DUTCH HISTORY FOR
DUMMIES
Chapter 1 – from small to important
Before and during the Romans
Earliest humans a quarter of a million years ago, we found a boat from them,
but they left again.
Funnel-Beaker culture (made pots)
Germanic languages were introduced by the celts, before the Romans invaded
o Celts had made hills called Wierden or Terpen to escape the waters
Romans were mad at some people, but could not cross the Rhine because they
were defeated at Teutoburg Forest 9 AD, Frisians slaughtered some more 28 AD
Leaders of Batavians Julius Civilis and bro Paulus accused of treason, followed
by a war, negotiated peace forced upon them and Batavians could fight for the
Romans again
The Limes (fancy word for frontiers) enabled a stable government, and it was
quiet and boring
Areas further north still significant to the Romans… trading and money and
transport
Pax Romana was good for the culture and religion, local people started to
resemble Roman customs as well.
Economic decline, climate more bad and Limes breached Living situation so
bad people just sort of left again
Merovingian and Carolingian Periods
Slowly new groups of people, hardly organized but at least not hostile
Weather became better and started to cultivate coastal regions
Dorestad was the leading trading centre of the region, with rows of wooden
piers
7th century meant new conflict over political control Merovingians won,
converted to Catholicism
o Steps to Christianize the area and several bishoprics
Major of the palace Pepin of Herstal defeated a Frisian king Radbod at Dorestad
in 690, taking that and Utrecht
English Missionary Willibrord used Utrecht as his base, but had no control over
Frisia
Pepin died, political chaos followed, Willibrord left Utrecht, but offensive under
Charles Martel made Frisia join the Frankish circle
, In 754, Boniface was killed by a hostile crowd near Dokkum, the Franks killed to
avenge
In 751, Pepin the Short deposed the last of the Merovingian kings, marking
advent of Carolingian dynasty, territorial expansion, eventually Charlemagne
went to defeat some Saxons
Development of great aristocratic estates at the expense of poorer farmer-
freedmen did not occur
o Like most things in this time it seems the Dutch just did not care that
much
Charlemagne appointed pagi, hereditary counts, to oversee his counties
Treaty of Verdun in 830 made most of the Netherlands part of the Middle
Frankish kingdom under Lothair, who died in 855 and then divided further under
Lothair II
o Attacks from Vikings made this period not so nice
o Also a big flood and rivers Dorestad less usable
Eventually the Vikings were baptised and became nicer
Part of the Holy Roman Empire for a while sort of, but chronic instability
New states, new lands, new cities
Serfdom, hierarchy, villages, nobility all happened. Everyone cared most about
their own family
Title of bishop elevated to that of prince, given territory when appointed
Big churches and bishops used for familial interests
Around 1100 the land of the cunts were referred to as “holland” but not
important
Flanders made a contending power by Baldwin II around 900, did not care about
us
Climate became warmer again, but almost no usable land so who cares, let’s
get some sheep
Construction of dikes and polders (the field in between the dikes)
The land started to sink again later on, but we kept trying
Most important cities still those from Roman times, and creation of bricks and
religious houses
Mostly urbanization because the south did it first
Prosperous Thirteenth Century
Feudal structures were breaking down as cities were rising
“Frisian Freedom” being free from the rule of foreign potentates
o Found protection by living somewhere no one else wanted to
Fragmented political culture made it difficult for the zijlen (the water boards) to
do anything big about the water further south they could cooperate better
City rights and rights to own representation manifested in the office of the
aldermen
Guilds made impact later on
, Flanders had 3 big cities, we had a bunch of small cities
Diffusion of power had consequences for the greater lords, who had less power
(battle of Ane where Otto von Lippe got destroyed by the people)
Guelders also became a force of note, Brabant more note-worthy still
Count Floris V of Holland attacked the Frisians because they had killed his dad.
Took advantage of the bishop because he was poor (the bishop, not the count)
Blossoming of religious life (failed fifth crusade led by Count Willem I of Holland
in 1217)
Lending money at interest (usury) officially forbidden but Flanders did it
anyways and got rich
Creation of new waterways to improve the international trading network
Fourteenth-Century Crisis
Economic stagnation in Flanders and loss of farmland to the waters
Growing political instability with the Hundred Years’ War and popular revolts
Guild became more important because they wanted to defend their own
interests
A lot of rain so disease and pricier grain
Plagues were bad because people died
o But facilitated social and economic development
City’s in Flanders were competing with each other for power and also with the
duke, duke needed to recognize the rights of key cities in the “joyous entry”
Religion relatively less important, people taking over regions from each other
Crisis in 1345 when Willem’s son Willem was killed when he tried to take Frisia.
This made his sister (Hooks) and son (Cods) fight each other
Rise of the Burgundian dynasty brought more integration into wider Europe
More economically important and starting to export cheese, because increasing
expanding European economy more markets
Chapter 2 – rise of Northern Netherlands
Rise and Fall of the Burgundians
They were all married to each other which made them able to get more power
Enduring rivalry Hooks and Cods was unstable, needed to make sure not to get
killed by them
Willem had a strong position, defeated his mortal enemy, but fell off his horse
and died
o His daughter then poisoned her uncle
o Philip, duke of Burgundy, wanted to delegitimize Jacoba
o Resolved in the Kiss of Delft (kiss as reconciliation)
Jacoba kept her titles but designated Philip as regent and heir
Philip then made peace with France
The plague was kicking our ass because everything was not going well
But Brabant figured out that they could dropship English linens so yay
DUMMIES
Chapter 1 – from small to important
Before and during the Romans
Earliest humans a quarter of a million years ago, we found a boat from them,
but they left again.
