other · France and the Low Countries

Lordship of Ameland

1424 CE – 1704 CE (approx.) · capital Hollum

A Wadden Sea island that remained a free lordship under the Cammingha family, neutral in the wars around it, until the Orange-Nassau family bought it.

Origins

Ameland lay outside the authority of the counts of Holland and the Frisian lands, and from the 15th century the Cammingha family, Frisian chieftains, ruled it as lords, a status the register dates to 1424. They defended its independence against the Habsburgs and later the Dutch provinces.

Rule and society

The island was small, with villages such as Hollum, Ballum and Nes, living from fishing, farming and later whaling, with many 17th-century whaling commanders. Its lords claimed neutrality, which let islanders trade during wars. Ameland accepted the Reformation and governed itself through local courts under the lord.

Decline and legacy

After the Cammingha line ended, the lordship was bought in 1704 for the Orange-Nassau family. It lost its separate status in the Batavian period and became part of Friesland in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

Lordship of AmelandDutch Republic 1581 CE – 1795 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Lordship of Ameland. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-ameland
MLA
“Lordship of Ameland.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-ameland. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Lordship of Ameland.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-ameland.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Lordship of Ameland’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-ameland (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