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101-500: Its Latin name is "Glana", which means "bright brook". This Dutch Limburg location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a river in the Netherlands is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Limburg (Netherlands) Limburg ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈlɪmbʏr(ə)x] , Limburgish: [ˈlɪm˦ˌbʏʀ˦əx] ), also known as Dutch Limburg ,

202-681: A Papal fief 36. Imperial Free City of Mulhouse 37. Savoy , a Sardinian fief (parl. in Chambéry 1537–59) 38. Nice , a Sardinian fief 39. Montbéliard , a fief of Württemberg 40. (not indicated) Trois-Évêchés ( Metz , Toul and Verdun ) 41. (not indicated) Dombes ( Trévoux ) 42. (not indicated) Navarre ( Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port ) 43. (not indicated) Soule ( Mauléon ) 44. (not indicated) Bigorre ( Tarbes ) 45. (not indicated) Beaujolais ( Beaujeu ) 46. (not indicated) Bresse ( Bourg ) 47. (not indicated) Perche ( Mortagne-au-Perche ) In an attempt to reform

303-553: A condominium , sovereignty over this city was held jointly by the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and the Duchy of Brabant . Also, the central and northern part of present-day Limburg belonged to different political entities, notably the Duchy of Jülich and the Duchy of Guelders . By the late Middle Ages most of the present day territory of Limburg had been partitioned to the Duchy of Brabant,

404-570: A combination of aggression, annexation and quasilegal means, he set about extending his gains to stabilize and strengthen France's frontiers, culminating in the brief War of the Reunions (1683–1684). The resulting Truce of Ratisbon guaranteed France's new borders for 20 years, but Louis XIV's subsequent actions, notably his revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, led to the deterioration of his military and political dominance. Louis XIV's decision to cross

505-421: A derivation from a Germanic word "lint" meaning "dragon". Ironically the area under the direct lordship of the old Duchy did not overlap at all with the modern Belgian and Dutch provinces named after it today, though the medieval Duchy was a high status title in the region. On the other hand, while the Duchy's effective power was limited, the Duchy and what is now South Limburg (referred to as Overmaas) did have

606-499: A few smaller German princes and dukes in Italy. Extensive back-and-forth fighting took place in the Netherlands, but the dimensions of the war once again changed when both Emperor Leopold and his son and successor, Joseph, died. That left Archduke Charles, the second son of Leopold, younger brother to Joseph , as the Alliance candidate for both king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor. Since such

707-446: A height of 322.4 metres (1,058 ft) above NAP , rising approximately 110 metres above the village Vaals, where three countries ( Netherlands , Belgium and Germany ) border each other at the so-called " Three-country-point ". Limburg's main river is the Meuse , which passes through the province's entire length from south to north. Limburg's surface is largely formed by deposits from

808-587: A large number of towns and villages were destroyed by bombings and artillery battles. Various cemeteries, too, bear witness to this dark chapter in Limburg's history. Almost 8,500 American soldiers, who perished during the liberation of the Netherlands, lie buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten . Other big war cemeteries are to be found at Overloon ( British soldiers) and

909-646: A long history of connection under the lordship of the Dukes of Brabant . During this long period, from the Middle Ages until the French Revolution , they were sometimes referred to collectively under one name (Overmaas or Limburg). After 1794, it was the French Republic which unified the region, along with Belgian Limburg, and removed all ties to the old feudal society (the ancien regime ). The new name, as with all

1010-621: A loss of economic importance. Limburg was the scene of many bloody battles during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), in which the Dutch Republic threw off Habsburg Spanish rule. At the Battle of Mookerheyde (14 April 1574), two brothers of Prince William of Orange-Nassau and thousands of " Dutch " mercenaries died. Most Limburgians fought on the Spanish side, being Catholics and being opposed to

1111-512: A major character in The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père (1802–1870). The modern boundaries of Dutch Limburg, along with its neighbour, Belgian Limburg, were basically set during the period after the French Revolution , which erased much of the " ancien regime " of Europe, with all its old boundaries and titles. These two provinces were part of a new French département , named (like many départements ) after

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1212-526: A new tax based on the dixième , the vingtième , was enacted to reduce the royal deficit and continued for the rest of the ancien régime . Another key source of state financing was through charging fees for state positions (such as most members of parlements, magistrates, maître des requêtes and financial officers). Many of the fees were quite high, but some of the offices conferred nobility and could be financially advantageous. The use of offices to seek profit had become standard practice as early as

1313-461: A peace program that was agreed to by Fleury, and the two powers formed an alliance. The Dutch Republic was much reduced in power and so agreed with Britain's idea of peace. In Vienna, the Holy Roman Empire's Habsburg emperors bickered with the new Bourbon king of Spain, Philip V, over Habsburg control of most of Italy, but relations with France were undramatic. In the mid-15th century, France

1414-594: A result of the Battle of Worringen , then in the 15th century under the Duchy of Burgundy . By 1473, the Lands of Overmaas and the Duchy of Limburg formed one unified delegation to the States General of the Burgundian Netherlands . Both the terms Overmaas and Limburg came to be used loosely to refer to this sparsely populated province of the so-called Seventeen Provinces . Maastricht was never part of this polity: as

