Editing Limburg (Netherlands) (section)

==History==
The current province Limburg of the Netherlands only came into existence in 1839, after the finalization of the separation of Belgium from the Netherlands which had begun in 1830. The two Limburgs had been brought together under French revolutionary administration some decades earlier, but they and the surrounding region shared much of their history. For long periods of history however, the region was not united under the same rule.

For centuries, the strategic location of the current province, stretching along the Maas river route, made it a much-coveted region among Europe's major powers. [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], [[Carolingians]], [[Habsburg Spain|Habsburg Spaniards]], [[Prussia]]ns, [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg Austrians]] and [[France]] have all ruled parts of Limburg. 

The first inhabitants of whom traces have been found were [[Neanderthals]] who camped in South Limburg. In [[Neolithic]] times, [[flint]] was mined in underground mines.

===Roman era===
[[Julius Caesar]] conquered the area in 53 BC, and wrote that he had extinguished the name of the [[Eburones]], the inhabitants of most of the area of current Limburg, as a punishment for their revolt under [[Ambiorix]].

The north–south route along the Maas was crossed by the [[Via Belgica]], a road crossing South Limburg and connecting the two local capitals of [[Tongeren]] and [[Cologne]]. ''Mosa Trajectum'' (Maastricht) and ''Coriovallum'' (Heerlen) were founded by the Romans upon this route. The area became strongly Romanized. Bishop [[Saint Servatius|Servatius]] introduced Christianity in Roman Maastricht, where he died in 384. Maastricht appears to have taken over from [[Tongeren]] for some time as regional capital for the Romanized and Christian population, before the bishopric was re-established in [[Liège]], {{convert|25|km|mi}} south of Maastricht.

===Medieval era===
As Roman authority in the area weakened, [[Franks]] took over from the Romans, but the area came to flourish under their rule, with Cologne continuing to be the most important local capital. The Maas valley, especially the middle and southern part of the current province, formed an important part of the heartland of [[Merovingian]] [[Austrasia]].

With the rise of the Carolingian dynasty, who were themselves from this region, the Maas valley became more culturally and politically one of the most important regions in Europe. In 714 [[Susteren Abbey]] was founded, as far as is known the first [[proprietary church|proprietary abbey]] in the current Netherlands. The main benefactor was [[Plectrude]], the consort of [[Pepin of Herstal]]. [[Charles Martel]] was born in nearby [[Herstal]]. [[Charlemagne]] made [[Aachen]], today a German city which has suburban sprawl stretching into South Limburg, the capital of the [[Carolingian Empire|Frankish empire]]. 

After the death of Charlemagne, the Frankish dominions were again split between kings. While the Austrasian lands remained a separate "Middle Kingdom", sometimes now referred to as [[Lotharingia]], in the treaties of [[Treaty of Verdun|Verdun]] (843), and [[Treaty of Prüm|Prüm]] (855), in the 870 [[Treaty of Meerssen]], signed in South Limburg itself, Lotharingia was divided. The river [[Meuse]] became the border between the [[West Francia|Western-]] and [[East Francia|Eastern Frankish]] kingdoms, placing most of the current Dutch province of Limburg on the western boundary of the Eastern Frankish kingdom, with Belgian Limburg in the Western Kingdom. In the [[Treaty of Ribemont]] of 888, the Eastern Kingdom was granted control of the whole of Lotharingia, including all of the modern Netherlands and Luxembourg, and most of modern Belgium.

The region of [[Thorn, Netherlands]] was drained and about 975 a swamp nearby the [[Roman road]] between [[Maastricht]] and [[Nijmegen]]. [[Bishop]] [[Ansfried of Utrecht]] founded a Benedictine nunnery. This developed from the 12th century into a secular {{lang|de|[[Stift]]}} or [[convent]]. The principal of the {{lang|de|Stift}} was the [[abbess]]. She was assisted by a chapter of at most twenty ladies of the highest [[nobility]]. 

During the period of West Frankish control under the Treaty of Meerssen, effective Frankish power in the area of the current Netherlands more or less collapsed. For two or more years a large [[Viking]] army, operating from a place on or near the Meuse called Ascloa (or Hasloa or Haslon), wrought havoc in the neighbourhood. The damage was such that the emperor, [[Charles the Fat]] was forced to assemble a large multinational army, that in 882 unsuccessfully [[Siege of Asselt|besieged this island]].

