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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41830 ***
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 41830-h.htm or 41830-h.zip:
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41830/41830-h/41830-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41830/41830-h.zip)
+
+
+      Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive/American Libraries. See
+      http://archive.org/details/spellofflanderso00vose
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SPELL OF FLANDERS
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+     THE SPELL SERIES
+
+
+     _Each volume with one or more colored plates and many
+     illustrations from original drawings or special photographs.
+     Octavo, with decorative cover, gilt top, boxed._
+
+     _Per volume $2.50 net, carriage paid $2.70_
+
+     THE SPELL OF ITALY
+
+     By Caroline Atwater Mason
+
+     THE SPELL OF FRANCE
+
+     By Caroline Atwater Mason
+
+     THE SPELL OF SOUTHERN SHORES
+
+     By Caroline Atwater Mason
+
+     THE SPELL OF ENGLAND
+
+     By Julia de W. Addison
+
+     THE SPELL OF HOLLAND
+
+     By Burton E. Stevenson
+
+     THE SPELL OF SWITZERLAND
+
+     By Nathan Haskell Dole
+
+     THE SPELL OF THE ITALIAN LAKES
+
+     By William D. McCrackan
+
+     THE SPELL OF TYROL
+
+     By William D. McCrackan
+
+     THE SPELL OF JAPAN
+
+     By Isabel Anderson
+
+     THE SPELL OF SPAIN
+
+     By Keith Clark
+
+     THE SPELL OF FLANDERS
+
+     By Edward Neville Vose
+
+     THE SPELL OF THE HOLY LAND
+
+     By Archie Bell
+
+
+     THE PAGE COMPANY
+
+     53 BEACON STREET, BOSTON, MASS.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: _Cathedral of St. Sauveur, Bruges_
+
+(_See page 47_)]
+
+
+THE SPELL OF FLANDERS
+
+An Outline of the History, Legends and Art of Belgium's
+Famous Northern Provinces
+
+Being the story of a Twentieth Century Pilgrimage in a
+Sixteenth Century Land just before the Outbreak of the Great War
+
+by
+
+EDWARD NEVILLE VOSE
+
+Illustrated
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Boston
+The Page Company
+MDCCCCXV
+
+Copyright, 1915,
+by the Page Company
+
+All rights reserved
+
+First Impression, April, 1915
+
+The Colonial Press
+
+C. H. Simonds Company, Boston, U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+     To
+
+     ALBERT I.,
+
+     King of the Belgians, the guiding star of a brave nation and
+     the hero of the Battle of Flanders in the Great War, this book
+     is dedicated
+
+
+
+
+PUBLISHERS' NOTE
+
+
+Lord Beaconsfield once said: "Flanders has been trodden by the feet
+and watered by the blood of countless generations of British
+soldiers." This famous passage--which has received a new confirmation
+to-day--is typical of many references among English writers and
+statesmen to Flanders as a general term covering all of what is now
+known as Belgium. Among the citizens of that brave little Kingdom,
+however, and among most Continental writers, Flanders is recognised as
+being the name of only the northern part of Belgium. Small as that
+country is, it has for centuries been bi-lingual, the northern portion
+speaking Flemish, the southern French; and for centuries the history
+of the Flemish provinces was as distinct from that of the Walloon
+province to the southward as the early history of California or Texas
+was from that of New England.
+
+Although eventually united under one Government with the Walloons and
+with what is now Holland, it was during the long period of their
+semi-independence that the Flemings achieved many of the artistic and
+architectural monuments that have made Flanders for all time one of
+the most interesting regions in the world.
+
+While this book, therefore, does not attempt to describe the whole of
+Belgium, it does present a pen picture of the northern part of the
+country as it existed almost at the moment when the devastating
+scourge of the Great War swept across it.
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+This book is the record of a vacation tour in the beautiful old
+Flemish towns of Northern Belgium beginning in May and ending in July
+of the Summer of 1914. The assassination of the Austrian Archduke
+Ferdinand and his wife at Sarajevo took place while our little party
+was viewing the mediæval houses and churches of Ghent and Audenaerde,
+but in the many discussions of that event to which we listened there
+was no whisper of the awful fate which the march of events was so soon
+to bring upon one of the most charming, peaceful and happy countries
+in the world.
+
+Many of the descriptions in the following pages were written in or
+near the towns described, and within a day or so after the visit
+narrated. Then each old Flemish "monument" was in as perfect a state
+of preservation as the reverent pride and care of the Belgian populace
+and the learned and skilful restorations of the Belgian government
+could together accomplish. The fact that since these accounts were
+written many of these very towns have been swept by shot and shell,
+have been taken and retaken by hostile armies, have formed the stage
+upon which some of the direst tragedies of the world's greatest and
+most terrible war have been enacted, will--it is hoped--give them a
+permanent interest and value. As a painting of some famous city as it
+appeared many years or centuries ago is of the utmost historical
+interest, even though by an inferior artist, so these halting word
+pictures of towns that have since been wholly or partially destroyed
+may help the reader to recall the glories that have passed away.
+
+In accordance with the plan described in the first chapter, the tour
+of Flanders followed a decidedly zigzag itinerary, frequently visiting
+some town more than once. The purpose of this was to follow, in a
+fairly chronological sequence, as far as possible, the development of
+Flemish history, architecture and art. The outline of the intensely
+fascinating history of the old Flemish communes that has been thus
+presented may prove of interest to many readers who have been thrilled
+by the superb bravery of the little Belgian army in its defence of
+Flanders against overwhelming odds. As these glimpses into the past
+clearly show, the men of Belgium have engaged in a battle against
+foreign domination from the earliest ages. That it was at times a
+losing struggle never for a moment diminished the ardour of their
+resistance, or the depth of their devotion to liberty and the right to
+rule themselves. And when we consider how, during these centuries of
+conflict, and in defiance of obstacles that would have daunted a less
+strong-hearted people, the men of Flanders found the inspiration, the
+patience and the skill to erect some of the noblest examples of
+mediæval architecture, to create a school of painting that ranks as
+one of the most priceless heritages of the ages, and to excel in a
+half a score of other lines of artistic endeavour, we surely must all
+agree that here is a people we would not willingly see perish from the
+earth.
+
+If to be neutral is to stand by and silently acquiesce in the
+destruction of Belgium as an independent nation, then the author of
+this book is not neutral. In every fibre of his being he protests
+against such a course as a crime against liberty, against humanity.
+Happily, from every corner of the United States come unmistakable
+evidences that the American people as a whole are not, at heart,
+neutral on this subject. The embattled farmers who stood on the
+bridge at Concord and fired "the shot heard round the world" have
+thrilled the imagination and stimulated the patriotism of every
+American schoolboy, but no less heroic is the spectacle of the little
+Belgian army under the personal leadership of its noble King standing
+like a rock on the last tiny strip of Belgian soil and stopping the
+onrush of the most powerful fighting organisation in the world. At
+Nieuport and Dixmude and along the bloodstained Yser Canal, the men of
+Belgium fought for the same cause of liberty for which our forefathers
+fought at Bunker Hill. Whatever our sympathies may be with respect to
+the larger aspects of the great world war--and as to these we may most
+properly remain neutral--our national history and traditions, the very
+principles of government to which we owe "all that we have and are,"
+cannot but confirm us in the profound conviction that no conclusion to
+this war can be just and right, or permanent, that does not once more
+restore the Belgian nation and guarantee that it shall remain
+completely and forever free.
+
+On the other hand, while news of the damage done to some famous
+Flemish church or Hotel de Ville causes the author sensations akin to
+those that he would experience on learning of the wounding of a
+friend, this book will contain no complaint regarding German
+destruction of these monuments of architecture. At Ypres and Malines,
+where the havoc wrought cannot fail to have been fearful, the damage
+was done in the course of battles in which the most powerful engines
+of destruction ever invented by man were used on both sides. Much as
+we may deplore the results, we cannot blame the individual commanders.
