Roots of Van Dort Series Part II

Did you know?

• The origin of the word “Dutch”. The English word “Dutch” is perhaps a bit strange, but it is derived from the old Dutch word “Duits” (or “Duyts(ch)”), which means something like “from the people”. In older times (until the nineteenth century) the Dutch spoke of “Nederduits(ch)” instead of “Nederlands(ch)”. Nowadays they use this adjective “Duits” (without “Neder”) only when they talk about their neighbours, the Germans (who call their own country “Deutschland”).
  

Confusing, isn’t it? Well, it’s also confusing for most of my countrymen. Our national anthem, the “Wilhelmus”, was written in 1570 as a sort of apology for prince William I the Silent, to explain the reasons for his rebellion against the king of Spain. This Wilhelmus begins with the words Wilhelmus van Nassaue - ben ik, van duytschen bloed [= William of Nassau - am I, of ‘duyts’ blood]. During the German occupation in World War II a lot of people in the Netherlands felt a bit awkward about singing these words, because they interpreted it as “I am of German blood”. However, they still kept singing it, because of its heroic content; it is the chant of the struggle for freedom, and the confidence in the Almighty.

• Holland means "Woodland" in old Dutch (Diets), but there are some theories that it is a Viking name. There is a region in Sweden that is called "Halland" and it's weapon shield looks very much like the weapon shield of Holland (with the lion on a shield). The Vikings often visited this part of Europe until the 10th century. Before that time Holland was called Frisia and it's inhabitants were Frisians. After the name changed many wars were fought by the Counts of Holland against a part that was still called West-Frisia.

• There is another theory about the name Holland. 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 Holiandi 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 fore-stum 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. (at that time the Island of Dordrecht did not exist yet, it arised after the St-Elisabeth flood in 1421, at present called The Island of Dordrecht).

A portion of the original Holland was submerged by a great inundation in 1421 and its modern appellation of The 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 low-lying-land (hol = hollow), a derivation which is equally applicable to the district in Lincolnshire (UK) which bears the same name.

It was The first not, however, till late in the 11th century that his successors adopted the style 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 Meuse (Maas).

The beginnings of the history of this feudal state, the later Holland, centre round the abbey of Egmont in whose archives records have been preserved.

From Dirk III henceforth the Frisian Counts became definitively known as Counts of Holland.
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 mans estate Dirk turned upon his enemies with courage and vigor. 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 (Merwede), hitherto subject to the see of Utrecht. In the midst of this marshy tract, at a point commanding the courses of the Meuse and the Waal, he built a castle (about 1015) and began to levy tolls.

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).

Around this castle (Huis te Merwede) sprang up the town of Thure-Foundadrecht also called Dortrecht or Dordrecht. The possession. of this stronghold Dordrecht. 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 emperor Henry II.

Emperor Henry II took the part of the complainants and commissioned Duke Godfrey of Lorraine to chastise the young Frisian Count. Duke Godfrey invaded Dirks 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).

Duke Godfrey himself was 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 of the the true starting-point of the history of the County of Holland.

Elsewhere, there is this account:

• Holland is only a small part of present The Netherlands consisting of North-Holland, South-Holland (now called "De Randstad") and Zeeland and was called "The Northern Lowlands. In the south Brabant, Limburg, Flanders and Luxemburg, called The Southern Lowlands (even parts of modern Germany belonged to this area at that time).

• The other provinces of modern Netherlands were added later in the 19th century after the France occupation (1795-1813) when Belgium became independent from The Northern-Lowlands, (1830). From than on the "whole" Country is named The Netherlands.

• In fact the 's' in Netherland, shows that this is a union. Holland gave up it's independence a long time ago (1572). So calling the Netherlands 'Holland', is like calling Great Britain 'Scotland' or 'Wales', or the USA 'District Colombia'.

• Modern Holland or The Netherlands is more then only wooden shoes and Windmills, Tulips, Cheese and boys with their finger in a Dike. Holland in the 21st century is not only famous because of their Flowers but also for the high-tech industries like Philips, Unilever, Akzo, Shell and other multinational companies. The Dutch are also an important investor in cities like New York (Manhattan) and other cities and Countries all over the world.

• Almost 50 % of the Netherland lies beneath sea level so the Dutch live whole their lives with water all around them and millions of people live beneath sea-level.  Dordrecht is a city surrounded with rivers.

• Is it called the Netherlands, Holland, the Low Countries or even Friesland? There is a lot confusion about the name of our country. Nowadays we call it “Koninkrijk der Nederlanden” (Kingdom of the Netherlands), shortened as “Nederland”. This kingdom consists of three countries:
  

1. “Nederland” [= the Netherlands, i.e. the part of the kingdom on mainland Europe];

2. “de Nederlandse Antillen” [= the Netherlands Antilles]; and

3. Aruba (until 1986 one of the Netherlands Antilles; in 1986 this isle off the coast of Venezuela gained a “status aparte”).

