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97-787: The Low Countries comprise the coastal Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta region in Western Europe , whose definition usually includes the modern countries of Luxembourg , Belgium and the Netherlands . Both Belgium and the Netherlands derived their names from earlier names for the region, due to nether meaning "low" and Belgica being the Latinized name for all the Low Countries, a nomenclature that became obsolete after Belgium's secession in 1830 . The Low Countries—and

194-623: A Low Countries derby ( Derby der Lage Landen ), is a sports event between Belgium and the Netherlands. Belgium separated in 1830 from the (northern) Netherlands. The new country took its name from Belgica , the Latinised name for the Low Countries, as it was known during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648). The Low Countries were in that war divided in two parts. On one hand, the northern Federated Netherlands or Belgica Foederata rebelled against King Philip II of Spain ; on

291-587: A cognate or calque derived from the Dutch adjective Nederlands : The Low Countries ( Dutch : Lage Landen ) refers to the historical region de Nederlanden : those principalities located on and near the mostly low-lying land around the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta . That region corresponds to all of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg , forming the Benelux . The name "Benelux" is formed from joining

388-632: A voiced alveolar stop rather than the expected voiced dental fricative . This would be a logical result of the Medieval English wool trade , which brought the English in close linguistic contact with the cloth merchants living in the Dutch-speaking cities of Bruges and Ghent , who at the time, referred to their language as dietsc . Its exact meaning is dependent on context, but tends to be vague regardless. When concerning language,

485-455: A conquest of the Low Countries with the shortest possible notice, to forestall the French, and prevent Allied air power from threatening the strategic Ruhr Area of Germany. It would also provide the basis for a long-term air and sea campaign against Britain. As much as possible of the border areas in northern France should be occupied. Germany's Blitzkrieg tactics rapidly overpowered

582-483: A continuity with Middle Dutch ("Duytsch" being the evolution of medieval "Dietsc"), was at the time considered the proper translation of the Roman Province of Germania Inferior (which not only encompassed much of the contemporary Dutch-speaking area / Netherlands, but also added classical prestige to the name) and amplified the dichotomy between Early Modern Dutch and the "Dutch" (German) dialects spoken around

679-692: A large number of Britons, with Flemings and Brabanters , Hainuyers , Guelders , Burgundians , and Frenchmen, "Dutchmen", Lombards , also many Germans. By early 17th century, general use of the word Dutch had become exceedingly rare in Great Britain and it became an exonym specifically tied to the modern Dutch , i.e. the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of the Low Countries . Many factors facilitated this, including close geographic proximity, trade and military conflicts, for instance

776-493: A lesser extent Brabant . Burgundian , and later Habsburg rulers added one by one the Low Countries' polities in a single territory, and it was at their francophone courts that the term les pays de par deçà arose, that would develop in Les Pays-Bas or in English "Low Countries" or "Netherlands". English is one of the only languages to use the adjective Dutch for the language of the Netherlands and Flanders. The word

873-411: A reference to that region. Calques of Vlaams in other languages: In many languages including English, (a calque of) "Holland" is a common name for the Netherlands as a whole. Even the Dutch use this sometimes, although this may be resented outside the two modern provinces that make up historical Holland. Strictly speaking, Holland is only the central-western region of the country comprising two of

970-749: A role as national symbols during the formation of Belgium. The national anthem of Belgium is called the Brabançonne (English: "the Brabantian"), and the Belgium flag has taken its colors from the Brabant coat of arms: black, yellow and red. This was influenced by the Brabant Revolution ( French : Révolution brabançonne , Dutch : Brabantse Omwenteling ), sometimes referred to as the "Belgian Revolution of 1789–90" in older writing, that

1067-589: A stem flām- , meaning "flooded area" (cf. Norwegian flaum ‘flood’, English dialectal fleam ‘millstream; trench or gully in a meadow that drains it’), with a suffix -ðr- attached. The Old Dutch form is flāmisk , which becomes vlamesc , vlaemsch in Middle Dutch and Vlaams in Modern Dutch . Flemish is now exclusively used to describe the majority of Dutch dialects found in Flanders , and as

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1164-477: A term for the Dutch language, by extension hinting at a common ethnonym for people living in different fiefdoms. This was used alongside the long-standing Duytsch (the Early Modern spelling of the earlier Dietsc or Duutsc ). The most common Dutch term for the Dutch language remained Nederduytsch or Nederduitsch until it was gradually superseded by Nederlandsch in the early 1900s, the latter becoming

