800 - 1200 AD

Louis the Pious (778-840) succeeded his father Charlemagne in 814. He built coastal defences against the Vikings, who had taken to sailing up the rivers to plunder and pilfer far inland. The Vikings, who were mainly from Denmark, would continue their raids in spite of those defenses for another 200 years.

Following the death of Louis the Pious, the empire was divided between his three sons as part of the Treaty of Verdun (873). The eldest, Lothair, was given the imperial crown and the middle Kingdom which extended from central Italy to the North Sea and incorporated the Low Countries. Upon Lothair's death, this middle Kingdom was subdivided between his sons. The northern part, which extended from Friesland to the Jura in eastern France went to Lothair II, who named it Lotharingia. When he died, Lotharingia was partitioned into the west and east Frankish Kingdoms. In 925, however, King Henry (the Fowler) of Germany conquered the whole of Lotharingia. From then until 1648, the Netherlands was to remain officially part of the German-ruled Holy Roman Empire, despite constant efforts to regain its independence.

The feudal system in the Holy Roman Empire had a profound effect on the social structure of the area. Although the general authority of a region was held by the Kings and Emperors, local lords effectively ruled their allotted district without much interference from the court. Increasingly these small counties gained more independence from the centrally controlled authority and were instead governed by the local lords. In exchange for tax revenues, military and labour services the new nobility granted charters which gave towns a modest amount of autonomy. Gradually certain lords superseded their overlords in amassed wealth and power and started pushing for total independence.

The term "Holland" emerged around 1100 as the name of one such county.

During this period of fragmentation of power, much land was brought into cultivation and trade and industry increased. This resulted in the growth of the towns and the first major cities emerged. In the south cloth towns such as Bruges, Ieper and Ghent grew in prosperity, whereas in the north the cities exploited their strategic position at the junction of several major waterways. As various towns gained in importance, the balance of power started shifting. In order to counteract the shift in power, churchmen were invested with transient powers. This however created a rift between the Holy Roman emperor and the Pope in the 11th and 12th centuries over the right to appoint bishops and abbots. Finally in 1122 the Emperor renounced this right. This reduction in the Emperor's power signified a further decline of the Holy Roman Empire.