You'd say: “Sure, the study of history is evidence based and involves no politics! For this it's called a science, is it not? It's more than telling a story.” Truth, which is a slippery concept in this context too, is that every so often politics does surface in history books. The history of Frisia not excluded. We do, of course, understand any view of any person is liable to bias. Whether that person is a street vendor, a bureaucrat, a parent, a journalist or, indeed, a scholar. Only, is the person transparent about his or her bias? In this blog post we'll highlight three recent examples of history books in which (pre-)medieval Frisia, to our humble opinion, needlessly is being marginalized without a transparent or knowable argumentation.
Before setting off to blame others, we must point the finger at ourselves first.
Of course, Frisians writing about Frisia cannot always wash their hands in innocence either. Think of the efforts put into the Bernlef-gate. Where Frisian-based scholars are trying to proof the Old Saxon epic poem Heliand was, in fact, written by the Frisian bard Bernlef (see our blog post One of history’s enlightening hikes, that of Bernlef). Or, stressing the romanticism and success of the Upstalsboom treaty, whilst it was less than impotent to protect the Frisian independence and freedom. Think of the denial of the fact that modern Frisians -at most- only marginally descend from the Frisii (also Fresones) of the Late Iron Age. Thanks to the work of especially historian Hans Mol, it's only since a few years Frisians must admit that high-medieval Frisia wasn’t the much-praised egalitarian society at all. Instead, one with an evident nobility, albeit sui generis (see our blog post The Treaty of the Upstalsboom: why solidarity is not the core of a collective). But also the wrong kind of pride of kings Verritus and Malorix, who actually were traitors. Yes, probably many more nationalistic myths have yet to be debunked.
One mitigating circumstance we must mention, however, namely Frisians weren't the victor. History slowly smashed them to pieces, including their language, spread over several countries and many islands. And the victor will not write the history of the conquered. When he does, it's only with great reluctance and after many generations. Think of the histories of slavery, or of the Dutch post-colonial war in Indonesia. Hence, the conquered, the victims, and the defeated all must write their own history afterward. In doing so, often the conquered must re-conquer pieces of its own legacy from the victor. With that, an opposite bias is almost inevitable.
History is written by the victors
(quote used and often accredited to Winston Churchill, 1874-1965)
Admittedly, the blog Frisia Coast Trail is soaked in bias too. Awfully one-sided. Check out our blog post Wa bin ik, wa bist do en wa bin wy? ('Who am I, who are you, and who are we?') and our press statement Consensus Frisia Tribunal released in 2020. There, you can find what we said about it before.
Now, with all these words of self-reflection, we have conveniently paved the way to openly criticize others. Let's start doing so.
Kees Nieuwenhuijsen: Robrecht de Fries. Graaf van Vlaanderen, held van Holland (2022)
This history book is about Count Robert I of Flanders. In English, the title is 'Robert the Frisian, Count of Flanders, hero of Holland'. It is a book of interest, also for those who want to learn a bit more about medieval Frisia. Robert I lived from 1031/32 until 1093. Robert carried his nickname de Fries ‘the Frisian’ already during his life, and he did so proudly. His epitaph said: comes Flanderensium Robertus Frisius ‘Count of Flanders Robert the Frisian’.
In his book, when it's well underway on page 34, the author explains in an intermezzo the difference between the regions Holland and West Frisia. He notes that the term 'Holland' was on the rise in the course of the eleventh century, but only used by the House of the Gerulfings in the year 1101. That year, Count Floris I named himself Florentius comes de Hollant. The author ends the intermezzo about Holland and West Frisia with the sentence: "In dit boek heb ik ervoor gekozen om het vroegere West-Frisia steeds aan te duiden als Holland, tenzij ik refereer aan bronnen die expliciet Frisia zeggen" ('In this book, I have chosen to always refer to the former West Frisia as Holland, unless I refer to sources that explicitly say Frisia'). End of the intermezzo. Basta. Not even a hint of substantial motivation as to why the author made this choice.
