The
Seventeen Provinces were a
personal union of states in the
Low Countries in the 15th century and 16th century, roughly covering the current
Netherlands,
Belgium,
Luxembourg, a good part of the North of
France (
Artois,
Nord), and a small part of the West of
Germany.
The Seventeen Provinces were originally held by the
Dukes of Burgundy of the
House of Valois and later by the
Habsburgs, first by the Spanish and then by the Austrian line. From 1512 the Provinces formed the major part of the
Burgundian Circle.
Composition
The map corresponds to the following provinces:
It was not always the same
Seventeen Provinces represented at the
Estates-General of the Netherlands. Sometimes one delegation was included in another.
In later years the county of Zutphen became a part of the
Duchy of Guelders, and the Duchy of Limburg was dependent on the Duchy of Brabant. On the other hand the French-speaking cities of Flanders were sometimes recognised as a separate province.
There were a number of
fiefdoms in the Low Countries that were not part of the Seventeen Provinces, mainly because they did not belong to the
Burgundian Circle but to the
Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle. The largest of these was the
Prince-Bishopric of Liège, the green area on the map, including the
County of Horne. The ethnically and culturally Netherlandish duchies of
Cleves and
Julich did not join either.
In the north, there were also a few smaller entities like the island of
Ameland that would retain their own lords until the
French Revolution.
Historians came up with different variations of the list. The number could have been chosen because of its Christian connotation.
History
The Seventeen Provinces originated from the
Burgundian Netherlands. The
dukes of Burgundy systematically became the lord of different provinces.
Mary I of Valois, Duchess of Burgundy was the last of the
House of Burgundy.
When she married
Maximilian I of Habsburg, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the provinces were acquired by the
House of Habsburg in 1482. His grandson and successor,
Charles V of Habsburg, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and Duke of Burgundy, eventually united all seventeen provinces under his rule, the last one being the
Duchy of Guelders, in 1543.
Most of these provinces were fiefs of the
Holy Roman Empire. Two provinces, the County of Flanders and County of Artois, were originally French fiefs, but sovereignty was ceded to the Empire in the
Treaty of Cambrai in 1529.
The
Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 determined that the Provinces should remain united in the future and inherited by the same monarch. Therefore, Charles V introduced the title of
Heer der Nederlanden ("Lord of the Netherlands"). Only he and his son could ever use this title.
After Charles V's abdication in 1556, his realms were divided between his son,
Philip II of Habsburg, King of Spain, and his brother,
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. The Seventeen Provinces went to his son, the king of Spain.
Conflicts between Philip II and his Dutch subjects led to the
Eighty Years' War, which started in 1568. The seven northern provinces gained their independence as a republic called the
Seven United Provinces. They were:
- the Lordship of Groningen and of the Ommelanden
- the Lordship of Friesland
- the Lordship of Overijssel
- the Duchy of Guelders (except its upper quarter) and the County of Zutphen
- the Prince-Bishopric, later Lordship of Utrecht
The southern provinces, Flanders, Brabant, Namur, Hainaut, Luxembourg a.o., were restored to Spanish rule thanks to the military and political talent of the
Duke of Parma, especially at the
Siege of Antwerp (1584–1585). Hence, these provinces became known as the
Spanish Netherlands or
Southern Netherlands.
The northern Seven United Provinces kept parts of Limburg, Brabant, and Flanders during the
Eighty Years' War (see
Generality Lands), which ended with the
Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.
Artois and parts of Flanders and Hainaut were ceded to
France in the course of the 17th and 18th century.
Economy
By the mid-16th century, the Margraviate of Antwerp (Duchy of Brabant) had become the economic, political, and cultural center of the Netherlands after its capital had shifted from the nearby Lordship of Mechelen to the city of
Brussels.
Bruges (County of Flanders) had already lost its prominent position as economic powerhouse of northern Europe. And Holland was gradually gaining importance in the 15th and 16th centuries.
However after the
independence of the seven
northern provinces and the resulting closure of the
Scheldt river to navigation, a large number of people from the southern provinces emigrated north to the new republic.
The center of prosperity moved from cities in the south such as
Bruges,
Antwerp,
Ghent, and
Brussels to cities in the north, mostly Holland, including
Amsterdam,
the Hague, and
Rotterdam.
Netherlands
To distinguish between the older and larger Low Countries of the Netherlands from the current country of the Netherlands, Dutch speakers usually drop the plural for the latter. They speak of
Nederland in singular for the current country and of
de Nederlanden in plural for the integral domains of Charles V.
In other languages, this has not been adopted, though the larger area is sometimes known as the
Low Countries in English.
The fact that the term
Netherlands has such different historical meanings can sometimes lead to difficulties in expressing oneself correctly. For example,
composers from the 16th century are often said to belong to the
Dutch School (
Nederlandse School). Although they themselves would not have objected to that term at that time, today it may wrongly create the impression that they were from the current Netherlands. In fact, they were almost exclusively from current Belgium.
Coats of arms
See also
Notes and references
