Low Countries

2025-10-27T17:59:24Z

2601:2C0:8F01:1420:6C87:7C0B:4C0C:3267:

{{short description|Coastal lowland region in northwestern Europe}}
{{About|the region in Europe|the region in the United States|South Carolina Lowcountry}}
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[[File:NasaBenelux.jpg|thumb|The Low Countries as seen from [[NASA]] space satellite|alt=|400x400px]]
The '''Low Countries''' ({{langx|nl|de Lage Landen}}; {{langx|fr|les Pays-Bas}}), historically also known as the '''Netherlands''' ({{langx|nl|de Nederlanden|links=no}}), is a historical and geographically coastal [[lowland]] region in Northwestern [[Europe]] forming the lower [[Drainage basin|basin]] of the [[Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta]] and consisting today of the three modern "[[Benelux]]" countries: [[Belgium]], [[Luxembourg]], and the [[Netherlands]] ({{langx|nl|Nederland|links=no}}, which is singular). Also sometimes included are parts of [[France]] (such as [[Nord (French department)|Nord]] and [[Pas-de-Calais]]) and the [[Germany|German]] regions of [[East Frisia]], [[Geldern|Guelders]] and [[Cleves]]. Since the creation of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], the region has been divided into numerous different entities.<ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia | title=Low Countries | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica | publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. | url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/349663/Low-Countries | access-date=26 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Low+Countries | title=Low Countries – definition of Low Countries by the Free Online Dickionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia | publisher=Farlex | access-date=26 January 2015}}</ref>

Historically, the regions without access to the sea linked themselves politically and economically to those with access to form various unions of ports and [[hinterland]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Matei-Chesnoiu |first1=Monica |title=Re-imagining Western European Geography in English Renaissance Drama |date=2012 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=9780230366305 |page=105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3M_zRR-AmcC&pg=PA105 |language=en}}</ref> stretching inland as far as parts of the German [[Rhineland]]. 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 the [[European Union]], the region's political grouping is still referred to as the [[Benelux]] (short for Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg).

During the [[Roman Empire]], the region contained a militarised frontier and contact point with the [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Barry |title=The Statesman's Yearbook 2011: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9781349586356 |page=908 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5LlDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA908 |language=en}}</ref> The Low Countries were the scene of the early independent trading centres that marked [[Renaissance of the 12th century|the reawakening]] of Europe in the 12th century. In that period, they rivalled [[northern Italy]] as one of the most densely populated regions of Western Europe. [[Guilds]] and councils governed most of the cities 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. All of the regions depended mainly on trade, manufacturing and the encouragement of the free flow of goods and craftsmen.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Braudel |first1=Fernand |title=Civilization and Capitalism, 15th–18th Century, Vol. III: The Perspective of the World |date=1992 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520081161 |page=98 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xMZI2QEer9QC&pg=PA98 |language=en}}</ref> [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and [[French language|French]] dialects were the main languages used in secular city life.

==Terminology==
{{main|Terminology of the Low Countries}}
[[File:The Low Countries.png|thumb|The Low Countries from 1556 to 1648]]
[[File:Lage Landen (Frankische Tijd).svg|thumb|Southern part of the Low Countries with bishopry towns and abbeys {{circa|7th century}}]]
Historically, [[Terminology of the Low Countries#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 ''{{lang|fr|les pays de par deçà}}'' ("the lands over here") for the Low Countries as opposed to ''{{lang|fr|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 |access-date=2014-01-01 |language=nl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513115131/https://vre.leidenuniv.nl/vre/dutchrevolt/dutch/verhaal/Pages/verhaal01.aspx |archive-date=13 May 2016 |url-status=dead }}</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 |access-date=2014-01-01 }}</ref> Governor [[Mary of Hungary (governor of the Netherlands)|Mary of Hungary]] used both the expressions ''{{lang|fr|les pays de par deça}}'' and ''{{lang|fr|Pays d'Embas}}'' ("lands down here"), which evolved to ''{{lang|fr|Pays-Bas}}'' or ''Low Countries''. Today the term is typically fitted to modern political boundaries<ref>{{cite web |title=Low Countries |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Low+Countries |website=TheFreeDictionary.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Low Countries {{!}} region, Europe |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Low-Countries |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=31 May 2023 |language=en}}</ref> and used in the same way as the term ''[[Benelux]]''.

