In contrast to the Sunday's rest of today, for centuries the island of Walcheren was a pagan retreat and safe haven for the Vikings with their slightly aggressive business model. Heathendom was rooted deeply on this island. Even in the eleventh century, the Catholic Church still feared its inhabitants would return to their former pagan gods and rituals. The island of Walcheren was also a bridgehead of the Scaldingi chapter. They were the Scheldt Vikings, led by the feared Ubba the Frisian. Ubba was even one of the commanders of the legendary Great Heathen Army that ransacked the Anglo-Saxon world. Yes, part of this dreaded army sailed from Walcheren.
The result of its pagan history is that the beaches, dunes and soil of Walcheren are soaked with pagan remains; stones and bones. Because of the ever-changing sea and coastline, sometimes these remains literally emerge as zombies from their graves. Below the reader will receive some tips in case of an encounter with these spooky remains, for example when swimming in the North Sea at the wide beaches of Walcheren.
This blog post is about the peninsula of Walcheren, a (former) island located within the wider region that was known in the Middle Ages as loca maritima ‘sea lands’, or as Scaldimariland ‘land at the mouth of the River Scheldt’. In times past part of Frisia, but now part of the province of Zeeland. An area in the described by Bartholomeus Angelicus (1203-1272) as quoad arbores est quasi nuda ‘concerning trees it is almost naked’ (De Graaf 2004). An area too in the Middle Ages renowned for its fine horses. Maybe because of the fertile tidal marshlands, which is excellent breeding ground. Like on many islands, its people are self-willed and by nature independent. This is the case with the (former) islands of the province of Zeeland too, and certainly so with Walcheren.
In the Early Middle Ages, when it was still part of Frisia, the region was, for a long time, a free haven of poorly shaven Viking warriors, rovers, and other sea scum. From the year 1012, the part of Frisia west of the River Scheldt, i.e. more or less the modern region of Zeelandic Flanders and the peninsula of Walcheren, belonged to the county of Flanders. However, the Frisians here felt no urge or obligation to pay taxes to the margraves of Flanders. This brought them into armed conflict with Flanders (Nieuwenhuijsen 2022), as we will see further below in this blog post.
This blog post is also about how the island of Walcheren at the mouth of the River Scheldt was a strategic spot from the Roman period until the Early Middle Ages. Both from a commercial and military point of view. During the reign of the Romans, seaports were located near the modern towns of Domburg and Colijnsplaat, which were important sea hubs for crossing the North Sea straight to Britannia and vice versa (Dhaeze 2019). In the Early Middle Ages, when Walcheren was known as pagus 'territory' Walacria, the settlement of Walichrum, close to the present town of Domburg, was an important trade settlement and a garrison. It was a time when the island of Walcheren was caught up in the middle of Frankish politics, piratae danorum ('Danish pirates'), and Frisian commercial trade interests.
Centuries passed and slowly the settlement of Walichrum was swallowed by the sea, as has happened to so much more soil of Frisia. But who knows, Walichrum will raise its ugly head from the depths of the cold brown sea once more.
Read below to find out what we mean.
1. Roman Period
Early January, in the year 1647. After a heavy storm and a rough sea, the waterwolf had eaten big chunks of dune near the town of Domburg. It uncovered ancient stones. Stones with images of, among other, a goddess named Nehalennia. Four years later, again fragments of altars and sculptures were disclosed. In the centuries that followed, all in all thirty-four votive altars were collected, of which twenty-seven were dedicated to the goddess Nehelennia. Others altars were dedicated to the deities Jupiter, Neptune, Hercules, Victoria, and Burorina.
All these finds were part of a temple complex that existed between the year ca. 188 and 227, but possibly already in the first century AD. It was a square-shaped temple with one central room. This construction and lay-out was typical for the wider region and uncommon in Rome. Possible it concerned a continuation of Celtic sanctuaries, because these had a similar floorplan (Clerinx 2023). Reconstructions of these 'native' temples can be viewed at the town of Colijnsplaat in the province of Zeeland, and in the Archeon open-air museum near the town of Alphen aan de Rijn in the province of Zuid Holland.
In the '70s of the twentieth century, near Colijnsplaat at the River East Scheldt, northeast of Walcheren, fishermen caught stone instead fish. Again, these were votive altars dedicated to goddess Nehalennia. In total 330 altars and altar fragments were recovered. Perhaps this temple complex was part of the Roman port named Ganuenta. This complex too is dated between ca. AD 188 and 227.
Nehalennia was being worshiped in Roman times. It was perhaps a native Celtic-Germanic goddess. The name maybe means 'goddess who lives by the water', and it was the guardian of skippers and traders who dared the sea crossing from Walcheren and Colijnsplaat to Britannia (Schuyf 2019). Nehallenia might stem from the Late Celtic word halen meaning sea or salt water. Like other toponyms in the Netherlands containing the element hal or hel, like Helevoetsluis, and former Latin Helinium for the joined mouth of the rivers Meuse and Rhine (Kerkhof 2016, Clerinx 2023). Note that alternative etymological explanations exist for the toponyms carrying the word 'hel'. Read our blog post When the Gate of Hell opened at the Golden Necklace.
