"Flandria Illustrata" – Flemish Identities in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period

This chapter discusses identity formation in early modern Flanders. It argues that policy makers and their intellectual agents transformed the perception of a province that had been divided by urban rivalries, civil war and conflicts with the Burgundian and Habsburg overlords, into a bastion of the Catholic Counter Reformation with strong ties to the Spanish King and his representatives. It then assesses the role of the province as a ‘border region’ and suggests a future research agenda to understand further the role of Flanders and its political elite in the Habsburg Empire.