+At Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges and many other famous Flemish cities the
+Germans appear to have made every effort to avoid wanton destruction
+and preserve the most notable historic edifices. After the war is over
+and we have learned exactly what structures have been destroyed, and
+under what circumstances, we can justly place whatever blame may
+attach to such a catastrophe where it belongs--but not until then. For
+the present we can only hope that the damage may be less than has been
+reported, and that in many instances it will be possible for the
+Belgians--so skilful in the work of restoration--to reconstruct the
+sections of famous buildings that have been damaged.
+
+When the war is over many thousands of Americans and English will be
+eager to visit the battle-fields of Flanders and see for themselves
+the scenes of conflicts that will forever hold a great place in human
+history. The author ventures to hope that this little book may be
+found serviceable to such tourists as it contains much information not
+to be found in any guide book. If it aids any of them--or any of the
+far larger host of travellers whose journeys in far-off lands must be
+made by their home firesides--to understand Flanders better it will
+have achieved its purpose. It is one of the many ironies of the war
+that towns like Ypres and Malines, which were rarely visited by
+American tourists when they were in their perfection, will, no doubt,
+be visited by thousands now that the clash of arms has brought them at
+the same moment destruction and immortal fame.
+
+    EDWARD NEVILLE VOSE.
+
+
+
+
+    CONTENTS
+
+
+           CHAPTER                                                  PAGE
+
+           PUBLISHERS' NOTE                                          vii
+
+           FOREWORD                                                   ix
+
+        I. INTRODUCING FLANDERS AND THE FOUR PILGRIMS                  1
+
+       II. VIEUX BRUGES AND COUNT BALDWIN OF THE IRON ARM             15
+
+      III. BRUGES IN THE DAYS OF CHARLES THE GOOD                     30
+
+       IV. HOW BRUGES BECAME "THE VENICE OF THE NORTH"                54
+
+        V. DIXMUDE AND FURNES                                         78
+
+       VI. NIEUPORT AND THE YSER CANAL                                94
+
+      VII. WHEN YPRES WAS A GREATER CITY THAN LONDON                 116
+
+     VIII. COURTRAI AND THE BATTLE OF THE SPURS                      146
+
+       IX. GHENT IN THE DAYS OF THE FLEMISH COUNTS                   169
+
+        X. THE AGE WHEN GHENT WAS GOVERNED BY ITS GUILDS             192
+
+       XI. PHILIP THE GOOD AND THE VAN EYCKS                         218
+
+      XII. TOURNAI, THE OLDEST CITY IN BELGIUM                       242
+
+     XIII. THREE CENTURIES OF TOURNAISIAN ART                        268
+
+      XIV. THE FALL OF CHARLES THE BOLD--MEMLING AT BRUGES           285
+
+       XV. MALINES IN THE TIME OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA                311
+
+      XVI. GHENT UNDER CHARLES THE FIFTH--AND SINCE                  344
+
+     XVII. AUDENAERDE AND MARGARET OF PARMA                          367
+
+    XVIII. OLD ANTWERP--ITS HISTORY AND LEGENDS                      393
+
+      XIX. THREE CENTURIES OF ANTWERP PRINTERS                       411
+
+       XX. ANTWERP FROM THE TIME OF RUBENS TILL TO-DAY               438
+
+      XXI. WHERE MODERN FLANDERS SHINES--OSTENDE AND "LA PLAGE"      464
+
+     XXII. THE SPELL OF FLANDERS                                     480
+
+           BIBLIOGRAPHY                                              485
+
+           INDEX                                                     489
+
+
+
+
+    LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+    CATHEDRAL OF ST. SAUVEUR, BRUGES (_in full colour_)
+    (_See page 47_)                                       _Frontispiece_
+
+    MAP OF BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS,
+    SHOWING THE OLD FLEMISH PRINCIPALITY                      _facing_ 1
+
+    BÉGUINAGE BRIDGE, BRUGES                                          35
+
+    TOMB OF MARIE OF BURGUNDY, CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME, BRUGES           51
+
+    PALAIS DU FRANC, BRUGES (_in full colour_)                        59
+
+    THE BELFRY, BRUGES                                                63
+
+    THE MINNEWATER, BRUGES                                            71
+
+    SHRIMP FISHERMEN, COXYDE                                          93
+
+    TOWER OF THE TEMPLARS, NIEUPORT                                   99
+
+    AN ANCIENT PAINTING OF THE FLEMISH KERMESSE BY TENIERS           115
+
+    CLOTH HALL, YPRES                                                119
+
+    HOTEL MERGHELYNCK, YPRES                                         139
+
+    CHURCH OF ST. PETER, YPRES                                       141
+
+    STATUE OF PETER DE CONINCK AND JOHN BREIDEL, BRUGES              154
+
+    CASTLE OF THE COUNTS, GHENT                                      170
+
+    RUINS OF THE ABBEY OF ST. BAVON, GHENT                           184
+
+    POST OFFICE, CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS, BELFRY AND
+    CATHEDRAL, GHENT                                                 195
+
+    DE DULLE GRIETE, GHENT                                           208
+
+    WORKROOM, PETIT BÉGUINAGE DE NOTRE DAME, GHENT                   210
+
+    "SINGING ANGELS," FROM "THE ADORATION OF THE
+    LAMB"--JEAN VAN EYCK                                             236
+
+    "GEORGE VAN DER PAELE, CANON OF ST. DONATIAN,
+    WORSHIPPING THE MADONNA"--JEAN VAN EYCK (_in full colour_)       239
+
+    GENERAL VIEW OF TOURNAI AND THE FIVE-TOWERED CATHEDRAL           256
+
+    THE BELFRY, TOURNAI                                              262
+
+    A TRIPTYCH OF THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS BY ROGIER VAN DER WEYDEN      272
+
+    SHRINE OF ST. URSULA, HOSPITAL OF ST. JEAN, BRUGES               296
+
+    AN ILLUMINATION BY GHEERHARDT DAVID OF BRUGES,
+    1498; ST. BARBARA (_in full colour_)                             300
+
+    "THE LAST SUPPER"--THIERRY BOUTS                                 307
+
+    QUAI VERT, BRUGES                                                310
+
+    CATHEDRAL OF ST. ROMBAUT, MALINES                                312
+
+    TOWER OF THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. ROMBAUT, FROM
+    THE RUELLE SANS FIN                                              318
+
+    _IN HET PARADIJS AND MAISON DES DIABLES_; TWO FIFTEENTH
+    CENTURY HOUSES, MALINES                                          333
+
+    PORTRAIT OF JEAN ARNOLFINI AND HIS WIFE BY JEAN
+    VAN EYCK                                                         340
+
+    MAISON DE LA KEURE, HOTEL DE VILLE, GHENT                        347
+
+    PORTRAIT OF THE DUKE OF ALVA BY A. MORO                          352
+
+    "THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS"--HUGO VAN DER GOES              362
+
+    OLD GUILD HOUSES, QUAI AUX HERBES, GHENT                         365
+
+    HOTEL DE VILLE, AUDENAERDE                                       370
+
+    WOODEN DOORWAY, CARVED BY VAN DER SCHELDEN,
+    HOTEL DE VILLE, AUDENAERDE                                       375
+
+    CHURCH OF STE. WALBURGE, AUDENAERDE                              383
+
+    A FLEMISH TAPESTRY OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY                      386
+
+    THE _VIELLE BOUCHERIE_, ANTWERP                                  399
+
+    "THE BANKER AND HIS WIFE"--MATSYS                                403
+
+    "WINTER"--PETER BREUGHEL                                         405
+
+    "DRAGGING THE STATUE OF THE DUKE OF ALVA THROUGH
+    THE STREETS OF ANTWERP"--C. VERLAT                               418
+
+    COURTYARD OF THE PLANTIN MUSEUM, ANTWERP                         428
+
+    ANCIENT PRINTING PRESSES AND COMPOSING CASES,
+    PLANTIN MUSEUM, ANTWERP                                          436
+
+    "THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS"--RUBENS                             439
+
+    "COUP DE LANCE"--RUBENS                                          442
+
+    "_LA VIERGE AU PERROQUET_"--RUBENS                               445
+
+    PETER PAUL RUBENS                                                448
+
+    "AS THE OLD BIRDS SING THE YOUNG BIRDS PIPE"--JACOB
+    JORDAENS                                                         453
+
+    HOTEL DE VILLE, ANTWERP                                          456
+
+    THE "SALLE DES JEUX," IN THE KURSAAL OSTENDE                     476
+
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS, SHOWING THE OLD
+FLEMISH PRINCIPALITY]
+
+
+
+
+THE SPELL OF FLANDERS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+INTRODUCING FLANDERS AND THE FOUR PILGRIMS
+
+
+"Flanders! Why, where is Flanders?"
