Editing History of Belgium (section)

== Early Middle Ages ==
[[File:StServatius-Treasury2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Saint Servatius]], bishop of [[Tongeren]] and one of the first known Christian figures in the region. 16th century [[reliquary]].]]
In the Middle Ages, the old Roman ''civitates'' became the basis of Christian dioceses, and the row of dioceses which form the core of modern Belgium (Tournai, Cambrai, and Liège) were the most northerly continental areas to retain a Romanized culture. The modern Belgian language boundary derives from this period, as the area was a contact point of Frankish and Romanized populations.

As the [[Western Roman Empire]] lost power, [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribe]]s came to dominate the military, and then form kingdoms. Coastal Flanders, the old territory of the Menapii, became part of the "[[Saxon Shore]]". In inland northern Belgium, [[Franks]] from the Roman frontier in the Rhine delta were allowed to re-settle in [[Toxandria]] in the 4th century. Wallonia remained more heavily Romanized, although it eventually became subject to Franks in the 5th century. Franks remained important in the Roman military, and the Romanized Frankish [[Merovingian Dynasty]] eventually took over northern France. [[Clovis I]], the best-known king of this dynasty, first conquered Romanized northern France, later called [[Neustria]], then turned north to the Frankish lands later referred to as [[Austrasia]], which included all or most of Belgium. Christian missionaries preached to the populace and started a wave of [[Religious conversion|conversion]].

[[File:Lage Landen (Frankische Tijd).svg|thumb|Southern part of the [[Low Countries]] with bishopry towns and abbeys c. 7th century. [[Abbey]]s were the onset to larger villages and even some towns to reshape the landscape.]]
The Merovingian dynasty was succeeded by the [[Carolingian dynasty]], whose family power base was in and around the eastern part of modern Belgium. After [[Charles Martel]] countered the [[Moors|Moorish]] invasion from Spain (732 — Poitiers), King [[Charlemagne]] brought a huge part of Europe under his rule and was [[Crown (headgear)|crowned]] the "[[Emperor]] of the new [[Holy Roman Empire]]" by the [[Pope Leo III]] in 800.

The [[Vikings]] raided widely throughout this period, but a major settlement that had caused problems in the area of Belgium was defeated in 891 by [[Arnulf of Carinthia]] in the [[Battle of Leuven (891)|battle of Leuven]].

The Frankish lands were divided and reunified several times under the [[Merovingian]] and [[Carolingian]] dynasties, but eventually were firmly divided into [[France]] and the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The parts of the [[County of Flanders]] west of the river [[Scheldt]] became part of France during the Middle Ages, but the remainders of the County of Flanders and the [[Low Countries]] were part of the Holy Roman Empire, specifically the [[stem duchy]] of [[Lower Lorraine|Lower Lotharingia]], which had a period as an independent kingdom.

Through the early Middle Ages, the northern part of present-day Belgium ([[Flanders]]) was a [[Germanic languages|Germanic language]]-speaking area, whereas in the southern part people had continued to be Romanized and spoke derivatives of [[Vulgar Latin]].

As the Holy Roman Emperors and French Kings lost effective control of their domains in the 11th and 12th centuries, the territory more or less corresponding to the present Belgium was divided into relatively independent feudal states, including:
* The [[County of Flanders]]
* The [[Marquis of Namur|Marquisate of Namur]]
* The [[Duchy of Brabant]] (see also [[Duke of Brabant]])
* The [[County of Hainaut]]
* The [[Duchy of Limburg]]
* The [[County of Luxembourg]]
* The [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège]] (the territory over which the bishop ruled as a lord, which was smaller than the diocese)

The coastal county of Flanders was one of the wealthiest parts of Europe in the late Middle Ages, from trading with England, France and Germany, and it became culturally important. During the 11th and 12th centuries, the [[Rheno-Mosan art|Rheno-Mosan]] or [[Mosan art]] movement flourished in the region moving its centre from [[Cologne]] and [[Trier]] to [[Liège]], [[Maastricht]] and [[Aachen]].