Meierij

The Meierij van 's-Hertogenbosch (Dutch pronunciation: [mɛiəˈrɛi vɑn ˌsɛrtoːɣə(m)ˈbɔs]; Dutch for Bailiwick of Bois le Duc) was one of the four parts of the former duchy of Brabant, the others being the areas of Leuven (Louvain, the pre-ducal capital), Brussel(s) (the ducalc capital) and Antwerp (the main port, which became the economic capital). It got its name from the Bailiff of 's-Hertogenbosch, which administered the area in the name of the Dukes of Brabant. Nowadays the Meierij roughly corresponds to the eastern part of the Dutch province of North Brabant.

The capital city of North Brabant and the most important city of the Bailiwick is 's-Hertogenbosch (Dutch for 'the Duke's Forest') alias Den Bosch alias (French) Bois le Duc. Other parts of the Bailiwick are the so-called "Vier Kwartieren" (four (quarters'):

In the northeast of the bailiwick there were some free lands which were also connected to the Meierij:

In the south, the nowadays Belgian town of Lommel belonged to the bailiwick, while the village Luijksgestel belonged to the Prince-bishopric of Liège. In 1807 these areas were exchanged.

The Bailiwick of 's-Hertogenbosch consists mainly of the poor sandy grounds of the Peel and Kempen. Those areas, which in old times were not densely populated, consisted of enormous heaths and marshlands, interrupted by woods and fenlands. In the north and east the area is surrounded by the river Maas. Numerous little rivers rise in the high sandareas and find their way to the rivers Aa and Dommel. Both rivers come together in the marshlands around 's-Hertogenbosch where they form the river Dieze that ends up in the Maas.

Since the Middle Ages the waste lands of Peel and Kempen have been cultivated. Only small parts of the once enormous heaths and marshlands have survived until modern times. In the first part of the 19th century the rivers Aa and Dommel were cultivated but nowadays they have gone back to their old run for the purpose of nature development. Legal re-division of land forms a major threat for the cultural and historical aspects of landscape at the moment.

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Wikipedia