Another explanation for the name Nehalennia is that the first element neha stems from the proto-Germanic word nēhwa meaning 'near', and the second element stems from lennōną meaning 'to weaken/stop'. Hence, the goddess that stopped stormy weather (Mees 2023). Others think Nehalennia was not specifically a guardian of skippers, but a universal goddess of birth, death and rebirth (Mecking 2023). Indeed, the fun with etymology. Every scholars who takes a look at it, comes up with a different explanation.
Like Nehalennia, goddess Burorina is a local goddess too, but not much is known about it to date.
Traders from especially Cologne, but also from present-day Nijmegen, Tongeren, Trier, from northern and central Gallia, all offered here to the goddess Nehalennia for a safe passage. Even merchants as far from Augst in modern Switzerland. Offerings could consist of breads, dolls of dough, fruits, etc. Trading goods were, among other, locally produced salt, allec (a kind of garum or fish sauce/oil), salt and chalk. But also the transport of wine from the upper Rhineland to Britannia.
Two of the fished-up inscriptions read:
DEAE NEHALENIAE OB MERCES RECTE CONSERVATAS M SECUND SILVANUS NEGOTIATOR CRETARIUS BRITANNICIANUS VSLM
To the goddess Nehalennia for the protection of Marcus Secund Silvanus' merchandise in pottery to Britannia, gladly and rightfully fulfilled his vow
DEAE NEHALENIAE M EXGINGIUS AGRICOLA CIVES TREVER NEGOTIATOR SALARIUS CCAA VSLM
To the goddess Nehalennia, Marcus Exingius Agricola, citizen of Trier, merchant in salt at Cologne, gladly and rightfully fulfilled his vow
Not solely merchants in allecarii, salarii et vinarii 'fish sauce, salt and wine' made the crossing. Frisian tribesmen on their way to, for example, Hadrian's Wall to join the Imperial Roman Army as mercenaries, also crossed the sea from Walcheren and Colijnsplaat to Britannia. Read our blog post Frisian mercenaries in Britannia to learn more about these mercenaries.
In sum, Domburg and Colijnsplaat being a crossroad of peoples and goods from the upstream river areas of the rivers Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt, from the populous salt-marsh area in the north of Germany and the Netherlands, and vice versa from Britannia.
In the year 1715, extreme weather struck again. Again, the pagan past of Walcheren revealed itself. This time is was at a very low tide that an image of the Roman goddess Victoria was presented, together with some remains of a temple. Although it is the goddess of victory, it missed its head. The decapitated image stood on the beach for some time before it was placed inside the thirteenth-century church of the town of Domburg. An act of paganism still?
In the year 1848, the church of Domburg was - understandably - struck by lightning (find out in our blog post "I did not have financial relations with that village" why lightning strikes Frisia often). Not only destroying large parts of the church, but also the remaining body of headless goddess Victoria, and many of the votive altar fragments found earlier, which were stored in the church too. This struck of lightning proofs by the way why we shouldn't buy the experiments and scientific explanations of Benjamin Franklin on electricity two centuries ago. It's divine judgement, beyond any doubt.
The current province of Zeeland, including Walcheren, depopulated in third quarter of the third century. Mainly due to deterioration of the landscape. It's the time the Romans also retreated more inland and southward. Only at the end of fifth century, the area was being re-populated again, starting with Walcheren.
2. Middle Ages
Alcuin, chronicler at the court of Charlemagne and author of the Vita Willibrordi 'life of Saint Willibrord' dated ca. 796, described Willibrord's missionary achievements in Frisia at the end of the seventh century. In his vita, Alcuin says that when Saint Willibrord went to Frisia to convert the people, he came ashore on the island of Walcheren. Alcuin also described how Willibrord destroyed a representation of an idol on Walcheren. According to Abbot Thiofrid of the Abbey of Saint Willibrord at the town of Echternach in Luxembourg, it didn't went off without a hitch. In Thiofrid's Vita sancti Willibrordi, written in ca. 1103, Saint Willibrord was hit on his head by the sword of one of the guards of the temple of this idol. His blood fell on a stone.
It might have been the village of Westkapelle where the manly performance of Willibrord took place, and where Willibrord set foot on land first. The eleventh-century chapel used to have a piece of stone of the temple with a stain of blood of Willibrord. Allegedly from the sword injury. Perhaps this stone previously was a Roman votive altar piece (Henderikx 2021). Also, the fact that some bone fragments of Willibrord were donated to this chapel by the Abbey of Echternach where Saint Willibrord is buried, suggests this is the spot where Willibrord come ashore in Frisia. Additionally, for long a sweet water well in the dunes nearby was named after Saint Willibrord too.
Because of the persistent heathen practices of the people on the island of Walcheren, Bishop Frederick of Utrecht (ca. 780-835) was ordered by Emperor Louis the Pious to travel to the island in order to refrain the people from returning to heathendom. Louis must have read the Book of Exodus and knew how susceptible the flock is for idolatry and golden calves. Incidentally, Frederick was of Frisian descent, from the village of Sexbierum in the province of Friesland. Legend even has it, his lineage was that of the legendary King Radbod. A few centuries later, another bishop from near Sexbierum would become the bishop of Utrecht, namely Hartbert of Bierum. He held this office from 1139 until 1150. For more about Bishop Hartbert, check our blog post The Abbey of Egmond and the Rise of the Gerulfing Dynasty.
