Seventeen Provinces facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Zeventien Provinciën
Diecisiete Provincias Siebzehn Provinzen Dix-sept Provinces The Seventeen Provinces |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1482–1581 | |||||||||||
 Flag
|
|||||||||||
Map of the Provinces
|
|||||||||||
| Status | States of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||||
| Capital | Brussels | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Dutch, Low Saxon, Frisian, Walloon, Luxembourgish, French | ||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic (official) After 1530s Protestantism and Anabaptism (inside northern areas, minority, unofficial) |
||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||
|
• Established
|
1482 | ||||||||||
|
• Joined Burgundian Circle
|
1512 | ||||||||||
| July 26 1581 | |||||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | NL | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
The Seventeen Provinces were a group of states in the area called the Low Countries. This region is now mostly Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. It also included parts of northern France and western Germany.
These provinces were connected under one ruler. This is known as a personal union. They existed during the 15th and 16th centuries.
The first rulers of the Seventeen Provinces were the Dukes of Burgundy. They belonged to the House of Valois family. Later, the powerful Habsburg family took control. From 1512, these provinces became a big part of the Burgundian Circle. This was a group of states within the Holy Roman Empire.
What Made Up the Provinces?
The Seventeen Provinces were not always exactly the same "seventeen" places. Their borders changed over time. However, they usually included important areas like:
- the County of Artois
- the County of Flanders
- the Lordship of Mechelen
- the County of Namur
- the County of Hainaut
- the County of Zeeland
- the County of Holland
- the Duchy of Brabant
- the Duchy of Limburg
- the Duchy of Luxembourg
- the Lordship of Utrecht
- the Lordship of Frisia
- the Duchy of Guelders
- the Lordship of Groningen
- the Lordship of Drenthe
- the Lordship of Overijssel
- the County of Zutphen
Images for kids
-
Map of the Low Countries in 1477
-
Leo Belgicus map, showing the Low Countries shaped like a lion
-
The coat of arms for the Lordship of Groningen
-
The coat of arms for the Lordship of Utrecht
See also
In Spanish: Diecisiete Provincias para niños
