of Austria. The largest
part by far of the Netherlands was derived to it, 1st, from Margaret of
Franche Comte; 2dly, from Margaret of Flanders; 3dly, from Jane of
Brabant; 4thly, from Mary of Burgundy; 5thly, from Jacqueline of
Holland; and 6thly, from Elizabeth of Luxemburgh.

[Sidenote: Formation of the Provinces of the Netherlands into one
State.]

The possessions of the three first of these splendid heiresses,
descended to Margaret of Flanders. She married Phillip the Bold, who, as
we have just mentioned, was the first of the modern Dukes of Burgundy.
By this marriage, he acquired, in right of his wife, the provinces of
Flanders, Artois, Mechlin, and Rhetel; and transmitted them and his own
dukedom of Burgundy to his son Charles the Intrepid. From Charles, they
descended to his son Philip the Good. He purchased Namur; and by a
transaction with Jacqueline of Holland, acquired that province, Zealand,
Hainault, and Friesland. By other means, he obtained Brabant, Antwerp,
Luxemburgh, Limburgh, Gueldres, and Zutphen. On the failure of issue
male of Philip the Good, all these fourteen provinces descended to Mary
his only daughter. She married the Emperor Maximilian. He had two sons
by her, the Emperor Charles V. and Ferdinand. The former acquired, by
purchase or force, Utrecht, Overyssell and Groeningen.

These territories formed what are generally called the SEVENTEEN
PROVINCES OF THE NETHERLANDS.

In the language of the middle ages, they consisted of the Dutchies of
Brabant, Limburgh, Luxemburgh, and Gueldres; the Earldoms of Flanders,
Artois, Hainault, Holland, Zealand, Namur, Zutphen, Antwerp, (sometimes
called the Marquisate of the Holy Empire) and the Lordships of
Friesland, Mechlin, Utrecht, Overyssell, and Groeningen. Cambrai, the
Cambresis, and the County of Burgundy, though a separate territory, were
considered to be appendages, but not part of them.

V. 3.

_Brief View of the History of the Netherlands, till the acknowledgement
of the Independence of the Seven United Provinces by the Spanish
Monarch._

The laws, the customs, and the government of all these provinces were
nearly alike: each had its representative assembly of the three orders,
of the clergy, nobility, and burghers: each had its courts of justice;
and an appeal from the superior tribunal of each lay to the supreme
court at Mechlin.

Public and fiscal concerns of moment fell under the cognizance of the
sovereign. The people