Dirk VII (died 4 November 1203, in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

) was the

count of Holland The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century. House of Holland The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests ...

from 1190 to 1203. He was the elder son of

Floris III Floris III (1141 – August 1, 1190) was the count of Holland from 1157 to 1190. He was a son of Dirk VI and Sophia of Rheineck, heiress of Bentheim. Career Floris III was a loyal vassal to Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. He accompanied the emp ...

and Ada of Huntingdon.

Life

Due to a civil war in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

Emperor Henry VI Henry VI (German: ''Heinrich VI.''; November 1165 – 28 September 1197), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany ( King of the Romans) from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of ...

had to find ways to make friends. He supported Dirk by giving him the right to levy tolls on Flemish traders in

Geervliet Geervliet is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Nissewaard, and lies about 6 km northwest of Spijkenisse on the Brielse Meer. It received city rights in 1381. Geervliet was a separate municip ...

. Henry also gave Holland the Grote Waard (

and its surroundings), at the cost of the

bishopric of Utrecht The Bishopric of Utrecht ( nl, Sticht Utrecht) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries, in the present-day Netherlands. From 1024 to 1528, as one of the prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire, it ...

. He also set aside the Salic law for the succession to the County of Holland, which meant that it could be inherited by a female heir. In 1196, Dirk temporarily gained the princely authority of the bishopric of Utrecht. This meant war with Count Otto I of

Guelders The Duchy of Guelders ( nl, Gelre, french: Gueldre, german: Geldern) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in pr ...

. Otto was defeated at the Battle of the

Grebbeberg The Grebbeberg is a 52-meter high hill located east of Rhenen, Netherlands in the province of Utrecht. It forms the southeastern tip of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, a moraine. Due to its strategic location with a view of the Lower Rhine and the Bet ...

. In 1197

Dirk van Are Dirk van Are (? - 1212), also Dietrich II of Are, was bishop and lord of Utrecht in the thirteenth century. He appears to be one of those martial churchmen who were better qualified for the camp than the choir. He was Bishop of Utrecht from 1198 ...

was elected as the new bishop. As such, he recovered the princely authority of Utrecht. The

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

s were losing the civil war, so Count Dirk changed sides and gave his allegiance to the

Welfs The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconian family from the Meus ...

. The Frisians in

Oostergo Eastergoa (also Ostergau, Ostergo, or Oostergo) was one of the seven areas and one of the three '' Gaue'' within what is today the province of Friesland in the Netherlands. Area On its west side Eastergoa was bordered by the Middelsee with ...

and

Westergo Westergoa was one of the seven sealands and one of the three that now lie within the borders of today's Dutch province of Friesland. Later it was one of the three goaen of Frisia. In the Middle Ages Westergoa most probably formed the political ...

supported Dirk's brother

William William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

, who invaded Holland. William was supported by some of the

West Frisians The West Frisians or, more precisely, the Westlauwers Frisians ( nl, Friezen or Westerlauwerse Friezen, fy, Friezen or Westerlauwerske Friezen), are those Frisian peoples in that part of Frisia administered by the Netherlands: the Province of ...

as well. In 1202 Dirk allied himself with Otto of Guelders, and they both attacked

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Br ...

. Brabant claimed Holland, Utrecht and Guelders as dukes of

Lotharingia Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durable ...

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

and

Geertruidenberg Geertruidenberg () is a city and municipality in the province North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands. The city, named after Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, received city rights in 1213 from the count of Holland. The fortified city prospered un ...

were sacked during this campaign. Duke

Henry I of Brabant Henry I ( nl, Hendrik, french: Henri; c. 1165 – 5 September 1235), named "The Courageous", was a member of the House of Reginar and first duke of Brabant from 1183/84 until his death. Early life Henry was possibly born in Leuven (Louvain) ...

took Dirk prisoner at

Heusden Heusden () is a municipality and a town in the South of the Netherlands. It is located between the towns of Waalwijk and 's-Hertogenbosch. The municipality of Heusden, including Herpt, Heesbeen, Hedikhuizen, Doeveren, and Oudheusden, merged wit ...

. As well as having to pay a high ransom, he had to accept the Duke of Brabant as his overlord in southern Holland and the bishop of Utrecht as his overlord in northern Holland. Dirk died on 4 November 1203 and was succeeded by his daughter

Ada Ada may refer to: Places Africa * Ada Foah, a town in Ghana * Ada (Ghana parliament constituency) * Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria Asia * Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, Tu ...

, who lost the county to Dirk's brother William.

Family and children

In 1186 Dirk married

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

, a daughter of Count Dietrich II of Cleves and Ida of Louvain. They had three daughters:Online Dictionary of Dutch Women
/ref> # Aleidis (died about 1203). # Petronilla (died before 1203) #

(c. 1188–1227)

References

{{Authority control 12th-century births 1203 deaths Counts of Holland 12th-century people of the Holy Roman Empire 13th-century people of the Holy Roman Empire