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Flanders (Dutch: Vlaanderen, French: Flandre, German: Flandern) has historically been a region overlapping parts of
modern Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Today, Flanders designates either the Flemish Community, which
includes Dutch-speaking residents of the Brussels-Capital Region, or the Flemish Region, which does not. The
parliament and government govern both the Community and the Region, even though they are not co-extensive.[2]
West Flanders and East Flanders are two of the five provinces of the Flemish Region, both located in its western
part. French Flanders may designate the département called Nord ("North") or the larger Nord-Pas de Calais region
in which Nord is located. Zeelandic Flanders, in Dutch Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, refers to a part of the Netherlands
located in Zeeland.
Contents
1 The term "Flanders"
1.1 In Belgium
1.2 In France
1.3 In the Netherlands
1.4 Evolution of the term
2 History
2.1 Early history
2.2 Historical Flanders: County of Flanders
2.3 Flanders in the Low Countries
2.3.1 The Reformation
2.3.2 Suppression of dissent
2.3.3 The Eighty Years' War and its consequences
2.3.4 1581–1795: The Southern Netherlands
2.3.5 1795–1815: French Revolution and Napoleonic France
2.3.6 1815–1830: United Kingdom of the Netherlands
2.4 Kingdom of Belgium
2.4.1 Rise of the Flemish Movement
2.4.2 World War I and its consequences
2.4.3 Right-Wing Nationalism in the interbellum and World War II
2.4.4 Communautary quibbles and the Egmont pact
2.4.5 Recent events
2.4.5.1 Fake revolution
2.4.5.2 Belgian federal elections
3 Government and politics
3.1 Politics
3.2 Flemish nation
4 Administrative divisions
5 Geography and climate
6 Economy
7 Demographics
8 Language and culture
9 The Family Name "Fleming"
10 See also
11 External links
12 References
The term "Flanders"
In Belgium : The term "Flanders" has several main meanings:
the social, cultural and linguistic, scientific and educational, economical and political community of the Flemings;
generally called the "Flemish community" (small "c") (others refer to this as the "Flemish nation") which is, with
over 6 million inhabitants, the majority of all Belgians;
the constituent governing institution of the federal Belgian state through the institutions named the Flemish
Community (capital "C"), exercising the powers on most of those domains for aforementioned community, and
the officially Dutch-speaking Flemish Region which has powers mainly on economical matters. The Community
absorbed the Region, leading to a single operative body as the Flemish government and a legislative one as the
Flemish parliament;
the geographical region in the north of Belgium coinciding with the federal Belgian state's constituent part of the
Flemish Region that unlike the Community excludes the bilingual Capital Region; historically there had been no
distinction between Brussels and the surrounding geographical area;
the geographical area comprising the two westernmost provinces of the Flemish Region, West Flanders and
East Flanders, parts of a former countship named Flanders.
Vlaanderen literally means Flooded Land or Lowland. The name appeared first around the 8th century. The precise
geographical area denominated by "Flanders" has evolved a great deal over the centuries.
In the Middle Ages, the term Flanders was applied to an area in western Europe, the County of Flanders, spread over:
Belgium :
the area that is now approximately the Flemish provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders
the French-speaking area at the west of the Scheldt river, called Tournaisis
(from the now Wallonian town Tournai in the province of Hainaut)
France :
French Flanders or, in French language: La Flandre Lilloise is the region comprising the arrondissements
of Lille and Douai, in the north of France, to which it was ceded in the 14th century.
Because of French being spoken, the area was also called la Flandre romane (Romance Flanders) or la
Flandre gallicante (Gallic Flanders), or incorrectly Flandre-wallonne (Walloon Flanders) though its language
was not Walloon but Picard.
The city of Lille manifests itself as "Flemish", for instance by the large TGV station Lille-Flandres.
Département Nord : the originally Dutch-speaking remainder of what is now the département Nord (Nord-Pas
de Calais), called Westhoek or Maritime Flanders, ceded to France in the 17th and early 18th century, during
most of which latter century the area was the province of Flanders and that of Artois.
The Netherlands :
a part of what is now Zeeland in south-western Netherlands, called Zeelandic Flanders (Zeeuws-Vlaanderen)
The significance of the County and its counts eroded through time, but the designation remained in a very broad
sense. In the Early Modern, the term Flanders was associated to the southern part of the Low Countries, the Southern
Netherlands. During the 19th and 20th centuries, it became increasingly commonplace to refer to the area from De
Panne to Maasmechelen, including the Belgian parts of the Duchy of Brabant and Limburg, as "Flanders".
