BELGIUM-ROOTS Project Belgian Emigrants Abroad and Their Descendants Belgium - The Country of Emigration Overview

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Introduction

Outline

• Belgian Territory before ca 800

  Before about 800 A.C. many peoples did pass through what's now Belgium. The Belgae, named by Julius Cesar the 'bravest of all' in 48 B.C. , did no more reside in Belgium around 800. You will find them more likely in Normandy and England ! Although it can't be exclued that some did remain. They left as heritage some place names.

  After 800 the inhabitants of what's now Belgium did have to face many invadors, starting with the Normans around 900, until the nazi forces in World War II.

  They have always been defeated in the end, mostly with the help of other neighbours and allies

  Remark

  "Strength lies in Unity", also translated as "Unity yields strength", is our national device. See this page for the origin of the device (English) and an example in Brooklyn, New York, USA (Dutch with image).

  It's also in this periode that the linguistic frontier between the Roman and German languages has been stabilized in the Low Countries This linguistic border has been at some times a weakness of Belgium, but in the end always a strength, because we have managed to live with it without civil war.

• Belgian Territory under Feudal Rule (ca 800-1548)

  General

  Subdivisions

  • Feudal domination (ca 800 - ca 1400)

    • East-Francia (= Holy Roman Empire)
      Now Germany.
    • Central-Francia (= Lorraine)
      The Duchy of Burgundy was in his way to reunite Central-Francia in one Kingdom. But the Swiss Confederacy did end this dream in 1477, when the Duke Charles the Bald was killed in the battle of Nancy.
      The remaining independent countries are now in fact the Low Countries (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) and Switzerland.
    • West-Francia (= Kingdom of France)
      Now France.

  • Burgundian domination (ca 1400-1713)

  • Spanish domination (1548-1713)

  • Austrian domination (1713-1795)

• Belgian Territory under the French domination (1795-1815)

  General

  Subdivisions

• Belgian Territory under the Dutch domination (1815-1830)

  General

  Subdivisions

• Federal Kingdom of Belgium (1830-now)

  General

  Subdivisions

  History

  • Regions

    • Flemish Region (Flanders and Brussels)
    • Walloon Region (Wallonia)
    • Brussels Capital-Region (Brussels)

  • Communities

    • Flemish Community (Flanders and Brussels)
    • French Community of Belgium (Wallonia and Brussels)
    • German Speaking Community (East-Belgium, part of Walloon Region)

This web site is the collective work of the subscribers to the mail list BELGIUM-ROOTS-L founded June 1998 by Georges Picavet (see our members page and the copyrights page for more info) Q:\webbeta\rw_belgiumroots\belgium.html (br_bel) This Global file was last updated 18/01/2007 23:49:27 CET and uploaded Thursday, 18-Jan-2007 16:12:14 MST