Charlemagne (Karel de Grote) (748-814) . Holy Roman Emperor

Born in Li ge (now in Belgium). He was named Karl (Carolus) after his grandfather, Charles Martel. Later Old French historians dubbed him Charles le Magne (Charles the Great), becoming Charlemagne in English after the Norman conquest of England.

Charlemagne became king of the Franks, a Germanic tribe in present-day Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and western Germany. He was the founder of the Carolingian Empire, reigning from 768 until his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdom, adding Italy, subduing the Saxons and Bavarians, and pushed his frontier into Spain. Charlemagne was the first Emperor in Western Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire four centuries earlier.

Charlemagne continued his father's policy towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in Italy, and leading an incursion into Muslim Spain. He also campaigned against the peoples to his east, forcibly Christianizing them along the way (especially the Saxons), eventually subjecting them to his rule after a protracted war. Charlemagne reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned as "Emperor" by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day.

Called the "Father of Europe" Charlemagne's empire united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire. His rule spurred the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture through the medium of the Catholic Church. Through his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne encouraged the formation of a common European identity. Both the French and German monarchies considered their kingdoms to be descendants of Charlemagne's empire.

Charlemagne died in 814 after having ruled as Emperor for just over fourteen years. He was laid to rest in his imperial capital of Aachen. His son Louis the Pious succeeded him as Emperor.

Louis the Pious (778-840)

Also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781, when he was only 3 years old. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor (as Louis I) with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. As the only surviving adult son of Charlemagne and Hildegard, he became the sole ruler of the Franks after his father's death in 814, a position which he held until his death.

During his reign in Aquitaine, Louis was charged with the defence of the Empire's southwestern frontier. He conquered Barcelona from the Muslims in 801 and asserted Frankish authority over Pamplona and the Basques south of the Pyrenees in 812. As emperor he included his adult sons (by his first wife Ermengarde of Hesbaye): Lothair, Pepin, and Louis, in the government and sought to establish a suitable division of the realm among them. In the 830s his empire was torn by civil war between his sons, only exacerbated by Louis's attempts to include his son Charles (by his second wife Judith) in the succession plans. Though his reign ended on a high note, with order largely restored to his empire, it was followed by three years of civil war.

Charles the Bald (13 June 823 6 October 877)

Holy Roman Emperor (875 877, as Charles II) and King of West Francia (840 877, as Charles II, with the borders of his land defined by the Treaty of Verdun, 843), was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith.

He was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder brothers were already adults and had been assigned their own regna, or subkingdoms, by their father. The attempts made by Louis the Pious to assign Charles a subkingdom, first Alemannia and then the country between the Meuse and the Pyrenees were unsuccessful. The numerous reconciliations with the rebellious Lothair and Pepin, as well as their brother Louis the German, King of Bavaria, made Charles's share in Aquitaine and Italy only temporary, but his father did not give up and made Charles the heir of the entire land which was once Gaul and would eventually be France.

The death of the emperor Louis in 840 led to the outbreak of war between his sons. Charles allied himself with his brother Louis the German to resist the pretensions of the new emperor Lothair I, and the two allies defeated Lothair at the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye on 25 June 841. The war was brought to an end by the Treaty of Verdun in August 843.

The settlement gave Charles the Bald the kingdom of the West Franks, which practically corresponded with what is now France, with the addition of the Spanish March as far as the Ebro. Louis received the eastern part of the Carolingian Empire, known as the East Francia and later Germany. Lothair retained the imperial title and the kingdom of Italy. He also received the central regions from Flanders through the Rhineland and Burgundy as king of Middle Francia.

Judith of Flanders (or Judith of Franci ) 844-870)

Judith of Flanders (or Judith of France) was the eldest daughter of the Frankish King and Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Bald and his wife Ermentrude of Orl ans.

In 855 King thelwulf of Wessex made a pilgrimage to Rome, and on his way back in 856 he stayed at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles the Bald. In July Aethelwulf became engaged to Charles's daughter, Judith, who was no more than 12, while Aethelwulf was about 51 years old. On 1 October 856 they were married at Verberie in northern France. The marriage was a diplomatic alliance. Both men were suffering from Viking attacks, and for Aethelwulf the marriage had the advantage of associating him with Carolingian prestige. In Wessex it was not customary for kings' wives to be queens, but Charles insisted that his daughter be crowned queen.

