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36-512: Almenum is the first place missionary to the Frisians, Boniface visited in 754 AD. According to legend, it is the site of the first Christian church building in Friesland built in 777 AD by Gustavus Forteman the father of the legendary Magnus Forteman who both lived nearby. The church building was originally a thatched wooden structure. It was dedicated to the archangel Michael . The wooden church

72-664: A century. It culminated in Douwe Harns stabbing Sikke Gratinga's son with a pitchfork as he crossed Harns land on the way to the Gratinga property in 1133. Outrage ensued, and the country was split into two opposed factions. The Harns stins was put under siege and eventually conquered and the killer and his family brought to justice. The stins was razed to the ground. A treaty was agreed to in 1148, called "a covenant of satisfaction". The parties pretended to agree, but actually dissatisfaction simmered beneath. In 1157 Eilwardus Ludinga founded

108-694: A civil war that lasted for over a century (1350–1498) and which eventually led to the end of the so-called " Frisian freedom ". These factional parties arose because of an economic downturn that began in Friesland in the mid-14th century. Accompanied by a decline in monasteries and other communal institutions, social discord led to the emergence of Frisian nobility, who were called haadlingen in East Friesland (headmen) and hoofdelingen in West Friesland. Hoofdelingen were Dutch nobility; they were wealthy landowners who possessed fortified stone houses and

144-537: A monastery called Ludingakerke . The monks of the monastery dug canals from Almenum to an already existing channel past Vlieland and Texel to provide access to trading vessels. (In these times the coast was in a completely different spot, and the Marne and Vlie may have provided part of the route.) Ludingakerk became one of the richest monasteries in Friesland. The area west of Almenum, became more important and turned into

180-528: A red background for its own flag in honour of this legendary flag. Another story called Magnuskeren says that Magnus Forteman received a charter from Pope Leo III and emperor Charles recording seven keren, Seventeen Statutes, Twenty Four Landlaws (Landrechten Keuren) and 36 Synod Laws. He hung this charter in the St. Michael's church. The reason this church was chosen, was because there were very few churches in Frisia at

216-581: A silversmith from Almenum from 1790 to 1800. As a result of the First French Empire annexing the Netherlands, Almenum was created as a canton (French municipality) in the Frise department between 1 January 1812 and 1 October 1816. The municipality was bounded on the north by Sexbierum, Tjum to the east and northeast, Franeker to the northeast, Arum to the south, and Harlingen to the west. Villages included in

252-415: A surrounding farming estate ( stins and state). The hoofdelingen were farmers who worked for their wealth and status by acquiring farmland and consolidated their positions by holding important local administrative and judicial roles (such as that of grietman ). Frisian politics was largely decentralized at the time. Officially, Friesland had a communal government structure with a central board called

288-562: The Maximilian I of Austria, and his general Albrecht III , Duke of Saxony. The Vetkoper party consisted of a large number of minor hoofdelingen , who were supported by common freehold farmers from the peat areas. The Vetkopers supported self government. A contemporary Frisian nobleman Jancko Douwama (1482–1533), wrote in his memoirs, titled the Boeck der Partijen ("Book of the Parties") about

324-514: The Recht en Raad , which was populated by 30 rural grietmen and 11 city mayors. The real rule, however, was exercised at the local level, in the grietenij , the city, and even in the village. The grietman , which was officially a democratically elected official, were predominantly sourced from the hoofdelingen class. This was because the Hoofdelingen were able to offer military protection to

360-583: The Almenum church. However he was slaughtered in a revenge killing by Herring of Woldens and Bonne Bonninga. Ede Douwez Gerbranda belonged to the Vetkopers At a later point, perhaps somewhere between 1200 and 1500, an inscription in the St. Michael's church stated that the bones of Magnus of Anagni , Martyr and Bishop were transported from Fondi to the church at the time of a Saracen invasion in Italy. The inscription

396-555: The Lordship of Friesland. Henry IV circulated letters of bidding to the Schieringer hoofdelingen to implement harsh new taxes under an extremely short timeline, with severe consequences, in order to raise money. In a very short time, the occupation by the Duke and his Landsknecht military force became unacceptable to many Frisians and there were a significant number of revolts. Although

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432-693: The Schieringers and Vetkopers united with support of the Duke of Gelderland against Henry IV and the Saxon Landsknecht army, they were unable to regain their old freedoms. In an effort to prevent weapons from being used against them in the future, the Saxons attempted to forbid or severely limit the possession of weapons among the Frisian people. There was too much of a long-standing tradition of communal self-defence by

