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The Low Countries as seen from space

The Low Countries (Dutch: Lage Landen) are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany. The term is more appropriate to the era of the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Europe when strong centrally governed nations were slowly forming and territorial governance was in the hands of a noble or of a noble house.

Historically, after the Roman denomination of it as Gallia Belgica, the region politically had its origins in Middle Francia, more precisely its northern part which became the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia. After the disintegration of Lower Lotharingia, the Low Countries were brought under the rule of various stronger neighbors. Their possessions can be renamed into the Burgundian Netherlands and the succeeding Habsburg Netherlands, also called the United Seventeen Provinces (up to 1581), and later for the Southern parts as the Spanish Netherlands and Austrian Netherlands, whereas the northern parts formed the autonomous Dutch Republic. At times they reached a form of unity as the United Seventeen Provinces in the 16th Century, and later the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in the 19th Century. The French, Italian and Spanish names for the Netherlands, les Pays-Bas, i Paesi Bassi and los Países Bajos (literally translated "the Low Countries"), are based on this historical context.

Geo-political situation[link]

History of the Low Countries v t e
Frankish Kingdom (5th to 10th century)				Frisian Kingdom (600-734)
Carolingian Empire after 800
	West Francia ("France")	Independent Kingdom of Middle Francia (Lotharingia) (843–870)
Flanders and Lotharingia in Kingdom of West Francia (870–880)
	County of Flanders (862–1384) and other principalities (10th–14th centuries)	Kingdom then Duchy of Lotharingia in East Francia ("Germany") (880-1190)
Prince-Bishopric of Liège (980-1794) Duchy of Bouillon (988-1795) Imperial Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy (1138-1795)		Duchy of Brabant (1183-1430) and other principalities (10th–15th centuries)	County/ Duchy of Luxembourg (963–1443)	County of Holland (880-1432) and other principalities (10th–15th centuries)
	Burgundian Netherlands (1384–1477)
	Habsburg Netherlands (Seventeen Provinces) (1482–1556)
	Spanish Netherlands (Southern Netherlands) (1556–1714)			Dutch Republic (1581–1795)
	Austrian Netherlands (Southern Netherlands) (1714–1795)
Liège Revolution (1789–1792)	United States of Belgium (1790)
Part of the French Republic (1795–1804) and the French Empire (1804–1815)				Batavian Republic (1795–1806)
				Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810)
United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815-1830)
Kingdom of Belgium (since 1830)			Gr Duchy Luxembourg (personal union)	Kingdom of the Netherlands (since 1830)
			Gr Duchy Luxembourg (since 1890)

The term is not particularly current in modern contexts because the region does not exactly correspond to the sovereign states of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, for which an alternative term, Benelux, was employed after the Second World War, though only to describe them as a trading union.

Before early modern nation-building, the Low Countries referred to a wide area of northern Europe as a low-lying triangular river delta for the rivers Rhine, Meuse, Scheldt, and Ems. This area roughly stretches from French Gravelines and Dunkirk at its southwestern point, to the area of Dutch Delfzijl and German Eastern Frisia at its northeastern point, and to Luxembourg and French Thionville in the southeast.

The Low Countries were the scene of the early northern towns, newbuilt rather than developed from ancient centres, that mark the reawakening of Europe in the 12th century. In that period, they became one of the most densely populated regions of Europe, together with northern Italy.

A collection of several regions rather than one homogeneous region, all the low countries still shared a great number of similarities.

• Most were coastal regions bounded by the North Sea or the English Channel. The countries not having access to the sea linked themselves politically and economically to those that had access, so as to form one union of port and hinterland. A poetic description also calls the region the Low Countries by the Sea.
• Aside from Romance-speaking Belgium (cf. the Bishopric of Liège, the Romance Flanders (i.e. Cambrai, Lille, Tournai), the French-speaking part of Brabant around Nivelles and, Namur, where Walloon is traditionally spoken), the region is Germanic with Dutch and Luxembourgish being the dominant languages, although French has historically played an important role as it still does in Luxembourg.
• Most of the regions depended on a lord or count in name only, the cities effectively being ruled by guilds and councils and, although in theory part of a kingdom, their interaction with their rulers was regulated by a strict set of liberties describing what the latter could and could not expect from them.
• All of the regions depended on trade and manufacturing and the encouragement of the free flow of goods and craftsmen.