1515-562: A sixtieth of the official charge, which permitted the titleholder to be free of the forty-day rule. The paulette and the venality of offices became key concerns in the parliamentarian revolts of the 1640s called the Fronde . The state also demanded a "free gift", which the church collected from holders of ecclesiastic offices through taxes called the décime (roughly a twentieth of the official charge, created under Francis I). State finances also relied heavily on borrowing, both private (from

1616-515: A union between Spain and the Holy Roman Empire would be too powerful in the eyes of Charles VI's allies, most of the allies quickly concluded a separate peace with France. After another year of fruitless campaigning, Charles VI did the same and abandoned his desire to become the king of Spain. The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht resolved all these issues. France gave up Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Louis XIV's grandson became King Philip V of Spain and kept all of his overseas colonies but renounced any rights to

1717-418: A whole. Dialects in the north, nearby Venray and Gennep , are classified as Kleverlandish and are closely connected to the dialects in the northeast of Brabant (Land van Cuijk) and the region of Nijmegen . Dialects in the southeast (near Aachen ) are closer to Ripuarian and are sometimes classified as Southeast Limburgish . Dialects in the western part of Limburg, surrounding Weert , are influenced by

1818-625: Is appointed by the King and the cabinet of the Netherlands. Since December 2021 Emile Roemer ( SP ) has been holding the office of governor. Since the 2011 elections the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) was the largest party in the council, although the Party for Freedom (PVV) won the most votes during the election. However, two members of the PVV left the party, taking their seats with them, which lost

1919-659: Is located on the Chemelot campus in Sittard-Geleen , which is bounded by the Chemelot Industrial Park, one of Western Europe's biggest industrial sites. At this moment 8000 people work at Chemelot, of which 1000 are active at the Campus. The innovation and licensing division Stamicarbon of DSM was sold in 2009 to Maire Tecnimont, the parent company of an engineering, main contracting and licensing group that operates worldwide in

2020-534: Is the official language and the one most used, Limburgish is currently considered a regional language as described in the a page of the Dutch Government. It has been an official regional language since 1997 and it receives moderate protection under Chapter 2 of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . The German and Belgian governments do not recognise it as an official language. Before

2121-465: Is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands . It is bordered by Gelderland to the north and by North Brabant to its west. Its long eastern boundary forms the international border with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany . To the west is the international border with the similarly named Belgian province of Limburg , part of which is delineated by the river Meuse . To

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2222-451: The fermiers généraux ('farmers-general"). The taille was only one of a number of taxes. There also existed the taillon (a tax for military purposes), a national salt tax (the gabelle ), national tariffs (the aides ) on various products (wine, beer, oil and other goods), local tariffs on speciality products (the douane ) or levied on products entering the city (the octroi ) or sold at fairs and local taxes. Finally,

2323-459: The généralités of the Renaissance went through a variety of reforms. In 1577, Henry III established 5 treasurers ( trésoriers généraux ) in each généralité who formed a bureau of finances. In the 17th century, oversight of the généralités was subsumed by the intendants of finance, justice and police. The expression généralité and intendance became roughly synonymous. Until

2424-482: The pays d'élection , the pays d'état and the pays d'imposition . In the pays d'élection (the longest-held possessions of the French crown; some of the provinces had held the equivalent autonomy of a pays d'état but had lost it through the effects of royal reforms) the assessment and collection of taxes were trusted to elected officials (at least originally, since later on those positions were bought), and

2525-605: The gabelle or salt tax. Southern France was governed by written law adapted from the Roman legal system , but northern France used common law , codified in 1453 into a written form. The representative of the king in his provinces and cities was the gouverneur . Royal officers chosen from the highest nobility, provincial and city governors (oversight of provinces and cities was frequently combined) were predominantly military positions in charge of defense and policing. Provincial governors, also called lieutenants généraux , also had

2626-857: The Calvinist Hollanders . In the early modern era, Limburg was largely divided between the Spanish Netherlands (the Austrian Netherlands after 1714), Prussia , the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and many small independent fiefs . In 1673, Louis XIV personally commanded the siege of Maastricht by French troops. During the siege, one of his brigadiers, Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan , perished. He subsequently became known as

2727-637: The European Community (now European Union ) held a summit in Maastricht. At that summit, the "Treaty on European Union" or so-called Maastricht Treaty was signed by the European Community member states. With that treaty, the European Union came into existence. Limburg mijn Vaderland (Limburg my Fatherland) is the official anthem of both Belgian and Dutch Limburg. Although standard Dutch

2828-463: The Habsburgs ' internal family conflict, and the territorial expansion of France in the 17th century all demanded great sums, which needed to be raised by taxes, such as the land tax ( taille ) and the tax on salt ( gabelle ), and by contributions of men and service from the nobility. One key to the centralization was the replacing of personal patronage systems, which had been organised around

