Page 38 - Poat_to_Poot_Engels

The land was covered with peat many feet thick, but this was rapidly
stripped away. The dark soil beneath the peat was good for farming, but
when the rich organic matter was exposed to the air, it oxidized and
shrank, causing land subsidence. The drainage channels, levees and
seawalls that were built to reduce flooding, also lowered the water table,
which caused further land subsidence. Land that started above sea level
often sank to several feet below sea level. Sometimes areas had to be
abandoned as storms and floods would wash away the land or simply
cause too much flooding to allow any farming. The Zuider Zee, a large
inland sea, was created by erosion from ocean storms in the 12th
century. Through the wonders of modern engineering, and at vast
expense, some 632 square miles of the Zuider Zee were reclaimed for
human use in the late 1900's.

By the late Middle Ages, technology had improved, and dykes, levees,
sluices, gates, and windmills were used to block the ocean, regulate
rivers, and pump out water. In Friesland, the land could be owned by
anyone willing to reclaim it. Individual farmers typically reclaimed the
land for use in small plots. These plots are called polders. A person who
went to the work of preparing a polder was given title to that plot of
land. The result was a government not dominated by feudal lords as in
the rest of Europe. Although the Frisian language was shared, there was
no central government. There were informal districts that formed
around the principal towns. Although each municipality issued its own
coinage, they followed common standards. Laws were locally
administered, but were generally consistent between municipalities,
following the standards set by Charlemagne. The difficult marshes and
moors made outside conquest impractical. For a long time this gave
Friesland independence in its daily life, and it was rather democratic in
its governance. As travel became easier and the population grew, some
landowners became wealthy, and the forces of greed and power took
hold. In the 1400's the city-states began fighting with each other, about
land and power. The resulting chaos and effort wasted on warfare
allowed the dykes to decline and some towns were destroyed by floods,
and valuable farmlands were lost. In 1498 the people petitioned to
become part of the government to the south so they could again focus
on the battle with nature instead of with each other. Dutch then became
the official language of Friesland, although the common people
continued to use Frisian in their daily lives.

In the 1500's, engineers from Holland arrived and the entire system of
dykes and water control was greatly improved. Canals were built to
provide transportation between towns, and canal building continued far
into the 1900's. Canals were so important for transportation, that roads
were to remain secondary in quality and capacity in much of the region
until the late 1800's and early 1900's. During the 1500's the engineers
standardized the earthwork and reclamation practices. Newly protected
land was allowed to drain and settle before building on it. Villages were

- Friesland - page 2 -