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Frisia Coast Trail

@frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social

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The 1,000 mile coastal history hike. For people with fear of heights and interest in 2,500 years of living on the sharp edge of land and sea - www.frisiacoasttrail.blog/blog

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · Dec 15

Introducing the Trail

The Frisia Coast Trail is a long-distance path that, as the name suggests, follows the coastline of former Frisia. It is no coincidence our colours are, as they say in the Turkey along their Medite…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 1d

The Frisians as the Charons of the English Channel, a 1,600 years old story:

Rowing Souls of the Dead to Britain — The Ferryman of Solleveld

In 2004, archaeologists made a remarkable discovery at the early medieval burial ground of Solleveld, just south of the city of The Hague: a boat grave. It lies almost exactly two hundred kilometre…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 9d

When the two Frisian bastards of the FCT meet in England, we can't help to be remembered of our blog post about the saga recounting the deeds of Hengist and Horsa. See: www.frisiacoasttrail.com/post/frisian...

Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 11d

And for those interested in the early-medieval history of 't Zwin, see our blog post 'A Frontier Known as Watery Mess: the Coast of Flanders'
(link: frisiacoasttrail.blog/2021/08/08/t...)

A Frontier Known as Watery Mess: the Coast of Flanders

At the end of the eighth century, by decree of Charlemagne and under the supervision of the wise men Wlemar and Saxmund, the customary law of the Frisians was codified. It is called the Lex Frision…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 11d

One of the Frisian bastards scouted the trail at Nature Park 't Zwin in Flanders today. Great day! Sea inlet 't Zwin is also the starting point (or terminus) of the www.FrisiaCoastTrail.blog.

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 11d

How an American play from 1957 inspired Hollywood to bring a couple of Frisian raiders from the Middle Ages onto the stage.

Movie Star Ben-Hur Made Peace With Frisian Raiders

Who does not know the epic movie Ben-Hur, released on the big screen in 1959? A movie in which Hollywood actor and civil rights activist Charlton Heston (1923–2008) played the role of Judah Ben-Hur…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 11d

Early medieval Rhine skippers

Late Little Prayers at the Lorelei Rock. Reckless Rhine Skippers in Distress

On the west bank of the mighty River Rhine, halfway between the cities of Koblenz and Mainz, lies the town of Sankt Goar. Named after Saint Goar of Aquitaine, a hermit who retreated here in the six…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 16d

The Fallward excavations in Land Wursten—a rare window onto the life of the Old Saxons when they started migrating West and changed history

The Deer Hunter of Fallward, and his Throne of the Marsh

Near a terp called Fallward, close to the village of Wremen in the region of Land Wursten, archaeologists uncovered a remarkable site that opens a rare window onto life during the Migration Period …

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 17d

This title speaks for itself:

Frisia, a Viking Graveyard

Hjoggum vér með hjörvi ‘we swung our swords’, as all the stanzas of the twelfth-century Lay of Kraka begin. When reading about the famous deeds of great Viking warriors, not much attent…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 18d

How the Vatican tried to restore its church organisation again in the Netherlands in the mid nineteenth century.

A Dutch King Once Yelled: “Je suis Frison, et je suis plus têtu que vous!”

In our recent blog post Barbarians Riding to the Capital to Claim Rights on Farmland, we recounted the famous story of the two Frisian kings who travelled to Rome 2,000 years ago to seek an audienc…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 19d

How to recognize the Frisians by name?

This is one of the simplest things there is, once you’ve got the hang of it. ‘A child can do the laundry,’ they literally say in the Dutch language. This has nothing to do with a …

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 21d

A history of the Romans at the norther-most fringes of their empire on the Continent

Pagare il Fio. How the Romans Fared in the Wet Woodlands and Salt Marshes

Pagare il fio is Italian for ‘paying the penalty’. More literally, it means ‘paying the fee’. It is an expression the Italian language inherited from the Barbarians from the…

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Reposted by Frisia Coast Trail

De Archeoloog @dearcheoloog.bsky.social · 23d

Een #oerbos dat bloot kwam te liggen bij graafwerkzaamheden voor een nieuw meer bij het Friese #Oudega blijkt tussen de 4000 en 6000 jaar oud te zijn. Zo blijkt uit onderzoek van de Rijksdienst voor Cultureel Erfgoed (#RCE). /1
www.omropfryslan.nl/nl/nieuws/17...

