Dutch Count Floris the 5th

Famous person in the Netherlands

The count Floris the 5th was a very famous person in the Netherlands he lived his life back in the 12th century. Floris the 5th was born in the year 1254 on the date of 24th of june in the town of Leiden. He died in the year 1296 on the 27th of june in a small village called Muiderberg. Floris the 5th was count of Holland and Zeeland, later on in the year 1291 he became a count of Friesland (title Lord of Friesland). He was known under his nickname as the Keerlen God (God of the peasants).

His mother was Elisabeth of Brunswijk and his father was count Willem 2. Floris th 5th is directly related to the Scottish kingdom. His great- grandmother was Ada of Scotland and the father of Ada was an heir of the Scottish throne. So, count Floris the 5th could have be the king of Scotland. In political issues Floris allways try to make use of the connections with the fact that he was from Scottish descendants.

Count at the age of two

At the age of two Floris became count of Holland and Zeeland, his father was killed 6 months previously in the battle of Hoogwoud in the winter. Due the battle he lost his balance on the ice and he godown through it, he couldn't get out of the ice and was slaughtered by his opponents. It took Floris the 5th years to locate the place where his father was burried. At the age of twelve he became officially an adult and at the age of 14 years he married Beatrix van Vlaanderen (van Dampierre).

Complot

In 1296 Floris made a mistake with his English allied Eduard the first, over a conflict about the wool trading. Floris the 5th has choosen his French allied. They say that the English king had asked some nobels to capture Floris the 5th, so that they could send him to prison. During a falcon hunt Floris the 5th was captured by the nobels Gijsbrecht van Aemstel, Herman the 6th of Woerden, Willem van Zaanden and Gerard van Velsen. The news of his captivity was soon spread out amongst the population, Floris the 5th was highly respected and popular, and they came up with a plan to liberate Floris the 5th. When the nobles (Gerard van Velsen) with Floris the 5th have left the castle of Muiderberg on june 27th 1296, they stumble upon a group of Gooilanders from the town of Naarden. This group claimed Floris the 5th. After that Gerard van Velsen road back on his horse towards count Floris the 5th and killed him instantly. Floris the 5th was an easy victim, in his mouth they put an a glove and his both hands and feet where tied up and his fingers where splitten. When van Velzen pulled his sword out , the horse pranced of fright, by then Floris has lost his both hands at the first blow of the sword, he lost his balannce and he fell sideways from his horse, van Velzen walked towards Floris and cut him several times with his sword. After that van Velzen escaped with his followers. Floris was brought to his castle in Muiderberg, were he died of the 22 stab wounds.

Captured

Gerard van Velzen was captured later, tortured and brought to death. Gijsbrecht van Aemstel ( the fourth with the name from a well known noble family the Lords of Aemstel) and Herman van Woerden lived the rest of their lives as exciles and they have lost all of their posessions. Count Floris the 5th was burried (asumed)in the Great of Saint-Lawrence church of the city Alkmaar.

Marriage

Count Floris the 5th was married in the year 1269 with beatrix van Vlaanderen, from this marriage were born 9 children. Besides his marriage there was a bastard child called Catharina of Holland, with an unknown woman.

Back in the sixties there was on the Dutch television a serie about Floris the 5th. The actor who played Floris the 5th was Rutger Hauer.

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