• The tenth century. In the tenth century, the complete coast of the Netherlands was called “Friesland” (in English, Frisia, but either term can be used). After that the name was reserved only for the northern coast. The western coast (sometimes called “West-Friesland” [= West Frisia]) became part of the County of Holland. “Holland” (the same in English and Dutch) is an adulteration of “Hout-Land”, which means in English “Wood-Land”, because there were a lot of trees in the area.

• The Middle Ages. In the early Middle Ages the country was an assemblage of counties, duchies and dioceses, all of which were a part of the German Empire (the Holy Roman Empire). The most important part of this area was the County of Holland. Little by little (mostly by marriage) the titles of the remaining regions came to be held by the dukes of Burgundy. So the dukes of Burgundy not only claimed that important title, but also that of Count of Holland, Duke of Brabant, etc. In 1477 duchess Mary of Burgundy married emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg. Because of this marriage the Dutch areas became a possession of the Habsburgs. The Habsburgs also held possessions in Austria, and most of the time the Habsburgs also reigned as emperor of the German Empire.
  

After emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg came his son Philip, who married infanta Juana de Castilla, heir to the throne of Spain. Their son Charles [= emperor Charles V of Germany] was the next ruler. He gave in 1556 his Austrian possessions and the title of emperor to his brother, and in 1555 his possessions Spain and the Netherlands to his son Philip [= king Philip II of Spain].

The name of this group of areas was now “de Nederlanden”, which could be translated as “the Netherlands” or “the Low Countries” (the Dutch word “neder” (or simply “neer”) means “down”, and “landen” is the plural of “land”, which in English is more or less the same word). So “the Netherlands” and “the Low Countries” mean exactly the same thing.

Originally, “the Netherlands” was a name for Germany and the Netherlands combined (as they were under the Frankish Carolingian Empire), and the westerly region (the modern Netherlands) was called “the Netherlands at the sea”. Gradually “the Netherlands” came to indicate only the western region, so the words “at the sea” were eventually dropped.

• The schism. It is important to know that until 1579 the name “Netherlands” included also the territory which is nowadays known as Belgium. On 6th January 1579 these southern regions of the Netherlands signed the “Unie van Atrecht” [= the Union of Atrecht], in which they declared that they were prepared to be loyal to the Roman Catholic king Philip II of Spain. In reply, on 23rd January 1579 the seven northern areas signed the “Unie van Utrecht” [= the Union of Utrecht], in which they declared that they were not able to comply to the orders of this Roman Catholic lord. This created a schism, splitting the Netherlands into northern and southern sections (nowadays known as the Netherlands and Belgium).
  

• The independence. The Netherlands finally gained independence from the Habsburgs in 1581. In this year the Northern Netherlands deposed their nominal master, king Philip II of Spain (who was not king of the Netherlands, but only “lord”). The country was renamed “de Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden” [= the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands]; the words “Zeven” and “Verenigde” were not always used, so there are also shorter versions of this name. In fact, the word “republic” was a bit a misleading word, because most of the time there was a Prince of Orange ruling the country as stadhouder (royal “head of state”), king in all but name. Sometimes our country was also called “de Zeven Provinciën” [= the Seven Provinces].
  

• The French time. In 1795 the revolutionary French Republic invaded the Netherlands. The old Republic was reformed on French model by its new masters and was named “Bataafs(ch)e Republiek” [= Batavian Republic], because the tribe of the Batavians were believed to be the ancestors of the Dutch people. (The last stadhouder, prince William V, called himself “Willem Batavus” [= William the Batavian].)
  

From 1806 until 1810, the Netherlands was ruled as a kingdom, with Napoleon’s well-meaning brother Louis Napoleon (in Dutch: Lodewijk Napoleon) as king. It was called “Koningrijk Holland” [= Kingdom Holland]. This was a misleading name, because Holland was only one of the seven provinces (there were six other provinces, but apparently they were not important).

From 1810 until 1813, the country was part of the French Empire, ruled directly by emperor Napoleon I. Once Napoleon had lost control of Germany, the British sent a small expeditionary force to aid the Dutch, the French were rapidly forced out.

• The modern time. From 1813 until 1815, the country (then called “de Verenigde Nederlanden” [= the United Netherlands]) was ruled by prince William I, son of the last stadhouder prince William V.
  

In 1815, the Congress of Vienna decided that the Southern Netherlands would be rejoined to the country (if only to take it out of French control), and that prince William I would be elevated to the status of king now that his territory had been almost doubled. The country was then called “Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden” [= United Kingdom of the Netherlands].

In 1830, the Southern Netherlands revolted against king William I, and in 1831 they proclaimed their independence and called their new country Belgium (in Dutch: “België”, in French: “Belgique”). This independence was recognized by the Dutch government in 1839. So from 1839, the country was officially not “Verenigd” [= United] any more, and was simply called “Koninkrijk der Nederlanden” [= Kingdom of the Netherlands]. Most people probably didn’t notice the change of name, because already in the period 1815-1839 the word “Verenigd” was often omitted.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands remains to the present day.

E & OE