Maastricht. The provisions and privileges of the famous Charter of Brabant, the Joyeuse Entrée (q.v.), were from the 15th century extended to Limburg and remained in force until the French Revolution. By the treaty of Westphalia (1648) the duchy was divided into two portions, the counties of Daelhem and Falkenberg with the town of Maastricht being ceded by Spain to the United Provinces, where they formed what was known as a “Generality-Land.” At the peace of Rastatt (1714) the southern portion passed under the dominion of the Austrian Habsburgs and formed part of the Austrian Netherlands until the French conquest in 1794. During the period of French rule (1794–1814) Limburg was included in the two French departments of Ourthe and Meuse Inférieure. In 1814 the old name of Limburg was restored to one of the provinces of the newly created kingdom of the Netherlands, but the new Limburg comprised besides the ancient duchy, a piece of Gelderland and the county of Looz. At the revolution of 1830 Limburg, with the exception of Maastricht, threw in its lot with the Belgians, and during the nine years that King William refused to recognize the existence of the kingdom of Belgium the Limburgers sent representatives to the legislature at Brussels and were treated as Belgians. When in 1839 the Dutch king suddenly announced his intention of accepting the terms of the settlement proposed by the treaty of London, as drawn up by representatives of the great powers in 1831, Belgium found herself compelled to relinquish portions of Limburg and Luxemburg. The part of Limburg that lay on the right bank of the Meuse, together with the town of Maastricht and a number of communes—Weert, Haelen, Kepel, Horst, &c.—on the left bank of the river, became a sovereign duchy under the rule of the king of Holland. In exchange for the cession of the rights of the Germanic confederation over the portion of Luxemburg, which was annexed by the treaty to Belgium, the duchy of Limburg (excepting the communes of Maastricht and Venloo) was declared to belong to the Germanic confederation. This somewhat unsatisfactory condition of affairs continued until 1866, when at a conference of the great powers, held in London to consider the Luxemburg question (see Luxemburg), it was agreed that Limburg should be freed from every political tie with Germany. Limburg became henceforth an integral part of Dutch territory.
See P. S. Ernst, Histoire du Limbourg (7 vols., Liége, 1837–1852); C. J. Luzac, De Landen van Overmuze in Zonderheid 1662 (Leiden, 1888); M. J. de Poully, Histoire de Maastricht et de ses environs (1850); Diplomaticke bescheiden betreffends de Limburg-Luxemburgsche aangelegenheden 1866–1867 (The Hague, 1868); and R. Fruin, Geschied. der Staats-Instellingen in Nederland (The Hague, 1901). (G. E.)
LIMBURG, or Limbourg, the smallest of the nine provinces
of Belgium, occupying the north-east corner of the kingdom.
It represents only a portion of the ancient duchy of Limburg
(see above). The part east of the Meuse was transferred to
Holland by the London conference, and a further portion was
attached to the province of Liége including the old capital now
called Dolhain. Much of the province is represented by the wild
heath district called the Campine, recently discovered to form
an extensive coal-field. The operations for working it were only
begun in 1906. North-west of Hasselt is Beverloo, where all the
Belgian troops go through a course of instruction annually.
Among the towns are Hasselt, the capital, St Trond and Looz.
From the last named is derived the title of the family known as
the dukes of Looz, whose antiquity equals that of the extinct
reigning family of Limburg itself. The title of duc de Looz is one
of the four existing ducal titles in the Netherlands, the other
three being d’Arenberg, Croy and d’Ursel. Limburg contains
603,085 acres or 942 sq. m. In 1904 the population was 255,359,
giving an average of 271 per sq. m.
LIMBURG, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of
Hesse-Nassau, on the Lahn, here crossed by a bridge dating
from 1315, and on the main line of railway from Coblenz to
Lollar and Cassel, with a branch to Frankfort-on-Main. Pop.
