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Birth:          ABT 1114 of S-Gravenhage, Zuid-Holland, Holland
Death:          6 Aug 1157 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_VI,_Count_of_Holland
Dirk VI of Holland (c. 1114 – 5 August 1157), also known as Dietrich in German, 
Thierry in French, and Theodoric in English, was Count of Holland between 1121 and 
1157, at first, during his minority, under the regency of his mother Petronilla. He was 
the son of Count Floris II. After his death he was succeeded by his eldest son Floris 
III. He married Sofie of Salm, Countess of Rheineck and Bentheim. She was heiress of 
Bentheim, which she ruled together with her husband and which was inherited by the 
couple's second son Otto after his parents' death.
Petronilla's regency[edit]

When his father died in 1122, Dirk was only 7 years old and his mother, Petronilla, 
governed the county as regent. In 1123 she supported the uprising of her half-brother, 
Lothair of Süpplingenburg, Duke of Saxony against Emperor Henry V. After Lothair had 
been elected king of Germany himself in 1125 he returned Leiden and Rijnland to 
Holland, which had both been awarded to the Bishop of Utrecht in 1064 (Later on 
during Dirk's reign the wooden fortifications at Leiden would be replaced by a stone 
castle). Because Petronilla saw little ability or ambition in Dirk as he grew up, she 
stalled letting go of the regency when he reached adulthood (fifteen years old), until 
her favourite son Floris could attempt to take over the county.

Floris the Black[edit]

This Floris, called "the Black" (Dutch: de Zwarte) did possess those qualities which 
his older brother seemed to lack. He openly revolted against him and was from 1129 to 
1131 recognised as Count of Holland by, amongst others, King Lothair and Andreas of 
Kuyk, Bishop of Utrecht. After March 1131 Dirk again appears as count of Holland 
alongside him, the brothers apparently having reached an agreement. Only a few 
months later, however, in August 1131 Floris accepted an offer from the West-Frisians 
to become lord of their entire territory, which reignited the conflict with his brother. 
After this the people from Kennemerland joined the revolt as well. A year later, in 
August 1132 King Lothair intervened and managed to reconcile the brothers. This did 
not pacify the Frisians however, who continued their revolt, which was nonetheless 
eventually suppressed. Later that year, on 26 October Floris was ambushed near 
Utrecht and murdered by Herman and Godfried of Kuyk, leaving Dirk to rule the county 
on his own. King Lothair punished this act by having Herman and Godfried's castle 
razed and banishing the two. Floris was buried at Rijnsburg Abbey.

Imperial affairs[edit]

Count Dirk had supported his relative Lothair of Saxony against Henry V and with his 
assistance parts of Holland were regained that had been awarded to and occupied by 
the Bishopric of Utrecht in 1064. Furthermore, with help from King Conrad III and 
support of the counts of Cleves and Guelders and his brother-in-law Otto II, Count of 
Rheineck, he was able to get a candidate of his own (Herman of Horne) recognised as 
bishop of Utrecht.[1]

Ecclesiastical affairs and pilgrimage[edit]

Dirk and his mother supported the abbeys of Egmond and Rijnsburg, which flourished 
in this period. The nunnery at Rijnsburg was established by Petronilla in 1133. Two of 
her granddaughters, Sophie and Hedwig later joined it, one of them as abbess.

Dirk and Sophie went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1138 and it was on this 
pilgrimage that their first son Dirk, called Peregrinus ("Pilgrim"), was born, but he died 
when he was only 12 years old. On the return journey, in 1139, Dirk visited Pope 
Innocent II and asked for the abbeys of Egmond and Rijnsburg to be placed under 
direct papal authority and this request was granted. In this way Dirk removed the 
Bishop of Utrecht's influence over those abbeys. Dirk's mother, Petronilla, died in 
1144 and was buried at Rijnsburg.

In 1155 the Frisians revolted again and plundered the area of Santpoort nearby 
Haarlem, but they were beaten back by the knights of Haarlem and Osdorp.

In 1156 Count Dirk VI resolved the protracted conflict between the abbeys of Egmond 
and Echternach, which had been ongoing ever since the establishment of Egmond in 
923 by Count Dirk I. At the time of the establishment the Count had granted Egmond 
the rights over all the churches in the area, which had previously belonged to 
Echternach. Repeated attempts were made to regain these lost rights, initially with 
little result, but in 1063 William I, Bishop of Utrecht, decided to split the rights 
between the two abbeys. This division was unacceptable to Egmond however, and its 
abbots pressed the counts for compensation. Finally, in 1156, Dirk VI resolved to give 
all the rights over the churches to Egmond again, compensating Echternach with the 
rights over the proceeds of the church in Vlaardingen and lands on the island of 
Schouwen. Although the abbot of Egmond was a witness at the agreement, it seems 
he may have attended under pressure, as only a little while later he excommunicated 
both Count Dirk and his son Floris. This perhaps is the reason that Dirk, unlike his 
forefathers, was not buried at Egmond, but at Rijnsburg.

Family[edit]

Count Dirk VI married Sophie of Salm, Countess of Bentheim some time before 1137. 
She was a daughter of Otto of Salm, Count of Rheineck and Bentheim, son of 
Hermann of Salm, King of Germany. Dirk and Sophie had (at least) nine children:
1.Dirk, known as Pilgrim (Peregrinus), born 1138/1139 – died 1151.
2.Floris, born ca. 1140 – died 1 August 1190 at Antioch (succeeded his father as Floris 
III, Count of Holland, in 1157).
3.Otto, born 1140/1145 – died 1208 or after (inherited his mother's county and became 
Count of Bentheim).
4.Baldwin, born ca. 1149 – died 30 April 1196 (firstly, Provost at St Maria in Utrecht; 
secondly, Bishop of Utrecht from 1178 until his death).
5.Dirk, born ca. 1152 – died 28 August 1197 in Pavia (also became Bishop of Utrecht, 
in 1197, but died the same year).
6.Sophie (in 1186 she became abbess of Rijnsburg Abbey, established by her 
grandmother).
7.Hedwig, died 28 August 1167 (a nun at Rijnsburg).
8.Gertrud (died in infancy).
9.Petronilla.

Also, it was alleged that Count Dirk had fathered an illegitimate son, whose name was 
Robert.

Parents
____ Floris II (Florenz) "De Vette" ("the Fat") (ABT 1083 - 2 Mar 1121)
OF ALSACE Gertrude (chg to Petronilla) (ABT 1082 - 24 May 1144)

Siblings
____ Dietrich (Dirk) VI (ABT 1114 - 6 Aug 1157)

Marriage To OF RHEINECK Sophia (Sofie) (ABT 1117 - 26 Sep 1176)
    m. BEF 1139 

Notes

Parents
OF LUXEMBURG Otto I (ABT 1080 - 1150)
VON NORTHEIM Gertrude (ABT 1088 - AFT 1154)

Children by OF RHEINECK Sophia (Sofie) ABT 1117 - 26 Sep 1176
____ Florenz (Floris) III "Crusader" (ABT 1141 - 1 Aug 1190)

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