William I (c. 1167 – 4 February 1222) was

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 (Dijkstra suggests ...

from 1203 to 1222. He was the younger son of

Floris III Floris III (1141 – August 1, 1190) was the count of Holland from 1157 to 1190. He was a son of Dirk VI and Sophia of Rheineck, heiress of Bentheim. Career Floris III was a loyal vassal to Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. He accompanied the emp ...

and Ada of Huntingdon.

Early life

William was born in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

, but raised in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. He participated in the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity ( Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

under Emperor Frederick I alongside his father, Floris, and his uncle

Otto of Bentheim Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded ...

. He started a revolt against his brother, Dirk VII and became count in

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

after a reconciliation. Friesland was considered a part of Holland by the counts of Holland. His niece Ada inherited Holland in 1203, but William refused to accept this. After a war of succession, known as the Loon War (1203–1206), William won the county. Ada and her husband, Louis II of Loon, were supported by the bishop of Liège, bishop of Utrecht, and the

count of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the ...

. William was supported by the

duke of Brabant The Duke of Brabant (, ) was the ruler of the Duchy of Brabant since 1183/1184. The title was created by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I of the House of Reginar, son of Godfrey III of Leuven (who was duke of ...

and by the majority of the Hollanders.

Countship

Emperor Otto IV acknowledged him as count of Holland in 1203 because he was a supporter of the

Welfs The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconian family from the Meus ...

. He and many others changed allegiance to Frederick II after the

battle of Bouvines The Battle of Bouvines was fought on 27 July 1214 near the town of Bouvines in the County of Flanders. It was the concluding battle of the Anglo-French War of 1213–1214. Although estimates on the number of troops vary considerably among mo ...

in 1214. He took part in a French expedition against

King John of England King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the t ...

. The

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

him for this. Possibly because of this, William then became a fervent crusader and by this his excommunication was lifted. He campaigned in

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. In Europe, he came to be called William ''the Crazy'' for his chivalric and reckless behaviour in battle. On his way to the Egypt, he commanded a joined force of Frisian, Dutch, Flemish and Rhenish crusaders that helped the Portuguese conquered the city of Alcácer do Sal from the

Almohads The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the unity of God) was a North African Berber Muslim empire fo ...

as it is noted in the De itinere Frisonum and the ''

Gesta crucigerorum Rhenanorum The ''Gesta crucigerorum Rhenanorum'' ('Deeds of the Rhineland Crusaders') is an anonymous Latin eyewitness account of the Fifth Crusade written by a cleric from Neuss who travelled with a fleet from the Rhineland. It covers the period 1217–1219 ...

''. William helped to conquer the city of

Damietta Damietta ( arz, دمياط ' ; cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, Tamiati) is a port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, an easte ...

during the

Fifth Crusade The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by al-Adil, brother of Sala ...

. There were great changes in the landscape of

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

in the end of the 12th and during the 13th century. Many colonists bought land to turn the swamps into

polders A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plain ...

. Most of the swamps had been sold, and irrigation had started during the reign of William. Huge infrastructural works were done; the island called Grote Waard was enclosed with dikes all around and a dam was built at Spaarndam. New governmental bodies were created, the so-called ''water boards'', which were charged with the task of protecting the polders against ever-present threat of flooding. Count William granted city rights to Geertruidenberg in 1213, to

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

in 1217, to Middelburg in 1220 and perhaps also to

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

. In this way he gave an impulse to trade.

Family

Count William was married twice. First, he was married in 1197 at Stavoren to

Adelaide of Guelders Adelaide of Guelders ( – 1218) was the daughter of Count Otto I of Guelders and his wife, Richardis, the daughter of Duke Otto I of Bavaria and Agnes of Loon. Also known as Adelaide of Bellich or Alice of Guelders. In 1197 in Stavoren, sh ...

, daughter of Otto I, Count of Guelders and Richarde of Bavaria. They had the following children: # Floris IV (1210–19 July 1234), who succeeded William I as count of Holland #

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorde ...

(died in 1249), regent of Holland in 1238–1239, bishop of Utrecht # William (died in 1238), regent of Holland in 1234–1238 # Richardis (died in 1262) # Ada, abbess at

Rijnsburg Rijnsburg () is a village in the eastern part of the municipality of Katwijk, in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The name means Rhine's Burg in Dutch. History The history starts way before the 2th century when there was ...

in 1239 Adelaide died on 12 February 1218 while William was away on crusade. In 1220 Count William married Marie of Brabant, widow of Emperor Otto IV.

References

* {{Authority control 1160s births 1222 deaths Nobility from The Hague People temporarily excommunicated by the Catholic Church Dutch monarchs Dutch people of Scottish descent Counts of Holland People of the Northern Crusades Christians of the Third Crusade Christians of the Fifth Crusade People of the Reconquista Burials at Rijnsburg Abbey 13th-century people of the Holy Roman Empire