[[File:Benelux.png|thumb|Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg form the Benelux]]
The [[Netherlands]] is a country whose name has the same etymology and origin as the name for the region Low Countries since "nether" means "low".<ref>{{cite web |title=Netherlands |department=Origin & meaning of Netherlands by Online Etymology Dictionary |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/Netherlands#etymonline_v_35463 |website=etymonline.com}}</ref> In the Dutch language, {{Lang|nl|De Lage Landen}} is the modern term for Low Countries, ''De Nederlanden'' (plural) is in use for the 16th-century domains of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], the historic Low Countries, and ''Nederland'' (singular) is the normal Dutch name for the country of the Netherlands. However, in official use, the name of the kingdom is still the [[Kingdom of the Netherlands]] {{lang|nl|Koninkrijk 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 and [[Flanders]], the Flemish-speaking north of Belgium. For example, a ''{{lang|nl|[[Low 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 from ''Belgica'', the [[Latinisation of names|Latinised]] name for the Low Countries, as it was known during the [[Eighty Years' War]] (1568–1648). The Low Countries were in that war divided in two parts. On one hand, the northern [[Dutch Republic|Federated Netherlands]], or ''Belgica Foederata'', rebelled against King [[Philip II of Spain]]; on the other hand, the southern [[Spanish Netherlands|Royal Netherlands]], or ''Belgica Regia'', remained loyal to the Spanish king.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Buys |first1=Ruben |title=Sparks of Reason: Vernacular Rationalism in the Low Countries, 1550–1670 |date=2015 |publisher=Uitgeverij Verloren |isbn=9789087045159 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=286ECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA17 |language=en}}</ref> The division laid the early foundation for today's states of Belgium and the Netherlands.

== History ==
{{History of the Low Countries}}
{{see also|History of urban centers in the Low Countries}}
The region politically had its origins in the [[Carolingian Empire]]; more precisely, most of the people were within the Duchy of [[Lower Lotharingia]].<ref name="Franks (Columbia Encyclopedia)">{{cite encyclopedia | url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Franks.aspx | title=Franks | publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] | encyclopedia=[[Columbia Encyclopedia]] | year=2013 | access-date=1 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://nobhist.narod.ru/lorraine.html | title=Lotharingia / Lorraine (Lothringen) | date=5 September 2013 | access-date=1 February 2014}}</ref> 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]]. After the reign of the Valois Dukes ended, much of the region was controlled by the [[House of Habsburg]]. The area was referred to as the [[Habsburg Netherlands]], which was 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]], which later became three countries: the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

===Early history===
{{see also|Gallia Belgica|Germania Inferior}}
The Low Countries were part of the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] provinces of [[Gallia Belgica]] and [[Germania Inferior]]. They were inhabited by [[Belgae|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]].

===Frankish Empire===
{{see also|Lower Lorraine}}
By the late 8th century, the Low Countries formed a core part of a much-expanded [[Francia]], and the Merovingians were replaced by the [[Carolingian dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ramirez-Faria |first1=Carlos |title=Concise Encyclopedia of World History |date=2007 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |isbn=9788126907755 |page=683 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gGKsS-9h4BYC&pg=PA683 |language=en}}</ref> 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 [[Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor]] [[Louis the Pious]], Francia was divided in three parts among his three sons.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chopra |first1=Hardev Singh |title=De Gaulle and European Unity |date=1974 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=9780883862889 |page=131 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VedEZydsEYMC&pg=PA131 |language=en}}</ref> The middle part, [[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 itas lowland part, "[[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 [[fiefs]], whose sovereignty resided with either the [[Kingdom of France (987–1498)|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 both powers, the title of [[Duke of Lothier]] was coveted in the Low Countries for centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jeep |first1=John M. |title=Routledge Revivals: Medieval Germany (2001): An Encyclopedia |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781351665391 |pages=291–295 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ikArDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT291 |language=en}}</ref>

