This special issue explores the complex relationship between language policy, cultural output and political life in the short-lived United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815-1830). The authors’ main focus is on events and developments in the southern half of the country (present-day Belgium). Read together, the seven contributions paint a diverse, transnational and multidisciplinary picture of a brief but important episode in the (intellectual) history of the Low Countries.

The articles in this special issue are based on papers given at the conference ‘« Entre union et morcellement » : Langue, culture et politique au Royaume Uni des Pays-Bas (1815-1830) / “Hier vereenigd, daar gebrokkeld”: Taal, cultuur en politiek in het Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (1815-1830)’ organized at the University of Liège on 6 October 2017.