Editing Low Countries (section)

== History ==
{{History of the Low Countries}}
{{see also|History of urban centers in the Low Countries}}
The region politically had its origins in the [[Carolingian empire]]; more precisely, most of the people were within the Duchy of [[Lower Lotharingia]].<ref name="Franks (Columbia Encyclopedia)">{{cite encyclopedia | url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Franks.aspx | title=Franks | publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] | encyclopedia=[[Columbia Encyclopedia]] | year=2013 | access-date=1 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://nobhist.narod.ru/lorraine.html | title=Lotharingia / Lorraine (Lothringen) | date=5 September 2013 | access-date=1 February 2014}}</ref> After the disintegration of Lower Lotharingia, the Low Countries were brought under the rule of various lordships until they came to be in the hands of the [[House of Valois-Burgundy|Valois Dukes of Burgundy]]. Hence, a large part of the Low Countries came to be referred to as the [[Burgundian Netherlands]]. After the reign of the Valois Dukes ended, much of the Low Countries were controlled by the [[House of Habsburg]]. This area was referred to as the [[Habsburg Netherlands]], which was also called the [[Seventeen Provinces]] up to 1581. Even after the political [[secession]] of the autonomous [[Dutch Republic]] (or "United Provinces") in the north, the term "Low Countries" continued to be used to refer collectively to the region. The region was temporarily united politically between 1815 and 1839, as the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]], before this split into the three modern countries of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

===Early history===
{{see also|Gallia Belgica|Germania Inferior}}
The Low Countries were part of the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] provinces of [[Gallia Belgica]] and [[Germania Inferior]]. They were inhabited by [[Belgae|Belgic]] and [[Germanic tribes]]. In the 4th and 5th century, [[Franks|Frankish]] tribes had entered this Roman region and came to run it increasingly independently. They came to be ruled by the [[Merovingian dynasty]], under which dynasty the southern part (below the [[Rhine]]) was re-[[Christianization|Christianised]].

===Frankish Empire===
{{see also|Lower Lorraine}}
By the end of the 8th century, the Low Countries formed a core part of a much expanded [[Francia]] and the Merovingians were replaced by the [[Carolingian dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ramirez-Faria |first1=Carlos |title=Concise Encyclopedia of World History |date=2007 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |isbn=9788126907755 |page=683 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gGKsS-9h4BYC&pg=PA683 |language=en}}</ref> In 800, the Pope crowned and appointed [[Charlemagne]] [[Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor]] of the re-established [[Holy Roman Empire|Roman Empire]].

After the death of [[Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor]] [[Louis the Pious]] Francia was divided in three parts among his three sons.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chopra |first1=Hardev Singh |title=De Gaulle and European Unity |date=1974 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=9780883862889 |page=131 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VedEZydsEYMC&pg=PA131 |language=en}}</ref> The middle slice, [[Middle Francia]], was ruled by [[Lothair I]], and thereby also came to be referred to as "Lotharingia" or "Lorraine". Apart from the original coastal [[County of Flanders]], which was within [[West Francia]], the rest of the Low Countries were within the lowland part of this, "[[Lower Lorraine]]".

After the death of Lothair, the Low Countries were coveted by the rulers of both [[West Francia]] and [[East Francia]]. Each tried to swallow the region and to merge it with their spheres of influence. Thus, the Low Countries consisted of [[fief]]s whose sovereignty resided with either the [[Kingdom of France (987–1498)|Kingdom of France]] or the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. While the further history the Low Countries can be seen as the object of a continual struggle between these two powers, the title of [[Duke of Lothier]] was coveted in the low countries for centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jeep |first1=John M. |title=Routledge Revivals: Medieval Germany (2001): An Encyclopedia |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781351665391 |pages=291–295 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ikArDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT291 |language=en}}</ref>