Historical situation[link]

The low countries were part of the Roman provinces of Belgica, Germania Inferior and Germania Superior. They were inhabited by Belgic tribes, before these were replaced by Germanic tribes in the 4th and 5th century. They were governed by the ruling Merovingian dynasty.

By the end of the 8th century, the Low Countries formed a part of 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 Low Countries became part of Middle Francia, which was ruled by Lothair I. 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 the Kingdom of France or the Holy Roman Empire. The further history of the Low Countries can be seen as a continual struggle between these two powers.

Gradually, separate fiefs came to be ruled by a single family through royal intermarriage. This process culminated in the rule of the House of Valois, who were the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy

In 1477 the Burgundian holdings in the area, the Burgundian Netherlands passed through an heiress -- Mary of Burgundy -- to the Habsburgs. In the following century the "Low Countries" corresponded roughly to the Seventeen Provinces covered by the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, which freed the provinces from their archaic feudal obligations.

After the northern Seven United Provinces of the seventeen declared their independence from Habsburg Spain, the provinces of the Southern Netherlands were recaptured (1581) and are 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 the Austrian Netherlands. The United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815-1830) temporarily united the Low Countries again.

Linguistic distinction[link]

In English, the plural form Netherlands is used for the present-day country, but in Dutch that plural has been dropped; one can thus distinguish between the older, larger Netherlands and the current country. So Nederland (singular) is used for the modern nation and de Nederlanden (plural) for the domains of Charles V. However, in official use the name of the Dutch kingdom is still Kingdom of the Netherlands (Koninkrijk der Nederlanden); the plural has not been dropped. The name Kingdom of the Netherlands also refers to the united kingdom of 1815 - 1830/39, which included present-day Belgium.

See also[link]

• Netherlands (disambiguation)
• Greater Netherlands
• Seventeen Provinces
• Burgundian Netherlands
• Early Netherlandish painting
• Burgundian Circle
• Benelux

Bibliography[link]

• Paul Arblaster. A History of the Low Countries. Palgrave Essential Histories Series New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. 298 pp. ISBN 1-4039-4828-3.
• J. C. H. Blom and E. Lamberts, eds. History of the Low Countries (1999)
• B. A. Cook. Belgium: A History (2002)
• Jonathan Israel. The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806 (1995)
• J. A. Kossmann-Putto and E. H. Kossmann. The Low Countries: History of the Northern and Southern Netherlands (1987)

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Hendrickus (Henk) Cornelius van Lijnschooten (28 March 1928 The Hague - 1 November 2006, Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht) was a Dutch composer who also wrote under the names Ted Huggens and Michel van Delft.

Life[link]

Henk van Lijnschooten went to his local music school for violin and clarinet lessons. His initial studies were with Koeberg Fritz (1876-1961) in music theory, composition and conducting technique. He completed his training as the Concert Band Conductor of The Hague Royal Conservatory. In 1957 he was appointed as the successor to the conductor of the Marine Band of the Royal Dutch Navy. With this orchestra he traveled throughout Europe and the USA. From 1965 to 1970 he was professor of woodwinds at the Conservatory of Rotterdam. After that, he taught at the Conservatory Concert Directorate in Arnhem and the Rotterdam Conservatory. In 1985 he was decorated as Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Works[link]

Works for Wind Orchestra[link]

Works of Ted Huggens[link]

Works of Michiel van Delft[link]

• 1970 With Horns and Trumpets for horn Corps
• 1970 Nicolette for marching band
• 1970 Dialogue for drum corps
• 1972 Serenade for Michel
• 1972 Rag 2000
• 1976 Rock The Wonderful Machine
• 1984 Fantasy on the Old Hundredth
• 1985 Easy Tune for the Young Ones
• 1986 Overture über einen Spiritual

Chamber Music[link]

• Canon 1950, for two clarinets
• Fughetta 1950, for brass quartet
• 1967 Variations on a Flemish folk song, for brass quartet
• 1969 Capriccio, for recorders
• 1969 Mini Concerto for horn and brass quartet
• 1969 Music for young blazers
• Chorale prelude, for horn quartet
• Music, for horn and percussion (vibraphone, temple blocks, marimba, bongos, drums, hi-hat, congas, glockenspiel)

Works for accordion[link]

• 1970 rhapsodic Three miniatures for accordion orchestra
• 1975 Various pieces for accordion
• Three Folk Sketches, for accordion orchestra

Works for plucked instruments[link]

• 1967 Second Rhapsody from the Low Countries, for mandolin orchestra

Soundtracks[link]

• 1964 Acqua di Roma
• 1966 Refugee Film
• 1967 Marine Corps

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Alex Wade is a British writer, freelance journalist and media lawyer.

