Low Countries - Definition and Overview

The Low Countries are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine and Meuse rivers— usually used in modern context to mean the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg (an alternate modern term, more often used today, is Benelux).

The Low Countries were the scene of the early northern towns, built from scratch rather than developed from ancient centers, that mark the reawakening of Europe in the 12th century. Cities of the Early Middle Ages built round the manufacture and trade of woollen cloth, Europe's first industry, included Liège, Louvain, Malines, Antwerp, Brussels Ypres, Ghent and Utrecht, to employ a list compiled by Henri Pirenne.

The Low Countries in the 16th century roughly correspond to the Seventeen Provinces covered by the Pragmatic Sanction of 1548 of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, sometimes called the Spanish Netherlands, and to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815-1830).

See also

Netherlands (disambiguation)