Aethelwulf died on 13 January 858. He was succeeded by his son Aethelbald, who married the 14 year old Queen Judith, his step-mother. Probably to enhance his status because she was the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor. The marriage was condemned by all who heard of it, since it was against God's prohibition and Christian dignity, and also contrary to the practice of all pagans, to take over a father's marriage bed.
Judith, at 16, was still childless when Aethelbald died in 860, after a reign of two and a half years.

Following Aethelbald's death, Judith sold her properties in England and returned to France. Her father sent her to the Monastery at Senlis. Charles may have intended to arrange another marriage for her. However, around Christmas 861, Judith eloped with Baldwin, later Count of Flanders. The two were likely married at the monastery of Senlis and stayed at the Rumbeke castle. Click on pic. The annals of that time depict Judith not as the passive victim of bride theft but as an active agent, eloping at the instigation of Baldwin and apparently with her brother Louis the Stammerer's consent.

Unsurprisingly, Judith's father was furious and ordered his bishops to excommunicate the couple. They later fled to the court of Judith's cousin Lothair II of Lotharingia for protection, before going to Pope Nicholas I to plead their case. The Pope took diplomatic action and asked Judith's father to accept the union as legally binding and welcome the young couple into his circle - which ultimately he did. The couple then returned to France and were officially married at Auxerre in 863.

Baldwin was given the land directly south of the Scheldt, i.e.: the Country of Flanders to ward off Viking attacks. Baldwin managed the situation remarkably well. He succeeded in quelling the Viking threat, expanded both his army and his territory quickly, and became a faithful supporter of King Charles.

Judith died in 870, when she was approximately 26 years old. She had 3 children with Baldwin:

• Charles (863 died young)
• Baldwin II (865 918). Succeeded his father as Count of Flanders. Married princess Aelfthryth
• Raoul (869 896). Became Count of Cambrai around 888, and was killed by Herbert I of Vermandois

Baldwin II or Boudewijn de Kale (865 September 10, 918)

Baldwin II, nicknamed Calvus (the Bald) was the second count of Flanders and ruled from 879-918.
He was the son of Baldwin I of Flanders and Judith, a daughter of Charles the Bald (Karel de Kale) and as such a descendant of Charlemagne.
In 884 Baldwin married Aelfthryth ( lfthryth, Elftrude, Elfrida), a daughter of King Alfred the Great of England. The immediate goal of this Anglo-Flemish alliance was to help Baldwin control the lower Canche River valley (at the English Channel).

The early years of Baldwin's rule were marked by a series of devastating Viking raids into Flanders where little north of the Somme was left untouched. By 883 he was forced northward to the flat marshes of Flanders. Baldwin constructed a series of wooden fortifications at Saint-Omer, Bruges, Ghent, and Courtrai and seized those lands abandoned by royal and ecclesiastical officials. Many of these same citadels later formed castellanies housing government, militia and local courts.

He died 10 September 918 at Blandinberg (near Ghent) and was succeeded by his eldest son Arnulf I of Flanders. His younger son Adalulf was (the first) count of Boulogne.

Arnulf of Flanders (889-965)

Arnulf was the third Count of Flanders, who ruled the County of Flanders, an area that is now northwestern Belgium and southwestern Holland.
Arnulf was the son of count Baldwin II of Flanders and lfthryth of Wessex, daughter of Alfred the Great. Through his mother he was a descendant of the Anglo-Saxon kings of England, and through his father, a descendant of Charlemagne. Presumably Arnulf was named after Saint Arnulf of Metz, a progenitor of the Carolingian dynasty.

Arnulf greatly expanded Flemish rule to the south, taking all or part of Artois, Ponthieu, Amiens, and Ostravent. He exploited the conflicts between Charles the Simple and Robert I of France, and later those between Louis IV and his barons.

In his southern expansion Arnulf inevitably had conflict with the Normans, who were trying to secure their northern frontier. This led to the 943 murder of the Duke of Normandy, William Longsword, at the hands of Arnulf's men.

The Viking threat was receding during the later years of Arnulf's life, and he turned his attentions to the reform of the Flemish government.

He died on March 28, 965 and was buried in St. Peter's church in Ghent.

Hildegarde of Flanders (935-980)

Hildegarde was the daughter of Count Arnulf (The Great) of Flanders and Aleidis of Vermandois
When Hildegard was some 3 years old she was already engaged to Dirk II and then was married to him when she was 12. Her father Arnulf arranged this, so he could expand his territory and improve his influence in the region, which is now called Holland.

