List of rulers of Frisia


This is a list of historically verifiable, legendary and fictitious rulers of Frisia, whether they were called chieftains, counts, dukes or kings. The earliest names of Frisian rulers are documented by the chronicles of the Merovingian kings, with whom they were contemporaries. In these chronicles, these rulers were styled dux, a Latin term for leader which is the origin of the title duke and its cognates in other languages. English sources refer to them as kings.
After coming under Frankish rule, the Frisian districts were governed by counts, later on also by dukes and bishops exerting the count's privileges. The power of these counts was restricted, however, due to the decentralized nature of the maritime landscape, which prevented large-scale military operations. After the Treaty of Verdun Frisia was allocated to Middle Francia, after the Treaty of Meersen it became part of East Francia, i.e. the German Kingdom. The foreign - largely Saxon - magnates that held office were dependent on local nobles helping them to exploit privileges, administer justice and raise troops. Only in the coastal districts of Holland a local dynasty developed, due to extensive royal domains.
In fact, the Frisians were ruled by local officials such as the frana and skelta, that were in most cases appointed by counts. As the power of counts waned during the 12th century, these functionaries were replaced by elected grietmannen in Friesland or redjeva in Groningen and East-Frisia. The position of grietmannen evolved towards a government office and was ultimately transformed into the office of mayor in 1851.

Kingdom of Frisia

Note that a supposed "House of Frisia" as well as the names of most members of the house are mythological or fictitious. Early modern historians created the story of a continuous dynasty.
After the Migration Period, several Frisian Kingdoms may have emerged in the districts northwest of the Frankish Kingdom, each districts characterized by a distinctive style of ornaments. One of these kingdoms may have been ruled by the legendary Finn, son of Folcwald, well known from Beowulf, Widsith and the Finnesburg Fragment. According to legend, Finn was killed by the Saxon leader Hengist, who migrated to Britain in 449 and founded the Kingdom of Kent thereafter.
The early medieval Frisians were in fact, like Hengist and Horsa, immigrants from Anglo-Saxon descent, absorbing the older name of the Frisii that inhabited the area in Roman times. Under Radbod of Frisia the Frisian kingship reached its maximum geographical extent, covering the coastal districts of North and South Holland with parts of Utrecht and the town of Dorestad. Radbod may also have extended his power to the province of Friesland, but his rule did not extend farther East. The province of Zeeland may already have been under Frankish rule during his lifetime.
In 722 the Frisian land west of the River Vlie came under Frankish rule and were christianized. In 734, after the Battle of the Boarn, the area west of the Lauwers was occupied by the Franks. The Frisians east of the Lauwers were subjugated in 785. The Frisian immigrants of the isle of Helgoland and in Schleswig-Holstein remained under Danish or Jutish rule.

Fictitious kings, princes and dukes

During the 15th and 16th centuries historians from Holland and Friesland invented a series of Frisian monarchs. The historian Goffe Jensma states in his introduction to a course at the University of Amsterdam:
Several names of Frisian kings appear in 14th- and 15th-century chronicles from Holland and Hainaut. Among these names three stand out. The name Gondebald or Gondebuef is derived from the 12th-century Historia Caroli Magni. Here he is introduced as a Christian king, who fell at Roncevalles and was buried in a collective mound in Belin-Béliet. He plays a role in Hainaut-Bavarian historiography, because his name was linked to dynastic claims regarding the Kingdom of Friesland. Aldgisl II and Radboud II are doubles of Aldgisl I and Redbad I, and were also depicted as Christian Kings and ancestors of several noble families in Holland. Radboud II was supposed to have been the first Lord of Egmond, married to a Princess Amarra of Hungary and according to the legend buried on Lord Radbod's cemetery in Rinnegom near the Abbey of Egmond. The historian Eggerik Beninga from East Frisia introduced a King Ritzart, who was supposed to have lived 625.
The classicist Suffridus Petrus, professor in Cologne and official chronicler of the Estates of Friesland and his successor in Friesland Bernardus Furmerius constructed a series of fictitious princes, dukes and kings, beginning with Prince Friso, son of Adel, who had allegedly migrated from India during the time of Alexander the Great. The list was completed by Martinus Hamconius in his chronicle Frisia seu de viris rebusque illustribus. According to the latter, there had been seven princes of Frisia, followed by seven dukes and nine kings. The dynasty of kings was succeeded by seventeen podestàs, of which only the last one was historical. All four lists focused on the province of Friesland and not on the other parts of Frisia.
Seven Princes
  • Friso, 313–245 BCE, established a militaristic hereditary monarchy
  • Adel, 245–151 BCE
  • Ubbo, 151–71 BCE
  • Asinga Ascon, 71 BCE11 CE, reviled for employing foreign troops and bringing plague
  • Diocarus Segon, 11–46 CE
  • Dibbaldus Segon, 46–85 CE
  • Tabbo, 85–130 CE
Seven dukes
  • Asconius, 130–173 CE, his title downgraded to duke as he was supposed to have been a Roman client
  • Adelboldus, 173–187
  • Titus Boiocalus, 187–240
  • Ubbo, 240–299
  • Haron Ubbo, 299–335
  • Odilbaldus, 335–360
  • Udolphus Haron, 360–392
Nine kings
  • Richardus, Uffo, 392–435
  • Odilbaldus, 435–470
  • Richoldus, 470–533
  • Beroaldus, 533–590
  • Adgillus I, 590–672
  • Radbodus I, 672–723
  • Adgillus II, 723–737, loyal Christian vassal of the Franks, brother of Poppo
  • Gondobaldus, 737–749, son of Aldgillus II
  • Radbodus II, 749–775. He was, according to Hamconius, a heathen and grew up in the court of the King of Denmark. He was supposed to have participated in the Saxon rebellion and thought to have fled back to Denmark, after which the Kingdom of Frisia was dissolved.
Medieval chivalric romances contain the names of other fictitious Frisian kings. French romances refer to Enguerran, Galesis, Gondelbuef, Hugon, Louhout, Polions, Rabel and Raimbault de Frise, the last two as corrupted forms of Radbod. The 13th-century Old Norse Þiðreks saga, translated from a lost Lower German original, contains the names of the Frisian kings Osid and his son Otnid, supposedly the father and brother of the famous Atli the Hun. Layamon's Brut mentions King Calin of Frisselond as one of the regional kings who was subordinate to King Arthur.

