BY THE SAME AUTHOR
PIERS GAVESTON
PRESS OPINIONS
"We can heartily congratulate Mr W. P. Dodge on producing a
really excellent monograph in Piers Gaveston, both well written and
singularly complete. So painstaking has he been in consulting original
authorities, both printed and MS., that his study of seven somewhat
obscure years of English history is not likely soon to be superseded. . . .
He shows a care for accuracy and a patience of investigation which
would do credit to the most experienced historian." — Literature.
"Mr Dodge's careful portrait of the man, drawn from the contem-
porary records, will afford useful material for the future historian of the
fourteenth century." — Academy.
"As a chapter of early history, the work is distinctly valuable, and
the student of history will be grateful to Mr Dodge for the care and
industry which he has brought to bear on the subject. . . . The book
is admirably got up, and contains a number of interesting illustrations."
— Publishers' Circular.
" The book is of undoubted historical interest, and is well and care-
fully written."— H^or/^.
" The monograph is most exact and painstaking, and the view taken
is correct." — Daily Chronicle.
"It is a painstaking and conscientious account of one who was
'practically Dictator of England,' and supplies a distinct want in
English \i\%\.oxy."— Antiquary.
" The book deserves very careful reading."— .SZ/awJ^/j Budget.
" Mr Dodge has produced a work of genuine value."— Z^azTy News.
PRESS OPimONS— continued.
" Mr Dodge not only gives us such a detailed life of Gaveston as is
now compilable, but he gives us also an informing sketch of the
development of Constitution during the reign of Edward I." — Literary
World.
*' It may well be doubted whether a professed historian could have
made more of the frivolous favourite of King Edward II. than he has
done. . . . The suggestive view of Gaveston's character presented by
Mr Dodge is supported at all points by a wide and well-digested
learning in the original writers of the fourteenth century. . . . No one
whi prizes history could regret to read {Piers Gaveston) ; for there is no
other book that gives so complete an account of its subject ; few
historical monographs so readable." — Scotsman.
" Mr Dodge's volume is worthy of perusal, both as an interesting
narrative and as a careful piece of historical work. . . . Mr Dodge
has shown great industry in bringing together the facts of Gaveston's
career, and considerable skill in weaving these into a succinct story." —
Dundee Advertiser.
" Mr Dodge's volume is an engrossing record of a strange person-
ality." — Aberdeen Free Press.
" He has made a considerable and careful research, and has pro-
duced a book which is a real contribution to the history of our own
countr}'," — Baptist Times.
Illustrated, Demy %vo, cloth, 12s.
LONDON
T. FISHER UNWIN
PATERNOSTER SQUARE, E.C,
FROM SQUIRE TO PRINCE
COUNTESS THi;rA,
.•IKE OK L-I.RK-H Ol' CIUKSENA, MUST COINT OK KAST KHISIA.
From a porlrait in the 'J own Hall
at Auricli |
[F lonllspiccc.
FROM SQUIRE TO
PRINCE
BEING A HISTORY OF
THE RISE OF THE HOUSE OF CIRKSENA
BY
WALTER PHELPS DODGE
MIDDLE TEMPLE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW ; FELLOW ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY:
FELLOW AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY; AUTHOR OF " PIERS GAVESTON "
ILLUSTRATED
LONDON
T. FISHER UNWIN
I 90 I
[j4// rights resentd].
TO
MY COUSIN
JOHN CHESTER ENO
CONTENTS
THE ANCIENT LORDSHIP OF EAST FRISIA
EARLY FRISIAN HISTORY .
THE ORIGINS OF GOVERNMENT IN FRISIA
THE EARLIER COUNTS — ENNO I.
COUNT EDZARD I
ENNO n
THE REIGN OF ENNO II. — {rontinued)
EDZARD II., CHRISTOPHER, AND JOHN
THE LATER COUNTS — COUNT ENNO III.
