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Why are the Dutch so crazy about cycling? We tell you all about it in the first episode of The Low Countries Radio.

A common misperception is that once Roman influence ended, the European continent went into a dark abyss with very little happening until the Italian Renaissance in the 14th century.

Jacoba of Bavaria, Countess of Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland, was a strong leader but went down with power-hungry men, even from her own family.

Discover some of the weird sports that have developed in or been adopted and grown in Belgium and the Netherlands.

In the 14th century, up to half of the European population died of the Black Death after it first struck in 1348. Jews were often blamed for the plague and subsequently burned at the stake as punishment.

Meet the man who managed to unite the Flemish cities behind him and dared to defy the French king for the benefit of England and the wool and textile trade in Flanders.

When John III, Duke of Brabant, died in 1355 without male heirs, his three daughters and their husbands claimed the inheritance with violence.

When the counts of Holland wanted to break the autonomy of Friesland, they incurred the wrath of the Frisian freedom fighters.

In this podcast, you will discover why the story of religion in the Low Countries is much more layered than claiming that the Netherlands is a Calvinist society and Belgium a Catholic one.

Eating herring is a Dutch tradition. This silvery, slimy fish is even part of their national identity, thanks to a myth about a humble herring fisherman.

Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, initiated a dynasty that would change the Low Countries forever.

In this podcast, we cast our view on a few of the most striking, unique or just plain weird buildings that can be found in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Philip the Bold set the tone for a dynasty that was going to contribute so much to the emergence of a lowland culture and identity.

In this episode of TLC Radio, we are going to flip through the pages of comic history in the Low Countries.

Time to honour the women who have played a fundamental role in the development and progress of Low Country societies.

John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, asserted himself as the dominant power broker in the Low Countries of the late 14th, early 15th century, showing the ever-restless towns what might happen to them should they rebel against his authority.

Discover how the Low Countries, after centuries of battling floods, have gradually learnt to treat water as an ally and a part of the cultural identity of its inhabitants.

In the early 1400s, an English army with longbows, a mad dog and a treacherous bridge would once again make the future of the Low Countries uncertain.

Count Floris V, loved by peasants and urban commoners, left a large legacy in Holland. However, his good deeds could not prevent him from being murdered.

In 1302, an unexpected victory of an untrained Flemish infantry militia over a professional force of French cavalry ended the French annexation of the County of Flanders.

In this podcast, we explore some of the most notorious folk tales and legends from Flanders and the Netherlands.

We are delving into some of the unique and peculiar customs, social norms and rituals of Flanders and the Netherlands.

Join us on our journey throughout the history of the Netherlands. We start in so-called "pre-history".

What makes the life and work of the early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck so special?

Pour a glass of your favourite brew and join on a historic journey of beer and brewing in the Low Countries. Proost!

We find out what Flemish and Dutch people have been eating since prehistoric times. Smakelijk!

In the 13th century, wool was the most important commodity in Flanders, with Bruges as the epicentre of the wool trade. The industry determined the political, social and economic relations and left its mark on architecture.

Throughout history, the Low Countries would often be defined by their interactions with great powers nearby. This began with the Romans.

Discover the fascinating history and impact of the Dutch language all around the world.

On our journey exploring the history of the Low Countries, we can't forget the 'Father of Europe': Charlemagne or Charles the Great.

After the collapse of Charlemagne's empire at the end of the 9th century, the lowlands became the playground for many family feuds.

At the end of the first millennium, an agricultural revolution was about to change the lives of the peasants in the Low Countries.

Freed from the need to be working the land due to the improvements in agriculture, people in the Low Countries began congregating in urban centres. For the first time, they were able to put their fingers onto the scales of power.

From maps and microscopes to fire hoses and artificial hearts. Throughout the centuries, the Low Countries have been the breeding ground for many world-changing inventions.

This is how the Dutch have reshaped their wetland wilderness into one of the most densely populated places on the planet.

The Low Countries Radio is a podcast series, celebrating Flemish and Dutch history and culture, and its impact on the world today. The Low Countries Radio is a collaboration between Republic of Amsterdam Radio and the low countries website.

Join us on an epic journey exploring the history of a region in the northwest of Europe known as the Low Countries, which roughly includes today’s Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and bits of northern France. We present you with a chronolog...

During the German occupation, around 250 people hid in Amsterdam Artis Zoo to escape from Nazi persecution.

Indonesia’s independence in 1949 did not mark the end of Dutch influence. Many Dutch colonial structures remained in use.

Join us in bidding goodbye to 2022 with seven of the finest history stories we published this year that are worth re-reading or listening to again.

With the Congo Commission, Belgium took a different path from the Netherlands, which had its colonial past in Indonesia investigated by three institutes. What does this mean for dealing with a fraught history?

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