Editing Netherlands (section)

===High Middle Ages (1000–1384)===
{{Main|History of urban centres in the Low Countries}}
[[File:Graftombe Ridder Arnold van der Sluijs.jpg|thumb|A medieval tomb of the Brabantian knight Arnold van der Sluijs]]

The [[Holy Roman Empire]] ruled much of the Low Countries in the 10th and 11th century but was not able to maintain political unity. Powerful local nobles turned their cities, counties and duchies into private kingdoms that felt little sense of obligation to the emperor.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Louis II {{!}} king of the East Franks |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-II-king-of-the-East-Franks |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> [[County of Holland|Holland]], [[County of Hainaut|Hainaut]], [[County of Flanders|Flanders]], [[Duchy of Gelre|Gelre]], [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]], and [[Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht|Utrecht]] were in a state of almost continual war or paradoxically formed personal unions. As Frankish settlement progressed from Flanders and Brabant, the area quickly became Old Low Franconian (or Old Dutch).

Around 1000 AD, agrarian conditions started to improve, which lead to increase in population, reclamation of wasteland by farmers, and steady growth of trade and industry.<ref name=":022" /> Towns grew around [[monasteries]] and [[castles]], and a mercantile middle class began to develop in these urban areas, especially in Flanders, and later Brabant. Wealthy cities started to buy certain [[City rights in the Low Countries|privileges]] for themselves from the sovereign.

Around 1100 AD, farmers from [[County of Flanders|Flanders]] and [[Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht|Utrecht]] began draining and cultivating uninhabited swampy land in the western Netherlands, making the emergence of the County of Holland as the centre of power possible. The title of [[Count of Holland]] was fought over in the [[Hook and Cod Wars]] between 1350 and 1490. The Cod faction consisted of the more progressive cities, while the Hook faction consisted of the conservative noblemen. These noblemen invited Duke [[Philip the Good]] of Burgundy to conquer Holland.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}