_Morsatenorum_) gave a still more severe lesson to the bishop
of Utrecht. This last merits a more particular mention from the
nature of the quarrel and the importance of its results.




CHAPTER IV

FROM THE FORMATION OF HOLLAND TO THE DEATH OF LOUIS DE MALE

A.D. 1018--1384

The district in which Dordrecht is situated, and the grounds
in its environs which are at present submerged, formed in those
times an island just raised above the waters, and which was called
Holland or Holtland (which means _wooded_ land, or, according to
some, _hollow_ land). The formation of this island, or rather its
recovery from the waters, being only of recent date, the right to
its possession was more disputable than that of long-established
countries. All the bishops and abbots whose states bordered the
Rhine and the Meuse had, being equally covetous and grasping,
and mutually resolved to pounce on the prey, made it their common
property. A certain Count Thierry, descended from the counts
of Ghent, governed about this period the western extremity of
Friesland--the country which now forms the province of Holland;
and with much difficulty maintained his power against the Frisons,
by whom his right was not acknowledged. Beaten out of his own
territories by these refractory insurgents, he sought refuge in
the ecclesiastical island, where he intrenched himself, and founded