Reenactment, or living history, is a hobby in which people try to portray a historical period and culture as truthfully as possible. In this hobby, people wear clothes from the period they portray, in which they speak to visitors at events about the time they reenact and often also do crafts. Furthermore, reenactment often goes hand in hand with doing research to put the theory gained in practice.

For us, the educational aspect is important. We depict a relatively unknown part of the history of the Netherlands and find it important to show the public where they came from. For us, doing research into our origins, basing our depiction on sources, and informing the public with our hobby is a great pleasure that brings us a lot of fulfilment!

Frisia is the name of a historical area that existed during Roman times and the Middle Ages in the present-day Netherlands and North-Germany. During the period we reenact, 825 AD, Frisia covered the coastal areas between the rivers Zwin and Weser. This area is further divided in the Lex Frisionum, an early medieval Frisian legal text, into West-Frisia (present-day Holland and Zeeland), Central-Frisia (present-day Friesland) and East-Frisia (present-day Groningen and Ost-Friesland in Germany). Remnants of historical Frisia can still be found in the land areas of West-Friesland in Noord-Holland (NL), the present-day province of Friesland (NL) and Ost- and Nord-Friesland in Germany.

Our depiction focuses on the areas mentioned in the Lex Frisionum; West-Frisia, Central-Frisia and East-Frisia.

Good question! We chose the ninth century, because it falls after the conquest of Frisia by the Franks, and marks the beginning of the viking age in the Netherlands. During this period, a lot is going on in Frisia on many levels, such as religiously (Christianisation), politically (viking invasions) and economically (development of coin economy and land reclamations), which makes the area very exciting and which can all be included in the depiction as educational material. Moreover, enough literature can be found about this era to make a decent depiction of it, and it is a relatively unknown piece of history from our own country that deserves more attention. So no reason not to find this century interesting!