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75-600: It was created by a succession of storm surges in the 14th and 15th centuries, including the St. Elizabeth's flood (1404) and the St. Elizabeth's flood (1421) . For a long time the Braakman was a natural barrier between east and west Zeelandic Flanders, and also access to the ports of Boekhoute , Philippine , Axel and Sas van Gent . Over the centuries it steadily spread , drowning at least 15 villages between 1200 and 1601 . Then, people fought back. Successive empolderings shrank

150-685: A Nordwestblock stretching from the Somme to the Weser and survived until the Roman period before being absorbed by their Celtic and Germanic neighbours. During his Gallic Wars , Julius Caesar conquered all of Gaul for Rome, and this included the Netherlands south of the Rhine . He also wrote about his experiences in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico , which is the first surviving written account of

225-536: A few cases. In Dutch and Frisian historical tradition, the trading centre of Dorestad declined after Viking raids from 834 to 863; however, since no convincing Viking archaeological evidence has been found at the site (as of 2007), doubts about this have grown in recent years. One of the most important Viking families in the Low Countries was that of Rorik of Dorestad (based in Wieringen ) and his brother

300-593: A location in Zeeland is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . St. Elizabeth%27s flood (1404) The St. Elizabeth's flood ( Sint Elisabethsvloed ) of 1404 occurred on or around 19 November 1404, the namesake day of St. Elizabeth . The floods were especially catastrophic in Flanders , Zeeland and Holland . The area in Zeeland and Flanders had been flooded 29 years earlier, on 8 October 1375. As

375-608: A new economic alliance with Belgium and Luxembourg, the Benelux , and all three became founding members of the European Union and NATO . In recent decades, the Dutch economy has been closely linked to that of Germany and is highly prosperous. The four countries adopted the euro on 1 January 2002, along with eight other EU member states. During the last ice age, the Netherlands had a tundra climate with scarce vegetation, and

450-477: A number of chronicles, the last attacks took place in the first decade of the 11th century and were directed at Tiel and/or Utrecht . These Viking raids occurred about the same time that French and German lords were fighting for supremacy over the middle empire that included the Netherlands, so their sway over this area was weak. Resistance to the Vikings, if any, came from local nobles, who gained in stature as

525-511: A number of objects, including a curved iron sword. Leading up to the arrival of the Romans, the probably Germanic Harpstedt culture rose in the north possibly migrating from Scandinavia due to climatic deterioration which had separated into a northern group that would later become early Frisians and early Saxons and a southern group that extended into the Rhine which eventually developed into

600-455: A result of the floods, the Braakman was created or enlarged. In this new area, new parishes and villages started to appear. The flood in 1404 destroyed the area again, just as it had done in 1375. Other areas previously untouched such as the small towns of IJzendijke and Hugevliet were engulfed and destroyed during the flood. When the flood occurred many were killed and homes destroyed due to

675-792: A result. The German kings and emperors ruled the Netherlands in the 10th and 11th century, with the assistance of the Dukes of Lotharingia , and the bishops of Utrecht and Liège. Germany was called the Holy Roman Empire after the coronation of King Otto the Great as emperor. The Dutch city of Nijmegen used to be the spot of an important domain of the German emperors. Several German emperors were born and died there, including for example Byzantine empress Theophanu , who died in Nijmegen. Utrecht

750-453: A series of wars and battles in the County of Holland between 1350 and 1490. Most of these wars were fought over the title of count of Holland , but some have argued that the underlying reason was because of the power struggle of the traders in the cities against the ruling nobility. The Cod faction generally consisted of the more progressive cities of Holland . The Hook faction consisted for

825-503: Is now the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and a part of France. When their heirs the Catholic kings of Spain took strong measures against Protestantism, the subsequent Dutch revolt led to the splitting in 1581 of the Netherlands into southern and northern parts. The southern " Spanish Netherlands " corresponds approximately to modern Belgium and Luxembourg, and the northern "United Provinces" (or "Dutch Republic) ", which spoke Dutch and

