States of Friesland

The States of Friesland were the sovereign body that governed the province of Friesland under the Dutch Republic. They were formed in 1580 after the former Lordship of Frisia (a part of the Habsburg Netherlands) acceded to the Union of Utrecht and became one of the Seven United Netherlands. The Frisian stadtholder was their "First Servant" (mostly in military matters, as he had few other powers before 1748, when the Government Regulations for Friesland were promulgated by then-stadtholder William IV, Prince of Orange). The board of ''Gedeputeerde Staten'' (Delegated States) was the executive of the province when the States were not in session (which was most of the time). The States of Friesland were abolished after the Batavian Revolution of 1795, when the Batavian Republic was founded. They were resurrected in name (but not in substance) in the form of the Provincial States of Friesland under the Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Background

After the Lordship of Frisia (formerly enjoying Imperial immediacy in the Holy Roman Empire, but given as a fief to the father of George, Duke of Saxony in 1498 by Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, then still King of the Romans, and sold by duk George to Charles V in 1515), became part of the Habsburg Netherlands, its government followed the general Habsburg model of a stadtholder with a Council (in this case the Court of Friesland). But as in other provinces of the Netherlands a States was periodically convened to send representatives to the States General of the Netherlands to deliberate about the granting of extraordinary subsidies to the central government (called ''Beden''), and as in other provinces the three Estates: Clergy, Nobility, and Third Estate were represented in that body. In Friesland the Third Estate was formed by representatives of the three ''Goas'' that made up Friesland: ''Westergo'', ''Oostergo'', and ''Zevenwouden''. These representatives were elected by ''eigenerfden'' (comparable to freeholders) who possessed a ''hornleger'' (a farmhouse and yard), with a parcel of land attached that was taxed for the ''verponding'' or ''floreen'' (a land tax that was comparable to the French ''Taille'').Wierdsma, p. 11 The "electoral districts" were formed by the 30 ''Grietenijen'' into which Friesland was subdivided. Originally the citizens of the eleven cities were mixed in with the peasants and nobles in the ''grietenijen'', but just before the accession of Friesland to the Union of Utrecht in 1580, they were allowed to form a separate fourth "quarter", apart from the three Goas just mentioned, by then-stadtholder George de Lalaing, Count of Rennenberg, and have their own representation in the States. After the revolutionary period of the accession to the Union in 1579-1580 the Clergy and Nobility no longer participated in the States, at least as separate Estates.

The ''Gedeputeerde Staten'' (Delegated States) also predated the Dutch Republic. Already in the 1530s they were formed by the States as a counterweight against the Court of Friesland (then still mainly a kind of Privy council for the stadtholder, and secondarily the court of highest instance in the Lordship).Gewestelijke bestuursinstellingen During the first years of the Dutch Revolt they achieved a permanent existence when Rennenberg in 1577 formally recognized them after the Pacification of Ghent. Initially they consisted of two members for each of the "quarters" of Friesland, but in 1584 the quarter of the cites was given three representatives, bringing the total number of members to nine. They formed the true "Executive" on a daily basis and were directly responsible to the States.

Organisation and Powers

The States of Friesland were the assembly of the thirty ''grietenijen'' and eleven citiesLeeuwarden and Dokkum in ''Oostergo''; Harlingen, Franeker, Bolsward, Sneek, IJlst, Workum, and Stavoren in ''Westergo''; and Sloten in ''Zevenwouden''. of Friesland in which each had one vote. (In comparison, the States of Holland and West Friesland were made up of eighteen cities and the ''ridderschap'' (College of Nobles) of the County of Holland, each having one vote). Other than most other provinces, Friesland did not have a ''Ridderschap'' as part of its States, and the Clergy was also no longer represented as such (though individual nobles and clergymen could of course be delegates). Every ''grietenij'' and every city was allowed to send two delegates to the annual session of the States, that was known as the ''Landdag'' (Landtag or Diet (assembly)). The ''grietenijen'' elected such delegates, called ''Volmachten'' (which literally means Proxy) in elections in which owners of a taxable parcel of land of a certain minimum size, with a farmhouse on it (so-called ''eigenerfden''), could take part. The minimum size varied over the course of time. In the Government Regulations adopted in 1748 the minimum size was put at five ''pondematen''One ''pondemaat'' was 0. 3674 hectare, so slightly less than an acre; Cf. Wierdsma, p. 16, note 3. of clay soil, or ten ''pondematen'' of woodland.

The vote was tied to the land and was transferred when the land was sold or otherwise transferred. The minimum size of the taxable parcel so determined the number of votes in the ''grietenij''. The system was open to the abuse of amassing these taxable parcels to amass votes in the ''grietenij'' elections. Indeed, vote collectors would buy the plots with borrowed money, giving a mortgage to the lender, and then immediately renting it out to a tenant, who would not be eligible to vote. The ''hornlegers'' on this land were rented out in perpetuity for very low rents (sometimes the value of two roosters) and still allow the new owner to use the vote attached to the land (so-called "rooster votes"), but for this reason the Regulation of 1748 stipulated that the new owner should own the house for at least a year, before he could use its vote.