===Duchy of Burgundy===
{{see also|Burgundian Netherlands}}
In the 14th and 15th century, separate fiefs came gradually to be ruled by a single family through [[royal intermarriage]]. This process culminated in the rule of the [[House of Valois]], who were the rulers of the [[Duchy of Burgundy]]. At the height of Burgundian influence, the Low Countries became the political, cultural, and economic centre of [[Northern Europe]], noted for its crafts and luxury goods, notably [[early Netherlandish painting]], which is the work of artists who were active in the flourishing cities of [[Bruges]], [[Ghent]], [[Mechelen]], [[Leuven]], [[Tournai]] and [[Brussels]], all in present-day Belgium. Musicians of the [[Franco-Flemish School]] were highly sought by the leading classes of all Europe. [[Image:Van Eyck - Arnolfini Portrait.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Jan van Eyck]], The ''[[Arnolfini Portrait]]'', 1434, [[National Gallery]], London]]

===Seventeen Provinces===
{{see also|Habsburg Netherlands|Burgundian Circle}}
In 1477 the [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundian holdings]] in the area passed through an heiress—[[Mary of Burgundy]]—to the [[Habsburgs]]. Charles V, who inherited the territory in 1506, was named ruler by the [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]] and styled himself as ''Heer der Nederlanden'' ({{lit|Lord of the Netherlands}}). He continued to rule the territories as a multitude of duchies and principalities until the Low Countries were eventually united into one indivisible territory, the [[Seventeen Provinces]], covered by the [[Pragmatic Sanction of 1549]],<ref>{{cite web|title=History of Luxembourg: Primary Documents|url=https://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_Luxembourg:_Primary_Documents|website=EuroDocs|access-date=Sep 10, 2017}}</ref> while retaining existing customs, laws, and forms of government within the provinces.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Limm |first1=P. |title=The Dutch Revolt 1559–1648 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ibmOAwAAQBAJ&q=pragmatic+sanction&pg=PA6 |publisher=Routledge |access-date=20 October 2018 |language=en |date=2014|isbn=9781317880585 }}</ref>

The Pragmatic Sanction transformed the agglomeration of lands into a unified entity, of which the [[Habsburg]]s would be the heirs. By streamlining the succession law in all Seventeen Provinces and declaring that all of them would be inherited by one heir, Charles effectively united the Netherlands as one entity. After Charles' abdication in 1555, the Seventeen Provinces passed to his son, [[Philip II of Spain]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ronald |first1=Susan |title=Heretic Queen: Queen Elizabeth I and the Wars of Religion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o2SAFik2aTIC&q=pragmatic+sanction+of+1549&pg=PT89 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |access-date=20 October 2018 |language=en |date=2012|isbn=9781250015211 }}</ref>

===Division===
{{see also|Dutch Republic|Spanish Netherlands|Southern Netherlands}}
The Pragmatic Sanction is said to be one example of the Habsburg contest with [[political particularism|particularism]] that contributed to the [[Dutch Revolt]]. Each of the provinces had its own laws, customs and political practices. The new policy, imposed from the outside, angered many inhabitants, who viewed their provinces as distinct entities. It and other monarchical acts, such as the creation of bishoprics and promulgation of laws against [[heresy]], stoked resentments, which fired the eruption of the [[Dutch Revolt]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=State |first1=Paul F. |title=A Brief History of the Netherlands |date=2008 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=9781438108322 |page=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5CTlTZlWU0IC&q=pragmatic+sanction&pg=PA46 |access-date=20 October 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

After the northern [[Seven United Provinces]] of the seventeen declared their independence from [[Habsburg Spain]] in 1581, the ten provinces of the [[Southern Netherlands]] remained occupied by the [[Army of Flanders]] under Spanish service and are therefore sometimes called the [[Spanish Netherlands]]. In 1713, under the [[Treaty of Utrecht]] following the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], what was left of the Spanish Netherlands was ceded to [[Austria]] and thus became known as the [[Austrian Netherlands]].

