Southern Netherlands

The Southern Netherlands were a portion of the Low Countries controlled by Spain (1579-1713), Austria (1713-1794) and France (1794-1815) that became separated from the United Provinces during the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648) after the Oath of Abjuration of 1581.

It was the continuation of the Spanish Netherlands (in its broad sense), which started with the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549, issued by Charles V. The Spanish Netherlands in its broad sense (but more incorrect) were all the Seventeen Provinces. When the northern part of the Low Countries separated from Habsburg rule and became the United Provinces the remainder of the area was disambiguated as the Spanish Netherlands and was still under the loose control of Spain. The capital was Brussels in Brabant.

This region comprised modern Belgium and Luxembourg as well as much of northwestern France. It originally consisted of the whole of the provinces of Flanders, Artois, Walloon Flanders, Tournai, Cambrai, Luxembourg, Limburg, Hainaut, Namur, and Mechlin, most of the Duchy of Brabant, and the Upper Quarter (Bovenkwartier) of the Duchy of Gelderland. Over a long series of wars including the War of Devolution, the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the Reunions, and the Nine Years War France annexed much of the region, including all of Artois, Cambrai, and Walloon Flanders and parts of Flanders, Tournai, Hainaut, and Luxembourg which resulted in the current southern border of Belgium with France.

Under the Treaty of Utrecht, following 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. This was done mostly to counter the French, at the insistence of the British and Dutch. After the French Revolution, in 1794 the entire region was overrun by France ending the existence of this territory as a Spanish/Austrian Netherlands.

After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 the region was given to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, however after the Revolution of 1830 (de Omwenteling van 1830) it separated and became the independent state of Belgium.

See also

• Seventeen Provinces