Last King of Frisia: Pier Gerlofs Donia (1480-1520)

[Pier Gerlofs Donia]

Pier Gerlofs Donia, by far the coolest historical figure that ever lived (at least in Dutch history). He is enormously interesting figure, accomplished much in his live and has gone unnoticed for far to long. English language Wikipedia has a wonderful article on him and so does the wikipedia in Portugese. Here is a copy of that article:

Pier Gerlofs Donia

Reign1515–1519 Born1480, Kimswerd, Frisia Died 1520 Place of deathSneek, Frisia

Pier Gerlofs Donia (c.1480 – 1520) was a Frisian warrior, pirate and rebel. He is best known by his West Frisian nickname "Grutte Pier" ("Greate Pier" in the Old Frisian spelling), or by the Dutch translations "Grote Pier" and "Lange Pier", or, in Latin, "Pierius Magnus", which referred to his legendary size and strength.
His life is mostly shrouded in legend. Based upon a description now attributed to Pier’s contemporary Petrus Thaborita, the 19th-century historian Conrad Busken Huet wrote that Grutte Pier was
“a tower of a fellow as strong as an ox, of dark complexion, broad shouldered, with a long black beard and moustache. A natural rough humorist, who through unfortunate circumstances was recast into an awful brute. Out of personal revenge for the bloody injustice that befell him (in 1515) with the killing of kinsfolk and destruction of his property he became a freedom fighter of legendary standing.

Read the entire article here.

sadly enough, the article on wikipedia is much to long to show it here completely, you could just read it if you want to. He truly is a interesting fellow, though his live story is a bit sad.
the thing is, he decendent to a very long line of noblemen on his motherside and could trace his line back as far as the crusades and beyond: one of his ancestors fought and bravely died at the first siege of Antioch.

 

[Pier Gerlofs Donia]

I hope I can show here that this is a very interesting figure. Maybe some admin could attach a poll to this later on, that would be greatly appreciated. Also, I strongly believe this figure, legendary and long ago as he lived will still get some attention now. Another interesting fact for example, is that he wielded a sword 213 cm in length, and that he stood 7.5 feet tall himself. His sword as well as a huge helmet still are on display in musea as of 2008. He has a large tomb next to a church in Frisia and a statue in his home town.

 

[sneeuwklokje]

The famous Grutte Pier from Workum!!

 

[Pier Gerlofs Donia]

The famous Grutte Pier from Workum!!

You knew about this guy? Isn't it amazing, reading the article in English on the English wikipedia? They take such an interest in this figure over there!

Pier Gerlofs Donia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[sneeuwklokje]

Yes I know, I was told about him in primary school (I'm from the North of Holland also).

 

[Marengo]

Well, I am from the West but we also got some information about Lange Pier actually. And I just had an exam about the struggle of the Burgundy/Habsburg dynasty to get all the Dutch provinces, and the Frisian and Guelders wars, pirating etc. were a thorn in the eye of Charles V, who consequently crushed it.
It is an amazing story indeed, from a farmer to the last 'king' of Frisia. I believe he is a descendant of the Harinxma family, a noble family that still exists today (Harinxma thoe Slooten, I believe)

 

[Pier Gerlofs Donia]

Yes I know, I was told about him in primary school (I'm from the North of Holland also).

Good to hear from that. Sadly enough, Dutch kids will no longer hear from him at school - there is this history-canon with those 50 important people and events, he is not in it.

Well, I am from the West but we also got some information about Lange Pier actually. And I just had an exam about the struggle of the Burgundy/Habsburg dynasty to get all the Dutch provinces, and the Frisian and Guelders wars, pirating etc. were a thorn in the eye of Charles V, who consequently crushed it.
It is an amazing story indeed, from a farmer to the last 'king' of Frisia. I believe he is a descendant of the Harinxma family, a noble family that still exists today (Harinxma thoe Slooten, I believe)

Indeed, Harinxma's. Pretty interesting genealogy. Pier Gerlofs Donia also had to do with the Schieringer - Vetkoper feud, I believe his mothers father was a Schieringer noblemen. Interesting history. Donia also had a nephew: "Wijerd Jelckama" , "Grutte Wierd", told to be not less sturdy then his giant uncle. Unfortunetly, he was no competent commander and he was captured in 1523 thus ending the rebellion. It is a piece of history often neglected but very educational nonetheless.

 

[Pier Gerlofs Donia]

Is he cool or what?

Do you think of Pier Gerlofs Donia as a cool figure?
He could do amazing things such as lifting horses
and he stood at 7 feet 5 inches tall and he wielded
a sword with the astonishing length of 2 meter and
13 cm. He was the only person known to mankind
who was capable of beheading more then one person
in one swing of his sword, and also the only person who
could use it in the first place. His superior strength allowed
him to plough he land without a horse and to knoch out
five armed men with bare hands. He could bend coins between
his fingers and never found a horse strong enough to carry him.
He was decendent to the Kings of Frisia and to the crusaders
and he was the Last King of Frisia. His decendents still
live as of today, some of them in the USA, some in the
Netherlands and some more in Indonesia and Australia.

I myself am a decendent to his nephew Wijerd Jelckama
who took over the command of Donia's rebellion when
he passed away in 1520.

