page_title: Frisian freedom
section_title: The County of West Frisia (880–1101)
hierarchical_section_title: Frisian freedom / Sparks of Liberty (800–1101) / The County of West Frisia (880–1101)
caption_attribution_description: English: Assassination of bishop Conrad. Streetlight corbel, Lichte Gaard 9, Utrecht, NL. Nederlands: Moord op bisschop Koenraad, Lantaarnconsole thv Lichte Gaard 9, Utrecht, NL.
context_page_description: Friese Freedom or Freedom of the Frisians was the absence of feudalism and serfdom in Frisia, the area that was originally inhabited by the Frisians. Historical Frisia included the modern provinces of Friesland and Groningen, and the area of West Friesland, in the Netherlands, and East Friesland in Germany. During the period of Frisian freedom the area did not have a sovereign lord who owned and administered the land. The freedom of the Frisians developed in the context of ongoing disputes over the rights of local nobility.
  When, around 800, the Scandinavian Vikings first attacked Frisia, which was still under Carolingian rule, the Frisians were released from military service on foreign territory in order to be able to defend themselves against the Vikings. With their victory in the Battle of Norditi in 884 they were able to drive the Vikings permanently out of East Frisia, although it remained under constant threat. Over the centuries, whilst feudal lords reigned in the rest of Europe, no aristocratic structures emerged in Frisia.
context_section_description: In 880, Godfrid (a Viking leader of the Great Heathen Army) began to ravage Lotharingia. After the Siege of Asselt forced him to come to terms in 882, Godfrid was granted the Kennemerland, which had formerly been ruled by Rorik of Dorestad, as a vassal of Charles the Fat. Godfrid swore oaths to Charles promising never to again lay waste his kingdom and accepted Christianity and baptism. In return, Charles appointed him Duke of Frisia and gave him Gisela, daughter of Lothair II, as his wife. However, Godfrid did nothing against a Danish raid which pillaged large parts of the Low Countries in 884. One of Godfrid's followers, the local Count Gerolf of Holland, defected and plotted Godfrid's downfall with Henry of Franconia. In 885, he was summoned to Lobith for a meeting after being accused of complicity with Hugh, Duke of Alsace, in a plot to seize Lotharingia. He was killed by a group of Frisian and Saxon nobles at the connivance of Henry, who had been at odds with Hugh and was against the initial appointment of Godfrid as Duke. Four years after the murder of Godfrid, in 889, Gerolf of Holland received in fief the area Godfrid had in fief before, i.e. West Frisia (present provinces Noord Holland, Zuid Holland and most of the central River area, in the Netherlands). In 922, Gerolf's son Dirk I, Count of Holland incorporated Friesland into the County of Holland.
  In 989 Gosse Ludigman was elected the sixth potestaat. In 993 Arnulf, Count of Holland invaded deep into West Frisia in an attempt to compel obedience from his rebellious subjects and "proclaimed himself count of Oostergo and Westergo without ever having any authority". On 18 September a Frisian army led by Gosse defeated and killed Arnulf in a battle near Winkel in West-Friesland, in what came to be known as one of the first historical signs of the Frisian Freedom. Arnulf's wife Lutgardis of Luxemburg took over as regent of Holland until their son came of age. In June 1005, she made peace with the West-Frisians through mediation by Emperor Henry II, after which the County was passed to Dirk III. But even after Dirk assumed the government of the county, she still used her family connections to acquire imperial assistance, in one instance an imperial army helped Dirk suppress a Frisian revolt.
  Prior to 1018, Dirk III was a vassal of Henry II, but the bishops of Trier, Utrecht and Cologne all contested the ownership of Dirk's fiefdom, which was in a strategically important location. Utrecht, situated in the Rhine delta, was the largest trading town of the German kings in the area and traders had to sail through the territories of Dirk III, by way of the Rhine and Vecht rivers, in order to reach the North Sea. Another trade route that ran through Dirk's territory was from the city of Tiel to England.
  It was along this second route that Dirk III had built a stronghold at Vlaardingen, in a newly habitable area where many Frisians had recently settled by his invitation. He was not permitted to levy tolls or hinder trade in any way, but eventually he defied imperial rule. Working together with the Frisians now living in the area, he stopped passing ships, demanding payment of tolls.  Merchants from the town of Tiel sent alarmed messages to the king and Bishop Adelbold of Utrecht about acts of violence against them by Dirk's men. The count had illegally occupied lands that were claimed by the bishop of Utrecht, and had even built a castle there. The bishoprics of Liege, Trier, and Cologne as well as several abbeys also had possessions in the region.
  At Easter 1018, Emperor Henry II summoned a Diet in Nijmegen. He listened to the complaints of the merchants from Tiel and Bishop Adalbold II of Utrecht. Dirk was present but refused to amend his ways. Henry assigned Adelbold and Duke Godfrey to organise a punitive expedition against the rebellious Count Dirk, who then left the meeting, announcing to foil the imperial plans. Within a few months, an army would be assembled in Tiel, the most important port in the northern Low Countries. The army would sail west, along the rivers W
caption: The assassination of bishop Conrad of Utrecht
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