Eggerik Beninga (1490–1562), also known as Eggeric(k) Benninga or Benynga, was an

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 ...

n chronicler and steward of the Leerort Fortress. From 1540 to 1556 he was also counselor to

Anna of Oldenburg Anna of Oldenburg (14 November 150124 September 1575) was a Countess consort of East Frisia as the spouse of Count Enno II of East Frisia. She was the Regent of East Frisia in 1542–1561 as the guardian for her minor sons, Johan II and Edzard II. ...

. He wrote an account of the history of the

Frisians The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, ...

until the year 1562 A.D. Beninga was born in Grimersum, now a part of

Krummhörn Krummhörn is a municipality in the district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, ...

municipality, Germany. He was the son of Garrelt Beninga, chieftain and bailiff at Wirdum, Jennelt and Grimersum, and of Essa Houwerda of Up- and Wolthusen, daughter of Snelger Houwerda from

Termunten Termunten () is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is a part of the municipality of Eemsdelta, and lies about 33 km east of Groningen. Termunten was an independent municipality until 1990, when it was merged with Delfzijl. H ...

. His father's family was an established family of East Frisian chieftains and Eggerik himself came to serve at the court of

Edzard I, Count of East Frisia Edzard I, also Edzard the Great (15 January 1462 in Greetsiel – 14 February 1528 in Emden) was count of East Frisia from 1491 until his death in 1528. Edzard succeeded his brother Enno in 1492. He fought with George, Duke of Saxony over ...

at a young age. As a chronicler he wrote the ''Volledige Chronyk van Oostfrieslant'' in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

or ''Cronica der Fresen'' in

Low German language : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...

'Complete Chronicle of East Frisia'' and ''Chronicle of the Frisians'', respectively The account does not only deal with events concerning East Frisia but also lists the history of all neighbouring peoples. His sources remain unknown, which is why the authenticity of his work has been questioned. Many events described by Benninga are however known from secondary historians of the time. His history of East Frisia was edited by Eilhardus Folkardus Harkenroth (1670–1732). Another edition by Anthonius Matthaeus was printed in

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 1706 based on a different manuscript. Eggerik Beninga died in Grimersum in 1562.

Bibliography

* Second edition (1738): Den Haag. * * This edition is based on a different manuscript than that by Harkenroht.

References

* * 1490 births 1562 deaths People from Aurich (district) East Frisians German Frisians Writers from Lower Saxony German male writers Frisian writers {{Germany-writer-stub