+
+"There! I told you she'd ask that question. You'll have to start right
+at the beginning with her, and explain everything as you go along."
+
+We were planning our next vacation tour in Europe, which we had long
+before agreed to "do" together this year. That meant a party of
+four--the "Professor," as I always called him, and his charming young
+wife, my wife, and myself. Like the plays in which the characters
+appear on the stage in the order that their names are printed on the
+programme, the arrangement I have just given is significant. The
+Professor is always first, a born leader-of-the-way. And I am usually
+last, carrying the heavy bundles.
+
+Not that I am complaining. No doubt I was born to do it. Moreover, the
+Professor and I have been chums since boyhood. We worked our way
+through "prep" school and college together, came to New York together,
+and--in a modest way--have prospered together. At least, we felt
+prosperous enough to think of going to Europe. For some years he has
+been the head of the department of history in an important educational
+institution within the boundaries of the greater city, while I have
+devoted myself to journalism--and am therefore dubbed "the Editor,"
+whenever he wishes to refer to me as a personage instead of a human
+being, which, happily, is not very often. Of the two ladies in the
+proposed party I do not need to speak--not because there is nothing to
+say, but because they can speak for themselves. In fact, one of them
+has just spoken, has asked a question, and it has not yet been
+answered.
+
+"Flanders, my dear," said the Professor, speaking in his most
+sententious manner--as if delivering a lecture in his classroom--"is
+the most interesting and the least visited corner of Europe. It has
+more battle-fields and more Gothic churches per square mile than can
+be found anywhere else. In other parts of Europe you can see mediæval
+houses, here and there--usually in charge of a smirking caretaker,
+with his little guidebook for sale, and hungrily anticipating his
+little fee. In Flanders there are whole streets of them, whole towns
+that date from the sixteenth century or earlier--but for the costumes
+of the people, you could easily imagine yourself transported by some
+enchantment back to the days of Charles the Bold, or even to the time
+of the Crusaders."
+
+"Yes," I added, "and there is no region in the world where the history
+of the past seems more real, more instinct with the emotions that
+govern human conduct to-day, than these quaint old Flemish towns. You
+stand in front of a marble skyscraper on Fifth Avenue and read a
+bronze tablet that tells you that here the Revolutionary forces under
+old Colonel Putnam, or whoever it was, delayed the advancing British
+and covered General Washington's retreat. Now, does that tablet help
+you to reconstruct your history? No, you are quite aware that the
+fight took place when Fifth Avenue was open country, but your
+imagination will not work when you try to make it picture that scene
+for you right there on Fifth Avenue where the tablet says it happened.
+
+"Now, it's different in Flanders. You read in the history about how
+the burghers of Bruges, when the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good,
+tried to overawe the city by placing an army of archers in the
+market-place, swarmed out of their houses and down the narrow, crooked
+streets like so many angry bees. There are the same old houses, the
+identical narrow, crooked streets--a bit of an effort and you can
+picture it all--and how the Duke and his archers were driven back and
+back, while the burghers swarmed in ever increasing numbers, and the
+great tocsin in the belfry shrieked and clanged to tell the valiant
+weavers that their liberties were in danger.
+
+"And take that other famous event, when they flung the murderers of
+Count Charles the Good--who lived and died five hundred years before
+the other Prince who, like him, was surnamed "the Good"--from the
+tower of the very cathedral in which they had murdered him. Why, you
+can climb the tower and look off across the same sea of red-roofed
+houses and down upon the same square, paved with cruelly jagged
+stones, as did the condemned men when, one by one, they were led to
+the edge of the parapet and sent hurtling down."
+
+"The point is well taken," interrupted the Professor, "only that
+particular church is no longer standing--it was destroyed during the
+French Revolution. But really that makes little difference--there are
+plenty of other towers in Bruges that have witnessed stirring scenes.
+And all over Flanders it is the same way--nothing is easier than to
+make your history live again, for everywhere you have the original
+setting practically unchanged."
+
+"It's all very well for you men," observed Mrs. Professor, when her
+husband and I paused to get our breath, "who admire, or pretend to
+admire, battles and executions and that sort of thing, but if there is
+nothing else to see except places with such dreadfully unpleasant
+associations I, for one, don't want to go there."
+
+"On the contrary," I hastened to reply, seeing that the Professor was
+much disturbed at this unexpected result of all our eloquence,
+"Flanders has a lot of things to interest the ladies. Think of its
+famous laces and lacemakers--we can still find the latter at work in
+places like Bruges, Malines and Turnhout--of its rare old tapestries
+from Audenaerde and Tournai, and the fine linens of Courtrai. Then
+there are wood carvings the like of which you will travel far to see,
+and old Flemish furniture everywhere."
+
+"To say nothing of the pleasure of learning a little more about the
+great Flemish school of art in the very home towns of its most
+celebrated artists," added the Professor, who was much elated to see
+that the frowns were leaving the fair face of his better half.
+
+"That's much better," she announced. "I've always thought fine
+hand-made lace the most wonderful product of feminine patience and
+skill, and I should certainly love to watch them make it."
+
+"For my part," remarked the fourth member of the party, who had been
+strangely silent during all this discussion, "while I like to learn a
+little about the history of the old towns I visit, and see the fine
+things--whether paintings, or town-halls, or lace or tapestry--for
+which they are famous, what I like the best is to study the people
+themselves. I mean the live ones, not those who are dead and gone that
+our husbands are talking about. I love to sit on the sidewalk on
+pleasant evenings and have dinner and black coffee while watching the
+people of the town go by. It's better than a play. And on rainy days
+there is always some quaint old-fashioned inn or café where the whole
+scene looks like a painting by Jordaens or Teniers. The beamed ceiling
+and the pictures on the walls are grimy with the smoke and steam of
+countless dinners, the buxom landlady sits in state behind an array of
+bottles of all sizes and colours and labelled at all prices, her
+equally plump daughters wait on the tables, the very guests--including
+ourselves--form a part of the picture. Why, it makes me want to be
+back there again, just to think of it!"
+
+"The Madame is right!" exclaimed the Professor heartily--all of our
+friends call my wife "the Madame" because she speaks French as
+fluently as English. "Our first object on this trip will be pleasure.
+A little knowledge of the history of Flanders, of tapestry and
+lacemaking, of architecture and art, may enhance our enjoyment of what
+we see, because we will thereby understand it better and appreciate
+its interest or beauty more keenly. But we are not going over as
+historical savants, or as authorities on art--or pretend that we know
+any more about such subjects than we really do--"
+
+"Which is just enough to enable us to derive sincere pleasure from
+seeing them, and having them explained to us, without troubling our
+heads about this, that or the other element of technique," I
+interrupted, completing the Professor's sentence for him.