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 25d

A history lesson on the legal aspects of migration

Medieval Migration Law. A Matter of Liability

Hwasa thene vthemeda husath ieftha howath ieftha oppa sinne werf set, sa skel hi thes wachtia, hwetsa hi deth. Who receives a foreigner in his house or in his court or seats on his yard, shall be r…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 26d

The end of the republic Butjadingen (Rüstringen), one of many small farmers' republics along the Wadden Sea coast during the High and Late Middle Ages. A distinctive shared coastal cultural heritage.

“Ich mag Ihre Pelzer- und Schustertöchter nicht!” — And a Kiss of Death

Like everywhere along the Wadden Sea shores in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the small republics of the tidal marshlands fought battle after battle against foreign aggressors seeking to s…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 28d

The legitimation for why the coastal lands of the Wadden Sea, both Frisian and Saxon, remained free of lords until the end of the Middle Ages

Magnus’ Choice. The Origins of the Frisian Freedom

According to medieval legend, around the year 800, Charlemagne and Pope Leo clashed with the citizens of Rome. The Pope was attacked and forced to flee the city. It was an army of ‘naked&#821…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · 29d

A short local history of the potato

Know Where to Find Your Sweet Potato, and the Cradle of Home Nursing Too

We retrace our steps to the sixteenth century, a time when the potato was still an exotic newcomer. Today, children grow up on pasta, pizza, burgers, shawarma, sushi, mountains of noodles, and frie…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · Sep 7

In our blog post, the answer to the truly irrelevant question: 'Is the Frisia coast the cradle of all Germanic peoples?'

With the White Rabbit Down the Hole. The Spread and Legacy of a Coastal DNA

R1b/Hg1/Eu18; R-M213; R-M9; R1b-M45; R-M207; R-M173; R-M343; R-L278; R-L754; R-L389/R1b1a1; R-M415; R-P297/R1b1a1a; R-M269/R1b1a1a2; R-M520; R-L23; R-M412; R-L11; R-S21/U106/M405/R1b1a1a1a2a1a1&#82…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · Sep 5

World's oldest boat

Oldest Vessel of the World — the Pesse Canoe

The Pesse Canoe. The world’s oldest known water vessel was discovered near the village of Pesse in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Dated to between 8040 and 7510 BC, it predates even the great cradl…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · Sep 4

Consider it done (soon)!

Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · Sep 4

The muddy origin of the Frisian tribe's name:

A Severe Case of Inattentional Blindness; the Frisian Tribe’s Name

The name Frisii for the people who lived along the southern coast of the North Sea is ancient — very ancient. It dates back to Late Antiquity. Today, we call them Frisians. Roman and Greek historia…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · Sep 3

The deformed bishop of Frisia in the ninth century

The Bishop from Frisia Who Proceeded the Hunger Games

Katniss Everdeen, portrayed by American actress Jennifer Lawrence, is both a survivor and victor of The Hunger Games. She comes from District 12, the impoverished mining region of the country calle…

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · Sep 1

The first co-op in the world, founded after a fierce battle with the Vikings

A Theel-Acht. What a Great Idea!

By the middle of the ninth century, the Vikings had carved out a more or less permanent foothold in Frisia, in the pagus ‘territory’ of Nordendi, also known as Norditi. But by the year …

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · Aug 31

'Pompei of the North', including other words Ezinge. Know for its famous archaeological excavation, making Ezinge the oldest continuously inhabited settlement of the Netherlands (600BC).

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Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · Aug 31

A third medieval church we visited is that of the hamlet of Fransum in province Groningen. On top of an intact terp together with only one farmstead. It's one of our most favourite terps.

Frisia Coast Trail @frisiacoasttrail.bsky.social · Aug 31

This is the medieval church of Westerwijtwerd with its unique mural of two Frisian fighters.

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