This article is about the ancient tribe that lived in Frisia until the 4th century BC. For the modern people named after them, see Frisians.
Frisii
Map of the modern coastline of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark, showing the Germanic peoples that lived there c. 150 AD and shipbuilding techniques they used.
Regions with significant populations
Frisia
Religion
Germanic paganism
Related ethnic groups
Saxons, Angles, Chauci, Frisiavones, Frisians
History of the Low Countries
Frisii
Belgae
Cana– nefates
Chamavi, Tubantes
Gallia Belgica (55 BC–c. 5th AD) Germania Inferior (83–c. 5th)
Kingdom of Lotharingia (855– 959) Duchy of Lower Lorraine (959–)
Frisia
Frisian Freedom (11–16th century)
County of Holland (880–1432)
Bishopric of Utrecht (695–1456)
Duchy of Brabant (1183–1430) Duchy of Guelders (1046–1543)
County of Flanders (862–1384)
County of Hainaut (1071–1432) County of Namur (981–1421)
P.-Bish. of Liège
(980–1794)
Duchy of Luxem- bourg (1059–1443)
Burgundian Netherlands (1384–1482)
Habsburg Netherlands (1482–1795) (Seventeen Provinces after 1543)
Dutch Republic (1581–1795)
Spanish Netherlands (1556–1714)
Austrian Netherlands (1714–1795)
United States of Belgium (1790)
R. Liège (1789–'91)
Batavian Republic (1795–1806) Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810)
associated with French First Republic (1795–1804) part of First French Empire (1804–1815)
Princip. of the Netherlands (1813–1815)
Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830)
Gr D. L. (1815–)
Kingdom of the Netherlands (1839–)
Kingdom of Belgium (1830–)
Gr D. of Luxem- bourg (1890–)
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.[1][2][3] The newly formed marshlands were largely uninhabitated until the 6th or 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.[citation needed]
During the 1st century BC, Romans took control of the Rhine delta but Frisii to the north of the river managed to maintain some level of independence. There was a lot of interaction, however, as Frisian and Chaucian mercenary bands enlisted in the Roman army and Roman traders established themselves north of the limes.[4] There may have been Roman military outposts on Frisian territory. Some or all of the Frisii may have merged with Frankish and Saxon migrants in late Roman times, but they would retain a separate identity in Roman eyes until at least 296, when Frisian, Frankisch and Chamavi groups were forcibly resettled as laeti. Archaeological findings suggest that they may have been transported to Flanders and Southwestern England.
The area where the original Frisii lived, was largely deserted during the Migration Period, probably due to political instability and piracy, as well as climatic deterioration and frequent flooding caused by sea level rise. When changing environmental and political conditions made the region attractive again it was repopulated in the 5th century by Anglo-Saxon settlers from Northwestern Germany and Southwestern Denmark, who adopted the old name Frisii. These new 'Frisians' lived in the coastal fringe stretching roughly from present-day Bruges to Bremen, including many of the smaller offshore islands. They incorporated the remainer of indigenous groups that lived in the area and successfully conquered what would become their new homelands. Medieval and later accounts of 'Frisians' refer to these 'new Frisians' rather than to the ancient Frisii.[5]
^Several manuals provide outdated information:Drinkwater, John Frederick (2012). "Frisii". In Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony; Eidinow, Esther (eds.). The Oxford Classical Dictionary (4 ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191735257. Retrieved January 26, 2020. Frisii, a Germanic people, who lived on the North Sea coast from west of the Ijsselmeer eastwards to the Ems.
^Rietbergen, P. J. A. N. (2000). A Short History of the Netherlands: From Prehistory to the Present Day (4th ed.). Amersfoort: Bekking. p. 20. ISBN 90-6109-440-2. OCLC 52849131.
^Black, Jeremy; Brewer, Paul; Shaw, Anthony; Chandler, Malcolm; Cheshire, Gerard; Cranfield, Ingrid; Ralph Lewis, Brenda; Sutherland, Joe; Vint, Robert (2003). World History. Bath, Somerset: Parragon Books. p. 341. ISBN 0-75258-227-5.
