Low Countries: Difference between revisions

{{More footnotes|date=April 2009}}

The '''Low Countries''' ({{lang-nl| de Lage Landen}}, {{lang-fr| les Pays-Bas}}) make up a coastal region in north western [[Europe]], consisting especially of [[Belgium]] and the [[Netherlands]], and the low-lying [[river delta|delta]] of the [[Rhine]], [[Scheldt]], and [[Meuse River|Meuse]] rivers where much of the land is at or below sea level. Historically, [[Netherlands (toponymy)#The Netherlands|the term ''Low Countries'']] arose at the Court of the [[Duke of Burgundy#House of Valois-Burgundy (1361–1482)|Dukes of Burgundy]], who used the term ''les pays de par deça'' (~ ''the lands over here'') for the Low Countries as opposed to ''les pays de par delà'' (~ ''the lands over there'') for the [[Duchy of Burgundy]] and the [[County of Burgundy|Free County of Burgundy]], which were part of their realm but geographically disconnected from the Low Countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vre.leidenuniv.nl/vre/dutchrevolt/dutch/verhaal/Pages/verhaal01.aspx |title=1. De landen van herwaarts over |publisher=Vre.leidenuniv.nl |date= |accessdate=2014-01-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bmgn-lchr.nl/index.php/bmgn/article/download/5967/6021 |title=The Elusive Netherlands. The question of national identity in the Early Modern Low Countries on the Eve of the Revolt |author=ALASTAIR DUKE |publisher= |date= |accessdate=2014-01-01}}</ref> Governor [[Mary of Hungary (governor of the Netherlands)|Mary of Hungary]] used both the expressions ''les pays de par deça'' and ''Pays d'Embas'' (~ ''lands down here''), which evolved to ''Pays-Bas'' or ''Low Countries''. Today the term is typically fitted to modern political boundaries and used in the same way as the term ''[[Benelux]]'', which also includes [[Luxembourg]].

The region politically had its origins in [[Carolingian empire]], more precisely most of it was within the Duchy of [[Lower Lotharingia]]. 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]] 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.

The name of the modern country the [[Netherlands]] has the same meaning and origin as the term "low countries" because "nether" means "lower". The same is found in the name of this country in other European languages, for example [[German language|German]] ''Niederlande'', [[French language|French]], ''les Pays-Bas'', and so on, which all literally mean "the Low Countries". In the Dutch language itself (known in Dutch as "''Nederlands''", meaning "Netherlandish") no plural is used for the name of the modern country. So ''Nederland'' (singular) is used for the modern nation and ''de Nederlanden'' (plural) for the 16th century domains of Charles V. (However, in official use the name of the Dutch kingdom is still [[Kingdom of the Netherlands]] (''Koninkrijk der Nederlanden''), a name deriving from the 19th century origins of the kingdom which originally included present-day Belgium.)

[[File:The Low Countries.png|300px|thumb|left|The Low Countries from 1556 to 1648.]] <!-- The map inset provides us a small-scale map. -->

[[File:Lage Landen (Frankische Tijd).svg|thumb|left|300px|Southern part of the Low Countries with bisschopry towns and abbeys ca. 7th century. Abbeys were the onset to larger villages and even some towns.]]

The Low Countries were part of the Roman provinces of [[Gallia Belgica]], [[Germania Inferior]] and [[Germania Superior]]. They were inhabited by [[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]]. 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]]. 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 Charlemagne, Francia was divided in three parts among his three grandsons. 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 [[France|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.

Gradually, separate fiefs came 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]]. In 1477 the [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundian holdings]] in the area, the [[Burgundian Netherlands]] passed through an heiress—[[Mary of Burgundy]]—to the [[Habsburgs]]. In the following century the "Low Countries" corresponded roughly to the [[Seventeen Provinces]] covered by the [[Pragmatic Sanction of 1549]] of [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], which freed the provinces from their archaic feudal obligations.

After the northern [[Seven United Provinces]] out 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]]. The [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] (1815–1830) temporarily united the Low Countries again.

==Geo-political situation==

After [[World War II|the Second World War]], [[Benelux]] was used for the trading region of the [[sovereignty|sovereign state]]s of the [[Netherlands]], [[Belgium]] and [[Luxembourg]].

In Dutch and to a lesser extent in English, the Low Countries colloquially means the Netherlands and Belgium, sometimes the Netherlands and [[Flanders]]—the Dutch-speaking north of Belgium. (This version does not include Luxembourg.) For example, a 'Derby der Lage Landen' ([[derby]] of the Low Countries), is a sports event between Belgium and the Netherlands.

Before [[early modern]] [[nation building]], the Low Countries referred to a low-lying triangular [[river delta]] for the rivers [[Rhine]], [[Meuse (river)|Meuse]], [[Scheldt]], and [[Ems (river)|Ems]]. This wide area of Northern Europe roughly stretches from French [[Gravelines]] and [[Dunkirk, France|Dunkirk]] at its southwestern point, to the area of Dutch [[Delfzijl]] and German [[Eastern Frisia]] at its northeastern point, and to Luxembourg and French [[Thionville]] in the southeast.

The Low Countries were the scene of the early northern towns, new-built rather than developed from ancient centres, that marked the reawakening of [[Europe]] in the 12th century. In that period, they rivaled northern [[Italy]] for the most densely populated region of Europe

The Low Countries shared a great number of characteristics:

* Most were coastal regions bounded by the [[North Sea]] or the [[English Channel]]. The countries without access to the sea linked themselves politically and economically to those with access to form one union of port and [[hinterland]]. A poetic description also calls the region ''the Low Countries by the Sea''.

* All of the regions depended on trade and manufacturing and the encouragement of the free flow of goods and craftsmen.

* The regions mainly spoke [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] with [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and [[Luxembourgish language|Luxembourgish]] as dominant languages, although Romance languages also played an important role. Secondary languages included French ([[Luxembourg]], [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]] around [[Nivelles]]), Romance-speaking Belgium (cf. the [[Bishopric of Liège]]), the [[Romance Flanders]] (i.e. [[Cambrai]], [[Lille]], [[Tournai]]), and [[Marquis of Namur|Namur]] ([[Walloon language|Walloon]]).

* Most of the cities were governed by guilds and councils along with a figurehead ruler; interaction with their ruler was regulated by a strict set of rules describing what the latter could and could not expect from them.

*[[Netherlands (disambiguation)]]

*[[Greater Netherlands]]

*[[Seventeen Provinces]]

*[[Burgundian Netherlands]]

*[[Early Netherlandish painting]]

*[[Burgundian Circle]]

*[[Benelux]]

*[[Lower Lorraine]]

{{Commons}}