1261-653: Is derived from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz . The stem of this word, *þeudō , meant "people" in Proto-Germanic, and *-iskaz was an adjective-forming suffix, of which -ish is the Modern English form. Theodiscus was its Latinised form and used as an adjective referring to the Germanic vernaculars of the Early Middle Ages . In this sense, it meant "the language of

1358-537: Is the blind poet Bernlef , from c.  800 , who sang both Christian psalms and pagan verses. Bernlef is representative of the coexistence of Christianity and Germanic polytheism in this time period. The earliest examples of written literature include the Wachtendonck Psalms , a collection of twenty five psalms that originated in the Moselle-Frankish region around the middle of

1455-458: Is used for more purposes than any other language". Its large number of speakers, plus its worldwide presence, have made English a common language (lingua franca) "of the airlines, of the sea and shipping, of computer technology, of science and indeed of (global) communication generally". Modern English evolved from Early Modern English which was used from the beginning of the Tudor period until

1552-608: Is used to describe Low German varieties, specifically those spoken in Northern Germany as the varieties spoken in the eastern Netherlands, while related, are referred to as "Nedersaksisch". Place names with "low(er)" or neder , lage , nieder , nether , nedre , bas and inferior are used everywhere in Europe. They are often used in contrast with an upstream or higher area whose name contains words such as "upper", boven , oben , supérieure and haut . Both downstream at

1649-585: The Ethnologue , there are almost one billion speakers of English as a first or second language. English is spoken as a first or a second language in many countries, with most native speakers being in the United States , the United Kingdom , Australia , Canada , New Zealand and Ireland . It "has more non-native speakers than any other language, is more widely dispersed around the world and

1746-473: The Anglo-Dutch Wars . Due to the latter, "Dutch" also became a pejorative label pinned by English speakers on almost anything they regard as inferior, irregular, or contrary to their own practice. Examples include "Dutch treat" (each person paying for himself), "Dutch courage" (boldness inspired by alcohol), "Dutch wife" (a type of sex doll ) and "Double Dutch" (gibberish, nonsense) among others. In

1843-618: The Austrian Netherlands . The United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830) temporarily united the Low Countries again before it split into the three modern countries of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. During the early months of World War I (around 1914), the Central Powers invaded the Low Countries of Luxembourg and Belgium in what has been come to be known as the German invasion of Belgium . It led to

1940-686: The County of Flanders ( Dutch : Graafschap Vlaanderen ), in the early Middle Ages the most influential county in the Low Countries , and the residence of the Burgundian dukes . Due to its cultural importance, "Flemish" became in certain languages a pars pro toto for the Low Countries and the Dutch language. This was certainly the case in France, since the Flemish are the first Dutch speaking people for them to encounter. In French-Dutch dictionaries of

2037-496: The Dutch Revolt . Each of the provinces had its own laws, customs and political practices. The new policy, imposed from the outside, angered many inhabitants, who viewed their provinces as distinct entities. It and other monarchical acts, such as the creation of bishoprics and promulgation of laws against heresy , stoked resentments, which fired the eruption of the Dutch Revolt . After the northern Seven United Provinces of

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2134-594: The Franco-Flemish School were highly sought by the leading classes of all Europe. In 1477 the Burgundian holdings in the area passed through an heiress— Mary of Burgundy —to the Habsburgs . Charles V, who inherited the territory in 1506, was named ruler by the States General and styled himself as Heer der Nederlanden ( lit.   ' Lord of the Netherlands ' ). He continued to rule

2231-489: The Free County of Burgundy , which were part of their realm but geographically disconnected from the Low Countries. Governor Mary of Hungary used both the expressions les pays de par deça and Pays d'Embas ("lands down here"), which evolved to Pays-Bas or Low Countries . Today the term is typically fitted to modern political boundaries and used in the same way as the term Benelux . The name of

2328-633: The Frisii , and the Roman provinces of Gallia Belgica and Germania Inferior , home to the Belgae and Germanic peoples like the Batavi . Throughout the centuries, the names of these ancestors have been in use as a reference to the Low Countries, in an attempt to define a collective identity. In the 4th and 5th centuries a Frankish confederation of Germanic tribes significantly made a lasting change by entering

2425-701: The Indian subcontinent , Africa , Australia and New Zealand . Modern English has many dialects spoken in many countries throughout the world, sometimes collectively referred to as the English-speaking world . These dialects include (but are not limited to) American , Australian , British (containing Anglo-English , Scottish English and Welsh English ), Canadian , New Zealand , Caribbean , Hiberno-English (including Ulster English ), Indian , Sri Lankan , Pakistani , Nigerian , Philippine , Singaporean , and South African English . According to

