Stins In Friesland
A stins (Dutch, pl. ''stinsen''; from West Frisian language, West Frisian ''stienhûs'' [Dutch ''steenhuis''] "stone house", shortened to ''stins'', pl. ''stinzen'') is a former stronghold or villa in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. Many stinsen carry the name "''state''" (related to English 'estate'). A ''stins'' and the surrounding ''state'' used to belong to a permanent group of ''hoofdelingen/heerschapen'', which were prominent, rich land-owning citizens. From the 1300's, these noblemen had their bases of power in the cities or large villages, their families owned a few hundred hectares of fertile farmland divided over several dozen tenanted farms. The noblemen married one another as much as possible, on a material and culturally equal level, in order to prevent the loss of property and honour by inheritance. Around 1498, when the period of ''Frisian Freedom'' drew to a close, the system of "''stins en state''" was superseded by the grietman/grietenij system. From ...
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