Oera Linda Book

A 19th century pseudo-chronicle, the Oera Linda Book, embellished these stories further by describing an ancient and glorious history for the Frisians extending back thousands of years. Originally, they were supposedly ruled over by a line of matriarchs known as folk-mothers, founded by the eponymous goddess Frya as an ancestress of all Frisians. The authorship is uncertain, but the book is generally considered to be a hoax or parody. Several legendary princes from 16th-century mythical historiography were also incorporated in the story.
Fictitious goddesses and folk-mothers
  • Frya, ?–2194 BCE, eponymous ancestress of the Frisians, who supposedly inhabited all of Northern and Western Europe)
  • Fasta, 2194–after 2145 BCE
  • Medea
  • Thiania
  • Hellenia
  • Minna, fl. 2013 BCE, faced an invasion of Finns from the east, who settled in the Frisian lands in Scandinavia
  • Rosamond, 1631-? BCE, the Frisians in Western Europe revolted and became the Celts
  • Hellicht, fl. 1621 BCE
  • Frana, ?–590 BCE, murdered by the Finns during an invasion
  • Adela, 590–559 BCE, supposedly ordered the compilation of what became the Oera Linda Book
  • Gosa, 306–before 264 BCE, elected after a long vacancy, Frisian rule confined to approximately the modern Netherlands)
  • Prontlik, fl. c. 60 BCE, puppet folk-mother appointed by King Asinga Ascon
Fictitious kings
  • Adel I Friso de facto, 304-264 BCE
  • Adel II Atharik, 264-? BCE
  • Adel III Ubbo
  • Adel IV Asega Askar

    Frankish Frisia: counts and dukes

Poppo's defeat generally marks the conquest of Frisia by the Franks, following the defeat Frisia is divided in three parts:
  • West Frisia, the region from the Scheldt to the Vlie roughly the modern region of Holland conquered in 719
  • Middle Frisia, the region from the Vlie to the Lauwers roughly the modern territory of the province Friesland conquered in 734
  • East Frisia, the region from the Lauwers to the Weser conquered in 775
It is further divided in Gaue
In 785 the Franks under Charlemagne took control of what remained of the Frisian territory and incorporated it into their kingdom. Counts appointed by the Frankish rulers were:

West Frisia 719-1101

  • 793–810, Nordalah, ruled Wieringen
  • -837, Ekkehard, ruled Walcheren

    House of Jutland

  • 841–844, Harald the Younger, in Walcheren
  • 855–873, Rodulf Haraldsson, succeeded Harald the Younger, his region of Zeeland became part of West Francia after the Treaty of Meersen
  • 839–875, Rorik of Dorestad, acquired all of West Frisia, Utrecht and Dorestad, ruled from Wieringen

    House of Godfrid

  • 882–885, Godfrid, reconquered Rorik's domain

    House of West Frisia

Godfrid was ambushed and killed, count Gerolf is believed to have been one of the nobles involved in the attack as he is rewarded shortly after with most of Godfrid's domain: the coastline from Vlie to Meuse and upriver the Gaue Nifterlake, Lek & IJssel and several properties in Teisterbant. However, this 'reward' was granted four years after Godfrid's death by Arnulf of Carinthia, and not by Charles the Fat, his predecessor, who was behind the plot to kill Godfrid.