2522-592: The Interregnum and Stuart Restoration in England. By the late 18th century, the British Empire had facilitated the spread of Modern English through its colonies and geopolitical dominance. Commerce, science and technology, diplomacy, art, and formal education all contributed to English becoming the first truly global language. Modern English also facilitated worldwide international communication. English

2619-524: The Kingdom of France or the Holy Roman Empire . While the further history the Low Countries can be seen as the object of a continual struggle between these two powers, the title of Duke of Lothier was coveted in the low countries for centuries. In the 14th and 15th century, separate fiefs came gradually to be ruled by a single family through royal intermarriage . This process culminated in

2716-592: The Middle and Upper Rhine which had begun to be called overlantsch of hoogduytsch (literally: Overlandish, High-"Dutch") by Dutch merchants sailing upriver. Though "Duytsch" forms part of the compound in both Nederduytsch and Hoogduytsch, this should not be taken to imply that the Dutch saw their language as being especially closely related to the German dialects spoken in Southerwestern Germany. On

2813-656: The Randstad – the main conurbation of Holland proper and of the Netherlands. In 2009, members of the First Chamber drew attention to the fact that in Dutch passports, for some EU-languages a translation meaning "Kingdom of Holland" was used, as opposed to "Kingdom of the Netherlands". As replacements for the Estonian Hollandi Kuningriik , Hungarian Holland Királyság , Romanian Regatul Olandei and Slovak Holandské kráľovstvo ,

2910-560: The Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta , and low at the plain near the North Sea apply to the Low Countries . The related geographical location of the "upper" ground changed over time tremendously, and rendered over time several names for the area now known as the Low Countries: Apart from its topographic usage for the then multi-government area of the Low Countries, the 15th century saw the first attested use of Nederlandsch as

3007-521: The Roman provinces of Gallia Belgica and Germania Inferior . They were inhabited by Belgic and Germanic tribes . In the 4th and 5th century, Frankish tribes had entered this Roman region and came to run it increasingly independently. They came to be ruled by the Merovingian dynasty , under which dynasty the southern part (below the Rhine ) was re- Christianised . By the end of the 8th century,

Terminology of the Low Countries - Misplaced Pages Continue

3104-684: The Seven United Provinces . Since then, several ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy have bared that name. The nomenclature Belgica is harking back to the ancient local tribe of the Belgae and the Roman province named after that tribe Gallia Belgica . Although a derivation of that name is now reserved for the Kingdom of Belgium , from the 15th to the 17th century the name was the usual Latin translation to refer to

3201-528: The Synod of Emden chose the name "Nederduytsch Hervormde Kerk" as the official designation of the Dutch Reformed Church . The synods choice of "Nederduytsch" over the more dominant "Nederlandsch", was inspired by the phonological similarities between "neder-" and "nederig" (the latter meaning "humble") and the fact that it did not contain a worldly element ("land"), whereas "Nederlandsch" did. As

3298-515: The Union of Arras (1579), and begun negotiations for a peace treaty with Spain. In response, nine northern provinces united in the Union of Utrecht (1579) against Spain. After the Flanders and the Brabant where reconquered by Spain, the remaining seven provinces ( Frisia , Gelre , Holland , Overijssel , Groningen , Utrecht and Zeeland ) signed 2 years later the declaration of independence of

3395-566: The United States , the word "Dutch" remained somewhat ambiguous until the start of the 19th century. Generally, it referred to the Dutch, their language or the Dutch Republic , but it was also used as an informal monniker (for example in the works of James Fenimore Cooper and Washington Irving ) for people who would today be considered Germans or German-speaking, most notably the Pennsylvania Dutch . This lingering ambiguity

3492-399: The nation's football team will solely be called the Netherlands in any official setting. Nonetheless, the name "Holland" is still widely used for the Netherlands national football team. From the 17th century onwards, the County of Holland was the most powerful region in the current Netherlands. The counts of Holland were also counts of Hainaut , Friesland and Zeeland from the 13th to

3589-465: The 15th centuries. Holland remained most powerful during the period of the Dutch Republic , dominating foreign trade, and hence most of the Dutch traders encountered by foreigners were from Holland, which explains why the Netherlands is often called Holland overseas. After the demise of the Dutch Republic under Napoleon, that country became known as the Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810). This is

