Frisia

In 1337 Frisia was a network of self-governing coastal communities from the Zuiderzee to the Weser. Under Frisian freedom, rural communes managed their affairs through assemblies and elected judges.

In 1345 the Frisians defeated Holland's invading count near Stavoren, killing him. Elected war leaders later became a landed aristocracy. Ulrich I founded the County of East Frisia in 1464; western factional wars brought in the Duke of Saxony as governor in 1498. His rights were sold to the Habsburgs in 1515, and the west became Charles V's Lordship of Frisia in 1524.