Hildegarde made very generous donations to abbeys and churches in Egmond, Trier and Ghent. The Evangelarium gift to the Egmond abbey -where she was buried- is the most important one.

Dirk II, Count of Frisia (932-988)

Dirk II (or Diederik II or Thierry II) was Count of Frisia (west of the Vlie) and what was later called "Holland". He was the son of Count Dirk I and Geva (or Gerberge).
In 983 Emperor Otto III confirmed his rights to properties and territories in the counties of Maasland, Kinhem (Kennemerland) and Texla (Texel), thus stretching along the entire Hollandic coast (as well as inland). Count Dirk II built a fortress near Vlaardingen, which later was the site of a battle between his grandson Dirk III and an Imperial army under Godfrey II, Duke of Lower Lorraine.

He rebuilt Egmond Abbey and its wooden church in stone to house the relics of Saint Adalbert, the project starting in 950. Adalbert was not well known at that time, but he was said to have preached Christianity in the immediate surroundings two centuries earlier. The abbey was given to a community of Benedictine monks from Ghent, who replaced the nuns originally at Egmond, probably in the 970s. His daughter Erlint or Erlinde, who was abbess at the time, was made abbess of the newly-founded Bennebroek Abbey instead.

Arnulf of Ghent (951-993)

Arnulf, also known as Aernout or Arnold succeeded his father in 988 as Count in Frisia. He was born in 951 in Ghent and because of this he is also known as Arnulf of Ghent. Arnulf was the son of Dirk II, Count of Holland and Hildegard, thought to be a daughter of Arnulf of Flanders.
He accompanied Emperor Otto II to Rome. He died in battle on 18 September 993 at the river Meuse in Flanders. Buried at Egmond abbey.

Family
In May 980 Arnulf married Lutgard of Luxemburg, a daughter of Siegfried, Count of Luxemburg. The couple had (at least) two sons; the future Count Dirk III and Siegfried (also known as Sicco). Arnulf, his wife and his sons were all buried at Egmond.
He also had a daughter, Adelina of Holland, who was married to Baldwin II, Count of Boulogne and Enguerrand I, Count of Ponthieu.

On 20 September 993 Liutgard donated her properties at Rugge to Saint Peter's abbey of Ghent for the soul of her husband.
In June 1005 she made peace with the West-Frisians through mediation by Emperor Henry.
She died on 13 May 1005. Buried at Egmond abbey.

Dirk III Hierosolomyta (981-1039)

Dirk III (also called Diederik or Theodoric) was Count of Holland (or Frisia as the area was called then) from 993 to May 27, 1039.
It is thought that Dirk III went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land around 1030, hence his nickname of Hierosolymita.

Luitgard's regency
Count Dirk was a member of the house of Holland, an important family within Germany at that time. His mother, Luitgard of Luxemburg, was regent in the county while Dirk was still a minor, from 993-1005. She was the sister-in-law of Emperor Henry II and with his help she managed to maintain the county for her son. 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.

Conflict with the emperor
Prior to 1018, Count 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.

It was along this route that Count Dirk 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. Emperor Henry then decided to end Dirk III's reign and awarded his lands to Bishop Adelbold.

The Battle of Vlaardingen and its aftermath
A large imperial army then headed for the stronghold at Vlaardingen. The ensuing Battle of Vlaardingen was a disaster for the imperial army and a tremendous victory for Count Dirk; many of the imperial commanders perished. Following this victory, Dirk III was permitted to keep his lands and he continued levying tolls.

Floris I of Holland (1019-1061)

Floris I of Holland (born in Vlaardingen - killed June 28, 1061 in Gelderland) was Count of Holland (which was called Frisia at that time) from 1049 to 1061.

He was involved in a war of a few Lotharingian vassals against the imperial authority. On a retreat from Zaltbommel he was ambushed and killed in battle at Nederhemert (called Hamerth at the time), on 28 June 1061.

Family and children
In c. 1050 he married Princess Gertrude of Saxony, daughter of Bernard II, Duke of Saxony and Eilika of Schweinfurt, and had at least three children by her:
1. Dirk V (c. 1052, Vlaardingen 17 June 1091).
2. Bertha (c. 1055 1094, Montreuil-sur-Mer), who married Philip I of France.
3. Floris (b. c. 1055), a canon at Li ge.