In the 10th century, the Eastern kingdom consolidated its control of Lotharingia and became the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. In the first decades of this empire the founding imperial family had close ties to areas in what is today northern Limburg. The emperor [[Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto III]] for instance was born in 980 in [[Kessel, Germany|Kessel]], practically on the current border between Limburg and [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], just east from [[Gennep]]. In 1080 in {{ill|Genneperhuis|nl}}, just north of Gennep, [[Norbert of Xanten|Norbert of Gennep]] was born as a son of the count of Gennep. He was the founder of the order of the [[Premonstratensians]].

[[File:Overmaas.png|thumb|160px|Map showing the medieval "lands of Overmaas" and the Duchy of Limburg, both in the Middle Ages possessed by the Dukes of Brabant. Together these two counties formed one province in the [[Seventeen Provinces]]. (The dark lines are the modern borders).]]
South Limburg in the early Middle Ages was mainly made up of the lordships of {{ill|Land von Valkenburg|de|lt=Valkenburg}}, [[Dalhem]], and [[Herzogenrath]]. All of these lands were, however, united with the Duchy of Limburg, under the rule of the [[Duchy of Brabant]], when they were known collectively as the [[Lands of Overmaas]].

The Duchy of Limburg and its dependencies first came under Brabantian control in 1288, as a result of the [[Battle of Worringen]], then in the 15th century under the [[Duchy of Burgundy]]. By 1473, the Lands of Overmaas and the Duchy of Limburg formed one unified delegation to the States General of the [[Burgundian Netherlands]]. Both the terms Overmaas and Limburg came to be used loosely to refer to this sparsely populated province of the so-called [[Seventeen Provinces]]. Maastricht was never part of this polity: as a [[condominium (international law)|condominium]], sovereignty over this city was held jointly by the [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège]] and the [[Duchy of Brabant]]. Also, the central and northern part of present-day Limburg belonged to different political entities, notably the [[Duchy of Jülich]] and the [[Duchy of Guelders]].

By the late Middle Ages most of the present day territory of Limburg had been partitioned to the Duchy of Brabant, the Duchy of Gelderland, the Duchy of Jülich, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège or the [[Electorate of Cologne]]. These dukes, [[prince-bishop]]s and [[prince-elector]]s were nominal subordinates of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, but in practice acted as independent sovereigns who were often at war with each other. These conflicts were often fought in and over Limburg, contributing to its fragmentation and a loss of economic importance.

Limburg was the scene of many bloody battles during the [[Eighty Years' War]] (1568–1648), in which the [[Dutch Republic]] threw off [[Habsburg Spain|Habsburg Spanish]] rule. At the [[Battle of Mookerheyde]] (14 April 1574), two brothers of [[William the Silent|Prince William of Orange-Nassau]] and thousands of "[[Seventeen Provinces|Dutch]]" mercenaries died. Most Limburgians fought on the Spanish side, being [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]]s and being opposed to the [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] [[Holland]]ers.

===Early modern era===
In the early modern era, Limburg was largely divided between the [[Spanish Netherlands]] (the [[Austrian Netherlands]] after 1714), [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], the [[Republic of the Seven United Netherlands]], the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and many small independent [[fief]]s. In 1673, [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] personally commanded the siege of [[Maastricht]] by [[Early Modern France|French]] troops. During the siege, one of his brigadiers, [[Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan]], perished. He subsequently became known as a major character in ''[[The Three Musketeers]]'' by [[Alexandre Dumas, père]] (1802&ndash;1870).

===19th century===
The modern boundaries of Dutch Limburg, along with its neighbour, Belgian Limburg, were basically set during the period after the [[French Revolution]], which erased much of the "{{lang|fr|[[ancien regime]]}}" of Europe, with all its old boundaries and titles. These two provinces were part of a new French {{lang|fr|[[département]]}}, named (like many {{lang|fr|départements}}) after the river running through it, "{{lang|fr|[[Meuse-Inférieure]]}}", meaning simply "lower Maas".

Following the [[Napoleonic Era]], the great powers (the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]], [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], the [[Austrian Empire]], the [[Russian Empire]] and [[Bourbon Restoration in France|France]]) left the region to the new [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] in the [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1815. A new province was formed which was to receive the name "Maastricht" after its capital. The first king, [[William I of the Netherlands|William I]], who did not want the medieval name to be lost, insisted that it be changed to "[[Province of Limburg (1815–1839)|Province of Limburg]]". As such, the name of the new province was derived from the old Duchy of Limburg that had existed until 1795 on the east bank of the Meuse river.

