Seventeen Provinces
Seventeen Provinces | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1549–1581 | |||||||||||
Map of the Netherlands in 1555, with the Seventeen Provinces highlighted in color. States which may be geographically considered part of the Netherlands, but which were not part of the Habsburg Netherlands shown in light grey. | |||||||||||
| Status | Personal union of Imperial fiefs | ||||||||||
| Capital | Brussels | ||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||
| Religion |
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| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Early modern period | ||||||||||
| 1549 | |||||||||||
• Dutch Act of Abjuration | 1581 | ||||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | NL | ||||||||||
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The Seventeen Provinces (Dutch: Zeventien Provinciën, French: Dix-Sept Provinces, Spanish: Diecisiete Provincias) was a term used to describe the Spanish Netherlands before the Dutch Revolt, when they were at their largest extent. They covered most of the Low Countries, i.e., what is now the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and most of the French departments of Nord (French Flanders and French Hainaut) and Pas-de-Calais (Artois).
The Seventeen Provinces arose from the Burgundian Netherlands, a number of fiefs held by the House of Valois-Burgundy and inherited by the House of Habsburg in 1482, and held by Habsburg Spain from 1556. Starting in 1512, the Provinces formed the major part of the Burgundian Circle. In 1581, many of these provinces seceded to form what would eventually become the Dutch Republic.