Dirk II, Count of Holland

Dirk II
Count of West Frisia
Reign	928/944 – 988
Predecessor	Dirk I, Count of Holland
Successor	Arnulf, Count of Holland
Born	920/930
Died	(988-05-06)6 May 988 Egmond, West Friesland, Duchy of Lower Lorraine
Burial	Egmond, West Friesland, Duchy of Lower Lorraine
Spouse	Hildegard of Flanders
Issue	Arnulf, Count of West Frisia Egbert, Archbishop of Trier Erlinde, Abbess of Egmond
House	House of Gerufings
Father	Dirk I, Count of West Frisia
Mother	Geva

Dirk II or Theoderic II (920/930 – 6 May 988) was a count in West Frisia, and ancestor of the counts of Holland. He was the son and heir of Dirk I and his wife Geva (or Gerberge).

Career

In 983 Emperor Otto III confirmed Dirk's rights within the Duchy of Lower Lorraine to properties and territories in the counties of Maasland, Kinhem (Kennemerland) and Texla (Texel), thus stretching along the entire Hollandic coast, as well as inland. Count Dirk II built a fortress near Vlaardingen, which was later the site of the Battle of Vlaardingen between his grandson Dirk III and an Imperial army under Godfrey II, Duke of Lower Lorraine.

Dirk and his wife implore Saint Adalbert, illustration from the Egmond Gospels

Starting in 950, Dirk II rebuilt Egmond Abbey and its wooden church in stone, in order 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 region two centuries earlier. The abbey was given to a community of Benedictine monks from Ghent, who replaced the nuns originally housed there, probably in the 970s. His daughter Erlint, Erlinde or Herlinde, who was abbess at the time, was made abbess of the newly founded Bennebroek Abbey instead.

Family

Dirk married Hildegarde who is thought to be a daughter of Count Arnulf of Flanders. They had three known children. His son Arnulf became Count of Holland and Frisia after Dirk's death. The younger son Egbert became Archbishop of Trier in 977. His daughter Erlinde (or Herlinde) was an abbess.

Dirk died in 988 and was buried in the stone church at Egmond Abbey. Hildegard died two years later and was also buried there.

Sources

• Arblaster, Paul (2006). A History of the Low Countries. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-61185-7.
• Geerts.com: History of Holland
• Frisia Coast Trail: The Abbey of Egmond and the Rise of the Gerulfings