Anyway, when in the ninth century rumour had it men on the island of Walcheren married their niece, or their own sister, and even their mother-in-law, action was urgently needed. This according to the Passio Friderici 'passion of Frederick':
Est enim insula Walachran nominata, tibi, ut reor, satis nota, in qua, proch dolor! quod ad meas nuper devenit aures, quisquis neptem aut, quod peius est, sororem vel ipsam in matrimonio ducit genitricem.
How Bishop Frederick of Utrecht died, is unclear, but not of old age. One story is that he was killed by the heathen people of Walcheren during his mission trying to turn the tide of people reverting to paganism. Another story is that he was assassinated in his own church whilst celebrating Mass. This murder allegedly was ordered by Empress Judith of Bavaria, because it had been Bishop Frederick who publicly had criticized the empress' incestuous way of life. Sometimes the life of a steadfast and principled clergyman was asking for trouble.
Whatever the true story was, the eleventh-century text of the Passio Friderici of Otbert illustrates that in the ninth century Walcheren still was not deeply converted to Christendom. Another text, the early-eleventh century Vita Bavonis confessoris gandavensis 'life of Saint Bavo of Ghent', mentions that Frisians (i.e. those living in West Flanders and Zeeland) are numerous and strong but weak in their faith. In this Vita, Frisians are also being reviled because they don't seem to respect the property of the Abbey of Ghent. Instead, they simply took possession of land, or used it to graze their livestock without permission.
Veneration of Dutch-Frisian saints in Belgium – After the Reformation of the northern Netherlands in the sixteenth century, many relics of Catholic saint were brought into safety to the south where the Catholic believe still was dominant. This explains why a typical Dutch saint like Lidwina from the town of Schiedam, and the Frisian abbots Frederick and Siardus of Friesland are being venerated in Belgian churches (Caspers 1997).
Another, close to absurd story of ungodly Frisians in the province of Zeeland, comes from the Gesta episcoporum Cameracensium 'deeds of the bishops of Cambrai', written in the mid-eleventh century. It recounts of Frisians living along the coast. Since it's the diocese of Cambrai in northern France speaking of something that happened in the diocese of Utrecht, chances are it concerned Frisians of the present-day province of Zeeland. The story is about how Frisians hardly ever took communion during Easter. It goes as follows.
One time, when the priest once again urged his congregation to take communion, the chieftain of the village was fed up with it. He cursed the whole heavenly ceremony and exclaimed that he preferred to drink lots of beer instead. The chieftain turned his words into deeds and got very drunk. However, when he mounted his horse, he fell off it and broke his neck. The villagers buried their chieftain in the graveyard of the church. When Bishop Adalbold of Utrecht heard about what happened, he personally travelled to the place and ordered the ungodly body to be dug up and removed from consecrated grounds of the church. Even though the body had already been lying there for two weeks. With a rope around the chieftain's feet, the body was dragged a mile outside the village. The entire way the dead chieftain was throwing up beer as if he had just been drinking (Bremmer & Mulder-Bakker 2022).
It's the saying 'Seagull, seagull, sit on the sand, it’s never good weather when you’re on land' which expresses that weatherproof seagulls only shelter on land during heavy storms while fishermen drown at sea, and their bodies will be washed on the beach soon. The seagull as harbinger of doom. Read our blog post Rats with Wings or Masters of the Sky to discover more symbolic meanings of seagulls.
In the year 1687, after a foul storm, the heathen history of Walcheren revealed itself yet again. This time it was skeletons and coffins made of thick wood. The coffins contained grave gifts such as necklaces with coins as amulets, drinking cups, and silver knives. Grave goods are a typical pagan practice. Therefore, the graves probably date before ca. 700. With high tide the salty sea returned and hid the zombies and their coffins back into the depths of the dark brown water again. A few more times the remains of these graves and the settlement emerged from the sea, namely in the years 1795, 1817, 1832 and 1866. Since then, they seemingly have disappeared forever.
More early-medieval cemeteries have been found around the town of Domburg, namely at Hooge Hil, Duinvliet, Westhove, and at Berkenbosch. These graves contained grave goods as well, like (Domburg-type) brooches, keys of women, potter,y and money coins. Coins are mostly the so-called Porcupine-type sceattas 'pennies'. A Frisian coin. Read also our blog post Porcupines bore U.S. bucks to find more information on this dollar of the Early Middle Ages. Note that the word hil (or hille) in the toponym Hooge Hil is another word for a terp, a manmade mound. Hillen can be found on the former island of Hoeksche Waard in the province of Zuid Holland as well.
For decades now, the beaches around the town of Domburg are a very popular holiday destination. People dressed in shorts -the horror- from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, flock in large numbers on the Walcheren coast again. But be warned. When standing in the sea and something tickles your feet, do not immediately think it's an angry lobster attacking you. It might just as well be an innocent Viking zombie raising its ugly head to say "hello". Probably, the water is too dark to see what it is, so you'll never know anyway.
Time to set our sights on those Vikings.
