Frisians

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Frisians
Friezen (West), Fresen (North), Fräisen (Sater)
Total population
c. 530,000
Regions with significant populations
Friesland 350,000 [1] [lower-alpha 1]
Netherlands (excluding Friesland)120,000 [2] [lower-alpha 2]
Germany60,000 [3] [lower-alpha 3]
Canada4,590 residents of Canada reported having Frisian ancestry in the 2016 Canadian Census. [4] [5]
United States2,145 (ancestry estimate) [6]
Languages
Frisian languages
Low Saxon (Friso-Saxon dialects)
Dutch (West Frisian Dutch and Stadsfries)
German (Missingsch)
Danish (Sønderjysk and Southern Schleswig Danish)
Religion
Protestant majority (Calvinists and Lutherans)
Roman Catholic minority

The Frisians are an ethnic group indigenous to the coastal regions of the Netherlands, north-western Germany and southern Denmark, and during the Early Middle Ages in the north-western coastal zone of Flanders, [7] Belgium. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia (which was a part of Denmark until 1864). [8]

Contents

There are many theories about the origin of the name of the Frisians, Frisii or Fresones in the Latin language as first documented in the first century AD. Most probably the name is derived from the verb fresare in the Vulgar Latin language in the meaning of 'milling, cutting, grooving, crushing, removing shells'. A name given to the Frisians because they 'cut the land': digging countless ditches and dykes to irrigate the wet marshlands they lived at. [9] Compare fresar el paisaje in the Roman language Spanish. Another theory is the name derives from frisselje (to braid, thus referring to braided hair).

The Frisian languages are spoken by more than 500,000 people; West Frisian is officially recognised in the Netherlands (in Friesland), and North Frisian and Saterland Frisian are recognised as regional languages in Germany.

History

The ancient Frisii enter recorded history in the Roman account of Drusus's 12 BC war against the Rhine Germans and the Chauci. [10] They occasionally appear in the accounts of Roman wars against the Germanic tribes of the region, up to and including the Revolt of the Batavi around 70 AD. Frisian mercenaries were hired as cavalry to assist the Roman invasion of Britain. [11] They are not mentioned again until c. 296, when they were deported into Roman territory as laeti (i.e., Roman-era serfs; see Binchester Roman Fort and Cuneus Frisionum). [12] The discovery of a type of earthenware unique to fourth century Frisia, called terp Tritzum, shows that an unknown number of them were resettled in Flanders and Kent, [13] probably as laeti under Roman coercion.

Germanic tribes in the 5th century Europe and the Near East at 476 AD.png
Germanic tribes in the 5th century
Historical settlement areas of the Frisians, and areas where a Frisian language is spoken Frisians.png
Historical settlement areas of the Frisians, and areas where a Frisian language is spoken

From the third through the fifth centuries, Frisia suffered marine transgressions that made most of the land uninhabitable, aggravated by a change to a cooler and wetter climate. [14] [15] [16] [17] Whatever population may have remained dropped dramatically, and the coastal lands remained largely unpopulated for the next two centuries. When conditions improved, Frisia received an influx of new settlers, mostly Angles and Saxons. These people would eventually be referred to as 'Frisians' (Old Frisian : Frīsa, Old English : Frīsan), though they were not necessarily descended from the ancient Frisii. It is these 'new Frisians' who are largely the ancestors of the medieval and modern Frisians. [18]

By the end of the sixth century, Frisian territory had expanded westward to the North Sea coast and, in the seventh century, southward down to Dorestad. This farthest extent of Frisian territory is sometimes referred to as Frisia Magna . Early Frisia was ruled by a High King, with the earliest reference to a 'Frisian King' being dated 678. [19]

In the early eighth century, the Frisians mostly worshipped Germanic gods such as Thor and Odin outside the vicinity of Utrecht. [20] Slightly later, the Frisian nobles came into increasing conflict with the Franks to their south, resulting in a series of wars in which the Frankish Empire eventually subjugated Frisia in 734. These wars benefited attempts by Anglo-Irish missionaries (which had begun with Saint Boniface) to convert the Frisian populace to Christianity, in which Saint Willibrord largely succeeded. [21]

Some time after the death of Charlemagne, the Frisian territories were in theory under the control of the Count of Holland, but in practice the Hollandic counts, starting with Count Arnulf in 993, were unable to assert themselves as the sovereign lords of Frisia. The resulting stalemate resulted in a period of time called the 'Frisian freedom', a period in which feudalism and serfdom (as well as central or judicial administration) did not exist, and in which the Frisian lands only owed their allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor.

