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County of Hainaut

County of Hainaut
Grafschaft Hennegau (de)
Comté de Hainaut (fr)
Graafschap Henegouwen (nl)
State of the Holy Roman Empire
c. 900–1797


Coat of arms

Capital Mons
Languages French, Dutch, German, Walloon, Picard
Religion Roman Catholicism
Government Feudal monarchy
Count of Hainaut
 •   ? –898 Reginar I
(first Reginar count)
 •  1071–98 Baldwin II
 •  1432–67 Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy
 •  1477–82 Mary of Burgundy
 •  1792–94 (died 1835) Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (last count)
Historical era Middle Ages
 •  Consolidation of county 1071
 •  Acquired by Burgundy 1432
 •  Absorbed into
    Habsburg Netherlands
 
18 August 1477
 •  Joined Burgundian Circle 1512
 •  Annexed by France 1794
 •  Treaty of Campo Formio 1797
Preceded by
Succeeded by
County of Mons County of Mons
Landgraviate of Brabant Landgraviate of Brabant
Margraviate of Valenciennes Margraviate of Valenciennes
Burgundian Netherlands


Coat of arms

The County of Hainaut (French: Comté de Hainaut, Dutch: Graafschap Henegouwen; German: Grafschaft Hennegau), sometimes given the archaic spellings Hainault and Heynowes, was a historical lordship within the medieval Holy Roman Empire, with its capital at Mons (Dutch: Bergen). The name comes from the river Haine (Dutch: Hene, German: Henne). Besides Mons, it included the cities of Cambrai (Kamerijk) and Charleroi. It consisted of what is now the Belgian province of Hainaut and the southern part of the French département of Nord.

Originally a gau of Lotharingia, Hainaut was briefly a part of West Francia (911–25) before becoming definitively attached to Germany. The county was divided in 958 and only emerged in its more or less final form in 1071. During the High Middle Ages, Hainaut became culturally and linguistically French. In 1432, Hainaut was acquired by the House of Valois-Burgundy and in 1477 passed to the Habsburgs with the rest of the Burgundian Netherlands and became part of the Burgundian Circle in 1512. It was ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1555 to 1714. In 1659 and 1678 southern Hainaut was acquired by France, and in 1797 the rest of the county was ceded to France by the Emperor Francis II, who was also count of Hainaut.


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