+
+"And the best part of the day will be, just as Madame says," added
+Mrs. Professor gaily, "the dinners on the sidewalks, where we can
+watch the people as they go about and tell each other of what we have
+seen since morning. And, hurray! for the Flemish inns!"
+
+"Well, as to Flemish inns," observed the Madame, "what I said related
+to eating a dinner in one. When it comes to sleeping in them there are
+other things to think of besides beamed ceilings and picturesque
+interiors.
+
+"A few years ago we had an experience at Antwerp that taught us the
+folly of arriving at a great continental city late at night without
+having hotel accommodations secured in advance. We had started at
+eight in the morning from Hamburg, intending to stop at Antwerp just
+long enough to transfer our belongings to a train for Brussels that,
+according to the time-table, would leave fifteen minutes after our
+train arrived. Now, from Hamburg to Antwerp is quite a long
+ride--short as the distance looks on the map--and when we finally
+arrived at our destination, half an hour late, it was long after
+midnight and our train for Brussels had gone.
+
+"We were both tired out, and hastily decided that we would put up at
+Antwerp for the night and go on to Brussels in the morning. As we
+emerged from the great Gare Centrale we found despite the lateness of
+the hour, about a dozen red-capped hotel runners, each of whom
+clamoured for our patronage. They all looked very much alike, the
+names on their caps meant nothing to us as we were not familiar with
+the Antwerp hotels, and we selected one at random. To our dismay we
+discovered, when it was too late, that, whereas most of them had hotel
+busses in waiting--into which they leaped and were driven off--our
+cicerone was not so provided. He attempted to reassure us by saying
+that the Grand Hotel de ---- was close by--a fact that produced the
+opposite effect from that intended, as we knew that the immediate
+vicinity of a large railroad station is seldom a desirable
+neighbourhood.
+
+"However, the other porters were now gone and, unless we were disposed
+to sleep in the station, there was nothing to do but follow along. To
+our further alarm our guide presently turned into a most
+unprepossessing street on which several drinking places were still
+open, or were only on the point of closing. Into one of these he led
+us. After a short conference with the proprietress, who was sitting
+behind the bar counting the day's receipts, he took a candle and a
+huge key and led us out into the court, then up a flight of stairs
+placed on the outside of the house, and through several narrow
+passageways. But for the flickering candle everything was completely
+dark, and when he finally ushered us into an immense room with a
+mediæval four-post bed in its darkest corner we involuntarily looked
+for the trap-door down which the murderous inn-keepers of the stories
+were wont to cast their victims.
+
+"Lighting a pair of candles on the mantelpiece from his, and wishing
+us a civil '_Bon soir_,' our red-capped guide now left us--to our
+great relief. Although we tried to dismiss our fears as childish, we
+both felt more insecure and helpless than we cared to admit, even to
+each other. None of our friends knew that we were in Antwerp. If we
+disappeared they would hardly think to look for us there--and still
+less on this shabby street, the very name of which we did not know.
+
+"We barricaded the door against a sudden surprise, inspected the walls
+with a candle for signs of the secret door (at the head of the
+winding stairway up which the wicked innkeeper so often creeps upon
+his prey, according to the chronicles) and at last, the fatigue of the
+day overcoming our fears, we slept. It was broad daylight when we
+awoke, and the street was alive with people--mostly cartmen and
+peasants it seemed. With some difficulty we found our way down to the
+room where we had seen the landlady the night before. She greeted us
+warmly, our fears of the night had fled--and we sat down and ordered,
+and enjoyed, a most excellent breakfast. The hotel was quite a popular
+one, we learned, much frequented by people from near-by towns, and we
+had never been safer in our lives. Yet, just the same, we both vowed
+firmly that 'Never Again' would we take similar chances--and we never
+have."
+
+"I have thought of that incident more than once while talking over our
+Flemish tour with the Professor," I observed, "and have decided upon
+this plan. When we find a hotel that suits us all, as regards
+cleanliness, cuisine and safety--or rather the sense of security, for
+I daresay we would be safe enough in many that we would hardly care to
+patronise--we will stay overnight in whatever town we may chance to be
+visiting. If, on the other hand, we have not had time to find such a
+place, we'll take a train back to Antwerp or Brussels, where there are
+hotels that we know all about. We'll get second-class _billets
+d'abonnement_ every two weeks anyway, so the rail trip will only cost
+us our time."
+
+"And are Antwerp and Brussels both in Flanders?" inquired Mrs.
+Professor. "Between you, you have given me an idea that I should like
+to visit Flanders, but you have none of you answered my question as to
+where it is."
+
+"I think I can answer you, my dear," replied her husband. "There are,
+as you probably know, two little provinces in the northern part of
+Belgium called East and West Flanders. The boundaries of the Flanders
+of history and of art, however, cover a considerable wider area than
+these two provinces. Over in France a considerable part of the
+Department du Nord was for centuries subject to the Counts of
+Flanders. On the other side, to the eastward, the cities of Antwerp
+and Malines were for many centuries independent of the Counts of
+Flanders, but their people spoke Flemish, their houses, churches and
+town-halls were built in the best style of Flemish architecture, and
+they became famous centres of Flemish art and learning. To my mind,
+therefore, they both belong to Flanders. Brussels, however, while its
+Hotel de Ville and Grande Place are splendid examples of Flemish
+architecture, is more French than Flemish, and belongs to the Walloon
+or French part of Belgium.
+
+"Now, as the Editor here has proposed a plan which seems to me a good
+one as regards our hotels, I will venture to suggest one as regards
+our itinerary. It will make comparatively little difference which
+towns we visit first, and as some are more closely identified with the
+early history of Flanders than the others I propose that we visit
+these older towns first. At the time of the Crusades Ypres, for
+example, had two hundred thousand inhabitants when the population of
+London was less than thirty-five thousand and Antwerp was an obscure
+little town. Nieuport and Furnes were, at that time, the chief
+seaports of Flanders. Now they are miles from the sea. Dixmude, near
+by, was another important city of those olden days. Now all these
+places are country villages--'the dead cities of Flanders,' they are
+called, and scarcely a tourist from America ever visits them, although
+they are fairly familiar to our English cousins.
+
+"If we start our pilgrimage in Flanders with Bruges, which was the
+first capital of the County of Flanders, and with these old
+towns--all of which are hard by--we can plan our journeys
+chronologically, so to speak, visiting first the monuments that date
+from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries, then those of the
+fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and so on. In that way we not only
+can keep the little history we know straight, but we can trace with
+our own eyes the gradual development of Flemish architecture and art."
+
+This plan was unanimously voted to be a capital one--in theory, at any
+rate--and thus it was that in our subsequent wanderings about
+Flanders, under the guidance of the indefatigable Professor, we often
+crossed our trail, and now and then visited the same place more than
+once. In practice it did not accomplish quite all that was expected of
+it by its learned originator--but what plan ever does, or ever will?
+That it enhanced the interest of the trip manyfold we all agreed; it
+often sustained our flagging zeal, and it helped us to know
+Flanders--the Flanders of the past especially--far better than we
+would have done in any other way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+VIEUX BRUGES AND COUNT BALDWIN OF THE IRON ARM
+
+
+It is not the purpose of this veracious chronicle to recount the
+doings and sayings, the incidents or lack of incident, on the voyage
+across. Suffice it to say that in due season the good ship _Lapland_
+turned its prow away from the white cliffs of Dover and straight
+toward the low-lying shores of Flanders. As she crossed the North Sea
+scores of fishing boats with brown sails hovered around her, while
+throngs of seagulls soared overhead, or now and then dashed madly into
+her foaming wake to grasp some morsel flung from deck or porthole, or
+fight fiercely with each other for its possession. Presently, in the
+haze ahead, a faint outline of land could be distinguished, and soon
+we could see through our glasses the heaped up dunes that mark the
+battle line between the North Sea and the fertile Flemish polders
+behind them. Here and there the shore was strengthened by rows of
+pilings to keep the waves of Winter from washing it away. As a
+"sight," however, it was dreary and uninviting enough--not at all like
+the picturesque headlands of Merrie England we had been looking at
+only a few hours before.
