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(Ger. Westfalen), former Prussian province,
now a part of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was
bounded by the Netherlands on the northwest, the former Prussian provinces
of Hannover on the north and east, Hesse-Nassau on the southeast
and south, and the Rhine Province on the southwest and west. The
name Westphalian originally referred to one of the three divisions
of the Saxon people. About 1180 Westphalia came under the archbishops
of Cologne, as dukes of Westphalia. In 1807, combined with parts
of Hesse, Hannover, Brunswick, and Saxony, Westphalia was made into
a kingdom by Napoleon and given to his youngest brother, Jérôme
Bonaparte; it was incorporated in the Confederation of the Rhine.
In 1813, following Napoleon’s military reverses, the kingdom
was dissolved, and the Congress of Vienna assigned Westphalia to
Prussia. The Peace of Westphalia, concluded at Münster
and Osnabrück on Oct. 24, 1648, brought the
An article from Funk & Wagnalls® New Encyclopedia. © 2006 World Almanac Education Group. A WRC Media Company. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by
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WESTPHALIA
It was bounded by the Netherlands on the northwest, the former Prussian provinces of Hannover on the north and east, Hesse-Nassau on the southeast and south, and the Rhine Province on the southwest and west. About 1180 Westphalia came under the archbishops of Cologne, as dukes of Westphalia. . . .
ENCYCLOPEDIA: WESTPHALIA, PEACE OF,