The ambiguity between this eastwardly much wider area and that of the Countship (or the Belgian parts thereof), still
remains. In most present-day contexts however, the term Flanders is generally taken to refer to either the political,
social, cultural and linguistic community (and the corresponding official institution, the Flemish Community), or the
geographical area, one of the three institutional regions in Belgium, namely the Flemish Region.
In history of art, the adjectives Flemish, Dutch and Netherlandish are commonly used to designate all the artistic
production in this area. For examples, Flemish Primitives is synonym for early Netherlandish painting, Franco-Flemish
School for Dutch School, and it is not uncommon to see Mosan art categorized as Flemish art.
During the late Middle Ages Flanders' trading towns (notably Ghent, Bruges and Ypres) made it one of the richest and
most urbanised parts of Europe, weaving the wool of neighbouring lands into cloth for both domestic use and export.
As a consequence, a very sophisticated culture developed, with impressive achievements in the arts and architecture,
rivalling those of Northern Italy.
Increasingly powerful from the 12th century, the territory's autonomous urban communes were instrumental in
defeating a French attempt at annexation (1300–1302), finally defeating the French in the Battle of the Golden Spurs
(July 11, 1302), near Kortrijk. Two years later, the uprising was defeated and Flanders remained part of the French
Crown. Flemish prosperity waned in the following century, however, owing to widespread European population
decline following the Black Death of 1348, the disruption of trade during the Anglo-French Hundred Years' War
(1338–1453), and increased English cloth production. Flemish weavers had gone over to Worstead and North
Walsham in Norfolk in the 12th century and established the woollen industry.
THE REFORMATION
Martin Luther's 95 Theses, published in 1517, had a profound effect on the Low Countries. Among the wealthy traders
of Antwerp, the Lutheran beliefs of the German Hanseatic traders found appeal, perhaps partly for economic reasons
in Dutch. The spread of Protestantism in this city was aided by the presence of an Augustinian cloister (founded 1514)
in the St. Andries quarter. Luther, an Augustinian himself, had taught some of the monks, and his works were in print
by 1518. Charles V ordered the closing of this cloister around 1525. The first Lutheran martyrs came from Antwerp.
The reformation resulted in consecutive but overlapping waves of reform: a Lutheran, followed by a militant
Anabaptist, then a Mennonite, and finally a Calvinistic movement. These movements existed independently of each
other.
The Pragmatic Sanction of 1549, issued by Charles V, established the Low Countries as the Seventeen Provinces (or
Spanish Netherlands in its broad sense) as an entity separate from the Holy Roman Empire and from France.
The schism between the southern Roman Catholics and northern Calvinists resulted in the the Union of Atrecht and
the Union of Utrecht, respectively.
SUPPRESSION OF DISSENT
One hallmark of the Reformation was the belief that excessive commemoration of the saints and their images had
become idolatry. Efforts to end it led to the iconoclasm of 1566 (the Beeldenstorm) – the demolition of statues and
paintings depicting saints. This was associated with the ensuing religious war between Catholics and Protestants,
especially the Anabaptists. The Beeldenstorm started in what is now the arrondissement of Dunkirk in French
Flanders, with open-air sermons (hagepreken) in Dutch. The first took place on the Cloostervelt near Hondschoote.
The first large sermon was held near Boeschepe on July 12, 1562. These open-air sermons, mostly of Anabaptist or
Mennonite signature, spread through the country. On August 10, 1566 at the end of the pilgrimage from Hondschoote
to Steenvoorde, the chapel of the Sint-Laurensklooster (Cloister of Saint Lawrence) was defaced by Protestants. The
iconoclasm resulted not only in the destruction of Catholic art, but also cost the lives of many priests. It next spread to
Antwerp, and on August 22, to Ghent. One cathedral, eight churches, twenty-five cloisters, ten hospitals and seven
chapels were attacked. From there, it further spread east and north, but in total lasted not even a month.
Charles' son, King Philip II of Spain, a devout Catholic and self-proclaimed protector of the Counter-Reformation who
was also the duke, count or lord of each of the Seventeen Provinces, suppressed Calvinism in Flanders, Brabant and
Holland. What is now approximately Belgian Limburg was part of the Bishopric of Liège and was Catholic de facto.
