istory
Prehistory (before 500 BC)
The Netherlands in 5500 BC
The Netherlands in 500 BC
The prehistory of the area that is now the Netherlands was largely
shaped by the sea and the rivers that constantly shifted the low-lying
geography. The oldest human (
Neanderthal) traces in the Netherlands were found in higher soils, near
Maastricht, from what is believed to be about 250,000 years ago. After the end of the Ice Age, various
Paleolithic groups inhabited the area, and around 8000 BC
Mesolithic tribes resided in Friesland and Drenthe, where the
oldest canoe in the world was recovered.
[28] Autochthonous
hunter-gatherers from the
Swifterbant culture are attested from around 5600 BC onwards.
[29] They are strongly linked to rivers and open water and were related to the southern Scandinavian
Ertebølle culture (5300–4000 BC). To the west, the same tribes might have built hunting camps to hunt winter game. People made the switch to
animal husbandry sometime between 4800 BC and 4500 BC. Agricultural transformation took place very gradually, between 4300 BC and 4000 BC.
[30] The farming
Funnelbeaker culture extended from Denmark through northern Germany into the northern Netherlands, and erected the
dolmens, large stone grave monuments found in
Drenthe (built between 4100 BC and 3200 BC). To the southwest, the
Vlaardingen culture (around 2600 BC), an apparently more primitive culture of hunter-gatherers survived well into the
Neolithic period. Around 2950 BC there was a quick and smooth transition from the
Funnelbeaker farming culture to the pan-European
Corded Ware pastoralist culture.
[31] The
Bell Beaker culture, also present in the Netherlands, apparently rose out of the Corded Ware culture.
[32][33]
Discoveries of copper artifacts imply trade with other parts of Europe, as the metal is not normally found in Dutch soil. The
Bronze Age probably started somewhere around 2000 BC and lasted until around 800 BC. The many finds in
Drenthe of rare and valuable objects, suggest that it was a trading centre in the Bronze Age. The
Bell Beaker cultures
(2700–2100 BC) locally developed into the Bronze Age Barbed-Wire Beaker
culture (2100–1800 BC). In the second millennium BC, the region was the
boundary between the
Atlantic and
Nordic horizons, roughly divided by the course of the
Rhine. In the north, the
Elp culture (c. 1800 BC to 800 BC)
[34] was a
Bronze Age archaeological culture having
earthenware pottery of low quality as a marker. The initial phase was characterised by
tumuli
(1800–1200 BC) that were strongly tied to contemporary tumuli in
northern Germany and Scandinavia, and were apparently related to the
Tumulus culture (1600–1200 BC) in central Europe. This phase was followed by a subsequent change featuring
Urnfield (
cremation) burial customs (1200–800 BC). The southern region became dominated by the
Hilversum culture (1800–800 BC), which apparently inherited cultural ties with Britain of the previous Barbed-Wire Beaker culture.
The
Iron Age brought a measure of prosperity. Iron ore was available throughout the country, including
bog iron extracted from the
ore in
peat bogs in the north, the natural iron-bearing balls found in the
Veluwe and the red iron ore near the rivers in Brabant.
Smiths travelled from small settlement to settlement with
bronze and iron, fabricating tools on demand, including
axes,
knives,
pins,
arrowheads and
swords. Some evidence even suggests the making of
Damascus steel swords using an advanced method of
forging that combined the flexibility of iron with the strength of steel. The
King's grave of Oss
dating from around 500 BC was found in a burial mound, the largest of
its kind in western Europe and containing an iron sword with an inlay of
gold and coral.
Germanic groups and Romans (500 BC – 410 AD)
Germanic dialects around 1 AD
Diachronic distribution of Celtic peoples from 500 BC
expansion into the southern Low Countries by 270 BC
The deteriorating climate in Scandinavia around 850 BC, that further
deteriorated around 650 BC, might have triggered migration of
Germanic
tribes from the North. By the time this migration was complete, around
250 BC, a few general cultural and linguistic groups had emerged.
[35][36] The
North Sea Germanic Ingvaeones inhabited the northern part of the
Low Countries. They would later develop into the
Frisii and the early
Saxons.
