History of Belgium

For most of its history, what is today Belgium was either a part of a larger territory, such as the medieval Carolingian Empire, or was divided into a number of smaller states. For much of the Middle Ages, the territory of present-day Belgium was fragmented into several feudal principalities, including the Duchy of Brabant, the County of Flanders, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, the County of Namur, the County of Hainaut and the County of Luxembourg. Belgium's modern shape can be traced back at least as far as the Spanish Netherlands during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), which is when the Dutch Republic in the north split from the Southern Netherlands from which Belgium and Luxembourg developed.

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