Count of Holland

See also: County of Holland and Countess of Holland

Coat of arms of the Counts of Holland

The Counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century.

House of Holland

The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests that Dirk may have been the son of a sister of Gerolf and that his own father died while he was still an infant). He received land around Egmond from Charles the Fat at a place called Bladella (modern day Bladel near Eindhoven, The Netherlands) in 922. This is seen as the beginning of the county of Holland. However, until about 1100, the usual names for the county were West-Friesland, Frisia or Kennemerland; in spite of this the counts from Dirk I onwards are named of Holland.

Note that the chronology of the first few counts is uncertain. The existence of a count between Dirk I and Dirk II was only recently suggested, since it is thought that the references to counts named Dirk between 896 and 988 refer to three, not two, different counts. This third Count Dirk is placed between Dirk I and II and numbered as Dirk I bis to avoid confusion with the already established numbering referring to the other counts of Holland named Dirk.

• Gerolf (r. 880 – 896)
• Dirk I (r. 896 – 931)
• Dirk I bis (r. 931 – 939), son of Dirk I
• Dirk II (r. 939 – 988), son of Dirk I bis
• Arnulf (r. 988 – 993), son of Dirk II
• Dirk III Hierosolymita (r. 993 – 1039), son of Arnulf I
• Dirk IV (r. 1039–1049), son of Dirk III
• Floris I (r. 1049–1061), brother of Dirk IV
  • Gertrude of Saxony (regent), widow of Floris I
  • Robert the Frisian (regent), second husband of Gertrude
  • Godfrey the Hunchback, Duke of Lower Lorraine (regent)

Name	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Dirk V 1061–1091		c. 1052 son of Floris I and Gertrude of Saxony	Othelhilde bef. 26 July 1083 two children	17 June 1091 aged 38–39
Floris II the Fat 1091–1121		c. 1080 son of Dirk V and Othelhilde	Gertrude-Petronilla of Lorraine 1113 four children	2 March 1121 aged 40–41
Dirk VI 1121–1157		c. 1114 son of Floris II and Gertrude-Petronilla of Lorraine	Sophie of Salm bef. 1137 nine children	5 August 1157 aged 42–43
Floris III 1157–1190		c. 1141 son of Dirk VI and Sophie of Salm	Ada of Huntingdon 1162, bef. 28 August eleven children	1 August 1190 aged 48–49
Dirk VII 1190–1203		c. ? son of Floris III and Ada of Huntingdon	Adelaide of Cleves 1186 two daughter	4 November 1203 Dordrecht aged ?
Ada 1203–1207 with Louis I		c. 1188 daughter of Dirk VII and Adelaide of Cleves	Dordrecht 5 November 1203 no issues	c. 1223 aged 34–35
Louis I 1203–1207 with Ada		c. ? son of Gerhard II, Count of Loon and Adelaide of Guelders		29/30 Jul 1218 aged ?
William I 1203–1222		c. 1141 son of Floris III and Ada of Huntingdon	(1) Adelaide of Guelders Stavoren 1197 five children (2) Marie of Brabant July 1220 no issues	4 February 1222 The Hague aged 80–81
Floris IV 1222–1234		24 June 1210 The Hague son of William I and Adelaide of Guelders	Matilde of Brabant 6 December 1224 five children	19 July 1234 Corbie aged 24
William II 1234–1256		February 1227 son of Floris IV and Matilde of Brabant	Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg Brunswick 25 January 1252 two children	28 January 1256 Hoogwoud aged 28

• William II (r. 1234–1256), King of Germany, son of Floris IV
  • Floris de Voogd (r. 1256–1258, regent, as guardian for Floris V), brother of William II
• Floris V the Peasants' God (r. 1256–1296), son of William II
  • John III, Lord of Renesse (r. 1296, regent)
  • Wolfert I, Lord of Borselen (r. 1296–1299, regent)
  • John II, Count of Hainaut (r. 1299 as regent, inherited the county after John I's death, see below)
• John I (r. 1296–1299), son of Floris V

House of Avesnes

When John I died childless, the county was inherited by John II of Avesnes, Count of Hainaut from 1299. John of Avesnes was a son of Adelaide of Holland, sister of William II of Holland.