Not everybody who owned such a taxable parcel was allowed to vote, however. Excluded were members of religious denominations that were "not-admitted". The only admitted denominations were the Dutch Reformed Church (and its French-language equivalent, the Walloon church); the Lutheran church, and the Mennonites. Minors could be represented by their guardians. Otherwise, everybody (women, as well as men, natural-born citizens as well as aliens) could exercise the vote.

Passive suffrage was more restricted. In the first place, one of the ''Volmachten'' of every ''grietenij'' had to be an ''eigenerfde'' (i.e. a commoner), while the other had to be a "nobleman." But this immediately posed the problem that Friesland did not have a nobility in the usual sense of families who had received a feudal fief from a liege lord, or people who had been knighted, for lack of a feudal history. However, Friesland did have notable families of great substance, who lived on castles known as ''Stinsen'', and enjoyed the respect of the local population, whose "natural leaders" they were. These people (though not having pieces of paper, such as patents of nobility, to prove their claim) were generally considered members of the domestic nobility, and they often used noble titles like baron or jonkheer. On the other hand, members of foreign"Foreign" in this case could mean being a citizen of one of the other provinces of the Dutch Republic, as well as of foreign countries. nobility could be "recognized" as nobles. But all in all, the qualification was vague and gave occasion to much litigation before the ''Gedeputeerde Staten'' (who acted as the competent court in disputes about accreditation).

The ''volmachten'' representing the cities also were of two kinds: one had to be a member of the city ''vroedschap''; the other a member of the city magistracy, like a ''burgemeester''. These delegates were, however, elected by the combined ''vroedschap'' and magistracy, not by each separately. In sum, the ''Landdag'' usually consisted of 84 members (60 for the ''grietenijen'' and 22 for the cities). But as so much in Friesland this was not strictly enforced, and often the number of delegates was (much) larger, though the number of votes remained fixed at (30 + 11 =) 41.

For all ''volmachten'' was required that they be:
* either natural-born citizens of Friesland, or naturalized former aliens, who had resided at least ten years in Friesland;
* at least 20 years of age (though the minimum age, was sometimes put as high as 25);Wierdsma, p. 24
* an avowed Patriot;
* a member of the Dutch Reformed Church (so this was more restrictive than the requirement for active suffrage, mentioned above);Wierdsma, p. 25
* finally, there were a number of incompatibilities, like the ineligibility of officers of cities as delegates of the land-quarters, and of officers of the ''grietenijen'' and land-quarters as delegates for the cities; and delegates, closely related by blood or marriage, could not be delegates in the same body at the same time

The ''Landdag'' was usually convened once a year (in January), by a summons issued by the ''Gedeputeerde Staten'' to the ''Grietmannen'' of the ''grietenijen'' and the city governments, who were charged with organizing the elections. The summons usually specified the agenda for the session also, though this would not bind the ''Landdag''. After the elections had taken place the ''volmachten'' would convene at the ''Landshuis'' in Leeuwarden at the appointed day and time. After the opening of the session they would divide themselves up in four "chambers" (one for each "quarter"), who would start their deliberations in four rooms assigned to these quarters.

The work of the ''Landdag'' on a daily basis was organized by a steering committee of eight ''volmachten'' (two for each quarter) called the ''Mindergetal'' (literally "smaller number" as they were a committee from the States that was smaller than the number of the delegates in the ''Landdag''). Initially this committee was elected by the ''Landdag'' at the beginning of the deliberations, but later they were appointed for a number of years, according to a schedule of rotation. All documents for the States (such as petitions) first had to be submitted to the ''Mindergetal'', whose members would convey them to their own Chamber, and report back to the ''Mindergetal'' with the advice from the Chamber. The ''Mindergetal'' also drafted Resolutions for the ''Landdag'', which were then submitted to the Chambers for deliberation and consent. The ''Mindergetal'' also advised the States on documents from the States General and the Council of State.

As elsewhere in the Dutch Republic the "center of gravity" of government was located in local government (i.e. the cities and villages). Sovereignty was supposed to be located "in the People" and to percolate upward from there to the States of the province by way of the local authorities, where it was eventually "reposited". The States were (at least after 1588, when the last of the Governors-General, who before then were considered the founts of sovereignty, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, left Dutch territory forever) considered the governing bodies where sovereignty ultimately residedAnd therefore not, as often is incorrectly assumed, in the stadtholders of the several provinces. But under the Union of Utrecht the seven provinces had concluded a defensive alliance in 1579 and delegated certain sovereign powers upward to the States General of the Netherlands, such as the common defense and foreign policy. For these common matters the provinces had to supply financial contributions and these contributions were with their consent determined in the States General. The States of the provinces were therefore in the first place responsible for the representation of their province in the States General, and for providing the agreed contributions. Legislating about the necessary taxation in each province was therefore an important task of the States (though the collection of those taxes was usually left to the local authorities, who in turn, before 1748, outsourced that task to tax farmers). The States were generally the legislature on the provincial level, though most civil and criminal law already existed under the system known as Roman-Dutch law