Frisian Kingdom

Frisian Kingdom Magna Frisia
600–734
The Frisian Realm
Capital		Dorestad, Utrecht and others
Languages		Old Frisian
Religion		Germanic paganism
Government		Monarchy
King
•	c. 678	Aldgisl
•	c. 680–719	Redbad
•	719–734	Poppo
History
•	Established	600
•	Disestablished	734
Area		50,000 km² (19,305 sq mi)
Currency		Sceat
Succeeded by Francia
Today part of		Netherlands  Germany  Belgium

The Frisian Kingdom (Frisian: Fryske Keninkryk), also known as Magna Frisia, is a modern name for the Frisian realm in the period when it was at its largest (650-734). This empire was ruled by kings and emerged in the mid-7th century and probably ended with the Battle of the Boarn in 734 when the Frisians were defeated by the Frankish Empire. It lay mainly in what is now the Netherlands and - according to some 19th century authors - extended from the Zwin near Bruges in Belgium to the Weser in Germany. The center of power was the city of Utrecht. In medieval writings, the region is designated by the Latin term Frisia. There is a dispute among historians about the extent of this realm; There is no documentary evidence for the existence of a permanent central authority. Possibly Frisia consisted of multiple petty kingdoms, which transformed in time of war to a unit to resist invading powers, and then headed an elected leader, the primus inter pares. It is possible that Redbad established an administrative unit. Among the Frisians at that time there was no feudal system.

The ancient Frisii were living in the low-lying region between the Zuiderzee and the River Ems. In the Germanic pre-Migration Period (i.e., before c. 300 AD) the Frisii and the related Chauci, Saxons, and Angles inhabited the Continental European coast from the Zuyder Zee to south Jutland. All of these peoples shared a common material culture, and so cannot be defined archaeologically. What little is known of the Frisii and their kings is provided by a few Roman accounts about two Frisian kings visiting Rome in the 1st century: Malorix and Verritus. By 400 AD the Frisii abandoned the land and disappeared from archeological records.