From 2012 onward, about 5,000 foreign fighters from various European countries travelled to the Levant to join the fighting. Six years later, roughly fifteen percent had died in combat. Others remained in the Middle East — imprisoned or drifting toward new conflict zones as terrorist groups lost ground. But some returned home. This wave ofContinue reading “Foreign Fighters Returning From Viking Warbands”
Author Archives: hans faber
The Treaty of the Upstalsboom. Why Solidarity Is Not the Core of a Collective
At the time of writing this blog post (2018), many supranational organizations, whether governmental or judicial, are struggling with their legitimacy and survival; it is almost becoming tedious. Take, for example, the European Union with a humiliating Brexit and its seemingly endless debates on urgent monetary and migration policy reforms. Consider the International Criminal CourtContinue reading “The Treaty of the Upstalsboom. Why Solidarity Is Not the Core of a Collective”
Porcupines Bore U.S. Bucks. The Birth of Economic Liberalism
On May 5th, 2018, it was exactly two centuries since Karl Marx was born. When the good man published the first volume of Das Kapital in 1867, he was, in fact, about 1,300 years too late to turn the tide. The ship had already sailed — quite literally. Ships of selfish and ruthless Frisian merchantsContinue reading “Porcupines Bore U.S. Bucks. The Birth of Economic Liberalism”
Frisian Mercenaries in the Roman Army. Fighting for Honour and Glory
After the Roman Empire had incorporated a big chunk of the British Isles in the first century, the empire needed a military force to defend their northern limes (‘border’). Like elsewhere, they made use of mercenaries. Many Frisians, (still) living along the coast of present-day the Netherlands, joined the Roman army as mercenaries to fightContinue reading “Frisian Mercenaries in the Roman Army. Fighting for Honour and Glory”
Haute Couture From the Salt Marshes
It was not the city of Parisius (‘Paris’). Nor that of Londinium (‘London’). Believe it or not, the early-medieval center for expensive cloth and chic clothing in the northwest of Europe was the muddy Wadden Sea coast. Here the highly sought-after pallia Fresonica (‘Frisian cloth’) was fabricated and distributed to the wider world. It possessedContinue reading “Haute Couture From the Salt Marshes”
Bil: A Wasteland of Non-Integrated Migrants?
This is the story of the land reclaimed from the former Middelzee — a shallow inland sea that once split the present-day province of Friesland in two, separating the ancient pagus Westrachia (modern district Westergo) from pagus Austrachia (modern district Oostergo). The name Middelzee literally means ‘middle sea.’ Closing this watery rift took centuries. ThroughContinue reading “Bil: A Wasteland of Non-Integrated Migrants?”
Know Where to Find Your Sweet Potato, and the Cradle of Home Nursing Too
We retrace our steps to the sixteenth century, a time when the potato was still an exotic newcomer. Today, children grow up on pasta, pizza, burgers, shawarma, sushi, mountains of noodles, and fried rice. That is why, when you serve them plain boiled potatoes for supper — once in a while, with a pinch ofContinue reading “Know Where to Find Your Sweet Potato, and the Cradle of Home Nursing Too”
Another Brick in the Wall. A Love-Hate Relationship
Who has not dined at least once in an ’80s Chinese restaurant that carried the name 万里长城 (‘Great Wall of China’)? Certainly, you have been at least once at one of these restaurants for take-away, with the white plastic boxes wrapped in paper sheets, with prawn crackers and a small cup of sambal sauce (‘chiliContinue reading “Another Brick in the Wall. A Love-Hate Relationship”
Refuge on a Terp 2.0. Waiting to Be Liberated
August 21, 1930, Wieringermeer in the province of Noord Holland. The reclamation of just another piece of the Zuiderzee ‘southern sea’ was completed. A wooded area, when it was still land, that was called Creilerwoud. Land lost to the sea eight centuries ago during the most destructive All Saints’ Flood in the year 1170. TheContinue reading “Refuge on a Terp 2.0. Waiting to Be Liberated”
Racing on the Wadden Sea with a Silt Sled
The mudflats of the Wadden Sea seem endless. But what do you do with them? How do you give meaning to mud? Sure, one cubic meter of mudflat holds millions of diatoms, thousands of small crabs, mussels, snails, and worms. For birds, all this frutti di mare is like ordering à la carte. Birds areContinue reading “Racing on the Wadden Sea with a Silt Sled”
Frisia Coast Trail 