Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche Letterkunde (2 vols. 1881); C. Busken
Hüet, Het Land van Rembrandt-studien over de Nordnederlandsche
beschaving in de 17 e eeuw (2 vols., 1886); L. D. Petit, Repertorium
der verhandelingen en bijdragen betreffende de geschiedenis des Vaterlands
in tijdschriften en mengel werken tot op 1900 verschenen, 2 parts
(1905); other parts of this valuable repertorium are in course of
publication. (G. E.)
HOLLAND, COUNTY AND PROVINCE OF.—The first mention
of Holland in any document is found in an imperial gift brief
dated May 2nd, 1064. In this the phrase “omnis comitatus
in Hollandt” occurs, but without any further description of the
locality indicated. A comparison with other documentary
evidence, however, leads to the identification of Holland with
the forestum Merweda, or the bush-grown fenland lying between
the Waal, the old Meuse and the Merwe. It is the district
surrounding the town of Dordrecht. A portion of the original
Holland was submerged by a great inundation in 1421, and its
modern appellation of Biesbosch (reed-forest) is descriptive of
what must have been the condition of the entire district in early
times. The word Holland is indeed by many authorities thought
to be a corruption of Holt-land (it was sometimes so spelt by
13th-century writers) and to signify wood-land. The earliest
spelling is, however, Holland, and it is more probable that it
means lowlying-land (hol = hollow), a derivation which is
equally applicable to the district in Lincolnshire which bears
the same name.
The title count of Holland appears to have been first borne by the Frisian count Dirk III., who founded Dordrecht (about 1015) and made it his residence (see below). It was not, however, till late in the 11th century that his successors adopted the style The first Count of Holland.“Hollandensis comes” as their territorial designation (it is found for the first time on a seal of Dirk V. 1083), and that the name Holland became gradually extended northwards to connote all the land subject to the rule of the counts between Texel and the Maas.
The beginnings of the history of this feudal state (the later
Holland) centre round the abbey of Egmont in whose archives
its records have been preserved. In 922 Charles the
Simple gave in full possession to a count in Frisia,
Dirk by name (a shortened form of Diederic, Latin Theodoricus),
Dirk I.
“the church of Egmont with all that belonged to it from Swithardeshage
to Kinhem.” This man, usually known as Dirk I.,
died about 939 and was succeeded by his son of the same name.
Among the records of the abbey of Egmont is a document by
which the emperor Arnulf gave to a certain count Gerolf the
same land “between Swithardeshage and Kinhem,” afterwards
held by Dirk I. It is generally assumed that this Gerolf was
Dirk II.
Extent of his dominions.
Arnulf.
Dirk III.
his father, otherwise their deed of gift would not have been
preserved among the family papers. Dirk II. was
the founder of the abbey of Egmont. His younger
son Egbert became archbishop of Treves. His elder son Arnulf
married Liutgardis, daughter of Siegfried of Luxemburg and
sister-in-law of the emperor Henry II. He obtained from the
emperor Otto III., with whom he was in great favour
in 983, a considerable extension of territory, that now
covered by the Zuider Zee and southward down to
Nijmwegen. In the deed of gift he is spoken of as
holding the three countships of Maasland, Kinhem or Kennemerland
and Texla or Texel; in other words his rule extended over
the whole country from the right bank of the Maas or Meuse to
the Vlie. He appears also to have exercised authority at Ghent.
He died in 988. Arnulf was count till 993, when he was
slain in battle against the west Frisians, and was
succeeded by his twelve-year-old son Dirk III. During the
guardianship of his mother, Liutgardis, the boy was despoiled of
almost all his possessions, except Kennemerland and Maasland.
But no sooner was he arrived at man’s estate than
Dirk turned upon his enemies with courage and vigour.
He waged war, successfully with Adelbold, the powerful bishop
of Utrecht, and made himself master not only of his ancestral
possessions, but of the district on the Meuse known as the
Bushland of Merweda (forestum Merweda), hitherto subject to
the see of Utrecht. In the midst of this marshy tract, at a
Foundation
of Dordrecht.
