Roman era The people later to be known as
Frisii began settling in Frisia in the 6th century BC. According to
Pliny the Elder, in Roman times, the Frisians (or rather their close neighbours, the
Chauci) lived on
terps, man-made hills. According to other sources, the Frisians lived along a broader expanse of the North Sea (or "Frisian Sea") coast. At this time, Frisia comprised the present-day provinces of
Friesland,
Groningen,
North Holland and parts of
South Holland.
Early Middle Ages Frisian presence during the Early Middle Ages has been documented from North-Western Flanders up to the Weser River Estuary. According to archaeological evidence, these Frisians were not the Frisians of Roman times, but the descendants of Anglo-Saxon immigrants from the
German Bight, arriving during the
Great Migration. By the 8th century, ethnic Frisians also started to colonize the coastal areas North of the Eider River under Danish rule. The nascent Frisian languages were spoken all along the southern North Sea coast. Today, the whole region is sometimes referred to as
Greater Frisia (). Distant authors seem to have made little distinction between Frisians and Saxons. The Byzantine
Procopius described three peoples living in Great Britain: Angles, Frisians and Britons, and the Danish author of
Knútsdrápa celebrating the 11th-century
Canute the Great used "Frisians" as a synonym of "English". The historian and sociologist George Homans has made a case for Frisian cultural domination in
East Anglia since the 5th century, pointing to distinct land-holdings arrangements in
carucates (these forming
vills assembled in
leets),
partible inheritance patterns of common lands held in by kin, resistance to
manorialism and other social institutions. Some East Anglian sources called the mainland inhabitants
Warnii, rather than Frisians. During the 7th and 8th centuries,
Frankish chronologies mention the northern
Low Countries as the kingdom of the Frisians. According to Medieval legends, this kingdom comprised the coastal provinces of the
Netherlands, from the Scheldt River to the Weser River and further East. Archaeological research does not confirm this idea, as the petty kingdoms appear to have been rather small and short-lived. The earliest Frisian records name four social classes, the ( in Latin documents) and , who together made up the "Free Frisians" who might bring suit at court, and the
laten or
liten with the
slaves, who were absorbed into the
laten during the
Early Middle Ages, as slavery was not so much formally abolished, as evaporated. The
laten were tenants of lands they did not own and might be tied to it in the manner of
serfs, but in later times might buy their freedom. The Frisian coastal areas were partly occupied by
Danish Vikings in the 840s, until these were expelled between 885 and 920. Recently, it has been suggested that the
Vikings did not conquer Frisia, but settled peacefully in certain districts (such as the islands of
Walcheren and
Wieringen), where they built simple forts and cooperated and traded with the native Frisians. One of their leaders was
Rorik of Dorestad.
Upstalsboom League During the 12th century Frisian noblemen and the city of
Groningen founded the Upstalsboom League under the slogan of "
Frisian freedom" to counter
feudalizing tendencies. The league consisted of modern
Friesland,
Groningen,
East Frisia,
Harlingerland,
Jever and
Rüstringen. Neither the Frisian districts in
West Friesland West of the
Zuiderzee nor those north of the
Eider River along the
Danish North Sea coast (
Schleswig-Holstein) participated. The former were occupied by the count of
Holland in 1289, and the latter were governed by the Duke of
Schleswig and the king of
Denmark. The same holds true for the district of
Land Wursten East of the
Weser River. The Upstalsboom League was revived in the early 14th century, but it collapsed after 1337. By then, the non-Frisian city of Groningen took the lead of the independent coastal districts.
15th century , known for his legendary strength and size The 15th century saw the demise of Frisian republicanism. In
East Frisia, a leading nobleman from the Cirksena-family managed to defeat his competitors with the help of the Hanseatic League. In 1464 he acquired the title of count of East Frisia. The
king of Denmark was successful in subduing the coastal districts North of the Eider River. The Dutch provinces of
Friesland and
Groningen remained independent until 1498. By then Friesland was conquered by Duke
Albert of Saxony-Meissen. The city of
Groningen, which had started to dominate the surrounding rural districts, surrendered to count Edzard of East Frisia in 1506. The city conveyed its remaining privileges to the Habsburg Empire in 1536. The district of Butjadingen (formerly Rüstringen) was occupied by the Count of Oldenburg in 1514, the Land Wursten by the Prince-bishop of Bremen in 1525.
Modern age In the early 16th century, the pirate and freedom fighter
Pier Gerlofs Donia (Grutte Pier) challenged Saxon authority in Friesland during a prolonged guerrilla war, backed by the Duke of Guelders. He had several successes and was feared by Hollandic authorities, but he died as a farmer in 1520. According to the legend he was seven feet tall. A statue of Grutte Pier by was erected in
Kimswert in 1985. In the 1560s many Frisans joined the revolt led by William of Orange against the Habsburg monarchy. In 1577 the province of Friesland became part of the nascent
Dutch Republic, as its representatives signed the
Union of Utrecht. The city of Groningen
was conquered by the Dutch in 1594. Since then, membership of the Dutch Republic was perceived as a guarantee for the preservation of civil liberties. Actual power, however, was usurped by the landowning gentry. Protests against aristocratic rule led to a democratic movement in the 1780s. == Frisian territories ==