Podestà: Encyclopedia II - Podestà - Frisian Potestaat

Podestà - Frisian Potestaat

The concept of a local man empowered to represent the Emperor was also a feature of medieval Frisia. From apocryphal beginnings, important rights were granted or confirmed under the code of law known as the Lex Frisionum. According to later tradition, it was Charlemagne who granted the Frisians the title of freemen and permitted them to choose their own podestat or imperial governor from among the chieftains, to organize and lead the defense of two of the three districts of Frisia, in Middle Frisia, from the Flie to the Lauwers and in East Frisia from the Lauwers to the Weser, later the County of Ostfriesland

The Frisians probably became aware of the Italian title of podestà (Dutch: potestaat, German: Potestat, English: potestate) during the Sixth Crusade in 1228. According to privileges that were falsely ascribed to the Carolingian era, the potestate was chosen by council and he must be able to slay knights. Apocryphal historical writtings mention the potestate as early as Norsemen times.

The only potestates chosen to lead Friesland between the Vlie and Lauwers were Juw Juwinga (1396) and Juw Dekema (1494), both were chosen by the Schieringers. However, in 1399 the districts of Westergo and Oostergo elected potestates, Haring Harinxma and Sjoerd Wiarda respectively, in the struggle against the count of Holland. The title only became well known outside of Friesland with the installation of Albrecht of Saxony as hereditary potestate in 1498; the Frisians chose Jancko Douwama as their imperial stadtholder (1522).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Frisian Potestaat", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki