| Zeventien Provinciën Diecisiete Provincias Siebzehn Provinzen Dix-sept Provinces The Seventeen Provinces |
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| States of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||
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| Map of the Provinces | ||||
| Capital | Brussels | |||
| Language(s) | Dutch, Low Saxon, Frisian, Walloon, Luxembourgish, French | |||
| Religion | Roman Catholic (official) After 1530s Protestantism and Anabaptism (inside northern areas, minority, unofficial) |
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| Government | Monarchy | |||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||
| - Established | 1482 | |||
| - Joined Burgundian Circle | 1512 | |||
| - Dutch declaration of independence | July 26, 1581 | |||
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, French Flanders), and a small part of Western Germany.
The Seventeen Provinces were originally held by the Dukes of Burgundy of the House of Valois and later by the Habsburgs, first by the Austrian and then by the Spanish line. From 1512 the Provinces formed the major part of the Burgundian Circle.
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The map corresponds to the following provinces:
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.
There were a number of fiefdoms in the Low Countries that were not part of the Seventeen Provinces, mainly because they did not belong to the Burgundian Circle but to the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle. The largest of these was the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, the green area on the map, including the County of Horne. The ethnically and culturally Netherlandish duchies of Cleves and Julich did not join either. 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]
| Frankish Kingdom (5th to 10th century) |
Frisian Kingdom (600-734) |
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| Carolingian Empire after 800 | ||||
| West Francia ("France") | Independent Kingdom of Middle Francia (Lotharingia) (843–870) |
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| Flanders and Lotharingia in Kingdom of West Francia (870–880) |
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County of Flanders (862–1384) and other principalities (10th–14th centuries) |
Kingdom then Duchy of Lotharingia in East Francia ("Germany") (880-1190) |
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Prince-Bishopric of Liège (980-1794) Duchy of Bouillon (988-1795) Imperial Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy (1138-1795) |
Duchy of Brabant (1183-1430) and other principalities (10th–15th centuries) |
County/ Duchy of Luxembourg (963–1443) |
County of Holland (880-1432) and other principalities (10th–15th centuries) |
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Burgundian Netherlands (1384–1482) |
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Habsburg Netherlands (Seventeen Provinces) (1482–1581) |
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Spanish Netherlands (Southern Netherlands) (1581–1713) |
Dutch Republic (1581–1795) |
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Austrian Netherlands (Southern Netherlands) (1713–1795) |
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Liège Revolution (1789–1792) |
United States of Belgium (1790) |
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Part of the French Republic (1795–1804) and the French Empire (1804–1815) |
Batavian Republic (1795–1806) |
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Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810) |
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United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815-1830) |
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Kingdom of Belgium (since 1830) |
Gr Duchy Luxembourg (personal union) |
Kingdom of the Netherlands (since 1830) |
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Gr Duchy Luxembourg (since 1890) |
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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, with the exception of the Duchy of Burgundy itself, which, with an appeal to Salic law, had been reabsorbed into France upon the death of Mary's father, Charles the Bold. Maximilian's grandson, Charles V of Habsburg, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Spain, 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 southern provinces, Flanders, Brabant, Namur, Hainaut, Luxembourg and the others, were restored to Spanish rule due 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 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.
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 revolt of the seven northern provinces (1568), the Sack of Antwerp (1576), the Fall of Antwerp (1584-1585), 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.
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 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 Dutch School (Nederlandse School). Although they themselves would not have objected to that term at that time, today it may wrongly create the impression that they were from the current Netherlands. In fact, they were almost exclusively from current Belgium.
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