3686-459: The 1650s a trend emerges in which "Duytsch" is taken as the shorthand for "Hooghduytsch". This process was probably accelerated by the large number of Germans employed as agricultural day laborers and mercenary soldiers in the Dutch Republic and the ever increasing popularity of "Nederlandsch" and "Nederduytsch" over "Duytsch", the use of which had already been in decline for over a century, thereby acquiring its current meaning (German) in Dutch. In

3783-528: The 16th century, "Dutch" is almost always translated as Flameng . A calque of Vlaams as a reference to the language of the Low Countries was also in use in Spain. In the 16th century, when Spain inherited the Habsburg Netherlands , the whole area of the Low Countries was indicated as Flandes , and the inhabitants of Flandes were called Flamencos . For example, the Eighty Years' War between

3880-490: The 19th century, the term "Diets" was revived by Dutch linguists and historians as a poetic name for Middle Dutch and its literature . In the second half of the 16th century the neologism "Nederduytsch" (literally: Nether-Dutch, Low-Dutch) appeared in print, in a way combining the earlier "Duytsch" and "Nederlandsch" into one compound. The term was preferred by many leading contemporary grammarians such as Balthazar Huydecoper, Arnold Moonen and Jan ten Kate because it provided

3977-602: The 9th century. Modern English Modern English , sometimes called New English ( NE ) or present-day English ( PDE ) as opposed to Middle and Old English , is the form of the English language that has been spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England , which began in the late 14th century and was completed by the 17th century . With some differences in vocabulary, texts which date from

Terminology of the Low Countries - Misplaced Pages Continue

4074-649: The Dutch increasingly referred to their own language as "Nederlandsch" or "Nederduytsch", the term "Duytsch" became more ambiguous. Dutch humanists , started to use "Duytsch" in a sense which would today be called "Germanic", for example in a dialogue recorded in the influential Dutch grammar book "Twe-spraack vande Nederduitsche letterkunst", published in 1584: R. ghy zeyde flux dat de Duytsche taal by haar zelven bestaat/ ick heb my wel laten segghen, dat onze spraack uyt het Hooghduytsch zou ghesproten zyn. S: Ick spreeck, so als Becanus, int ghemeen vande duytse taal, die zelve voor een taal houdende. R: You've just said that

4171-473: The Dutch language exists in its own right, but I've heard it said that our language comes from High Dutch (i.e. German) S: I, like Becanus , speak of the Germanic language in general, considering it as one. In the Dutch language itself, Diets(c) (later Duyts ) was used as one of several Exonym and endonyms . As the Dutch increasingly referred to their own language as "Nederlandsch" or "Nederduytsch",

4268-419: The German occupation of the two countries. However, the German advance into France was quickly halted, causing a military stalemate for most of the war. In the end, a total of approximately 56,000 people were killed in the invasion. During World War II , when Adolf Hitler 's gaze turned his strategy west toward France, the Low Countries were an easy route around the imposing French Maginot Line . He ordered

4365-567: The Germanic language spoken in Great Britain, which was later replaced by the name Englisc . By the late 14th century, þēodisc had given rise to Middle English duche and its variants, which were used as a blanket term for all the non-Scandinavian Germanic languages spoken on the European mainland. Historical linguists have noted that the medieval "Duche" itself most likely shows an external Middle Dutch influence, in that it shows

4462-480: The Low Countries are usually called Flemish and those from the northern Protestant provinces Dutch, but art historians sometimes use "Netherlandish art" for art of the Low Countries produced before 1830, i.e., until the secession of Belgium from the Netherlands to distinguish the period from what came after. Apart from this largely intellectual use, the term "Netherlandish" as adjective is not commonly used in English, unlike its Dutch equivalent. Many languages have

4559-647: The Low Countries formed a core part of a much expanded Francia and the Merovingians were replaced by the Carolingian dynasty . In 800, the Pope crowned and appointed Charlemagne Emperor of the re-established Roman Empire . After the death of Charlemagne , Francia was divided in three parts among his three grandsons. The middle slice, Middle Francia , was ruled by Lothair I , and thereby also came to be referred to as "Lotharingia" or "Lorraine". Apart from

4656-728: The Low Countries were united as the Seventeen Provinces in a personal union during the 16th century, covered by the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V , which freed the provinces from their archaic feudal obligations. In 1566, Philip II of Spain , heir of Charles V, sent an army of Spanish mercenaries to suppress political upheavals to the Seventeen Provinces. A number of southern provinces ( Hainaut , Artois , Walloon Flanders , Namur , Luxembourg and Limburg ) united in

