Spanish Netherlands - Definition and Overview

This article or section should be merged with Seventeen Provinces

The Spanish Netherlands was a portion of the Low Countries controlled by Spain from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. When part of the Netherlands separated from Spanish rule and became the United Provinces in 1581 the remainder of the area became known as the Spanish Netherlands and was still under the loose control of Spain. This region comprised modern Belgium as well as much of northeastern France. Over a long series of wars including the War of Devolution, the Dutch War, the War of the Reunions, and the Nine Years War France annexed much of the region. After the French Revolution the entire region was overrun by France ending the existence of the Spanish Netherlands. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 the region was given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, however in 1830 it separated and became the independent state of Belgium.