FRISIA OF TO-DAY ....
APPENDIX
1
11
23
37
53
71
87
105
129
149
159
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PORTRAIT OF COUNTESS THEDA
MONUMENT AT UPSTALLSBOOM .
PORTRAIT OF ULRICH I. .
PORTRAIT OF ENNO I.
PORTRAIT OF EDZARD I. (THE GREAT)
PORTRAIT OF ENNO II. .
GOLD COINS OF EAST FRISIA .
TOMB OF ENNO II. .
EFFIGY ON TOMB OF ENNO II.
SILVER COINS OF EAST FRISIA
PORTRAIT OF ENNO III. .
ANOTHER PORTRAIT OF ENNO III.
. Frontispiece
To face page 26
41
51
63
74
85
96
102
117
132
143
THE ANCIENT LORDSHIP OF
EAST FRISIA
THE ANCIENT LORDSHIP OF EAST
FRISIA
JUTTING out into the North Sea, its low
coasts beaten always by the harsh winds
and stormy waves of the German Ocean, is the
ancient Lordship of East Frisia. Now a part of
the ever-widening kingdom of Prussia, memories
of its former history as an independent land are
growing dim ; and the stout old warriors of the
House of Cirksena, Count Ulrich and his
descendants, have almost vanished in the mist
of the Middle Ages.
East Frisia, however, as a country, and the
Cirksena as its Counts, may claim a place in
history, for their qualities as men, as soldiers,
and as rulers are worthy of careful consideration.
There is something pathetic in the contemplation
of this vanished state. Its rulers were men of
eminence and renown in their day, and their
1 A
FROM SQUIRE TO PRINCE
position in the feudal German Empire under the
Habsburgs was neither unimportant nor in-
considerable.
The story of the gradual rise of the Chief of
Gretsyl, the Head of the House of Cirksena, to
the dignity of Count and Prince of East Frisia, is
well worthy of study, and is not lacking in
elements of romance.
The origin of the House of Gretsyl or the
House of Cirksena, as it is indijfferently called, is
referred to by Herr Ehrenreich Gerhard Coldewej^
an East Frisian Councillor and Chancellor, in a
rare " poem," written (to celebrate the twenty-
sixth birthday of Carl Edzard, the last Count
and Prince of East Frisia), on 16th January
1741.
According to the author, there is no need to
prove " the blameless antiquity of the most
noble and princely House of East Frisia."
The Deriod of time between the accession of
Ulrich as Head- Chief in 1441, his appoint-
ment as first Count of East Frisia in 1454, and
the death of his descendant, Enno III., in 1625,
is rich in incident and valuable to students of
2
THE AXCIEXT LORDSHIP OF EAST FRISIA
history, as illustrating the inevitable forward
movement so strongly marked in the German
race durincr the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries.
The rulers of East Frisia knew their people,
for they were of them. This, however, did not
detract from their dignity. The fact that Enno
III. issued, in addition to the ordinary coinage
of the time, square coins, or Miijpes, which were
both artistic and costly, is in itself significant and
valuable as a testimony to his wealth and standing.
Such square coins were, as a rule, struck only by
Princes whose position and treasure enabled
them by this means to satisfy their pride and
desire for fame. These klippes were issued by
several German Princes, notably by the Prince
Archbishop of Salsburg.
As an independant state in the Holy Ptoman
Empire, as a Prussian possession after the death
of the last Prince Carl Edzard in 1744, as a
conquest of the first Napoleon, as a part of
Holland, again of Prussia, then of Hanover and
now finally as a province of Prussia since 1866,
East Frisia, the modern Ost-Friesland, the
3
FROM SQUIRE TO PRINCE
Frisia Orientalis of the old coins, is always to
be regarded with interest.