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900-623: Is ruled by another branch of the same dynasty. The Netherlands was neutral during the First World War , but during the Second World War , it was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany . The Nazis, including many collaborators, rounded up and killed almost all of the country's Jewish population. When the Dutch resistance increased, the Nazis cut off food supplies to much of the country, causing severe starvation in 1944–1945. In 1942,

975-483: Is some evidence that the coastal Swifterband people took up pottery and animal husbandry in the rest of the country. Local groups made the switch to animal husbandry sometime between 4800 BC and 4500 BC. By about 4000 BC the Funnelbeaker culture brought farming permanently into the region. This culture extended from Denmark through northern Germany into the northern Netherlands. The Vlaardingen culture continued

1050-790: Is sometimes referred to as Frisia Magna (or Greater Frisia ). In the 7th and 8th centuries, the Frankish chronologies mention this area as the kingdom of the Frisians . This kingdom comprised the coastal provinces of the Netherlands and the German North Sea coast. During this time, the Frisian language was spoken along the entire southern North Sea coast. The 7th-century Frisian Kingdom (650–734) under King Aldegisel and King Redbad , had its centre of power in Utrecht . Dorestad

1125-487: Is the most closely related language to Old English and the modern Frisian dialects are in turn the closest related languages to contemporary English.) By the end of the 6th century, the Frisian territory in the northern Netherlands had expanded west to the North Sea coast and, by the 7th century, south to Dorestad . During this period most of the northern Netherlands was known as Frisia . This extended Frisian territory

1200-547: Is thought to be the language spoken by the Salian Franks . Even though the Franks are traditionally categorized as Weser–Rhine Germanic , Dutch has a number of Ingvaeonic characteristics and is classified by modern linguists as an Ingvaeonic language. Dutch also has a number of Old Saxon characteristics. There was a close relationship between Old Dutch, Old Saxon, Old English and Old Frisian . Because texts written in

1275-472: Is traditionally set in 496. Christianity was introduced in the north after the conquest of Friesland by the Franks. The Saxons in the east were converted before the conquest of Saxony , and became Frankish allies. Hiberno-Scottish and Anglo-Saxon missionaries, particularly Willibrord , Wulfram and Boniface , played an important role in converting the Frankish and Frisian peoples to Christianity by

1350-520: The Carolingians . The Franks who expanded south into Gaul settled there and eventually adopted the Vulgar Latin of the local population. However, a Germanic language was spoken as a second tongue by public officials in western Austrasia and Neustria as late as the 850s. It completely disappeared as a spoken language from these regions during the 10th century. During this expansion to

1425-595: The Holy Roman Empire , but neither the empire nor the duchy were governed in a centralized manner. For several centuries, medieval lordships such as Brabant , Holland , Zeeland , Friesland , Guelders and others held a changing patchwork of territories. By 1433, the Duke of Burgundy had assumed control over most of Lower Lotharingia, creating the Burgundian Netherlands . This included what

1500-593: The Lauwers . The Franks then conquered the area east of the Lauwers in 785 when Charlemagne defeated Widukind . The linguistic descendants of the Franks, the modern Dutch -speakers of the Netherlands and Flanders , seem to have broken with the endonym "Frank" around the 9th century. By this time Frankish identity had changed from an ethnic identity to a national identity, becoming localized and confined to

1575-673: The Orangists and the Patriots . The French Revolution spilled over after 1789, and a pro-French Batavian Republic was established in 1795–1806. Napoleon made it a satellite state, the Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810), and later simply a French imperial province. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1813–1815, an expanded " United Kingdom of the Netherlands " was created with the House of Orange as monarchs, also ruling Belgium and Luxembourg. After

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1650-775: The Wageningen horde , found in the grave of a Bronze Age metalworker. The Elp culture in the north and the Hilversum culture in the south developed during the Bronze Age, with the latter having cultural ties with Britain. The Iron Age brought a measure of prosperity to the people living in the area of the present-day Netherlands with iron ore available throughout the country. Smiths travelled from small settlement to settlement with bronze and iron, fabricating tools on demand, including axes, knives, pins, arrowheads and swords. The Vorstengraf large burial mound contained

