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Lordships from county to province. Developments in the spread and possession of lordships and lordly rights in Holland 1433-1795

Early modern Holland consisted of hundreds of lordships, most of them owned by nobles. This article argues that the most extensive developments regarding the formation and distribution of lordship occurred before the acquisition of the county by the Duke of Burgundy (1433). By the mid-fifteenth century, an administrative and legal landscape had emerged that would change little in the centuries that followed. As a successor to the counts, the States of Holland did not implement any major reorganization of the feudal system and refrained from altering the framework of local government controlled by lords. The provincial authorities did not actively strengthen the position of the lords but certainly did not undermine their authority. As some benchmark court rulings indicate, bodies such as the Hoge Raad (Supreme Court), Hof van Holland (Court of Appeal), and the States of Holland upheld and confirmed the rights of lords vis-à-vis regional bailiffs and towns.

Data collected about 2,000 rights found throughout the county between the years 1300 and 1795 shows that significant differences existed between the various regions. Holland’s lordships can be characterized by the clustering of rights around the appointment of a shout (sheriff); rights with a dominial origin were rarely found. Holland’s lords typically appointed a schout, secretary and beadle, held tithes, and levied taxes (cijns and thijns).

The rights of lords differed considerably between the Northern and the Southern parts, particularly pertaining to land ownership, ferry rights, wind rights, and rights to nominate priests or pastors, as well as the appointment of lower officials and officials of waterboards. Lords in the Southern parts more often held these rights, though the difference is less pronounced than suggested by earlier research.