Frisian Freedom

Origins

After the Carolingian counts lost effective control of the North Sea coast in the 11th and 12th centuries, the Frisian lands between the Vlie and the Weser governed themselves. Frisians claimed their liberty came from a privilege granted by Charlemagne, a legend that justified their refusal to accept feudal lords.

Rule and society

Each land or community chose its own judges, called redjeven or consuls, and delegates of the Seven Sealands met at the Upstalsboom near Aurich. Frisians built dykes and terps, raised cattle and traded by sea, and wrote down their own laws in Old Frisian. There were no knights or castles in the usual sense, but powerful chieftains, the hoofdelingen, rose in the 14th century.

Decline and legacy

Feuds between the Schieringers and Vetkopers weakened the Frisians in the 15th century. East Frisia came under the Cirksena counts in 1464, and in 1498 Emperor Maximilian made Albert of Saxony governor of Friesland, ending the freedom west of the Ems and creating the Lordship of Frisia.