Burgundian Netherlands In the history of the Low Countries , the Burgundian Netherlands ( , , , ) refers to a number of Imperial and French fiefs ruled in personal union by the House of Valois - Burgundy and their Habsburg heirs in the period from 1384 to 1482 . The area comprised large parts of present - day Belgium and the Netherlands , as well as Luxembourg and parts of northern France . Dynastic . A fair share ( but not most ) of these territories were inherited by the Burgundian dukes , a younger branch of the French royal House of Valois in 1384 , upon the death of Count Louis II of Flanders . His heiress , Margaret III of Flanders in 1369 had married Philip the Bold , youngest son of King John II of France and the first of the Valois dukes of Burgundy at Dijon , who thus inherited the County of Flanders . The Flemish comital House of Dampierre had been French vassals , who held territory around the affluent cities of Bruges and Ghent , but also adjacent lands in former Lower Lorraine east of the Scheldt river ( " Imperial Flanders " ) including the exclave of Mechelen , which were a fief of the Holy Roman Empire , and furthermore the neighbouring French County of Artois . Together they initiated an era of Burgundian governance in the Low Countries . The Dampierre legacy further comprised the French counties of Rethel in northern Champagne and Nevers west of Burgundy proper , both held by Philip ' s younger son Philip II from 1407 , as well as the County of Burgundy ( " Franche - Comté " ) east of it , an Imperial fief which had been part of the former Kingdom of Arles . In the following decades , the Burgundian dukes expanded their territories in the Low Countries by the acquisition of several Imperial State s : Duke Philip the Good purchased the County of Namur in 1421 , inherited the Duchies of Brabant and Limburg in 1430 , and seized the Counties of Hainaut , Holland and Zeeland in 1432 , and the Duchy of Luxembourg in 1441 . His son , the last Burgundian duke Charles the Bold , in 1473 annexed the Duchy of Guelders , which had been pawned by late Arnold of Egmond . The Valois era would last until 1477 , when Duke Charles the Bold died at the Battle of Nancy leaving no male heir . The territorial Duchy of Burgundy reverted to the French crown according to Salic law , and King Louis XI of France also seized the French portion of the Burgundian possessions in the Low Countries . The Imperial fiefs passed to the Austrian House of Habsburg through Charles ' daughter Mary of Burgundy and her husband Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg , son of Emperor Frederick III . Maximilian however regarded the Burgundian Netherlands including Flanders and Artois as the undivided domains of his wife and himself and marched against the French . The conflict culminated at the Battle of Guinegate in 1479 . Though Maximilian was victorious , he was only able to gain the County of Flanders according to the 1482 Treaty of Arras after his wife Mary had suddenly died , while France retained Artois . In her testament , Mary of Burgundy had bequested the Burgundian heritage to her and Maximilian ' s son , Philip the Handsome . His father , dissatisfied with the terms of the Arras agreement , continued to campaign the seized French territories . In 1493 , King Charles VIII of France according to the Treaty of Senlis finally renounced Artois , which together with Flanders was incorporated into the Imperial Seventeen Provinces under the rule of Philip . Rulers . The Burgundian dukes who ruled the Netherlandish territories were : House of Valois , territorial Dukes of Burgundy House of Valois , titular Duchess of Burgundy House of Habsburg , titular Dukes of Burgundy ( see Habsburg Netherlands ) Political . The sheer burden of variety of bishoprics and independent cities , the intensely local partisanship , the various taxation systems , weights and measures , internal customs barriers , fiercely defended local rights were all hindrances to a " good Valois " . Attempts at enlarging personal control by the dukes resulted in revolts among the independent towns ( sometimes supported by independent local nobles ) and bloody military suppression in response . An increasingly modernized central government , with a bureaucracy of clerks , allowed the dukes to become celebrated art patrons and establish a glamorous court life that gave rise to conventions of behavior that lasted for centuries . Philip the Good ( 1419 – 1467 ) extended his personal control to the southeast ; bringing Brussels , Namur , and Liège under his control . He channeled the traditional independence of the cities through such mechanisms as the first Estates - General , and consolidating of the region ' s economy . The Estates - General met for the first time in the City Hall of Bruges on 9 January 1464 . It consisted of delegates of the Estates of Brabant , Flanders , Lille , Douai , Orchies , Artois , Hainaut , Holland , Zeeland , Namur , Mechelen and Boulonnais . Up to 1464 , the Duke only maintained ties with each of the provincial States separately . In principle , the provincial Estates were composed of representatives of the three traditional estates : clergy , nobility and the Third Estate , but the exact composition and influence of each estate ( within the provincial Estates ) could differ . Convening an Estates - General in which all provincial Estates were represented was part of Philip the Good ' s policy of centralisation . Ducal patronage . From 1441 , Philip based his ducal court in Brussels , but Bruges was the center of commerce , though by the 1480s the inevitable silting of its harbor was bringing its economic hegemony to a close . Philip was a great patron of illuminated manuscript s and court painting reached new highs : Robert Campin , the van Eyck brothers , and Rogier van der Weyden Social and economic . In 1491 and 1492 , the Netherlands was afflicted by revolts by the Dutch peasantry . These revolts were suppressed by an army under the command of Duke Albert III of Saxony at the Battle of Heemskerk .