2929-664: The Kingdom of Navarra ; there were also foreign enclaves like the Comtat Venaissin . In addition, certain provinces within France were ostensibly the personal fiefs of noble families. Notably the Bourbonnais , Forez and Auvergne were held by the House of Bourbon until the provinces were forcibly integrated into the royal domain in 1527 after the fall of Charles III, Duke of Bourbon . From

3030-810: The Rhine in September 1688 was designed to extend his influence and to pressure the Holy Roman Empire into accepting his territorial and dynastic claims, but Leopold I and the German princes resolved to resist, and the States General and William III brought the Dutch and the English into the war against France. Louis XIV faced a powerful coalition aimed at curtailing his ambitions. The main fighting took place around France's borders in

3131-603: The Spanish Netherlands , the Rhineland , the Duchy of Savoy , and Catalonia . The fighting generally favoured Louis XIV's armies, but by 1696, France was in the grip of an economic crisis. The maritime powers (England and the Dutch Republic) were also financially exhausted, and when Savoy defected from the alliance, all of the parties were keen for a negotiated settlement. By the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick (1697), Louis XIV retained

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3232-720: The Ysselsteyn German war cemetery was constructed in the Municipality of Venray for the 31,000 German soldiers who died. According to the research of Herman van Rens, the residents of Limburg were especially active in hiding local and refugee Jews during the Holocaust , to the extent that the Jewish population even increased during the war. Jews in hiding were three times as likely to survive in Limburg as in Amsterdam. In December 1991,

3333-685: The ancien régime in France evolved across years of state-building, legislative acts (like the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts ), and internal conflicts. The attempts of the Valois Dynasty to reform and re-establish control over the scattered political centres of the country were hindered by the Wars of Religion from 1562 to 1598. During the Bourbon Dynasty , much of the reigns of Henry IV ( r.  1589–1610 ) and Louis XIII ( r.  1610–1643 ) and

3434-649: The 10th century, the Eastern kingdom consolidated its control of Lotharingia and became the Holy Roman Empire . In the first decades of this empire the founding imperial family had close ties to areas in what is today northern Limburg. The emperor Otto III for instance was born in 980 in Kessel , practically on the current border between Limburg and North Rhine-Westphalia , just east from Gennep . In 1080 in Genneperhuis  [ nl ] , just north of Gennep, Norbert of Gennep

3535-444: The 12th and the 13th centuries. A law in 1467 made these offices irrevocable except through the death, resignation or forfeiture of the title holder, and the offices, once bought, tended to become hereditary charges that were passed on within families with a fee for transfer of title. In an effort to increase revenue, the state often turned to the creation of new offices. Before it was made illegal in 1521, it had been possible to leave

3636-666: The 20th century, most newspapers were in French or in German, and schools in Maastricht taught French, as the city has historic ties with the Belgian city of Liège . Other parts of the province taught German. Limburgish is spoken by an estimated 1.6 million people in Dutch Limburg, Belgian Limburg , and Germany. There are many different dialects of Limburgish; almost every town and village has its own. A lot of isoglosses cross through Limburg. No single dialect can fully represent Limburgish as

3737-508: The Duchy of Gelderland, the Duchy of Jülich, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège or the Electorate of Cologne . These dukes, prince-bishops and prince-electors were nominal subordinates of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, but in practice acted as independent sovereigns who were often at war with each other. These conflicts were often fought in and over Limburg, contributing to its fragmentation and

3838-589: The Dutchman Piet Hein . English mariners nevertheless seriously pursued the opportunities for privateering and trade in Spain's colonies. As he neared his death, Charles II bequeathed his throne to the Bourbon candidate, the future Philip V of Spain. Philip's grandfather, Louis XIV, eagerly endorsed the choice and made unilateral aggressive moves to safeguard the viability of his family's new possessions, such as moving

3939-527: The French army into the Spanish Netherlands and securing exclusive trading rights for the French in Spanish America . However, a coalition of enemies opposed to that rapid expansion of French power quickly formed, and a major European war broke out from 1701 to 1714. To France's enemies, the notion of France gaining enormous strength by taking over Spain and all its European and overseas possessions

4040-466: The French nobility struggled to maintain their influence in local judiciary and state branches while the Fronde and other major internal conflicts violently contested additional centralization. The drive for centralization related directly to questions of royal finances and the ability to wage war. The internal conflicts and dynastic crises of the 16th and the 17th centuries between Catholics and Protestants,

4141-464: The French throne. Spain lost its European holdings outside the homeland itself. The former members of the alliance also profited from the war. The Dutch maintained their independence in the face of French aggression. The Habsburgs picked up territory north of Austria and in Italy, including the Spanish Netherlands and Naples. However, the greatest beneficiary of the war was Great Britain , since in addition to extensive extra-European territorial gains at

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4242-473: The Kingdom of the Netherlands, was reincorporated into the latter with the 1867 Treaty of London , though the term "Duchy of Limburg" remained in some official use until February 1907. Another idiosyncrasy survives today: the head of the province, referred to as the "King's Commissioner" in other provinces, is addressed as "Governor" in Limburg. The Second World War cost the lives of many civilians in Limburg, and

