Seventeen Provinces

Origninally the term 'Netherlands' referred to a much larger entity than the current Kingdom of the Netherlands. Charles V of Hapsburg was the Lord of seventeen provinces roughly covering the current Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and the good part of the North of France (Artois). Most of these were fiefs under the Holy Roman Empire, of which Charles became Emperor himself. A few (Flanders, Artois) were French fiefs. The French king and the Holy Roman Emperor agreed to release all seventeen from the largely nominal and by then anachronistic ties to both realms. This is called the Pragmatic Sanction[?] (1548). Seven Northern provinces claimed their independence 1581 as a Republic of United Provinces:

• Groningen
• Friesland
• Overijssel (with Drente and Lingen[?])
• Gelre (with Zutphen) (after 1543
• Utrecht
• Holland
• Zeeland

Three others were divided between North and South (later Belgium):

• Limburg
• Brabant
• Flanders remained mostly part of the South, but later lost half its territory to France in the wars with Louis XIV

• Luxemburg remained part of the South but half of it became an independent entity after the Napoleontic wars

• Hainault[?] and Namur and Mechelen remained part of the South

• Artois, Tournai and Douai became French later.

In addition there were a number of fiefdoms in this region that were not part of the Netherlands, the largest one is Liege. In the North there were also a few smaller entities like the island of Ameland, that would retain their own Lord until the French revolution

In the days of Charles V, there is no doubt that the economic, political and cultural center was the South (later Belgium) (although Holland was gradually gaining importance in the 15th and 16th century). In fact the South was one of the leading regions of Europe at the time.

To distinguish the old (greater) Netherlands from the current country, Dutch speakers usually drop the plural for the latter. They speak of 'Nederland' for the current country and 'de Nederlanden' for the domains of Charles V. In other languages this has not been adopted.

The fact that the same term 'Netherlands' has such different historical meanings can sometimes lead to difficulties in expressing oneself correctly. E.g. composers from the 16th century are often said to belong to the 'Nederlandse School'. Although they themselves would not have objected to that term, today it may create the wrong impression that they were from the North. In fact, they were almost exclusively from the South.

For a map see http://www.wazamar.org/Nederlanden/zeventien-prov.htm

Common misspelling and questions (FAQ)

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The big schooners masters shared in the unexpected opulence. Besides their primage presently their settlement at the end of a voyage coastwise this money, and the managing owners cheerfully paid them, for sailor had proved himself worthy of his hire. So tempting was the Atlantic until the American Government barred them from the war returned to the old coastwise route or loaded for South American bold venture of the old American maritime spirit, a challenge to last dozen years. Steam colliers and barges have won the fight transportation. The schooner might bowl down to Norfolk from weeks in head winds on the return voyage. The small schooner appeared to be doomed somewhat earlier. She modern fore-and-after, but these battered, veteran craft died stage-coach and the spinning-wheel, to the little shipyards that still owned and sailed by men who ashore were friends and some stumpy, weatherworn two-master running on for shelter sixty years, now leaking like a basket and too frail for winter ancestors went privateering against the British. Indeed, the is still afloat and loading cargoes in New England.