The why is first and foremost relevant because Count Robert ruled for only eight years from when the first count of West Frisia renamed himself 'Count of Holland' in 1101. So, nearly the entire history discussed in the book is about an era when modern Holland was still generally and officially referred to as (West) Frisia. And, of course, with the signature and seal of Count Floris I in the year 1101, the name Frisia wasn't instantly erased either. So, why use Holland then? Moreover, at the same time, the author makes an explicit statement on page 20 to rename the statesman Robrecht instead of Robert or Rodbert, as he was named in the old original texts. This time the author does motivate his choice by explaining that from a historic phonological point of view, the name Robrecht is historically more accurate. Roger that. Historically more accurate. Historically. Accurate.
To put it differently: going through the motions with the names Robert and Robrecht, but not with the names Frisia and Holland. Because we are unaware of the underlying motivation for using the term Holland, the author or publisher runs the risk of incriminating himself of doing politics. A pity as well, because with his book 'Strijd om West-Frisia' ('Strife for West Frisia') published in 2016, Nieuwenhuijsen seemingly made a different and more balanced choice. Just as the book 'Robrecht de Fries', this book covers the history of West Frisia until approximately the year 1100 when Holland was still known as Frisia.
In other words: "Robrecht de Fries. Graaf van Vlaanderen, held van Frisia" ('Robert the Frisian. Count of Flanders, hero of Frisia') would be the better title. With the extra bonus this book title makes a lot more sense suddenly. Maybe with a smaller audience generating less money, though. Perhaps a case of he that pays the piper calls the tune?
Fortunately, in the contribution of Versloot, Nieuwenhuijsen and Van Eerden to the reference book Noord-Holland in het 1e millennium 'Noord Holland in the 1st millennium' (Nicolay & Van Eerden 2023) the province of Noord Holland is called Frisia.
Annemarieke Willemsen & Hanneke Kik (eds.): Dorestad and its Networks. Communities, Contact and Conflict in Early Medieval Europe (2021)
This book is truly interesting and contains many excellent contributions from several respected scholars, both national and international. It is a great compliment to the editors. However, we did notice one thing regarding the use of the terms 'Frisia' and 'Frisians'.
Dorestad, the central topic of the book, was a town that is generally considered a mixed Frisian-Frankish enterprise. At first, it was predominantly a trading place of Frisian merchants under the Frisian sphere of influence, but after the death of King Radbod in 719, it came firmly under the jurisdiction of the Franks. Until the first quarter of the ninth century, Dorestat would remain one of the most important trading towns in north-western Europe, with Frisian merchants still handling most of the transportation. See our blog post The Batwing Doors of Northwest Europe for more on the history of Dorestat.
The thing we found striking about the book is that, despite the history of Dorestat evidently being part of the history of Frisia as well, editor and author Willemsen doesn't mention the word 'Frisia' at all. We don't know how she managed not to, but not a syllable. In her contribution 'Dorestad and its Networks. An Introduction', she speaks of Vikings, Francia, Frankish, Baltic, Roman, Carolingian, Rhine delta, Dutch Merovingian, Scandinavia, British Isles, etc. Not once does she use the term Frisia or Frisian, nor Friesland for that matter. Still, the article is really, really discussing early-medieval Dorestat and its wider region.
In a second contribution ‘Mixed Emotions. The Swords of Dorestad’, again author Willemsen doesn't drop the word Frisia a single time. Willemsen does use, however, Low Countries, Carolingian, Vikings, territory of Dorestad, Frankish, United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Danish, early medieval Netherlands, Northern Netherlands, and Norsemen. Again, no single reference to Frisia, and again the article is really, really all about early-medieval Dorestat. The description 'Northern Netherlands' in this context, by the way, feels like talking about the politionele acties ‘police actions’ in the Dutch Indies and the colonial wars. Concealing language. What are you hiding Miss Willemsen? becomes the question.
In a third contribution 'A new gold ring from Dorestad?' written by authors Willemsen and Stuart, again no reference to Frisia, Frisians or Friesland. The closest thing is the reference to a golden ring found at Wieuwerd. If you would make the effort to put the book aside, unfold your laptop, and Google, Wieuwerd turns out to be a small village in the province of Friesland. Indeed, in former Frisia.