+
+Now, for a time, the ship kept its course parallel to the shore, but
+at a distance of a mile or more. Gradually the coast became more
+inhabited, and soon we could see a row of stone and brick buildings
+facing directly on the beach which some one said was Blankenberghe. No
+doubt there were other rows of houses behind the first, but either
+they were lower, or in the haze our glasses could not distinguish
+them. Then the panorama of the Flemish coast unrolled a little further
+and we saw the long curved breakwater of Zee-Brugge, with its white
+lighthouse. This is an artificial port connected with the ancient
+capital of Flanders by a ship canal. Entrance to the canal from the
+sea is effected by a large lock which was faintly visible. Another
+beach city, Heyst, next appeared--the ship seeming to stand still
+while the shoreline marched slowly past. Then came a smaller place,
+which from our maps we concluded must be Knocke. Here the coastline of
+the present Kingdom of Belgium ends, the little River Zwyn--once
+famous as the channel up which one hundred and fifty ships a day made
+their way to Bruges in the days of its greatness--forming the
+boundary.
+
+The Dutch are apparently not interested in sea bathing, for there were
+no more watering places. In fact the whole coast seemed to be dead and
+deserted, and we were glad when the _Lapland_ began to turn her prow
+inland. We were now in the broad estuary of the Scheldt, and soon the
+tiny city of Flushing appeared. It was over on the other side of the
+ship and we all scampered across to take our first "near look," as
+Mrs. Professor expressed it, of the land we had come to see--for
+Flushing belonged for centuries to the great overlords of Flanders,
+the Dukes of Burgundy and their successors. It looked very small and
+compact from the towering deck of the big liner, but also very quaint
+and interesting, and we all agreed that as a sample of what we had
+come so far to see it was the reverse of disappointing.
+
+Soon the propellers of the _Lapland_ began to revolve again and the
+little Dutch city slowly slipped out of sight in the fast gathering
+gloom of a coming shower. As night came on the engines presently came
+to rest once more and we anchored to await daylight and flood tide
+which, the officers said, would come together. At four o'clock the
+following morning the Professor and I were on deck in order to miss as
+little as possible of the voyage up the "greyest of grey rivers," as
+the Scheldt has been called. The _Lapland_ had started while we were
+asleep, and we were already in Belgium. This circumstance disappointed
+the Professor not a little as he had set his heart on seeing the
+remains of the Dutch forts at the boundary line that for nearly one
+hundred and fifty years--from the Treaty of Munster in 1648 to the
+French occupation in 1794--closed the river to ocean commerce.
+Meanwhile, grass grew in the streets of the all but deserted city of
+Antwerp. The French tore down the hated forts and for nearly forty
+years the ships from oversea went up the river unmolested. Then came
+the Revolution of 1830 and the establishment of the Kingdom of
+Belgium, whereupon the Dutch proceeded to impose heavy navigation
+duties upon all ships passing through the lower part of the river.
+While this did not stifle the trade of Antwerp, it seriously crippled
+it, since the duties formed a handicap in the keen competition for
+traffic between the Belgian port and those of Holland and Germany
+farther to the eastward. It was not until 1863 that the Belgian
+Government was able to arrange a treaty whereby all river dues were
+abolished in return for the payment of a lump sum of 36,000,000
+francs--of which only one-third was paid by Belgium, as other powers
+were interested in obtaining freedom of navigation on this important
+river and gladly contributed the remainder. The imposing monument by
+Winders on the Place Marnix at Antwerp, which was erected in 1883,
+commemorates this important event, to which the port owes its present
+prosperity.
+
+As the _Lapland_ slowly steamed up the river we could look down from
+her lofty decks upon the broad and intensely cultivated plain,
+stretching as far as eye could penetrate in the misty distance. Here
+and there we could see compact little groups of farm buildings,
+usually arranged around a central courtyard and with their outer walls
+well-nigh windowless, as if the peasant proprietors still counted on
+the possibility of a siege such as their ancestors no doubt often had
+to sustain against the wandering marauders and freebooters who for
+centuries infested the country. Along every road and canal, and beside
+nearly every cross-country path, we could see long lines of trees set
+out at regular intervals and cutting the landscape into sections of
+varying sizes and shapes. Now and then a little hamlet could be seen,
+with its red-tiled roofs nestling close together and a tiny church
+steeple rising from the centre. Often the roofs of the houses nearest
+to the river were below the top of the high dykes which here enclose
+the Scheldt on either side. Close to the banks an occasional fort
+commanded the river--outlying links in the great chain of
+fortifications that was thought to be impregnable until the huge
+German siege guns so quickly battered it to pieces.
+
+Presently some one with a keener vision than the rest cries that the
+spire of the Cathedral of Antwerp is in sight and we all crowd forward
+and peer eagerly through the mist until at last we make out vaguely
+the shape of that marvel of Flemish architecture rising above the flat
+plain. At each turn of the river it draws nearer and we can see more
+clearly its delicate tracery of lace-work carved in stone, while one
+by one other spires loom up through the grey dawn.
+
+The traffic in the river becomes more dense as we proceed slowly
+onward--huge red-bottomed tramp steamers with their propellers half
+out of the water and churning furiously in a smother of foam, clumsy
+canal boats with Flemish or German names lying at anchor close to the
+banks, barges with dingy brownish sails and all manner of strange
+cargoes. Then, suddenly, we swing around the last turn and the entire
+city lies before us, its houses with their high peaks and dormer
+windows rising tier above tier, while at the left we catch glimpses
+through the lock gates of the vast inner docks with their hundreds of
+masts and funnels. Curiously enough the view to the right is entirely
+different--the green fields and farmsteads stretching in this
+direction from the very edge of the river as far as the eye can see.
+
+But now we are warping up against the Red Star Line pier and all eyes
+are gazing down upon the motley crowd that has assembled thus early in
+the morning--it is not yet seven o'clock--to welcome the new arrivals
+from America. The customs inspection proves to be a mere formality,
+half of our trunks and bags are chalk-marked by the obliging inspector
+without lifting a tray or disturbing any of their contents. A
+commissionaire is waiting to bear them away to the cabs and, after
+generously bestowing five cents on this worthy for his trouble, we are
+off for the Gare Centrale--for the Madame has decreed that we must all
+proceed forthwith to the home of a certain Tante (Aunt) Rosa, not far
+from Brussels, where we can get our land legs safely on before
+starting on our tour under the guidance of the Professor.
+
+Throughout the morning it has rained heavily at intervals, and as the
+_rapide_ for Brussels steams out of the station the grey clouds are
+pouring down their contents in torrents. This circumstance disturbs us
+not at all, for we have agreed to pursue our course regardless of the
+weather and are prepared for anything short of a flood or blizzard.
+And right here it may be as well to state that any one who proposes to
+travel in Flanders must make up his or her mind to ignore the vagaries
+of the weather altogether. At Brussels the weather records show that
+it rains more or less during three hundred days in each year, and
+while there are many days when the showers are brief, and some periods
+when it is clear for several days, it is better to come prepared for
+anything. Somewhere in the direction of the English Channel there
+seems to exist a vast cloud factory, for day after day one sees the
+huge cloud masses rolling slowly eastward or southward across the
+country. Usually they are high overhead, with frequent intervals of
+brilliant sunshine, and the showers few and far between. At other
+times the clouds hang low and dark and the rain falls steadily, not in
+furious driving showers such as occur frequently during the summer
+time at New York, but with a monotonous continuity that is the
+despair of travellers who are equipped only for fair weather. It is no
+exaggeration to state that one may look out of his hotel window upon a
+cloudless sky and find that by the time he has descended to the street
+it is raining. Happily the reverse is equally possible, and frequently
+we looked out of the window while at breakfast at pouring rain and
+dripping roofs, only to find by the time we were ready to go out of
+doors that the shower was over, the sky clear and the sidewalks nearly
+dry. It is this rapid alternation of showers and sunshine that makes
+Flanders the land of flowers and vegetables, giving the former their
+brilliant colouring and the latter their indescribable succulence and
+freshness.
