Editing Seventeen Provinces (section)

== Composition ==
[[File:Die Niederlande Nach denen XVII Provincien Eingetheilet (Zeventien Provinciën der Nederlanden, 17 Provinces) Gabriel Bodenehr.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Seventeen Provinces map by Gabriel Bodenehr]]

After the Habsburg emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] had re-acquired the Duchy of [[Guelders]] from Duke [[William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg|William of Jülich-Cleves-Berg]] by the 1543 [[Italian War of 1542–1546|Treaty of Venlo]], the Seventeen Provinces comprised:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Seventeen Provinces<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9F4MAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA65 |title=A Manual of the History of the Political System of Europe and Its Colonies |author=Arnold Hermann Ludwig Heeren |year= 1834 |page=65}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |website=Engelfriet |title=De namen van de Zeventien Provinciën (image) |url=http://www.engelfriet.net/Alie/Aad/17provincieslijst.jpg |access-date=July 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405033737/http://www.engelfriet.net/Alie/Aad/17provincieslijst.jpg |archive-date=April 5, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.engelfriet.net/Alie/Aad/raad.htm |title=Ruzie met de Raad van State leidde tot de 80-jarige oorlog |date=January 13, 2005 |access-date=July 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529113519/http://www.engelfriet.net/Alie/Aad/raad.htm |archive-date=May 29, 2023}}</ref><ref name="wzp">{{cite web |website=Rijksmuseum |title=Wapens van de Zeventien Provinciën, Abraham de Bruyn (mogelijk), naar Chrispijn van den Broeck, 1582 |url=https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/RP-P-1982-1234(R) |access-date=July 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712141509/https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/RP-P-1982-1234%28R%29 |archive-date=July 12, 2023}}</ref>
|-
! style="text-align:left;" |Coat of arms
! style="text-align:left;" |Name
! style="text-align:left;" |Developments
|-
|[[File:Counts of Holland Arms.svg|30px]] || [[County of Holland]]|| bgcolor="#F8ECE0" | Territory integrated into the United Provinces in 1581.
|-
|[[File:Coatofarmszeeland.PNG|30px]] || [[County of Zeeland]]|| bgcolor="#F8ECE0" | Linked to the [[County of Holland]]. Territory integrated into the United Provinces in 1581.
|-
|[[File:Blason Nord-Pas-De-Calais.svg|30px]] || [[County of Flanders]]||Including [[Walloon Flanders]] ([[Kasselrij|kasselrijen]] [[Kasselrij Rijsel|Rijsel]], [[Douai]] and [[Orchies]]) the [[Burgrave|burgraviates]] of [[Lille]], the [[Tournai and the Tournaisis|Lordship of Tournai and the Tournaisis]] (since 1521) nominally part of Flanders.
|-
|[[File:Arms of Robert dArtois.svg|30px]] || [[County of Artois]]|| bgcolor="#EFEFFB" | Definitively ceded to France in 1659 by the [[Treaty of the Pyrenees]]. Except [[Aire-sur-la-Lys|Aire]] and [[Sint-Omaars]], ceded with the [[Treaties of Nijmegen]].
|-
|[[File:Blason fr Hainaut ancien.svg|30px]] || [[County of Hainaut]]||
|-
|[[File:Namur Arms.svg|30px]] || [[County of Namur]]||
|-
|[[File:Escudo de Zutphen 1581.png|30px]] || [[County of Zutphen]]|| bgcolor="#F8ECE0" | Since 1543.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=https://dutchrevolt.leiden.edu/dutch/begrippen/staatsinstellingen/Pages/Karel%20102%20verhouding.aspx |title=2. Verhouding tot het Rijk van de Zeventien Provinciën |author=[[Johan Rudolf Thorbecke]], Robert Jacobus Fruin en [[Herman Theodoor Colenbrander]] |date=1922 |accessdate=December 19, 2019 |work=Geschiedenis der staatsinstellingen in Nederland tot de dood van Willem II |publisher=Universiteit Leiden |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219092949/https://dutchrevolt.leiden.edu/dutch/begrippen/staatsinstellingen/Pages/Karel%2520102%2520verhouding.aspx |archive-date=2019-12-19}}</ref> Linked to the Duchy of Gelre. Territory integrated into the [[Dutch Republic|United Provinces]] in 1581 and reintegrated in 1591.