Among its towns, Aurich is quaint and
picturesque ; while the smaller islands of
Wangeroog and Spiekeroog are curious, and
have a flavour of old German life. The Frisian
people still preserve the qualities that sent many
families (including some allied to the reigning
House), in stout assertion of their principles, to
England, and to the Connecticut Colony of 1628,
when England was literally a sea-girt isle, the
conquests of the present day undreamed of, and
America was known as but a trackless waste. A
study of the admirable series of portraits at
Aurich, together with the busts on the Frisian
coins, enable one to discover what manner
of men were the Counts of the House of
Cirksena.
Strong-featured, square-jawed, with promi-
nent nose and haughty air, all show a striking
family likeness, from the founder of the line
in 1441 to the last Prince in 1744.
Note. — The Enos of Sinisbury in Connecticut are of Frisian
ancestry.
THE AXCIENT LORDSHIP OF EAST FRISIA
The marriages of the Frisian Counts show
in a way not to be mistaken, their position in
those courtly days, when birth alone was re-
garded, and a morganatic union was held as
little less than a crime.
In that age blood was more than wealth, and
the modern Cro?sus had not laid his vulgaris-
ing hand upon the marriage bed. Money was
then regarded merely as means to an end, and
not as the supreme end itself. Men had
broader minds, and the modern petty sordid
worship of gold for gold's sake was un-
known.
The House of Cirksena was, as a rule, both
fortunate and wise in avoiding matrimonial
entanglements ; the second Edzard, indeed,
aspired to a Eoyal alliance, and married the
Princess Catherine of Sweden, daughter of
Gustavus I. Their son succeeded, as Enno III.,
in later days to the Frisian sovereignty.
Possibly this strain of the Blood Royal of
Sweden may account for the fact that
Enno III., although unfortunate, was one
of the bravest Counts of his House. Both
FROM SQUIRE TO PRINCE
he and his grandfather, Enno II., stand out
notably as warriors in the long succession of
Frisian rulers, although Edzard I. was greatest
in statesmanship.
The position of Ost-Friesland, or East Frisia,
on the bleak North Sea, wind-swept, and far
from rich of soil, necessarily made the struggle
for existence within its borders a hard and
breathless one, and one in which the strongest
could alone survive. This would account for
the sturdy physique and great endurance
of the Frisians, shown in many a grim cam-
paign.
The country played no small part in the
History of Europe, particularly during the
Thirty Years' War from 1618 to 1648. Its
records teach the value of that thrift which is
so peculiarly Teutonic, and the prosperity that
may come to a small country fortunate in its
rulers, when, as in this case, they were typically
German in their sturdy lives, in which the
Sturm und drang of existence was not lacking.
In fact, apart from its Counts, East Frisia
had little history ; for men like the first Edzard
THE ANCIENT LORDSHIP OE EAST FEISIA
and the second Enno were given to saying, like
the Great Louis, ''LEtat cest moi," and
perhaps with more reason.
Masterful in temper, wielding over their
small dominion a power ample in spite of
its limitations, they owned a nominal allegiance
to the "Komanorum Imperator," whose bust
appears on the reverse of so many of their
coins.
The Counts of East Frisia may be called the
Fathers of their people. Their rule was no
harsh despotism, it was a system of Government
at once benevolent and firm.
The Frisians from the earliest times have
given proof of a sturdy love of liberty, and
while they have ever yielded a willing obedience
to all reasonable commands of their ruling;
House, they could never forget that their
Count was originally but Chief of the House of
Gretsyl, a noble house in Frisia.
A leading characteristic of the Frisian people
has been their constant but firm opposition to
all aggressive interference with what they
were wont to consider their rights. It mattered
FROM SQUIRE TO PRINCE
little to them whether this interference came
from their enemies or from their kinsfolk.
Their resentment in either case was keen, and
apt to assume a form dangerous to the offender,
although honourable to themselves.