1725-681: The Western Roman Empire collapsed and the Middle Ages began, three dominant Germanic peoples coalesced in the area – Frisians in the north and coastal areas, Low Saxons in the northeast, and the Franks to the south. By 800, the Frankish Carolingian dynasty had once again integrated the area into an empire covering a large part of Western Europe. The region was part of the duchy of Lower Lotharingia within

1800-496: The sovereign , including city rights , the right to self-government and the right to pass laws. In practice, this meant that the wealthiest cities became quasi-independent republics in their own right. Two of the most important cities were Bruges and Antwerp (in Flanders ) which would later develop into some of the most important cities and ports in Europe. The Hook and Cod Wars ( Dutch : Hoekse en Kabeljauwse twisten ) were

1875-656: The "younger Harald" (based in Walcheren ), both thought to be nephews of Harald Klak . Around 850, Lothair I acknowledged Rorik as ruler of most of Friesland. And again in 870, Rorik was received by Charles the Bald in Nijmegen , to whom he became a vassal. Viking raids continued during that period. Harald's son Rodulf and his men were killed by the people of Oostergo in 873. Rorik died sometime before 882. Buried Viking treasures consisting mainly of silver have been found in

1950-420: The 19th century, Dutch historians believed that the Franks, Frisians, and Saxons had populated and inhabited the Low Countries, but this theory fell out of favour in the 20th century. Due to the scarcity of written sources, knowledge of this period depends to a large degree on the interpretation of archaeological data. The traditional view of a clear-cut division between Frisians in the north and coast, Franks in

2025-628: The 8th century. Boniface was martyred by the Frisians in Dokkum (754). In the early 8th century the Frisians came increasingly into conflict with the Franks to the south, resulting in a series of wars in which the Frankish Empire eventually subjugated Frisia. In 734, at the Battle of the Boarn , the Frisians in the Netherlands were defeated by the Franks, who thereby conquered the area west of

2100-466: The 9th century had evolved into Old Dutch . A Dutch-French language boundary came into existence (but this was originally south of where it is today). In the Maas and Rhine areas of the Netherlands, the Franks had political and trading centres, especially at Nijmegen and Maastricht . These Franks remained in contact with the Frisians to the north, especially in places like Dorestad and Utrecht . In

2175-533: The Americas. The Dutch East India Company , based on its English counterpart, was founded. During the eighteenth century, the power, wealth and influence of the Netherlands declined. A series of wars with the more powerful British and French neighbours weakened it. The English seized the North American colony of New Amsterdam , and renamed it " New York ". There was growing unrest and conflict between

2250-617: The Batavian rebels. The Frisii probably disappeared from the northern Netherlands with the last reference to them in c. 296, likely due to resettlement to other areas of Roman control and coastal flooding. As climatic conditions improved, there was another mass migration of Germanic peoples into the area from the east. This is known as the " Migration Period " ( Volksverhuizingen ). The northern Netherlands received an influx of new migrants and settlers, mostly Saxons , but also Angles and Jutes . Many of these migrants did not stay in

2325-537: The Braakman to a remnant, which was finally closed off from the sea in 1952. During the North Sea flood of 1953 , this dam proved its worth: it resisted the flood and prevented flooding in the hinterland . The remaining body of water is used for recreation, and part of its seaward end was made into the Braakmanhaven port area . 51°19′22″N 3°44′16″E  /  51.32278°N 3.73778°E  / 51.32278; 3.73778 This article about

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2400-563: The Count of Holland, the Duke of Gelre , the Duke of Brabant and the Bishop of Utrecht. Friesland and Groningen in the north maintained their independence and were governed by the lower nobility. The various feudal states were in a state of almost continual war. Gelre and Holland fought for control of Utrecht . Utrecht, whose bishop had in 1000 ruled over half of what is today the Netherlands,