Part of what is now Dutch Limburg supported the Union of Atrecht, but did not sign it.
First the fall of Antwerp to the Spanish and later also the closing of the Scheldt were causes of a considerable
emigration of Antverpians.[4] Many of the Calvinist merchants of Antwerp and also of other Flemish cities left Flanders
and emigrated to the north. A large number of them settled in Amsterdam, which was at the time a smaller port, only
of significance in the Baltic trade. In the following years Amsterdam was rapidly transformed into one of the world's
most important ports. Because of the contribution of the Flemish exiles to this transformation, the exodus is
sometimes described as "creating a new Antwerp".
Flanders and Brabant, due to these events, went into a period of relative decline from the time of the Thirty Years
War.[5] In the Northern Netherlands however, the mass emigration from Flanders and Brabant became an important
driving force behind the Dutch Golden Age.
Ghent
The in 1815 reinstated Dutch Senate (Dutch: Eerste Kamer der Staaten Generaal) the nobility, mainly coming from
the south, became more and more estranged from their northern colleagues. Resentment grew both among the
Roman Catholics from the south and the Protestants from the north and among the powerful liberal bourgeoisie from
the south and their more moderate colleagues from the North. On August 25, 1830 (after the showing of the opera 'La
Muette de Portici' of Daniel Auber in Brussels) the Belgian Revolution sparked off and became a fact. On October 4,
1830, the Provisional Authority (Dutch: Voorlopig Bewind) proclaimed the independence which was later confirmed by
the National Congress that issued a new Liberal Constitution and declared the new state a Constitutional Monarchy,
under the House of Saxe-Coburg. Flanders now became part of the Kingdom of Belgium, which was recognized by
the major European Powers on January 20, 1831. The de facto dissidence was only finally recognized by the United
Kingdom of the Netherlands on April 19, 1839.
Kingdom of Belgium
In 1830, the Belgian Revolution led to the splitting up of the two countries. Belgium was confirmed as an independent
state by the Treaty of London of 1839, but deprived of the eastern half of Limburg (now Dutch Limburg), and the
Eastern half of Luxembourg (now the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg) . Sovereignty over Zeeuws Vlaanderen, south of
the Westerscheldt river delta, was left with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, who was allowed to levy a toll on all traffic
to the Antwerp harbour until 1863.[5]
Flemish feeling of identity and consciousness grew through the events and experiences of war. The German
occupying authorities had taken several Flemish-friendly measures. More importantly, the experiences of many
Flemish speaking soldiers on the front led by French speaking officers catalysed Flemish emancipation. The French
speaking officers barked the orders in French, followed by "et pour les Flamands, la même chose", which basically
meant, "Same thing for the Flemish", which obviously did not help the Flemish conscripts, who were mostly
uneducated farmers and workers, who didn't speak French at all.[citation needed] The resulting suffering is still
remembered by Flemish organizations during the yearly Yser pilgrimage in Diksmuide at the monument of the Yser
Tower.
These victories for the advocates of much more Flemish autonomy are very much in parallel with opinion polls that
show a structural increase in popular support for their agenda.
Several negotiators having come and gone since the last federal elections of 10 June 2007 without diminishing the
disagreements between Flemish and Walloon politicians regarding a further State reform, continues to prevent the
formation of the federal government.
Government and politics
Main article: Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium
Both the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region are constitutional institutions of the Kingdom of Belgium with
precise geographical boundaries. In practice, the Flemish Community and Region together form a single body, with its
own parliament and government, as the Community legally absorbed the competences of the Region.
The area of the Flemish Community is represented on the maps above, including the area of the Brussels-Capital
Region (hatched on the relevant map). Roughly, the Flemish Community exercises competences originally oriented
towards the individuals of the Community's language: culture (including audiovisual media), education, and the use of
the language. Extensions to personal matters less directly associated with language comprise sports, health policy
(curative and preventive medicine), and assistance to individuals (protection of youth, social welfare, aid to families,
immigrant assistance services, etc.).[7]
The area of the Flemish Region is represented on the maps above. It has a population of around 6 million (excluding
the Dutch-speaking community in the Brussels Region, grey on the map for it is not a part of the Flemish Region).
