That is why nowadays some parts of the Low Countries are actually hilly, like Luxembourg and the south of Belgium. Thus, the Low Countries consisted of fiefs whose sovereignty resided with either the Kingdom of France or the Holy Roman Empire. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). History. In the 14th and 15th century, separate fiefs came gradually to be ruled by a single family through royal intermarriage. The remains of the Fortress of Luxembourg, Luxembourg city. History of the Low Countries - History of the Low Countries - The Low Countries under the Carolingians: The administrative organization of the Low Countries during this period was basically the same as that of the rest of the Frankish empire. 1 word related to Low Countries: Europe. They were inhabited by Belgic and Germanic tribes. The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands (Dutch: de Lage Landen, French: les Pays-Bas) and historically called the Netherlands (Dutch: de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, refers to a coastal lowland region in northwestern Europe forming the lower basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. [10] 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 in use for the country of the Netherlands. What are synonyms for The Low Countries? However, the German advance into France was quickly halted, causing a military stalemate for most of the war. The Low Countries were an easy route around the imposing French Maginot Line. Luxembourg, for much of its history a principality of the Holy Roman Empire, was set up as a grand duchy in 1815 to be ruled as a separate state by the kings of the Netherlands. He ordered 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[vague]. Where Are The Low Countries? Charles V, who inherited the territory in 1506, was named ruler by the States General and styled himself as Heer der Nederlanden ("Lord of the Netherlands"). More than a quarter of the total land area of the Netherlands is below sea level, for instance. The reason why they're called "lowlands" in some languages is because 90%of the territory is on or below sea level, everything' s plain there... 0 0. xenon. A region of northwest Europe … All the Low Countries were overrun by the Germans in World War II. They are the most densely populated. … Ethnically, the Low Countries form a transitional zone between the ancient Germanic and Latin heritages of western Europe. Synonyms for The Low Countries in Free Thesaurus. As much as possible of the border areas in northern France should be occupied. 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 the Free County of Burgundy, which were part of their realm but geographically disconnected from the Low Countries. After the reign of the Valois Dukes ended, much of the Low Countries were controlled by the House of H… 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. The oppressors, he says, often took resources from the countries they colonized — a reason that he's not a fan of the term "low resource" to describe countries that lack the … The femininity of countries, or "motherlands," is partially a reference to the rich and nurturing soil of which they are composed, or "Mother Earth." Hence, a large part of the Low Countries came to be referred to as the Burgundian Netherlands. [18], The Pragmatic Sanction transformed the agglomeration of lands into a unified entity, of which the Habsburgs would be the heirs. By the end of the 8th century, the Low Countries formed a core part of a much expanded Francia and the Merovingians were replaced by the Carolingian dynasty. The Nordic Countries . 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. Geographically and historically, the area includes also parts of France and Germany such as the French Flanders and the German regions of East Frisia and Cleves. These are together known as the Benelux countries, from the initial letters of their names. Updates? A revolt began against the rule of Spanish Habsburgs in 1568, and the predominantly Protestant northern provinces formed a Dutch republic, the United Provinces, 12 years later. There is also a linguistic basis for the phenomenon. . The area known as the Low Countries was once part of the Roman Empire's frontier provinces and was inhabited by... Linguistics. Why do you think the Low Countries have been at the center of efforts to unite Europe, while the Alpine countries have traditionally stayed out of European politics? Most of the published luminescenceages fro… After the disintegration of Lower Lotharingia, the Low Countries were brought under the rule of various lordships until they came to be in the hands of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy. During the Middle Ages, the Low Countries were divided in numerous semi-independent principalities.[1][2]. Adding to this state of linguistic and geographical confusion, the French invented the term le pays Nordiques or "Nordic Countries." The Low Countries are so called because much of their land along the North Sea coast and for some distance inland is either below sea level or just slightly above it. It is called the Low Countries because the land is mostly flat, and some parts are below ↑sea level … Dictionary of contemporary English The United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830) temporarily united the Low Countries again, before this split into the three modern countries of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Even after 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 Low Countries are bordered by Germany to the east and France to the south. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/place/Low-Countries. Semi-related and -exploitable trivia: in France, we have no name for Netherlands. The year 1566 saw the Netherlands in open revolt against Philip II of Spain, and, inasmuch as this revolt had a Protestant as well as a nationalist aspect, a wave of iconoclasm swept across the area. Countries like the United States of America and the United Kingdom also carry the definite article because they are compound nouns with adjectives. More than 3,000 square miles (8,000 square km) of fertile farmland have been reclaimed from the deltas of the Schelde, Meuse, and Rhine rivers and from the Zuiderzee, which was formerly a shallow arm of the North Sea cutting deep into the northwestern coast of the Netherlands. In Luxembourg, Letzenburgish, a German dialect, is the spoken language of the majority. These countries have often been culturally and … These are together known as the Benelux countries, from the initial letters of their names. During the Roman empire the region contained a militarised frontier and contact point between Rome and Germanic tribes. The term "Low Country" originally was all the state below the Fall Line, or the Sandhills which run the width of the state from Aiken County to Chesterfield County. [5] Dutch and French dialects were the main languages used in secular city life. Sometimes Low Countries also includes Belgium/Flanders. 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 American-born Reeder, based in Amsterdam, also translated Driessen's story My First Murder from the collection of short stories of the same name. After the war, all three countries abandoned their policies of neutrality and became founding members of NATO, proceeding from there to the customs union that became the expanded Benelux Economic Union in 1960. Corrections? what are scandinavian countries? In 1958 the three nations of the Low Countries were among the six founding members of the European Economic Community (EEC; now in the European Union). Many areas of the Netherlands are actually previous sea floor that was reclaimed by pumping water out using dikes. His novels Rivers and The Pelican were translated into English by Jonathan Reeder. 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