t their Princes, or
fighting with each other. And all this time, close at hand and
watchful, there was a mighty State, called "The Burgundies," whose
dominions were ever stretching farther and farther.

At last a day came when a certain Count of Flanders died, leaving no
heir male, and a Duke of Burgundy, called Philip the Hardy, married a
Flemish Princess, and obtained possession of Flanders. Gradually after
that the Dukes of Burgundy became rulers of all the country which we
now call Belgium, except the Principality of Liege, which remained
independent under its Bishop-Princes till recent times.

The last Duke of Burgundy was Charles the Bold, a brave warrior, but
very fierce and cruel. He was killed in a battle, and his daughter,
Mary of Burgundy, married an Austrian Archduke called Maximilian; and
then Flanders, Brabant, and the other places we have spoken of, passed
under the Austrian Royal Family, which is called the House of
Hapsburg.

Maximilian and Mary had a son, called Philip the Handsome, who married
Joanna the Mad, daughter of King Ferdinand of Spain. The son of this
marriage was Charles V., who was neither mad nor handsome, but one of
the most famous men in history. He not only ruled over the
Netherlands, as Belgium and Holland were called, but also over Spain,
and all the immense Spanish Empire, and was, moreover, Emperor of
Germany.

After reigning for forty years, Charles V. gave up his royal honours
to his son Philip; and then began a terrible time for the Netherlands.

Philip hated the liberty which the people of the Netherlands loved.
They had, especially in the towns, been accustomed to make laws for
themselves, which their old Dukes and Counts, and also the Hapsburgs,
had always sworn to maintain. But Philip resolved to put an end to all
this freedom, and to be their absolute master.

[Illustration: VILLAGE & CANAL, ADINKERQUE.]

He also hated the Protestants, of whom there were many in the
Netherlands, and resolved to destroy them. For this purpose he
introduced a kind of court, called the Inquisition, which inquired
into the religious faith of everyone, and sent people to be tortured
and burned to death if they were not Catholics.

The people became furious against Philip, and rebelled in defence of
their liberty, and against the Inquisition. For a long time the
contest, which is called the "Revolt of the Netherlands," went on.
Philip was enormously rich, and had a great army and a stro