468-450: The Schieringers. Albrecht, now known for his impressive military skills and with the support of his highly trained Landsknechte mercenaries, gathered his army near Laaxum in June 1498 to defeat the Schieringers once and for all. The Schieringer forces were made up of local Frisian militia headed by hoofdelingen , and they were no match for the well-equipped German army led by Albrecht. This

504-575: The Vetkoper factions in Friesland led to more extensive and violent conflicts. These Landsknechte would offer their services in fixed groups for several weeks or months to anyone willing to pay their wages. Their wages could only be raised by imposing heavy taxes on the cities and grietenijen . Their presence resulted in further destabilization since the Landsknechte would turn rogue if their wages were not paid, leading them to pillage and set fire to

540-514: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.151 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 360081635 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:34:28 GMT Vetkopers The Vetkopers and Schieringers ( West Frisian : Fetkeapers en Skieringers ) were two opposing Frisian factional parties from the medieval period. They were responsible for

576-423: The beneficiaries, we see many individuals who were notably affluent in 1511. It appears that these confiscations contributed to a discernible shift of wealth from Frisians to non-Frisians, and from the less wealthy to the affluent. Saxon subjugation ended Frisian municipal independence. Although still spoken at the time, the Frisian language did not have any official status. Frisian languages would disappear from

612-410: The church was opened on New Year's Day 1775. The Bible reading used for the opening was from John 10:22. The tower from the old church was not demolished, but instead refaced with new stone. At the beginning of the nineteenth century there were two brickworks in Almenum. The area was suitable because it was near a seaport where bricks were needed as ballast in ships. Jan van der Geest was recorded as

648-415: The city of Harlingen . In the 13th century the wooden building was replaced by a stone church with a hall with twin aisles. Somewhere between the 10th and 12th century the old wooden building was replaced by one made from tufa with a tower. In 1234 AD Harlingen was recognised officially as a city near to the west of Almenum. On 14 December 1287, the devastating St. Lucia's flood permanently altered

684-569: The intensification of conflicts towards the end of the 1400s. The availability of these mercenaries increased following the death of Charles the Bold in 1477, and the consequent unrest in various regions, such as the Burgundian Netherlands , the prince-bishopric of Utrecht , and the Duchy of Guelders , especially during times of war. The use of these highly trained mercenaries by both Schieringer and

720-645: The landscape creating the Zuiderzee and bringing the Wadden Sea coast to Harlingen, and thereby giving it the opportunity to become a seaport. Nearby villages Berdingadorp , Medumwart, Dikesherna and parts of the Gerbranda estate lands were lost due to sea encroachment. The church at Berdingadorp was merged with the church at Almenum. Schelte Roorda beat Douwe Edes Gerbranda to death in 1453 in Bolsward, and sought sanctuary in

756-425: The local grietenij militias. Significant local resistance remained and they were unable to achieve a complete disarmament of the local grietenij militias. The reign of the dukes of Saxony lasted from 1498 to 1515. On 19 May 1515 George , Duke of Saxony sold Groningen and Friesland to Emperor Charles V , for 100,000 Dutch florins. Like the rest of the Netherlands and an even larger part of Europe, Friesland

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792-424: The local inhabitants that lived under the influence of their stins . From the 1480s it was a common practice that the hoofdelingen nobility established a core militia composed of a few permanent men-at-arms and a few permanent mercenaries, along with an auxiliary force of several hundred inhabitants from the town, city, grietenij or collection of villages over which they held influence. The auxiliary force

828-450: The municipality were Midlum , Achlum , Koningsbuurt , and what are now eastern and northern parts of Harlingen. Using the name nowadays there is a home for the elderly called Almenum across the other side of the van Harinxmakanaal , and a hotel in nearby Harlingen. A Frisian flax variety with white flowers was named "Almenum". A small bulk freighter was called Almenum . Boniface Too Many Requests If you report this error to

864-506: The origins of the discord between the warring parties in Friesland and his definition of the terms Skieringers and Fetkeapers. According to Jancko the Fetkopers ( pronounced [ˈfɛtkoːpərs] ; "fat-buyers") were so called because they had much and could buy fat products. The poor adopted the name Skieringers ( pronounced [ˈskiːrɪŋərs] ; "speakers") because they had tried firstly discussion rather than violence. In

900-576: The second half of the fifteenth century the Fetkeaper town of Groningen , which had become the dominating force in Frisia, tried to interfere in Mid-Frisian affairs. The meddling met strong opposition in Skieringer held Westergo and ended in a call for foreign help. The use of trained foot-soldier mercenaries known as Landsknechte by both the Schieringer and Vetkoper parties played a significant role in

