Historically, the regions without access to the sea linked themselves politically and economically to those with access to form various unions of ports andhinterland,[3] stretching inland as far as parts of the GermanRhineland. Not only physically-low-altitude areas but also some hilly or elevated regions are now therefore considered part of the Low Countries, including Luxembourg and southern Belgium. Within theEuropean Union, the region's political grouping is still referred to as theBenelux (short for Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg).
During theRoman Empire, the region contained a militarised frontier and contact point with theGermanic tribes.[4] The Low Countries were the scene of the early independent trading centres that markedthe reawakening of Europe in the 12th century. In that period, they rivallednorthern Italy as one of the most densely populated regions of Western Europe.Guilds and councils governed most of the cities along with afigurehead ruler; interaction with their ruler was regulated by a strict set of rules describing what the latter could and could not expect. All of the regions depended mainly on trade, manufacturing and the encouragement of the free flow of goods and craftsmen.[5]Dutch andFrench dialects were the main languages used in secular city life.
The Low Countries from 1556 to 1648Southern part of the Low Countries with bishopry towns and abbeysc. 7th century
Historically,the termLow Countries arose at the Court of theDukes of Burgundy, who used the termles pays de par deçà ("the lands over here") for the Low Countries as opposed toles pays de par delà ("the lands over there") for theDuchy of Burgundy and theFree County of Burgundy, which were part of their realm but geographically disconnected from the Low Countries.[6][7] GovernorMary of Hungary used both the expressionsles pays de par deça andPays d'Embas ("lands down here"), which evolved toPays-Bas orLow Countries. Today the term is typically fitted to modern political boundaries[8][9] and used in the same way as the termBenelux.
Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg form the Benelux
TheNetherlands is a country whose name has the same etymology and origin as the name for the region Low Countries since "nether" means "low".[10] In the Dutch language,De Lage Landen is the modern term for Low Countries,De Nederlanden (plural) is in use for the 16th-century domains ofCharles V, the historic Low Countries, andNederland (singular) is the normal Dutch name for the country of the Netherlands. However, in official use, the name of the kingdom is still theKingdom of the NetherlandsKoninkrijk der Nederlanden (plural). The name derives from the 19th-century origins of the kingdom, which originally included present-day Belgium.
In Dutch and to a lesser extent English, the Low Countries colloquially means the Netherlands and Belgium or sometimes the Netherlands andFlanders, the Flemish-speaking north of Belgium. For example, aLow Countries derby (Derby der Lage Landen) is a sports event between Belgium and the Netherlands.
Belgium separated in 1830 from the (northern) Netherlands. The new country took its name fromBelgica, theLatinised name for the Low Countries, as it was known during theEighty Years' War (1568–1648). The Low Countries were in that war divided in two parts. On one hand, the northernFederated Netherlands, orBelgica Foederata, rebelled against KingPhilip II of Spain; on the other hand, the southernRoyal Netherlands, orBelgica Regia, remained loyal to the Spanish king.[11] The division laid the early foundation for today's states of Belgium and the Netherlands.
The region politically had its origins in theCarolingian Empire; more precisely, most of the people were within the Duchy ofLower Lotharingia.[12][13] 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 theValois Dukes of Burgundy. Hence, a large part of the Low Countries came to be referred to as theBurgundian Netherlands. After the reign of the Valois Dukes ended, much of the region was controlled by theHouse of Habsburg. The area was referred to as theHabsburg Netherlands, which was also called theSeventeen Provinces up to 1581. Even after the politicalsecession of the autonomousDutch 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 theUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands, which later became three countries: the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
By the late 8th century, the Low Countries formed a core part of a much-expandedFrancia, and the Merovingians were replaced by theCarolingian dynasty.[14] In 800, the Pope crowned and appointedCharlemagneEmperor of the re-establishedRoman Empire.
After the death ofEmperorLouis the Pious, Francia was divided in three parts among his three sons.[15] The middle part,Middle Francia, was ruled byLothair I and thereby also came to be referred to as "Lotharingia" or "Lorraine". Apart from the original coastalCounty of Flanders, which was withinWest Francia, the rest of the Low Countries were within itas lowland part, "Lower Lorraine".
