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The 'Seventeen Provinces' were a personal union of states in the Low Countries in the 15th century and 16th century, roughly covering the current Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, a good part of the North of France (Artois, Nord) and a small part of the West of Germany.
The Seventeen Provinces was the name originally given to this personal union, when it was held by the Dukes of Burgundy of the House of Valois. Once the personal union fell to the Archdukes of Austria of the House of Habsburg the name Burgundian Circle was introduced.

Contents

Composition

History

Economy

Netherlands

Coats of Arms

See also

External links

Composition

The map corresponds to the following provinces:
#the county of Artois
#the county of Flanders, including the burgraviates of Lille, Douai, Orchies, the Lordship of Tournai and the Tournaisis
#the county of Mechelen
#the county of Namur
#the county of Hainaut
#the county of Zeeland
#the county of Holland
#the duchy of Brabant, including the margraviate of Antwerp, the counties of Leuven and of Brussels and the advocacy of the abbey of Nivelles and of Gembloux
#the duchy of Limburg, including the counties of Dalhem and of Valkenburg and the lordship of Herzogenrath
#the Duchy of Luxemburg
#the prince-bishopric, later lordship of Utrecht
#the lordship of West-Frisia
#the duchy of Guelders and the county of Zutphen
#the lordships of Groningen
#the Ommelanden
#lordship of Drenthe, Lingen, Wedde and Westerwolde
#the lordship of Overijssel
It was not always the same ''Seventeen'' Provinces represented at the Estates-General of the Netherlands. Sometimes one delegation was included in another.
In later years the county of Zutphen became a part of the duchy of Guelders, and the duchy of Limburg was dependent on the duchy of Brabant. On the other hand the French-speaking cities of Flanders were sometimes recognised as a separate Province.
In addition, there were a number of fiefdoms in this region that were not part of the Seventeen Provinces. The largest one was the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, the green area on the map, including the county of Horne.
It was not a member-province of the Burgundian Circle. It was part of the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle. In the north, there were also a few smaller entities like the island of Ameland that would retain their own lords until the French revolution.
Historians came up with different variations of the list. The number could have been chosen because of its christian connotation.[1]

History

The Seventeen Provinces originated from the Burgundian Netherlands. The dukes of Burgundy systematically became the lord of different provinces. Mary I of Valois, duchess of Burgundy was the last of the House of Burgundy.
When she married Maximilian I of Habsburg, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the provinces were acquired by the House of Habsburg in 1482. His grandson and successor Charles V of Habsburg, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and duke of Burgundy eventually united all seventeen 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 county of Artois, were originally French fiefs, but sovereignty was ceded to the Empire in the Treaty of Cambrai in 1529.
The Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 determined that the Provinces should remain united in the future and inherited by the same monarch. Therefore, Charles V introduced the title of ''Heer der Nederlanden'' ("Lord of the Netherlands"). Only he and his son could ever use this title.
After Charles V's abdication in 1556, his realms were divided between his son, Philip II of Habsburg, king 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 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 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 a.o., were restored to Spanish rule thanks to the military and political talent of the Duke of Parma, especially at the siege of Antwerp (1584–1585). Hence, these Provinces became known as the 'Spanish Netherlands' or Southern Netherlands.
The northern Seven United Provinces kept parts of Limburg, Brabant and Flanders during the Eighty Years' War (see Generality Lands), which was ended with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.
Artois and parts of Flanders and Hainaut were ceded to France in the course of the 17th and 18th century.

Economy

By the mid-16th century, the margraviate of Antwerp (duchy of Brabant) had become the economic, political and cultural center of the Netherlands after its capital had shifted from the nearby lordship of Mechelen to the city of Brussels.
Bruges (county of Flanders) had already lost its prominent position as economic powerhouse of northern Europe. And Holland was gradually gaining importance in the 15th and 16th centuries.
However after the independence of the seven northern provinces and the resulting closure of the Scheldt river to navigation, a large number of people from the southern provinces emigrated north to the new republic.
The center of prosperity moved from cities in the south such as Bruges, Antwerp, Ghent, and Brussels to cities in the north, mostly Holland, including Amsterdam, the Hague, and Rotterdam.

Netherlands

To distinguish between the older and larger Low Countries of the Netherlands from the current country of the Netherlands, Dutch speakers usually drop the plural for the latter. They speak of ''Nederland'' in singular for the current country and of ''de Nederlanden'' in plural for the integral domains of Charles V.
In other languages, this has not been adopted, though the larger area is sometimes known as the Low Countries in English.
The fact that the same term ''Netherlands'' has such different historical meanings can sometimes lead to difficulties in expressing oneself correctly. For example, composers from the 16th century are often said to belong to the ''Nederlandse School'' or ''Dutch School''. Although they themselves would not have objected to that term, today it may wrongly create the impression that they were from the north. In fact, they were almost exclusively from the south (''Belgian School'').

Coats of Arms

See also

★ Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands

★ The Netherlands (disambiguation)

★ Burgundian Circle

★ Benelux

★ Low Countries

External links

★ Map of the Seventeen Provinces (1555)

★ contemporary map Leo Belgicus