: ''This article deals with the historical duchy of Limburg, for other meanings see
Limburg.''
The 'Duchy of Limburg' was a historical region in the
Low Countries. It consisted of parts of the present
Belgian provinces
Liège (northeastern part) and
Limburg (a.o.
Voeren,
Rekem), the
Dutch province of
Limburg (southern part), and a small part of
North Rhine-Westphalia in
Germany (a.o.
Herzogenrath).
In Roman times, Limburg was situated in the Roman provinces of
Germania Inferior and inhabited by
Celtic tribes, until
Germanic peoples replaced them and made an end to
roman imperial rule.
Its most important cities were
Maastricht,
Verviers and
Eupen.
Today the historic Duchy of Limburg is territorially divided up between
Belgium, the
Netherlands and
Germany.
History
The 'Duchy of Limburg', situated in the
Low Countries between the river
Meuse and the city of
Aachen, was a state of the
Holy Roman Empire and the
German Confederation. Its territory is presently divided between the
Belgian provinces of
Liège and
Limburg (
Voeren) and the
Dutch province of
Limburg.
The duchy was formed in the
11th century around the town of
Limbourg in present-day Belgium. After Irmgard, last Duchess of Limburg, died childless in
1283, a war of succession broke out. The Duke of
Brabant won the
Battle of Worringen in
1288, thereby gaining control of the Duchy of Limburg. Limburg remained a separate entity both under the rule of
Burgundy after
1430 and that of the
Habsburgs after
1477. Combined with the Landen van Overmaas (the lands across the Meuse:
Dalhem,
Rolduc and
Valkenburg), it was one of the
Seventeen Provinces. Significant towns in Limburg proper were
Herve,
Montzen,
Lontzen,
Eupen,
Baelen and
Esneux.
At the
Peace of Westphalia which ended the
Eighty Years' War in
1648, an area known as
Staats-Limburg and consisting of parts of Limburg and Overmaas was ceded to the
United Provinces. The remainder of the duchy (including Limburg proper) remained under Spanish rule as part of the
Southern Netherlands, passing to Austrian rule under the
Treaty of Utrecht in
1713.
When the region was occupied by the French in
1794, Staats-Limburg became part of the
département of
Meuse-Inférieure.
Duchy of Limburg (1665)
The Austrian duchy of Limburg was disbanded and became part of the département of
Ourte. Following the defeat of
Napoleon in 1814, the area of the former duchy was united within the
United Kingdom of the Netherlands (what is now Belgium,
Luxembourg and the Netherlands) and Meuse-Inférieure and Ourte respectively formed the new
Province of Limburg and
Province of Liège. This Province of Limburg covered an area much larger than and somewhat different from the former duchy with Limburg's namesake town of
Limbourg located in Liège.
When the
Catholic and
French-speaking Belgians split away from the mainly
Calvinist,
Dutch Netherlands in the
Belgian Revolution of 1830, the Province of Limburg was at first almost entirely under Belgian rule. However, by the
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
Province of Luxembourg was handed over to Belgium and removed from the
German Confederation. To appease
Prussia, which had also lost access to the Meuse after the
Congress of Vienna, the Dutch province of
Limburg (but not the cities of
Maastricht and
Venlo), was a joined to the
German Confederation between 1839 and 1866 as the Duchy of Limburg, while remaining an integral part of the Dutch territory. The province used the title of "duchy" until 1906.
See also
★
Dukes of Limburg
External links
★
Map of the Duchy of Limburg in 1789
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