Funnel-Beaker culture (made pots)
Germanic languages were introduced by the celts, before the Romans invaded
o Celts had made hills called Wierden or Terpen to escape the waters
Romans were mad at some people, but could not cross the Rhine because they
were defeated at Teutoburg Forest 9 AD, Frisians slaughtered some more 28 AD
Leaders of Batavians Julius Civilis and bro Paulus accused of treason, followed
by a war, negotiated peace forced upon them and Batavians could fight for the
Romans again
The Limes (fancy word for frontiers) enabled a stable government, and it was
quiet and boring
Areas further north still significant to the Romans… trading and money and
transport
Pax Romana was good for the culture and religion, local people started to
resemble Roman customs as well.
Economic decline, climate more bad and Limes breached Living situation so
bad people just sort of left again
Merovingian and Carolingian Periods
Slowly new groups of people, hardly organized but at least not hostile
Weather became better and started to cultivate coastal regions
Dorestad was the leading trading centre of the region, with rows of wooden
piers
7th century meant new conflict over political control Merovingians won,
converted to Catholicism
o Steps to Christianize the area and several bishoprics
Major of the palace Pepin of Herstal defeated a Frisian king Radbod at Dorestad
in 690, taking that and Utrecht
English Missionary Willibrord used Utrecht as his base, but had no control over
Frisia
Pepin died, political chaos followed, Willibrord left Utrecht, but offensive under
Charles Martel made Frisia join the Frankish circle
, In 754, Boniface was killed by a hostile crowd near Dokkum, the Franks killed to
avenge
In 751, Pepin the Short deposed the last of the Merovingian kings, marking
advent of Carolingian dynasty, territorial expansion, eventually Charlemagne
went to defeat some Saxons
Development of great aristocratic estates at the expense of poorer farmer-
freedmen did not occur
o Like most things in this time it seems the Dutch just did not care that
much
Charlemagne appointed pagi, hereditary counts, to oversee his counties
Treaty of Verdun in 830 made most of the Netherlands part of the Middle
Frankish kingdom under Lothair, who died in 855 and then divided further under
Lothair II
o Attacks from Vikings made this period not so nice
o Also a big flood and rivers Dorestad less usable
Eventually the Vikings were baptised and became nicer
Part of the Holy Roman Empire for a while sort of, but chronic instability
New states, new lands, new cities
Serfdom, hierarchy, villages, nobility all happened. Everyone cared most about
their own family
Title of bishop elevated to that of prince, given territory when appointed
Big churches and bishops used for familial interests
Around 1100 the land of the cunts were referred to as “holland” but not
important
Flanders made a contending power by Baldwin II around 900, did not care about
us
Climate became warmer again, but almost no usable land so who cares, let’s
get some sheep
Construction of dikes and polders (the field in between the dikes)
The land started to sink again later on, but we kept trying
Most important cities still those from Roman times, and creation of bricks and
religious houses
Mostly urbanization because the south did it first
Prosperous Thirteenth Century
Feudal structures were breaking down as cities were rising
“Frisian Freedom” being free from the rule of foreign potentates
o Found protection by living somewhere no one else wanted to
Fragmented political culture made it difficult for the zijlen (the water boards) to
do anything big about the water further south they could cooperate better
City rights and rights to own representation manifested in the office of the
aldermen
Guilds made impact later on
, Flanders had 3 big cities, we had a bunch of small cities
Diffusion of power had consequences for the greater lords, who had less power
(battle of Ane where Otto von Lippe got destroyed by the people)
Guelders also became a force of note, Brabant more note-worthy still
Count Floris V of Holland attacked the Frisians because they had killed his dad.
Took advantage of the bishop because he was poor (the bishop, not the count)
Blossoming of religious life (failed fifth crusade led by Count Willem I of Holland
in 1217)
Lending money at interest (usury) officially forbidden but Flanders did it
anyways and got rich
Creation of new waterways to improve the international trading network
Fourteenth-Century Crisis
Economic stagnation in Flanders and loss of farmland to the waters
Growing political instability with the Hundred Years’ War and popular revolts
Guild became more important because they wanted to defend their own
interests
A lot of rain so disease and pricier grain
Plagues were bad because people died
o But facilitated social and economic development
City’s in Flanders were competing with each other for power and also with the
duke, duke needed to recognize the rights of key cities in the “joyous entry”
Religion relatively less important, people taking over regions from each other
Crisis in 1345 when Willem’s son Willem was killed when he tried to take Frisia.
This made his sister (Hooks) and son (Cods) fight each other
Rise of the Burgundian dynasty brought more integration into wider Europe
More economically important and starting to export cheese, because increasing
expanding European economy more markets
Chapter 2 – rise of Northern Netherlands
Rise and Fall of the Burgundians
They were all married to each other which made them able to get more power
Enduring rivalry Hooks and Cods was unstable, needed to make sure not to get
killed by them
Willem had a strong position, defeated his mortal enemy, but fell off his horse
and died
o His daughter then poisoned her uncle
o Philip, duke of Burgundy, wanted to delegitimize Jacoba
o Resolved in the Kiss of Delft (kiss as reconciliation)
Jacoba kept her titles but designated Philip as regent and heir
Philip then made peace with France
The plague was kicking our ass because everything was not going well
But Brabant figured out that they could dropship English linens so yay