4753-547: The Low Countries, including Luxembourg and the south of Belgium. Within the European Union , the region's political grouping is still referred to as the Benelux (short for Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg). During the Roman Empire , the region contained a militarised frontier and contact point between Rome and Germanic tribes . The Low Countries were the scene of the early independent trading centres that marked

4850-450: The Netherlands (of which it is a region), with the exception of the Dutch football team , which is conventionally known as Holland". In 2019, the Dutch government announced that it would only communicate and advertise under its real name "the Netherlands" in the future, and stop describing itself as Holland. They stated: “It has been agreed that the Netherlands, the official name of our country, should preferably be used.” From 2019 onwards,

4947-401: The Netherlands and Belgium—had in their history exceptionally many and widely varying names, resulting in equally varying names in different languages. There is diversity even within languages: the use of one word for the country and another for the adjective form is common. This holds for English, where Dutch is the adjective form for the country "the Netherlands". Moreover, many languages have

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5044-467: The Netherlands. However, in official use, the name of the Dutch kingdom is still Kingdom of the Netherlands , Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (plural). This name derives from the 19th-century origins of the kingdom which originally included present-day Belgium. In Dutch, and to a lesser extent in English, the Low Countries colloquially means the Netherlands and Belgium, sometimes the Netherlands and Flanders —the Dutch-speaking north of Belgium. For example,

5141-400: The Roman provinces and starting to build the Carolingian Empire , of which the Low Countries formed a core part. By the 8th century, most of the Franks had exchanged their Germanic Frankish language for the Latin-derived Romances of Gaul . The Franks that stayed in the Low Countries had kept their original language, i.e., Old Dutch , also known as "Old Low Franconian" among linguists. At

5238-447: The Romans, who called it Germania "Inferior". After the Frankish empire was divided several times, most of it became the Duchy of Lower Lorraine in the 10th century, where the Low Countries politically have their origin. Lower Lorraine disintegrated into a number of duchies, counties and bishoprics. Some of these became so powerful, that their names were used as a pars pro toto for the Low Countries, i.e., Flanders , Holland and to

5335-755: The author would have meant in modern terms, which can be difficult. For example, in his poem Constantyne , the English chronicler John Hardyng (1378–1465) specifically mentions the inhabitants of three Dutch-speaking fiefdoms (Flanders, Guelders and Brabant) as travel companions, but also lists the far more general "Dutchemēne" and "Almains", the latter term having an almost equally broad meaning, though being more restricted in its geographical use; usually referring to people and locaties within modern Germany , Switzerland and Austria : He went to Roome with greate power of Britons strong, with Flemynges and Barbayns, Henauldes, Gelders, Burgonians, & Frenche, Dutchemēne, Lubārdes, also many Almains. He went to Rome with

5432-455: The average 15th century Dutchman stood a far greater chance of hearing French or English than a dialect of the German interior, despite its relative geographical closeness. Medieval Dutch authors had a vague, generalized sense of common linguistic roots between their language and various German dialects, but no concept of speaking the same language existed. Instead they saw their linguistic surroundings mostly in terms of small scale regiolects. In

5529-412: The cities of Amsterdam , The Hague and Rotterdam , remain politically, economically and demographically dominant – 37% of the Dutch population live there. In most other Dutch provinces, particularly in the south including Flanders (Belgium), the word Hollander is commonly used in either colloquial or pejorative sense to refer to the perceived superiority or supposed arrogance of people from

5626-455: The common people", that is, the native Germanic language. The term was used as opposed to Latin , the non -native language of writing and the Catholic Church . It was first recorded in 786, when the Bishop of Ostia writes to Pope Adrian I about a synod taking place in Corbridge , England , where the decisions are being written down "tam Latine quam theodisce" meaning "in Latin as well as Germanic". So in this sense theodiscus referred to

5723-428: The contrary, the term "Hoogduytsch" specifically came into being as a special category because Dutch travelers visiting these parts found it hard to understand the local vernacular: in a letter dated to 1487 a Flemish merchant from Bruges instructs his agent to conduct trade transactions in Mainz in French, rather than the local tongue to avoid any misunderstandings. In 1571 use of "Nederduytsch" greatly increased because

5820-413: The country of the Netherlands has the same etymology and origin as the name for the region Low Countries, due to "nether" meaning "low". In the Dutch language itself De Lage Landen is the modern term for Low Countries, and De Nederlanden (plural) is in use for the 16th century domains of Charles V , the historic Low Countries, while Nederland (singular) is the normal Dutch name for the country of

