The Duchy of Luxembourg (Dutch: Luxemburg; French: Luxembourg; German: Luxemburg; Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuerg) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, the ancestral homeland of the noble House of Luxembourg. The House of Luxembourg became one of the most important political forces in the 14th century, competing against the House of Habsburg for supremacy in Central Europe. They would be the heirs to the Přemyslid dynasty in the Kingdom of Bohemia, succeeding to the Kingdom of Hungary and contributing four Holy Roman Emperors until their own line of male heirs came to an end and the House of Habsburg received the territories that the two Houses had originally agreed upon in the Treaty of Brünn in 1364.
Modern historians explain the etymology of the word Luxembourg as coming from the word Letze, meaning fortification,[3] which might have referred to either the remains of a Roman watchtower or a primitive refuge of the Early Middle Ages.
By the 959 partition of Lotharingia, the Luxembourg region had passed to Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine of the House of Ardenne–Bar, a son of Count PalatineWigeric of Lotharingia. In 963, Count Siegfried, probably a younger brother of Duke Frederick I, purchased some land from Abbot Wikerus of St. Maximin's Abbey, Trier. This land was centered on a ruined (supposedly Roman) fort by the Old High German name of Lucilinburhuc (commonly translated as "little castle"). In the following years, Count Siegfried had a new castle built on the site of these ruins, on a rock that would later be called Bock Fiels. This castle dominated a stretch of the old Roman road linking Reims, Arlon, and Trier, and opened some prospects for trade and taxation. Despite this new construction, it seems that Siegfried and his immediate successors did not make the castle their primary residence. The history of Luxembourg proper began with the construction of this castle.
In the following years, a small town and market grew around the new castle. The first inhabitants were probably servants of Count Siegfried and clergy of Saint Michael's church. This settlement soon received additional protection by the construction of a first, partial city wall and moat.
In addition to the small town near Bock Fiels and the Roman road, another settlement was formed in the Alzette Valley (today the Grund quarter). By 1083, this lower town contained two churches, two bridges of the rivers Alzette, and Petruss. Its inhabitants pursued various professions, including fishing, baking and milling. That same year, the Benedictine abbey of Altmünster was founded by Count Conrad on the hill behind Luxembourg castle.
Henry III was the first count known to have established his permanent residence in Luxembourg castle. In a document from the year 1089, he is referred to as comes Henricus de Lutzeleburg, which also makes him the first documented count of Luxembourg.
Around this fort, the town gradually developed and became the center of a small, but important state of great strategic value to France, Germany, and the Low Countries. Luxembourg's fortress was steadily enlarged and strengthened over the years by successive owners, making the Fortress of Luxembourg one of the strongest in continental Europe. Its formidable defenses and strategic location caused it to become known as the Gibraltar of the North.
Luxembourg remained an independent fief (county) of the Holy Roman Empire, when, in 1354, Emperor Charles IV elevated it to the status of a duchy for his brother Wenceslaus. The ducal lands had been formed in 1353 by integration of the old County of Luxembourg, the Marquisate of Arlon, the counties of Durbuy and Laroche, and the districts of Thionville, Bitburg, and Marville. The County of Vianden can also be included as it had been a vassal of the counts and dukes of Luxembourg since about 31 July 1264.
With the abdication in 1556 of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (also King of Spain as Charles I), the Habsburg Netherlands passed to his son King Philip II of Spain. During the Dutch Revolt, or Eighty Years War, the seven northern provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands broke away from Spain to form the Dutch Republic in 1581, while the remaining ten southern provinces (including Luxembourg) remained under Spanish rule until 1714. During this time, the remaining southern provinces were referred to as the Spanish Netherlands (or Southern Netherlands, a name that continued under Austrian rule). The War of the Spanish Succession, which was fought after the Spanish Habsburg line died out in 1700, resulted in the Spanish Netherlands coming under the rule of Austria in 1714, thereby beginning the period of the Austrian Netherlands. The area remained under Austrian rule until the French Revolution, when it was taken over by France in 1795. Austria confirmed its loss in the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio.
The three partitions greatly reduced the country's territory over the years.
The Southern Netherlands, including Luxemburg, were annexed by the French First Republic on 1 October 1795[4] and on 24 October the Forêtsdépartement was established from the territory of the duchies of Luxemburg and the Bouillon.[5] Centred on Luxembourg City, it lay in what is today Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. Its name, meaning "forests", comes from the Ardennes forests.
A small amount of the former Luxemburg territory was ceded to Prussia in 1813.
After the Kingdom of Belgium gained its independence from the Netherlands in 1830, Luxembourg was partitioned in the Treaty of London (1839), with the larger western portion of the grand duchy going to Belgium (as the Province of Luxembourg); only the smaller eastern portion remained part of the grand duchy. The personal union between the Luxembourg and Dutch thrones continued until the death of William III in 1890, at which time the Dutch throne passed to his daughter Wilhelmina while the Luxembourg throne passed to Adolph of Nassau-Weilburg.
Ermesinde et l'affranchissement de la ville de Luxembourg; Etudes sur la femme, le pouvoir et la ville au XIIIe siècle, sous la direction de Michel Margue, Publications du Musée d'Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg, Publications du CLUDEM tome 7, Luxembourg 1994.
Tatsachen aus der Geschichte des Luxemburger Landes, Dr. P. J. Müller, Luxemburg 1963, Verlag "de Frendeskres", Imprimerie Bourg-Bourger.
Vivre au Moyen Age: Luxembourg, Metz et Trèves; Etudes sur l'histoire et l'archéologie urbaines, sous la direction du Musée d'Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg, Publications Scientifiques du Musée d'Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg, tome 2, Luxembourg 1998.
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