Some states like the [[Duchy of Bouillon|Bouillon]], [[Cambrésis]], [[County of East Frisia|East Frisia]], [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège|Liège]] and [[Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy|Stavelot-Malmedy]] did not become part of the wider policies and remained at least nominally independent. Liège was excluded from the [[Burgundian Circle]] instead incorporated into the [[Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle]] and later become regularly part of [[personal union]]s with bishoprics like the [[Electorate of Cologne]] under the [[Wittelsbach]] dynasty.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goorts |first1=Roeland |title=War, State, and Society in Liège |date=2019 |publisher=Leuven University Press |isbn=9789462701311 |pages=218–219 |url=https://books.google.de/books?id=l2-MDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA218 |access-date=28 April 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Kenau_Hasselaar_op_de_wallen_van_Haarlem.gif|[[Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer]] defending the walls during the [[Siege of Haarlem]] (1572–1573)
File:De stadt Maastricht, door den prins van Parma (Alexander Farnese) met storm verovert, den 29 july des jaars 1579 (Jan Luyken, 1679).jpg|Sack of [[Maastricht]] by the ''Tercios de Flandes'' (Flemish Regiments) in 1579
File:Famien Strada Histoire-Capture of Tournai 1581-ppn087811480 MG 8936T3p287.tif|Siege and capture of [[Tournai]] (1581)
File:Oostende.1601.JPG|Map of [[Ostend]] during the [[Siege of Ostend|siege in 1601]]
</gallery>

===Modern period===
{{see also|United Kingdom of the Netherlands|Benelux}}
The [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] (1815–1830) temporarily united the Low Countries again before it split into the three modern countries of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

During the early months of [[World War I]] (around 1914), the [[Central Powers]] invaded the Low Countries of [[Luxembourg]] and [[Belgium]] in what has been come to be known as the [[German invasion of Belgium (1914)|German invasion of Belgium]]. It led to the German occupation of the two countries. However, the German advance into [[France]] was quickly halted, causing a military stalemate for most of the war. In the end, a total of approximately 56,000 people were killed in the invasion.<ref name="ia800502.us.archive.org">{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/statisticsofmili00grea |title=Statistics of the military effort of the British Empire during the Great War, 1914–1920 |last=Great Britain. War Office |date=14 April 2018 |publisher=London H.M. Stationery Off |access-date=14 April 2018 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

During [[World War II]], when [[Adolf Hitler]]'s gaze turned his strategy west toward France, the Low Countries were an easy route around the imposing French [[Maginot Line]]. He ordered a conquest of the Low Countries with the shortest possible notice, to forestall the French, and prevent [[Allies of World War 2|Allied]] [[air power]] from threatening the strategic [[Ruhr Area]]{{vague?| /  zbxx|date=November 2020}}     of Germany.<ref>Frieser 2005, p. 74.</ref> It would also provide the basis for a long-term air and sea campaign against Britain. As much as possible of the border areas in northern France should be occupied.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/wardirectives/06.html|title= Directive No. 6 Full Text|access-date=5 December 2015}}</ref> Germany's [[Blitzkrieg]] tactics rapidly overpowered the defences of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

All three countries were occupied from May 1940 until early 1945. During the occupation, their governments were forced into exile in Britain. In 1944, they signed the [[London Customs Convention]], laying the foundation for the eventual [[Benelux|Benelux Economic Union]],<ref name=Yapou1>{{cite book|last=Yapou|first=Eliezer|title=Governments in Exile, 1939–1945|year=1998|location=Jerusalem|url=http://governmentsinexile.com/yapouluxembourg.html|chapter=Luxembourg: The Smallest Ally|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023020317/http://governmentsinexile.com/yapouluxembourg.html |archive-date=23 October 2012 }}</ref> an important forerunner of the [[EEC]] (later the [[EU]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Park |first1=Jehoon |last2=Pempel |first2=T. J. |last3=Kim |first3=Heungchong |title=Regionalism, Economic Integration and Security in Asia: A Political Economy Approach |date=2011 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=9780857931276 |page=96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylY7FjtUX-QC&pg=PA96 |language=en}}</ref>