It is a legitimate subject for speculation
whether " the people," that patient mass of good
and stupid workers who make a country, alto-
gether approve of the changes in East Frisia
during the last two hundred years, in which
they have been in succession Free Frisians,
Prussian, Dutch, French, Hanoverian and
Prussian again. If the reigning House had
not finally failed of issue in 1744, when the
last Count and Prince died, the King of
Prussia could not, as he did, have taken pos-
session of East Frisia, in consequence of the
reversion given to the Electoral House of
Brandenburg in 1694 by the Emperor
Leopold I.
There misht still be Princes of Frisia, but for
a trick of the Bona Dea who presides over
births; and Carl Edzard, instead of having
the somewhat dubious distinction of being the
8
THE ANCIENT LORDSHIP OF EAST FRISIA
last Prince, might have given a much- wished
continuance to the line of Gretsyl,
East Frisia's record as an independent country
is a respectable one. Three hundred years is a
long period in which much may happen. There
is much in what did happen during a portion
of this time, from 1441 to 1625, to repay a
little study of the history of the Imperial
County; while the deeds of "derring-do"
which signalised the reigns of the earlier
Counts of the House of Cirksena are worthy
to be recorded.
There is a curious and interesting similarity
in the history of the Cirksena in Frisia and
the Medici in Florence. Both Houses owed
their origin to a noble of the State, the Cirksena
to Ulrich, who died in 1466, and the Medici
to Giovanni de' Medici, who died in 1428. East
Frisia had its Edzard the Great, who died in
1528 ; Florence, its Lorenzo the Magnificent, who
died in 1492.
Frisia had its religious reformer in Aportanus,
Florence in Savonarola.
The Frisians rebelled against Enno HI. in
FROM SQUIRE TO PRINCE
1601, as the Florentines had in earlier days
rebelled as^ainst Piero de' Medici.
In 1454 Ulrich was made Imperial Count
of East Frisia ; in 1531 Alessandro de' Medici
was created hereditary Duke of Florence ; both
under the supreme sovereignty of the Emperor.
In 1654 Count Enno Ijudwig was made
Prince of East Frisia, in 1569 Duke Cosimo
(de' Medici) was created Grand Duke of
Florence.
The House of Cirksena died out with Carl
Edzard, the last Count and Prince of East
Frisia in 1744. The line of the Medici became
extinct at the death of the Grand Duke Gian
Gastone, in 1737.
The broad outlines of history are made the
more distinct by an occasional bit of shading
in the form of an historical parenthesis ; and
the Edzards and Ennos of the House of Cirksena
in East Frisia deserve at least a footnote in the
archives of history.
10
EARLY FRISIAN HISTORY
EARLY FRISIAN HISTORY
'T^HE first references to Frisia found are,
as one would expect, in Tacitus and in
the Latin chronicles of the Middle Ages ; they
fail, however, to distinguish East Frisia from
Frisia as a whole. Indeed, up to the death
of Louis the Child in 911 and for some time
after, there was no real division into East and
West Frisia.
Of all German peoples, the Frisians, as their
national records prove, maintained longest their
full birthright of national freedom. They were
never slow to ofter resistance to all attempted
force and oppression, whether from within or
without.
Their history is a record, often blood-stained,
of constant struggle and infrec[uent success, and
yet the indomitable Teutonic spirit is clearly
visible in all their failures which were more
13
FROM SQUIRE TO PRINCE
like victories on account of their ignorance of
the meaning of the word to fail.
The Frisians (Frisii, in mediseval Latin
Frisones, in their own language Frisan) were
originally a number of Germanic tribes who
lived, at the time of the Roman Conquest, on
the shores of the North Sea, between the Rhine
and the Ems, to the east of the Bataver.
Tacitus speaks of the greater and lesser Frisians,
without defining their relative positions. "The
Frisians," says Tacitus, " are an industrious
people, gaining their living by agriculture as
well as by fishing." According to Meyer,
Drusus, on his expedition to the north-west
coast of Germany, made the Frisians pay tribute
to Rome ; it appears that they even helped
Drusus, and afterwards Germanicus, in various
expeditions. The centurion Olennius, however,
having ill-treated them, they revolted, and
defeated the Romans in several engagements.
