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Potestaat of Friesland

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Potestaat (from Italian podestà) was the supposed title of a governor of medieval Friesland. According to the legendary Karelsprivilege, a 14th-century forgery, Charlemagne had first granted the title of potestaat to Magnus Forteman. He and most of his early successors were 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 The title potestaat does not appear in historical documents until 1470. It became popular after 1578, when the idea of the inherited office of potentate was linked to the new office of stadtholder, which was held by the House of Nassau-Dietz.

In 1851, Wopke Eekhoff compiled the following list in Beknopte Geschiedenis van Friesland ("Brief History of Friesland"). However, most of the list is fictitious, except for the last name, though constructed from names of leading 16th-century noblemen and their supposed ancestors..[1]

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

See also

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References

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  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.