Floris II, called Floris the Fat ( – 2 March 1121) was the first from the native dynasty 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 ...
to be called
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 th ...
, reigning from 1091 until his death.
Life
Floris was the son of his predecessor
Dirk V
Dirk V (1052 – June 17, 1091) was Count of Holland (called Frisia at that time) from 1061 to 1091.
Dirk V succeeded his father, Floris I, under the guardianship of his mother, Gertrude of Saxony. William I, Bishop of Utrecht, took advantag ...
and his wife Othilde. Floris II ended the conflict with the
Bishop of Utrecht
List of bishops and archbishops of the diocese and archdioceses of Utrecht.
Medieval diocese from 695 to 1580
Founders of the Utrecht diocese
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(which he inherited from his father, and should be seen in light of the
power struggle between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor), most likely by becoming his
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. W ...
. In 1101 he was endowed with the title of
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 th ...
by the bishop of Utrecht, after acquiring Rhineland (Leiden and surroundings) ('comes de Hollant', up until that time the counts' dominion had been officially referred to as
Frisia
Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Ger ...
).
Around 1108, Floris II married
Gertrude, the daughter of
Theodoric II, Duke of Lorraine
Theodoric II (died 30 December 1115), called the Valiant, was the Duke of Lorraine from 1070 to his death. He was the son and successor of Gerhard and Hedwige of Namur. He is sometimes numbered ''Theodoric I'' if the Dukes of the House of Ardenn ...
. Gertrude changed her name to
Petronilla
Petronilla is a Late Latin feminine given name. The name is a diminutive form of Petronia, itself the feminine form of Petronius, a Roman family name. Saint Petronilla is an early Roman saint, later interpreted as the daughter of Saint Peter. Sh ...
(after a saint venerated as the daughter of
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
), in recognition of her loyalty to the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
. Petronilla and Floris II had four children, three boys and one girl: Dirk, Floris, Simon and Hedwig, respectively. Dirk became his successor,
Dirk VI of Holland, while Floris became known as
Floris the Black Floris the Black was a son of Floris II, Count of Holland and Petronilla of Lorraine. He became a rebel count of Holland in the 1120s and 1130s, against the claim of his brother Dirk.
Floris openly revolted against his brother Dirk and was from 1 ...
and contested his brother's power.
Bibliography
*Wessels, Johannes Willhelmus (1908). ''History of the Roman-Dutch Law''. Cape Town: The African Book Company.
{{Authority control
Counts of Holland
11th-century births
1121 deaths
Burials at Egmond Abbey
People from Vlaardingen
11th-century people of the Holy Roman Empire
12th-century people of the Holy Roman Empire