{{Short description|Former villa in Friesland, Netherlands}} [[File:Schierstins_Veenwouden.jpg|thumb|Photo of Skierstins in Feanwalden.]] A '''stins''' (Dutch, pl. ''stinsen''; from West Frisian ''stienhûs'' [Dutch ''steenhuis''] "stone house", shortened to ''stins'', pl. ''stinzen'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gtb.ivdnt.org/search/?owner=wntiWDB/search|title=Historische woordenboeken|website=Gtb.ivdnt.org|accessdate=23 February 2019}}</ref> is a former stronghold or villa in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. Many stinsen carry the name "''state''" (related to English 'estate').
A ''stins'' and the surrounding ''state'' used to belong to a permanent group of ''hoofdelingen/heerschappen'', which were prominent, rich land-owning citizens.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |author=Mol, Hans |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1366294100 |title=The Frisian Popular Militias between 1480 and 1560. |isbn=978-94-6372-367-1 |oclc=1366294100}}</ref> From the 1300s, these noblemen had their bases of power in the cities or large villages, their families owned a few hundred hectares of fertile farmland divided over several dozen tenanted farms.<ref name=":0" /> The noblemen married one another as much as possible, on a material and culturally equal level, in order to prevent the loss of property and honour by inheritance.<ref name=":0" />
Around 1498, when the period of ''Frisian Freedom'' drew to a close, the system of "''stins en state''" was superseded by the grietman/grietenij system. From about 1498 until 1851, there were a total of 30 ''grietenijen'' in Friesland and 11 cities. Most stinsen were demolished in the mid-1800's, when maintenance became too expensive. Several surviving stinsen are now used as museums.
Stinsen also appear in East Frisia, and are known as ''borg'' (pl. ''borgen'') in the province of Groningen.
==See also== * List of stins in Friesland * List of castles in the Netherlands
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category-inline|Stins in Friesland}} * [http://www.stinseninfriesland.nl Stinsen in Friesland]
{{Expand Dutch|topic=struct|Stins|date=February 2019}}
1 Category:Buildings and structures in Friesland Category:Castles in the Netherlands Category:Architecture in the Netherlands Category:Dutch words and phrases