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The Roman historian
Tacitus, in his ''
Germania'', mentioned the '''Frisians''' among people he grouped together as the
Ingvaeones. Their territory followed the coast of the North Sea from the mouth of the
Rhine river up to that of the
Ems, their eastern border according to
Ptolemy's ''Geographica''.
Pliny the Elder states in ''Belgica'' that they were conquered by the Roman general
Drusus in 12 BC, and thereafter the Frisians largely sank into historical obscurity, until coming into contact with the expanding
Merovingian and
Carolingian empires. In the 5th Century, during this period of historical silence, many of them no doubt joined the migration of the Anglo-Saxons who went through
Frisian territory to invade
Britain, while those who stayed on the continent expanded into the newly-emptied lands previously occupied by the
Anglo-Saxons. By the end of the sixth century the Frisians occupied the coast all the way to the mouth of the Weser and spread farther still in the seventh century, southward down to
Dorestad and even
Bruges. This farthest extent of Frisian territory is known as Frisia Magna.
== Modern Frisians ==
The modern remnants of Frisia Magna are small and scattered. Most of it became dominated by its expanding neighbors: the
Saxons (who were moving north and west) and the
Franks (who were pushing north and east). Western and Middle Frisia are solidly within the modern state of the
Netherlands, which now includes the "heartland" of the Frisians from the North Sea coast from
Alkmaar in the modern province of Noord-Holland, along the coasts of the modern provinces of
Friesland and
Groningen, and up to the mouth of the Ems. Culturally, it has shrunk down to the province of Friesland alone. The
Frisian language is now spoken only there and in parts of only the
Wadden Sea islands of
Terschelling and
Schiermonnikoog.
Eastern and
Northern Frisia have been absorbed into the northern states of
Germany, with only the marshes of Saterland, well inland from the coast, still retaining any cultural identity. There are also descendants of Frisians living on the coast of the Jutland peninsula and nearby islands. It is unclear when they arrived there, or even whether they lived first on the islands and then spread to the mainland, or vice-versa. What remains of their language is under heavy pressure from
Low German,
High German, and
Danish, and is generally expected to become extinct.
See also:
Frisia
