Frisians

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Frisians
Frisian settlement area
Total population
1,500,000 (est.)[citation needed]
Regions with significant populations
Frisia (comprising parts of The Netherlands, Germany and a small part of Denmark[citation needed])
Languages
Frisian, Dutch, German, Low Saxon, Danish[citation needed]
Religions
Predominantly Protestant Christian
Related ethnic groups
Dutch, Afrikaners, English, Flemings, Germans, Danes, Gelderlanders

The Frisians are an ethnic group of northwestern Europe, inhabiting an area known as Frisia. They are a Germanic people.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Pre Roman times 1.2 In Roman times 1.3 Kings or Dukes of Friesland 1.4 Friesland in the Middle Ages 1.5 Freedom of the Frisian People, Frisian Law 2 Frisian Migrations 3 Modern history 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

[edit] History

[edit] Pre Roman times

The Frisian origins are obscure. However, archeologically the Frisians share a local development with other NW continental Germanic regions dating back to the Elp Culture (1800-800), that itself shows local continuity starting with the emergence of the neolithic Corded Ware culture (2900 BC onwards until 2450) and running through Bell-Beaker cultures (2700–2100), Bronze age Barbed Wire Beakers (2100-1800) and the Elp Culture itself that features an initial Hügelgraber phase showing a close relationship to other Northern European Hügelgraber groups (sharing pottery of low quality: "Kümmerkeramik"), and a subsequent smooth local transformation to Urnfields (1200-800). Apparently the local tradition was only broken around 800 BC, first by iron age Hallstatt intrusions and later by La Tene intrusions, both originating south and south east from Central Europe. Those intrusions would for sure have exposed the region to profound Celtic influences, pushing back any tentative proto-germanic continuum to the north. However, a weak superstratum in the region might explain one of the few examples in prehistory of bronze age culture to have continuity with recent building practices as demostrated by Elp culture influences in present day Frisian and Low Saxon territory.^[1] Supported by the absence of royal burials, it has been proposed that social influence of Hallstatt elites did not reach a high level as the social stability and international contacts became disturbed by powershifts towards the southern Hallstatt regions in the C-period, causing a decay in the superstratum elite in the D-period that thus never achieved the same privileged and dominant position like in SW Germany and Eastern France. The same process of quick decay was observed at the subsequent intruding La Tene elite. Archeologically this iron age period continued without breaks towards Roman times, showing continental Germanic cultures participated in an otherwise Celtic European culture, thus leaving open to arbitration whether to correlate most Northern European iron age findings to either Celtic or Germanic tribes. Iron age immigration of the Frisian ancestors from Germanic areas further to the north or even Scandinavia has been proposed, although archeological evidence is ambiguous. Genetic evidence point to a close relation between all Germanic groups, including Frisians, although a possible Scandinavian link is hard to prove with the occurrence of genetic drift, local developments and eastern additions confined to Scandinavian areas.^[2]. The Frisians emerge as a Germanic tribe named by Roman writers.

[edit] In Roman times

The Frisians were able to form a treaty with the Romans at the River Rhine in 28, avoiding conquest. But sixteen years later, when taxes became repressive, they hanged the tax collector and defeated the Romans under Tiberius at the Battle of Baduhennawood. The Frisii were known and respected by the Romans and written about by several sources. Tacitus wrote a treatise about the Germanic peoples in 69, describing the habits of the Germanic people, as well as listing numerous tribes by name. ^[3] Of the many tribes mentioned, the name 'Frisii' is the only one that is still used. ^[4]

Friesland had been early settled, with evidence of terp-building, the distinctive raised settlements, starting in 700 BC. Frisii where mentioned by Roman historian Tacitus^[5] and, before him, by Pliny the Elder^[6]. According to inscriptions found in Roman Britain ^[7] they served the Roman Army and used frisiavones as a synonym. Expansion to the south-west occurred probably as early as 70 AD, when the westernmost parts of the rivermouth were abandoned by the Canninefates in the aftermatch of the Batavian revolt by Julius Civilis. Emigration to Flanders ^[8] and Kent ^[9] happened peacefully within Roman jurisdiction and probably reached a height in 250s, due to heavy flooding. Around 290 AD Constantius Chlorus mentioned Frisians among the pirates that raid Britain, but in the records the Saxons took over this reputation in the fourth century. This coincide with archeological evidence that habitation of the original area remained scarce for about 150 years and only recovered in 400s. It has been suggested that by then a part of the Frisians had already merged with the Saxons, to whom they were closely related. The Frisian language remains the closest surviving language to English. ^[10]

The Roman historian Tacitus, in his Germania, mentioned the Frisians among people he grouped together as the Ingvaeones. Two different types, or classes are mentioned by Tacitus, the maiores Frisii and the minores Frisii. Divided by the soil of their farmlands, the maiores Frisii or Clay Frisians populated fertile clay soil increasing the size of their harvests, livestock and even their posture. The small and relatively unhealthy minores Frisii (Sand Frisians) farmed on sand lands, and, consequently, their crops lacked size or number compared to those of the maiores Frisii. According to Tacitus even the armies of the maiores were larger and better equipped.