Walichrum, a Viking bridgehead
After the Romans had retreated inland southward in the course of the third and fourth centuries, the new Frisians took advantage of the opportunity. From around the sixth century, they expanded their influence south of the River Rhine. This meant the stretch of coastline from the present-day town of Rijnsburg, meaning 'Rhine burh, in the Netherlands to the sea inlet of Sincfala in West Flanders belonged to the sphere of influence of Frisia as well. Frisian law, the late eighth or early ninth-century Lex Frisionum, was the ruling law in these areas. Sincfala is where estuary the National Park the Zwin is today, and the starting point of the Frisia Coast Trail as well. Go to our blog post The Frontier known as Watery Mess: the coast of Flanders for more about Flemish-Frisia.
Extending their control south, shouldn't be regarded too much as a heroic achievement of the Frisians. Most of the land that aligns the North Sea of the modern province of Zuid Holland was at the time sparsely populated.
Some argue the Suevi tribe had colonized Walcheren in the beginning of the sixth century. Maybe, this is wishful thinking based too straightforwardly on the similarity of the words zeeuw, i.e. the Dutch name for the people of Zeeland, and seuvi. A more plausible theory, although still speculation, about the origins of the Zeeuw people would be that the tribes that lived in the southwest of the Netherlands were a tribe akin the Frisii or Fresones from the north, or even belonging to the same tribe as Frisians because they were partly descendants of the Frisiavones who still lived here. Perhaps also attributing why Frisia emerged after the Migration Period as an area stretching along the Netherlands' and German North Sea coast.
The archipelago of what's now the province of Zeeland and the coast of the region of West Flanders must have been a familiar habitat for medieval Frisians, comparable to the salt marshes of the terp region in the northwest of Germany and in the north of the Netherlands. Control over the mouths of the major rivers Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt in the west, but also the rivers Ems and Weser in the north, was very lucrative for the seafaring and trading Frisians. The island of Walcheren in the River Scheldt (the River West Scheldt then was not much more than a modest stream called Honte) was no exception. Numerous, more than a thousand, scaettas have been found on Walcheren, of which the majority are of Frisian origin.
The magnitude of the trade between the Continent and the British Isles during the Early Middle Ages, between ca. 600 and 900, is slowly becoming clear from archaeological research. Given the size of Frisian-type coin production, Frisian merchants were central interlocutors in this free trade. Coins were minted especially in emporium Doretstat, in the northern terp region, and on the island of Walcheren. This money was meant for financing the export of items from, among other, England to the Continent. The number of coins in circulation are mind-boggling and may add up to a staggering 50 million sceattas, mostly from Frisia. Read more about the Frisian trade in our blog post mentioned earlier already Porcupines bore U.S. bucks.
The settlement of Walichrum was probably located between the small towns of modern Domburg and modern Oostkapelle, where the thirteenth-century castle of Westhove stands today. Walichrum means 'wet sandy ridge' and, although originally referring to the settlement, later the name was applied for the entire island (Van Heeringen 1998). Walcheren had an additional strategic value compared to other trade settlements. From the island of Walcheren the North Sea could be crossed best to the British Isles. Additionally, when you controlled Walcheren, you controlled the mouth of the rivers Scheldt and Meuse too. The strategic importance was already recognized by the Romans, as described above.
Moreover, Walcheren could be defended effectively as well. It was located on a high ridge behind dunes, via a creek connected to the River Scheldt, and surrounded by tidal marshlands and the sea.
The count of Flanders, Robert I, nicknamed Robert the Frisian, experienced the defence of the island too when in the year 1067 the left-behind islanders triumphed over his professional army. Of course, some readers will say, the victory of the Frisians of Walcheren was achieved thanks to their Saint Willibrord whose relics namely were carried to the battle. This, however, is the version of the battle as described in the Vita sancti Willibrordi of Abbot Thiofrid we mentioned earlier. According to the Gesta Herwardi 'deeds of Hereward', written by monk Richard of the Abby on the Isle of Ely between 1109 and 1131, it was Count Robert I who won the battle. Robert's army consisted of 3,000 men, but the Frisians were with more. Another, third theory is that there were, in fact, two battles between the Zeelandic-Frisians and the count of Flanders, and both were lost by the count of Flanders. The first battle took place in 1067, and the second a few years later. The whole conflict was about the Frisians refusing to pay taxes to the count of Flanders who officially had become their lord in 1012 (Nieuwenhuijsen 2016, 2022).
Hereward, by the way, was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman with the intriguing nicknames Hereward the Wake, Hereward the Outlaw, and Hereward the Exile. Kind of Hengist type. In England he's especially known for his battles against the Normans who had invaded England in the famous year 1066. But many more adventures exist about this vigilante. He fought in the army of Count Robert the Frisian, count of Flanders, during the battle of Walcheren in the year 1067.
Centuries later, in 1809, the strategic features of Walcheren were proven once again. This time it was the British army that tried to invade the island in order to get control over the River Scheldt. It was an utter disaster too, and they were defeated by the 'Zeeuw natives'. Even as recent during the Second World War, the German army had nested itself on Walcheren controlling the River Scheldt, and hindering the advancement of the Allied in the autumn of 1944; the Battle of the Scheldt. It was one of the heaviest battles on Dutch territory, needed to open up the harbour of Antwerp for the Allied.
