Burgundian Netherlands

Burgundian Netherlands
Personal union of Imperial and French fiefs
1384–1482
Flag Coat of arms
Burgundian possessions in the Low Countries in 1477, known as pays de par deça (land over here), that under Habsburg rule developed in pays d'embas (lands down here).
Capital		Brussels
Languages		Dutch, Low Saxon, Frisian, Walloon, Luxembourgish, French
Religion		Roman Catholic
Government		Monarchy
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Established	1384
•	Disestablished	1482
Preceded by Succeeded by County of Flanders County of Hainaut Duchy of Luxembourg County of Artois Duchy of Guelders County of Namur Duchy of Brabant County of Holland Bishopric of Utrecht Habsburg Netherlands

In the history of the Low Countries, the Burgundian Netherlands (French: Pays-Bas Bourguignons, Dutch: Bourgondische Nederlanden, Luxembourgish: Burgundeschen Nidderlanden, Walloon: Bas Payis bourguignons) were a number of Imperial and French fiefs ruled in personal union by the House of Valois-Burgundy and their Habsburg heirs in the period from 1384 to 1482. The area comprised large parts of present-day Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as Luxembourg and parts of northern France.

A fair share (but not most) of these territories were inherited by the Burgundian dukes, a younger branch of the French royal House of Valois in 1384, upon the death of Count Louis II of Flanders. His heiress, 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 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.