To make sure we weren't crazy, we checked the other contributions of the book edited by Willemsen and Kik. Scholars Broadley, Dijkstra, Dodt, Cooijmans, Coupland, Hall, IJssennagger-van der Pluijm, Kronz, Peek, and Simon, all use the terms Frisia, Frisian, or Friesland in their articles. Relevant and fair to mention, in the Dutch books "Gouden Middeleeuwen. Nederland in de Merovingische wereld 400-700 na Chr (2014)" and "Fibula's. Vondsten, vormen en mode (2017)" (co-) written by Willemsen, mention is made of Fries or Friesland.
Maybe the reason for Willemsen not to speak of Frisia and Frisians too much can be found in her book 'Gouden Middeleeuwen'. On page 12, the author explains that most Dutch researchers are careful these days to typify archaeological finds as ethnically belonging to a certain tribe. Albeit we're curious who "most researchers" are, of course, this must be done with caution indeed. No doubt about that. On the other hand, we hope her remark is not to be interpreted as the group identity and ethnicity as such didn't exist. On the contrary, belonging to a greater identity or group must have been key in the Early Middle Ages. Check for example the thorough study Rondom de mondingen van de Rijn & Maas 'around the river mouths of Rhine and Meuse' (Dijkstra 2011). And no, Dijkstra isn't a Frisian. But also check publications of Nicolay (2017, 2021, 2023) on material cultural expression of group identities in the Early Middle Ages.
Lastly, more in general, why is the etiquette ‘Merovingian’ used abundantly in the author's publications? Even to denote Frisia when Frisia was overall outside and free from Merovingian rule? With its own material (sea) culture. When all the five coastal provinces and much of the central river lands of what's now the Netherlands belonged to Frisia? Instead of the era of the Merovingians, just as well we could speak of the 隋代 'era of the Sui dynasty' when referring to Frisia during the fifth until the eight centuries. Merovingian is a southern orientation of southerners, whilst until during the Carolingian era the Frisians were culturally orientated to the north (Nicolay 2023). Better use the etiquette Vendel instead of Merovingian in the future.
It all somehow doesn't feel very inclusive.
Lex Heerma van Voss, et al (eds.), Nog meer wereldgeschiedenis van Nederland (2022)
The book Nog meer wereldgeschiedenis van Nederland ‘Even more world history of the Netherlands’ is a short chronicle in 700 pages covering 250,000 years of the country’s history. We understand, only 700 pages compels making tough and harsh choices. Let's look into some of these choices.
When discussing the Roman period, pages 56-74, the classic, Romantic but poor image of the Batavians surfaces yet again. As if we hear poet Jan Frederik Helmers (1767-1813) speak again from his grave. Getting tired already?
Moreover, this is done without acknowledging or mentioning for one moment that: (1) Frisians (the only people's tribe name that has survived two millennia) lived next to the Batavians, and the latter disappeared into thin air and are of no more relevance for the Netherlands heritage than, let's say, the well-known Bructeri; (2) according to recent research (i.e. Portable Antiquities of the Netherlands, PAN) Batavian auxiliary troops of the Roman army in Central Netherlands, in fact, for a large part consisted of Frisian tribesmen; (3) Frisian auxiliary troops were deployed in the Roman army, for example as imperial bodyguards or riders in Rome, and as cavalry units and legionnaires along Hadrian's Wall in Britannia and in Tunisia, and; (4) the Batavian revolt itself was launched by a combined Frisian and Chauci maritime force. They were even considered the bravest forces of the uprising.
And why pay attention to the Batavian revolt and not to the equally impressive Frisian revolt at Baduhenna a few decennia before?
So, a lot about Batavians and nothing about Frisians. As far as we know, and we had to pinch ourselves in the arm, Frisian history is part of the Netherlands history. See also our blog posts Frisian mercenaries in the Roman Army, Our civilization - It all began with piracy and Pagare il fio for a more complete, richer picture.
To underline our point: in the spring of 2023 a new comic book was published called De Romeinen 'the Romans'. The first volume (Deel 1) has as title (drumroll...) De Bataafse Opstand 'the Batavian uprise'. And so, the frame or meme lives on. By the way, publisher Marc de Lobie initially preferred the Battle at Baduhenna of the Frisians against the Romans, but both the foundation Erfgoed Gelderland 'heritage of the province of Gelderland' and the municipality of the town of Nijmegen preferred the Batavians above the Frisians. And, again, he that pays the piper calls the tune.