Gertrude married secondly (in 1063) Robert the Frisian, Count of Flanders, who also acted as guardian for the children of her previous marriage and as regent for his stepson until 1071.

Dirk V of Holland (1052-1091)

Dirk V, at 9 years old, succeeded Floris I, under the guardianship of his mother, Gertrude of Saxony.
William I, Bishop of Utrecht, took advantage of the young ruler, occupying territory that he had claimed in Holland. William's claim was confirmed by two charters of the emperor Henry IV. Dirk only retained possession of lands west of the Vlie and around the mouths of the Rhine.

Gertrude and her son withdrew to the islands of Frisia (Zeeland), leaving William to occupy the disputed lands. In 1063 Gertrude married Robert of Flanders, the second son of Baldwin V of Flanders. Robert gave Dirk the Imperial Flanders as an appanage - including the islands of Frisia west of the Frisian Scheldt river. Baldwin then became his stepson's guardian, gaining control of the islands east of the Scheldt.

The war in Holland and Frisia became part of a large conflict from 1075 onwards. The pope had excommunicated the emperor. The bishop of Utrecht supported the emperor, while the count of Holland supported Pope Gregory VII and anti-king Rudolphe.

Dirk V was succeeded by Floris II upon his death in 1091. He was buried in the Egmond Abbey.

Floris II (the Fat) of Holland (1083-1121)

Floris II, Count of Holland (or Floris the Fat) (reigned 1091 March 2, 1121) was the first from the native dynasty of Holland to be called Count of Holland.

He was the son of his predecessor Dirk V and Othilde. Floris II ended the conflict with the Bishop of Utrecht (which he inherited from his father, and should be seen in light of the power struggle between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor), most likely by becoming his vassal. In 1101 he was endowed with the title of Count of Holland by the bishop of Utrecht, after acquiring Rhineland (Leiden and surroundings).

Around 1108, Floris II married Gertrude, the daughter of Theodoric II, Duke of Lorraine. Gertrude changed her name to Petronila (which is derived from Peter), in recognition of her loyalty to the Holy See. Petronila and Floris II had four children, three boys and one girl: Dirk, Floris, Simon and Hedwig, respectively. Dirk became his successor, Dirk VI of Holland, while Floris became known as Floris the Black and contested his brother's power.

Dirk VI, Count of Holland

Dirk VI of Holland (ca. 1114 5 August 1157) was Count of Holland between 1121 and 1157, at first, during his minority, under the regency of his mother Petronilla. Dirk married Sofie of Salm, Countess of Rheineck and Bentheim. She was heiress of Bentheim, which she ruled together with her husband.

Petronilla's regency
When his father died in 1122, Dirk was only 7 years old and his mother, Petronilla, governed the county as regent. In 1123 she supported the uprising of her half-brother, Lothair of S pplingenburg, Duke of Saxony against Emperor Henry V. After Lothair had been elected king of Germany himself in 1125 he returned Leiden and Rijnland to Holland, which had both been awarded to the Bishop of Utrecht in 1064 (Later on during Dirk's reign the wooden fortifications at Leiden would be replaced by a stone castle). ood (fifteen years old), until her favourite son Floris could attempt to take over the county.

Ecclesiastical affairs and pilgrimage
Dirk and Sophie went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1138 and it was on this pilgrimage that their first son Dirk, called Peregrinus ("Pilgrim"), was born, but he died when he was only 12 years old. On the return journey, in 1139, Dirk visited Pope Innocent II and asked for the abbeys of Egmond and Rijnsburg to be placed under direct papal authority and this request was granted. In this way Dirk removed the Bishop of Utrecht's influence over those abbeys.

Floris III of Holland (1138-1190)

On September 28, 1162, he married Ada, sister of king William I of Scotland, also known as William the Lion. The county of Holland adopted from him the rampant lion in the coat of arms and the name of William.

Floris III was a loyal vassal to Frederick I Barbarossa. He accompanied the emperor on two expeditions to Italy in 1158 and 1176 1178. Frederick thanked him by making Floris part of the imperial nobility.

The emperor gave Floris the toll right of Geervliet, the most important toll station in Holland at that time. This was actually the legalisation of an existing situation, because the counts of Holland had charged tolls illegally since the start of the 11th century.