Roughly, the Flemish Region is responsible for territorial issues in a broad sense, including economy, employment,
agriculture, water policy, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature
conservation, credit, and foreign trade. It supervises the provinces, municipalities, and intercommunal utility
companies.[8]
The number of Dutch-speaking Flemish people in the Capital Region is estimated to be between 11% and 15%
(official figures do not exist as there is no language census and no official subnationality). According to a survey
conducted by the Université Catholique de Louvain in Louvain-La-Neuve and published in June 2006, 51% of
respondents from Brussels claimed to be bilingual, even if they do not have Dutch as their first language.[9][10] They
are governed by the Brussels Region for economics affairs and by the Flemish Community for educational and
cultural issues.
As of 2005, Flemish institutions such as Flanders' government, parliament, etc. represent the Flemish Community and
the Flemish region. The region and the community thus de facto share the same parliament and the same
government. All these institutions are based in Brussels. Nevertheless, both bodies (the Community and the Region)
still exist and the distinction between both is important for the people living in Brussels. Members of the Flemish
parliament who were elected in the Brussels Region cannot vote on affairs belonging to the competences of the
Flemish Region.
The official language for all Flemish institutions is Dutch. French enjoys a limited official recognition in a dozen
municipalities along the borders with French-speaking Wallonia, and a large recognition in the bilingual Brussels
Region. French is widely known in Flanders, with 59% claiming to know French according to a survey conducted by
the Université catholique de Louvain in Louvain-La-Neuve and published in June 2006.[11][12]
Politics
Main article: Politics of Flanders
Many new political parties during the last half century were founded in Flanders: the nationalist Volksunie of which the
extreme-right nationalist Vlaams Blok (Vlaams Belang) split off, and that later dissolved into SPIRIT, moderate
nationalism rather left of the spectrum, and the NVA, more conservative moderate nationalism; the
alternative/ecological Groen!; the short-lived anarchistic libertarian spark ROSSEM and more recently the
conservative-right liberal Lijst Dedecker, founded by Jean-Marie Dedecker.
Flemish nation
Main article: Flemish Movement
For many Flemings, Flanders is more than just a geographical area or the federal institutions (Flemish Community
and Region). Some even call it a nation: a people of over 6 million living in the Flemish Region and in the Brussels-
Capital Region. Flemings share many political, cultural, scientific, social and educational views. Although most
Flemings identify themselves more with Flanders than with Belgium, the largest group defines itself as both Flemish
and Belgian. The idea of an independent Flanders finds its root in the romantic nationalism of the 19th century.[citation
needed]
Administrative divisions
Main article: Provinces of Belgium#Provinces of the Flemish Region
The Flemish Region covers 13,522 km² (5,221 sq mi) and contains over 300 municipalities. It is divided into 5
provinces:
1. Antwerp (Antwerpen)
2. Limburg (Limburg)
3. East Flanders (Oost-Vlaanderen)
4. Flemish Brabant (Vlaams-Brabant)
5. West Flanders (West-Vlaanderen)
Independently from the provinces, Flanders has its own local institutions in the Brussels-Capital Region, being the
Vlaamse GemeenschapsCommissie (VGC), and its municipal antennae (Gemeenschapscentra, community centers
for the Flemish community in Brussels). These institutions are independent from the educational, cultural and social
institutions which depend directly on the Flemish government. They exert, among others, all those cultural
competences that outside Brussels fall under the provinces.
Demographics
The highest population density is found in the area circumscribed by the Brussels-Antwerp-Gent-Leuven
agglomerations that surround Mechelen and is known as the Flemish Diamond, in other important urban centres as
Bruges and Kortrijk to the west, and notable centres Turnhout and Hasselt to the east. As of April 2005, the Flemish
Region has a population of 6,058,368 and about 15% of the 1,018,029 people in the Brussels Region are also
considered Flemish.[16]
The (Belgian) laicist constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the various government generally respects this
right in practice. Since independence, Catholicism, counterbalanced by strong freethought movements, has had an
important role in Belgium's politics, since the 20th century in Flanders mainly via the Christian trade union (ACV) and
the Christian Democrat party (CD&V). According to the 2001 Survey and Study of Religion,[17] about 47 percent of the
Belgian population identify themselves as belonging to the Catholic Church while Islam is the second-largest religion
at 3.5 percent. A 2006 inquiry in Flanders, considered more religious than Wallonia, showed 55% to call themselves
religious, 36% believe that God created the world.[18] (See also Religion in Belgium).
