Juw Juwinga of Bolsward

Bolsward

Bolsward is a city in Súdwest Fryslân in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. Bolsward is just short of a population of 10,000.- History :The town is founded on three artificial dwelling hills, of which the first was built some time before Christ....

 was a Frisian chieftain that earned great fame in the struggle against the (Dutch) ‘infidels’. When Albrecht of Bavaria

Albrecht of Bavaria

*Albert I, Duke of Bavaria*Albert V, Duke of Bavaria *Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria*Albert II, Duke of Bavaria...

, count of Holland

Count of Holland

The Counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century.-House of Holland:The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia...

, threatened Friesland

Friesland

Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...

 in 1396, Juw was chosen as potestate of Friesland. He advised luring the enemy into the land. The Schieringers limited their defense to the coastline. The Dutch were defeated at Schoterzijl (in Weststellingwerf

Weststellingwerf

Weststellingwerf is a municipality in the province of Friesland in the northern Netherlands.It is one of the municipalities of Friesland, where the spoken language is not West Frisian; instead, Stellingwerfs, a dialect of Dutch Low Saxon, is spoken here....

) where Juw was slain on August 29 1396.

Juw was also known as Julius Jongema, and Petrus Thaborita

Petrus Thaborita

Petrus Jacobi Thaborita was a Frisian monk, historian and writer. He is best known for his writings on the Frisian freedom fighter Pier Gerlofs Donia, and for writing down Donia's last words...

 wrote his name as Ju Jonghema.

The previous potestate was Hessel Martena

Hessel Martena

Hessel Martena was the tenth Potestaat of Friesland a province of the Netherlands...

. However the potestates were absent for many years due to arguments between Vetkopers and Schieringers

Vetkopers and Schieringers

The Schieringers and Vetkopers were two opposing Frisian factional parties from the medieval period. They were responsible for a bloody civil war that lasted for over a century and which eventually led to the end of the highly praised "Frisian freedom".These factional parties arose because of an...

 and Juw was the eleventh potestaat.

Sources and references

• Brouwers, J.H., J.J. Klama, W. Kok, and M. Wiegersma, eds., Encyclopedie van Friesland, (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1958) s.v. Juw Juwinga.