The County of East-Frisia ( Frisian: Greefskip Eastfryslân; Dutch: Graafschap Oost-Friesland) was a county (though ruled by a prince after 1662) in the region of

East Frisia East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...

in the northwest of the present-day German state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

County

Originally East Frisia was part of the larger Frisian realm. The Frisians had practically no higher authority above them. There did exist, though, respected families of chieftains (''Häuptling''), who aspired to increase their, mostly local, power and influence. In the 15th century, the Cirksena dynasty managed to establish its authority in practically all of East Frisia. In 1464,

Ulrich I of East Frisia Ulrich I of East Frisia, first count of East Frisia (1408 in Norden – 25 or 26 September 1466, in Emden) was a son of the chieftain Enno Edzardisna of Norden and Greetsiel, and Gela of Manslagt. Biography His father Enno had inherited Norde ...

was raised to the status of

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III (German: ''Friedrich III,'' 21 September 1415 – 19 August 1493) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 until his death. He was the fourth king and first emperor of the House of Habsburg. He was the penultimate emperor to be crowne ...

, and East Frisia became a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Origin of the county

In 1430, led by chieftain Edzard Cirksena of Greetsiel, a freedom-alliance was formed against the ruling

Focko Ukena Focko Ukena ( Neermoor, 1360 or 1370 – 1435) was an East Frisian chieftain (''hovetling'') who played an important part in the struggle between the Vetkopers and Schieringers in the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. Aside from this he ...

. Together with his brother Ulrich, Edzard managed to remove the Ukena-faction from power. After the marriage in 1455 of Ulrich Cirksena with

Theda Ukena Theda Ukena (1432 in Oldersum – 16 November 1494 in Greetsiel) was from 1466 to about 1480 regent of the County of East Frisia. Theda was the granddaughter and heiress of the chief Focko Ukena (died 1436) and was born in 1432 in Oldersu ...

, a granddaughter of his enemy, the majority of East Frisia was united. Only the Lordships of Jever and Friedeburg could maintain their independence.

Sibet Attena Sibet Attena (also: la, Sibo; – 8 November 1473) was an East Frisian chieftain. He was a son of Sibet of Dornum (''"old Sibet"'') (d. 1433) and Frouwa of Manslagt, a daughter of Enno Cirksena. From his father he inherited the Beninga Cas ...

, a nephew and aid to Ulrich received the lordships Esens, Stedesdorf and Wittmund, which together formed the Harlingerland. The Harlingerland did remain under the higher authority of the Cirksena family. Because Ocko I tom Brok had given the territory to the count 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 Provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

in 1381, the status of the rulers of East Frisia was unclear. The ruler of East Frisia decided to improve his situation by turning directly to the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

. As a result, Emperor Frederick III raised Ulrich in 1464 to an imperial count. The emperor gave to Ulrich I the ''Imperial County in Norden, Emden, Emisgonien in East Frisia''.

Consolidation of the County

After the death of Ulrich I, his widow Theda ruled in the name of their children, who were still minors. Theda managed to withstand the threats of Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy and count Gerd of Oldenburg. In 1481 she added the lordship of

Fredeburg Fredeburg is a municipality in the district of Lauenburg, in Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most o ...

to the county. Under her son Edzard I, there were quarrels with the chieftains of the Harlingerland and the Jeverland and with the prince-bishop of

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

and the

Hansa Hansa may refer to: Places * Hanseatic League, a 13th–17th century alliance of European trading cities * Hansa (shopping centre), in Turku, Finland *Hansa-Park, a German attraction park * 480 Hansa, a main-belt asteroid, a minor planet orbiting ...

-city of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

. Jeverland and Harlingerland remained independent, but Butjadingen became subject to East Frisian authority.

The struggle for the Frisian lands

A new situation was created with the appointment of George of Saxony as imperial

stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...

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 ...

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death. He was never crowned by the pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed himself E ...

. This appointment was the last attempt to unify all of Frisia under one ruler. Count Edzard recognised George as his feudal lord. Rebellions broke out, however, in

and the Groninger Ommelanden. In 1506 Edzard broke his allegiance to George, forming an alliance with

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...

instead. Edzard was now recognised by the Groninger Ommelanden as its ruler. In 1512, primogeniture was introduced to preserve the newly created unity. In 1515 the successors of George of Saxony relinquished their rights to Friesland to Duke Charles of Burgundy, the later emperor Charles V. The conflict ended in 1517 in a treaty between Edzard and Charles, in which Charles recognised the possessions of Edzard as an imperial county.

The Reformation

After 1519 the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

made its way into East Frisia, initially with a very tolerant view towards

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. After Edzard I was succeeded by his son

Enno II Enno may refer to: People Given name * Enno I, Count of Ostfriesland (1460–1491) * Enno II, Count of Ostfriesland (1505–1540) *Enno III, Count of Ostfriesland (1563–1625) * Enno Brandrøk (1538–1571), Norwegian noble- and highwayman (name ...

in 1528, the suppression of Catholicism began. Most East-Frisian monasteries and abbeys were secularised. Aside from this, a wide rift emerged between the Lutherans and the Calvinists.

Marriage-politics and territorial size

In 1517 an agreement was signed in which the marriage between Enno II and Maria of Jever was planned. But Enno II broke the agreement and instead married Anna of Oldenburg in 1529. In this marriage, Butjadingen was given to Oldenburg, and in return, Oldenburg relinquished its claims to Jever. In response, Maria of Jever drove out the East Frisian occupiers of Jever in 1531, and in 1532 she recognised the Duke of Burgundy, Charles V as her feudal lord. The Harlingerland was loaned to the Duchy of Guelders.

Dutch intervention

The power of the count was put under pressure in the 16th century, partially because of the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Ref ...

. The city of

Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of ...

became a popular destination for Dutch Calvinists fleeing from religious persecution in the Netherlands. Count Edzard II, however, was

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

. In 1595 the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiograph ...

interfered in the quarrel between the city and the count with the Treaty of Delfzijl, where the Lutheran count recognised the Dutch influence and the (Calvinistic) Reformed Church. Dutch troops were stationed in

and Leer. In 1602, count Enno attempted to drive out the Dutch with support from the Emperor and the Spanish king, but he was rebuffed. In a new treaty in 1603 he was forced to accept the Dutch occupation and religious consequences for an undetermined amount of time. In the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

, Imperial troops entered the county in 1628. While they did not clash with the Dutch troops present in the county, the Dutch States-General did stop supplying the

Eems In DOS memory management, expanded memory is a system of bank switching that provided additional memory to DOS programs beyond the limit of conventional memory (640 KiB). ''Expanded memory'' is an umbrella term for several incompatible tec ...

valley.

Status after 1744

The territory fell to

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 e ...

in 1744. Following the ''Emden Convention'' concluded on March 14, 1744 between the city of

and

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...

, the latter was allowed to march without resistance into East Frisia, when the last count Charles Edzard died on May 25 without children. In 1807 it was annexed by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and added to the

Kingdom of Holland The Kingdom of Holland ( nl, Holland (contemporary), (modern); french: Royaume de Hollande) was created by Napoleon Bonaparte, overthrowing the Batavian Republic in March 1806 in order to better control the Netherlands. Since becoming Empero ...

as the department of East-Frisia. After France directly annexed the kingdom in 1810, the territory became part of the French Ems-Oriental department. In 1815 it was added to the

Kingdom of Hannover The Kingdom of Hanover (german: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Hano ...

. In present-day it is part of the German state of

References

{{Authority control

History of East Frisia

1460s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1464 establishments in Europe 1744 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire Early Modern history of Germany Former monarchies of Europe