/u/shakesltz

What a fantastic book! When "urban particularism" is used in this context, it refers to two aspects. First is the self-governance of the cities, relative to the king and to the dukes and counts. Second is the degree of self-identification. The combination of both meant that cities in Holland in particular were proud of their freedoms.

If you want more details, you should check out Tracy's Holland under Habsburg rule, which goes into great detail and gives examples such as cities fighting against each other over the order in which they voted in the state assemblies, arguing over access to roads and ports, over who pays how much into the combined herring fleet.

Up to the time of the Dutch revolt, the Habsburgs tended to allow cities in Holland greater freedom than they did cities in the Zuid Nederlands, simply because the latter cities were much wealthier: Bruxelles, Antwerp, Brugge, Rijssel, Atrecht, and Ghent were economic powerhouses compared to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Leiden. Over time, the urban particularism of the northern cities became national particularism. But that's another story.