+
+Another tip for the would-be traveller in Flanders is to come well
+prepared for cold weather even in June, July or August. The nights are
+always cool, and the prevailing winds are from the north or the
+northwest--the former cold, the latter wet. Many Americans contract
+serious colds because they come clad only for hot weather. Warm
+underwear, on the other hand, is best for the Flemish summer climate,
+with overcoats and wraps for evening wear. Raincoats, it is needless
+to say, should be in every suitcase--even for a day's outing, while a
+very handy article indeed is a _parapluie-canne_, or umbrella cane,
+such as can be purchased in Brussels for ten francs and upwards.
+
+In less than three-quarters of an hour our fleet train was rolling
+into the Gare du Nord at Brussels; but Madame was in a hurry, so we
+became for the time birds of passage only and in another hour were
+already entrained again and speeding toward the steaming dinner that
+she assured us la Tante Bosa had awaiting us. Of the reception that we
+found when we arrived at last, and of the dinner which was presently
+spread before us, there is no need to say more than that the latter
+proved to be all that we had been led to anticipate. Served in the
+true Belgian style--customary alike in Flanders and in the Walloon
+provinces--it occupied our attention for the greater part of the
+afternoon, the courses following one another leisurely, with intervals
+between during which the men folk strolled about the garden and
+smoked. Two days later we started on the Professor's itinerary,
+completely refreshed after the fatigue of our voyage; and after a bit
+of shopping at Brussels, our pilgrimage into the heart of Flanders
+began.
+
+It was a little after noon when we reached the old city of Bruges,
+and while we were eating our luncheon the Professor explained
+briefly the origin of the city and of the County of Flanders. In
+order to understand the kaleidoscopic history of Flanders it is
+necessary to forget entirely the Europe of to-day. Throughout the
+Middle Ages Europe was sub-divided into hundreds of separate
+sovereignties--duchies, counties, principalities large and small,
+whose rulers bore a score of titles. These, as a rule, acknowledged
+allegiance to some higher prince, while the most powerful yielded
+deference only to some King or Emperor. But this allegiance was
+usually a very shadowy affair, and the actual government rested
+absolutely in the hands of the local Count, or Duke, or whatever else
+his title may have been. The history of Flanders is, therefore, in a
+sense, the history of its Counts, for as their power waxed or waned
+the country itself grew powerful or weak. Gradually, however, the
+great cities of Flanders acquired from the earlier and better Counts
+rights and privileges that made them, in many respects, sovereign
+powers, and the most fascinating and instructive part of the history
+of Flanders is the record of the brave struggle made by its burghers
+to maintain their liberties in the face of a steadily advancing tide
+of tyranny and oppression.
+
+The first Count of Flanders, who won his title and his domains during
+the period of storm and stress that followed the breaking up of the
+great empire of Charlemagne, was a Flemish chief, called Baldwin of
+the Iron Arm. He chanced one day to see Judith, the beautiful daughter
+of Charles the Bald, the son of Charlemagne, fell in love with her,
+and carried her off for his bride. Judith had been previously married
+to Ethelwolf, King of Wessex in England, when he was a very old man;
+and had taught her stepson, who afterward became Alfred the Great,
+much of his learning. The old King Charles, her father, for a time
+opposed the marriage with Baldwin, but finally it was celebrated with
+much splendour at Auxerre in 863, and Baldwin was thereupon given the
+title of Count of Flanders. On his return, Baldwin built a great
+fortress on an island formed by the intersection of the River Roya
+with its little tributary, the Boterbeke. This was called the Bourg,
+and soon contained within its strong walls the nucleus of the future
+city of Bruges.
+
+Mrs. Professor interrupted at this point to ask if the name Bruges was
+derived from Bourg, to which our learned friend replied that it was
+not, but that most historians ascribed the name to the bridge (in
+Flemish, brigge) from the island to the mainland; while some take it
+from the purple heather (brugge) which grows plentifully hereabout,
+and in August can be seen alongside the railway tracks and in great
+clusters by the country roadsides.
+
+The first afternoon's programme was to discover as much as we could of
+the old Bourg of Baldwin of the Iron Arm. Not much of it is left in
+the Bruges of Albert the First. The Roya still runs where it did in
+the days of the first Counts of Flanders, but only along the Dyver, a
+terrace of middle-class residences, can it be seen by the tourist.
+Since the eighteenth century it has been vaulted over for much of its
+course through the city, and the Boterbeke runs through subterranean
+channels for the entire distance from where it enters the city limits
+to its junction with the Roya at the corner of the rue Breidel. It
+flows close to the Cathedral, or possibly beneath it, and directly
+under the Belfry, which is built on piles. For part of its course it
+runs, like a subway, under the rue du Vieux Bourg. The only building
+in modern Bruges that dates from the first Baldwin's time is the crypt
+of St. Basil, under the Chapel of the Holy Blood. Here, or assuredly
+hard by, the founder of the long line of Flemish Counts, and his
+beautiful and talented Countess, no doubt worshipped; and, in the
+main, the little chapel probably looks today very much as it did a
+thousand years ago. In one corner, apparently outside of the original
+outer walls of the structure, the concierge showed us a miniature
+model of the ancient castle of the first Counts of Flanders as
+archeologists have reconstructed it, with the little Chapel of St.
+Basil adjoining it. On the opposite side, and near the entrance, is a
+smaller chapel which some authorities state was the one built by old
+Iron-Arm, the main structure dating from the middle of the twelfth
+century. Be this as it may, here is unquestionably the very oldest
+relic of the ancient Bourg and one of the oldest places of worship in
+all Flanders.
+
+After our inspection of St. Basil we decided to devote the rest of the
+afternoon to tramping around the streets of the Vieux Bourg, or, in
+other words, the section of the city within the circle of picturesque
+old quays that mark the approximate boundaries of the island-fortress
+where the first Counts of Flanders laid the foundations of their
+power. To be sure, none of the houses now standing date from a much
+earlier period than the fifteenth century, but all were so quaint and
+charming that we cared little for the archeologists with their dates,
+and felt ourselves transported without an effort to the days when
+might made right and the whole world was governed by the simple law
+that "he may take who has the power, and he may keep who can." We
+little dreamed, as we journeyed about amid these peaceful
+surroundings, that within a single month the world was to revert to
+the rule of might once more; that, to quote from Kipling's noble poem,
+stricken Belgium, and, indeed, all civilisation could say:
+
+    "Our world has passed away,
+      In wantonness o'erthrown.
+    There's nothing left to-day
+      But steel and fire and stone.
+
+    "Once more we hear the word
+      That sickened earth of old--
+    'No law except the sword,
+      Unsheathed and uncontrolled.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+BRUGES IN THE DAYS OF CHARLES THE GOOD
+
+
+To those for whom the past possesses elements of romance, of mystery
+and of fascination that our more prosaic and orderly modern world
+lacks, Bruges offers endless opportunities for enjoyment. To be sure,
+the streets are a bit more crowded than they were twenty years ago,
+and one sees more frequent groups of people, carrying little
+red-backed Baedekers and evidently intent on seeing all the "sights,"
+than formerly. But these are evils of which all old travellers
+complain, as one compares notes with them at the hotel after the day
+is over. One caretaker told us, with evident pride, that thirty
+thousand tourists visited Bruges in 1913. If one divides this total by
+three hundred and sixty-five, and the result again by the score or
+more of places that every tourist wants to see, it will be perceived
+that the number in any one place at the same time is not likely to be
+excessive. In point of fact our little party was almost invariably
+alone, save when we encountered a party of "personally conducted"
+travellers rushing at break-neck speed from place to place.