2475-412: The Duke of Lower Lorraine. In 1083, the name "Holland" first appears in a deed referring to a region corresponding more or less to the current province of South Holland and the southern half of what is now North Holland. Holland's influence continued to grow over the next two centuries. The counts of Holland conquered most of Zeeland but it was not until 1289 that Count Floris V was able to subjugate

2550-575: The Dutch East Indies were conquered by Japan, but prior to this the Dutch destroyed the oil wells for which Japan was desperate. Indonesia proclaimed its independence from the Netherlands in 1945, followed by Suriname in 1975. The post-war years saw rapid economic recovery (helped by the American Marshall Plan ), followed by the introduction of a welfare state during an era of peace and prosperity. The Netherlands formed

2625-430: The Frankish empire was divided into three parts, giving rise to West Francia in the west, East Francia in the east, and Middle Francia in the centre. Most of what is today the Netherlands became part of Middle Francia; Flanders became part of West Francia. This division was an important factor in the historical distinction between Flanders and the other Dutch-speaking areas. Middle Francia ( Latin : Francia media )

2700-518: The Frisians in West Friesland (that is, the northern half of North Holland). Around 1000 C.E. there were several agricultural developments (described sometimes as an agricultural revolution) that resulted in an increase in production, especially food production. The economy started to develop at a fast pace, and the higher productivity allowed workers to farm more land or to become tradesmen. Draining of low-lying swampy areas and flood control

2775-485: The King imposed unpopular Protestant reforms on Belgium, it left the kingdom in 1830 and new borders were agreed in 1839. After an initially conservative period, following the introduction of the 1848 constitution, the country became a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch . Modern-day Luxembourg became officially independent of the Netherlands in 1839, but a personal union remained until 1890. Since 1890, it

2850-738: The Low Countries. Two such treasures have been found in Wieringen. A large treasure found in Wieringen in 1996 dates from around 850 and is thought perhaps to have been connected to Rorik. The burial of such a valuable treasure is seen as an indication that there was a permanent settlement in Wieringen. Around 879, Godfrid arrived in Frisian lands as the head of a large force that terrorised the Low Countries. Using Ghent as his base, they ravaged Ghent, Maastricht , Liège , Stavelot , Prüm , Cologne , and Koblenz . Controlling most of Frisia between 882 and his death in 885, Godfrid became known to history as Godfrid, Duke of Frisia . His lordship over Frisia

2925-541: The Netherlands The history of the Netherlands extends back long before the founding of the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815 after the defeat of Napoleon. For thousands of years, people have been living together around the river deltas of this section of the North Sea coast. Records begin with the four centuries during which the region formed a militarized border zone of the Roman Empire . As

3000-508: The Netherlands had come under Viking control, in 870 it technically became part of East Francia, which became the Holy Roman Empire in 962. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Vikings raided the largely defenceless Frisian and Frankish towns lying on the coast and along the rivers of the Low Countries . Although Vikings never settled in large numbers in those areas, they did set up long-term bases and were even acknowledged as lords in

3075-489: The Netherlands. The Rhine was a militarized border, frequently destabilized by violent incursions, and Rome recruited soldiers on both sides of it. The tribes of the region were esteemed soldiers in the empire, often serving in the Roman cavalry . The frontier culture was influenced by Roman, Germanic, and Gaulish elements, and trade flourished after Rome's conquest of Gaul. There were still grievances against Roman rule, including

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3150-487: The Rhine adopted the Franconian language, feudal system and religion, spreading this new 'Hollandic' identity northward over the centuries (the part of North Holland situated north of Alkmaar is still colloquially known as West Friesland). The rest of Friesland in the north continued to maintain its independence during this time. It had its own institutions (collectively called the " Frisian freedom ") and resented

3225-620: The Salian Franks, while further to the south were peoples influenced by the Hallstatt culture who eventually assimilated into the Celtic La Tène culture with some mixture between the two. This is consistent with Caesar 's account of the Rhine forming the boundary between Celtic and Germanic tribes. Some scholars have speculated that a separate ethnic identity with its own language that was neither Germanic nor Celtic, formed

