Page 51 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - The Netherlands

THE HIST OR Y OF THE NE THERLANDS  49

Radboud, King of the Frisians
The Frisian king Radboud was forced to Dorestad
capitulate to the Frankish ruler Pippin II.
He later regained the land he had lost,
and with his army marched on
Cologne. In 734, the Frisians under
Count Bubo were again defeated at
the de Boorne River, allowing Charles
Martel to extend Frankish domain
up to the Lauwerszee.
Situated at the confluence
of the Lek and the Kromme
Rijn (by present-day Wijk
Boniface uses his bij Duurstede, see p211),
Bible to protect himself Dorestad was the most
from the sword. Pagan important trading settlement
ceremonial axe in northern Holland during
the Early Middle Ages.
It was the centre of Frisian
trade in the 7th century
and afterwards under
the Merovingians and
Carolingians. In the 9th
century, Dorestad was
repeatedly plundered by
marauding Vikings, who
sailed up the rivers in their
longboats in search of booty.
The settlement’s decline,
however, was due to the
damming of the Rhine against
flooding rather than because
of the Viking raids. There is no
reference in historical records
to Dorestad after 863. During
the 10th century, Dorestad’s
functions were taken over by
Tiel, Deventer and Utrecht. In
Wijk, the Museum Dorestad
(tel. 0343-571448) gives an
excellent idea of what life
must have been like here
during the Early Middle
Ages through its various
displays of archaeological
finds from that period, as
well as its informative
A convert
being baptized. diorama, complete with
models of port houses.
Viking Sword
This sword, dubbed “Adalfriid’s
sword”, was found in the Waal.

768–814 Rule of Charlemagne.
689 Pippin II defeats the Frisian king Holland is divided into pagi 925 Holland is 1007 Last Viking
Radboud at Dorestad and gains the (cantons), each of which is ruled invasion of the
600–700 Dorestad becomes an river region and Utrecht by a count taken over by the Low Countries
important trading settlement German Empire
700 750 800 900 1000
695 Willibrord becomes 754 Boniface is 834–837 Dorestad Viking longboat
bishop of Frisia and killed at Dokkum by plundered at various times
establishes his see in Utrecht pagan looters by Vikings

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