Batavi

In the time of Christ the Batavians lived in the Betuwe, Rijk van Nijmegen, Bommelerwaard and the Land of Maas and Waal after coming down the Rhine from Germany. It is believed they separated from the Chatti tribe who lived in what is now Germany at the upper Weser river from Kassel south to Würzburg, apparently because they were "bata" (better), they were perhaps a rebel faction of the Chatti's nobility. They enjoyed an independent status as cohorts in the Roman legions, specialising in water war: able to swim rivers holding on to horses and equipment while maintaining fomation and were described by Tacitus as being the most civilised AND the most rude. Their leader Julius Civilus figured in a general uprising 69 A.D. which came close to breaking the Roman power in northwestern Europe. Recent archeological finds indicate they had adopted many Roman conveniences, including writing and baths. Their city Batavodurum was where Nijmegen now lies. What is left of their genes in today's dutch is probably very little as they were ultimately wiped out by the Franks. Nonetheless at certain points of history the Dutch have made much of their "noble" Batavian past.

Frisii

The tribe of the Frisians is distinguished by the fact that they have maintained their name identity from ca 300 B.C to the present. They live in the current province of Friesland but are the basis for the modern Hollanders (from the provinces Zuid and Noord Holland), used to live in Groningen before the Saxons displaced them, and in Northern Germany we can still find Ost-Friesland. In Drenthe there was once a tribe of so-called Lesser Frisians. This tribe was one of the last to be christianised and finally lost their independence only in the time of Charlemagne.

Cananefates

This was a small tribe living in Zuid-Holland around The Hague and considered related to the Batavians. I am probably wrong but have always imagined them with top knots of hair with bones through them. I was told of an interesting theory that their name might mean Rabbit hunters (dutch konijnevatters) . Coney-catchers then?

Bructeri

This tribe lived in what is now the province of Overijssel and in Emsland, Germany. Their claim to fame is that around the third and fourth centuries they became part of the tribal merging that became known as the Franks. This confederation would eventually wipe out the Batavians and take over their homelands. Last but not least the Franks gave their name, grammar and laws to France.

Chamavi

These lived east of the river IJssel as far east to Münster in Germany.

Varini

This tribe was once located near Rostock, Germany near the Baltic coast. But I have read one account of members of this group raiding and possibly settling in the Dutch province of Zeeland.

Usipetes

Once located along the Rhine along the present Dutch-German border and along the river Lippe in Germany they also may have become part of the Frankish confederation.

Saxons

This tribe and their cousins the Jutes and Angles (as well as Frisians) populated the British Isles after the fall of Rome, almost completely displacing or shoving back the native Romano-Celtic Britons. The last stand of the latter against the Saxons is represented by the legendary Arthur, Dux Bellorum or warlord of the Britons. The Frisians are assumed to have allied themselves with the Saxons at various times and the eastern provinces of today's Netherlands are considered to be at leat partially of Saxon blood.

Some other tribes

The Marsaci were believed to have lived in Zeeland; the Menapii in West Flanders - already praised in ancient times for their fine fabrics as Flemish lace is today; the Nervii between the rivers Scheldt and Meuse; the Tungrii around Tongres in Belgium; the Sunuci around Maastricht, Limburg; the Vada of perhaps Heerewaarden, east of Rossum; and the Vetera of Birten near Xanten.

the Normans

Vikings mostly from Denmark in their heyday (800-1000) not only raided the Netherlands but also settled there. The first counts of Holland had Viking blood.

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