered to have been both a great warrior, as well as a philosopher king. Edward's realm dramatically grew under his realm, taking over land as far west as Calais and as far east as Munster, now in Germany. His reign was also seen as the beginning of Feudalism in modern-day Omland, as he created many titles that he gave to his vassals and dramatically reorganized his country in the wake of his many campaigns around Europe.

## Biography

### Early Life

Edward was born in 916 to King Avuko of Frisia and Eldesendis, reigning duchess of Munster. Edward was a sickly child, however as he grew he became a stronger man than his father was, and supposedly had a strong resemblance to Edward I, his great grandfather. Avuko died young in 931, and Edward was crowned king at the age of 14. His early reign was peaceful, and the economy was booming thanks to Edward's predecessors, and there weren't any major conflicts until Frisia began a war with Austrasia. Edward did help his distant relative, Odo, become King of Normandy though.

### Conquest of Brabant

Being the son of Avuko, who was famed for being a great military leader across Europe, Edward didn't seem to want to simply be in his shadow. So when an Austrasian force was crossing through Frisia, Edward ordered an attack on the small army. This battle near the city of Lingen in July of 942 was the beginning of a lengthy conflict with Frisia's southern neighbor.

Edward crossed the Rhine in mid-August of 942 near Loon, and moved northwest to invade along the English Channel. During the Winter of 942 and 943 King Gedalbert of Austrasia attempted to cross the Rhine several times, and though some of these crossings were done successfully every army that went past it were defeated by Edward's. At the same time, Breda was being sieged, and the fortress fell in early October of 943. The battle of Wereth, on October 23, was a close Frisian win, as well as the battle of Goch on November 12. The leader of the Frisian armies was a commander named Bentet, who was awarded with land after the war for his service. Bentet chose to pursue the defeated Austrasian force, along with Edward, and their armies fought together against the Brabrantine infantry under Austrasia on January 23 at the battle of Hasselt, where a Capetian prince was taken prisoner by Edward, among many other Austrasian men. The remainder of the Brabrantine infantry was routed and scattered south and west.

The siege of Leuven began soon after the battle of Hasselt, but a second Austrasian force of 3,000 veteran soldiers appeared to the east, and the siege was lifted and the decisive battle of Bastogne occurred on May 26, 944, where the Austrasians were one again defeated. Among those imprisoned was the mayor of Luxembourg. Most of the actual fighting had subsided by the fall of 944, though there was a failed Austrasian attack on Brussels, which was being sieged at the time.

Fighting began once again in the fall of 945, with the Battle of Breda in November ending in Austrasian defeat by fresh Frisian troops coming from Groningen. Leuven finally fell in December of 945, after over a year of them being sieged by Edward's forces. Brussels fell days later, and by the end of the year Brabrant was firmly under Edward's control. The new Austrasian king, Sicland, had no interest in continuing conflict with Frisia, and gave Brabrant over in a treaty at the beginning of 946. Brabrant itself was given to Bentet, perhaps Edward's most valuable general, to rule in Edward's name.

Otbert, regent of Boulogne, refused to accept Edward as his new liege, so the city was siezed by Edward himself in June of 946.

### Flanders Campaign

In mid-April of 948, Edward sent 4,000 men from Groningen and Munster into Gent, beginning conflict with Flanders, as well as Germany, who Flanders paid tribute to. However, Germany wasn't able to completely focus on Edward as they were fighting both Bavarians to the east and Savoian rebels to the south. Edward himself arrived at Gent at the end of May after sending 3,000 additional soldiers, possibly mercenaries, to Frisia's eastern border near Minden to hold off any invading German troops. It was during the siege of Gent where Edward grew his famous beard, which gave him the nickname "Grut bard", meaning "Great Beard".

Taco and Bentet, Edward's two strongest generals, stayed with Edward at the siege of Gent, which lasted through the summer of 948 and into the fall, until Gent finally fell on October 31. Duke Arcambald of Flanders was busy fighting Savoy, and Gauzbert, a nobleman leading Flanders in his absence, was not an effective leader by any means, waiting for Edward's forces to come to him at Aalst, which quickly fell upon Edward's arrival in November. Bruges, the capital of Flanders at the time, was sieged from December until August of 949, making it a grueling besiegement that cost Edward quite a bit of men and money. Arcambald surrendered to Edward that December as Edward was beginning to siege Ypres. Edward was handed over all of Flanders, giving him total control of modern-day continental Omland.

Hildoin, the local Frankish Count of Gent, whose realm was devastated during the war, was compensated by Edward personally and given the title of the Duke of Flanders on the condition that he would learn Frisian and accept his liege's culture as his own, which Hildoin accepted. This event is often seen as the beginning of Feudalism in Omland, as many titles of "Count" and "Duke", previously foreign concepts, would be created by Edward and his successors.

### Second Austrasian War

When Brabrant was taken over by Edward, a dispute over the village of Cleves and the surrounding area began. This culminated in King Sicland of Austrasia sending troops to occupy the village in 960. Edward, hearing about this, traveled to Cleves in May of 961 personally with around 2,000 troops. The siege there lasted until September, when the defenders abandoned the area. Later in the Fall, Goch and Rees fell as well.

Meanwhile, Leuven was being sieged by Austrasian forces, numbering at around 3,000, however by the end of the fall Edward had 7,000 soldiers under his command, so he marched west to lift the siege. The ensuing Battle of Leuven, on November 22, was fought during an early snow and eventually the Austrasians were cut down. That winter saw an Austrasian attempt to win back Cleves which ultimately failed after Edward's army traveled there that February. By the Summer of 962, fighting had ended and Cleves officially became a part of Frisia.

### Domestic reign

Edward married Bet, the reigning Duchess of Angria, at the beginning of his reign. However, it became revealed in 946 that she had taken at least one lover while Edward was fighting in Brabrant, and so Bet was stripped of her titles and imprisoned when Edward found out about her adultery. She was publicly executed on October 1, 947, in front of the entire city of Groningen according to Pulo, a contemporary writer. Edward later remarried an Italian duchess.

Despite being at war for much of his reign, Edward also was a patron of the arts, spending years of his reign sponsoring artists, philosophers and writers, such as Pulo. This was especially after his earlier western campaigns, which had ended by 950. Edward is seen by historians as a philosopher king, often being compared to Marcus Aurelius of Rome. Edward knew of Aurelius and supposedly had a copy of his "Meditations", a book written by him. Edward was a major proponent of education within Frisia, and literacy levels among the common folk dramatically rose during his reign (though after his death they likely fell again). His reign is often known as the Flemish Renaissance because of the cultural success of Great Frisia during this time.

The population of Frisia flourished, especially in the 950s, where Groningen's population may have even doubled during this time. Bentet, who had control of Brabrant under Edward, was given the title of Duke in 954, and his daughter was betrothed to Leo, one of Edward's sons.