A Brief History of the Low Countries

This week I have learned more about the history of the Netherlands than I thought was possible in one week. All of my classes have started out with a lecture on how the Netherlands came to be. I will try to summarize it briefly.

The first evidence of mankind in what is now the Netherlands appears around 5000BC. The first written records describing the Low Countries (a term used to describe the area that is now the Netherlands before all the provinces and cities were united) are from around 50BC when the Roman Empire controlled the area. In 70AD the Batvians, a Low Country tribe, staged an uprising against the Romans and succeed in gaining independence. The next few hundred years saw the rise of cities and semi-independent provinces throughout the Low Countries.

In the 8th century, Christian missionaries moved into the region and started to take control of the cities. In 800AD, the Low Countries were annexed by Charlemagne. The next decisive event was the Spanish invasion led by Charles V in the early 1500's. The 1500s was a time of great wealth in the Low Countries due to the rise of the trade and merchant class, or the Burghers. It was also a time of great unrest. Due to the Protestant Reformation tensions began to grow between the Catholic monarchy and the Burghers.

In the mid 1500's Charles the V's son, Philip II, took the throne. He had no tolerance for the Protestants living in the low countries. In response to Philip's increased pressure on the Protestants, the people in the Low Countries revolted and began destroying Catholic churches in 1566. This was known as the Iconoclastic Fury. In response, Philip II sent an army to quell the uprising. Seven of the Low Countries banded together under the leadership of the William the Orange (the first in the line of Dutch royalty that still rules today, this is also why orange is the national color of the Netherlands) and defeated Philip's army.

In 1568, what is today known as the Netherlands officially came into existence as a semi-unified state. The next 150 years is called the Dutch Golden Age. During this time trade flourished and the Dutch built trading ports in countries around the world. While there was no state church, Protestantism was the accepted religion which forced all other religions to be practiced "underground". The Protestants did not persecute the Catholics and other religions, but they were not allowed to hold office or show their support of their religion of choice in the public sphere.

In 1795, the French invaded the semi-unified Low Countries with the intent of "liberating" the Catholics. Louis Napoleon (Napoleon Bonaparte's brother) was instated as the king of the Netherlands in 1801 and ruled until 1806. During this period Amsterdam became the capital of the Netherlands. In 1813, William I became king continuing the Orange royalty blood line. Over the next 100 years the Low Countries became more and more unified, eventually becoming the Netherlands that we know today.

Interesting side note. Below is the National Anthem of the Netherlands it was written in 1581, and was instated as the National Anthem in the early 1900's. Notice nowhere is there any mention of "the Dutch" or being Dutch. Instead they pledge their allegiance to the Spanish king, and proudly state that they are of German blood. Wonder how it feels to sing this at the World Cup for example?

William of Nassau
am I, of German blood.
Loyal to the fatherland
I will remain until I die.
A prince of Orange
am I, free and fearless.
The king of Spain
I have always honoured


My shield and reliance
are you, o God my Lord.
It is you on whom I want to rely,
never leave me again.
[Grant] that I may remain brave,
your servant for always,
and [may] defeat the tyranny,
which pierces my heart.


I did do other things this week beside learn about Dutch history. Monday night a bunch of us had a mini-Super Bowl party where we crowded around a computer screen drinking American beer at 2am to watch a relatively good stream of the big game. On Thursday we went and checked out one of the more famous clubs here, Escape. On Thursdays students can get in for free. Check out this link if you want to see some pics. There is actually a pic of Kelly and me in the album somewhere. 

http://link2party.nl/uitgaan/pictures/thumbs.aspx?Party=110210_RevealEscape

Last night we went and checked out some live Irish music by a band from Boston at a local Irish pub. It was a nice change of pace from the constant techno that plays in the clubs and bars here. I also found out this week that there is a flock of about 40 parrots that live in our neighborhood. They are the offspring of a few parrots that escaped the zoo a few years ago.