===Duchy of Burgundy===
{{see also|Burgundian Netherlands}}
In the 14th and the 15th centuries, separate fiefs came gradually to be ruled by a single family through [[royal intermarriage]]. The process culminated in the rule of the [[House of Valois]], who were the rulers of the [[Duchy of Burgundy]]. At the height of Burgundian influence, the Low Countries became the political, cultural and economic centre of [[Northern Europe]] and was noted for its crafts and luxury goods, notably [[Early Netherlandish painting]], the work of artists who were active in the flourishing cities of [[Bruges]], [[Ghent]], [[Mechelen]], [[Leuven]], [[Tournai]] and [[Brussels]], all of which are in present-day Belgium. Musicians of the [[Franco-Flemish School]] were highly sought by the leading classes of all of Europe. [[Image:Van Eyck - Arnolfini Portrait.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Jan van Eyck]], The ''[[Arnolfini Portrait]]'', 1434, [[National Gallery]], London]]

===Seventeen Provinces===
{{see also|Habsburg Netherlands|Burgundian Circle}}
In 1477, the [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundian holdings]] in the area passed through an heiress, [[Mary of Burgundy]], to the [[Habsburgs]]. Charles V, who inherited the territory in 1506, was named ruler by the [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]] and styled himself as ''Heer der Nederlanden'' ({{lit|Lord of the Netherlands}}). He continued to rule the territories as a multitude of duchies and principalities until the Low Countries were eventually united into one indivisible territory, the [[Seventeen Provinces]], covered by the [[Pragmatic Sanction of 1549]]<ref>{{cite web|title=History of Luxembourg: Primary Documents|url=https://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_Luxembourg:_Primary_Documents|website=EuroDocs|access-date=Sep 10, 2017}}</ref> and retaining existing customs, laws and forms of government within the provinces.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Limm |first1=P. |title=The Dutch Revolt 1559–1648 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ibmOAwAAQBAJ&q=pragmatic+sanction&pg=PA6 |publisher=Routledge |access-date=20 October 2018 |language=en |date=2014|isbn=9781317880585 }}</ref>

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]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ronald |first1=Susan |title=Heretic Queen: Queen Elizabeth I and the Wars of Religion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o2SAFik2aTIC&q=pragmatic+sanction+of+1549&pg=PT89 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |access-date=20 October 2018 |language=en |date=2012|isbn=9781250015211 }}</ref>

===Division===
{{see also|Dutch Republic|Spanish Netherlands|Southern Netherlands}}
The Pragmatic Sanction is said to be one example of the Habsburg contest with [[political particularism|particularism]], which contributed to the [[Dutch 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 against [[heresy]], stoked resentments, which fired the eruption of the [[Dutch Revolt]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=State |first1=Paul F. |title=A Brief History of the Netherlands |date=2008 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=9781438108322 |page=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5CTlTZlWU0IC&q=pragmatic+sanction&pg=PA46 |access-date=20 October 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

After the northern [[Seven United Provinces]] 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 so became sometimes called the [[Spanish Netherlands]]. In 1713, under the [[Treaty of Utrecht]] after 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]].

Some states like the [[Duchy of Bouillon|Bouillon]], [[Cambrésis]], [[County of East Frisia|East Frisia]], [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège|Liège]] and [[Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy|Stavelot-Malmedy]] did not become part of the wider policies and remained at least nominally independent. Liège was excluded from the [[Burgundian Circle]], was instead incorporated into the [[Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle]] and later become regularly part of a [[personal union]] with bishoprics like the [[Electorate of Cologne]] under the [[Wittelsbach]] dynasty.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goorts |first1=Roeland |title=War, State, and Society in Liège |date=2019 |publisher=Leuven University Press |isbn=9789462701311 |pages=218–219 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l2-MDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA218 |access-date=28 April 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Kenau_Hasselaar_op_de_wallen_van_Haarlem.gif|[[Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer]] defending the walls during the [[Siege of Haarlem]] (1572–1573)
File:De stadt Maastricht, door den prins van Parma (Alexander Farnese) met storm verovert, den 29 july des jaars 1579 (Jan Luyken, 1679).jpg|Sack of [[Maastricht]] by the ''Tercios de Flandes'' (Flemish Regiments) in 1579
File:Famien Strada Histoire-Capture of Tournai 1581-ppn087811480 MG 8936T3p287.tif|Siege and capture of [[Tournai]] (1581)
File:Oostende.1601.JPG|Map of [[Ostend]] during the [[Siege of Ostend|siege in 1601]]
</gallery>