In other words, a wanna-have island, and it flourished especially in the seventh and eighth centuries.
Back to the Middle Ages.
The area of the great rivers was an apple of discord between the Frankish kingdoms of West, Middle and East Francia, the Frisians, and the Danes. Empires, kingdoms, christendom, heathendom, trade, tribes and peoples, all came together in this relatively small but lucrative area. You could say, it was the Balkans of Northwest Europe. Not the least were involved: Charlemagne, Louis the German, Charles the Bald, Louis the Pious, Lothar, Rorik of Dorestad, Ubba the Frisian, Ivar the Boneless, Rodulf Haraldsson, Harald Klak Halfdansson, Godfrid the Sea-King, Olaf Tryggvarson, Willibrord Apostle of the Frisians, etc. Undoubtedly, but strictly speaking this is again speculation, also the known Frisian kings Aldgisl and Redbad might have had some involvement in the early days. Walcheren, like the trading ports Dorestat, Medemblik, Witla (exact location unknown, but in estuary of the River Meuse) and Meinerswijk, were too important for a king of Frisia to remain indifferent to.
When Halley’s Comet almost hit earth
In the year 837, Halley's Comet, visible every seventy-five years or so, passed little earth again. This time it may have passed as close as five million kilometers, which is by far its closest approach ever. It was visible for three days. And who knows, the heathen people of Walcheren associated the sighting of the comet with the Wild Hunt of Woden. But most of all, thank all possible gods our planet is so tiny, and thus so difficult to hit by comets and big meteors. Sightings of Halley have been recorded in China, Japan, Germany, the Byzantine Empire and in the Middle East those days. Emperor Louis the Pious feared it was a sign of his death. According to the Annales Fuldenses 'annals of Fulda', it was Astronomus at Louis' court who advised the emperor not be as frightened as heathens are by signs of heaven.
The Annals of Xanten tell us the following about this natural occurrence:
Immense whirlwinds frequently erupted and a comet has been seen with a great train of light in the east about three cubits long to the human eye, and the pagans laid waste the Walcheren and abducted many captive women as well as an immense amount of various goods.
The Battle of Walcheren. It was on June 17, 837, when a Viking army lead by the two warlords Rorik and Harald Junior attacked Walcheren, by then a military stronghold of the Franks.
What preceded the Battle of Walcheren - After the successful Frisian expansion southward after the Migration Period until the Early Middle Ages, the Frisians had suffered multiple defeats against the Franks in the eighth century. Around 690, the Frisians had lost the estuary of the River Scheldt to the Franks already. The Frankish king, the Abbey of Saint Bavo in Ghent (Flanders), and the Abbey of Saint Willibrord in Echternach (Luxembourg) all got a piece of the pie and had possessions at the Walcheren.
In 736 (or so) the heathen Frisians and their Duke or King Bubo or Poppo were defeated deep in their own heartland at the River Boarn (read our blog post The Boarn Supremacy). That hurt. Irritated and slightly naive, the Frisians murdered the highly influential Archbishop Boniface in 754 near the present-day town of Dokkum. In 772, Charlemagne destroyed the sacred oak tree Irminsul of the neighbouring Saxons. After a decade of fighting, Charlemagne beheaded 4,500 Saxons at Verden in the year 782. Despite, or because of, these atrocities the Frisians stubbornly joined the large scale uprising of their cousins the Saxons, under command of the famous nobleman Widukind in the years 784 and 785. At the end the Franks were victorious against both the Saxons and the Frisians.
We can conclude that the eighth century was a very bloody mess in the northern regions, and must have given the Franks a certain image. Nevertheless, the Franks prevailed where the Romans had failed, and conquered the land north and east of the River Rhine. The lands of the Saxons and the Frisians.
The defence of Walcheren in the year 837 was the responsibility of Count Ekkehard, also written as Eggihard, and - interestingly - the Danish commander Halfdan Hemming. Both were killed, and the island of Walcheren was lost for the Franks. The Vikings would remain the de facto rulers of Walcheren for nearly the rest of the ninth century. It put a precedent in the Viking’s strategy that they would apply soon at the mouths of the rivers Thames, Loire and Seine too.
The defeat on Walcheren wasn't a little detail for the Franks, and their large and proud kingdom. Louis the Pious postponed his travels to Italy immediately and went to his kaiserpfalz in Nijmegen. The Frisians, specifically skippers and their dukes, were blamed by livid Louis for the whole disaster. They are said to have been too slow to organize the defence of the island, and didn't make their ships available to the Franks. The Frisian count of Westergo, Gerulf the Elder, was accused of conspiracy with the Danes. Louis took away his fiefs in villae Cammingehunderi, i.e. the area between current places Franeker and Berlikum in the province of Friesland. Louis' accusations might have been correct. Why would the pagan Frisians be disloyal to their pagan Danish cousins with whom they were also entangled in maritime trade for so long? To help the Franks they had resisted and feared for so long? No, the Frisians of Walcheren were no integrated, faithful citizens of Francia yet, and sabotage could have been their strategy indeed.
If interested in how the military defence in case of seaborne threats was organized, the so-called heercogge, check the intermezzo ‘Conscription in the Early Middle Ages’ in our blog post The Frontier Known as Watery Mess: the coast of Flanders.