Later on the Frisians took possession of some
small sand isles formed at the mouths of the
Rhine, Maas, and Schelde. In 57, becoming
bolder, they took possession of a frontier district
14
EARLY FRIvSIAN HISTORY
which the Roman Governor ordered them to
give up, unless they could obtain a concession
from the Emperor. In order to obtain this,
Verritus and Malorix, two Frisian leaders, went
to Rome, and were so esteemed for their bravery
and for their self-confidence that Nero made
them Roman citizens. After bestowing this
honour upon them, however, he commanded
them to give up the district which the Frisians
had annexed. They refused, and returned to
Frisia to organise an armed resistance, which
proved futile, as Nero drove them out by force.
Henceforth the Frisians are seldom mentioned
by the old chroniclers except now and then
as bold sea-pirates. They took part in the
Anglo-Saxon invasion of England, and several
families settled in that country. In the early
Middle Ages the name of the tribe spread far to
the East. Frisia at that time extended along
the North Sea from the River Sincfal (the
modern Zwin which runs into the German
Ocean near Sluis) to the Weser in the East.
The country was divided into three parts :
West Frisia, comprising the present provinces
15
FROM SQUIRE TO PRINCE
of Zeeland, South and North Holland, and a
part of Utrecht ; Central Frisia, which was the
present province of Frisia ; and East Frisia,
which included the present Dutch province of
Groningen, the Prussian East Frisia, and part of
Oldenburg. The Frisians, who were evidently
given to exploration, are also mentioned by
Meyer as being present in the West, and on
the Isles of Nordstrand and Sylt, while there
was a " Frisia Minor " in Denmark. In the
sixth century the Frisians were engaged in a long
and bloody war with the Franks. Christianity
was not established among the Frisians with-
out much storm and stress. The King of
the Franks, Dagobert (622-638), being anxious
for the conversion of the Frisians, founded in
Utrecht a mission ; but he seems to have met
with little encouragement, for it was soon
destroyed. Forty years later the Saxon Wilfred,
Archbishop of York, a man of some tact, was
more kindly treated by the Frisians, and their
Chief, Aldgisl, gave him a grudging permission
to preach as a missionary. Ratbod, the son
and successor of Aldgisl, became involved in
16
EARLY FRISIAN HISTORY
a war with Pepin of Heristall, who defeated
him at Wyk-te-Duerstede, and forced him to
surrender West Frisia in 689. The next year
St Willibrord appears to have come as a
missionary to Frisia, and is said to have visited
the island of Heligoland. After Pepin's death
Ratbod, who was sulking under a sense of defeat,
tried hard to shake off the hated Prankish
supremacy. He regained West Frisia, went up
the Rhine, and landed at Cologne. In the year
716 he defeated Charles Martell, and returned
home with much rich booty. Under the in-
fluence of his advisers he destroyed the churches
and re-introduced Paganism, quite in the manner
of Julian the Apostate. He died in 719, and
under his successor, Aldgisl II., West Frisia was
again lost, and Willibrord, who had fled during the
war, returned in triumph to Utrecht, which now
became the seat of the Bishopric for the whole
of the Frisian country.
As yet Christianity had not spread beyond
the boundaries of Central Frisia, for the worship
of the old gods was stirring in the hearts of the
people. St Boniface was killed by the Frisians
17 B
FROM SQUIRE TO PRINCE
at the village of Dokkum, near Leeuwarden, in
755.
In the meanwhile Charles Martell, irritated by
his previous repulse, had undertaken a second
expedition against Frisia and gained a victory
over Poppo, Aldgisl's successor, although the
Frisians fought as bravely as usual. After the
date of this battle there is no mention for some
time of one ruler who controlled all parts of
Frisia. At the head of the single districts were
Governors chosen by the people, who, it seems,
had even then some absurd form of constitution.
