other · France and the Low Countries
Lordship of Frisia
Origins
In 1498 Emperor Maximilian named Albert of Saxony hereditary governor of Friesland, ending the Frisian Freedom west of the Ems. Saxon troops imposed their rule with difficulty against Frisian resistance and the city of Groningen.
Rule and society
Saxon government brought new courts, including the Hof van Friesland founded in 1499, and taxes, resented by many Frisians. Charles of Egmond of Guelders encouraged revolt, and the rebel leader Grutte Pier raided the coasts in the 1510s. George of Saxony sold his rights to the future Charles V in 1515, and from 1524 Habsburg stadtholders ruled from Leeuwarden.
Decline and legacy
Friesland joined the Revolt against Philip II, signed the Union of Utrecht in 1580, and after the Act of Abjuration of 1581 became a province of the Dutch Republic, with its own stadtholders from the Nassau family.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Lordship of Frisia was part of Habsburg Netherlands1524 CE – 1556 CE
- Lordship of Frisia was part of Spanish Netherlands1556 CE – 1581 CE
More states of France and the Low Countries →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Lordship of Frisia. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-frisia
- MLA
- “Lordship of Frisia.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-frisia. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Lordship of Frisia.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-frisia.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Lordship of Frisia’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-frisia (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