This page contains various links and literature that we recommend relating to early medieval Frisia.

Literature

Would you like to know more about early medieval Frisia? We highly recommend this list of literature! Much has been written about Frisia from many different disciplines, such as (landscape) history, archaeology and linguistics. It is therefore impossible to include all literature, especially articles, in the list. We have therefore chosen to include mainly books and volumes that we use as reference works. The literature is arranged by subject.

 

 

General readings

• Henstra, D.J., Friese graafschappen tussen Zwin en Wezer. Een overzicht van grafelijkheid in middeleeuws Frisia (ca. 700-1200) (Assen 2012).
• Hines, J., en N. IJssennagger (red.), Frisians and their North Sea neighbours. From the fifth century to the Viking Age (Woodbridge 2017).
• Hines, J. , en N. IJssennagger (red.), Frisians of the early middle ages (Woodbridge 2021).
• Tuuk, L. van der, De Friezen. De vroegste geschiedenis van het Nederlandse kustgebied (Utrecht 2017).

 

West-Frisia

• Buis P., en M.W. Van IJzendoorn, Kennemerland in metaalvondsten (Castricum 2021).
• Dekkers, C., G. Dorren, R. Van Eerden, Het land van Hilde. Archeologie in het Noord-Hollandse kustgebied (Utrecht 2006).
• Dijkstra, M., Rondom de mondingen van Rijn en Maas (Leiden 2011).
• Dütting, M., (red.), SCHATRIJK. Wieringen (Alkmaar 2018).
• Leeuwen, J. van, ‘Middeleeuws Medemblik. Een centrum in de perifierie’, West-Friese archeologische rapporten 61 (2014) 1-351.
• Meijlink, B., B. Silkens en N.L. Jaspers, Zeeën van tijd. Grasduinen door de archeologie van 2500 jaar Domburg en het Oostkapelse strand (Amsterdam 2023). 
• Nicolay, J. en R. van Eerden (red.), Noord-Holland in het 1e millennium. Deel 1 en 2 (Castricum 2023).

 

Central-Frisia

• M. Stoter en D. Spiekhout (red.), Wij Vikingen. Friezen en Vikingen in het kustgebied van de Lage Landen (Leeuwarden 2019).
• Nieuwhof, A., J. Nicolay, J. Wiersma (red.), De geschiedenis van terpen- en wierdenland. Een verhaal in ontwikkeling (Groningen 2018).
• Nieuwhof, A., E. Knol, J. Nicolay (red.), De hoogste terp van Friesland. Nieuw en oud onderzoek in Hogebeintum (Groningen 2019).
• Knol, E., De Noordnederlandse kustlanden in de vroege middeleeuwen (Groningen 1993).
  
• Postma, D., Het zodenhuis van Firdgum. Middeleeuwse boerderijbouw in het Friese kustgebied tussen 400 en 1300 (Groningen 2016).

 

East-Frisia

• Jahn, W., (red.), Die Moorleiche von Bernuthsfeld (Emden 2019).

• Kegler, J.F., (red.), Land der Entdeckungen. Die Archäologie des friesischen Küstenraums (Aurich 2013). 
  

 

Linguistics

• Bremmer, R.H Jr., An introduction to Old Frisian. History, grammar, reader, glossary (Amsterdam 2009).
• Baker, P.S., Introduction to Old English. Second edition (Oxford 2007). Although not Old Frisian, it's still worthy of reading! 

 

Museums

Would you rather visit a museum to learn about Frisia hands-on? We recommend the museums listed below! A weblink to the relevant museum and its collection is underlined in the text.

 

 

Fries Museum

The Fries Museum in Leeuwarden in the province of Friesland is a great place to start learning about Frisia. The museum focuses on the history of the province of Friesland in the broadest sense. Early medieval Central-Frisia is well covered as part of this history. The museum's highlights include the famous fibulae from Wijnaldum and Hegebeintum, but there are many other finds from the terpen to admire, including the Hallum hoard. The finds can also be viewed digitally and consulted for research in the museum's online collection.

 

Groninger Museum

The Groninger Museum in Groningen in the province of Groningen distinguishes itself more as an art museum than as an archaeological museum. For finds or information about Frisia, this museum may not be the best place to visit. Nevertheless, various finds from the Groningen terps (or wierden as they're called in Groningen) can be viewed and consulted in the online collection!

 

Huis van Hilde

The Huis van Hilde in Castricum in the province of Noord-Holland is also a great museum for learning about Frisia. The museum focuses on the history of the province of Noord-Holland, with a particular emphasis on early history from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages. Various finds from early medieval West-Frisia are on display in the museum. What sets this museum apart are the various reconstructions of people who once lived in what is now Noord-Holland, such as Cees (Stone Age; Single Grave Culture), Willem and Hillegonda van Brederode (late Middle Ages) and, of course, Hilde (early middle ages). Finds can be viewed digitally in the online collection.

 

Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden

The Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden in Germany is located just across the border in East-Frisia: perfect if you're touring through the Netherlands! The museum focuses on the art and cultural history of the German province of Ost-Friesland and is well worth a visit. Various eras are on display, one of which is early medieval East-Frisia. The highlight is the Bernuthsfeld bog body with its distinctive, well-preserved tunic and other items of clothing. As far as we know, the collection is not available online.

 

Rijksmuseum van Oudheden

The Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (RMO) in Leiden in the province of Zuid-Holland is the national museum of (national) archaeology in the Netherlands. The museum has several permanent exhibitions, including the Classical World of the Greeks and Romans, the Netherlands in Roman Times and the Archaeology of the Netherlands. Although the periods covered by the exhibitions are much broader than early medieval Frisia alone, this museum does contain interesting masterpieces from this area, such as the original pillbox cap from Leens, the cap from Dokkum-Berg Sion and the gold treasure from Wieuwerd. Other important early medieval masterpieces, such as the fibula from Dorestad, as well as finds from various horsemen's graves, make this museum one of the must-see museums for lovers of the early middle ages. The RMO's online collection includes various finds from early medieval Frisia.