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.