ue had
lost its savour and why Protestantism failed in France.

[1] "The king my son will never have entire obedience."

[2] "That no one may embroil us in the friendship in which I desire
that these two kingdoms shall remain during my lifetime."

{234}

CHAPTER V

THE NETHERLANDS

SECTION 1. THE LUTHERAN REFORM

[Sidenote: The Netherlands]

The Netherlands have always been a favorite topic for the speculation of
those philosophers who derive a large part of national character from
geographical conditions. A land that needed reclaiming from the sea by
hard labor, a country situated at those two great outlets of European
commerce, the mouths of the Rhine and the Scheldt, a borderland between
German and Latin culture, naturally moulded a brave, stubborn, practical
and intelligent people, destined to play in history a part seemingly
beyond their scope and resources.

The people of the Netherlands became, to all intents, a state before they
became a nation. The Burgundian dukes of the fourteenth and fifteenth
century added to their fiefs counties, dukedoms and bishoprics, around
the nucleus of their first domain, until they had forged a compact and
powerful realm. [Sidenote: Philip the Good, 1419-67] Philip the Good,
Duke of Burgundy and lord, under various titles, of much of the
Netherlands, deserved the title of _Conditor Belgii_ by his successful
wars on France and by his statesmanlike policy of centralization. To
foster unity he created the States General--borrowing the name and
function thereof from France--in which all of the seventeen provinces[1]
of the Netherlands were represented on great occasions. Continually
increasing {235} in power with reference to the various localities, it
remained subordinate to the prince, who had the sole right of initiating
legislation. At first it met now in one city, then in another, but after
1530 always convened at Brussels, and always used the French language
officially.

[Sidenote: Charles the Bold, 1467-77]

Charles the Bold completed and yet endangered the work of Philip, for he
was worsted in mortal strife with Louis XI of France and, dying in
battle, left his dominions to his daughter, Mary. [Sidenote: Maximilian,
1477-93] Her husband, the Emperor Maximilian, and her son, Philip the
Handsome, [Sidenote: Philip the Handsome, 1493-1506] added to her realms
those vast dominions that made her grandson, Charles, the greatest
potentate in Europe. B