Generality Lands Totally Explained

Everything about The Generality Lands totally explained

The Generality Lands, Lands of the Generality or Common Lands (Dutch: Generaliteitslanden) were about 20% of the territories of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, that were directly governed by the Estates- (or States-) General. Contrary to the seven provinces Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel, Friesland and Groningen, these territories had no provincial estates and were not represented in the central government. During the Eighty Years' War the Generality Lands came (or remained) under control of the Dutch republic, and this situation was consolidated by the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Most of the territories had no provincial government because they were cut off from their original mainland, which remained under Spanish rule. The prefix Staats- indicates that this part of the province was under general States rule, more or less like a crown dependency.

Brabant of the States (Staats-Brabant): the northern part of the duchy of Brabant, most of the present province of North Brabant

Flanders of the States (Staats-Vlaanderen): the northern part of the county of Flanders, present Zeelandic Flanders and nowadays part of the province of Zeeland

Limburg of the States (Staats-Limburg or Staats-Overmaas): several small territories between Maastricht, Liège and Aachen, for example Dalhem, Valkenburg and Hertogenrade. The city of Maastricht was a condominium of the United Provinces and the Bishopric of Liège.

Guelders of the States (Staats-Oppergelre): as a result of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) a part of Spanish Guelders was ceded to the United Provinces, for example Venlo and Echt; another part came to Prussia and a small part around Roermond was left for the Austrian duchy of Guelders.

Westerwolde and Wedde: what is now the south-eastern part of the province of Groningen was a generality land between 1594 and 1619, after which it became part of said province. After the French occupation of the Southern Netherlands and the proclamation of the Batavian Republic in 1795 the Generality Lands ceased to exist. Staats-Brabant became a département in the Batavian Republic (Bataafs-Brabant). Staats-Vlaanderen became part of the French département Escaut. Staats-Limburg and Staats-Oppergelre became parts of the Frenchs départements Roer, Meuse-Inférieure and Ourthe.
When French rule ended and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was created, none of the Generality lands returned. Bataafs-Brabant was merged with a number of formerly semi-independent Holy Roman fiefs and part of the province of Holland to become Noord-Brabant; Staats-Vlaanderen was incorporated into the province of Zeeland; and most parts of Staats-Oppergelre and Staats-Limburg were merged with territories gained from Prussia to form the province of Limburg, with the rest going to Prussia.
Territories of the Dutch republic outside Europe were also under general States rule, for example Staten Island in present-day New York City and in Argentina.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Generality Lands'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://generality_lands.totallyexplained.com">Generality Lands Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.