Dirk VII (died 4 November 1203, in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

A. W. E. Dek ''Genealogie der graven van Holland'', Zaltbommel : Europese Bibliotheek, 1969., but without further sources; se
Dirk VII, graaf van Holland
(Dutch)) was the

count of Holland The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century. The Frisian origins While the Frisian kingdom had comprised most of the present day Netherlands, the later province of Friesland ...

from 1190 to 1203. He was the elder son of Floris III and Ada of Huntingdon.

Life

Due to a civil war in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

Emperor Henry VI Henry VI (German: ''Heinrich VI.''; November 1165 – 28 September 1197), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of Sic ...

had to find ways to make friends. He supported Dirk by giving him the right to levy tolls on Flemish traders in Geervliet. Henry also gave Holland the Grote Waard (

and its surroundings), at the cost of the bishopric of Utrecht. He also set aside the

Salic law The Salic law ( or ; ), also called the was the ancient Frankish Civil law (legal system), civil law code compiled around AD 500 by Clovis I, Clovis, the first Frankish King. The name may refer to the Salii, or "Salian Franks", but this is deba ...

for the succession to the County of Holland, which meant that it could be inherited by a female heir. In 1196, Dirk temporarily gained the princely authority of the bishopric of Utrecht. This meant war with Count Otto I of

Guelders The Duchy of Guelders (; ; ) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in present-day Germany. Though the present pr ...

. Otto was defeated at the Battle of the

Grebbeberg The Grebbeberg is a 52-meter high hill located east of Rhenen, Netherlands in the province of Utrecht. It forms the southeastern tip of the Utrecht Hill Ridge, a moraine. Due to its strategic location with a view of the Lower Rhine and the Betu ...

. In 1197

Dirk van Are Dirk van Are (? - 1212), also Dietrich II of Are, was bishop and lord of Utrecht in the thirteenth century. He appears to be one of those martial churchmen who were better qualified for the camp than the choir. He was Bishop of Utrecht from 1198 ...

was elected as the new bishop. As such, he recovered the princely authority of Utrecht. The

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

s were losing the civil war, so Count Dirk changed sides and gave his allegiance to the Welfs. The Frisians in

Oostergo Eastergoa (also Ostergau, Ostergo, or Oostergo) was one of the Seven Sealands and one of the three ''gau (territory), Gaue'' within what is today the province of Friesland in the Netherlands. Area On its west side Eastergoa was bordered by ...

and Westergo supported Dirk's brother

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, who invaded Holland. William was supported by some of the

West Frisians The West Frisians or, more precisely, the Westlauwers Frisians (, ), are those Frisian peoples in that part of Frisia administered by the Netherlands: the Province of Friesland, which is bounded in the west by the IJsselmeer and in the east by ...

as well. In 1202 Dirk allied himself with Otto of Guelders, and they both attacked Brabant. Brabant claimed Holland, Utrecht and Guelders as dukes of

Lotharingia Lotharingia was a historical region and an early medieval polity that existed during the late Carolingian and early Ottonian era, from the middle of the 9th to the middle of the 10th century. It was established in 855 by the Treaty of Prüm, a ...

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

and Geertruidenberg were sacked during this campaign. Duke Henry I of Brabant took Dirk prisoner at

Heusden Heusden () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the south of the Netherlands. It is located between the towns of Waalwijk and 's-Hertogenbosch. The municipality of Heusden, including Herpt, Heesbeen, Hedikhuizen, Do ...

. As well as having to pay a high ransom, he had to accept the Duke of Brabant as his overlord in southern Holland and the bishop of Utrecht as his overlord in northern Holland. Huwelijk Ada van Holland met Lodewijk II met stervende Dirk VII van Holland

Huwelijk Ada van Holland met Lodewijk II met stervende Dirk VII van Holland

Dirk died on 4 November 1203 and was succeeded by his daughter Ada, who lost the county to Dirk's brother William.Online Dictionary of Dutch Women
/ref>

Family and children

In 1186 Dirk married

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, a daughter of Count Dietrich II of Cleves and Ida of Louvain. They had three daughters: # Aleidis (died about 1203). # Petronilla (died before 1203) # Ada (c. 1188–1227)

References

{{Authority control 12th-century births 1203 deaths Counts of Holland 12th-century nobility from the Holy Roman Empire 13th-century nobility from the Holy Roman Empire 12th-century counts in Europe 13th-century counts in Europe