Coat of arms of the counts of Flanders (or a lion rampant sable, armed and langued gules).
The
County of Flanders was a historical region in the
Low Countries.
It consisted not only of the two actual
Belgian provinces of
East Flanders and
West Flanders but also much of the present-day
French département of the
Nord (
French Flanders), in parts of which there is still a minority speaking the
French Flemish dialect of
Dutch, and the southern part of the Dutch province of
Zeeland known as
Zeelandic Flanders (Dutch Flanders). The most important cities were
Ghent (Gent),
Bruges (Brugge),
Tournai (Doornik),
Kortrijk,
Ypres (Ieper),
Oudenaarde,
Aalst,
Lille (Rijsel),
Cambrai (Kamerijk),
Douai (Dowaai),
Dunkirk (Duinkerke) and
Valenciennes (Valencijn).
Today, the territory of the historic county of Flanders is divided between
France,
Belgium and the
Netherlands.
History
The county of Flanders originates with
Judith, daughter of the
King of France Charles the Bald. She married twice to English kings but returned and eloped with
Baldwin Iron Arm. Charles disapproved at first, but Judith could not be induced to return. So Charles relented and granted the region of Flanders, called
pagus Flandrensis, to the two of them. At first as a 'march county' or
margraviate, later as simple
county.
The county of Flanders was formally established as a
feudal fief in the year 862 by
Charles the Bald, king of
Francia Occidentalis (
Western Francia). It was one of the six original lay
pairies of the French realm, the count of Flanders being the swordbearer in the coronation ceremony of the kings of France.
The original Flemish pagus was expanded throughout the years, to the North, with the
lordship of The Four Amts and the Southern isles of
Zeeland, to the East with the
burgraviate of Aalst and to the South with the
county of Artois, a historical region in today's French département of
Pas-de-Calais. It remained part of Flanders until it became a separate county in 1237. After that date, the county of Artois at various times still came under the dominion of the count of Flanders as a separate title, until it was absorbed by the French crown.
Thus defined, Flanders covers a total area of 12,500 km² with 5.2 million inhabitants since 2004, or 16,500 km² with 6.2 million inhabitants if Artois is included. During the later
Middle Ages its trading towns (notably
Ghent (
Gent),
Bruges (
Brugge) and
Ypres (
Ieper)) made it one of the most urbanised parts of Europe, weaving the
wool of neighbouring lands into cloth for domestic use and export.
The county of Flanders was divided when its western districts fell under French rule in the late 12th century. The remaining parts of Flanders came shortly under the rule of the counts of neighbouring
Hainaut in 1191. Increasingly powerful from the 12th century, the territory's autonomous urban
communes were instrumental in defeating a French attempt at annexation (1300-1302), finally defeating the French in the
Battle of the Golden Spurs (
July 11,
1302), near
Kortrijk.
Flemish prosperity waned in the following century, however, owing to widespread European population decline following the
Black Death of 1348, the disruption of trade during the Anglo-French
Hundred Years' War (1338-1453), and increased
English cloth production. Flemish weavers had gone over to
Worstead and
North Walsham in
Norfolk in the 12th century and established the wool industry.
Marriages led to a union with neighbouring provinces, called the
Seventeen Provinces, and the entire area passed in 1384 to the
dukes of Burgundy of the
House of Valois. Since then the county of Flanders was part of the
Burgundian Netherlands. These became the
Seventeen Provinces in 1477, when the territories fell to the
House of Habsburg. In 1512 they were incorporated into an
Imperial Circle of their own, the
Burgundian Circle.
The county of Flanders remained a
fief of France for its western territories, and a
lordship of the Holy Roman Empire for its eastern territories. In 1526,
Francis I of France ceded the county of Flanders to
Charles V, of the Holy Roman Empire in the
Treaty of Madrid. This was restated in the
Ladies' Treaty of Caimbrai of 1529. Sovereignty was transmitted from the kingdom of
France to the
Holy Roman Empire.
In 1549,
Charles V, of the Holy Roman Empire issued a
Pragmatic Sanction, declaring the county of Flanders, together with the other lordships that made up the
Low Countries as a unified entity of which his family would be the heirs.
The Low Countries held an important place in the Empire. For Charles personally, they were the region where he spent his childhood. Because of trade and industry and the rich cities, they were also important for the treasury. Lordship transferred to the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg with
Philip II of Spain, and after 1556 belonged to the Kings of
Spain.
Map of the county of Flanders, 1609
Due to the expansive policies of
Louis XIV of France, the western districts of Flanders came finally under French rule under successive treaties of 1659 (Artois), 1668 and 1678. These districts became one of the
provinces of France and eventually the
Nord département.
In 1715, the remaining territory of the
Southern Netherlands, Flanders included, passed back to the
Austrian Branch of the House of Habsburg. In 1794 it was conquered by French revolutionaries, but after the defeat of
Napoleon passed to the
United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815 at the
Congress of Vienna. In 1830 the main part of it became a part of
Belgium, a small part of it remaining in the
Kingdom of the Netherlands.
See also
Category:Flanders Flanders, County ofFlanders, County ofCategory:Former provinces of Francebr:Kontelezh Flandrezbg:Фландрия (графство)ca:Comtat de Flandescs:Flanderské hrabstvíde:Grafschaft Flandernes:Condado de Flandeseo:Graflando Flandriofr:Comté de Flandrefy:Greefskip Flaanderenlt:Flandrijos grafystėhu:Flamand grófságnl:Graafschap Vlaanderenno:Grevskapet Flandernpt:Condado da Flandresro:Comitatul Flandraru:Фландрия (графство)fi:Flanderi (kreivikunta)uk:Фландрія (графство)vls:Groafschap Vloandernzh:佛兰德伯国
