Editing Seventeen Provinces (section)

==History==
{{History of the Low Countries}}
[[File:Map Burgundian Netherlands 1477-en.png|thumb|upright=1|Map of the Low Countries in 1477]]
The Seventeen Provinces originated from the [[Burgundian Netherlands]]. The [[Duke of Burgundy|dukes of Burgundy]] systematically became the lords of different provinces. [[Mary of Burgundy|Mary I of Valois, Duchess of Burgundy]] was the last of the [[House of Burgundy]].

Mary married Archduke [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian]] in 1477, and the provinces were acquired by the [[House of Habsburg]] on her death in 1482, with the exception of the [[Duchy of Burgundy]] itself, which, with an appeal to [[Salic law]], had been reabsorbed into [[Kingdom of France|France]] upon the death of Mary's father, [[Charles the Bold]]. Maximilian and Mary's grandson, [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]] and king of Spain, eventually united all 17 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 the County of Artois, were originally French fiefs, but sovereignty was ceded to the Empire in the [[Treaty of Cambrai]] in 1529.

On 15 October, 1506, in the palace of Mechelen, the future Charles V was recognized as ''Heer der Nederlanden'' ("Lord of the Netherlands"). Only he and his son ever used this title. The [[Pragmatic Sanction of 1549]] determined that the Provinces should remain united in the future and inherited by the same monarch.

After Charles V's abdication in 1555, his realms were divided between his son, [[Philip II 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 [[Dutch Republic|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 Guelders|upper quarter]]) and the County of Zutphen
*the Prince-Bishopric, later Lordship of Utrecht
*the County of Holland
*the County of Zeeland

The southern provinces, Flanders, Brabant, Namur, Hainaut, Luxembourg and the others, were restored to Spanish rule due to the military and political talent of the [[Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma|Duke of Parma]], especially at the [[Siege of Antwerp (1584–1585)]]. Hence, these provinces became known as the [[Spanish Netherlands]].

The County of Drenthe, surrounded by the other northern provinces, became ''de facto'' part of the Seven United Provinces, but had no voting rights in the [[Union of Utrecht]] and was therefore not considered a province.

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 ([[French Flanders]] and [[French Hainaut]]) were ceded to France in the course of the 17th and 18th centuries.