Then again, maybe I'm just a nitpicking weirdo. Although I've gotten enough upvotes by now that it seems that others have the same feeling. Maybe someone else can explain the reason for their subjective emotions upon reading this better.
Based on the sibling thread about the geographic extent of the modern Netherlands vs. the post-revolt Dutch Republic, yes, to me it seems like you're nitpcking. The author is trying to give a rough reference point to readers not familiar with the details of the history or geography. Trying to enumerate the changes in borders would be tedious, beside the point, and go over the head of most readers (who wouldn't recognize the names of the relevant towns/regions/etc.)
Edit: Though I'm defending the author on this point, I would agree that this isn't a great piece of writing. It's a "potted biography" that doesn't seem to have much of an overall point.