4343-534: The Maas valley became more culturally and politically one of the most important regions in Europe. In 714 Susteren Abbey was founded, as far as is known the first proprietary abbey in the current Netherlands. The main benefactor was Plectrude , the consort of Pepin of Herstal . Charles Martel was born in nearby Herstal . Charlemagne made Aachen , today a German city which has suburban sprawl stretching into South Limburg,

4444-647: The Meuse after the Congress of Vienna, the Dutch province of Limburg (excluding the cities of Maastricht and Venlo because without them Limburg's population equalled that of the Province of Luxembourg, 150,000 ), was joined to the German Confederation between 5 September 1839 and 23 August 1866 as the Duchy of Limburg . On 11 May 1867, the Duchy, which from 1839 on had been de jure a separate polity in personal union with

4545-728: The Meuse, consisting of river clay, fertile loessial soil and large deposits of pebblestone, currently being quarried for the construction industry. In the north of the province, further away from the riverbed, the soil primarily consists of sand and peat. Limburg makes up one region of the International Organization for Standardization world region code system, having the code ISO 3166-2:NL -LI. The province of Limburg has 31 municipalities. From North to South: Gennep , Venray , Venlo , Weert , Roermond , Thorn , Sittard , Geleen , Heerlen , Valkenburg , Kerkrade , Maastricht , Vaals . The Gross domestic product (GDP) of

4646-421: The Netherlands only came into existence in 1839, after the finalization of the separation of Belgium from the Netherlands which had begun in 1830. The two Limburgs had been brought together under French revolutionary administration some decades earlier, but they and the surrounding region shared much of their history. For long periods of history however, the region was not united under the same rule. For centuries,

4747-578: The PVV their number one status. Since the 2015 elections the CDA (11 seats) has again been the largest party, followed by the PVV (9 seats) and the Socialist Party (SP) (8 seats). The province's daily affairs are taken care of by the Provincial-Executive ( Gedeputeerde Staten ), which are also headed by the King's Commissioner; its members ( gedeputeerden ) can be compared with ministers. Results of

4848-405: The Romans upon this route. The area became strongly Romanized. Bishop Servatius introduced Christianity in Roman Maastricht, where he died in 384. Maastricht appears to have taken over from Tongeren for some time as regional capital for the Romanized and Christian population, before the bishopric was re-established in Liège , 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Maastricht. As Roman authority in

4949-436: The Treaty of Meerssen, effective Frankish power in the area of the current Netherlands more or less collapsed. For two or more years a large Viking army, operating from a place on or near the Meuse called Ascloa (or Hasloa or Haslon), wrought havoc in the neighbourhood. The damage was such that the emperor, Charles the Fat was forced to assemble a large multinational army, that in 882 unsuccessfully besieged this island . In

5050-424: The ability to convoke provincial parlements , provincial estates and municipal bodies. The title gouverneur first appeared under Charles VI . The Ordinance of Blois in 1579 reduced their number to 12, and an ordinance of 1779 increased their number to 39 (18 first-class governors and 21 second-class governors). Although in principle, they were the king's representatives, and their charges could be revoked at

5151-402: The area weakened, Franks took over from the Romans, but the area came to flourish under their rule, with Cologne continuing to be the most important local capital. The Maas valley, especially the middle and southern part of the current province, formed an important part of the heartland of Merovingian Austrasia . With the rise of the Carolingian dynasty, who were themselves from this region,

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5252-409: The assessment of the tax was established by local councils and the tax was generally " real " and so was attached to non-noble lands (nobles with such lands were required to pay taxes on them). Pays d'imposition were recently conquered lands that had their own local historical institutions (they were similar to the pays d'état under which they are sometimes grouped), but taxation was overseen by

5353-447: The border between the Western- and Eastern Frankish kingdoms, placing most of the current Dutch province of Limburg on the western boundary of the Eastern Frankish kingdom, with Belgian Limburg in the Western Kingdom. In the Treaty of Ribemont of 888, the Eastern Kingdom was granted control of the whole of Lotharingia, including all of the modern Netherlands and Luxembourg, and most of modern Belgium. The region of Thorn, Netherlands

5454-404: The capital of the Frankish empire . After the death of Charlemagne, the Frankish dominions were again split between kings. While the Austrasian lands remained a separate "Middle Kingdom", sometimes now referred to as Lotharingia , in the treaties of Verdun (843), and Prüm (855), in the 870 Treaty of Meerssen , signed in South Limburg itself, Lotharingia was divided. The river Meuse became

5555-456: The church benefited from a mandatory tax or tithe , the dîme . Louis XIV created several additional tax systems, including the capitation , which began in 1695 and touched every person, including nobles and the clergy although exemption could be bought for a large one-time sum and the "dixième" (1710–1717, restarted in 1733), which enacted to support the military and was a true tax on income and on property value. In 1749, under Louis XV ,

5656-408: The date that the transfer of title was to take effect open-ended. In 1534, a rule adapted from church practice made the successor's right void if the preceding office holder died within forty days of the transfer, and the office returned to the state. However, a new fee, the survivance jouissante protected against that rule. In 1604, Sully created a new tax, the paulette or "annual tax" of

