How old is the term: "Belgian"?

[troels nybo nielsen]

I am writing about a person who was born in the 16th century in Hainaut which is now a part of Belgium. But AFAIK there was not at that time a country with this name. Would it be incorrect to describe this person as Belgian? I have seen him called "The Belgian Widget-person" and would like to use that term because "widget-person" is a good keyword in one of my niches.

Like my forefathers through more than 1000 years I am part of the Danish people, live in the Danish state and speak the Danish language. Nothing could be more simple. So I must admit getting easily confused when I look abroad.

[Distel]

I'm a Belgian myself, but I must admit I don't know that much about my country's history (anything predating the internet is rather fuzzy ;) ). But I think I can find out via another forum. I'll get back to you asap.

[Sinner_G]

FWIW, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium#History) say Belgium was part of the Spanish kingdom until 1790.

As to whether you clould call that person Belgian nonetheless, why not? Many historic people are called Germans although they lived before Germany existed.

[Distel]

I sent your question to someone I know from another forum, whom I see as an expert on history, and he came up with an answer I somewhat compressed and translated in English. Here it is:

Many people, including certain historians, would describe this person as Belgian. So, yes, calling this person a Belgian would be, let's call it, "acceptable". However, would not work for some people. For example, Willem Van Oranje used to live in what we now know as Belgium. Still, he is actually the founder of the reublic of the Netherlands, and should therefore be called Dutch and not Belgian. A few centuries ago, people would have been referred to using the county, province, or region they lived in, such as Brabant or Holland, and these were at one point or another part of The Netherlands (which encompassed a large part of Belgium).

I hope this helps. I invited the person who provided me this info to come and take a look. He's a teacher, so I'm sure he'll point out any mistakes I might have made in my translation. ;)))

[troels nybo nielsen]

Thanks. I get the impression that this persons "nickname" was most likely not used in his own lifetime. I know that it was used in the 19th century, but I have not been able to confirm that it was used earlier than that.

I tend to feel that it will not be acceptable in my article. At least not as a title or subtitle. I might mention in the article that a later, more romantic and more nationalistic age had given him that name.