Floris III, Count of Holland
Encyclopedia
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,...
from 1157 to 1190. He was a son of Dirk VI
Dirk VI, Count of Holland
Dirk VI of Holland was Count of Holland between 1121 and 1157, at first, during his minority, under the regency of his mother Petronilla. He was the son of Count Floris II. After his death he was succeeded by his eldest son Floris III. He married Sofie of Salm, Countess of Rheineck and Bentheim...
and Sophie of Luxemburg, heiress of Bentheim
Bentheim
County of Bentheim is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the Dutch provinces of Overijssel and Drenthe, the district of Emsland, and the districts of Steinfurt and Borken in North Rhine-Westphalia.- History :The District has roughly the same territory as the County of...
.
Life
On September 28, 1162, he married AdaAda of Huntingdon
Ada of Huntingdon was a Scottish noblewoman and Countess of Holland by marriage.Ada was born in Scotland, the daughter of Henry of Huntingdon and Ada de Warenne...
, sister of king William I of Scotland
William I of Scotland
William the Lion , sometimes styled William I, also known by the nickname Garbh, "the Rough", reigned as King of the Scots from 1165 to 1214...
, also known as William the Lion. The county of Holland adopted from him the rampant lion in the coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
and the name of William.
Floris III was a loyal vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
to Frederick I Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
. He accompanied the emperor on two expeditions to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1158 and 1176–1178. Frederick thanked him by making Floris part of the imperial nobility.
The emperor gave Floris the toll
Tariff
A tariff may be either tax on imports or exports , or a list or schedule of prices for such things as rail service, bus routes, and electrical usage ....
right of Geervliet, the most important toll station in Holland at that time. This was actually the legalisation of an existing situation, because the counts of Holland had charged tolls illegally since the start of the 11th century.
Many farmers came to Holland to turn the swamps into agricultural lands. Dikes and dams were built and the border between Holland and the bishopric of Utrecht had to be determined. There was a dispute between Floris and the bishop of Utrecht about a new dam in the Rhine at Zwammerdam
Zwammerdam
Zwammerdam is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn, and lies about 6 km southeast of Alphen aan de Rijn.In 2001, the town of Zwammerdam had 1709 inhabitants...
in 1165, which had to be settled by emperor Frederick. The brother of Floris, Baldwin became bishop of Utrecht in 1178.
War broke out between 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...
and Holland. Count Philip of Flanders wanted to have Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
. Floris was captured in Brugge
Brügge
Brügge is a municipality in the district of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.Its small church and market square are noted for their beauty....
and had to accept Flemish overlordship in Zeeland as ransom in 1167.
During his reign Floris III had troubles with West Friesland
West Friesland (historical region)
West Friesland is a historical region in the northern part of the Netherlands. It was located in parts of what now is Noord-Holland and the Waddenzee. The region was bordered by the rivers Vlie and IJ...
and a war with Philip count of Flanders concerning their respective rights in West Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
, in which he was beaten. In 1170 a great flood caused immense devastation in the north and helped to form the Zuider Zee
Zuider Zee
The Zuiderzee was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km inland and at most 50 km wide, with an overall depth of about 4 to 5 metres and a coastline of about 300 km . It covered...
.
In 1189 Floris accompanied Frederick Barbarossa upon the third Crusade
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin...
, of which he was a distinguished leader. He died in 1190 at Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
of pestilence and was buried there.
Two sons of Floris III became Count of Holland: Dirk VII
Dirk VII, Count of Holland
Dirk VII of Holland , Count of Holland from 1190 to 1203. He was elder son of Floris III and Ada of Huntingdon....
in 1190 and William I in 1203.
Family and children
Ada of Huntingdon
Ada of Huntingdon was a Scottish noblewoman and Countess of Holland by marriage.Ada was born in Scotland, the daughter of Henry of Huntingdon and Ada de Warenne...
, daughter of Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon
Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon
Henry of Scotland was a Prince of Scotland, heir-apparent to the Kingdom of Alba. He was also the 3rd Earl of Northumberland and the 3rd Earl of the Honour of Huntingdon and Northampton....
and Ada de Warenne
Ada de Warenne
Ada de Warenne was the Anglo-Norman wife of Henry of Scotland, Earl of Northumbria and Earl of Huntingdon. She was the daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey by Elizabeth of Vermandois, and a great-granddaughter of Henry I of France...
. Their children were:
- Ada (died after 1205), married 1176 Margrave Otto I of BrandenburgOtto I, Margrave of BrandenburgOtto I was the second Margrave of Brandenburg, from 1170 until his death.-Life:Otto I was born into the House of Ascania as the eldest son of Albert I , who founded the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1157, and his wife Sophie von Winzenburg...
. - Margaret (died after 1203), married 1182 Count Dietrich IV of Cleves.
- Dirk VII, Count of HollandDirk VII, Count of HollandDirk VII of Holland , Count of Holland from 1190 to 1203. He was elder son of Floris III and Ada of Huntingdon....
. - William I, Count of Holland.
- FlorisFlorence of HollandFlorence was a late 12th century and early 13th century nobleman and cleric.He was the son of Florence III, Count of Holland and Ada of Huntingdon, sister of Kings Malcolm IV of Scotland and William I....
(died 1210), bishop of Glasgow. - Baldwin (died 1204).
- Robert
- Beatrix
- Elisabeth
- Hedwig
- Agnes (died 1228), Abbess at RijnsburgRijnsburgRijnsburg is a community in the eastern part of the city Katwijk, in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The name means Rhines Burg in Dutch.-History:...
.