European Kingdoms

1061 - 1091

Son of Floris I of West-Frisia & Gertrude of Saxony.

1061 - 1064

Countess / Gravin. Wife of Floris I. m Robert of Flanders.

1064 - 1074

m Gertrude. Count of Flanders (1071-1093).

1074 - 1076

House of Lotharingia.

1091 - 1121

Son.

c.1100

The old line of counts had by now become extinct, and internecine feuding erupts, and continues until the region is invaded by Spanish imperial troops at the end of the fifteenth century.

1122 - 1157

Son.

1157 - 1190

Son.

1190 - 1203

Son.

1203

Countess / Gravin. Dau.

1203 - 1222

Son of Floris III.

1222 - 1234

Son.

1234 - 1256

Son. Rival for the Holy Roman empire (1247-1256).

1256 - 1296

Son. Murdered.

1277

The separation of East Frisia from West Frisia had been de facto during the internecine feuding of the thirteenth century. The division becomes permanent when the Dollart Estuary, at the mouth of the Elms, is flooded. A line of independent counts is established there by 1400.

1296

Floris is murdered, and his son, Jan, may be involved. If so, it is something he regrets as, according to local legend, he orders the building of Heilig Lambertuskerk in Linden, to the south of Nijmegen, as a penance.

1296 - 1299

Son. No heir.

1299

Aleid, younger sister of William II, marries Jan of Avesnes, count of Hainaut, in 1246. Their son becomes Jan II of Avesnes, count of Holland-Hennegau.

Counts of Holland-Hennegau (House of Avesnes) (Netherlands) (Low Countries)
AD 1299 - 1349

1299 - 1304

Count of Hennegau (1280). Grandson of Margaret I of Flanders.

1304 - 1337

Son.

1337 - 1345

Son.

1345 - 1349

Countess / Gravin. Dau of William III. m Louis IV the Bavarian.

1349

William, son of Margaret and Louis IV of Bavaria, becomes William V of Holland. Hennegau ceases to be used in the title under the House of Beiers.

Counts of Holland (House of Beiers) (Netherlands) (Low Countries)
AD 1349 - 1433

Low Countries All Modern States British Isles Germanic Tribes Western Europe

The Beiers ruled in West Frisia only. An independent line of counts became established in East Frisia which had been divided from the west since the flooding of the Dollart Estuary in 1277, and the region eventually became part of Germany.

1349 - 1389

Son of Margaret.

1389 - 1404

Son of Margaret.

1389

John of Bavaria, son of Count Albert of Holland, is the first of a new breed of prince-bishop for Liège and something of a departure from what has gone before (and see feature link). Aged seventeen when he gains office, he always refuses to be a priest and is never consecrated as a bishop. Instead he goes by the titles 'Elected from Liège and Count of Loon', and refuses all others.

1404 - 1417

Son. m Margaret of Burgundy (1385).

1417 - 1433

Countess / Gravin. Dau. No heir. d.1436.

1417 - 1424

John IV, Duke of Brabant (1415-1427). m Jacoba.

1433

With the remarriage of Jacoba to the English Henry of Gloucester, the title passes to the dukes of Burgundy as the new counts of Holland.

Counts of Holland (House of Burgundy) (Netherlands) (Low Countries)
AD 1433 - 1482

Low Countries All Modern States British Isles Germanic Tribes Western Europe

1433 - 1467

Duke of Burgundy.

1441

Philip gains the duchy of Luxembourg, a key link in the chain of possessions between Burgundy and Flanders and a vital component in raising Burgundy's wealth and power.

1467 - 1477

Duke of Burgundy.

1474 - 1477

Duke René of Lorraine is facing increasing pressure both from Louis XI of France and Charles the Bold of Burgundy. He has already allied himself with Charles, but Burgundian garrisons have been established in Lorraine so René now switches allegiance to Louis. Charles invades Lorraine, forcing René to abandon Nancy on 30 November 1475. The city is recaptured on 5 October 1476 before René leads an army of Swiss mercenaries into the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477. Charles is defeated and killed, ending the Burgundian Wars.

1477 - 1482

Duchess of Burgundy. m Maximilian of Austria 1477.

1482

The duchy of Burgundy reverts to the French throne through the efforts of Louis XI of France. The 'Free County of Burgundy' and Flanders pass to Austria, along with the county of Holland, creating a very different feel for the Low Countries. In 1493, with the accession of Maximilian, they become possessions of the Holy Roman empire, and Habsburg Holland is governed directly.