5917-491: The course of the 20th century. Note, however, that these are generalizations, and some of these may not be true for specific dialects: Up until the American–British split (1600–1725), some major phonological changes in English included: After the American-British split , further changes to English phonology included: Changes in alphabet and spelling were heavily influenced by the advent of printing and continental printing practices. Consequently, Modern English came to use

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6014-408: The cultural and historical region comprising present-day Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and to "the Netherlands" alone, e.g., Les Pays-Bas in French, Los Países Bajos in Spanish and i Paesi Bassi in Italian. Several other languages have literally translated "Low Countries" into their own language to refer to the Dutch language: Flemish ( Dutch : Vlaams ) is derived from the name of

6111-430: The defences of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. All three countries were occupied from May 1940 until early 1945. During the occupation, their governments were forced into exile in Britain. In 1944, they signed the London Customs Convention , laying the foundation for the eventual Benelux Economic Union , an important forerunner of the EEC (later the EU ). One of the Low Countries' earliest literary figures

6208-405: The earliest sources, its primary use was to differentiate between Germanic and the Romance dialects, as expressed by the Middle Dutch poet Jan van Boendale , who wrote: Want tkerstenheit es gedeelt in tween, die Walsche tongen die es een, Dandre die Dietsche al geheel Because Christendom is divided in two parts, the " Welsh " languages (i.e. Romance languages, compare Walloon ) form one,

6305-429: The early 17th century, such as the works of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible , are considered Modern English texts, or more specifically, they are referred to as texts which were written in Early Modern English or they are referred to as texts which were written in Elizabethan English. Through colonization , English was adopted in many regions of the world by the British Empire , such as Anglo-America ,

6402-472: The early 19th century. The English adjective "Netherlandish", meaning "from the Low Countries", is derived directly from the Dutch adjective Nederlands or Nederlandsch , and the French and German equivalents. It is now rare in general use, but remains used in history, especially in reference to art or music produced anywhere in the Low Countries during the 15th and early 16th centuries. " Early Netherlandish painting ", has replaced "Flemish Primitives", despite

6499-421: The encouragement of the free flow of goods and craftsmen. Dutch and French dialects were the main languages used in secular city life. Historically, the term Low Countries arose at the Court of the Dukes of Burgundy , who used the term les pays de par deçà ("the lands over here") for the Low Countries as opposed to les pays de par delà ("the lands over there") for the Duchy of Burgundy and

6596-428: The entire Low Countries , which was on maps sometimes heroically visualised as the Leo Belgicus . Other use: Throughout the centuries the Dutch attempted to define their collective identity by looking at their ancestors, the Batavi. As claimed by the Roman historian Tacitus , the Batavi were a brave Germanic tribe living in the Netherlands, probably in the Betuwe region. In Dutch, the adjective Bataafs ("Batavian")

6693-407: The equivalents remaining current in French, Dutch and other languages; the latter is now only seen in poorly-translated material from a language that uses it. In English the pejorative sense of "primitive" makes the term impossible to use in such a context. In music the Franco-Flemish School is also known as the Netherlandish School. Later art and artists from the southern Catholic provinces of

6790-439: The first two or three letters of each country's name Be lgium, Ne therlands and Lux embourg. It was first used to name the customs agreement that initiated the union (signed in 1944) and is now used more generally to refer to the geopolitical and economical grouping of the three countries, while "Low Countries" is used in a more cultural or historical context. In many languages the nomenclature "Low Countries" can both refer to

6887-409: The government initially refused to change the text except for the Estonian, recent Dutch passports feature the translation proposed by the First Chamber members. Calques derived from Holland to refer to the Dutch language in other languages: Toponyms: As the Low Country's prime duchy, with the only and oldest scientific centre (the University of Leuven ), Brabant has served as a pars pro toto for

6984-466: The heirs. By streamlining the succession law in all Seventeen Provinces and declaring that all of them would be inherited by one heir, Charles effectively united the Netherlands as one entity. After Charles' abdication in 1555, the Seventeen Provinces passed to his son, Philip II of Spain . The Pragmatic Sanction is said to be one example of the Habsburg contest with particularism that contributed to

7081-633: The late 19th century "Nederduits" was reintroduced to Dutch through the German language, where prominent linguists, such as the Brothers Grimm and Georg Wenker , in the nascent field of German and Germanic studies used the term to refer to Germanic dialects which had not taken part in the High German consonant shift . Initially this group consisted of Dutch, English , Low German and Frisian , but in modern scholarship only refers to Low German -varieties. Hence in contemporary Dutch, "Nederduits"

