Seventeen Provinces

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Zeventien Provinciën
Diecisiete Provincias
Siebzehn Provinzen
Dix-sept Provinces
The Seventeen Provinces
Flag of Netherlands
Map of the Provinces
Map of the Provinces
StatusStates of the Holy Roman Empire
Common languagesDutch, Low Saxon, Frisian, Walloon, Luxembourgish, French
Roman Catholic (official)
After 1530s Protestantism and Anabaptism (inside northern areas, minority, unofficial)
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Established
• Joined Burgundian Circle
July 26 1581
ISO 3166 codeNL
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Burgundian Netherlands
Dutch Republic
Spanish Netherlands

The Seventeen Provinces were a personal union of states in the Low Countries in the 15th century and 16th century. The lands were about the same as the current Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, a good part of the North of France (Artois, French Flanders), and a small part of Western Germany.

The Seventeen Provinces were first held by the Dukes of Burgundy of the House of Valois. Later they were held by the Habsburgs. From 1512 the Provinces formed the major part of the Burgundian Circle.

Composition[change | change source]

The map matches to the following provinces:

  1. the County of Artois
  3. the Lordship of Mechelen
  4. the County of Namur
  5. the County of Hainaut
  6. the County of Zeeland
  7. the County of Holland
  9. the Duchy of Limburg, including the counties of Dalhem and Valkenburg and the Lordship of Herzogenrath
  10. the Duchy of Luxembourg
  11. the Prince-Bishopric, later Lordship of Utrecht
  12. the Lordship of Frisia
  13. the Duchy of Guelders
  14. the Lordship of Groningen (including the Ommelanden)
  15. the Lordship of Drenthe, Lingen, Wedde, and Westerwolde
  16. the Lordship of Overijssel
  17. the County of Zutphen

It was not always the same Seventeen Provinces.