Lands of Overmaas

The Lands of Overmaas ceased to exist as lordships with the abolition of feudalism in 1795, following the annexation of the area by Revolutionary France.

The territories' rulers, the Dukes of Brabant, called their possessions in the area Landen van Overmaas, meaning the "countries over the Meuse".

[1] The Lands of Overmaas were a collection of small medieval lordships in the vicinity of Limburg,[2] and located between the cities of Liège, Maastricht and Aachen.

[9] In 1648, as part of the terms ending the war, the Lands were agreed to be partitioned but in such a way as to create, what Benjamin J. Kaplan called, a "complex patchwork...with some districts forming isolated islands".

[11] As a result of the complexity of the partition, the area became subject to jurisdictional disputes and competing territorial claims.

[12] Settlement of a small Calvinist minority did take place in areas controlled by the Dutch Republic but the privileged position of the settlers attracted resentment from the Catholic majority.

[13] In 1795, Revolutionary France annexed the southern Low Countries,[1] and feudal land rights were abolished.