Editing Burgundian Netherlands (section)

==History==
{{Further|Burgundian inheritance in the Low Countries}}
A fair share (but not most) of these territories were inherited by the [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundian]] dukes, a younger branch of the French royal [[House of Valois]], upon the death of Count [[Louis II, Count of Flanders|Louis II of Flanders]] in 1384. His heiress, [[Margaret III, Countess of Flanders|Margaret III of Flanders]] in 1369 had married [[Philip the Bold]], youngest son of King [[John II of France]] and the first of the Valois dukes of Burgundy at [[Dijon]], who thus inherited the [[County of Flanders]]. The Flemish comital [[House of Dampierre]] had been French vassals, who held territory around the affluent cities of [[Bruges]] and [[Ghent]], but also adjacent lands in former [[Lower Lorraine]] east of the [[Scheldt]] river ("Imperial Flanders") including the exclave of [[Lordship of Mechelen|Mechelen]], which were a fief of the Holy Roman Empire, and furthermore the neighbouring French [[County of Artois]]. Together they initiated an era of Burgundian governance in the Low Countries.

The Dampierre legacy further comprised the French counties of [[Counts and dukes of Rethel|Rethel]] in northern [[Champagne (province)|Champagne]] and [[County of Nevers|Nevers]] west of [[Burgundy]] proper, both held by Philip's younger son [[Philip II, Count of Nevers|Philip II]] from 1407, as well as the [[County of Burgundy]] (''Franche-Comté'') east of it, an Imperial fief which had been part of the former [[Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles]].

In the following decades, the Burgundian dukes expanded their territories in the Low Countries by the acquisition of several [[Imperial State]]s: Duke [[Philip the Good]] purchased the [[County of Namur]] in 1421, inherited the Duchies of [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]] and [[Duchy of Limburg|Limburg]] in 1430, and seized the Counties of [[County of Hainaut|Hainaut]], [[County of Holland|Holland]] and [[County of Zeeland|Zeeland]] in 1432, and the [[Duchy of Luxembourg]] in 1441. His son, the last Burgundian duke [[Charles the Bold]], in 1473 annexed the Duchy of [[Guelders]], which had been pawned by late [[Arnold of Egmond]].

The Valois era would last until 1477, when Duke Charles the Bold died at the [[Battle of Nancy]] leaving no male heir. The territorial Duchy of Burgundy reverted to the French crown according to [[Salic law]], and King [[Louis XI of France]] also seized the French portion of the Burgundian possessions in the Low Countries. The Imperial fiefs passed to the [[Archduchy of Austria|Austrian]] House of Habsburg through Charles' daughter [[Mary of Burgundy]] and her husband Archduke [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian of Habsburg]], son of Emperor [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick III]]. Maximilian, however, regarded the Burgundian Netherlands including Flanders and Artois as the undivided domains of his wife and himself and marched against the French. The conflict culminated at the [[Battle of Guinegate (1479)|Battle of Guinegate]] in 1479. Though Maximilian was victorious, he was only able to gain the County of Flanders according to the 1482 [[Treaty of Arras (1482)|Treaty of Arras]] after his wife Mary had suddenly died, while France retained Artois.

In her testament, Mary of Burgundy had bequested the Burgundian heritage to her and Maximilian's son, [[Philip the Handsome]]. His father, dissatisfied with the terms of the Arras agreement, continued to contest the seized French territories. In 1493, King [[Charles VIII of France]] according to the [[Treaty of Senlis]] finally renounced Artois, which together with Flanders was incorporated into the Imperial [[Seventeen Provinces]] under the rule of Philip.

===Demographics===
The population of the main provinces of the Low Countries in 1477 ([[Prince-Bishop]]rics in ''italics'').<ref>Van Houtte (J. Α.). Economische en sociale geschiedenis van de Lage Landen, 1968, pp. 130–131.</ref><ref>De Bourgondische Nederlanden, by W. Blockmans & W. Prevenier, 1983, pp. 392–393.</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Province !! Population in total !! % rural !! % urban !! Province total as % of Netherlands total
|-
| [[County of Flanders|Flanders]]|| 666,000 || 64 || 36 || 26.0
|-
| [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]] || 413,000 || 69 || 31 || 16.0
|-
| [[County of Holland|Holland]]|| 275,000|| 55 || 45 || 10.5
|-
| [[County of Artois|Artois]]|| 140,000 || 78 || 22 || 5.5
|-
| [[County of Hainaut|Hainault]] || 130,000 || 70 || 30 || 5.0
|-
| ''[[Prince-Bishopric of Liège|Liège]]''|| 120,000 || - || - || 4.5
|-
| [[Guelders]] || 98,000 || 56 || 44 || 3.8
|-
| [[Walloon Flanders]] || 73,000 || 64 || 36 || 2.8
|-
| [[Frisian freedom|Friesland]]|| 71,000 || 78 || 22 || 2.7
|-
| [[Duchy of Luxembourg|Luxembourg]]|| 68,000 || 85 || 15 || 2.6
|-
| ''[[Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht|Utrecht]]{{efn|The city of [[Utrecht]] accounts for the disproportionate degree of urbanisation, as the [[Oversticht]] (which included most of the modern [[Overijssel]] and [[Drenthe]]) was very sparsely populated.}}''
 || 53,000 || 52 || 48 || 2.0
|}