(1905) 9917. It is the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop. The
small seven-towered cathedral, dedicated to St George the
martyr, is picturesquely situated on a rocky site overhanging the
river. This was founded by Conrad Kurzbold, count of Niederlahngau,
early in the 10th century, and was consecrated in
1235. It was restored in 1872–1878. Limburg has a castle, a
new town hall and a seminary for the education of priests; its
industries include the manufacture of cloth, tobacco, soap,
machinery, pottery and leather. Limburg, which was a flourishing
place during the middle ages, had its own line of counts until
1414, when it was purchased by the elector of Trier. It passed
to Nassau in 1803. In September 1796 it was the scene of a
victory gained by the Austrians under the archduke Charles
over the French.
See Hillebrand, Limburg an der Lahn unter Pfandherrschaft 1344–1624 (Wiesbaden, 1899).
LIMBURG, the south-easternmost and smallest province of Holland, bounded N. by Gelderland, N.W. by North Brabant, S.W. by the Belgian province of Limburg, and S. by that of Liége, and E. by Germany. Its area is 850 sq. m., and its population in 1900 was 281,934. It is watered by the Meuse (Maas) which forms part of its south-western boundary (with Belgium) and then flows through its northern portion, and by such tributaries as the Geul and Roer (Ruhr). Its capital is Maastricht, which gives name to one of the two administrative districts into which it is divided, the other being Roermond.
LIMBURG CHRONICLE, or Festi Limpurgenses, the name
of a German chronicle written most probably by Tileman Elhen
von Wolfhagen after 1402. It is a source for the history of the
Rhineland between 1336 and 1398, but is perhaps more valuable
for the information about German manners and customs, and
the old German folk-songs and stories which it contains. It
has also a certain philological interest.
The chronicle was first published by J. F. Faust in 1617, and has been edited by A. Wyss for the Monumenta Germaniae historica. Deutsche Chroniken, Band iv. (Hanover, 1883). See A. Wyss, Die Limburger Chronik untersucht (Marburg, 1875).
LIMBURGITE, in petrology, a dark-coloured volcanic rock resembling basalt in appearance, but containing normally no felspar. The name is taken from Limburg (Germany), where they occur in the well-known rock of the Kaiserstuhl. They consist essentially of olivine and augite with a brownish glassy ground mass. The augite may be green, but more commonly is brown or violet; the olivine is usually pale green or colourless, but is sometimes yellow (hyalosiderite). In the ground mass a second generation of small eumorphic augites frequently occurs; more rarely olivine is present also as an ingredient of the matrix. The principal accessory minerals are titaniferous iron oxides and apatite. Felspar though sometimes present is never abundant, and nepheline also is unusual. In some limburgites large phenocysts of dark brown hornblende and biotite are found, mostly with irregular borders blackened by resorption; in others there are large crystals of soda orthoclase or anorthoclase. Hauyne is an ingredient of some of the limburgites of the Cape Verde Islands. Rocks of this group occur in considerable numbers in Germany (Rhine district) and in Bohemia, also in Scotland, Auvergne, Spain, Africa (Kilimanjaro), Brazil, &c. They are associated principally with basalts, nepheline and leucite basalts and monchiquites. From the last-named rocks the limburgites are not easily separated as the two classes bear a very close resemblance in structure and in mineral composition, though many authorities believe that the ground mass of the monchiquites is not a glass but crystalline analcite. Limburgites may occur as flows, as sills or dykes, and are sometimes highly vesicular. Closely allied to them are the augitites, which are distinguished only by the absence of olivine; examples are known from Bohemia, Auvergne, the Canary Islands, Ireland, &c.
LIMBUS (Lat. for “edge,” “fringe,” e.g. of a garment), a
theological term denoting the border of hell, where dwell those
who, while not condemned to torture, yet are deprived of the
joy of heaven. The more common form in English is “limbo,”
which is used both in the technical theological sense and derivatively
in the sense of “prison,” or for the condition of being
lost, deserted, obsolete. In theology there are (1) the Limbus
Infantum, and (2) the Limbus Patrum.
1. The Limbus Infantum or Puerorum is the abode to which