Name	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
John II 1299–1304		c. 1247 son of John I of Avesnes and Adelaide of Holland	Philippa of Luxembourg 1265 twelve children	22 August 1304 aged 56–57
William III 1304-1337		c. 1286 son of John II and Philippa of Luxembourg	Joan of Valois 19 May 1305 eight children	7 June 1337 aged 50–51
William IV 1337-1345		c. 1307 son of William III and Joan of Valois	Joanna, Duchess of Brabant bef. 27 November 1334 one son	26 September 1345 Warns aged 37–38
Margaret I 1345–1354 with Louis (1345–1354)		c. 1311 daughter of William III and Joan of Valois	Louis Cologne 25 February 1324 ten children	23 June 1356 Le Quesnoy aged 44–45

House of Wittelsbach

During the rule of Margaret, her son William V had the real power in the county. He became ruler in his own right as a result of the Hook and Cod wars. He was also Duke of Bavaria-Straubing as William I.

• Louis the Bavarian (r. 1345 –1347), Holy Roman Emperor, husband of Margaret
• William V (r. 1354–1388), son of Louis and Margaret
• Albert I (r. 1388–1404), brother of William V
• William VI (r. 1404–1417), son of Albert
• Jacqueline (r. 1417–1432), daughter of William VI
  • John III the Pitiless (r. 1417–1425), Duke of Bavaria-Straubing, brother of William VI, rival of Jacqueline
  • John IV (House of Leuven) (r. 1418–1427), Duke of Brabant, cousin and husband of Jacqueline
  • Humphrey (House of Lancaster) (r. 1422–1425), Duke of Gloucester, husband of Jacqueline
  • Francis, Lord of Borselen (r. 1432), husband of Jacqueline

There was a war of succession between John III and Jacqueline. This war was finally won by Philip of Burgundy in 1432, who, in the meantime had inherited John's claims on the county. Philip was a nephew of William VI, who had married a daughter of Philip the Bold of Burgundy. In 1432 he forced Jacqueline to abdicate from Hainaut and Holland on his behalf.

House of Valois

• Philip I the Good (r. 1432–1467), grandson of Albert I
• Charles I the Bold (r. 1467–1477), son of Philip I
• Mary I the Rich (r. 1477–1482), daughter of Charles I

House of Habsburg

• Maximilian (r. 1482–1494, regent), Holy Roman Emperor, husband of Mary I
• Philip II the Handsome (r. 1494–1506), King Philip I of Castile
• Charles II (r. 1515–1555), Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, King of Spain
• Philip III (r. 1555–1581, 1581–1598 titular only), King Philip II of Spain

During the 'foreign rule' by Burgundy and Habsburg, the county was governed by a stadtholder in name of the count. In 1581, the Estates General of the United Provinces declared themselves independent from the Spanish rule of Philip II (who was Philip III of Holland). Until the Treaty of Münster in 1648, the kings of Spain still used the title Count of Holland, but they had lost the actual power over the county to the States of Holland.

• Philip IV (1598–1621, titular only), King Philip III of Spain
• Philip V (1621–1648, titular only, renounced 1648), King Philip IV of Spain

The County of Holland and West Frisia 1582–1795

The County remained in existence as a constituent member state of the Dutch Republic until 1795. There were no more Counts however since the Estates of Holland and West-Frisia were the sovereign of the County (although the countship was offered to William the Silent in 1584, shortly before his death). The Stadtholders, who were servants of the Estates were the de facto Chief-Executives during this period.

See also

• Counts of Holland family tree
• A book of 32 plates of the counts of Holland published in Amsterdam in 1663, engraved by Adriaen Matham

References

• B. K. S. Dijkstra, Een stamboom in been, Amsterdam 1991.
• Counts of Holland