One year after a devastating flood of 838, and two years after the defeat on Walcheren, the island was transferred to the kingdom of West Francia of Charles the Bald. King Lothar of Middle Francia didn't agree with these arrangements, and strove to possess all of Frisia, including the areas south of the River Rhine. Therefore, King Lothar illegally gave the island of Walcheren as benefice to the Danish warlord Harald the Younger. This was against the sore leg of chronicler Prudentius who was, of course, loyal to his boss. The Annals of Saint Bertin of 841 state the following:
To Harald who with other Danish pirates for a number of years, to his [Lothar’s] advantage, had done so much damage to Frisia and other coastal countries of the Christian world in order to harm his father [Louis the Pious], he gave for this service the Walcheren and the neighbouring places in fief (…) A deed which certainly deserves every abhorrence that people who had brought evil on to Christians were placed in charge of Christian countries and people and of Christ’s Church. (Annals of Saint Bertin)
It was a so-called 'magnificent gift' since from Walcheren an immense trade could be protected, controlled and exploited (Roesdahl 2016). Two years earlier, in 839, King Lothar already had given emporium Dorestat to Harald and his brother Rorik. When (De Maesschalck 2012). All this was part of the strategy of Lothar, who personally was acquainted with Harald, to obstruct his own father King Louis the Pious (De Maesschalck 2012). Three years after the death of Louis the Pious with the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the Frankish Empire was divided into three. Lothar got the kingdom of Middle Francia, later also called Lotharingia. Frisia was split into two with the Treaty of Verdun. Frisia north of the River Meuse belonged to the kingdom of Middle Francia and south of the river to the kingdom of West Francia. Probably, the borders cutting Frisia in two in the province of Zeeland were drawn based on the former Roman districts still.
With the Treaty of Verdun, King Charles the Bald of West Francia gave the benefice Walcheren to the Danish warlord Godfrid Haraldsson, who might later have been succeeded by warlord Rodulf Haraldsson. The region of the modern province of Zeeland had became a border area where different kingdoms, interests and powers came together. As a result, the island of Walcheren became a zone, a robber nest, from where the Vikings could more or less freely do their thing. Attacking emporium Quentovic, for example. Moreover, organizing an invasion army and fleet to conquer most of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Britannia, as we will see further below. The island of Walcheren, the medieval version of pirate lairs like Port Royal on Jamaica and Macao on a peninsula in the River Pearl in China.
From the moment Lothar was king of Middle Francia in 843, he no longer honoured the agreements made earlier with the brothers Harald the Younger and Rorik. This led to a series of attacks of warlord Rorik on the territory of Frisia belonging to Middle Francia (De Maesschalck 2012). His brother Harald the Younger had died in the meantime. At the end, in 850, King Lothar had no alternative than to accept Rorik as vassal back again. "If you can’t beat them, join them," King Lothar might also have thought. Lothar went even further. He gave West Frisia, more or less the present-day provinces of Noord Holland and Zuid Holland, and emporium Dorestat to Rorik. East Frisia, the present-day region of Ostfriesland, was given in fief to the Danish warlord Harald Klak, who, by the way, was also known as 'the Bile of Christianity'. This keep-your-enemy-close strategy of the Franks turned out to be quite successful for a while.
So, Viking warlords wielded axe and power over the estuaries of the rivers Scheldt, Meuse, Rhine and Weser. Under authorization of the Frankish kingdoms of West Francia and Middle Francia. Well done. Can't say otherwise.
After most parts of West Frisia had been given in fief to Danish warlords, almost no killings and looting in Middle Francia took place anymore. Instead, the Vikings shifted and intensified their activities to West Francia, notably Flanders, and to the British Isles. Poor Flanders, it would stay a battleground for foreign powers for much of its history. Only with the rule of margrave Baldwin II of Flanders (ca. 865-918), nicknamed Boudewijn de Veroveraar 'Baldwin the conqueror' and, after his grandfather King Charles the Bald, Baldwin the Bald, the Vikings were pushed out of Flanders. Inspired by the Anglo-Saxon boroughs (compare burg or burcht in the Dutch language), Baldwin built a series of castella 'ring fortresses' along the coast North Sea coast at the end of the ninth century, like Oostburg, Bruges, Veurne, Sint-Winoksbergen and Broekburg in Flanders, and in the province of Zeeland at Souburg, Middelburg and Burgh. De already existing forts originating from Roman times, Aardenburg and Oudenburg were reinforced (De Maesschalck 2012). These coastal fortifications were not waterproof. According to an Icelandic poem, Olaf Tryggvason, who ruled as king over Norway at the end of the tenth century, turned the people of Walcheren into corpses (Kuipers, Jensma & Vries 2011).
