Frisia
Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the
North Sea . Frisia is the traditional homeland of the
Frisians, a Germanic people who speak
Frisian, a language closely related to the
English language. Frisia extends from the northwestern
Netherlands across northwestern
Germany and into southwestern
Denmark. It is commonly divided into three sections:
#West Frisia in
North Holland,
Friesland and Groningen
#
East Frisia in
Lower Saxony
#North Frisia in
Schleswig-Holstein and South Jutland
Encyclopedia
Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the
North Sea . Frisia is the traditional homeland of the
Frisians, a Germanic people who speak
Frisian, a language closely related to the
English language. Frisia extends from the northwestern
Netherlands across northwestern
Germany and into southwestern
Denmark. It is commonly divided into three sections:
- West Frisia in North Holland, Friesland and Groningen
- East Frisia in Lower Saxony
- North Frisia in Schleswig-Holstein and South Jutland
The three groups of the
Frisian Archipelago stretch more or less correspondingly along these three sections of the
Frisian coast.
Western Frisia is roughly identical with the Dutch province of
Friesland, the northern part of
North Holland province and also modern Groningen province, though the Western Frisian language is only spoken in Fryslân proper. In West-Friesland, dialects with strong Frisian substrates are spoken . Note that Westfriesland is only the westernmost portion of the traditional region of West Frisia, all of which are within the northern Netherlands. In the northern province of Groningen people speak Gronings, a Saxon dialect.
East Frisia includes areas located in the northwest of the German state of
Lower Saxony, including the districts of Aurich, Leer, Wittmund and
Friesland, as well as the district-free cities of
Emden and
Wilhelmshaven/Rüstringen.
The portions of North Frisia within the state of
Schleswig-Holstein are called
Nordfriesland and stretch along the coast, and including also the coastal islands from the
Eider River to the border of Denmark in the north.
It is coterminous with the Schleswig-Holstein district of the same name. The island of
Helgoland , is also part of traditional 'Northern Frisia'.
A half million Frisians of Fryslân province in the Netherlands speak Frisian. Several thousand more Frisian language speakers, speaking a collection of dialects often unintelligible with each other and certainly unintelligible with forms spoken beyond Nordfriesland, are to be found in Nordfriesland in Germany, while a small number of speakers of the Sater-Frisian language are located in four villages of
Lower Saxony in the
Saterland region of Cloppenburg county, just beyond the boundaries of traditional
East Frisia.
History
Frisia changed dramatically throughout time, both by floods and by a change in identity.
Roman times
The Frisians in Roman times lived on
terps in an area without fresh water. Fresh water was captured in a hole when it rained. This was a unique Frisian invention. Frisia was a small area in Roman times. It comprised the present provinces of
Friesland and
North Holland. Half the population of the present
Netherlands lived in present Friesland, because of the fertile grounds there. The Frisians were exterminated by floods in the 3rd and 4th century. Another theory is that they moved inland and came back later.
Kingdom of Frisia
East Anglian sources called the inhabitants of 'Frisia' Warnii instead of Frisians. In the 7th and 8th centuries, the
Frankish chronologies mention this area as the kingdom of the Frisians. However, these were probably not the Frisians of Roman times. This kingdom comprised the then 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 and, today, this region is sometimes referred to as
Greater Frisia or
Frisia Magna. The Franks conquered the western part in 689-719 and the eastern part at the end of the 8th century. This Frisia was partly conquered by vikings in the 840s, who were expelled between 885 and 920. It has also been suggested that the vikings didn't conquer Frisia, but settled in certain parts where they built simple forts and cooperated and traded with the native Frisians.
Loss of territory
Frisians made
polders in West Friesland, which moved further and further away from
Friesland due to floods. The western part of Frisia became the county of
Holland in 1101 after a few centuries of a different history, than the other parts. Frisia began to identify itself as a country with free folk in the
Middle Ages. The bishopric of Utrecht didn't belong to this Frisia anymore. There were many floods in the 11th and 12th centuries, which led to the deaths of many, and the forming of the
Zuiderzee. The largest flood was in 1322.
Opstalboom League
The free Frisians and the city of Groningen founded the Opstalboom League to counter feudalism. It consisted of
Friesland, Groningen ,
East Frisia,
Dithmarschen and other parts of the
German and
Danish North Sea coast. But the Opstalboom league didn't only consist of Frisians. The area Zevenwouden was Saxon and the city of Groningen as well. Some Frisians lived under the rule of the counts of
Holland in West Friesland. The Opstalboom League was not a success. It collapsed after a few years due to continuous internal strife.
15th century
The 15th century saw the end of the free Frisians. The city of Groningen started to dominate Groningen . A petty nobleman in
East Frisia managed to defeat the other petty noblemen and became count of East Frisia. The archbishop of Bremen-Hamburg and the
king of Denmark conquered large areas of Frisia. Only
Friesland and
Dithmarschen remained for the Frisian Freedom. Friesland was conquered in the 1490s by duke Albert of Saxony-Meissen. Dithmarschen lost its independence in the 15th century.
Frisian territories
- West Friesland remained a part of Holland and became a part of North Holland around 1800. The current region of West Friesland is smaller than historical West Friesland and there is also an official constitutional region of West Friesland for coast protection, the police, and agriculture.
- Friesland got its independence back in 1581 and gave it up for good in 1795. It is a Dutch province nowadays.
- East Frisia became a part of Prussia and used to be a district of the federal state of Lower Saxony in the Federal Republic of Germany .
- Groningen is a province of the Netherlands since the 16th century.
- Dithmarschen
state=Schleswig-Holstein|
...
became a part of Danish
Holstein and belongs now to FRG federal state of
Schleswig-Holstein.
- The Frisian islands of the coast of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark are the leftovers of the dunes of flooded lands.
See also
