in Hollandt cum omnibus ad bannum regalem pertinentibus. An
examination of these documents shows the possessions of Dirk
as in Westflinge et circa oras Rheni, i.e. west of the Vlie and
around the mouths of the Rhine. Gertrude and her son appear
to have withdrawn to the islands of Frisia (Zeeland), leaving
William in undisturbed occupation of the disputed lands.
In 1063 Gertrude contracted a marriage with Robert, the
second son of Baldwin V. of Flanders, a man famous for his
adventurous career (see Flanders). On his marriage his father
Robert the Frisian guardian to his stepson
invested him with Imperial Flanders, as an apanage
including the islands of Frisia (Zeeland) west of the
Scheldt. He now became guardian to his stepson,
in whose inheritance lay the islands east of the Scheldt.
Robert thus, in his own right and that of Dirk, was
ruler of all Frisia (Zeeland), and thus became known
among his Flemish countrymen as Robert the Frisian. The
death of his brother Baldwin VI. in 1070 led to civil war in
Flanders, the claim of Robert to the guardianship of his nephew
Arnulf being disputed by Richilde, the widow of Baldwin.
The issue was decided by the decisive victory of Robert at
Cassel (February 1071) when Arnulf was killed and Richilde
taken prisoner (see Flanders). While Robert was thus engaged
in Flanders, an effort was made to recover “the County of
Holland” and other lands now held by William of Utrecht.
The people rose in revolt, but by command of the emperor
Henry IV. were speedily brought back under episcopal rule by
Godfrey the Hunchback
of Lorraine conquers Holland.
The Bishop
of Utrecht surrenders it to Dirk V.
Floris II.
Dirk VI.
an army under the command of Godfrey the Hunchback,
duke of Lower Lorraine. Again in 1076, at the request
of the bishop, Duke Godfrey visited his domains in
the Frisian borderland. At Delft, of which town
tradition makes Godfrey the founder, the duke was
treacherously murdered (February 26, 1076). William
of Utrecht died on the 17th of the following April.
Dirk V., now grown to man’s estate, was not slow to take
advantage of the favourable juncture. With the help of Robert
(his stepfather) he raised an army, besieged Conrad,
the successor of William, in the castle of Ysselmonde
and took him prisoner. The bishop purchased his
liberty by surrendering all claim to the disputed lands.
Henceforth the Frisian counts became definitively
known as counts of Holland. Dirk V. died in 1091
and was succeeded by his son Floris II. the Fat. This count
had a peaceful and prosperous reign of thirty-one years.
After his death (1122) his widow, Petronilla of Saxony,
governed in the name of Dirk VI., who was a minor.
The accession of her half-brother, Lothaire of Saxony, to the
imperial throne on the death of Henry V. greatly strengthened
her position. The East Frisian districts, Oostergoo
and Westergoo, were by Lothaire transferred from
the rule of the bishops of Utrecht to that of the counts of Holland
(1125). These Frisians proved very troublesome subjects to
Dirk VI. In 1132 they rose in insurrection under the leadership
of Dirk’s own brother, Floris the Black. The emperor
Conrad III. (1138), who was of the rival house of Hohenstaufen,
gave back these Frisian districts to the bishop; it
was in truth somewhat of an empty gift. The Frisian
peasants and fisher folk loved their independence, and
were equally refractory to the rule of any distant overlord,
whether count or bishop. Dirk VI. was succeeded in 1157 by
Floris III.
Floris III. reversed the traditional policy of his house by allying himself with the Hohenstaufens. He became a devoted adherent and friend of Frederick Barbarossa. He had troubles with West Friesland and Groningen, and a Floris III. war with the count of Flanders concerning their respective rights in West Zeeland, in which he was beaten. In 1170 a great flood caused immense devastation in the north and helped to form the Zuider Zee. In 1189 Floris accompanied Frederick Barbarossa upon the third Crusade, of which he was a distinguished leader. He died in 1190 at Antioch of pestilence. His son, Dirk VII., had a stormy, but on Dirk VII. the whole successful reign. Contests with the Flemings in West Zeeland and with the West Frisians, stirred up to revolt by his brother William, ended in his favour. The brothers were reconciled and William was made count of East Friesland. In 1202, however, Dirk was defeated and taken prisoner by the duke of Brabant, and had to purchase peace on humiliating terms. He only survived his defeat a short time and died early in 1204, leaving as his only issue a daughter, Ada, 17 years of age. The question of female succession thus raised was not likely to be accepted without a challenge by William. It had been the intention of Dirk VII. to secure the recognition of his daughter’s rights by appointing his brother her guardian. His widow Alida, however, an ambitious woman of strong character, as soon as her husband was dead, hurried on a marriage between Ada and Count Louis of Loon; and attempted with the nobles of Holland, who now for the first time make their appearance as a power in the country, to oppose the claim which William had made to the countship as heir in the male line. A struggle William I. ensued. William was supported by the Zeelanders and Ada was forced to fly to England. William, by a treaty concluded with Louis of Loon in 1206, became undisputed count. He took an active part in the events of his time. He fought by the side of the emperor Otto IV. in the great battle of Bouvines in 1214 (see Philip Augustus), and was taken prisoner. Two years later he accompanied Louis, the eldest son of Philip Augustus, in his expedition against King John of England. William is perhaps best known in history by his taking part in the fourth Crusade. He distinguished himself greatly at the capture of Damietta (1219). He did not long survive his return home, dying in 1222. The earliest charters conveying civic privileges in the county of Holland date from his reign—those of Geertruidenberg (1213) and of Dordrecht Floris IV. (1220). His son Floris IV., being a minor, succeeded him under the guardianship of his maternal uncle, Gerard III. of Gelderland. He maintained in later life close relations of friendship with Gerard, and supported him in his quarrel with the bishop of Utrecht (1224–1226). Floris was murdered in 1235 at a tournament at Corbie in Picardy by the count of Clermont. Another long minority followed his death, during which his brother Otto, bishop of Utrecht, acted as guardian to his nephew William II.
William II. became a man of mark. Pope Innocent IV.,
having deposed the emperor Frederick II., after several princes
had refused to allow themselves to be nominated in
the place of the Hohenstaufen, caused the young
William II.
Elected King of the Romans.
Floris V.
Alliance with Edward I. of England.
count of Holland to be elected king of the Romans
(1247) by an assembly composed chiefly of German ecclesiastics.
William took Aachen in 1248 and was there crowned
king; and after Frederick’s death in 1250, he had a
considerable party in Germany. He brought a war
with Margaret of Flanders (Black Margaret) to a
successful conclusion (1253). He was on the point of proceeding
to Rome to be crowned emperor, when in an expedition against
the West Frisians he perished, going down, horse and armour,
through the ice (1256). Like so many of his predecessors he
left his inheritance to a child. Floris V. was but
two years old on his father’s death; and he was
destined during a reign of forty years to leave a deeper
impress upon the history of Holland than any other of its
counts. Floris was a man of chivalrous character and high
capacity, and throughout his reign he proved himself an able
and beneficent ruler. Alike in his troubles with his turbulent
subjects and in the perennial disputes with his neighbours
he pursued a strong, far-sighted and successful policy. But his
active interest in affairs was not limited to the Netherlands.
He allied himself closely with Edward I. of England
in his strife with France, and secured from the English
king great trading advantages for his people; the
staple of wool was placed at Dort (Dordrecht) and
the Hollanders and Zeelanders got fishing rights on
the English coast. So intimate did their relations become that
Floris sent his son John to be educated at the court of Edward
with a view to his marriage with an English princess. To