===Modern period===
{{see also|United Kingdom of the Netherlands|Benelux}}
The [[United 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 of [[World War I]] in 1914, the [[Central Powers]] invaded the Low Countries of Luxembourg and Belgium in what has been come to be known as the [[German invasion of Belgium (1914)|German 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.<ref name="ia800502.us.archive.org">{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/statisticsofmili00grea |title=Statistics of the military effort of the British Empire during the Great War, 1914–1920 |last=Great Britain. War Office |date=14 April 2018 |publisher=London H.M. Stationery Off |access-date=14 April 2018 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

During [[World War II]], when [[Adolf Hitler]]'s gaze turned his strategy west toward France, the Low Countries were an easy route around the imposing French [[Maginot Line]]. He ordered a conquest of the Low Countries with the shortest possible notice to forestall the French and prevent [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[air power]] from threatening the strategic [[Ruhr Area]] of Germany.<ref>Frieser 2005, p. 74.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/wardirectives/06.html|title= Directive No. 6 Full Text|access-date=5 December 2015}}</ref> Germany's [[Blitzkrieg]] 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 the [[London Customs Convention]], laying the foundation for the eventual [[Benelux|Benelux Economic Union]],<ref name=Yapou1>{{cite book|last=Yapou|first=Eliezer|title=Governments in Exile, 1939–1945|year=1998|location=Jerusalem|url=http://governmentsinexile.com/yapouluxembourg.html|chapter=Luxembourg: The Smallest Ally|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023020317/http://governmentsinexile.com/yapouluxembourg.html |archive-date=23 October 2012 }}</ref> an important forerunner of the [[EEC]] (later the [[EU]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Park |first1=Jehoon |last2=Pempel |first2=T. J. |last3=Kim |first3=Heungchong |title=Regionalism, Economic Integration and Security in Asia: A Political Economy Approach |date=2011 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=9780857931276 |page=96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylY7FjtUX-QC&pg=PA96 |language=en}}</ref>

==Literature==
One of the Low Countries' earliest literary figures was the blind poet [[Bernlef]], from {{circa|800}}, who sang both Christian [[psalms]] and pagan verses. Bernlef is representative of the coexistence of [[Christianity]] and [[Germanic paganism|Germanic polytheism]] in the time period.<ref name="Lit-History">{{cite book|editor-last=Hermans|editor-first=Theo|title=A literary history of the Low Countries|year=2009|publisher=Camden House|location=Rochester, NY|isbn=9781571132932|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N1SgcVffQ_MC&q=the%20low%20countries&pg=PA3}}</ref>{{rp|1–2}}

The earliest examples of written literature include the [[Wachtendonck Psalms]], a collection of 25 psalms that originated in the Moselle-Frankish region around the mid- 9th century.<ref name="Lit-History" />{{rp|3}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Europe|Geography}}
* [[Burgundian Circle]]
* [[Burgundian Netherlands]]
* [[Early Netherlandish painting]]
* [[Greater Netherlands]]
* [[Lower Lorraine]]
* [[Pan-Netherlands]]
* [[Union of Brussels]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* Paul Arblaster. ''A History of the Low Countries''. Palgrave Essential Histories Series New York: [[Palgrave Macmillan]], 2006. 298 pp. {{ISBN|1403948283}}.
* 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 and [[Ernst Kossmann|E. H. Kossmann]]. ''The Low Countries: History of the Northern and Southern Netherlands'' (1987)
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=OcJofD9R_OUC&q=%22Low+Countries%22 The Cinema of the Low Countries]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=6I3NHTk-iHAC&q=%22Low+Countries%22 Early Modern Women in the Low Countries]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=aJimbP0Vod0C&q=%22Low+Countries%22 The Reformation and Revolt in the Low Countries]
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Low Countries}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}

[[Category:Low Countries| ]]
[[Category:Historical regions]]
[[Category:Historical geography of the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Historical geography of Belgium]]
[[Category:History of Luxembourg]]
[[Category:Northwestern Europe]]

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Low Countries