Holy Roman Empire: Holland

HOLLAND

Rulers of Holland

GERULFING

Gerulf I

fl. 833-856

"A certain Gerulf, mentioned in a charter from 889, is generally considered to have been the ancestor of the counts of Holland. He probably was a descendant of the legendary Frisian king Radbod. Gerulf exercised comital (ducal) authority in the northern part of what later became the county of Holland...." (Jeep. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia: 367)

Gerulf II

fl. 885-889

Dirk I
fl. 921-928

"...Dirk I, mentioned in charters from 921 until 928o, possessed comital rights in the Carolingian counties of Tesselgouw and Kenemerland in the north and probably also in the region on both sides of the Old Rhione and in Masaland...." (Jeep. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia: 367)

"...Nothing is further known of Theodore (Dirk I), than that he built a church of wood at Egmond, dedicated to St. Adelbert and founded there a convent of nuns. The time of his death is uncertain, but it is generally supposed to have occurred in 923." (Davies, p. 23)

Dirk I (apparently different from above)...fl. 928-939

Dirk II (c.930-988)

c939?-988

"...He had by his wife, Hildegarde, two sons, of who...the elder, Arnold (Arnulf), married Leuitgarde, sister of Theofana (Theophanu), the wife of Otto II, emperor of Germany. The Empress Theofana, after the death of her husband (983), and during the minority of her son, Otho III, enjoyed a large share in the administration of the empire; and her alliance with the family of the Count of Holland, induced her to use her influence over the mind of the young emperor, to obtain for Theodore a grant of all those states as an hereditary fief which he had hitherto enjoyed in usufruct only... By this grant the hereditary succession to the county was placed on a secure and permanent footing, and from it, perhaps, might more properly be dated the commencement of its (Holland) existence as a separate and independent state...." (Davies, pp. 23-24)

Arnulf of Ghent

Arnold of West-Friesland

(c.955-993)

988-993

"...Arnold's (Arnulf) short reign of five years was spent in continual warfare with his rebellious subjects of West Friesland, by whom he was slain in a battle bought near the village of Winkel...." (Davies, p. 25)

Dirk III

the Jerusalem-Farer

(c985-1039)

993-1039

"...Theodore (Dirk) III succeeded his father when only twelve years of age, the government being administered during his minority by his mother Luitgarde... The reign of Theodore was continually disturbed by hostilities with Athelbald, bishop of Utrecht... Theodore concluded his long reign of thirty-four years, by a pilgrimage to the Holy Land; he died soon after his return...leaving behind him a high reputation for valour and ability...." (Davies, pp. 25-30

Dirk IV

1039-1049

"...Count Theodore (Dirk), at the head of a not very numerous force...while passing through a narrow street...received a wound from a poisoned arrow, shot by an unknown hand, and died within three days in January 1049...Theodore died unmarried and was succeeded by his brother. (Davies, p. 32)

Floris I

(1017-1061)

Count of Holland, 1049-1061

"...The reign of this prince...was rendered turbulent and unhappy by the restless jealousy and enmity of the Bishop of Utrecht... [I]n a second invasion by the Archbishop of Cologne, the Margrave of Brandenburg, and the Lord of Cuyck...he dedeated and put (them) to flight in an obstinate and murderous battle, fought near the village of lower Hemert. Wearied with the combat, Count Florence (Floris) fell asleep under a tree, not far from the scene of action, when the Lord of Cuyck, having reassembled his scattered soldiers, returned, and surprising him thus defenceless, put him to death with a great number of his followers...." (Davies, pp.32-33)

Dirk V

(1052-1091)

Count of Holland, 1061-1091
[Bishop of Utrecht, 1070-1076 drove him and his mother from Holland.]

"...Theodore (Dirk) V, being a child of tender years at the time of his father's death, was placed under the guardianship of his mother, Gertrude of Saxony. She had conducted the administration scarcely two years when she contracted a second marriage with Robert, the younger son of Baldwin V of Flanders (surnamed from this alliance the Frisian), and in conjunction with the nobles, conferred on him the government of the county during the minority of her son.

