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Birth:          ABT  981 of Gand, Flandre-Orientale
Death:          27 May 1039 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_III,_Count_of_Holland
Dirk III (also called Diederik or Theodoric) was Count of Holland from 993 to 27 May 
1039, until 1005 under regency of his mother. It is thought that Dirk III went on 
pilgrimage to the Holy Land around 1030, hence his nickname of Hierosolymita ('the 
Jerusalemite' in Latin).
The county[edit]

The area over which Dirk ruled was called Holland for the first time only in 1101 and 
was known as West Friesland at this time. The actual title of Count Dirk III was 'Count 
in Friesland'. Western Frisia was very different from the area (North and South 
Holland) of today. Most of the territory was boggy and subject to constant flooding 
and hence very sparsely populated. The main areas of habitation were in the dunes at 
the coast and on heightened areas near the rivers.

Luitgard's regency[edit]

Count Dirk was a member of the house of Holland, an important family within Germany 
at that time. His mother, Luitgard of Luxemburg, was regent in the county while Dirk 
was still a minor, from 993-1005. She was the sister-in-law of Emperor Henry II, and 
with his help, she managed to maintain the county for her son. After Dirk assumed the 
government of the county, she still used her family connections to acquire imperial 
assistance, in one instance an imperial army helped Dirk suppress a Frisian revolt.

Conflict with the emperor[edit]

Prior to 1018, Count Dirk III was a vassal of Henry II, but the bishops of Trier, Utrecht 
and Cologne all contested the ownership of Dirk's fiefdom, which was in a strategically 
important location. Utrecht, situated in the Rhine delta, was the largest trading town 
of the German kings in the area and traders had to sail through the territories of Dirk 
III, by way of the Rhine and Vecht rivers, in order to reach the North Sea. Also, the 
German kings and emperors were frequently resident in Utrecht and the nearby estate 
of Nijmegen. Another trade route that ran through Dirk's territory was from the city of 
Tiel to England.

It was along this second route that Count Dirk built a stronghold at Vlaardingen, in a 
newly habitable area where many Frisians had recently settled by his invitation. He 
was not permitted to levy tolls or hinder trade in any way, but eventually he defied 
imperial rule. Working together with the Frisians now living in the area, he stopped 
passing ships, demanding payment of tolls. Merchants from the town of Tiel sent 
alarmed messages to the king and Bishop Adelbold of Utrecht about acts of violence 
against them by Dirk's men. Emperor Henry then decided to end Dirk III's reign and 
awarded his lands to Bishop Adelbold.

The Battle of Vlaardingen and its aftermath[edit]

A large imperial army, made up of troops supplied by the various bishops of region, 
under the command of Godfrey II, Duke of Lower Lorraine, then headed for the 
stronghold at Vlaardingen. The ensuing Battle of Vlaardingen was a disaster for the 
imperial army and a tremendous victory for Count Dirk; many of the imperial 
commanders perished and Duke Godfrey was captured. Following this victory, Dirk III 
was permitted to keep his lands and he continued levying tolls. Later on, Dirk also 
managed to acquire more lands east of his previous domains at the expense of the 
Bishop of Utrecht. After the death of Emperor Henry II in 1024, Dirk supported Conrad 
II for the succession to the kingship.

After Count Dirk III's death in 1039, imperial armies were sent on a few more 
occasions seeking to reclaim the lands held by the Frisian counts. The powerful 
Robert I, Count of Flanders (called Robert the Frisian) helped Dirk V, grandson of Dirk 
III and his own stepson, to restore Frisia to the counts.

Family[edit]

Dirk III married Othelindis, perhaps daughter of Bernard, Margrave of the Nordmark. 
They had (at least) two children:
Dirk, who succeeded his father as Dirk IV
Floris, who succeeded his brother as Floris I

There is also evidence for two daughters: Bertrada, who married Dietrich I. von 
Katlenburg (de), and Suanhildis (Swanhilde) who married Emmo van Loon (nl), Count 
of Loon.

After Dirk's death on 27 May 1039, his widow went back to Saxony, where she died 
on 31 March 1044. Dirk was buried at Egmond Abbey.

Parents
OF GHENT Arnulf I (ABT  959 - 18 Sep  993)
OF LUXEMBURG Luitgarde (Lutgard) (Lutgardis) (ABT  955 - AFT 1005)

Siblings
____ Dietrich (Dirk) III (ABT  981 - 27 May 1039)
OF HOLLAND Adele (ABT  982 - ABT 1045)

Marriage To ____ Othelindia (Otelhild) ( 998 - 9 Mar 1044)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
____ Bernhard I (EST  965 - 1051)
____ Vladimirovna (EST  978 - 1044)

Children by ____ Othelindia (Otelhild)  998 - 9 Mar 1044
____ Floris I (Florens) (ABT 1017 - 28 Jun 1061)

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