They were constantly quarrelling among them-
selves ; indeed, Charles the Great (Charlemagne)
once had to quell an inter-tribal rising among the
Frisians who had taken part in the Saxon war,
and, as a result of his interference, Frisia was
for a time a province of the Frankish realm,
and Christianity flourished in spite of strong
opposition.
After the interference of Charlemagne — an
interference necessary, but regarded by the
Frisians with dislike — commerce and navigation
became the chief occupations of the Frisians ;
18
EAKLY FRISIAN HISTORY
their ships sailed to foreign countries, and
Frisian merchants met in different parts,
even in England. Trade flourished, and piracy-
gave place to more peaceful methods of
gain.
The Frisians accepted the Governors appointed
by Charlemagne only on condition that they
should still be governed by Frisian laws. Either
at the time of Charlemagne, or perhaps even
earlier, the Lex Frisionum, the Frisian code of
law, was compiled, a code that may well
challenge comparison with that of Edward I.,
the " English Justinian," although the Frisian
code was, of course, less complete. These laws
still exist in the Asegahuch in the old Frisian
language (which occupies an intermediate posi-
tion between Anglo-Saxon and Norse) and in
Latin.
The Carolingian constitution was also intro-
duced into Frisia during the period of Frankish
domination, but many old customs and institu-
tions of the Teutonic order were retained in
deference to the strongly-expressed wish of the
Frisian people.
19
FROM SQUIRE TO PRINCE
As a result of the curious Treaty of Verdun (in
843), Frisia formed for a time part of Lorraine.
By the Treaty of Mersen (in 870), the north part
of the country became a German province, while
the south part remained a French possession ;
but in 880 even this south part was united with
the German Empire. When in 911 Lorraine
was taken from Germany and united with the
West Frankish kingdom, Frisia remained
faithful to Conrad L The Frisians in all their
varied changes of nationality have ever remained
consistently Teutonic.
During the Middle Ages Frisia remained
a " special province," the boundaries being
the Weser, the Wapel, a straight line to
the Ems, and in the south, the Maas and
the Rhine. Subsequently West Frisia was
separated from the other parts of Frisia,
and its history was never again the
same.
The real history of East Frisia begins with the
accession of Edzard in 1430 as the first recognised
head of nearly all East Frisia and the appoint-
ment of LTlrich in 1454 as the first Imperial
20
EARLY FRISIAX HISTORY
Count. Before that time a confused mass of
legends does duty for historical record. Before,
however, considering the work done by the
Frisian rulers, it is wise to try to understand
how they became rulers, and over what type of
people they ruled.
31
THE ORIGINS OF GOVERNMENT
IN FRISIA
THE ORIGINS OF GOVERNMENT IN
FRISIA
T^HE inhabitants of Frisia were from the
beginning divided into three distinct
classes — nobles, citizens, and peasants — who
enjoyed on the whole almost equal rights and
privileges in all things. In the course of time
and in the interests of order, the people divided
the land into districts, and each district elected
for itself a ruler, who was called the Chief or
Grietmann. This personage administered the
law and was responsible for public order. He
performed his magisterial duties strictly accord-
ing to the ancient Frisian rights and customs,
and was obeyed without question, although he
claimed no sovereign rights. For the settle-
ment of affairs which concerned the whole
country, a General Assembly was held every
year, on Whit Tuesday, at Upstallsboom, a place
25
FKOM SQUIRE TO PRINCE
hidden in the woods about two miles west of
Aurich. Three tall and broad oak-trees origin-
ally stood at Upstallsboom and gave the place
its name, which may be rendered as "at the
planted trees " {ad statutas arhores). A pyra-
midal monument at Upstallsboom com-
memorates this custom. At this Assembly
special enquiries were made as to any
disputes among the people, and all such
disao-reements were there and then deter-
mined. If any one wished for more privi-