On page 87 of the book Nog meer wereldgeschiedenis van Nederland, admittedly, Frisians enter the scene for the very first time. This is in the year 716. Hence, seven centuries after the Romans and the Greek did start writing about Frisians. 716 is the year when King Radbod of Frisia defeated the Frankish ruler Charles Martel near Cologne in Germany. It's charmingly, close to patronizingly, described as "a sweet but short victory".
Unfortunately too, the author must make the totally out-of-the-blue remark he has no idea if the Frisians really considered themselves being Frisian, because the Frisians didn't have a literary culture yet. By doing so, or by downright speculating so, occasionally subverting Frisian history and identity, whilst contemporary Frankish and Anglo-Saxon sources did speak of Frisia and Frisians. The counter-question is justifiable: Is there any reason to think Frisians and their neighbours didn't regard themselves/them as being Frisian? And, please help us out. What again was the old age and meaning of the early-medieval town of Fresionowic, modern Vreeswijk, in the province of Utrecht, including the contemporary laws of the central river lands which considered Frisians (and Saxons) a foreign people (Van der Tuuk 2020)? And why was not the same remark placed when talking about the apparently darling Batavians of Netherlands' history? Perhaps the author was inspired by philologist Tineke Looijenga (2003) 'scholarly' remark; see note 2 below.
Editor and critical reviewer Heerma van Voss is also author of Michael Pye’s Edge of the World. Een succesvolle, maar mislukte geschiedenis van de Noordzee ('Michael Pye's Edge of the World. A successful but wrong history of the North Sea'), written in 2016. So, with this blog post Heerma van Voss is in good company. Pey's book, by the way, gives Frisians a prominent place in the common history of Northwest Europe. Perhaps Heerma van Voss' irritation zone.
Note 1 - There's one recent publication where the don't-mention-the-war fear we saw earlier, is visible again. It's the book titled Grensverkenningen. Langs oude grenzen in Nederland 'border explorations. Along old borders in the Netherlands' (2022), written by Kester Freriks and Martijn Storms. In the essay In Katwijk aan Zee op zoek naar een verdronken Romeinse ruïne 'in Katwijk aan Zee looking for a drowned Roman ruin', the authors write that, around the year AD 250 the Romans gave up their efforts to control the area north of the River Rhine. Reason for it was because of the attacks of the "Germanic people of the north" became increasingly fierce. There was, however, in the Netherlands only one tribe living north of the River Rhine attacking the Romans: the Frisians. Why, dear sirs, not using the more concise 'Frisians or Frisii' instead of 'Germanic people'?
By the way, the Romans did not give up control over Central Netherlands in AD 250. They remained in control for more than two centuries afterwards (Looijenga 2023).
Note 2 - The book De grote wilde vaart. Wereldhavens en globalisering 'the great deep sea shipping. World harbours and globalization' (2024), written by Aafke Steenhuis and Jan Joost Teunissen, gives a brief overview of maritime trading centers in history. Let's quote the authors after the discussed Rome, Byzantium and the Arabic trade:
"In the meantime, Northern Europe was also emerging as a trading area. Until the Middle Ages it was a backward corner of Europe, but between 800 and 1000 the Northern European Vikings became an important seafaring and trading people; they sailed to the Mediterranean, ruled southern Italy, settled in what is now Ukraine at the end of the ninth century, and also for a while in North America in 985. The Hanseatic League, a trading network of about two hundred Northern European ports, was active between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries; in a sense a precursor of the European Union."
Alas, no mention of the great emporium Dorestat and the Frisia that dominated the early-medieval trade in the North Sea region, southern Scandinavia, and the Upper River Rhine area. No, with a big leap from the Romans and Arabs to the darling Vikings. To be fair, in the chapter about the port of Hamburg, the authors do mention the Frisian sea trade of the Early Middle Ages.
Note 3 – Runologist Tineke Looijenga from the province of Groningen makes the following statement in her otherwise impressive book Texts and Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions (2003): “It seems that in the Early Middle Ages, Frisians were not as concerned with their cultural ‘Frisian’ identity as they are today.” Why make this completely redundant, and somewhat derogatory, remark in a scholarly publication? And why specifically concerning Frisians and not with other nationalities in the book? Why, moreover, placing the word Frisian between brackets in the first place?
