Gewest
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gewest is a Dutch term often translated as "region". It was used to describe the various different polities making up the Low Countries, which covered what is now the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and parts of northern France, until the annexation by France in the late 18th century. The term is now mostly associated with the official titles of the constituent states of Belgium.
The Low Countries were made up of different polities which gradually united under foreign rule. First under the Duchy of Burgundy, then under the Spanish Empire, and later under Austria before being invaded by France where the polities were abolished and replaced by departements which in turn were replaced by provinces with the establishment of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
In the mid-16th century, under Emperor Charles V, the Habsburg Low Countries consisted of seventeen Gewesten. This collection of polities was also known as the Seventeen Provinces. However, this was not a fixed number, but it was kept due to the significance of the number seventeen in the Christian religion.[1] The representatives of these territories often gathered in what was called the States-General or Staten-Generaal.
The polities making up the Low Countries differed in structure. Examples of titles for some of the territories were Duchy, County, Burgraviate and Lordship. Here Gewest is often used as a catch-all term for all these different polities.[2][1]
The Gewesten of the Low Countries under Spanish rule were:
- County of Artois
- County of Flanders
- Burgraviates of Walloon Flanders (Lille–Douai–Orchies)
- Burgraviate of Tournaisis
- Lordship of Mechelen
- County of Namur
- County of Hainaut
- County of Zeeland
- County of Holland
- Duchy of Brabant (incl. Margraviate of Antwerp)
- Duchy of Limburg
- Duchy of Luxemburg
- Lordship of Utrecht
- Lordship of Frisia
- Duchy of Guelders (incl. County of Zutphen)
- Lordship of Groningen
- Lordship of Overijssel (incl. County of Drenthe)
In addition to the Gewesten that fell under Habsburg rule, there were also the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and a few smaller areas which acted independently from the Empire but were still labeled as Gewesten. In fact, even before the Low Countries united through personal union with Burgundy, Dutch historians referred to the polities as Gewesten.[3][failed verification]