The area of the present-day provinces of Friesland and Groningen of Frisia, belonging to the kingdom of Middle Francia, remained free from Danish rulers. A couple of times Vikings did attempt to attack this area, though. It was often a complete catastrophe for the Norsemen. Siegfrid, a former commander of the Great Heathen Army even and responsible for the siege of the city of Paris, was killed while trying. The two warlords Björn Ironside and Rodulf Haraldsson, after having raided the British Isles and West Francia, made the same mistake and found Walhalla in the dark-blue, smelling mud of the salt marshes. Rodulf's attack near the town of Dokkum was in the year 873. No less than five- or eight-hundred men, numbers differ, of Rodulf's war band were killed by the Frisians in the county Albdagi, pagus 'territory' Oostergo in the province of Friesland. The survivors of the Danish army had to pledge never ever to return to Frisia. They did not. Three strikes out, was the clear message from the inhabitants of Mid Frisia. Check our blog post Frisia, a Viking graveyard for more details on these historical but lesser known defeats of Vikings.
The Great Heathen Army
In the year 865, Norse armies gathered like an enormous thunderstorm, to enter what's now England. That was four centuries after Hengist, the famous slayer of the King Finn of Frisia, read our blog post Tolkien pleaded in favour of King Finn. An immortalized royal tragedy, and his brother Horsa invaded the British Isles with their army of wild Angles, Jutes and Saxons, very possible departing from the coasts of Frisia. This according to the influential Bede's eighth-century Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The invasion of the Great Heathen Army was two centuries before 'Britain' would be invaded again. This time by another Viking or Norseman, William the Conqueror, in the famous year 1066. In 1688 Britain would be invaded yet again. This invasion was staged from the province of Zeeland too. This time by another William, William III of Orange, leaving from the Low Countries for Britain with an impressive army of more than 20,000 soldiers. The Brits did not even try to resist William and embraced the invasion as the Glorious Revolution.
Poor Britain. What was left of the once proud Kentish Invicta? Foreign armies seemingly invading at free will for centuries, and we have not mentioned the Romans yet. So, have some compassion when it comes to the Brexit. It's emotional.
Back to the particular invasion of 865. The Viking armies would unite into the much dreaded Mycel Heathen Here 'Great Heathen Army', and this army would ransack the Anglo-Saxon world for a stunning fourteen years. In the year 878, the Great Heathen Army was defeated by King Alfred of Wessex. A year later, in 879, the Viking chapter of the Scaldingi returned to its former base on the island of Walcheren. From here the Vikings started raiding the region of Flanders during the years between 879 and 892. In 892, they returned to England again. This was the end of Viking presence in the province of Zeeland, at last (Henderikx 2021).
It's generally accepted that not only Norsemen went raiding, but men of other tribes joined Viking gangs as well. Notably the Frisians. For example, in the year 855 an army of Dani et Frisones 'Danes and Frisians' landed on the island of Sheppey in the southeast of England. This according to the authoritative Annales Lindisfarneses 'annals of Lindisfarne'. But also Old-Frisian codices and law books from, for example, the districts of Rüstringen in Germany and of Fivelgo in the Netherlands. These texts date from the around the thirteenth century, and still made reference to Frisians participating in overseas raiding campaigns of their northern neighbours, whether these Frisian men were forced to participate, or joined as adventurer. Read more about these fighters in our blog post Foreign fighters returning from Viking war bands.
The initial three commanders of the great heathen army were Ivar the Boneless, Halfdan and Ubba the Frisian or Ubbi fríski. Ubba was also recorded by contemporaries as Ubba dux Fresciorum and Ubbo Fresicus of Saxo. Whatever his name was, and whether or not he was one of the sons of legendary Viking Ragnarr Loðbrók, Ubba gathered his Scaldingi chapter in West Frisia and crossed with his giant fleet to England from 'stepping stone' Walcheren. Scaldingi, or Scaldi, was the name for the Scheldt Vikings. Indeed, the river had been named Vikings after itself. Nice achievement for a river.
Remember these facts when crossing the massive Oosterscheldekering, i.e. the storm surge barrier over the River East Scheldt. Visualize the ships of the Scaldingi, with a shouting Ubba, sailing to England.
Ubba the Frisian fought during his career on either side of the English Channel and eventually died in battle in 878 near Countisbury in Devon. According to the twelfth-century chronicler Gaimar, Ubba is buried in Devon in a mound called Ubbalawe, meaning Ubba’s barrow. Local legend also has it Ubba is buried in the Wind Hill near Lynmouth in Devon. Or, was he one of the 300 Vikings buried at the mass grave in Derbyshire? Maybe the body of a leader with a boar’s tusk between his legs?
Anyway, no sea this time to reveal its contents. We must dig in earth. Quick!
Ubba the Frisian fought during his career on either side of the canal and eventually died in battle in AD 878 near Countisbury in Devon, England. According to the twelfth century AD chronicler Gaimar, Ubba is buried in Devon in a mound called Ubbalawe, meaning Ubba's barrow. Local legend has it Ubba is buried in the Wind Hill near Lynmouth in Devon. Or was he one of the 300 Vikings buried at the mass grave in Derbyshire? Maybe the body of a leader with a boar's tusk between his legs.
Anyway, no sea this time to reveal its contents. We must dig. Quick!
Note 1 – More about the discussion whether Ubba was of Frisian descend in our blog post Foreign Fighters returning from Viking war bands.
Note 2 - Ubba the Frisian got a face with the Norwegian actor Rune Temte in the TV series The Last Kingdom, and with Scottish-Australian actor Jordan Patrick Smith in the TV series Vikings .