According to Npdata, 9.7% of the Flemish population is of foreign descent. 4.5% European (including 1.8% Dutch,
0.6% Italian and 0.4% French), and 5.1% from outside the European union, (including 1.8% Moroccan and 1.5%
Turks).
Education is compulsory from the ages of six to 18, but most Flemings continue to study until around 23. Among the
OECD countries in 1999, Flanders had the third-highest proportion of 18–21-year-olds enrolled in postsecondary
education. Flanders also scores very high in international comparative studies on education. Its secondary school
students consistently rank among the top three for mathematics and science. However, the success is not evenly
spread: ethnic minority youth score consistently lower, and the difference is larger than in most comparable countries.
Mirroring the historical political conflicts between the freethought and Catholic segments of the population, the
Flemish educational system is split into a laïque branch controlled by the communities, the provinces, or the
municipalities, and a subsidised religious—mostly Catholic—branch controlled by both the communities and the
religious authorities—usually the dioceses. It should however be noted that—at least for the Catholic schools—the
religious authorities have very limited power over these schools. Smaller school systems follow 'methodical
pedagogies' (Steiner, Montessori, Freinet, ...) or serve the Jewish and Protestant minorities.
Language and culture
Main articles: Dutch language, Flemish people, and Flemish Movement
The standard language is in Flanders the same as in the Netherlands, i.e., Dutch. The Dutch dialects spoken in
Belgium and the standard language with influences from these dialects, are often referred to as Flemish (Dutch:
Vlaams).
At first sight, Flemish culture is defined by its language and its gourmandic mentality. Some claim Flemish literature
does not exist, because it is said to be 'readable' by both the Dutch as well as Flemings. This is correct for the vast
majority of the literature written by Flemings, although one might argue a distinct Flemish literature already began in
the 19th century, when most of the European Nation-states arose, with writers and poets such as Guido Gezelle, who
not only explicitly referred to his writings as Flemish, but actually used it in many of his poems, and strongly defended
it:
Original Translation
"Gij zegt dat ‘t vlaamsch te niet zal gaan: "You say Flemish will disappear:
‘t en zal! It will not!
dat ‘t waalsch gezwets zal boven slaan: that Walloonish rantings will prevail:
‘t en zal! It will not!
Dat hopen, dat begeren wij: This we hope, this we crave:
dat zeggen en dat zweren wij: this we say and this we swear:
zoo lange als wij ons weren, wij: as long as we defend ourselves, we:
‘t en zal, ‘t en zal, It will not, It will not,
‘t en zal!" It will not!"
This distinction in literature is also made by some experts, such as Kris Humbeeck, professor in Literature of the
University of Antwerp here. Nevertheless, the near totality of Dutch-language literature read (and appreciated to
varying degrees) in Flanders is the same as in the Netherlands.
Some other writers representative of Flemish culture are Ernest Claes, Stijn Streuvels and Felix Timmermans. Their
novels mostly describe rural life in Flanders in the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. They were widely read by
the elder generation but are considered somewhat old fashioned by present day critics.
Some famous flemish writers from the early 20th century wrote in French, like nobel-prize winner (1911) Maurice
Maeterlinck and Emile Verhaeren.
Still widely read and translated into other languages (including English) are the novels of authors like Willem Elsschot,
Louis Paul Boon and Hugo Claus. The younger generation is represented by novelists like Tom Lanoye, Herman
Brusselmans and the poet Herman de Coninck.
See also
Look up Flanders in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Seventeen Provinces
Burgundian Netherlands
Flemish Parliament
List of political parties in Flanders
Flemish education
List of Minister-Presidents of Flanders
Count of Flanders
VRT, the Flemish publicly-funded broadcaster
VTM, the biggest Flemish commercial TV-station
Flemish Primitives
Vinkenzetting
Science and technology in Flanders
Flemish Movement
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Flanders
(English)Flemish authorities (Dutch: Vlaamse overheid)
(Dutch)Flemish authorities (Dutch: Vlaamse overheid)
Flemish Parliament (Dutch: Vlaams Parlement)
Flemish government (Dutch: Vlaamse regering)
Flemish Community Council in Brussels (Dutch: Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie (VGC))
(English)Visit Flanders
Public radio & television (Dutch: Vlaamse radio en Televisie)
(English)Flanders on line
Toerisme Vlaanderen
Dag Vlaanderen
(French)French Flanders
(Dutch)Frans-Vlaanderen
(Dutch)Flanders reaches 6 million inhabitants
History of Flanders
References
1. ^ "Structuur van de bevolking – België / Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest / Vlaams Gewest / Waals Gewest
(2000-2006)" (asp) (in Dutch). FOD/SPF Economie (Federal Government Service Economy) - Algemene Directie
Statistiek en Economische Informatie (© 1998/2007). Retrieved on 15 May, 2007.