+
+If, after seeing all the "points of interest" enumerated by the
+faithful red-coated guide, philosopher and companion above mentioned,
+one should stray down one or another of the narrow, crooked streets in
+the older parts of the town he is certain to find bits of mediæval
+Bruges here and there so well preserved and perfect that if the few
+passers-by only wore the picturesque costumes of the olden days the
+illusion would be complete. Take, for example, the rue de l'Ane
+Aveugle, the Street of the Blind Donkey, with its attenuated sidewalks
+along which a tight-rope walker could hardly advance without stepping
+off, its roadway too narrow for two blind donkeys to pass abreast, and
+its charming archway from the Hotel de Ville to the Maison de l'ancien
+Greffe Flamand; or the rue du Poivre, with its tiny one-story houses,
+many of them with one room down-stairs and one overhead--the latter
+lighted by the quaintest of gable windows--surely we have stepped
+backward half a dozen centuries, for nothing like this could have
+continued to exist until the prosaic present!
+
+In fact these queer little one-story houses abound in all parts of the
+city, and the Madame was constantly darting across the roadway to peer
+within whenever she saw a door ajar. She generally returned highly
+indignant that any one could think of existing in such narrow
+quarters. "I'd as soon live in a tomb!" she exclaimed, nodding in the
+direction of one little house which consisted of one room and only
+one, being devoid even of the attic room with its customary dormer
+window. Inside sat an old lady, gazing tranquilly out of doors and
+doing nothing whatever. Indeed, as the Madame pointed out, there was
+little enough to do as far as housework was concerned. In the morning
+everybody in Flanders washes the stone floors of their living-rooms,
+and frequently the sidewalk and out to the middle of the street as
+well. This done, the housework for the day is over, except for
+preparing the meals. We had hoped to see old ladies by the score
+sitting at the doorways making lace, but on only one street--the rue
+du Rouleau--did we catch a glimpse of any, and they went indoors as we
+approached them. It was only the estaminets that we could inspect
+within. Whenever we found what appeared to be an exceptionally old
+house that bore the legend "Hier Verkoopt men drank" the Professor
+and I often used to go in and order a glass of _Vieux système_, simply
+to get a look at the interior. If, as sometimes happened, mijnheer and
+his vroue were very accommodating and kind, we summoned the
+ladies--despite the fact that the sign without appeared to mean "for
+men only"--and together we explored the old house from garret to
+cellar.
+
+More than once, as we journeyed about among these delightfully old and
+quaint surroundings, the longing to see some one whose costume would,
+in a measure, suggest the period when these structures were built came
+back to us. "Oh!" exclaimed Mrs. Professor, as we sat one afternoon in
+a particularly cosy corner of one of the oldest interiors we had yet
+seen, "if two or three knights in armour--or in their lovely costumes
+of velvet, silk and old lace--would stalk in and sit down at that
+table over there it would make the picture complete." We found,
+however, one spot in Bruges, dating from the twelfth century, in which
+even the costumes were unchanged. This was the Béguinage, close to the
+Minnewater and the ancient city ramparts--a city of the past where,
+shut off by high brick walls from the noise and bustle of the outer
+world, peaceful figures clad in sombre grey and white move noiselessly
+about as if the big figures on the calendar read 1114 instead of 1914.
+
+Except for two institutions of the kind in Holland, Belgium is the
+only country in Europe in which these Béguinages have survived--all of
+them in Flanders. No institution of the present day recalls so vividly
+the conditions that existed at the time when Flanders was the name of
+a wild marsh country peopled by yet wilder men. In 877 the Emperor
+made the title of Count of Flanders hereditary--the oldest title of
+the kind in Europe. Baldwin II, son of Baldwin of the Iron Arm and the
+beautiful Judith, married Alfrida, the daughter of Alfred the Great.
+The second Baldwin was renowned chiefly for his work in fortifying the
+towns of Bruges, Ghent, Ypres and Courtrai as a means of protection
+against the robber chiefs who still--despite the energetic warfare of
+his father--infested this entire region. The necessity for protection
+against robbers, and occasional incursions of savage Danes from the
+North Sea, caused population to flock speedily into these walled
+towns, and thus laid the foundation for the wonderful civic
+development of the next four centuries. The son of Baldwin II,
+Arnulph--often called Arnulph the Great--continued the policy of
+strengthening the cities, and also established or restored nearly a
+score of monasteries and convents for the protection of men and women
+against the many dangers of that lawless age. The famous chapter of
+St. Donatian's at Bruges was one of these, and while the Béguinage
+dates from a somewhat later epoch in the town's history, it admirably
+exemplifies many of the principles that made these early religious
+orders the strongholds, not only of piety in a period of
+semi-barbarism, but of learning and civilisation.
+
+[Illustration: BÉGUINAGE BRIDGE, BRUGES.]
+
+The Béguinage at Bruges is much smaller than the famous Grand
+Béguinage at Ghent, which so many tourists visit, but is far more
+ancient--its arched gateway dating from the thirteenth century and its
+gloomy and barn-like chapel from 1605. How old the houses are no one
+seemed to know, but probably many of them are older than the chapel.
+The little bridge by which one enters its quiet precincts was first
+built in 1297, of wood, according to the records, but its present
+picturesque stone arches date from 1570--a respectable antiquity, even
+for Bruges. We found several of the little houses untenanted for some
+reason, but even the empty ones were spotlessly clean. The Béguines
+live in small communities or "convents," under the superintendence of
+a Lady Superior called "de Juffer"; or in "houses" where two or three
+live together. In the convents there are usually about twenty inmates.
+Each has her little cell, but these we were not permitted to see. We
+did, however, inspect the kitchen and dining-room of one of the
+convents--and the large sunny workroom, in which the Béguines were
+assembled. Each was chatting aloud as she worked, but whether in
+Flemish or Latin we could not tell. On every face there rested the
+same expression of absolute peace and quietness, nor did a single one
+betray the slightest interest or curiosity at our presence.
+
+In the early annals of Bruges no story is more dramatic than that of
+the murder of Charles the Good. It is, in fact, the theme of the great
+Flemish novelist Hendrick Conscience's most famous book, _De Kerels
+van Vlaanderen_, and has been told by several contemporary
+chroniclers. When Charles became Count of Flanders the feudal system
+was slowly displacing the anarchy that had resulted from the breakdown
+of all centralised government as the Norsemen swept over northern
+Europe. Charles was an ardent believer in the new order, but was
+opposed in his policy of building up a strong feudal state by the
+Karls, a class of free landholders of Saxon descent, who stubbornly
+refused to swear allegiance to any feudal over-lord. The greatest of
+these was the house of Erembald. Desiderious Hacket, the head of the
+family, was Châtelain of Bruges, ranking next to the Count himself;
+while his brother Bertulph was Provost of St. Donatian, the principal
+ecclesiastical position in the County, and chancellor of the Count.
+The head of the feudal lords was Tancmar, Lord of Straten. Between the
+powerful houses of Erembald and Straten there was a deadly feud, which
+culminated in a challenge to mortal combat delivered to Walter, a
+nephew of Tancmar, by Richard de Raeske, a baron allied by marriage to
+the house of Erembald.
+
+To the amazement of all Flanders the challenge, delivered in the
+presence of Count Charles and all his court, was refused. Walter, whom
+the historians call "the Winged Lie," proclaimed that he would fight
+only with a free man, and that the Lord of Raeske, by wedding a serf,
+had become a serf himself. This was in accordance with a law recently
+promulgated by Charles, but the house of Erembald, perceiving that
+its very existence was threatened by the charge, fiercely repelled the
+accusation and was supported not only by all of the Karls, but by most
+of the feudal nobility as well--the latter no doubt fearing lest one
+of their own houses might be attainted in a similar manner at any
+moment.