During the 13th century, however, the counts of Holland became increasingly powerful and, starting in 1272, sought to reassert themselves as rightful lords of the Frisian lands in a series of wars, which (with a series of lengthy interruptions) ended in 1422 with the Hollandic conquest of Western Frisia and with the establishment of a more powerful noble class in Central and Eastern Frisia.

In 1524, Frisia became part of the Seventeen Provinces and in 1568 joined the Dutch revolt against Philip II, king of Spain, heir of the Burgundian territories; Central Frisia has remained a part of the Netherlands ever since. The eastern periphery of Frisia would become part of various German states (later Germany) and Denmark. An old tradition existed in the region of exploitation of peatlands.

Migration to England and Scotland

Though it is impossible to know exact numbers and migration patterns, research has indicated that many Frisians were part of the wave of ethnic groups to colonise areas of present-day England alongside the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, [22] starting from around the fifth century when Frisians arrived along the coastline of Kent. [23] [24]

Frisians principally settled in modern-day Kent, East Anglia, [25] the East Midlands, North East England, [26] and Yorkshire. Across these areas, evidence of their settlement includes place names of Frisian origin, such as Frizinghall in Bradford and Frieston in Lincolnshire. [27] [22]

Similarities in dialect between Great Yarmouth and Friesland have been noted, originating from trade between these areas during the Middle Ages. [28] Frisians are also known to have founded the Freston area of Ipswich. [29]

In Scotland, historians have noted that colonies of Angles and Frisians settled as far north as the River Forth. This corresponds to those areas of Scotland which historically constituted part of Northumbria. [30] [31]

Frisians in Denmark

The earliest traces of Frisians in modern-day Denmark date back to the 11th century when Frisians settled around Tøndermarsken west of Tønder. The evidence for this are the Warften (værfter) in the area that are built after the same method as the ones alongside the Wadden Sea towards the Netherlands. [32] They have also been found in Ribe. [33]

In 1637, chronicler Peter Sax  [ de ] wrote that the Frisian newcomers learned the Danish language but did not become Danish, holding on to Frisian language, custom, manners, working methods and so on. [34]

In modern times, Frisian culture in Denmark is described as assimilated and most do not consider themselves Frisian. In regards to the Frisian language, very few may speak it as first language but it was traditionally spoken in few polder hamlets near the border with Germany. One estimate puts the Frisian population in Denmark somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000. [32] [34]

Language

Present-day distribution of the Frisian languages in Europe:
.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}
West Frisian
North Frisian
Saterland Frisian Frisian languages in Europe.svg
Present-day distribution of the Frisian languages in Europe:

As both the Anglo-Saxons of England and the early Frisians were formed from similar tribal confederacies, their respective languages were very similar, together forming the Anglo-Frisian family. Old Frisian is the most closely related language to Old English [35] and the modern Frisian dialects are in turn the closest related languages to contemporary English that do not themselves derive from Old English (although the modern Frisian and English are not mutually intelligible).

