Grietman

The area of jurisdiction was the rural grietenij, a judicial district that comprised several church villages (similar to a modern-day municipagreitlity or gemeente). In total, the region of Friesland had 30 such rural districts, outside the cities. Each of the 30 grietmannen and 11 city mayors formed the Friese Landdag, which was founded in 1504 by the Duke of Saxony, and was a central government for Friesland. The Friese Landdag met in Leeuwarden. Each mayor and grietman had a vote ensuring that the rural population was fairly represented in Friesland. This method of proportional representation, which accounted for both the rural and city populations, was a distinctive and democratic system in Friesland, when compared to the political and legal systems found in Europe during that time period. The grietman was responsible for mustering local militia, gathering both armour and weapons (e.g. speets, degen, harnas, bekkeneel), supplies and abled-bodied men aged between 16 and 60. The grietman needed to have sufficient influence and military power to conduct interviews, order detentions, and enforce penalties and fines when necessary. This required both political and actual military clout among the local population. In 1498, Albrecht III, Duke of Saxony made Leeuwarden the seat of the Court of Friesland (Hof van Friesland), a higher court that dealt with government of lands, capital crimes and a court of appeal, which resulted in a shift of power away from the local level. Grietmannen no longer had the power to try capital crimes, such as those involving manslaughter or homicide, at the local level. ==Election==

Hoofdelingen preferred the position of grietman. Once elected, in principle, a grietman was typically appointed for life. Officially, the position was democratically elected, but it did require certain amount of wealth due to the election and bribing process. The grietman was responsible for the costs of his campaign prior to his election. The province of Friesland also required a tax upon the appointment of a grietman called "the equivalent." ==Frisian nobility in the role==

The role of grietman was officially an elected, democratic position. For example, for a total of 28 grietmannnen across Friesland in the year 1525, 13 grietmannen belonged to the Frisian nobility, 10 were from common Frisian origins and five were of foreign origin. In the year 1675, out of 28 grietmannen, 17 grietmannen belonged to the Frisian nobility, eight were from common Frisian origins and five were foreigners (two of whom were also nobility). There were also significant percentages where the successive grietman appointments were related to the immediate predecessor (e.g., in a father–son relationship, or father–son-in law) which points to a significant amount of nepotism and something similar to a family dynasty in the grietenijen. These percentages range from 30% to 50%, and are consistent over the years 1600-1795. In 1795, the returning Stadholder purges the country of his opponents. In 1813, the dominance of the old Frisian was restored and they would hold on to the grietenijen until the Revolution of 1848. The Thorbecke’s Municipal Law, which entered into force in 1851, turned the sitting grietmannen into mayors. Though the two are often compared, this overlap of personnel is about the only thing the offices shared in common. ==References==