7178-438: The only time in history that "Holland" became an official designation of the entire Dutch territory. Around the same time, the former countship of Holland was dissolved and split up into two provinces, later known as North Holland and South Holland , because one Holland province by itself was considered too dominant in area, population and wealth compared to the other provinces. Today the two provinces making up Holland, including

7275-506: The original coastal County of Flanders , which was within West Francia , the rest of the Low Countries were within the lowland part of this, " Lower Lorraine ". After the death of Lothair, the Low Countries were coveted by the rulers of both West Francia and East Francia . Each tried to swallow the region and to merge it with their spheres of influence. Thus, the Low Countries consisted of fiefs whose sovereignty resided with either

7372-653: The other [part] of the whole is "Dutch" (i.e. Germanic) During the High Middle Ages "Dietsc/Duutsc" was increasingly used as an umbrella term for the specific Germanic dialects spoken in the Low Countries , its meaning being largely implicitly provided by the regional orientation of medieval Dutch society: apart from the higher echelons of the clergy and nobility, mobility was largely static and hence while "Dutch" could by extension also be used in its earlier sense, referring to what today would be called Germanic dialects as opposed to Romance dialects , in many cases it

7469-541: The other, the southern Royal Netherlands or Belgica Regia remained loyal to the Spanish king. This divide laid the early foundation for the later modern states of Belgium and the Netherlands. The region politically had its origins in the Carolingian empire ; more precisely, most of the people were within the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia . After the disintegration of Lower Lotharingia, the Low Countries were brought under

7566-462: The parliamentarians proposed Madalmaade Kuningriik , Németalföldi Királyság , Regatul Țărilor de Jos and Nizozemské Kráľovstvo , respectively. Their reasoning was that "if in addition to Holland a recognisable translation of the Netherlands does exist in a foreign language, it should be regarded as the best translation" and that "the Kingdom of the Netherlands has a right to use the translation it thinks best, certainly on official documents". Although

7663-421: The political secession of the autonomous Dutch Republic (or "United Provinces") in the north, the term "Low Countries" continued to be used to refer collectively to the region. The region was temporarily united politically between 1815 and 1839, as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands , before this split into the three modern countries of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The Low Countries were part of

7760-427: The reawakening of Europe in the 12th century. In that period, they rivalled northern Italy as one of the most densely populated regions of Western Europe. Guilds and councils governed most of the cities along with a figurehead ruler; interaction with their ruler was regulated by a strict set of rules describing what the latter could and could not expect. All of the regions mainly depended on trade, manufacturing and

7857-522: The rebellious Dutch Republic and the Spanish Empire was called Las guerras de Flandes and the Spanish army that was based in the Low Countries was named the Army of Flanders ( Spanish : Ejército de Flandes ). The English adjective "Flemish" (first attested as flemmysshe , c. 1325; cf. Flæming , c. 1150), was probably borrowed from Old Frisian . The name Vlaanderen was probably formed from

7954-576: The rule of the House of Valois , who were the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy . At the height of Burgundian influence, the Low Countries became the political, cultural, and economic centre of Northern Europe , noted for its crafts and luxury goods, notably early Netherlandish painting , which is the work of artists who were active in the flourishing cities of Bruges , Ghent , Mechelen , Leuven , Tournai and Brussels , all in present-day Belgium. Musicians of

8051-632: The rule of various lordships until they came to be in the hands of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy . Hence, a large part of the Low Countries came to be referred to as the Burgundian Netherlands . After the reign of the Valois Dukes ended, much of the Low Countries were controlled by the House of Habsburg . This area was referred to as the Habsburg Netherlands , which was also called the Seventeen Provinces up to 1581. Even after

8148-483: The same word for both the country of the Netherlands and the region of the Low Countries, e.g., French ( les Pays-Bas ), Spanish ( los Países Bajos ) and Portuguese ( Países Baixos ). The complicated nomenclature is a source of confusion for outsiders, and is due to the long history of the language, the culture and the frequent change of economic and military power within the Low Countries over the past 2,000 years. The historic Low Countries made up much of Frisia , home to

8245-804: The seventeen declared their independence from Habsburg Spain in 1581, the ten provinces of the Southern Netherlands remained occupied by the Army of Flanders under Spanish service and are therefore sometimes called the Spanish Netherlands . In 1713, 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