She furthermore continues to downplay that much of what is called Frisian and Frisians actually is not Frisian per se. Frisian merchants could be anybody originating from any part of the Low Countries. Nothing Frisian about it, seems to be very-learned Looijenga's message. But the name Frisian does not just fall out of the sky and was randomly applied to people, coinage, cloth, seas, etc. we tend to think. Or were the Phoenicians actually not Phoenicians either, and could they be anyone from the Mediterranean? Are the Suryoyo not Suryoyo but Turks or Arabs? Please tell Mrs Looijenga because much in the world outside Frisia depends on it too.
As a runologist, Looijenga also is aware that different high-medieval runic inscriptions in Sweden and Norway speak of Frisians and Friesland.
Note 4 - This blog post was written on the day Bruno Latour died, the French philosopher who, together with sociologist Steve Woolgar, wrote 'Laboratory Life: The Social Construction of Scientific Facts (1979)'.
Note 5 - In our blog post How great was Great Pier? we illustrated that the way Frisian scholars view their national hero Pier Gerlofs Donia (1480-1520), better known as Grutte Pier 'Great Pier', is comparable to colouring a children colouring page. In October 2022, a movie was released produced by Steven de Jong. It got horrible reviews. Probably the quality of this movie would have inspired more fear than Great Pier himself if it had been released in the sixteenth century.
Suggested music
Metallica, Eye of the Beholder (1988)
The Black Eyed Peas, Don't Lie (2005)
Noga Erez (feat. Rousso), Views (2020)
Further reading
Berte, K. & Artz, T., De Romeinen. De Bataafse Opstand. Deel 1 (2023)
Dijkstra, M., Rondom de mondingen van de Rijn & Maas. Landschap en bewoning tussen de 3e en 9e eeuw in Zuid-Holland, in het bijzonder de Oude Rijnstreek (2011)
Freriks, K. & Storms, M., Grensverkenningen. Langs oude grenzen in Nederland (2022)
Heeren, S. & Willemsen, A., Fibula’s. Vondsten, vormen & mode (2017)
Heerma van Voss, L., Bouras, N, Hart, ‘t M., Heijden, van der M. & Lucassen, L. (eds.), Nog meer wereldgeschiedenis van Nederland (2022)
Looijenga, T., Frisian Runes Revisited and an Update on the Bergakker Runic Item (2023)
Looijenga, T., Texts and Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions (2003)
Nieuwenhuijsen, K., Robrecht de Fries. Graaf van Vlaanderen, held van Holland (2022)
Nieuwenhuijsen, K., Strijd om West-Frisia. De ontstaansgeschiedenis van het graafschap Holland: 900-1100 (2016)
Nicolay, J.A.W., Art, symbolism and the expression of group identities in early-medieval Frisia (2021)
Nicolay, J.A.W., Power and Identity in the Southern North Sea Area. The Migration and Merovinian Periods (2017)
Nicolay, J.A.W. & Van Eerden, R.A. (eds.), Noord-Holland in het 1e millennium; Versloot, A., Nieuwenhuijsen, K. & Eerden, van R.A., De relicten van de taal in Noord-Holland (3e-8e eeuw); Nicolay, J.A.W., Sieraden, gordels en wapens: het uitdrukken van culturele en religieuze relaties (3e-8e eeuw) (2023)
Nicolay, J.A.W. & Eerden, van R.A., Wodan’s mythical birds. Symbolic language on a small-long brooch of the Domburg type from Heiloo (prov. North-Holland/NL) (2021)
Pols, M., ‘Geen Asterix in Nederland? Dan maken we zelf maar een stripboek over de Romeinen in Nijmegen’ (2023)
Steenhuis, A. & Teunissen, J.J., De grote wilde vaart. Wereldhavens en globalisering (2024)
Tuuk, van der L., De middeleeuwers. Mannen en vrouwen uit de Lage Landen, 450-900 (2020)
Willemsen, A., Gouden middeleeuwen. Nederland in de Merovingische wereld 400-700 na Chr. (2014)
Willemsen, A. & Kik, H. (eds.), Dorestad and its networks. Communities, Contact and Conflict in Early Medieval Europe (2019)
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