Further reading
Buijtendorp, T., De gouden eeuw van de Romeinen in de Lage Landen (2021)
Buisman, J. & Engelen, A.F.V. (eds.), Duizend jaar weer, wind en water in de Lage Landen. Deel 1: tot 1300 (1995)
Bremmer, R.H., “Thi Wilde Witsing” Vikings and Otherness in the Old Frisian Laws (2020)
Caspers, C.M.A., Een stroom van getuigen. Heiligenleven en heiligenverering in katholiek Nederland circa 1500 – circa 2000 (1997)
Clerinx, H., De god met de maretak. Kelten en de Lage Landen (2023)
Halink, S., “Almost Like Family. Or Were They?” Vikings, Frisian Identity, and the Nordification of the Past (2022)
De Maesschalck, E., De graven van Vlaanderen (861-1384) (2012)
Dhaeze, W., The Roman North Sea and Channel Coastal Defence. Germanic Seaborne Raids and the Roman Response (2019)
Doolaard, den A., Walcheren komt boven water (1946)
Graaf, de R., Oorlog om Holland 1000-1375 (2004)
Halink, S., “Almost Like Family. Or Were They?” Vikings, Frisian Identity, and the Nordification of the Past (2022)
Harkel, ten L., A Viking Age Landscape of Defence in the Low Countries? The ringwalburgen in the Dutch Province of Zeeland (2013)
Heeringen, van R.M., The Construction of Frankish circular fortresses in the province of Zeeland (SW Netherlands) in the end of the ninth century (1998)
Heerma van Voss, L., Michael Pye’s Edge of the World. Een succesvolle, maar mislukte geschiedenis van de Noordzee (2016)
Henderikx, P.A., Land, water en bewoning. Waterstaats- en nederzettingsgeschiedenis in de Zeeuwse en Hollandse delta in de Middeleeuwen (2001)
Henderikx, P.A., Walcheren en de Vita sancti Willibrordi van Thiofried van Echternach (2021)
Henstra, D.J., Friese graafschappen tussen Zwin en Wezer. Een overzicht van de grafelijkheid in middeleeuws Frisia ca. 700-1200 (2012)
IJssennagger, N., Central because Liminal. Frisia in a Viking Age North Sea World (2017)
Kerkhof, P.A., Het raadsel van Nehalennia ontrafeld (2016)
Klaesoe, I.S. (ed.), Viking trade and settlement in continental Western Europe (2010)
Klerk, de A., Vlaardingen in de wording van het graafschap Holland 800-1250 (2018)
Kok, de G., Walcherse ketens. De Trans-Atlantische slavenhandel en de economie van Walcheren, 1755-1780 (2020)
Koninklijk Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen, KZWG, Records (website)
Kuipers, J.J.B., Jensma, G. & Vries, O., Nederland in de Middeleeuwen. De canon van ons middeleeuws verleden (2011)
Leeuwen, van, J., Middeleeuws Medemblik: een centrum in de periferie (2014)
Lewis, S.M., Rodulf and Ubba. In search of a Frisian-Danish Viking (2018)
Looijenga, A. & Popkema, A. & Slofstra, B. (transl.), Een meelijwekkend volk. Vreemden over Friezen van de oudheid tot de kerstening (2017)
Mecking, O., This ancient Dutch goddess was nearly lost to time—and rising seas (2023)
Mees, B., The English language before England. An epigraphic account (2023)
Meijlink, B., Silkens, B. & Jaspers, N.L., Zeeën van Tijd. Grasduinen door de archeologie van 2500 jaar Domburg en het Oostkapelse strand (2017)
Nieuwenhuijsen, K., Robrecht de Fries. Graaf van Vlaanderen, held van Holland (2022)
Nieuwenhuijsen, K., Strijd om West-Frisia. De ontstaansgeschiedenis van het graafschap Holland; 900-1100 (2016)
Pestell, T., The Kingdom of East Anglia, Frisia and Continental Connections, c. AD 600-900, 2014
Pey, M., The edge of the world. How the North Sea made us what we are (2014)
Roesdahl, E., The Vikings (2016)
Rooijendijk, C., Waterwolven. Een geschiedenis van stormvloeden, dijkenbouwers en droogmakers (2009)
Schuyf, J., Heidense heiligdommen. Zichtbare sporen van een verloren verleden (2019)
Sicking, L. (ed.), Elke provincie een eigen gouden eeuw. De bloeiperiodes van Nederland (7de-21ste eeuw); Meijlink, B., Zeeland. De Gouden Eeuw van de Vikingen (9de eeuw) (2024)
Spiekhout, D., Brugge, ter A. & Stoter, M. (eds.), Vrijheid, Vetes, Vagevuur: de middeleeuwen in het noorden; Bremmer, R.H. & Mulder-Bakker, A.B., Een christelijk venster op de middeleeuwse Friese landen (2022)
Tuuk, van der L., Deense kapers op de kust (2006)
Tuuk, van der, L., De Franken (2016)
Tuuk, van der, L., Vikingen. Noormannen in de Lage Landen (2015)
Vinkenoog, H., Frisians in the Great Heathen Army (2020)
Williamson, J., Who was Harald Klak, the first "Christian" king in the Nordic region? (2024)
Winroth, A. The age of the Vikings (2014)