5757-418: The double board, which was accused of poor oversight, made numerous administrative reforms, including the restructuring of the financial administration and increasing the number of généralités . In 1542, France was divided into 16 généralités . The number increased to 21 at the end of the 16th century and to 36 at the time of the French Revolution; the last two were created in 1784. The administration of

5858-432: The early years of Louis XIV ( r.  1643–1715 ) focused on administrative centralization. Despite the notion of " absolute monarchy " (typified by the king's right to issue orders through lettres de cachet ) and efforts to create a centralized state, ancien régime France remained a country of systemic irregularities: administrative, legal, judicial, and ecclesiastic divisions and prerogatives frequently overlapped,

5959-412: The elections for the States-Provincial : The Provincial-Executive 2023–2027 consists of the following parties: BBB, CDA, VVD, PvdA and SP. Limburg is a salient of the Netherlands into Belgium. Compared to the rest of the Netherlands the southern part of Limburg is less flat, slightly undulated. The highest point in the continental Netherlands is the Vaalserberg (meaning 'mountain' of Vaals) with

6060-566: The expense of Spain and France, it established further checks to French expansion within the continent by moderately strengthening its European allies. The quarter-century after the Treaty of Utrecht was peaceful, with no major wars. The main powers exhausted themselves in warfare, and suffered many deaths, disabled veterans, ruined navies, high pension costs, heavy loans and high taxes. In 1683, indirect taxes had brought in 118,000,000 livres, but by 1714, these revenues had plunged to only 46,000,000 livres. Louis XIV, with his eagerness for warfare,

6161-452: The four Généraux des finances (also called général conseiller or receveur général ) oversaw the collection of taxes ( taille , aides , etc.) by tax-collecting agents ( receveurs ) and the four Trésoriers de France (Treasurers) oversaw revenues from royal lands (the " domaine royal "). Together, they were the Messieurs des finances . The four members of each board were divided by geographical districts (although

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6262-419: The grandson of the powerful Louis XIV. That was a confrontation between two different styles of ancien régime : the French and Spanish style versus the Habsburg style. Spain's silver and its inability to protect its assets made it a highly-visible target for ambitious Europeans. For generations, Englishmen contemplated capturing the Spanish treasure fleet, a feat that had been accomplished only once: in 1628 by

6363-495: The inauguration of the First French Republic ) and was originally pejorative. Simon Schama has observed that "virtually as soon as the term was coined, 'old regime' was automatically freighted with associations of both traditionalism and senescence. It conjured up a society so encrusted with anachronisms that only a shock of great violence could free the living organism within. Institutionally torpid, economically immobile, culturally atrophied and socially stratified, this 'old regime'

6464-495: The inheritance of the Spanish Empire would soon embroil Louis XIV and the Grand Alliance in a final war: the War of the Spanish Succession . Spain had a number of major assets apart from its homeland. It controlled important territory in Europe and the New World. Spain's American colonies produced enormous quantities of silver, brought to Spain every few years in convoys. Spain also had many weaknesses. Its domestic economy had little business, industry or advanced craftsmanship and

6565-423: The king and other nobles, by institutional systems that were constructed around the state. The appointments of intendants , representatives of royal power in the provinces, greatly undermined the local control by regional nobles. The same was true of the greater reliance that was shown by the royal court on the noblesse de robe as judges and royal counselors. The creation of regional parlements had

6666-418: The king's will, some governors had installed themselves and their heirs as a provincial dynasty. The governors reached the height of their power from the mid-16th to the mid-17th century. Their role in provincial unrest during the civil wars led Cardinal Richelieu to create the more tractable positions of intendants of finance, policing and justice, and in the 18th century, the role of provincial governors

6767-725: The late 15th century to the late 17th century and again in the 1760s, French territory greatly expanded and it attempted to better integrate its provinces into an administrative whole. Despite centralization efforts of the kings, France remained a patchwork of local privileges and historical differences. The arbitrary power of the absolute monarchy was much limited by historic and regional particularities. Administrative (including taxation), legal ( parlement ), judicial and ecclesiastic divisions and prerogatives frequently overlapped (for example, French bishoprics and dioceses rarely coincided with administrative divisions). Certain provinces and cities had won special privileges, such as lower rates for

6868-445: The late 17th century, tax collectors were called receveurs . In 1680, the system of the Ferme générale was established, a franchised customs and excise operation in which individuals bought the right to collect the taille on behalf of the king, through six-year adjudications (certain taxes like the aides and the gabelle had been farmed out in this way as early as 1604). The major tax collectors in that system were known as

6969-404: The medieval name to be lost, insisted that it be changed to " Province of Limburg ". As such, the name of the new province was derived from the old Duchy of Limburg that had existed until 1795 on the east bank of the Meuse river. When the Catholic and French -speaking Belgians split away from the mainly Calvinist northern Netherlands in the Belgian Revolution of 1830, the Province of Limburg

7070-550: The money, and the treasury was always short. The banking system in Paris was undeveloped, and the treasury was forced to borrow at very high interest rates. London's financial system proved strikingly competent in funding not only the British Army but also those of its allies. Queen Anne was dead, and her successor, King George I, was a Hanoverian who moved his court to London but never became fluent in English and surrounded himself with German advisors. They spent much of their time and most of their attention on Hanoverian affairs. He too