2. ^ The capital city of Flanders is Brussels. "The Flemish Community". .be Portal. Belgian Federal Government.
Retrieved on 2007-06-25.
3. ^ http://www.domkerk.nl/domchurch/history.html
4. ^ Footnote: An Antverpian, derived from Antverpia, the Latin name of Antwerp, is an inhabitant of this city; the
term is also the adjective expressing that its substantive is from or in that city or belongs to it.
5. ^ a b c "Antwerp — History". Find it in Flanders. Tourism Flanders & Brussels, Flanders House, London, UK.
Retrieved on 2007-01-02.
6. ^
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Fictional_documentary_about_Flemish_independence_causes_consternation_in_Belgium
13. ^ The altitude of Mechelen, approximately in the middle of the central plain forming the large part of Flanders, is
7 m (23 ft) above sea level. Already closer to the higher southern Wallonia, the more eastern Leuven and Hasselt
reach altitudes up to about 40 m (131 ft) "Kingdom of Belgium map (politically outdated)". Retrieved on 15 May, 2007.
14. ^ Ir. Jan Strubbe in collaboration with Dr. Frank Mostaert and Ir. Koen Maeghe. "Flood management in Flanders
with special focus on navigable waterways". Ministry of the Flemish Community, department Environment and
Infrastructure (Waterbouwkundig Laboratorium, Flanders Hydraulics Research, Administratie Waterwegen en
Zeewezen). “Flanders is covered by the three major catchment basins (Yser, Scheldt and Meuse). This rather
lowlying nearly flat region (2 to 150 m/6–492 ft altitude above sea-level) ...”
15. ^ Myriam Dumortier, Luc De Bruyn, Maarten Hens, Johan Peymen, Anik Schneiders, Toon Van Daele, Wouter
Van Reeth, Gisèle Weyembergh and Eckhart Kuijken (2006). "Biodiversity Indicators 2006 - State of Nature in
Flanders (Belgium)". Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Brussels. “The altitude ranges from a few
meters above sea-level in the Polders to 288 m (945 ft) above sea-level in the south eastern exclave.”
17. ^ "Belgium". International Religious Freedom Report 2004. US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy,
Human Rights, and Labor (2004). Retrieved on 2007-05-28.
18. ^ Inquiry by 'Vepec', 'Vereniging voor Promotie en Communicatie' (Organisation for Promotion and
Communication), published in Knack magazine 22 November 2006 p. 14 [The Dutch language term 'gelovig' is in the
text translated as 'religious', more precisely it is a very common word for believing in particular in any kind of God in a
monotheistic sense, and/or in some afterlife].
East Flanders lies east and north-east of the western province, and extends northwards to the neighbourhood of Antwerp.
On the break-up of the Carolingian empire the river Scheldt was by the treaty of Verdun (843) made the line of division between the
kingdom of East Francia (Austrasia) under the emperor Lothaire, and the kingdom of West Francia (Neustria) under Charles the Bald.
In his time the long contest between Flanders and Holland for the possession of the island of Zeeland was brought to an end by a
treaty signed on the 6th of March 1323, by which West Zeeland was assigned to the count of Holland, the rest to the count of
Flanders.
It is divided among East Flanders and West Flanders provs., Belgium; Nord and Pas-de-Calais depts., France; and (to a small
extent) Zeeland prov., the Netherlands.
Their prosperity and the prosperity of Flanders as a whole depended on the growing cloth industry, which had been introduced in the
10th cent., and on the transit trade at such major ports as Bruges (later superseded by Antwerp) and Ghent.
Flanders joined (1576) in the revolt of the Netherlands against Philip II of Spain, but by 1584 the Spanish under Alessandro Farnese
had recovered the county.
SOURCE: http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Flanders