Holland [antikvár]

A typical view of the Dutch country-side.A BRIEF HISTORICAL OUTLINEWhen the Romans reached the mouth of the Rhine River in the year 50 B.C., titey found themselves in a flat, sandy region, chilled by the cold north winds and prone to frequent flooding by the North Sea. They also found several tribes, perhaps of Germanic origin, who lived by hunting and fishing. The central region was occupied by the Batavians. as mentioned by Plinius, while the Franks, a Celtic race, had settled in the south, and the Frisians thrived in the north. The Saxons, the most Germanic of all, lived mainly in the region northeast of the Rhine. Nevertheless, despite their common origin, these populations differed greatly from one another. At first, it seemed that the Roman conquest was a boon to all, but soon revolts broke out; the first to rebel were the Frisians, followed by the Batavians. Both tribes joined together in 68-70 A.D. under the leadership of Claudius Julius Civilis, who was the organizer of the whole revolt. Nevertheless, the Romans were able to keep their legions in the territory for over three centuries it was not until 300 A.D. that the pressure of the Germanic tribes began to make headway against the Roman domination. The Batavians were wiped out almost immediately andonly the Frisians in the north managed to survive and oppose the Frankish onslaught. It was just as hard lo Christianize the region as it had been to conquer it. In the south the conversion of the heathen was carried on by the Merovingian kings, in the north by two Anglo-Saxon missionaries, St. Willibrord and St. Boniface. Yet, the Frisians, for example, stubbornly clung to their paganism for at least two hundred years. During the Carolingian domination the emphasis on evangelization continued. On one hand, Charlemagne used force to subdue the Frisians and Saxons, while on the other, he gave them the laws that would govern them for centuries. At the same time, he divided the country into various provinces ruled by counts, who were actually vassals of the emperor. But even at this time the Dutch not only had lo wage war against the elements, the most terrible of which was the sea. but they also had to stand up to just as dreadful human foes, the Vikings, whose savage incursions and forays meant the sacking, looting, and devastation of the Dutch towns. In 841 Charlemagne died ançl his vast Carolingian empire began to fall apart. Several power struggles later, Holland, and with her.