They were probably a people of seafarers, the North Sea spanning from Britain to Eastern Denmark, was referred to as the Mare Frisia at that time. Small groups of Frisians settled the surrounding lands and their settlements have been traced to England, Scotland, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France and obviously to The Netherlands.

Their territory followed the coast of the North Sea from the mouth of the Rhine river up to that of the Ems, their eastern border according to Ptolemy's Geographica. Pliny the Elder states in Belgica that they were conquered by the Roman general Drusus in 12 BC, after several uprisings that have been mentioned by Tacitus. The most noted of these is their partake in the Batavian rebellion. Thereafter the Frisians largely sank into historical obscurity, until coming into contact with the expanding Merovingian and Carolingian empires.

In the 5th century, during this period of historical silence, many of them no doubt joined the migration of the Anglo-Saxons who went through Frisian territory to invade Great Britain, while those who stayed on the continent expanded into the newly-emptied lands previously occupied by the Anglo-Saxons. By the end of the sixth century the Frisians occupied the coast all the way to the mouth of the Weser and spread farther still in the seventh century, southward down to Dorestad and even Bruges. This farthest extent of Frisian territory is known as Frisia Magna.

The empire that came in to being after the fall of the Western Roman Empire was governed by a king or a duke. The earliest document referring to an independent state ruled by a king is dated 678. Early attempts to Christianize Frisia were unsuccessful in converting the fierce pagan Frisians and various monks were murdered or banished, such as the legendary example of the murder of Saint Boniface near Dokkum. King Radbod was even able to beat the mighty Charles Martel in 714 to preserve independence. Twenty years later Charles Martel got his revenge and effectively subjugated the entire Frisian empire. Christianity was also enforced by the Christian Franks and in Utrecht a Bishop was installed to see to Christian affairs in Frisia. Not until the early 800s did they fully reclaim their independence from the Frankish grip. Christianity had however taken root and had been adopted by most Frisians.

[edit] Kings or Dukes of Friesland

The princes of the Frisians in the early Middle Ages were:

• Folcwald
• Finn
• Sibbelt
• Ritzard
• Aldegisel (d. 680)
• Radbod, also known as Redbad (680–719)
• Poppo (719–734)

The last three were certainly historical figures. The first four may be only legendary. What their exact title was depends on the source. Frankish sources tend to call them dukes; other sources often call them kings.

[edit] Friesland in the Middle Ages

[edit] Freedom of the Frisian People, Frisian Law

In the 8th century, Charlemagne freed the people of Friesland from swearing fealty to foreign overlords "That all Frisians would be fully free, the born and the unborn, so long as the wind blows from heaven and the child cries, grass grows green and flowers bloom, as far as the sun rises and the world stands". This is from a 12th century law text ^[11] written in Old Frisian using the poetic saga-style of Scandinavian epics. There are a substantial number of existing Frisian law texts and some of these have yet to be studied. There is currently a Frisia Project at the University of Amsterdam that is studying the ancient history of Friesland.

But the tantalising tidbits of Frisian history that are already known reveal a people not much given to making their mark on history, except when provoked, and then fighting with a legendary fierceness to protect their freedom.

[edit] Frisian Migrations

The Frisian people also migrated to other areas in Europe. Migrations to England during the early middle ages (along with the Angles, Saxons and Jutes) have been particularly well characterized through genetics, linguistics, and archeology. ^[12] The Frisian language has much in common with Old English.

[edit] Modern history

The modern remnants of Frisia Magna are small and scattered. Most of it became dominated by its expanding neighbors: the Saxons (who were moving north and west) and the Franks (who were pushing north and east). Western and Middle Frisia are solidly within the modern state of the Netherlands, which now includes the "heartland" of the Frisians from the North Sea coast from Alkmaar in the modern province of Noord-Holland, along the coasts of the modern provinces of Friesland and Groningen, and up to the mouth of the Ems. Culturally, it has shrunk down to the province of Friesland alone. The Frisian language is now spoken there and in parts of the Wadden Sea islands of Terschelling and Schiermonnikoog (West Frisian language), in the German municipality of Saterland (Saterland Frisian language) and in parts of the German district North Frisia (North Frisian) on the coast of Jutland. North Frisia language is under heavy pressure from Low German, Standard German, and Danish and faces possible extinction. The East Frisian Low Saxon (a dialect of the Low Saxon) is spoken in East Frisia.

[edit] See also

• Frisia
• Frisian language
• Frisian Islands
• List of Frisian Given Names

[edit] External links

• The Frisian Meeting Place

[edit] References