Dirk V was Count

Count 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...

 of Holland

County of Holland

The County of Holland was a county in the Holy Roman Empire and from 1482 part of the Habsburg Netherlands in what is now the Netherlands. It covered an area roughly corresponding to the current Dutch provinces of North-Holland and South-Holland, as well as the islands of Terschelling, Vlieland,...

 (which was called Frisia

Frisia

Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight. Frisia is the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian, a language group closely related to the English language...

 at that time) from 1061 to 1091.

Dirk V succeeded Floris I

Floris I, Count of Holland

Floris I of Holland was Count of Holland from 1049 to 1061. He was a son of Dirk III and Othelindis....

, under the guardianship of his mother, Gertrude of Saxony

Gertrude of Saxony

Gertrude of Saxony , also known as Gertrude Billung, was the daughter of Bernard II, Duke of Saxony and Eilika of Schweinfurt. She married Floris I, Count of Holland c. 1050, and upon his death, her son Dirk V became Count of Holland...

. William I

William I, Bishop of Utrecht

William I was bishop of Utrecht between 1054 and 1076. He was a typical representative of the German imperial system in which bishops were the main officials of the empire. He was a loyal follower of king Henry IV of Germany...

, Bishop of Utrecht, took advantage of the young ruler, occupying territory that he had claimed in Holland. William's claim was confirmed by two charters of the emperor Henry IV

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry IV was King of the Romans from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century...

. (April 30, 1064 and May 2, 1064). Dirk only retained possession of lands west of the Vlie

Vlie

The Vlie or Vliestroom is the seaway between the Dutch islands of Vlieland, to its southwest, and Terschelling, to its northeast. The Vlie was the estuary of the river IJssel in medieval times...

 and around the mouths of the Rhine.

Gertrude and her son withdrew to the islands of Frisia

Frisia

Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight. Frisia is the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian, a language group closely related to the English language...

 (Zeeland), leaving William to occupy the disputed lands. In 1063 Gertrude married Robert of Flanders

Robert I, Count of Flanders

thumb|Robert I of FlandersRobert I of Flanders , known as Robert the Frisian, was count of Flanders from 1071 to 1092.-History:...

 (Robert the Frisian), the second son of Baldwin V of Flanders. Robert gave Dirk the Imperial Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

 as an appanage

Appanage

An apanage or appanage or is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture...

 - including the islands of Frisia west of the Frisian Scheldt

Scheldt

The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...

. Baldwin then became his stepson's guardian, gaining control of the islands east of the Scheldt. Baldwin managed to conquer Kennemerland (north of North Holland

North Holland

North Holland |West Frisian]]: Noard-Holland) is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...

), but held it only briefly.

Robert therefore, in both his own right and that of Dirk, was now the ruler of all Frisia. The death of his brother Baldwin VI

Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders

Baldwin VI of Flanders was briefly Count of Flanders, from 1067 to 1070. He was also count of Hainaut from 1051 to 1070....

 in 1070 led to civil war

Civil war

A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....

 in Flanders. The claim of Robert to the guardianship of his nephew Arnulf III

Arnulf III, Count of Flanders

Arnulf III was Count of Flanders and Count of Hainaut, as Arnulf I from 1070 to his death.He was the eldest son of Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders and Richilde, Countess of Mons and Hainaut.-History and Family:...

 was disputed by Richilde, Countess of Mons and Hainaut

Richilde, Countess of Mons and Hainaut

Richilde, Countess of Mons and Hainaut .Since the county of Hainaut would pass to the Counts of Flanders through marriage to her, she has often been mistakenly recorded a daughter of Regnier V of Mons, who was actually her father-in-law.She was married firstly to Herman of Mons, count of Hainaut,...

, the widow of Baldwin VI

Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders

Baldwin VI of Flanders was briefly Count of Flanders, from 1067 to 1070. He was also count of Hainaut from 1051 to 1070....

. The issue was decided by Robert's victory at Cassel (February 1071), where Arnulf was killed and Richilda taken prisoner.

The war in Holland and Frisia became part of a large conflict from 1075 onwards. The pope had excommunicated the emperor. The bishop of Utrecht supported the emperor, while the count of Holland supported Pope Gregory VII

Pope Gregory VII

Pope St. Gregory VII , born Hildebrand of Sovana , was Pope from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal...

 and anti-king Rudolphe

Rudolf of Rheinfeld

Rudolf of Rheinfelden was Duke of Swabia and German antiking . He was the son of Count Kuno of Rheinfelden and eventually became the alternative king or antiking for the politically oriented anti-Henry German aristocrats, whose rebellion became known as the Great Saxon Revolt...

.

While Robert was thus engaged in Flanders, an effort was made to recover the County of Holland and other lands now held by William of Utrecht. The people rose in revolt, but were brought back under Episcopal

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 rule by an army under the command of Godfrey IV (the Hunchback), duke of Lower Lorraine

Lower Lorraine

The Duchy of Lower Lorraine or Lower Lotharingia , established in 959 was a stem duchy of the medieval German kingdom, which encompassed part of modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands, the northern part of the German Rhineland and a part of northern France east of the Schelde river.It was created out...

, by order of the emperor (Henry IV). In 1076, at the request of William, Duke Godfrey visited his domains in the Frisian borderland. At Delft

Delft

Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....

, the duke was murdered by revolutionaries (February 26, 1076). William of Utrecht died on April 17, 1076.

Dirk V, now managing his own estate, was quick to take advantage of this favorable juncture. With the help of Robert (his stepfather) he raised an army and besieged Conrad of Utrecht, the successor of William, in the castle of Ysselmonde, taking him prisoner. The bishop purchased his liberty by surrendering all claim to the disputed lands.

Dirk V was succeeded by Floris II

Floris II, Count of Holland

Floris II, Count of Holland was the first from the native dynasty of Holland to be called Count of Holland.He was the son of his predecessor Dirk V and Othilde...

 upon his death in 1091. He was buried in the Egmond Abbey.