After the death of Lothair, the Low Countries were coveted by the rulers of bothWest Francia andEast Francia. Each tried to swallow the region and to merge it with their spheres of influence. Thus, the Low Countries consisted offiefs, whose sovereignty resided with either theKingdom of France or theHoly Roman Empire. While the further history the Low Countries can be seen as the object of a continual struggle between both powers, the title ofDuke of Lothier was coveted in the Low Countries for centuries.[16]
In the 14th and the 15th centuries, separate fiefs came gradually to be ruled by a single family throughroyal intermarriage. The process culminated in the rule of theHouse of Valois, who were the rulers of theDuchy of Burgundy. At the height of Burgundian influence, the Low Countries became the political, cultural and economic centre ofNorthern Europe and was noted for its crafts and luxury goods, notablyEarly Netherlandish painting, the work of artists who were active in the flourishing cities ofBruges,Ghent,Mechelen,Leuven,Tournai andBrussels, all of which are in present-day Belgium. Musicians of theFranco-Flemish School were highly sought by the leading classes of all of Europe.
The Pragmatic Sanction transformed the agglomeration of lands into a unified entity of which the Habsburgs would be the heirs. By streamlining the succession law in all Seventeen Provinces and declaring that all of them would be inherited by one heir, Charles effectively united the Netherlands as one entity. After Charles' abdication in 1555, the Seventeen Provinces passed to his son,Philip II of Spain.[19]
The Pragmatic Sanction is said to be one example of the Habsburg contest withparticularism, which contributed to theDutch Revolt. Each of the provinces had its own laws, customs and political practices. The new policy, imposed from the outside, angered many inhabitants, who viewed their provinces as distinct entities. It and other monarchical acts, such as the creation of bishoprics and promulgation of laws againstheresy, stoked resentments, which fired the eruption of theDutch Revolt.[20]
TheUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830) temporarily united the Low Countries again before it was divided into the three modern countries of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
During the early months ofWorld War I in 1914, theCentral Powers invaded the Low Countries of Luxembourg and Belgium in what has been come to be known as theGerman invasion of Belgium, which led to the German occupation of the two countries. However, the German advance into France was quickly halted, causing a military stalemate for most of the war. In the end, a total of approximately 56,000 people were killed in the invasion.[22]
DuringWorld War II, whenAdolf Hitler's gaze turned his strategy west toward France, the Low Countries were an easy route around the imposing FrenchMaginot Line. He ordered a conquest of the Low Countries with the shortest possible notice to forestall the French and preventAlliedair power from threatening the strategicRuhr Area of Germany.[23] It would also provide the basis for a long-term air and sea campaign against Britain. As much as possible of the border areas in northern France should be occupied.[24] Germany'sBlitzkrieg tactics rapidly overpowered the defences of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
All three countries were occupied from May 1940 to early 1945. During the occupation, their governments were forced into exile in Britain. In 1944, they signed theLondon Customs Convention, laying the foundation for the eventualBenelux Economic Union,[25] an important forerunner of theEEC (later theEU).[26]
The earliest examples of written literature include theWachtendonck Psalms, a collection of 25 psalms that originated in the Moselle-Frankish region around the mid- 9th century.[27]: 3
Paul Arblaster.A History of the Low Countries. Palgrave Essential Histories Series New York:Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. 298 pp.ISBN1403948283.
J. C. H. Blom and E. Lamberts, eds.History of the Low Countries (1999)
B. A. Cook.Belgium: A History (2002)
Jonathan Israel.The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477–1806 (1995)
Oscar Gelderblom.Cities of Commerce: The Institutional Foundations of International Trade in the Low Countries, 1250–1650 (Princeton University Press, 2013) 293 pp.
J. A. Kossmann-Putto andE. H. Kossmann.The Low Countries: History of the Northern and Southern Netherlands (1987)
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