8342-417: The sole name for the language by 1945. Earlier, from the mid-16th century on, the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) had divided the Low Countries into the northern Dutch Republic (Latin: Belgica Foederata ) and the southern Spanish Netherlands (Latin: Belgica Regia ), introducing a distinction, i.e. Northern vs. Southern Netherlands; the latter evolved into the present-day Belgium after a brief unification in

8439-460: The term "Duytsch" became more ambiguous. Dutch humanists , started to use "Duytsch" in a sense which would today be called "Germanic". Beginning in the second half of the 16th century, the nomenclature gradually became more fixed, with "Nederlandsch" and "Nederduytsch" becoming the preferred terms for Dutch and with "Hooghduytsch" referring to the language today called German. Initially the word "Duytsch" itself remained vague in exact meaning, but after

8536-420: The territories as a multitude of duchies and principalities until the Low Countries were eventually united into one indivisible territory, the Seventeen Provinces , covered by the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 , while retaining existing customs, laws, and forms of government within the provinces. The Pragmatic Sanction transformed the agglomeration of lands into a unified entity, of which the Habsburgs would be

8633-470: The time the language was spoken, it was known as * þiudisk , meaning "of the people"—as opposed to the Latin language "of the clergy "—which is the source of the English word Dutch . Now an international exception, it used to have in the Dutch language itself a cognate with the same meaning, i.e., Diets(c) or Duuts(c) . The designation "low" to refer to the region has also been in use many times. First by

8730-446: The twelve provinces. They are North Holland and South Holland . Holland has, particularly for outsiders, long become a pars pro toto name for the whole nation, similar to the use of Russia for the (former) Soviet Union , or England for the United Kingdom . The use is sometimes discouraged. For example, the "Holland" entry in the style guide of The Guardian and The Observer newspapers states: "Do not use when you mean

8827-598: The whole of the Low Countries, for example in the writings of Desiderius Erasmus in the early 16th century. Perhaps of influence for this pars pro toto usage is the Brabantian holding of the ducal title of Lower Lorraine . In 1190, after the death of Godfrey III , Henry I became Duke of Lower Lorraine, where the Low Countries have their political origin. By that time the title had lost most of its territorial authority. According to protocol, all his successors were thereafter called Dukes of Brabant and Lower Lorraine (often called Duke of Lothier). Brabant symbolism served again

8924-451: The word duche could be used as a hypernym for several languages (The North est Contrey which lond spekyn all maner Duche tonge – The North [of Europe] is an area, in which all lands speak all manner of "Dutch" languages) but it could also suggest singular use (In Duche a rudder is a knyght – In "Dutch" a rudder [cf. Dutch : ridder] is a knight) in which case linguistic and/or geographic pointers need to be used to determine or approximate what

9021-636: Was adopted in North America, India, parts of Africa, Australia, and many other regions. In the post-colonial period, some newly created nations that had multiple indigenous languages opted to continue using Modern English as the official language to avoid the political difficulties inherent in promoting one indigenous language above another. The following is an outline of the major changes in Modern English compared to its previous form (Middle English), and also some major changes in English over

9118-624: Was an armed insurrection that occurred in the Austrian Netherlands (modern-day Belgium ) between October 1789 and December 1790. The revolution led to the brief overthrow of Habsburg rule and the proclamation of a short-lived polity, the United Belgian States . Some historians have seen it as a key moment in the formation of a Belgian nation-state , and an influence on the Belgian Revolution of 1830. Holland, Flanders and 15 other counties, duchies and bishoprics in

9215-574: Was most likely caused by close proximity to German-speaking immigrants, who referred to themselves or (in the case of the Pennsylvania Dutch) their language as "Deutsch" or "Deitsch", rather than archaic use of the term "Dutch" In the Dutch language itself, Old Dutch *thiudisk evolved into a southern variant duutsc and a western variant dietsc in Middle Dutch , which were both known as duytsch in Early Modern Dutch. In

9312-422: Was understood or meant to refer to the language now known as Dutch. Apart from the sparsely populated eastern borderlands, there was little to no contact with contemporary speakers of German dialects, let alone a concept of the existence of German as language in its modern sense among the Dutch. Because medieval trade focused on travel by water and with the most heavily populated areas adjacent to Northwestern France,

9409-591: Was used from the 15th to the 18th century, meaning "of, or relating to the Netherlands" (but not the southern Netherlands). Other use: Low Countries Historically, the regions without access to the sea linked themselves politically and economically to those with access to form various unions of ports and hinterland , stretching inland as far as parts of the German Rhineland . Because of this, nowadays not only physically low-altitude areas, but also some hilly or elevated regions are considered part of

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