^Minahan, James (2000). One Europe, many nations: a historical dictionary of European national groups. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. p. 264. ISBN 9780313309847.
^Bazelmans 2009:321–337, The case of the Frisians.
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...
not confuse it with another fish called the kutum, Rutilus kutum Rutilus frisii, called the vyrezub, Black Sea roach, or kutum, is a species of fish in...
Persian. Rutilus frisii Ghasemi, M; Zamani, H; Hosseini, SM; Haghighi Karsidani, S; Bergmann, SM (2014). "Caspian White Fish (Rutilus frisii kutum) as a host...
Netherlands, in 28 AD between the Frisii and a Roman army led by the Roman general Lucius Apronius. The earliest mention of the Frisii tells of Drusus' 12 BC war...
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...
is known of the Frisii is provided by a few Roman accounts, whose province Germania Inferior shared a border with the Frisii. Frisii had elected chieftains...
the northern part of the Low Countries. They would later develop into the Frisii and the early Saxons. The Weser–Rhine Germanic (or Istvaeones) extended...
Thuringii (see: Frankish mythology, Donar's Oak) Saxons (see: Irminsul) Frisii (source: Life of Saint Willibrord) Baiuvarii Compared to North Germanic...
000 years. The historic Low Countries made up much of Frisia, home to the Frisii, and the Roman provinces of Gallia Belgica and Germania Inferior, home to...
History of the Low Countries Frisii Belgae Cana– nefates Chamavi, Tubantes Gallia Belgica (55 BC–c. 5th AD) Germania Inferior (83–c. 5th) Salian Franks...
AD, divides the Frisii into two groups: the Greater Frisii (maiores) and the Lesser Frisii (minores). Most authors agree that the Frisii were in fact divided...
Germanic tribes along the North Sea coast, conquering the Batavi and the Frisii, and defeating the Chauci near the mouth of the Weser. In 11 BC, he conquered...
the Rhine and conquest of Germania to the Elbe, Rome pays tribute to the Frisii, Begin of invasions east of the Rhine by Rome, Construction of the modern...
of the Netherlands Early Prehistory of the Netherlands Germanic tribes Frisii, Batavi, Cananefates, Chamavi Roman era Migration Period Frisians, Franks...
Ostrogoths), the Vandals, the Anglo-Saxons, the Lombards, the Suebi, the Frisii, the Jutes, the Burgundians, the Alemanni, the Sciri and the Franks; they...
Among the Frisians at that time, there was no feudal system. The ancient Frisii were living in the low-lying region between the Zuiderzee and the River...
physica electricitatis". Dissertationes selectae Jo. Alberti Euleri, Paulli Frisii et Laurentii Beraud (in Latin). St. Saint-Pétersbourg et Lucques: Vincentium...
Danes in Jutland, today's Mainland Denmark) Frisii Frisiavones / Frisiabones (Frisii Minores) Frisii (Frisii Maiores) (possible ancestors of the Frisians)...
of what he describes as "Pillars of Hercules" in land inhabited by the Frisii that had yet to be explored. Tacitus adds that these pillars exist either...
Star Names "IAU Catalog of Star Names". Retrieved 28 July 2016. Gemmae Frisii de astrolabo catholico liber: quo latissime patentis instrumenti multiplex...
fight. In 288 the emperor Maximian defeated the Salian Franks, Chamavi, Frisii and other Germanic people living along the Rhine and moved them to Germania...
Saxon, Old English Religion Originally Germanic and Anglo-Saxon paganism, later Christianity Related ethnic groups Anglo-Saxons, Angles, Frisii, Jutes...
Germanic ethnic group. The contemporary name for the region stems from Latin Frisii, an ethnonym used for a group of ancient tribes in modern-day Northwestern...
sought-after caviar, roe from kutum (also known as Caspian white fish or Rutilus frisii kutum), Caspian roach (called "kuli" in Gileki), bream (called "kulmeh"...
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