[36] A second grouping, the
Weser-Rhine Germanic (or
Istvaeones), extended along the middle Rhine and
Weser
and inhabited the Low Countries south of the great rivers. This group
consisted of tribes that would eventually develop into the
Salian Franks.
[36] Also the
Celtic La Tène culture (c. 450 BC up to the Roman conquest) had expanded over a wide range, including the southern area of the
Low Countries.
Some scholars have speculated that even a third ethnic identity and
language, neither Germanic nor Celtic, survived in the Netherlands until
the Roman period, the Iron Age
Nordwestblock culture,
[37][38] that eventually was being absorbed by the
Celts to the south and the Germanic peoples from the east.
Rhine Frontier of around 70 AD
During the
Gallic Wars, the area south of the
Oude Rijn and west of the
Rhine was conquered by
Roman forces under
Julius Caesar from 57 BC to 53 BC.
[38] Caesar describes two main tribes living in what is now the southern Netherlands: the
Menapii and the
Eburones. The Rhine became fixed as Rome's northern frontier around 12 AD. Notable towns would arise along the
Limes Germanicus:
Nijmegen and
Voorburg. At first part of
Gallia Belgica, the area south of the Limes became part of the
Roman province of
Germania Inferior.
The area to the north of the Rhine, inhabited by the Frisii, remained
outside Roman rule (but not its presence and control), while the border
tribes
Batavi and
Cananefates served in the
Roman cavalry.
[39] The Batavi rose against the Romans in the
Batavian rebellion of 69AD, but were eventually defeated. The Batavi later merged with other tribes into the confederation of the
Salian Franks, whose identity emerged at the first half of the third century.
[40] Salian Franks appear in Roman texts as both allies and enemies. The Salian Franks were forced by the confederation of the
Saxons
from the east to move over the Rhine into Roman territory in the fourth
century. From their new base in West Flanders and the Southwest
Netherlands, they were raiding the
English Channel. Roman forces pacified the region, but did not expel the Franks, who continued to be feared at least until the time of
Julian the Apostate (358), when Salian Franks were allowed to settle as
foederati in
Toxandria.
[40] After deteriorating climate conditions and the Romans withdrawal, the
Frisii disappeared from the northern Netherlands, probably forced to resettle within Roman territory as
laeti in c. 296. Coastal lands remained largely unpopulated for the next two centuries.
[41]
Early Middle Ages (411–1000)
Franks, Frisians and Saxons (c. 716 AD)
After
Roman government in the area collapsed, the Franks expanded their territories in numerous kingdoms. By the 490s,
Clovis I had conquered and united all these territories in the southern Netherlands in one
Frankish kingdom, and from there continued his conquests into
Gaul. During this expansion, Franks migrating to the south eventually adopted the
Vulgar Latin of the local population.
[36]
A widening cultural divide grew with the Franks remaining in their
original homeland in the north (i.e. southern Netherlands and Flanders),
who kept on speaking
Old Frankish, which by the ninth century had evolved into
Old Low Franconian or
Old Dutch.
[36] A Dutch-French language boundary came into existence.
[36][42]
Frankish expansion (481 to 870 AD)
To the north of the Franks, climatic conditions on the coast improved, and during the
Migration Period the abandoned land was resettled again, mostly by
Saxons, but also by the closely related
Angles,
Jutes and ancient
Frisii.
[43] Many moved on to
England and came to be known as
Anglo-Saxons, but those who stayed would be referred to as
Frisians and their language as
Frisian, named after the land that was once inhabited by Frisii.
[43]
Frisian was spoken along the entire southern North Sea coast, and it is
still the language most closely related to English among the living
languages of continental Europe. By the seventh century a
Frisian Kingdom (650–734) under King
Aldegisel and King
Redbad emerged with
Utrecht as its centre of power,
[43][44] while
Dorestad was a flourishing trading place.