3300-483: The former Kingdom of Burgundy (except for a western portion, later known as Bourgogne ), Provence and the Kingdom of Italy . Middle Francia fell to Lothair I , the eldest son and successor of Louis the Pious , after an intermittent civil war with his younger brothers Louis the German and Charles the Bald . In acknowledgement of Lothair's Imperial title, Middle Francia contained the imperial cities of Aachen ,

3375-549: The hunter-gatherer tradition in coastal areas. By around 2950 BCE, there was a transition from the Funnelbeaker farming culture to the Corded Ware culture which extended across much of northern and central Europe. The expansion of this culture is believed to have involved the movement of people from the direction of Ukraine, bringing Indo-European languages and Copper Age technology. The earliest bronze tools were in

3450-469: The imposition of the feudal system and the patriciate found in other European towns. They regarded themselves as allies of Switzerland. The Frisian battle cry was "better dead than a slave". They later lost their independence when they were defeated in 1498 by the German Landsknecht mercenaries of Duke Albrecht of Saxony-Meissen . The center of power in these emerging independent territories

3525-567: The inhabitants survived as hunter-gatherers. The Swifterbant culture , appearing around 5600 BC were hunter gatherers strongly linked to rivers and open water and related to the southern Scandinavian Ertebølle culture . Agriculture also arrived in areas near the Netherlands somewhere around 5000 BC with the Linear Pottery culture , who were central European farmers with Mediterranean ancestry. Their farms were restricted to southern Limburg and only temporarily established. However, there

3600-563: The language spoken by the Franks are almost non-existent, and Old Dutch texts scarce and fragmentary, not much is known about the development of Old Dutch. Old Dutch made the transition to Middle Dutch around 1150. The Christianity that arrived in the Netherlands with the Romans appears not to have died out completely (in Maastricht , at least) after the withdrawal of the Romans in about 411. The Franks became Christians after their king Clovis I converted to Catholicism, an event which

3675-793: The modern Franconia and principally to the French province of Île-de-France . Although the people no longer referred to themselves as "Franks", the Netherlands was still part of the Frankish empire of Charlemagne. Indeed, because of the Austrasian origins of the Carolingians in the area between the Rhine and the Maas, the cities of Aachen, Maastricht, Liège and Nijmegen were at the heart of Carolingian culture. Charlemagne maintained his palatium in Nijmegen at least four times. The Carolingian empire would eventually include France, Germany, northern Italy and much of Western Europe. In 843,

3750-470: The naming of colonial Jakarta as " Batavia " in 1619 and the Batavian Republic of 1795. The term "Batavian" is occasionally used to describe the Dutch today, similar to how "Gallic" describes the French. A Frankish identity emerged in the lower and middle Rhine valley during the first half of the 3rd century, forming a confederation of smaller Germanic groups including the descendants of

3825-474: The north of the county to the south. This explains why the Belgian coast line is so straight. Since Jan zonder Vrees was also count of Flanders , this dike is still named Graaf Jansdijk  [ nl ] . This article about a flood is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Dutch-history -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . History of

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3900-601: The north. Holland extended its political power over Zeeland. The Crusades were popular in the Low Countries and drew many to fight in the Holy Land . At home, there was relative peace. Viking pillaging had stopped. Both the Crusades and the relative peace at home contributed to trade and the growth in commerce. Cities arose and flourished, especially in Flanders and Brabant . As the cities grew in wealth and power, they started to buy certain privileges for themselves from

3975-526: The northern Netherlands but moved on to England and are known today as the Anglo-Saxons . The newcomers who stayed in the northern Netherlands would eventually be referred to as "Frisians", although they were not descended from the ancient Frisii . These new Frisians settled in the northern Netherlands and would become the ancestors of the modern Frisians . (Because the early Frisians and Anglo-Saxons were formed from largely identical tribal confederacies, their respective languages were very similar. Old Frisian

