The course is an in-depth study of the political and institutional aspects of the history of Belgium, aspects that could only be sketched in the general course of history of the Modern Age in the first year. Several key processes in the evolution of the Southern Netherlands and the Principality of Liège are highlighted: the genesis of the state since the 15th century (and the reunion of the Belgian provinces under the sceptre of the Dukes of Burgundy), the increasing administrative centralisation and standardisation as well as regional and local resistance and particularisms. The place of the Netherlands and the Principality on the international scene is also discussed.