What do you think of this guy?

 

[Pier Gerlofs Donia]

Here is a wonderful article on Pier Gerlofs Donia:

Pier Gerlofs Donia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[lucien]

Pier?We all know of him as a side-kick in history 500 years ago,but don't make it more then it is.
A Frisian thing.

Every provincee can come up with a local hero or the equivelent of that,but maybe one can start
the "Local Hero forum" to get them all in a row instead of opening a new thread for every word he ever said.

Marengo already opened a thread on Frisian rulers,should suffice.

Not cool.

 

[Pier Gerlofs Donia]

Pier?We all know of him as a side-kick in history 500 years ago,but don't make it more then it is.
A Frisian thing.

Every provincee can come up with a local hero or the equivelent of that,but maybe one can start
the "Local Hero forum" to get them all in a row instead of opening a new thread for every word he ever said.

Marengo already opened a thread on Frisian rulers,should suffice.

Not cool.

Have you seen the article he has here:

Pier Gerlofs Donia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and here:

Pier Gerlofs Donia - Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre

and even in Swahili wikipedia:

Pier Gerlofs Donia - Wikipedia, kamusi elezo huru

and Sweddish:

Pier Gerlofs Donia – Wikipedia

and Hungarian:

Pier Gerlofs Donia - Wikipedija

and Spanish

Pier Gerlofs Donia - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

and French:

Pier Gerlofs Donia - Wikipédia

and numerous other languages!

He is more then just your everyday local hero!

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pier_Gerlofs_Donia

 

[lucien]

OK,that is normal at Wikipedia.You will find all articles in multiple languages.Nothing special,nothing new.

He is nothing more then a local brute,that is all.
Of no significance to our national history,only locally,sorry.

 

[Pier Gerlofs Donia]

OK,that is normal at Wikipedia.You will find all articles in multiple languages.Nothing special,nothing new.

He is nothing more then a local brute,that is all.
Of no significance to our national history,only locally,sorry.

His article is large though, for just a "local brute"...
(a brute he certainly was, I won't deny that) but he was more then just that. He was a tragic hero fighting for his peoples freedom. Why would someone who is "just some local brute" have a very large article about him?

Erasmas has written about him, for example, and so has Gysbert Japiks both of whom are respected authors living in the same era.

 

[Marengo]

Now that is interesting! What did Erasmus write about Grutte Pier?
He is a marginal figure these days, as the house of Orange and the Habsburgs eclipsed the older royalty in the Netherlands, but he was an intersting character indeed, as was his ally (and financer), the Duke of Guelders (a member of the van Egmont family). In the end emperor Charles V got rid of all of them and united all the 17 Dutch provinces. Sadly that was only for a short period of time (1543/1547-1579/1581).

 

[Pier Gerlofs Donia]

Now that is interesting! What did Erasmus write about Grutte Pier?
He is a marginal figure these days, as the house of Orange and the Habsburgs eclipsed the older royalty in the Netherlands, but he was an intersting character indeed, as was his ally (and financer), the Duke of Guelders (a member of the van Egmont family). In the end emperor Charles V got rid of all of them and united all the 17 Dutch provinces. Sadly that was only for a short period of time (1543/1547-1579/1581).

Here:

Desiderius Erasmus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There is, if you scroll down, a small section on Pier Gerlofs Donia:

"Erasmus also wrote of the legendary Frisian freedom fighter and rebel Pier Gerlofs Donia (Greate Pier), though more often criticism than praise of his exploits for Erasmus saw him as dumb brutal man preferring physical strength over wisdom." (from: The Age of Erasmus , Lectures Delivered in the Universities of Oxford and London, by P.S.Allen, Clarendon Press 1914 )

Even though Erasmus was not very positive about Donia, he still wrote of him at least twice. He is the suspects of many poems of other historical poets aswell. So unlike lucien does, I would not dismiss him as being of no historical importance just yet.

 

[Pier Gerlofs Donia]

Although a great many people have assured me the article is very interesting, here the people seem to think otherwise for the thread has not had quite as much views as I was hoping for. Well, in any case, I hope with this new post I can make sure it pops up in "new posts" and people will watch it again.

 

[Pier Gerlofs Donia]

am i right to assume nobody gives about this history>

 

[Pier Gerlofs Donia]

G R U T T E P I E R :

STANDS FOR:

Greatest

Roughest

Utterly

Terriffying

Tremendous

Exterminator

Prince

Islamist

Eager

Rum

 

[MarlaPosthuma_CAN]

Friesian awesomeness makes others jealous?

I think user Lucien from Amsterdam is a little jealous of our awesome folk hero!

Also, I don't like how, in many articles, it refers to Grutte Pier as a "Dutchman". He was a Friesian freedom fighter - that's whole point!

I am second generation Canadian but of Friesian ancestry. I am actually a descendant of Pier's sister, Tijdt Gerlofs.

 

[Lee-Z]

I'm from the south of the Netherlands and this is the first time i heard about him, but i'm interested in reading his history, thank you for posting!

Found this by accident
http://www.noordhollandsdagblad.nl/extra/klikhier/article27535745.ece
You can find out if you're related to Grutte Pier via a special website