|-
|[[File:Wapenschild van Brabant.svg|30px]] || [[Duchy of Brabant]]|| Including the [[Breda|Lordship of Breda]], the counties of [[Leuven]] and of [[Brussels]], and the advocacy of the Abbey of [[Nivelles]] and of [[Gembloux]], and the "[[:nl:Landen van Overmaas|Overmaas]]" lands of Brabant ([[Dalhem]], [[Valkenburg aan de Geul|Valkenburg]] and [[Herzogenrath]]). Part of the territory was transferred to the [[Dutch Republic|United Provinces]].
|-
|[[File:Arms of the Count of Luxembourg.svg|30px]] || [[Duchy of Luxembourg]]||
|-
|[[File:Modern Arms of Limburg.svg|30px]] || [[Duchy of Limburg]]|| Linked to the [[Duchy of Brabant]].
|-
|[[File:Armoiries Gueldre.svg|30px]] || [[Duchy of Guelders]]|| bgcolor="#F8ECE0" | With the [[Lordship of Drenthe]], [[Lingen]], [[Wedde]], and [[Westerwolde (region)|Westerwolde]]. Since 1543.<ref name=":0" /> Territory integrated into the United Provinces in 1581; except one part.
|-
|[[File:Small coat of arms of Overijssel.svg|30px]] || [[Lordship of Overijssel]]|| bgcolor="#F8ECE0" | Includes [[Drenthe|Drente]] [[:nl:Bestand:Seven_United_Netherlands_Janssonius_1658.jpg|(map of 1658)]]. County of Lingen, [[Wedde (Groningen)|Wedde]] and [[Westerwolde (region)|Westwoldingerland]] (since 1528). Territory integrated into the United Provinces in 1591.<ref>{{cite web |title=De munt van Overijssel |website=De Kopergeld pagina |date=27 October 2004 |url=http://www.duiten.nl/overijssel.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407013139/http://www.duiten.nl/overijssel.htm |archive-date=April 7, 2008}}</ref>
|-
|[[File:Escudo de Groniga 1581.svg|30px]] || [[Lordship of Groningen]]|| bgcolor="#F8ECE0" | Including the [[Ommelanden]]. Since 1536. Territory fully integrated into the United Provinces in 1594.<ref>{{cite web |title=De munt van Groningen |website=De Kopergeld pagina |date=19 October 2004 |url=http://www.duiten.nl/groningen.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080310150309/http://www.duiten.nl/groningen.htm |archive-date=March 10, 2008}}</ref>
|-
|[[File:Small coat of arms of Friesland.png|30px]] || [[Lordship of Frisia]]|| bgcolor="#F8ECE0" | Since 1524. Territory integrated into the United Provinces in 1581.
|-
|[[File:Utrecht - coat of arms.png|30px]] || [[Lordship of Utrecht]]|| bgcolor="#F8ECE0" | Since 1528. Territory integrated into the United Provinces in 1581.
|-
|[[File:Escudo de Malinas 1581.svg|30px]] || [[Lordship of Mechelen]]|| Linked to the [[Duchy of Brabant]]. Territory of the United Provinces between 1581-1585.<ref name="Lafuente">{{cite book |author=Modesto Lafuente |year= 1862 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sMACAAAAYAAJ&dq=malinas+farnesio&pg=RA2-PA401 |title=Historia general de España, Volume 7 |page=401 |access-date=July 12, 2023}}</ref>
|-
|[[File:Blason be Marquisat d Anvers.svg|30px]] || [[Margraviate of Antwerp]]|| Linked to the Duchy of Brabant. Lost by the United Provinces in 1585.<ref name="Lafuente" />
|}

Each province had a distinct Coat of Arms. The [[States General of the Netherlands]] had itself its coat, a red shield with an armed golden lion.

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. The Lordship of Drenthe is sometimes considered part of the Lordship of Overijssel. On the other hand, the French-speaking cities of Flanders were sometimes recognised as a separate province. Therefore, in some lists Zutphen and Drenthe are replaced by 
*[[Burgrave|burgraviates]] of [[Lille]], [[Douai]], [[Orchies]] (also called [[Walloon Flanders]])
*[[Tournai and the Tournaisis]]

There were a number of [[fiefdom]]s 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 were the [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège]], including the [[County of Horne]], and the [[Cambrésis|Bishopric of Cambrai]]. The ethnically and culturally Dutch duchies of [[Duchy of Cleves|Cleves]] and [[Duchy of Jülich|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, but always with 17 members. This number could have been chosen because of its Christian connotation.<ref name="lu07" />