Dirk I, Count of Holland

Dirk I of Holland
Count in Frisia
Dirk I as imagined in the 16th century
Reign	uncertain – 928/944
Predecessor	Gerolf
Successor	Dirk II
Born	ca. 870
Died	928/944
Burial	Egmond Abbey
Spouse	Geva
Issue	Dirk II
Father	possibly Gerolf or Radbod, Prince of the Frisians

Dirk I (Theoderic) was Count of Holland, thought to have been in office from ca. 896 to ca. 928 or 939.

'Count in Frisia'

The actual title of count Dirk I was 'count in Friesland'.

Dirk is thought to be a son of Gerulf II, 'count in Frisia', who is named by some sources as one of the counts who assassinated their Viking overlord Godfryth 'the Sea King' at a place named Herespich (modern Spijk) in 885.

Regarding Dirk I, almost nothing is known of his life, a situation further clouded by the present-day hypothesis that he had a son, Dirk (numbered Dirk I bis, to avoid confusion with the already established numbering), who succeeded him instead of the traditional view that he was succeeded by his supposed son Dirk II.

Founding of Egmond Abbey

In 922 Dirk was present at a place called Bladella (present day Bladel, in the extreme south of the Dutch province of Noord Brabant), at which he received certain lands ('at a place called Egmond') from the West Frankish king Charles the Simple. Dirk subsequently erected a nunnery at the said lands, at which nuns prayed continuously for the well-being of the comital dynasty. This was the origin of the later Egmond Abbey.

Under Dirk II the wooden convent was rebuilt in stone to house the relics of Saint Adalbert. Adalbert was not well known at that time, but he was said to have preached Christianity in the immediate surroundings two centuries earlier. The monastery was also changed to house a community of Benedictine monks from Ghent, replacing the nuns. Count Dirk and many of his descendants were buried in the abbey church.

References/Bibliography

• Cordfunke, Graven en Gravinnen van het Hollandse Huis (1986).
• http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/HOLLAND.htm