Early Dutch History: Causes and Consequences of Holland and the Netherlands

The Netherlands has a history that dates far back, even before Roman times. Although some of the years and estimates of how far back that goes, are based on professional opinions, it is clear that there were people in this area of the world long ago, whether that was 5,000 years ago or 10,000.

Early people resided in what's now the Netherlands thousands of years ago, according to flint artifacts discovered in Woerden in the year 2010. A supposed thousands-year-old Neanderthal skull piece was found in sand scraped from the North Sea floor off the coast of Zeeland in the year 2009.

Let’s take a look at what happened during the times of the Romans. I remember visiting the Netherlands and visiting the city of Utrecht, a major hub in the central part of the country. According to history, it was called Ultratrajectum about 2,000 years ago, and it was a Roman settlement. Another city with ancient history is Nijmegen, which was called Noviomagus in Roman times. This is all fascinating stuff.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, or during it, we slowly see a transition into different cultures, habits, and beliefs, which inaugurated, at the time, the Medieval centuries, the Middle Ages. Let’s explore what happened to the Netherlands area during that time as well.