First published December 2, 1999. The Belgian Succession The
territories composing modern Belgium emerged in the Middle Ages
under the rule of autonomous lords (count of Flanders, duke of
Brabant, count of Hainaut, count of Namur, duke of Limburg,
bishop of Liege, etc) some of whom were French vassals
(Flanders), some vassals of the Emperor (Liege), and some of
whom were already deemed without superior lord (Brabant). These
territories, by a succession of marriages and inheritances,
belonged to the Capetian dukes of Burgundy until 1477 and then
passed to the Habsburgs. Charles V divided his inheritance in
1555 and gave the Low Countries to his son Philip II, king of
Spain. The Low Countries revolted against Spanish rule in the
late 1560s. The northern provinces of the union of Utrecht of
1579, mostly Protestant, more persevering and successful, saw
their independence recognized at the treaty of Westphalia in
1648. The southern provinces of the union of Arras of 1579,
mostly Catholic, remained under Spanish ru