Frisians

As the Roman Empire pulled back from Britain in the 5th century AD, Germanic tribes – including the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians – began arriving, according to the UK-based Historical Association.

Boniface was martyred by the Frisians in Dokkum (754).

During this war the Frisians were also finally subdued and a large part of their fleet was burned.

Helplessly, the English watched as the Vikings rowed past them.sfn The pirates had suffered so many casualties (120 Danes dead against 62 Frisians and English), that they had difficulties putting out to sea.

He records that the peoples of Britain—he names the English, the British, and the Frisians—were so numerous that they were migrating to the kingdom of the Franks in great numbers every year.

In particular, it was believed that this theory explained why Belgium and the southern Netherlands (i.e. the Franks) had become Catholic and the northern Netherlands (Frisians and Saxons) had become Protestant.

The counts of Holland conquered most of Zeeland but it was not until 1289 that Count Floris V was able to subjugate the Frisians in West Friesland (that is, the northern half of North Holland).

These people would eventually be referred to as 'Frisians', though they were not necessarily descended from the ancient Frisii.

The traditional view of a clear-cut division between Frisians in the north and coast, Franks in the south and Saxons in the east has proven historically problematic.

Widukind allied himself with the Frisians but despite that, Charlemagne's winter attacks of 784/785 were successful and the dux and his allies were pushed back to their homelands.