7171-410: The names of the départements , was based on natural features such as rivers, in this case Meuse-Inférieure or Neder-Maas ("Lower Meuse"). After the defeat of Napoleon the newly created United Kingdom of the Netherlands desired a new name for this province. It was decided that the historic connection to the duchy of Limburg was to be restored, albeit only in name. The current province Limburg of

7272-456: The neighbouring dialects of southeast Brabant , which means that the tone is more Brabantic than in the rest of Limburg. The provincial council ( States-Provincial - Provinciale Staten ) has 47 seats, and is headed by a King's Commissioner ( Commissaris van de Koning ) who unofficially is called the Governor . While the provincial council is elected by the inhabitants, the King's Commissioner

7373-871: The oil, gas & petrochemicals, power, infrastructure and civil engineering sectors. Stamicarbon is based in Sittard-Geleen. VDL Nedcar in Born ( Sittard-Geleen ) is the only large-scale car manufacturer in the Netherlands, currently manufacturing MINIs and BMW X1s . Other industries include rockwool in Roermond, Océ copiers and printers manufacturers in Venlo and a paper factory in Maastricht. There are four large beer breweries in Limburg. Ancien regime Defunct Defunct The ancien régime ( / ˌ ɒ̃ s j æ̃ r eɪ ˈ ʒ iː m / ; French: [ɑ̃sjɛ̃ ʁeʒim] ; lit.   ' old rule ' )

7474-454: The pain by moving several government offices (including Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP and CBS Statistics Netherlands ) to Heerlen. The state-owned corporation that once mined in Limburg, DSM , is now a major chemical company, still operating in Limburg. In 2002 DSM sold its petrochemical division (naphtha crackers and polyolefin plants) to SABIC of Saudi Arabia. In 2010, the agro and melamine business groups were sold to OCI Nitrogen . SABIC

7575-556: The province was €44.5 billion in 2018, accounting for 5.7% of the Netherlands economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €34,700 or 115% of the EU27 average in the same year. In the past peat and coal were mined in Limburg. In 1965–75 the coal mines were finally closed. As a result, 60,000 people lost their jobs in the two coal mining areas, Heerlen-Kerkrade-Brunssum and Sittard-Geleen. A difficult period of economic readjustment started. The Dutch government partly eased

7676-1875: The revolution, there were 36 généralités , the last two being created in 1784. 1. Généralité of Bordeaux , ( Agen , Guyenne ) 2. Généralité of Provence , or Aix-en-Provence ( Provence ) 3. Généralité of Amiens ( Picardy ) 4. Généralité of Bourges ( Berry ) 5. Généralité of Caen ( Normandy ) 6. Généralité of Châlons ( Champagne ) 7. Généralité of Burgundy , Dijon (Burgundy) 8. Généralité of Grenoble ( Dauphiné ) 9. Généralité of Issoire , later of Riom ( Auvergne ) 10. Généralité of Lyon ( Lyonnais , Beaujolais and Forez ) 11. Généralité of Montpellier ( Languedoc ) 12. Généralité of Paris ( Île-de-France ) 13. Généralité of Poitiers ( Poitou ) 14. Généralité of Rouen ( Normandy ) 15. Généralité of Toulouse ( Languedoc ) 16. Généralité of Tours ( Touraine , Maine and Anjou ) 17. Généralité of Metz ( Trois-Évêchés ) 18. Généralité of Nantes ( Brittany ) 19. Généralité of Limoges (divided in two parts: Angoumois & Limousin – Marche ) 20. Généralité of Orléans ( Orléanais ) 21. Généralité of Moulins ( Bourbonnais ) 22. Généralité of Soissons ( Picardy ) 23. Généralité of Montauban ( Gascony ) 24. Généralité of Alençon ( Perche ) 25. Généralité of Perpignan ( Roussillon ) 26. Généralité of Besançon ( Franche-Comté ) 27. Généralité of Valenciennes ( Hainaut ) 28. Généralité of Strasbourg ( Alsace ) 29. (see 18) 30. Généralité of Lille ( Flanders ) 31. Généralité of La Rochelle ( Aunis and Saintonge ) 32. Généralité of Nancy ( Lorraine ) 33. Généralité of Trévoux ( Dombes ) 34. Généralité of Corsica , or Bastia ( Corsica ) 35. Généralité of Auch ( Gascony ) 36. Généralité of Bayonne ( Labourd ) 37. Généralité of Pau ( Béarn and Soule ) The desire for more efficient tax collection

7777-737: The river running through it, " Meuse-Inférieure ", meaning simply "lower Maas". Following the Napoleonic Era , the great powers (the United Kingdom , Prussia , the Austrian Empire , the Russian Empire and France ) left the region to the new United Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Congress of Vienna in 1815. A new province was formed which was to receive the name "Maastricht" after its capital. The first king, William I , who did not want

