The Spanish Netherlands were a collection of States of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries, held in personal union by the Spanish Habsburgs, but not annexed to the Spanish Crown, thus encompassing the second period in history of the Habsburg Netherlands, that lasted from 1556 to 1714. This region comprised most of the modern states of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as parts of northern France and western Germany, with the capital being Brussels. The Army of Flanders was given the task of defending the territory.