Gertrud of Saxony

Regent of Holland, 1061-1070

"When Floris I died in 1061, the emperor seized the opportunity to rid himself of these rebellious counts and granted their territories to the bishop of Utrecht. Floris' wife Geertruid, who remarried to Robrecht of Flanders (called 'the Frisian'), initially was able to maintain her position as countess, but in 1070 she and her son Dirk V were driven from power by the bishop. In 1076 Dirk V came back with the help of his stepfather, Robrecht the Frisian, and re-conquered his territories, with the exception of the northern part, which would later be called Western Frisia. . . ." (Jeep. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia: 368)

Robert of Flanders

(1035-1093)

Count (Regent) of Holland

1061-1071

Godfrey V of Lower Lorraine

Count of Holland, 1071-1076

"...It was during these transactions in Flanders, that William, bishop of Utrecht, having gained Godfrey, duke of Lorraine, to his alliance, by promising him the government of Holland, as a fief of the bishopric, gave him the command of the united forces of Utrecht and Lorraine, joined to some bands of mercenaries from the neighbouring states. Godfrey, although small and deformed in person, was a leader of undoubted skill, brave, sagacious, and eloquent, and the expedition under his conduct was entirely successful.

Floris II
the Fat

Count of Holland, 1091-1121

"...Floris II...received the county of Holland as a fief from the Utrecth bishop. In 1101 he became the first count to be called comes de Hollant.

Dirk VI
(1114-1157)

Count of Holland, 1121-1157

Petronilla of Lorraine
a.k.a. Gertrud of Lorraine
Regent of Holland, 1121

"When Floris II died young in 1121, his son Dirk VI was still a child. Floris's wife, Countess Petronilla, emerged as a strong ruler who defended her son's interests very well. In 1127, after the murder of Charles the Good, she intervened in Flanders, trying to obtain the Flemish county for her son. In this she did not succeed, but a year later she managed to obtain a part of Zeeland---Walcheren and the Bevelanden---as a fief from the count of Flanders. . . ." (Jeep. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia: 368)

Floris III

Count of Holland, 1157-1190

"...Floris III was present at Legnano in 1176 and also took part in the Crusade of 1190. He died in Antioch, a few weeks after the emperor." (Jeep. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia: 368)

Dirk VII
(1160-1203)
1190-1203

Ada of Holland
(1188-1223)

1203-1207

Lodewijk II of Loon
1203-1207

"...After Dirk's death in 1203, the country endured a severe crisis as both William and Lodewijk of Loon, who had married Dirk's daughter Ada, claimed to be his rightful successor. Each of the two pretenders to the throne succeed in rallying a number of influential adherents. After a few years, however, William managed to win the whole country over to his side." (Jeep. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia: 368)

Willem I

1203-1222

Floris IV

Count of Holland, 1222-1234

Willem II

1234-1256

"...After the death of Floris IV at a tournament in Corbie in 1234, the regency was occupied by, respectively, Floris' brothers William and Otto, the bishop-elect of Utrecht, but from circa 1240, Machteld of Brabant came into prominence once more. She and her son William II maintained close connections with their Brabant relatives, especially Henry II, which turned out to be an important factor in William's election as Roman king in 1247...." (Jeep. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia: 36)

"...In 1256 William led an army to West Frisia in an attempt to subjugate the Frisians. When his horse fell through the ice, William was killed by the Frisians, who, unfortunately did not recognize their king." (Jeep. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia: 369)

Floris V
the Peasant's God

1256-1296

Aleid of Holland
(c1234-1284)
Regent of Holland

Jan I
1296-1299

Avesnes Counts of Hainaut, 1299-1433

Jan II of Avesnes
(1250-1304)

1299-1304

Willem III
the Good

1304-1337

Willem IV
the Bold
Count of Holland, 1337-1345

"...William IV (1337-1445), a chivalric character and an enthusiastic Crusader, organized a full-scale and expensive attack on Frisia in 1345. It was a total disaster, and the count was killed along with a great part of his noble army. As William had no legitimate children, the emperor then enfeoffed his wife Margaret with comital power in Holland and Zeeland. (Jeep. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia: 370)

Marguerite I

1345-1354

"Margaret's reign witnessed the rise of conflicting interests, polarizing in parties which later would become known as Hoeken and Kabeljauwen. The Kabeljauwen kidnapped Margaret's son William from Hainaut and declared him the rightful count. Margaret and the Hoeken were then defeated in a brief civil war, and William managed to restore full authority...." (Jeep. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia: 370)

Emperor Ludwig IV
the Bavarian

1345-1347

Willem V

(1330-1389)
Count of Holland, 1354-1388 (Abd.)

"...In 1358 William either went insane or was seized with a cerebral henorrhage. Since he could no longer govern his counties, he retired to a castle in Hainaut, and his brother Albert took power." (Jeep. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia: 370)