Defeat of Godfrey of Lorraine.
Beginning of the County
of Holland.
point commanding the courses of the Meuse and the Waal,
he built a castle (about 1015) and began to levy
tolls. Around this castle sprang up the town of Thuredrecht
or Dordrecht. The possession of this stronghold
was so injurious to the commerce of Tiel, Cologne
and the Rhenish towns with England that complaints were
made by the bishop of Utrecht and the archbishop of Cologne
to the emperor. Henry II. took the part of the complainants
and commissioned Duke Godfrey of Lorraine to
chastise the young Frisian count. Duke Godfrey
invaded Dirk’s lands with a large army, but they were
impeded by the swampy nature of the country and
totally defeated with heavy loss (July 29, 1018). The duke
was himself taken prisoner. The result was that Dirk was not
merely confirmed in his possession of Dordrecht and the Merweda
Bushland (the later Holland) but also of the territory of a vassal
of the Utrecht see, Dirk Bavo by name, which he
conquered. This victory of 1018 is often regarded as
the true starting-point of the history of the county of
Holland. Having thus established his rule in the
south, Dirk next proceeded to bring into subjection the
Frisians in the north. He appointed his brother Siegfrid or
Sikka as governor over them. In his later years Dirk went
upon a pilgrimage to the Holy Land from which he returned in
1034; and ruled in peace until his death in 1039.
His son, Dirk IV., was one of the most enterprising of his
warlike and strenuous race. He began the long strife with the
counts of Flanders, as to the lordship over Walcheren
and other islands of Zeeland; the quarrel was important,
Dirk IV.
Quarrel with Flanders about Zeeland.
as dealing with the borderland between French and
German overlordship. This strife, which lasted 400 years, did
not at first break out into actual warfare, because both Dirk
and Baldwin V. of Flanders had a common danger in
the emperor Henry III., who in 1046 occupied the
lands in dispute. Dirk allied himself with Godfrey
the Bearded of Lorraine, who was at war with the
emperor, and his territory was invaded by a powerful
imperial fleet and army (1047). But Dirk entrenched himself
in his stronghold at Vlaardingen, and when winter came on he
surrounded and cut off with his light boats a number of the
enemy’s ships, and destroyed a large part of their army as they
made their way amidst the marches, which impeded their
retreat. He was able to recover what he had lost and to make
peace on his own terms. Two years later he was again assailed by
a coalition headed by the archbishop of Cologne and the bishop
of Utrecht. They availed themselves of a very hard winter to
penetrate into the land over the frozen water. Dirk offered a
stout resistance, but, according to the most trustworthy account,
was enticed into an ambuscade and was killed in the fight (1049).
He died unmarried and was succeeded by his brother Floris I.
Floris, like his predecessors, was hard-fighting and tenacious. He gradually recovered possession of his ancestral lands. He found a formidable adversary in the able and warlike William, who, becoming bishop of Utrecht in 1054,Floris I. was determined to recover the lost possessions of his see; and in 1058, in alliance with Hanno, archbishop of Cologne, Egbert, margrave of Brandenburg, the bishop of Liége and others, invaded the Frisian territory. At first success attended the invaders and many places fell into their hands, but finally they were surprised and defeated near Dordrecht. The counts of Guelders and Louvain were among the prisoners that fell into the hands of Floris. The attack was renewed in 1061. In a battle at Nederhemert Floris met with his death in the hour of victory. He is said to have been killed as, wearied with pursuing, he lay asleep under a tree. He was succeeded by his Dirk V.son, Dirk V., a child, under the guardianship of his mother, Gertrude of Saxony. Bishop William seems now to have seized his opportunity and occupied all the territory that he claimed. In this he was confirmed by two charters of the emperor Henry IV. (April 30 and May 2, 1064). Among the possessions thus assigned to him is found comitatus omnis
