Floris III (c. 1141 – August 1, 1190) 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 1157 to 1190. He was a son of Dirk VI and Sophia of Rheineck, heiress of Bentheim.

Career

Floris III was a loyal

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

to Emperor

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...

. He accompanied the emperor on two expeditions to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1158 and 1176–1178. Frederick thanked him by making Floris part of the imperial nobility. The emperor gave Floris the

toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Toll road, a type of road which for which payment is required for passage ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road to ...

right of Geervliet, the most important toll station in Holland at that time. This was actually the legalisation of an existing situation, because the counts of Holland had charged tolls illegally since the start of the 11th century. Many farmers came to Holland to turn the swamps into agricultural lands. Dikes and dams were built and the border between Holland and the bishopric of Utrecht had to be determined. There was a dispute between Floris and the bishop of Utrecht about a new dam in the Rhine at

Zwammerdam Zwammerdam is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland along Oude Rijn river. It is a part of the municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn, and lies about 6 km southeast of Alphen aan de Rijn. The name derives from a dam built in the Rh ...

in 1165, which had to be settled by emperor Frederick. The brother of Floris, Baldwin, became bishop of Utrecht in 1178. War broke out between

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

and Holland. Count

Philip I of Flanders Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularized the n ...

wanted to have

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

back. Floris was captured in

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

and had to accept Flemish overlordship in Zeeland as ransom in 1167. During his reign Floris III had troubles with West Friesland and a war with Philip concerning their respective rights in West

, in which he was beaten. In 1170 a great flood caused immense devastation in the north and helped to form the Zuider Zee. In 1189 Floris accompanied Frederick Barbarossa upon the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...

, of which he was a distinguished leader. He died in 1190 at

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

of pestilence and was buried there. He was succeeded by his son Dirk VII.

Family and children

In 1162, Floris married Ada, sister of King

William the Lion William the Lion (), sometimes styled William I (; ) and also known by the nickname ; e.g. Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1214.6; Annals of Loch Cé, s.a. 1213.10. ( 1142 – 4 December 1214), reigned as King of Alba from 1165 to 1214. His almost 49 ...

of Scotland. The county of Holland adopted from him the rampant lion in the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

and the name of William. Their children were: # Ada (died after 1205), married 1176 Margrave Otto I of Brandenburg and later his son Otto II of Brandenburg # Margaret (died after 1203), married 1182 Count Dietrich IV of Cleves # Dirk VII of Holland # William I of Holland # Floris (died 1210),

bishop of Glasgow The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Catholic Church, the title was restored by Pope ...

# Baldwin (died 1204) # Robert # Beatrix # Elisabeth # Hedwig # Agnes (died 1228), abbess at Rijnsburg Abbey {{Authority control 1140s births 1190 deaths Counts of Holland House of Dunkeld Christians of the Third Crusade 12th-century nobility from the Holy Roman Empire 12th-century counts in Europe