The States of Flanders were a representative institution in the medieval and early modern

County of Flanders The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries. From 862 onwards, the counts of Flanders were among the original twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries, their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Ypr ...

. Initially it consisted only of the Third Estate, with representatives of the three cities of

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

and

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

. Around 1350 the rural Liberty of Bruges also obtained representation in the States.

History

In the Burgundian Netherlands, the States of Flanders were the first host of the States-General of the Netherlands, convened in Bruges on 9 January 1464. In 1579–1581, during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

, the cities and the States of Flanders subscribed to the Union of Utrecht and the Act of Abjuration declaring independence from Habsburg rule, but royal troops reconquered most of the Flemish territory (excepting Zeelandic Flanders) and restored Habsburg rule. Under the government of the Archdukes

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert ...

and

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpora ...

a representation of the First Estate was included in the composition of the States of Flanders. From 1754 smaller towns in Flanders were granted representation in the States, and the responsibilities of the body were extended from voting taxes and levying troops to oversight of public works and public assets. On 4 January 1790, the States of Flanders declared independence from Austrian rule, and seven days later, on 11 January 1790, joined the United States of Belgium. All Southern Netherlands "States" disappeared four years later, during

French revolutionary The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...

occupation.

Literature

Wim Blockmans Willem Pieter Blockmans (born 26 May 1945, Antwerp, Belgium) was Professor of Medieval History at Leiden University between 1987 and 2010. He earned a PhD from the University of Ghent. He has been Rector of the Netherlands Institute for Advance ...

and Walter Prevenier, ''Handelingen van de Leden en van de Staten van Vlaanderen, 1467-1477'' (Brussels, 1971) *M. Nuyttens and A. Zoete, "De Vier Leden en de Staten van Vlaanderen", ''De gewestelijke en lokale overheidsinstellingen in Vlaanderen tot 1795'', ed. W. Prevenier and B. Augustyn (Brussels, 1997), pp. 67-78. *M. Nuyttens, ''Inventaris van het Archief van de Staten van Vlaanderen'' (Brussels, 1986) *Walter Prevenier, ''Handelingen van de Leden en van de Staten van Vlaanderen, 1384-1405'' (Brussels, 1959) *H. Van Houtte, ''Tafels van de resolutieboeken der Staten van Vlaanderen'', vol. 1 (Brussels, 1936), for the years 1582-1583, 1614-1631 *J. Dhondt, ''Tafels van de resolutieboeken der Staten van Vlaanderen'', vol. 2 (Brussels, 1941), for the years 1631-1656 {{DEFAULTSORT:States of Flanders County of Flanders Historical legislatures in Belgium Political history of the Dutch Republic States General of the Netherlands History of Flanders

History

Archives

Literature