Potestaat of Friesland

Potestaat was the title of a governor of medieval Friesland. According to the legendary 8th-century Karelsprivilege, which is probably a later forgery, Charlemagne had first granted the title of potestaat to Magnus Forteman. He and most of his early successors were probably entirely fictional, invented later by pseudohistorians in order to argue in favour of the notion of Frisian freedom. The title potestaat does not appear in historical documents until 1470, and at most, the earliest potestaat avant la lettre can be dated to the 13th century.

In 1851, Wopke Eekhoff compiled the following list in Beknopte Geschiedenis van Friesland ("Brief History of Friesland"). However, most of the list is fictitious.[1]

Legendary
See also: List of rulers of Frisia § Fictional rulers

Most of the early potestaats are completely legendary.

Generally accepted

From here the evidence for their existence is considerably better supported:

In 1464, Ulrich I of East Frisia was raised to the status of Count by Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, and East Frisia became a separate county. Continues in List of counts of East Frisia

  • Juw Dekama, 1494-1498 (died 1523) (only governed Oostergo)

With the victory of the Schieringers against the Vetkopers, the office passed to the dukes of Saxony:

See also

References
  1. "The Project Gutenberg eBook of Beknopte Geschiedenis van Friesland, by Wopke Eekhoff". gutenberg.org. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  2. "Schieringers en Vetkopers". Encarta Encyclopedie Winkler Prins (in Dutch). Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. 2002.
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