The Frisian language group is divided into three mutually unintelligible languages:

Of these three languages both Saterland Frisian (2,000 speakers) and North Frisian (10,000 speakers) [36] are endangered. West Frisian is spoken by around 350,000 native speakers in Friesland, [37] and as many as 470,000 when including speakers in neighbouring Groningen province. [2] West Frisian is not listed as threatened, although research published by Radboud University in 2016 has challenged that assumption. [38]

Identity

Today there exists a tripartite division, of North, East and West Frisians, caused by Frisia's continual loss of territory in the Middle Ages. The West Frisians, in general, do not see themselves as part of a larger group of Frisians, and, according to a 1970 poll, identify themselves more with the Dutch than with the East or North Frisians. [39]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frisian languages</span> Group of Germanic languages

The Frisian languages are a closely related group of West Germanic languages, spoken by about 400,000 Frisian people, who live on the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany. The Frisian languages are the closest living language group to the Anglic languages; the two groups make up the Anglo-Frisian languages group and together with the Low German dialects these form the North Sea Germanic languages. However, modern English and Frisian are not mutually intelligible, nor are Frisian languages intelligible among themselves, owing to independent linguistic innovations and foreign influences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friesland</span> Province of the Netherlands

Friesland, historically and traditionally known as Frisia, named after the Frisians, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of Flevoland, northeast of North Holland, and south of the Wadden Sea. As of January 2023, the province had a population of about 660,000, and a total area of 5,753 km2 (2,221 sq mi).

Frisian most often refers to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frisia</span> Cross-border cultural region in Northern Europe

Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. Wider definitions of ‘Frisia’ may include the island of Rem and the other Danish Wadden Sea Islands. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Germanic ethnic group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Frisia</span> Historic region in Lower Saxony, Germany

East Frisia or East Friesland is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia and to the west of Landkreis Friesland.

Old Frisian was a West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries along the North Sea coast, roughly between the mouths of the Rhine and Weser rivers. The Frisian settlers on the coast of South Jutland also spoke Old Frisian, but there are no known medieval texts from this area. The language of the earlier inhabitants of the region between the Zuiderzee and Ems River is attested in only a few personal names and place-names. Old Frisian evolved into Middle Frisian, spoken from the 16th to the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Frisian language</span> West Germanic language spoken in Friesland

West Frisian, or simply Frisian, is a West Germanic language spoken mostly in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands, mostly by those of Frisian ancestry. It is the most widely spoken of the Frisian languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saterland Frisian language</span> Dialect of East Frisian

Saterland Frisian, also known as Sater Frisian, Saterfrisian or Saterlandic, is the last living dialect of the East Frisian language. It is closely related to the other Frisian languages: North Frisian, spoken in Germany as well, and West Frisian, spoken in the Dutch province of Friesland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Frisian language</span> Minority language of Germany, spoken mostly by people in North Frisia

North Frisian is a minority language of Germany, spoken by about 10,000 people in North Frisia. The language is part of the larger group of the West Germanic Frisian languages. The language comprises 10 dialects which are themselves divided into an insular and a mainland group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Frisian languages</span> Group of West Germanic languages

The Anglo-Frisian languages are the Anglic and Frisian varieties of the West Germanic languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frisii</span> Germanic tribe

The Frisii were an ancient tribe, living in the low-lying region between the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and the River Ems, sharing some cultural and linguistic elements with the neighbouring Celts. The newly formed marshlands were largely uninhabitated until the 6th of 5th centuries BC, when inland settlers started to colonize the area. As sea levels rose and flooding risks increased, the inhabitants learned to build their houses on village mounds or terps. The way of life and material culture of the Frisii hardly distinguished itself from the customs of the Chaucian tribes living farther east. The latter, however, were considered to be part of the Germanic tribal confederation.

Frisian Americans are Americans with full or partial Frisian ancestry.

Dutch dialects are primarily the dialects that are both cognate with the Dutch language and spoken in the same language area as the Dutch standard language. They are remarkably diverse and are found within Europe mainly in the Netherlands and northern Belgium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Frisia</span>

Frisia has changed dramatically over time, both through floods and through a change in identity. It is part of the Nordwestblock which is a hypothetical historic region linked by language and culture,where they may have spoken an Indo-European language which was neither germanic nor celtic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frisian Kingdom</span> c. 600–734 realm in northwestern Europe

