V. 2.

_The formation of the different Provinces of the Netherlands into one
State_.


In 1363, John the Good, the king of France, gave to Philip the Bold, his
third son, the dutchy of Burgundy: it then comprised the county of
Burgundy, Dauphiné, and a portion of Switzerland. The monarch at the
same time created his son duke of Burgundy. Thus Philip, became the
patriarch of the second line of that illustrious house.

History does not produce an instance of a family, which has so greatly
aggrandized itself by marriage, as the house of Austria. The largest
part by far of the Netherlands was derived to it, 1st, from Margaret of
Franche Comtè; 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