4050-429: The northern region. The southern Low Countries remained highly populous and developed and was among the most highly urbanized areas in Europe. Because of the east–west flow of the Low Countries' large rivers, they were a military and political barrier between north and south. The southern Low Countries could not exert influence over the north. This division meant that the counts of Holland became politically important in

4125-499: The other Frankish kings. By the 490s, Clovis I had conquered and united all the Frankish territories to the west of the Meuse , including those in the southern Netherlands. He continued his conquests into Gaul . After the death of Clovis I in 511, his four sons partitioned his kingdom amongst themselves, with Theuderic I receiving the lands that were to become Austrasia (including the southern Netherlands). A line of kings descended from Theuderic ruled Austrasia until 555, when it

4200-408: The people who lived in the area that is now Holland were originally Frisian . The sparsely populated area was known as "West Friesland" ( Westfriesland ). A common theory states that Frankish migration from either Flanders, Utrecht or both displaced the Frisians in Holland, however no evidence has been found in support of this theory and more recent studies have suggested that Frisians from the mouth of

4275-456: The poor warnings. On 19 November 1404, large areas of Flanders, Zeeland, and Holland, were flooded. The storm tide responsible became known as the First Saint Elizabeth's flood. The damage was catastrophic. The area of Zeeland-Flanders had already been flooded 29 years earlier, in 1375. Through this, the Zuiderzee was created. Around the Zuiderzee, polders were diked, and within these polders, new parishes arose. Unfortunately, in 1404, everything

4350-432: The region. Caesar mentioned the Menapii living in the river delta, and the Eburones to their southeast towards what is now Limburg. He called the land between the Rhine and Waal "the island of the Batavi" ( insula batavorum ). He portrayed the Rhine as a natural boundary between the Gauls and Germanic peoples on the other side but he understood that peoples such as the Eburones had a kinship with their neighbours over

4425-447: The residence of Charlemagne, as well as Rome. In 855, on his deathbed at Prüm Abbey , Emperor Lothair I again partitioned his realm amongst his sons. Most of the lands north of the Alps , including the Netherlands, passed to Lothair II and consecutively were named Lotharingia . After Lothair II died in 869, Lotharingia was partitioned by his uncles Louis the German and Charles the Bald in the Treaty of Meerssen in 870. Although some of

4500-415: The river. Later Roman authors such as Tacitus and Pliny the Elder describe the region north of the Rhine being inhabited by the Frisii , Chamavi and Tubantes . Within the delta lived the Cananefates , Batavians , Sturii , Marsacii , and Frisiavones . The Texuandri , Baetasii and Tungri lived south of the delta. The 450 years of Roman rule profoundly changed the region that would later become

4575-403: The south and Saxons in the east has proven historically problematic. Archeological evidence suggests dramatically different models for different regions, with demographic continuity for some parts of the country and depopulation and possible replacement in other parts, notably the coastal areas of Frisia and Holland. The language from which Old Dutch arose is unknown with certainty, but it

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4650-417: The south, many Frankish people remained in the north (i.e. southern Netherlands, Flanders and a small part of northern France). A widening cultural divide grew between the Franks remaining in the north and the rulers far to the south in what is now France. Salian Franks continued to reside in their original homeland and the area directly to the south and to speak their original language, Old Frankish , which by

4725-428: The taking of young Batavians as slaves . This led to the Batavian rebellion under Gaius Julius Civilis in 69 AD, which resulted in the burning of several Roman Castellum and the desertion of sections of the northern Roman army. In April 70 AD, legions led by Quintus Petillius Cerialis defeated the rebels. The Batavians were considered the "true" forefathers of the Dutch by 17th and 18th-century writers, inspiring

4800-407: Was a given, transforming the physical environment, but also requiring institutions and cooperation between areas for water management. Drainage boards ( heemraadschappen ) were established and the "dike count", took on responsibilities not only for water management issues, but also fiscal, policing, and judicial functions. By the end of the thirteenth century, Holland emerged in the dominant position of