[45][46] Between 600 and around 719 the cities were often fought over between the Frisians and the Franks. In 734, at the
Battle of the Boarn, the Frisians were defeated after a
series of wars. With the approval of the Franks, the
Anglo-Saxon missionary
Willibrord converted the Frisian people to
Christianity. He established the
Archdiocese of Utrecht and became bishop of the Frisians. However, his successor Boniface was murdered by the Frisians in
Dokkum, in 754.
Geography of the Netherlands c. 800AD
The Frankish
Carolingian empire
modeled itself after the Roman Empire and controlled much of Western
Europe. However, as of 843, it was divided into three parts—
East,
Middle, and
West Francia. Most of present-day Netherlands became part of
Middle Francia,
which was a weak kingdom and subject of numerous partitions and
annexation attempts by its stronger neighbours. It comprises territories
from
Frisia in the north to the
Kingdom of Italy in the south. When the middle kingdom was partitioned, the lands north of the
Alps passed to
Lothair II and consecutively were named
Lotharingia. After he died in 869, Lotharingia was partitioned, into
Upper and
Lower Lotharingia, the latter part comprising the Low Countries that technically became part of
East Francia in 870, although it was effectively under the control of Vikings, who raided the largely defenceless
Frisian and
Frankish towns lying on the Frisian coast and along the rivers. Around 850,
Lothair I acknowledged the Viking
Rorik of Dorestad as ruler of most of Frisia.
[47] Around 879, another Viking raided the Frisian lands,
Godfrid, Duke of Frisia.
The Viking raids made the sway of French and German lords in the area
weak. Resistance to the Vikings, if any, came from local nobles, who
gained in stature as a result, and that lay the basis for the
disintegration of Lower Lotharingia into semi-independent states. One of
these local nobles was
Gerolf of Holland, who assumed lordship in Frisia after he helped to assassinate Godfrid, and Viking rule came to an end.
High Middle Ages (1000–1384)
The
Holy Roman Empire
(the successor state of East Francia) ruled much of the Low Countries
in the 10th and 11th century, but was not able to maintain political
unity. Powerful local nobles turned their cities, counties and duchies
into private kingdoms, that felt little sense of obligation to the
emperor.
Holland,
Hainaut,
Flanders,
Gelre,
Brabant, and the
Utrecht
were in a state of almost continual war or paradoxically formed
personal unions. The language and culture of most of the people who
lived in the County of Holland were originally
Frisian. As Frankish settlement progressed from Flanders and Brabant, the area quickly became
Old Low Franconian (or
Old Dutch). The rest of
Frisia in the north (now
Friesland and
Groningen) continued to maintain its independence and had its own institutions (collectively called the "
Frisian freedom") and resented the imposition of the feudal system.
Around 1000 AD, due to several agricultural developments, the economy
started to develop at a fast pace, and the higher productivity allowed
workers to farm more land or to become tradesmen. Towns grew around
monasteries and
castles,
and a mercantile middle class began to develop in these urban areas,
especially in Flanders and later also Brabant. Wealthy cities started to
buy certain
privileges for themselves from the
sovereign. In practice, this meant that
Brugge and
Antwerp
became quasi-independent republics in their own right and would later
develop into some of the most important cities and ports in Europe.
Around 1100 AD, farmers from
Flanders and
Utrecht
began draining and cultivating uninhabited swampy land in the western
Netherlands, and made the emergence of the County of Holland as center
of power possible. The title of
Count of Holland were fought over in the
Hook and Cod Wars (
Dutch:
Hoekse en Kabeljauwse twisten)
between 1350 and 1490. The Cod faction consisted of the more
progressive cities, while the Hook faction consisted of the conservative
noblemen. These noblemen invited the Duke
Philip the Good of Burgundy – who was also Count of Flanders – to conquer Holland.
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