The Hook and Cod wars comprise a series of wars and battles in the County of Holland between 1350 and 1490. Most of these wars were fought over the title of count of Holland, but some have argued that the underlying reason was because of the power struggle of the bourgeois in the cities against the ruling nobility. The Cod faction generally consisted of the more progressive cities of Holland. The Hook faction consisted for a large part of the conservative noblemen. The origin of the name "Cod" is uncertain, but is most likely a case of reappropriation. Perhaps it derives from the arms of Bavaria, that look like the scales of a fish. The Hook refers to the hooked stick that is used to catch cod. Another possible explanation is that as a cod grows it tends to eat more, growing even bigger and eating even more, thus encapsulating how the noblemen perhaps saw the expanding middle classes of the time.
After count William IV was killed in 1345, his sister Margaret inherited the county. She was married to Emperor Louis IV and resided in Bavaria. She appointed their second son William as her representative. In 1350, the nobles of Holland asked Margaret to return to Holland. As a reaction, the Cod league was formed on May 23, 1350 by a number of supporters of William. On September 5 of the same year, the Hook league was formed. Soon afterward, these factions clashed, and a civil war began. Edward III of England, husband of Margaret's sister Philippa, came to her aid, winning a naval engagement off Veere in 1351. A few weeks later the Hooks and their English allies were defeated by William and the Cods at the Battle of Vlaardingen, which ruined Margaret's cause. Edward shortly afterwards changed sides, and the empress saw herself compelled to come to an understanding with her son, he being recognized as count of Holland and Zeeland, she of Hainaut. Margaret died two years later, leaving William in possession of the entire Holland-Hainaut inheritance. William was married to Maud of Lancaster, sister to Blanche of Lancaster.
Although there were a number of smaller fights in the period after 1356, the main battle re-emerged at the death of William VI, Count of Holland and Hainaut in 1417. Both William's brother John and his daughter Jacqueline claimed the county. The Cods chose the side of John, and, after his death, of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, while the Hooks supported Jacqueline. The result of these battles and especially of her defeat at the Battle of Brouwershaven, was that Jacqueline was allowed to retain the titles of countess of Hainaut and Holland, but that Philip would rule the county. Philip was named heir to the county, and Jacqueline, who was childless, was not allowed to remarry without Philip's consent. The treaty became void when Jacqueline remarried in 1432 with Frank van Borssele, and she had to hand her territories over to Burgundy.
The period between 1430 and 1450 remained reasonably calm, but when Philip the Good tried to expand his influence into the Bishopric of Utrecht by appointing his natural sonDavid of Burgundy as Bishop, Hook resistance re-emerged in Utrecht. This led to the Siege of Deventer, and two civil wars, and, concluded in favor of the Cods and Burgundy after the Battle of Westbroek and the Siege of Utrecht.