The Frisian Kingdom, also known as Magna Frisia, is a modern name for the post-Roman Frisian realm in Western Europe in the period when it was at its largest (650–734). This dominion was ruled by kings and emerged in the mid-7th century and probably ended with the Battle of the Boarn in 734 when the Frisians were defeated by the Frankish Empire. It lay mainly in what is now the Netherlands and – according to some 19th century authors – extended from the Zwin near Bruges in Belgium to the Weser in Germany. The center of power was the city of Utrecht.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Frisians</span> Inhabitants of East Frisia, Lower Saxony

East Frisians are, in the wider sense, the inhabitants of East Frisia in the northwest of the German state of Lower Saxony. In the narrower sense the East Frisians are the eastern branch of the Frisians, a distinct Germanic ethnic group, and are one of the nationally recognized ethnic minorities in Germany, along with the Danes, Sorbs, Sinti and Romanies. They are closely related to the Saterland Frisians, who come from East Frisia and moved from the coastal region to the interior. The East Frisians are also related to the North Frisians and the Westlauwers Frisians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Frisia (peninsula)</span> All Frisian areas in Lower Saxony, Germany

East Frisia is a collective term for all traditionally Frisian areas in Lower Saxony, Germany, which are primarily located on a peninsula between the Dollart and the Jade Bight. Along with West Frisia and North Frisia, it is one of the most commonly used subdivisions of Frisia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frisian nationalism</span> Nationalism viewing Frisians as a nation

Frisian nationalism refers to the nationalism which views Frisians as a nation with a shared culture. Frisian nationalism seeks to achieve greater levels of autonomy for Frisian people, and also supports the cultural unity of all Frisians regardless of modern-day territorial borders. The Frisians derive their name from the Frisii, an ancient Germanic tribe which inhabited the northern coastal areas in what today is the northern Netherlands, although historical research has indicated a lack of direct ethnic continuity between the ancient Frisii and later medieval 'Frisians' from whom modern Frisians descend. In the Middle Ages, these Frisians formed the Kingdom of Frisia and later the Frisian freedom confederation, before being subsumed by stronger foreign powers up to this day.

The Anglo-Saxon settlement in the Netherlands was a movement of continental Angles, Saxons, Franks and possibly English Anglo-Saxons into the lands formerly inhabited by the ancient Frisii, Cananefates and Batavians. These migrations occurred after the population drop of the Frisii during the 5th century up until the 7th century. These new migrants from northwestern Germany were later referred to as the Frisians by the Merovingian Franks who may have taken this name from older Roman historiography. During these migrations, almost the entire population of the coastal Netherlands was demographically replaced.

The Netherlands in the early Middle Ages was inhabited by various Germanic tribes, including the Frisians, who played a significant role in the development of the region and its Christianisation and eventual incorporation into the Frankish Empire.

References

  1. Number is the number of native West Frisian speakers.
  2. Native West Frisian speakers excluding those in Friesland.
  3. Although only 12,000 are native speakers.
  1. Gooskens, Charlotte; Heeringa, Wilbert. "The Position of Frisian in the Germanic Language Area". Researchgate. University of Groningen. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. 1 2 Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version.
  3. "Die friesische Volksgruppe". Minderheitensekretariat der vier autochthonen nationalen Minderheiten und Volksgruppen (in German). Retrieved 6 January 2020. Geschätzt 60.000 Menschen sind ihrem Selbstverständnis nach Friesen. [an estimated 60,000 people self identify as Frisian]
  4. "Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity Highlight Tables". www12.statcan.gc.ca/. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
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  6. "Table 1. First, Second, and Total Responses to the Ancestry Question by Detailed Ancestry Code: 2000". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
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  8. "Herzlich Willkommen". interfriesischerrat.de.
  9. Faber, Hans (14 August 2022). "A severe case of inattentional blindness: the Frisian tribe's name". Frisia Coast Trail.
  10. Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (229), "Book LIV, Ch 32", in Cary, Earnest (translator) (ed.), Dio's Roman History, vol. VI, London: William Heinemann (published 1917), p. 365{{citation}}: |editor-first= has generic name (help)
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Works cited

Further reading