The Manifesto of the Province of Flanders (1790 Dutch: ''Manifest van de Provintie van Vlaenderen''; modern Dutch: ''Manifest van de Provincie Vlaanderen'') was the

declaration of independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

of the

county of Flanders The County of Flanders was one of the most powerful political entities in the medieval Low Countries, located on the North Sea coast of modern-day Belgium and north-eastern France. Unlike the neighbouring states of Duchy of Brabant, Brabant and ...

on 4 January 1790, during the Brabantine Revolution. On this day, the

States of Flanders The States of Flanders were a representative institution in the medieval and early modern County of Flanders. Initially it consisted only of the Third Estate, with representatives of the three cities of Bruges, Ghent and Ypres. Around 1350, the rur ...

"solemnly declare in the name of the People, the province of Flanders to be an independent State, and definitively withdrawn from its loyalty and obedience to

emperor Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...

count of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the c ...

, and from the

House of Austria The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

." The States also declared "all officials, lieges and other servants, whoever they may be, free and absolved from all concluded and indebted contracts, and discharged from every oath done to the fallen count of Flanders." Resistance against the reign of Joseph II in the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

, which worsened in 1786–87 when a number of States refused to pay their taxes (''beden'') and the '' landvoogden'' reversed all reform decrees on their own authority, escalated to open rebellion in the course of 1789, heavily influenced by the simultaneous French Revolution and

Liège Revolution The Liège Revolution, sometimes known as the Happy Revolution (; ), against the reigning prince-bishop of Liège, started on 18 August 1789 and lasted until the destruction of the Republic of Liège and re-establishment of the Prince-Bishopri ...

which had commenced a few months earlier. On 24 October 1789,

Hendrik van der Noot Henri van der Noot, in Dutch Hendrik van der Noot, and popularly called Heintje van der Noot or Vader Heintje (7 January 1731 – 12 January 1827), was a jurist, lawyer and politician from Brabant. He was one of the main figures of the Brabant R ...

had already proclaimed the independence of the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant, a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire, was established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant of 1085–1183, and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries. The Duchy comprised part of the Bu ...

by the ''

Manifesto of the People of Brabant The Manifesto of the People of Brabant (, ) was a document made public at the start of the Brabant Revolution in 1789 proclaiming the end of Austrian Netherlands, the domination of the House of Austria over the Duchy of Brabant. It was first writ ...

'', abjuring Joseph II as the

duke of Brabant The Duke of Brabant (, ) was the ruler of the Duchy of Brabant since 1183/1184. The title was created by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I, Duke of Brabant, Henry I of the House of Reginar, son of Godfrey III of Le ...

., ''De Lage Landen 1780-1980. Twee eeuwen Nederland en België. Deel I: 1780–1914'' (2005) p. 59. Amsterdam/Antwerp: Olympus (part of Atlas Contact). From

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

in the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

, a small army of patriots first conquered Brabant, next Flanders, Hainaut, Tournai and the Tournaisis,

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

and the rest of the

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the ...

except

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, finally taking Brussels in December. The manifesto elaborates why the Habsburg princes had not fulfilled their "constitutional" duties, and therefore, the abjuration of Joseph II's right to rule was justified. After summing up all violations of their rightful freedoms, the States of Flanders conclude: "Thus, one sought to subject the brave Netherlanders to complete slavery, and treat them like the inhabitants of Moravia and Croatia." The text composed in Dutch and French by

Karel Jozef de Graeve Karel Jozef de Graeve (October 23, 1731, Ursel – August 2, 1805, Sint-Denijs-Westrem) − usually written Charles-Joseph De Grave after the French invasion− was Raadsheer in the Flemish Court and author of juridical, officialese and his ...

Jean-Joseph Raepsaet Jean-Joseph Raepsaet (29 December 1750 in Oudenaarde – 19 February 1832) was a Belgian politician and historian. Biography Jean-Joseph Raepsaet was born to a family that had grown from rural civil servants in the south-east of the County of Fla ...

and . The ideas expressed in the manifesto were primarily inspired by the

United States Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America in the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continen ...

(1776). The

States State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of the respective Southern Netherlandish provinces

united United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

in a new

confederal A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

, the

United Belgian States The United Belgian States ( or '; ; ), also known as the United States of Belgium, was a short-lived confederal republic in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium) established under the Brabant Revolution. It existed from January to Dece ...

(7 January – 11 December 1790), which was reconquered after eleven months by the Imperial army.Encarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "Brabantse Omwenteling. §4. De mislukking van de Verenigde Belgische Staten". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Original Dutch text on Wikisource

1790 in the Habsburg monarchy County of Flanders United Belgian States Declarations of independence Republicanism in Belgium 1790 documents Political manifestos Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor