Dirk II or Theoderic II (920/930 – 6 May 988) was a count in West Frisia, and ancestor of the counts of Holland. He was the son and heir of Dirk I and his wife Geva (or Gerberge).
Dirk and his wife implore Saint Adalbert, illustration from the Egmond Gospels
Starting in 950, Dirk II rebuilt Egmond Abbey and its wooden church in stone, in order to house the relics of Saint Adalbert. Adalbert was not well known at that time, but he was said to have preached Christianity in the region two centuries earlier. The abbey was given to a community of Benedictine monks from Ghent, who replaced the nuns originally housed there, probably in the 970s. His daughter Erlint, Erlinde or Herlinde, who was abbess at the time, was made abbess of the newly founded Bennebroek Abbey instead.
Family
Dirk married Hildegarde who is thought to be a daughter of Count Arnulf of Flanders.[1] They had three known children. His son Arnulf became Count of Holland and Frisia after Dirk's death. The younger son Egbert[1] became Archbishop of Trier in 977. His daughter Erlinde (or Herlinde) was an abbess.
Dirk died in 988 and was buried in the stone church at Egmond Abbey. Hildegard died two years later and was also buried there.
