Low Countries

historical coastal landscape in north western Europe

17 dated entries naming Low Countries, drawn from 17 separate years between 251 CE and 1814 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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3rd century

251The prosperity of Roman Britain declines during this period, as the Germanic tribes of the Franks and Saxons, whose homelands are in Friesland and the Low Countries, make raids around the southeast coast.source

9th century

855September 29 – Emperor Lothair I dies after a 15-year reign (co-ruling with his father Louis the Pious until 840). He divides the Middle Frankish Kingdom between his three sons in an agreement called the Treaty of Prüm—the eldest, Louis II, receives the northern half of Italy and the title of Holy Roman Emperor. The second, Lothair II, receives Lotharingia (the Low Countries and Upper Burgundy). The youngest, Charles, receives Lower Burgundy and Provence.source

11th century

1066Huy becomes the first town in the Low Countries to be granted city rights, by Theodwin of Liège.source

12th century

1121March 2 – Petronilla of Lorraine becomes regent of Holland (Low Countries) after her husband, Floris II ("the Fat") dies. He is succeeded by his 6-year-old son Dirk VI (Theodoric).source
1167William I, count of Holland (Low Countries) (d. 1222)source

13th century

1209King Philip II of France ("Augustus") grants a "conduit" to merchants, going to the Champagne fairs (a trade fair organized in different towns of the County of Champagne), guaranteeing the safety of their travel – as any attempt made against them – is now to be considered a crime of lèse-majesté (an offense against the king). The decision increases again the appeal of the fairs to merchants from Italy and the Low Countries.source
1218The city of Rheims emits the first recorded public life annuity in Medieval Europe. This type of instrument had been mostly issued by religious institutions. The emission by Rheims is the first evidence of a consolidation of public debt that is to become common in the Langue d'Oïl, the Low Countries and Germany.source
1275In Ghent, the first instance is recorded of emission of life annuities by a town in the Low Countries; this event confirms a trend of consolidation of local public debt in northwestern Europe, initiated in 1218 by Reims.source
1282First evidence of the existence of consolidated public debt in Bruges, confirming the expansion of use of annuities, to fund government expenditure to the Low Countries.source

14th century

1340June 24 – Hundred Years' War: Battle of Sluys – The English fleet, under the command of Edward III of England, battles the French fleet, under that of Admiral Hugues Quiéret and treasurer Nicolas Béhuchet, assisted by Genoese mercenary galleys under Egidio Bocanegra, on the Low Countries coast. The French fleet is virtually destroyed, and both of its commanders are killed.source
1366The Den Hoorn brewery is founded at Leuven in the Low Countries. In 1717 this will be renamed the Brouwerij Artois, and later releases a beer in 1926 named Stella Artois.source

15th century

1477February 11 – Mary of Burgundy, the daughter of Charles the Bold and the new Duches, is forced by her disgruntled subjects to sign the Great Privilege, by which the Flemish cities recover all the local and communal rights which have been abolished by the decrees of the dukes of Burgundy, in their efforts to create a centralized state in the Low Countries.source

16th century

1516July 30 – John V, Count of Nassau-Siegen dies in Siegen, now in Germany, leaving his realm to be divided by his two sons. The transition is smooth because of a 1509 agreement between Henry III of Nassau-Breda and William I of Nassau-Dillenburg. William receives all of John V's possessions in Germany, while Henry inherits those in the Low Countries.source
1547John Dee visits the Low Countries, to study navigation with Gemma Frisius.source
1576November 4 – Eighty Years' War – Sack of Antwerp: In the Low Countries, mutinous Spanish soldiers sack Antwerp; after three days the city is nearly destroyed.source

17th century

1692September 8 – An earthquake in Brabant of scale 5.8 is felt across the Low Countries, Germany and England.source

19th century

1814June 21 – The secret Eight Articles of London are signed between the Great Powers, uniting the Low Countries under William I of the Netherlands.source