Many farmers came to Holland to turn the swamps into agricultural lands. Dikes and dams were built and the border between Holland and the bishopric of Utrecht had to be determined. There was a dispute between Floris and the bishop of Utrecht about a new dam in the Rhine at Zwammerdam in 1165, which had to be settled by emperor Frederick. The brother of Floris, Baldwin became bishop of Utrecht in 1178.

War broke out between Flanders and Holland. Count Philip of Flanders wanted to have Zeeland. Floris was captured in Brugge and had to accept Flemish overlordship in Zeeland as ransom in 1167.

During his reign Floris III had troubles with West Friesland and a war with Philip 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 and was buried there.

Two sons of Floris III became Count of Holland: Dirk VII in 1190 and William I in 1203.
 

Ada of Huntingdon (c. 1146- after 1206)

She was a Scottish noblewoman and became Countess of Holland by marriage to Floris III.

Ada was born in Scotland, the daughter of Henry of Huntingdon (1114 1152) and Ada de Warenne (died c. 1178).
Prince Henry was the son of King David I of Scotland and Maud, Countess of Huntingdon. Ada's siblings include the Scottish kings Malcolm IV and William the Lion.

In 1162, when Ada was 16, she was asked for her hand in marriage to Floris III, Count of Holland by the Abbot of Egmond, Holland. Together, the Abbot and Ada traveled back to Holland, where the wedding ceremony occurred, probably in Egmond, on 28 August 1162. Ada received the County of Ross in the Scottish Highlands as a wedding gift.

Ada was not actively involved in the governance of the County of Holland but was occasionally mentioned in documents. Floris, her husband was a loyal ally of the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, and often went with him into battle.

Ada is known to have read Latin. Ada died after 1206 and was probably buried in the Abbey of Middelburg, to which she had already made donations of 64 pounds.

Origin of Dutch Lion

King William I of Scotland (1143-1214) was also known as William the Lion. This may have been due either to his valour and strength in battle or, more likely, to the heraldic symbol which he adopted: a red lion rampant on a yellow background with the addition of a double tressure fleury counter-fleury border. It went on to become the Royal standard of Scotland. See pic of the left.

Count Floris III of Holland married king William's sister Ada in 1162. Floris liked William's coat-of-arms and adopted from him the rampant lion for the coat-of-arms of Holland -see pic on the right- and the name William (became Willem in Holland) for his son.

Pieter van Borselen (1219-1278)

In Latin: Dominus Petrus de Bersalia, Lord of Goes and Borselen (both in Zeeland).

In 1265, a dispute was settled between Pieter, with his father-in-law (Godefridus de Crunighen) and his brother Hendrick against Aleyd, Countess of Holland, (the widow of Count Willem I's brother Dirck VII).

In 1276 Pieter testifies for Count Floris V in a court casde in Leiden.

Pieter had two daughters and a son. The eldest daughter was Jutte. In 1271 she married Henricus de Lecke.
With some help from his brother-in-laws Hugo and Wouter, Pieter gave Jutta a 1200 Holland's pounds dowry.

Hendrik II van der Lecke (1240-1309)

Born in Monster (near The Hague)
Became a knight in 1271 and was added to the Court of Holland in 1297

Hendrik II van de Lecke, son of Hendrik I van de Lecke and Jutta von Werth.
In 1271 he married Jutte, daughter of Pieter, Lord of Borselen and Goes (in Zeeland) and took over, from his father, the lease on the toll of Smithuizen and the estates of Ewijk and Malbergen.

His children were: Henric (died before his father), Pieter, Gijsbrecht and Maria (who died 2 years before her father). Maria was the spouse of Dirk II, Lord of Brederode.

Dirk II Lord of Brederode (1256-1318)

Dirk (Diderik) van Brederode (1256, Santpoort 16 December 1318, Rheims), died on his pilgrimage journey back from Palestine. He was buried in the Dominican church in Rheims (France).

Dirk became Lord of Brederode in 1285, bailiff of Kennemerland in 1288, and was knighted in 1290. In c. 1290 he married Mary van der Lecke, daughter of Hendrik II (Lord of the Leck) and his wife Jutte van Borsele.

Dirk took part in the campaign against Friesland in 1288 under the command of Floris V of Holland, with a fleet of ships. In the same year he led an army, sent by Floris V, to Utrecht to arrest the Lords of Amstel and Woerden.