| Native Name: | |
| Conventional Long Name: | Lordship of Mechelen |
| Common Name: | Lordship of Mechelen |
| Era: | Middle Ages, Early Modern Period, French Revolution |
| Empire: | Holy Roman Empire |
| Government Type: | Feudal Lordship, Principality, Heerlijkheid |
| Year Start: | 11th century |
| Year End: | 1795 |
| Life Span: | 910–1795 |
| Event Start: | foundation and First mention of the Berthouts as lords of Mechelen. |
| Event1: | Charles III Simple gives the abbey of Mechelen to the bishop of Liège. |
| Date Event1: | 910 |
| Event2: | Entry for the first time the dominion of Burgundy and The Prince-Bishopric of Liège cedes Malines to the Count of Flanders. |
| Date Event2: | 1333 |
| Event3: | Obtaining county status |
| Date Event3: | 1490 |
| Event4: | The Eighty Years' War |
| Date Event4: | 1568 |
| Event End: | The French Revolutionary Wars and The seigniory is incorporated into the department of Deux-Nèthes. |
| P1: | Prince-Bishopric of Liège |
| Flag P1: | LuikVlag.svg |
| P2: | Diocese of Liège |
| S1: | Deux-Nèthes |
| Flag S1: | Flag of France.svg |
| S2: | French First Republic |
| Flag S2: | Flag of France.svg |
| Image Map Caption: | The seigneury of Mechelen around Lordship in 1350 |
| Image Map2: | Mechelen1559-1608.png |
| Map Caption2: | Map of the area from 1559–1608 |
| Capital: | Mechelen |
| Common Languages: | Dutch |
| Religion: | Catholicism |
| Leader1: | Huis Berthout |
| Year Leader1: | ??? |
| Today: | Belgium Antwerp Province |
The Lordship of Mechelen (Dutch; Flemish: Heerlijkheid Mechelen, French: Seigneurie de Malines) was a small autonomous Lordship in the Low Countries, consisting of the city of Mechelen and some surrounding villages.[1] It lasted from 910 to 1795.
In the early Middle Ages, it was part of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, which was confirmed in 910. In practice, the area was ruled by the local Berthout family, against the will of the Prince-Bishops of Liège. The Duchy of Brabant tried to annex the Lordship, but as a reaction, Liège gave the area in 1333 to the County of Flanders. The Flemish also didn't gain complete and permanent control.
Mechelen was therefore later considered one of the Seventeen Provinces and then as a province of the Southern Netherlands. The Dukes of Burgundy and later the Habsburg Emperors and Kings were personally Lords of Mechelen and for a while turned the city more or less into the capital of the Netherlands. They established here the highest jurisdictional court of the Seventeen Provinces, called the Great Council of Mechelen. Governess Margaret of Austria also held her Court at Mechelen. Later, the capital moved primarily to Brussels.
In 1795 the Lordship was abolished by the French revolutionaries, and it became part of the French département of the Deux-Nèthes. Today it is part of the Belgian province of Antwerp.