4875-417: Was acknowledged by Charles the Fat , to whom he became a vassal. Godfried was assassinated in 885, after which Gerolf of Holland assumed lordship and Viking rule of Frisia came to an end. Viking raids of the Low Countries continued for over a century. Remains of Viking attacks dating from 880 to 890 have been found in Zutphen and Deventer . In 920, King Henry of Germany liberated Utrecht . According to

4950-419: Was also an important city and trading port at the time. The Holy Roman Empire was not able to maintain political unity. In addition to the growing independence of the towns, local rulers turned their counties and duchies into private kingdoms and felt little sense of obligation to the emperor who reigned over large parts of the nation in name only. Large parts of what now comprise the Netherlands were governed by

5025-483: Was among the major products traded at Dorestad, likely from vineyards south of Mainz . It was also widely known because of its mint . Between 600 and around 719 Dorestad was often fought over between the Frisians and the Franks. After Roman government in the area collapsed, the Franks expanded their territories until there were numerous small Frankish kingdoms, especially at Cologne , Tournai , Le Mans and Cambrai . The kings of Tournai eventually came to subdue

5100-410: Was an ephemeral Frankish kingdom that had no historical or ethnic identity to bind its varied peoples. It was created by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, which divided the Carolingian Empire among the sons of Louis the Pious . Situated between the realms of East and West Francia, Middle Francia comprised the Frankish territory between the rivers Rhine and Scheldt , the Frisian coast of the North Sea ,

5175-461: Was destroyed again. This time, a complete spit that was home to a number of small towns such as Ijzendijke and Hugevliet , which were spared in 1375, was engulfed during the flood. In the county of Flanders all the coast islands in the mouth of the Westerschelde were washed away. After this calamity John the Fearless , Duke of Burgundy ( Jan zonder Vrees ) gave the command to link all the dikes already existing into one large dike which ran from

5250-408: Was expanded significantly after 1200 CE. Before that, towns were built north of the major rivers, Utrecht, Kampen, Deventer, Zwolle, Nijmegen, and Zutphen, but with the expansion of dikes and drainage, cultivable land was created and population expanded. In this period, Holland expanded relative to the other regions. From the thirteenth century onwards, the necessity of controlling water in this northern

5325-422: Was in the County of Holland . Originally granted as a fief to the Danish chieftain Rorik in return for loyalty to the emperor in 862, the region of Kennemara (the region around modern Haarlem ) rapidly grew under Rorik's descendants in size and importance. By the early 11th century, Dirk III, Count of Holland was levying tolls on the Meuse estuary and was able to resist military intervention from his overlord,

5400-438: Was marginalised as it experienced continuing difficulty in electing new bishops. At the same time, the dynasties of neighbouring states were more stable. Groningen, Drenthe and most of Gelre, which used to be part of Utrecht, became independent. Brabant tried to conquer its neighbours, but was not successful. Holland also tried to assert itself in Zeeland and Friesland, but its attempts failed. The language and culture of most of

5475-562: Was predominantly Protestant, was the predecessor of the modern Netherlands. In the Dutch Golden Age , which had its zenith around 1667, there was a flowering of trade, industry, and the sciences . The Dutch Republic practiced religious toleration and Amsterdam attracted Portuguese Jews , many of whom were merchants, that practiced their religion and engaged in economic activity. A rich worldwide Dutch empire developed in Asia and

5550-482: Was the largest settlement ( emporia ) in northwestern Europe. It had grown around a former Roman fortress. It was a large, flourishing trading place, three kilometers long and situated where the rivers Rhine and Lek diverge southeast of Utrecht near the modern town of Wijk bij Duurstede . Although inland, it was a North Sea trading centre that primarily handled goods from the Middle Rhineland . Wine

5625-405: Was united with the other Frankish kingdoms of Chlothar I , who inherited all the Frankish realms by 558. He redivided the Frankish territory amongst his four sons, but the four kingdoms coalesced into three on the death of Charibert I in 567. Austrasia (including the southern Netherlands) was given to Sigebert I . The southern Netherlands remained the northern part of Austrasia until the rise of

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