Duchy of Limburg
Duchy of Limburg | |||||||||
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1065–1797 | |||||||||
Duke of Lorraine, Holy Roman Emperor etc. | |||||||||
Historical era | Annexed by France | 1797 | |||||||
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The Duchy of Limburg or Limbourg was an
The Duchy evolved from a county which was first assembled under the lordship of a junior member of the
The extinction of the line of Frederick's grandson Henry in 1283 sparked the
The duchy was multilingual, being the place where Dutch, French, and German dialects border upon each other and coexist at their geographical extremes, both now and in medieval times. Its northern and eastern borders are the approximate boundaries of the modern state of Belgium with the Netherlands and Germany, at their "tripoint". The eastern part, which includes Eupen, is the administrative capital and northernmost part of the modern German-speaking Community of Belgium. The Duchy also included the main part of the Pays de Herve, famous for its pungent-smelling soft cheese known as Limburger or Herve.
Geography
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The state's territory was situated in the
The most important towns in the eventual Duchy were Limbourg, the capital, and
- The original manor of Baelen in the southeast with the fortified town of Limburg, and also Eupen, and Welkenraedt;
- Herve in the southwest with Dison, Thimister and Clermont.
- Montzen (today part of Plombières) in the northwest with Kelmis, Moresnet, and Teuven;
- Walhorn in the northeast with Eynatten, Hauset, and Lontzen;
- The southwestern exclave of Sprimont, surrounded by the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.
The territory of Limburg formed a complex patchwork with those of the
Linguistically Limburg was situated on the border of
History
The territory of the duchy of Limburg was formed in the 11th century around the town of Limbourg in present-day Wallonia. About 1020, Duke Frederick of Lower Lorraine, a descendant of Count Palatine Wigeric of Lotharingia, had Limbourg Castle built on the banks of the Vesdre river. His estates then comprised the districts of Baelen (with Limbourg), Herve, Montzen (since 1975 part of Plombières), Walhorn, and the southwestern exclave of Sprimont. Frederick's eventual successor (probably a grandson) was Henry, although between them was Count Udon, who about 1065 was also called a "count of Limburg". (It has been proposed that he married Frederick's daughter, and was the father of Henry.)[3]
Henry also claimed Frederick's ducal title, which was finally acknowledged by Emperor
The rise of the Limburg dynasty continued, when Duke
However, upon the death of Henry's son
After the abdication of Emperor
When the region was occupied by the
See also
- Dukes of Limburg
- Duchy of Limburg (1839–1867)
- Limburger cheese
- Neutral Moresnet
References
- ^ See Kupper p.612, including footnote 18.
- ^ Kupper, p.617.
- ^ Jean-Louis Kupper (2007) Les origines du duché de Limbourg-sur-Vesdre", Revue belge de Philologie et d'Histoire Année 85-3-4 pp. 609-637 [1] Archived 2018-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Péporté, P., Historiography, Collective Memory and Nation-Building in Luxembourg. Brill, 2011, p. 109