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At the time of writing this blog post (2018), many supranational organizations, whether governmental or judicial, are struggling with their legitimacy and survival; it is almost becoming tedious. Take, for example, the European Union with a humiliating Brexit and its seemingly endless debates on urgent monetary and migration policy reforms. Consider the International Criminal Court (ICC), accused of being biased, with parties leaving the treaty, some even boycotting it from t

From 2012 onward, about 5,000 foreign fighters from various European countries travelled to the Levant to join the fighting. Six years later, roughly fifteen percent had died in combat. Others remained in the Middle East—imprisoned or drifting toward new conflict zones as terrorist groups lost ground. But some returned home. This wave of returnees is alarming, yet, regrettably, not unprecedented. Nearly a thousand years ago, laws were already being drafted to address the very

Not much is known about Redbad’s death. Many Frankish fragments use his year of death as a historical point of reference for many events. One story tells about his strong wish to make sure his heritage ends up with the rightful owners. It is 719. Redbad has been ill for six years. He suffers from a never ending pain. What he suffers from is not told. The old king feels the end is coming. But he is not intending to die without sorting out his legacy. In July 2012, the artis

“I can not live without the company of my forefathers” , Redbad said in an interview in 718. In 2018 this sentence caused turmoil in the social media and the European Union. Having such an impact 1300 after your death deserves some further investigation, we believe. This article is about a medieval king, freedom of religion, Google Ads, movie trailers, ancient scriptures, paganism, Zuckerberg, censorship, a candid bishop, Frankish kings, freedom of speech and social media.

It was not the city of Parisius  ('Paris'). Nor that of Londinium  ('London'). Believe it or not, the early-medieval center for expensive...

The mudflats of the Wadden Sea seem endless. But what do you do with them? How do you give meaning to mud? Sure, one cubic meter of...

This is the story of the land reclaimed from the former Middelzee—a shallow inland sea that once split the present-day province of Friesland in two, separating the ancient pagus Westrachia  (modern district Westergo) from pagus Austrachia (modern district Oostergo). The name Middelzee  literally means 'middle sea.' Closing this watery rift took centuries. Through a succession of smaller and larger embankments—continuing into the early seventeenth century—new land was steadil

pumping station Lely by Joh. H. van Mastenbroek August 21, 1930, Wieringermeer in the province of Noord Holland. The reclamation of just another piece of the Zuiderzee 'southern sea' was completed. A wooded area, when it was still land, that was called Creilerwoud. Land lost to the sea eight centuries ago during the most destructive All Saints' Flood in the year 1170. The embanked land—or polder  in the Dutch language—is now being named Wieringermeerpolder instead of Creiler

After the Roman Empire had incorporated a big chunck of the British Isles in the first century AD, the empire needed a military force to def

On May 5th, 2018, it was exactly two centuries since Karl Marx was born. When the good man published the first volume of Das Kapital  in...

Did you know that between 328,770 and 502,190 people lost their lives around the North Sea? On the flip side: millions of possible casualties have been prevented succesfully. For now at least... Half a million casualties is a lot. How could we forget about such a huge number? Did nobody notice? Did nobody mention? It seems it is not even a public secret. Did we forget about it all together? Are we in denial? Living along the North Sea coast is not easy. It is dangerous. The

In March 714, Redbad's army reached the shores of Cologne . That is deep in the Frankish heartlands and way out of the traditional Frisian coastal territories. Sure, Frisians were smelly bastards, but eau de Cologne wasn't invented yet. Was Redbad ahead of his time or why else did he end up there? A movie about this Frisian king will be released in 2018 as a tribute. In 2019, it will be 1300 years ago that he died. In a previous article we explored the battles of Redbad . We

King Redbad died in 719. Some 1300 years later, as a tribute a  movie  about this Frisian king will hit the silver screen in the Dutch cinemas. Redbad repeatedly ended up fighting his neighbours, the Franks. Where and how often will be explored in this article. As a hikers blog that follows the whereabouts of Frisian history, we are especially interested in specific battle locations in order to add them in our trail itinerary. How often and where Redbad battled is pretty u

Ever heart of Aldgisl ? Even if you did, you probably have a hard time separating fact from fiction. For a fact it is the first king of the Dutch lowlands known to have lived. But is Redbad his real son? Follow us in our deep dive into ancient historical sources. Recently King Redbad became a hot topic. In the summer of 2018 a movie about this Frisian king will hit the silver screen in the Dutch cinemas. Redbad is the direct successor of Aldgisl. He repeatedly ended up figh

This blog post is about the town of Medemblik—the grande dame  of the Westfriesland region in the province of Noord Holland in the...

Hwasa thene vthemeda husath ieftha howath ieftha oppa sinne werf set, sa skel hi thes wachtia, hwetsa hi deth. Who receives a foreigner...

In contrast to today’s Sunday rest, for centuries the island of Walcheren was a pagan stronghold and a safe haven for Vikings with their...

On May 28, 2011 Bill Clinton held a speech in Achlum, province Friesland. The village has some 600 inhabitants. Looks like a small audience to me. What was he up to? We searched online for the keywords "Clinton" and "Achlum" and found many articles mentioning large sums of money... Indeed Achlum should be famous for large sums of money. But not for the huge sum that allegedly has been paid for Clinton to speak. So let's pause Bill for a moment. We would like to draw your at

Exactly a year ago Hans van der Togt, a former Dutch television presenter of the game show Wheel of Fortune, told in the talk show Pauw abou

Below the green and black image of Saskia Holleman, the reincarnation of Mata Hari, her fellow citizen. Saskia was born in 1945 in the town of Leeuwarden in the province of Friesland, standing stark naked in the milky grasslands with a Friesian Holland cow . It is a pamphlet from the former Pacifist Socialist Party (PSP) for the Dutch general elections campaign in 1971. Besides the fact that Saskia was of Frisian descent, the pamphlet also depicts every detail of the scenery