Background
In a series of marriages and conquests, a succession of Dukes of Burgundy expanded their original territory by adding to it a series of fiefdoms, including the Seventeen Provinces. Although Burgundy itself had been lost to France in 1477, the Burgundian Netherlands were still intact when Charles V was born in Ghent in 1500. He was raised in the Netherlands and spoke fluent Dutch, French, Spanish, and some German. In 1506 he became lord of the Burgundian states, among which were the Netherlands. Subsequently, in 1516, he inherited several titles, including the combined kingdoms of Aragon, and Castile and León which had become a worldwide empire with the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In 1519 he became ruler of the Habsburg empire, and he gained the title Holy Roman Emperor in 1530. Although Friesland and Guelders offered prolonged resistance (under Grutte Pier and Charles of Egmond, respectively), virtually all of the Netherlands had been incorporated into the Habsburg domains by the early 1540s.
Read more about this topic: Dutch Revolt
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