Burgundian inheritance in the Low Countries

The Burgundian inheritance in the Low Countries consisted of numerous fiefs held by the Dukes of Burgundy in modern-day Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and in parts of France and Germany. The duke of Burgundy was originally a member of the House of Valois-Burgundy and later of the House of Habsburg. Given that the dukes of Burgundy lost Burgundy proper to the Kingdom of France in 1477, and were never able to recover it, while retaining Charolais and the Free County of Burgundy, they moved their court to the Low Countries. The Burgundian Low Countries were ultimately expanded to include Seventeen Provinces under Emperor Charles V. The Burgundian inheritance then passed to the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs under King Philip II of Spain, whose rule was contested by the Dutch revolt, and fragmented into the Spanish Netherlands and the Dutch republic. Following the War of the Spanish succession, the Spanish Netherlands passed to Austria and remained in Austrian hands until the French conquest of the late 18th century. The Bourbon Restoration did not re-establish the Burgundian states, with the former Burgundian territories remaining divided between France, the Netherlands and, following the Belgian Revolution, modern-day Belgium.

Background

Around the 13th and early 14th century, various Dutch cities became so important that they started playing a major role in the political and economical affairs of their respective fiefs.^[1] At the same time, the political system of relatively petty lords was ending, and stronger rulers (with actual power over larger territories) started to emerge. In the case of the Dutch, these two developments resulted in the political unification of all Dutch fiefs within a supra-regional state. This process started in the 14th century, with the Flemish cities gaining previously unseen powers over their county. When Count Louis II of Flanders, died without a male heir, these cities (Bruges, Ypres, and Ghent) arranged a marriage between his daughter, future Countess Margaret III, and the duke of Burgundy, Philip the Bold. By doing this, they set in motion a chain of events eventually leading to the establishment and expansion of the Burgundian Low Countries.

Timeline of expansion

Under Valois-Burgundy

Year	Valois-Burgundian monarch	Acquired fiefs	Method	Reason
1384	Philip the Bold	County of Flanders, Artois, and Franche-Comté	Inheritance	Death of Philip's father-in-law, Louis II of Flanders, whose daughter and heir, Margaret III, was Philip's wife.
1421	Philip the Good	County of Namur	Purchase	Bought from John III, Marquis of Namur.
1430		Brabant, and Limburg.	Inheritance	Philip of Brabant died childless, leaving his cousin Philip as his heir.
1432		County of Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut	Treaty	Offered position after victory of the Hollandic cities in the Hook and Cod wars.
1443		Duchy of Luxembourg	Conquest
1456		Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht	Client state	Philip managed that his illegitimate son, David, was elected Bishop of Utrecht, leading to the First and Second Utrecht Civil War.
1456		Prince-Bishopric of Liège	Client state	Philip had his nephew Louis of Bourbon become Prince-Bishop of Liège, leading to the Liège Wars.
1473	Charles the Bold	Duchy of Guelders	Purchase	Bought from Duke Arnold. The house of Burgundy lost this title at Charles's death in 1477.
1477	Charles the Bold	Duchy of Burgundy (lost)	Annexation by France	Charles the Bold died fighting an alliance led by the King of France. France annexed the Duchy of Burgundy, but the title Duke of Burgundy remained in titular use, as seen with his only child, his daughter Mary of Burgundy (Mary the Rich).

Under Habsburg

Year	Habsburg monarch	Acquired fiefs	Method	Reason
1478	Mary of Burgundy	Burgundian Netherlands, To de facto Habsburg control.	Marriage	Mary marries Maximilian I of Habsburg.
1482	Maximilian I of Habsburg	Burgundian Netherlands, To de jure Habsburg control as the Habsburg Netherlands.	Inheritance	Death of Mary the Rich, Maximilian assumes rule.
1482	Maximilian I of Habsburg	County of Artois (lost)	Treaty	Ceded to France by the Treaty of Arras.
1493	Philip IV the Handsome	County of Artois, Burgundy and Charolais	Treaty	Treaty of Senlis
1506	Charles V	All Habsburg-Burgundian lands	Inheritance	Charles becomes Lord of the Netherlands.
1516- 1519		King of Spain, Archduke of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor *Not in low countries	Inheritance
1521		Tournai and the Tournaisis	Conquest
1524		Frisia, Renamed Lordship of Frisia	Conquest	Conquered during the Guelders Wars.
1528		Bishopric of Utrecht, Annexed as Lordship of Utrecht and Lordship of Overijssel	Liberated	Liberated from Guelders during the Guelders Wars.
1536		Lordship of Groningen and County of Drenthe	Conquest	Conquered during the Guelders Wars.
1543		Duchy of Guelders and the County of Zutphen	Conquest	Reclaimed and conquered during the Guelders Wars.
1549		Habsburg Netherlands, Reorganized as the Seventeen Provinces.	Edict	Pragmatic Sanction
1555	Philip II of Spain	Seventeen Provinces, Established as the Spanish Netherlands.	Inheritance	Charles V transfers power of the Seventeen Provinces to his son Philip.

Politically, the Burgundian and Habsburg periods were of tremendous importance to the Dutch, as the various Dutch fiefs were now united politically into one single entity.^[2] The period ended in great turmoil, as the rise of Protestantism, the centralist policies of the Habsburg Empire, and other factors resulted in the Dutch Revolt and the Eighty Years' War.

References

^ "Low Countries, 1000–1400 A.D.", in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000
^ Chapter 3, Forming Political Unity, paragraph 3; The Age of Habsburg (1477–1588).