7878-416: The royal intendant . Taxation districts had gone through a variety of mutations since the 14th century. Before the 14th century, oversight of the collection of royal taxes had fallen generally to the baillis and sénéchaux in their circumscriptions. Reforms in the 14th and the 15th centuries saw France's royal financial administration run by two financial boards, which worked in a collegial manner:

7979-495: The same initial goal of facilitating the introduction of royal power into the newly assimilated territories, but as the parlements gained in self-assurance, they started to become sources of disunity. By the end of 1789 the term Ancien Régime was commonly used in France by journalists and legislators to refer to the institutions of French life before the Revolution. It first appeared in print in English in 1794 (two years after

8080-529: The south, Limburg is bordered by the Belgian province of Liège . The Vaalserberg is on the extreme southeastern point, marking the tripoint of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Limburg had a population of about 1,128,000 as of January 2023. Its main municipalities are the provincial capital Maastricht (population 120,837 as of January 2022), Venlo (population 102,176) in the northeast, as well as Sittard-Geleen (population 91,760, bordering both Belgium and Germany) and Heerlen (population 86,874) in

8181-532: The south. More than half of the population, approximately 650,000 people, live in the south of Limburg, which corresponds to roughly one-third of the province's area proper. In South Limburg , most people live in the urban agglomerations of Maastricht, Parkstad and Sittard-Geleen. Limburg's name derives from the Belgian fortified town of the same name, Limbourg-sur-Vesdre , now in the nearby Liège Province , immediately south of Limburg. The name of Limbourg-sur-Vesdre

8282-463: The strategic location of the current province, stretching along the Maas river route, made it a much-coveted region among Europe's major powers. Romans , Carolingians , Habsburg Spaniards , Prussians , Habsburg Austrians and France have all ruled parts of Limburg. The first inhabitants of whom traces have been found were Neanderthals who camped in South Limburg. In Neolithic times, flint

8383-463: The system, new divisions were created. The recettes générales , commonly known as généralités , were initially only taxation districts (see "state finances" below). The first 16 were created in 1542 by edict of Henry II . Their role steadily increased, and by the mid-17th century, the généralités were under the authority of an intendant and were a vehicle for the expansion of royal power in matters of justice, taxation and policing. By

8484-470: The tax was generally "personal" and so was attached to non-noble individuals. In the pays d'état ("provinces with provincial estates"), Brittany , Languedoc , Burgundy , Auvergne , Béarn , Dauphiné , Provence and portions of Gascony , such as Bigorre , Comminges and the Quatre-Vallées , recently acquired provinces that had been able to maintain a certain local autonomy in terms of taxation,

8585-470: The term généralité appears only in the late 15th century). The areas were named Languedoïl, Languedoc, Outre-Seine-and-Yonne, and Nomandy (the last was created in 1449, the other three earlier), with the directors of the "Languedoïl" region typically having an honorific preeminence. By 1484, the number of généralités had increased to six. In the 16th century, the kings of France, in an effort to exert more direct control over royal finances and to circumvent

8686-462: The whole of Alsace , but was forced to return Lorraine to its ruler and to give up any gains on the right bank of the Rhine. Also, Louis XIV accepted William III as the rightful King of England, and the Dutch acquired their barrier fortress system in the Spanish Netherlands to help secure their own borders. However, with the ailing and childless Charles II of Spain approaching his end, a new conflict over

8787-558: Was anathema. Furthermore, the prospect of capturing Spanish territories in the New World proved very attractive. France's enemies formed a Grand Alliance, led by the Holy Roman Empire's Leopold I , which included Prussia and most of the other German states, the Dutch Republic, Portugal , Savoy (in Italy ) and England . The opposing alliance was primarily France and Spain but also included

8888-604: Was at first almost entirely under Belgian rule. However, by the 1839 Treaty of London , the province was divided in two, with the eastern part going to the Netherlands and the western part to Belgium, a division that remains today. With the Treaty of London, what is now the Belgian Province of Luxembourg was handed over to Belgium and removed from the German Confederation . To appease Prussia, which had also lost access to

8989-647: Was born as a son of the count of Gennep. He was the founder of the order of the Premonstratensians . South Limburg in the early Middle Ages was mainly made up of the lordships of Valkenburg  [ de ] , Dalhem , and Herzogenrath . All of these lands were, however, united with the Duchy of Limburg, under the rule of the Duchy of Brabant , when they were known collectively as the Lands of Overmaas  [ nl ; de ] . The Duchy of Limburg and its dependencies first came under Brabantian control in 1288, as

9090-464: Was drained and about 975 a swamp nearby the Roman road between Maastricht and Nijmegen . Bishop Ansfried of Utrecht founded a Benedictine nunnery. This developed from the 12th century into a secular Stift or convent . The principal of the Stift was the abbess . She was assisted by a chapter of at most twenty ladies of the highest nobility . During the period of West Frankish control under

9191-407: Was gone and replaced by a small sickly child, the last Bourbon survivor. This death had the potential to throw France into another round of warfare. Louis XV lived until the 1770s. France's main foreign policy decisionmaker was Cardinal Fleury , who recognised that France's need to rebuild and so pursued a peaceful policy. France had a poorly-designed taxation system in which tax farmers kept much of