Career[link]

Wade is the author of Wrecking Machine: A Tale of Real Fights and White Collars (Simon & Schuster, 2005) and Surf Nation: In Search of the Fast Lefts and Hollow Rights of Britain and Ireland (Simon & Schuster, 2007). He has also contributed chapters to The Road Less Travelled (Dorling Kindersley, 2009), Seaside: Discover Britain’s Best Beaches (Time Out Guides Ltd, 2008) and Countryside: Discover the Best of Rural Britain (Time Out, 2010).

Wrecking Machine, chronicling Wade’s fall from grace as a media lawyer and subsequent redemption through white collar and amateur boxing, was critically acclaimed, described by the Sunday Times as “a superb book...” whose success “is down to its honesty and irresistible storytelling” and “intelligent, articulate and brutally honest” by the Daily Telegraph.^[1]

Surf Nation, literary odyssey around the surf scene of Britain and Ireland, was well-received by the UK surf media and national press alike. Huck Magazine [1] said it was “addictive... Blows out of the water any doubts about the thriving surf culture that’s taken root on the northern fringes of Europe”, while The Surfer’s Path said that “with his easy writing style and neat observation, Wade paints an insightful picture of a country that, liberated by neoprene, has grown a huge, pulsing, passionate surfing heart.” Elsewhere in the surf media, Carve found Surf Nation “totally engrossing” and Fins magazine said: “Alex Wade has succeeded in a first – the first Brit bit of surf lit”. Meanwhile, among the national media, The Observer said: “You probably won't read another book on surfing this year, but even if you do, Surf Nation would be the best”, and The Times opined that Wade “has produced a work in the vein of Tom Wolfe’s The Pump House Gang that is passionate, benign, informative and gripping.” ^[2]

Freelance Journalist[link]

Wade is well known in Britain for his freelance journalism.^[3] He has written for The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, the Independent on Sunday, the Guardian, the Observer, the Financial Times, the Daily Telegraph and the Sun, as well as a variety of magazines such as Coast, Huck, The Surfer’s Path, Wavelength, Pit Pilot, Flush, Arena and Cornwall Today. Wade has also written for a variety of online media, in particular www.timesonline.co.uk and www.gamblingcompliance.com.

In 2009, Wade was short-listed in the Sports Journalists’ Association annual awards as Sports Feature Writer of the Year.^[4] In the same year, Wade wrote a column about maritime life for The Times entitled ‘The Coaster’.

As a freelance journalist, Wade writes often on law (for the Times); coastal activities, issues and characters (in particular, for The Times, FT, Coast and Cornwall Today); travel (for The Independent on Sunday, Times and Observer) and sport (for many sources).^[3] Wade is also the Arts Editor for Cornwall Today magazine, itself the winner of the Press Gazette’s ‘Best Regional Magazine’ award in 2009 ^[5] and also contributes book reviews for the Times Literary Supplement.^[6]

Media Lawyer[link]

Wade qualified as a solicitor with media law firm Carter-Ruck in 1994. He subsequently worked for Richard Desmond as Head of Legal Affairs as well as other legal practices. For much of his legal career, Wade also worked as a ‘night lawyer’ for the national press, in particular the Times, Sunday Times, Independent, Independent on Sunday, News of the World and Sun. However, aside from, in 2005, working as assistant to Tom Crone, Legal Manager for News Group Newspapers, Wade quit all legal work save night lawyer work in 2002.^[7]

Illness and Blog[link]

In 2009, Wade was diagnosed with cervical myelopathy, a disease affecting the spine, and Lyme disease. He underwent anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) in December 2009. In early 2010, he was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease.^[8] He writes of his battle to recover from ACDF and Lyme disease on his blog, www.surfnation.co.uk.^[9]

Personal life[link]

Wade was born in London in 1966. He is married to Karen Wade, an artist.

References[link]

External links[link]

• [2]