When the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] and [[French language|French]]-speaking Belgians split away from the mainly [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] northern Netherlands in the [[Belgian Revolution]] of 1830, the Province of Limburg was at first almost entirely under Belgian rule. However, by the [[Treaty of London, 1839|1839 Treaty of London]], the province was divided in two, with the eastern part going to the Netherlands and the western part to Belgium, a division that remains today.

With the Treaty of London, what is now the Belgian [[Luxembourg (Belgium)|Province of Luxembourg]] was handed over to Belgium and removed from the [[German Confederation]]. To appease Prussia, which had also lost [[Prussian Guelders|access to the Meuse]] after the Congress of Vienna, the Dutch province of Limburg (excluding the cities of [[Maastricht]] and [[Venlo]] because without them Limburg's population equalled that of the Province of Luxembourg, 150,000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hgisg-ekompendium.ieg-mainz.de/Dokumentation_Datensaetze/Multimedia/Sonstige_Gebiete/Limburg.pdf|title=Limburg (1839-1865)|publisher=HGIS Germany|language=de|access-date=2023-01-29|archive-date=2023-07-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702100609/https://www.hgisg-ekompendium.ieg-mainz.de/Dokumentation_Datensaetze/Multimedia/Sonstige_Gebiete/Limburg.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>), was joined to the German Confederation between 5 September 1839 and 23 August 1866 as the [[Duchy of Limburg (1839–1867)|Duchy of Limburg]]. On 11 May 1867, the Duchy, which from 1839 on had been ''de jure'' a separate polity in personal union with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, was reincorporated into the latter with the [[Treaty of London (1867)|1867 Treaty of London]], though the term "Duchy of Limburg" remained in some official use until February 1907. Another idiosyncrasy survives today: the head of the province, referred to as the "King's Commissioner" in other provinces, is addressed as "Governor" in Limburg.

===20th century===
The [[Second World War]] cost the lives of many civilians in Limburg, and a large number of towns and villages were destroyed by bombings and artillery battles. Various cemeteries, too, bear witness to this dark chapter in Limburg's history. Almost 8,500 [[United States|American]] soldiers, who perished during the liberation of the Netherlands, lie buried at the [[Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial]] in [[Margraten]]. Other big war cemeteries are to be found at [[Overloon]] ([[United Kingdom|British]] soldiers) and the [[Ysselsteyn German war cemetery]] was constructed in the Municipality of [[Venray]] for the 31,000 [[Nazi Germany|German]] soldiers who died.

According to the research of Herman van Rens, the residents of Limburg were especially active in hiding local and refugee Jews during the [[Holocaust]], to the extent that the Jewish population even increased during the war. Jews in hiding were three times as likely to survive in Limburg as in Amsterdam.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Cnaan Lipshiz | title = For Some Dutch Jews, Limburg Province Was Refuge in Storm of Holocaust | url = http://forward.com/articles/198437/for-some-dutch-jews-limburg-province-was-refuge-in/?p=all | journal = The Forward | date = May 19, 2014 | access-date = May 19, 2014 | archive-date = May 19, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140519184144/http://forward.com/articles/198437/for-some-dutch-jews-limburg-province-was-refuge-in/?p=all | url-status = live }}</ref>

In December 1991, the [[European Community]] (now [[European Union]]) held a summit in Maastricht. At that summit, the "Treaty on European Union" or so-called [[Maastricht Treaty]] was signed by the European Community member states. With that treaty, the European Union came into existence.
{|
|[[File:Maastricht, stadszicht met Servaasbrug foto3 2011-09-10 09.54.JPG|thumb|218px|View of the river Meuse and the Medieval [[Sint Servaasbrug]] in [[Maastricht]], Limburg's capital]]
|[[File:Walem straat.jpg|thumb|225px|View of a typical street in a hilly South-Limburgian hamlet; here in [[Walem, Netherlands|Walem]]]]
|[[File:Achterzijde & park Hotel Kasteel Bloemendal.jpg|thumb|260px|Huis Bloemendaal in [[Vaals]], an 18th-century stately home, also used as a monastery, now a hotel]]
|}

===Anthem===
''[[Limburg mijn Vaderland]]'' (Limburg my Fatherland) is the official [[national anthem|anthem]] of both Belgian and Dutch Limburg.