Gypsy Witch said:
The romans in the Netherlands did not really have much up north beyond the big rivers (which run east-west generally), they were south of those. But trading did take place with tribes living in the place called Friesland for sure. The Low Countries were conquered by Roman forces under Julius Caesar in c.58 BC. The Netherlands therefore became Rome's northern frontier on the European mainland, although the Romans never defeated the Frisians and thus never conquered the piece of the Netherlands now known as Fryslan and Groningen. For the rest of the current Netherlands, they did conquer more or less everything.
The Romans built the first cities and created the province of Germania Inferior. For most of the large area of Roman occupation in the Netherlands, the boundary of the Roman Empire lay along the Rhine. Romans built the first military forts and cities in the Netherlands. The most important of these were Utrecht, Nijmegen, and Maastricht. The northern part of the Netherlands, which was outside the Roman Empire and where the Frisians lived (and still do), was also heavily influenced by its strong southern neighbour. The Romans also introduced writing.
That is Friesland. But I live and hunt mostly in North Holland, which is a province of The Netherlands. In this province there is an area called
West Friesland.
Much of the western Netherlands was barely inhabited between the end of the Roman period and around 1100. Around 1000, farmers from Flanders and Utrecht began purchasing the swampy land, draining it and cultivating it. This process happened quickly and the uninhabited territory was settled in only a few generations. They built independent farms that were not part of villages, something unique in Europe at the time.
Before this happened the language and culture of most of the people who lived in the area that is now Holland were Frisian. The area was known as
"West Friesland" (Westfriesland). As settlement progressed, the area quickly became Dutch. This area became known as 'Holland' in the 12th century.
(The part of North Holland situated north of the 'IJ' is still colloquially known as West Friesland).
The Netherlands is named by many people Holland. Holland is just a part of The Netherlands. It has a North Holland and South Holland part. Before it was called Holland the area was know as WestFriesland.
The people living in West Friesland still speak "West Fries", some words are quite different than Dutch.
The blue arrow points to where the remains of West Friesland still exist, the Red arrow points to Friesland.
Hope this answers your question....
