Frisian people
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The Frisians are an ethnic group of northwestern Europe, inhabiting an area known as Frisia.
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[change] History
[change] In Roman times
The Frisians were able to form a treaty with the Romans at the River Rhine in 28. Sixteen years late they defeated the Romans under Tiberius at the Battle of Baduhennawood. The Frisii were known and respected by the Romans and written about by several sources. Tacitus wrote a treatise about the Germanic peoples in 69, describing the habits of the Germanic people, as well as listing numerous tribes by name.[1] Of the many tribes mentioned, the Frisians are the only ones that have preserved their ancient name.[2]
They were probably a people of seafarers. The North Sea from Britain to Eastern Denmark, was referred to as the Mare Frisia at that time. Small groups of Frisians settled the surrounding lands and their settlements have been traced to England, Scotland, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France and obviously to The Netherlands.
Their territory followed the coast of the North Sea from the mouth of the Rhine river up to that of the Ems, their eastern border according to Ptolemy's Geographica.
In the 5th century, during this period of historical silence, many of them joined the migration of the Anglo-Saxons who went through Frisian territory to invade Great Britain, while those who stayed on the continent expanded into the newly-emptied lands previously occupied by the Anglo-Saxons.