9292-1566: Was greatly curtailed. 1. Île-de-France ( Paris ) 2. Berry ( Bourges ) 3. Orléanais ( Orléans ) 4. Normandy ( Rouen ) 5. Languedoc ( Toulouse ) 6. Lyonnais ( Lyon ) 7. Dauphiné ( Grenoble ) 8. Champagne ( Troyes ) 9. Aunis ( La Rochelle ) 10. Saintonge ( Saintes ) 11. Poitou ( Poitiers ) 12. Guyenne and Gascony ( Bordeaux ) 13. Burgundy ( Dijon ) 14. Picardy ( Amiens ) 15. Anjou ( Angers ) 16. Provence ( Aix-en-Provence ) 17. Angoumois ( Angoulême ) 18. Bourbonnais ( Moulins ) 19. Marche ( Guéret ) 20. Brittany ( Rennes , parlement briefly at Nantes ) 21. Maine ( Le Mans ) 22. Touraine ( Tours ) 23. Limousin ( Limoges ) 24. Foix ( Foix ) 25. Auvergne ( Clermont-Ferrand ) 26. Béarn ( Pau ) 27. Alsace ( Strasbourg , cons. souv. in Colmar ) 28. Artois (cons provinc. in Arras ) 29. Roussillon (cons. souv. in Perpignan ) 30. Flanders and Hainaut ( Lille , parliament first in Tournai , then in Douai ) 31. Franche-Comté ( Besançon , formerly at Dole ) 32. Lorraine ( Nancy ) 33. Corsica (off map, Ajaccio , cons. souv. in Bastia ) 34. Nivernais ( Nevers ) 35. Comtat Venaissin ( Avignon ),

9393-546: Was important to the region because it had been the seat of the medieval Duchy of Limburg . There are several proposals concerning the etymology of Limbourg. The second part, "bourg" or "burg" is common in placenames, and refers to a fortified town. The first part is often suggested to refer to lime or linden trees (species of Tilia ). The historian Jean-Louis Kupper has proposed that its founder Frederick, Duke of Lower Lorraine named it after Limburg Abbey in Germany. He favours

9494-479: Was in very poor physical and mental health. As King Charles II had no children, the question of who would succeed to the Spanish throne unleashed a major war. The Vienna-based Habsburg family, to which Charles II belonged, proposed its own candidate for the throne. However, the Bourbons, the ruling family of France, instinctively opposed expansions of Habsburg power within Europe and had their own candidate : Philip ,

9595-594: Was incapable of self-modernization". The Nine Years' War (1688–97), between France and a coalition of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, Spain, England and Savoy, was fought in continental Europe and on the surrounding seas, and in Ireland, North America and India. It was the first truly global war . Louis XIV emerged from the Franco-Dutch War in 1678 as the most powerful monarch in Europe and an absolute ruler with numerous military victories. Using

9696-595: Was mined in underground mines. Julius Caesar conquered the area in 53 BC, and wrote that he had extinguished the name of the Eburones , the inhabitants of most of the area of current Limburg, as a punishment for their revolt under Ambiorix . The north–south route along the Maas was crossed by the Via Belgica , a road crossing South Limburg and connecting the two local capitals of Tongeren and Cologne . Mosa Trajectum (Maastricht) and Coriovallum (Heerlen) were founded by

9797-442: Was one of the major causes for French administrative and royal centralisation during the early modern period. The taille became a major source of royal income. Exempted were clergy and nobles (except for non-noble lands held in pays d'état , see below), officers of the crown, military personnel, magistrates, university professors and students, and certain cities ( villes franches ) such as Paris. The provinces were of three sorts,

9898-422: Was poor. Spain had to import practically all of its weapons and its large army was poorly trained and poorly equipped. Spain had a small navy since seamanship was a low priority for the elites. Local and regional governments and the local nobility, controlled most of the decisionmaking. The central government was quite weak, with a mediocre bureaucracy, and few able leaders. King Charles II reigned 1665 to 1700, but

9999-467: Was smaller than it is today, and numerous border provinces (such as Roussillon , Cerdagne , Conflent , Vallespir , Capcir , Calais , Béarn , Navarre , County of Foix , Flanders , Artois , Lorraine , Alsace , Trois-Évêchés , Franche-Comté , Savoy , Bresse , Bugey , Gex , Nice , Provence , Dauphiné and Brittany ) were autonomous or belonged to the Holy Roman Empire , the Crown of Aragon or

10100-401: Was the political and social system of the Kingdom of France that the French Revolution overturned through its abolition in 1790 of the feudal system of the French nobility and in 1792 through its execution of the king and declaration of a republic . "Ancien régime" is now a common metaphor for "a system or mode no longer prevailing". The administrative and social structures of

10201-505: Was threatened by an unstable throne, since the Stuart pretenders, long supported by Louis XIV, threatened repeatedly to invade through Ireland or Scotland and had significant internal support from the Tory faction. However, Sir Robert Walpole was the dominant decision-maker from 1722 to 1740, in a role that would later be called prime minister. Walpole strongly rejected militaristic options and promoted

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