936-525: The surrounding areas. Albrecht III , the Duke of Saxony, used the Landsknechte to destabilize Friesland in a cunning manner. In 1496, he used these hired mercenaries to aid the Schieringers in driving out the Groninger and Vetkoper alliance from Westergo. Afterwards, he lent some Landsknechte mercenaries to the Vetkoper, Tjerk Walta , for two reasons: to relieve himself the burden of paying their wages and to cause further instability. This interference

972-435: The time. The Harns and Harliga families occupied fortified estates in the west of Almenum. They jostled for preeminence and were rivals. On Easter day in the year 1064 Ruurd Jans Harliga killed Sasker Harns in a dispute about who would first make an offering for the poor at the church. This triggered a vendetta involving three families. The Gratinga, Gerbranda, and Harns families were killing and massacring each other for over

1008-504: Was 10.25 × 22.5 meters in size. It burned down twice and was rebuilt. A legend says that a miraculous red banner called Magnusvaan was included in the walls of the St. Michaëlsdom church. This flag, according to legend, belonged to Friso the founder of the Frisian people . It had miraculous powers to avert lightning and storms, to repel evil spirits, and make one invincible. After Friso's death he

1044-578: Was buried with the flag and no one knew of it. Willibrord the apostle to the Frisians, had a dream where an angel pointed out the spot where the red flag lay buried. The bishop Willibrord excavated it and gave it to Magnus Forteman. The flag was used when Magnus conquered Rome. After this it was hidden again in the wall of the church at Almenum. The Saxons searched for it and could not find it, and legend has it that no one will be able to find it. Jancko Douwama recorded this legend, but also named Oldeboorn or Ferwoude as possible locations. Ferwoude adopted

1080-475: Was certainly real, but the story it gave, may not be. Philip II of Spain granted Harlingen permission to include Almenum within its border in 1563. This caused a dispute with Barradeel which also claimed the hamlet. The city of Harlingen expanded, and by 1580 the Cathedral of Almenum and most of the village was within the city walls. The church at that time was the reformed church for residents of Harlingen. This

1116-578: Was formed by huislieden (plural of huisman) , which means that they were common people who owned a house, be it as a freeholder or a tenant. Feuds between hoofdelingen eventually consolidated in aligning along two opposing parties: the Skieringers and the Fetkeapers. The Schieringer party was led by major hoofdelingen such as the traditional families Harinxma, Sjaerda, Martena, Camstra and Camminga. The Schieringers sought alliances with monarchs such as

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1152-587: Was not necessarily due to the Frisian militia's lack of fighting spirit, but rather due to their lack of organized leadership, military training and armaments, resulting in a disorganized and poorly coordinated attack. As a result of the Battle at Laaxum on 10 June 1498, the Frisian Freedom came to an end. Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg appointed Albrecht hereditary potestate and gubernator of Friesland in 1499. By 1500, his son Henry IV , Duke of Saxony, inherited

1188-504: Was only resolved in 1684 when Henry Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietz decided that it belonged to Harlingen. The church contained a tomb of D. Georgius of Espelbach, grietman of Barradeel , and mayor of Harlingen who died 19 March 1575 at the age of 63. The St. Michaëlsdom church was demolished in 1771 and replaced by a new cross-shaped structure called the Grote Kerk which stands till this day. Construction started on 25 May 1772 and

1224-487: Was shattered, with the Groningers being forced to enter into a humiliating agreement. The most significant provision of this agreement was that they would pay the Landsknechte mercenaries 30,000 Rhine guilders and, in doing so, relinquish their rights to Westergo and Oostergo to Albrecht , the Duke of Saxony. However weakened, Gronigen femained free from Saxon defeat for the time being. Albrecht III next focussed on

1260-476: Was successful to the point where the Schieringer hoofdelingen felt so trapped that they had no choice but to request the Duke's protection on 21 March 1498. Of course the hired Landsknechte of Tjerk Walta did not want to fight their own, those who were under the command of Albrecht III , so they simply returned to Saxon service under the Duke. By the end of April 1498, the Groninger-Vetkoper alliance

1296-646: Was under the rule of the House of Habsburg . However, Friesland remained in a civil war, for some time, at least up until 1523. In the years 1516 to 1517, a significant number of confiscations were recorded that involved the forced transfer of property from the Vetkoper-supporting families in Friesland to non-Frisian nobility. It seems that the Burgundian government used these confiscations to reward their own loyal Schieringer supporters with property in Friesland. Among

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