'Free imperial Lordships' in Limburg (1500-1800): deconstruction of a myth

The area on both sides of the Meuse river covered by the present Dutch and Belgian provinces called Limburg was characterised by a significant degree of territorial fragmentation in the early modern period.

The historical process in which the larger territorial lords brought smaller entities under their rule progressed only slowly. This study focuses on the constitutional status of these so-called 'free imperial lordships' in relation to the Holy Roman Empire as a political entity and in relation to the territorial lordships.

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