+
+The country was plunged into what was virtually civil war, when
+Charles was suddenly summoned by his feudal over-lord, the King of
+France, to come to his aid at Clermont. On his return, assured of the
+King's powerful support, Charles undoubtedly meditated the complete
+overthrow of the Erembalds, whom he had steadfastly claimed as his
+vassals since "the Winged Lie" had denounced them as serfs. He arrived
+at Bruges late in the evening, and early the following day, March 1,
+1127, repaired to St. Donatian to hear mass. It was a foggy morning
+and the Count went almost unattended. Hardly had he knelt before the
+altar when a party of followers of the attainted house of Erembald
+swarmed into the church and he was struck down before he had time to
+rise, much less to defend himself.
+
+If, in his lifetime, the Count was a dangerous foe to the Erembalds,
+in his death he proved to be far more deadly. As his body lay on the
+stone floor of the great church, clad in the crimson robe the
+chroniclers so often allude to, and surrounded with flaming torches,
+the heads of the house hastily consulted as to what was to be done
+with it. To inter the body at Bruges would be to risk an outbreak of
+popular passion at the murder, and it was decided to secretly convey
+it away. This plan was rudely frustrated by a mob of citizens who
+forcibly prevented the removal of the body, which was therefore laid
+to rest with imposing ceremonies in the very church where the Count
+had been assassinated.
+
+Meanwhile the story of the murder spread far and wide, and, in a few
+days, a huge host was marching on Bruges from every part of Flanders.
+For a time the burghers stood by the Châtelain and the Provost, but
+when the city was entered by stratagem and the Erembalds driven back
+into the Bourg the mass of the citizens went over to the side of the
+avengers. After a short defence the Bourg in turn was captured--its
+defenders failing to guard one small gate by which their enemies
+entered unopposed--and the remnant of the Erembalds fled into the very
+church that had been defiled by their kinsmen's crime, St. Donatian.
+Here, for a time, they were left in peace while the victors pillaged
+the rich palaces in the ancient Bourg.
+
+The day before the capture of the Bourg Bertulph, the Provost managed
+to escape and fled to a little village near Ypres. Here, after
+remaining in hiding for some three weeks, he was captured. The next
+morning he was brought to Ypres, walking on foot all the way, although
+a horse was offered him. That he was going to his death he well knew,
+and asked for a priest to whom he confessed. The old man--who had been
+"a soft, luxurious prelate," proud and haughty in his days of
+power--made his last journey like a martyr. As the prisoner and his
+captors neared the gates of the city a great throng came forth to meet
+them, beating the Provost with their staves and fists and pelting him
+with the heads of fish. Arrived in the market-place he stood amid the
+huge jeering throng, not one of whom looked with pity on him, and
+there, for his greater shame, he was fastened naked to a cross like a
+common thief. On his refusing in a steadfast voice to reveal the names
+of any of those implicated in the Count's murder, "those who were
+assembled in the market-place to sell fish tore his flesh with their
+iron hooks, and beat him with rods, and thus they put an end to his
+days."
+
+The news of this tragedy was brought to the little band still being
+besieged at St. Donatian and caused great grief and terror. Of the
+very considerable army of Erembalds and their partisans who had taken
+refuge in the Bourg only thirty now remained, most having been killed,
+while some no doubt had escaped. King Louis, with a host of French
+knights, had joined the men of Flanders in the attack and it was seen
+that further resistance was hopeless. The only terms were instant
+surrender or instant death, and as they looked across the country from
+the church tower they could see no hope of succour and surrendered.
+After keeping them prisoners for a fortnight, Louis directed that all
+save one, who was of somewhat nobler lineage than the rest, should be
+flung from the tower of the now thrice historic St. Donatian. This
+sentence was duly carried out. The cruel soldiers told the condemned
+that they were about to receive a proof of the King's mercy and they
+remained ignorant of their terrible fate until, one after another,
+they stood on the lofty tower overlooking the city for a brief moment
+and were then dashed down headlong to the jagged pavement below. The
+bodies were denied Christian burial and thrown into a marsh outside of
+the city, and it is related that for many years thereafter "no man
+after nightfall would willingly pass that way."
+
+The house of Erembald was well-nigh annihilated during this short, but
+sanguinary, war. The sole survivor of the band captured in the church
+was beheaded by King Louis as soon as he crossed the French frontier,
+while most of the great names in the family were heard of in Flanders
+no more--some having perished in battle, others in exile. Only one,
+Hacket the Châtelain, returned after the cry for vengeance had died
+down, was placed on trial for the murder, proved his innocence, and
+eventually recovered much of his former power and wealth. The charge
+of serfdom was never raised again, and his descendants for many
+generations stood high in the rolls of the Flemish nobility.
+
+The church of St. Donatian no longer stands, having been destroyed
+during the French Revolution. In the small museum of antiquities in
+the Halles adjacent to the Belfry we were shown some stone railings,
+carved in imitation of rustic woodwork, that the concierge assured us
+had come from the ruins of the famous church. From a painting made in
+1710 the student can obtain a fair idea of the appearance of the
+structure, which can hardly be said to have been imposing externally.
+It stood opposite the Hotel de Ville, and the statue of Van Eyck in
+the centre of the little shaded square is said to mark the spot where
+Charles the Good fell at the hands of his assassins. The stones with
+which the Cathedral was built were carried away, and some of them were
+used to build a château a short distance outside of the city.
+According to the peasants in the neighbourhood, ill-luck has always
+followed those who lived there. If so, the spirit of the murdered
+Count would seem to have been as dangerous in the nineteenth century
+as it was in the twelfth.
+
+Every morning here at Bruges, and elsewhere throughout our pilgrimage,
+the Professor and I sallied forth between five and six o'clock to
+explore as many of the by-ways and quaint out-of-the-way corners as we
+could before breakfast. The sun rises in Belgium long before five, in
+fact it is light as early as three in the summer time, but we found
+very few people astir, and those who were up were usually engaged in
+the morning scrubbing of floors and sidewalks--a fact that made us
+keep pretty much to the middle of the road on these expeditions.
+Cleanliness is certainly honoured next to godliness in Belgium, for
+this morning ablution of the premises is universal--the big department
+stores at Brussels observing the custom as faithfully as the tiniest
+_estaminet_ in the remotest hamlet. Every one, rich and poor, performs
+this rite, and the tourist could safely eat his breakfast off the
+doorstep of any house when it is over. Nor is the rest of the interior
+neglected, for every pot and pan that we could see within the little
+houses as we passed their doors shone with a lustre that bespoke
+perpetual polishing. On the other hand, the good vroue herself, or her
+maidservant, was not so clean, and it is in this respect that the
+people of Holland are superior, for they somehow manage to keep
+themselves as immaculate as their little houses.
+
+It was at Bruges that the Professor had his first experience with the
+Belgian species of barber. Instead of the massive reclining chair,
+with which all Americans are familiar, one finds in all parts of
+Belgium, save the big tourist hotels and resorts, stiff little
+arm-chairs with immovable head rests that look as if they could never
+serve the purpose for which they are intended. In point of fact they
+do fairly well, once one becomes accustomed to them. Razors in
+Belgium, however, are almost invariably dull--especially with the lady
+barbers who abound in the smaller villages. Avoid these sirens if you
+value your skin, for they certainly will slice off a bit of it. On
+Sundays and holidays, it appears, their husbands officiate, but week
+days the better half does her best to accommodate the public--but her
+best is none too good, and the experience is usually a painful one for
+the unwary tourist.
+
+The shave over, the barber says, "S'il vous plaît, monsieur," or its
+equivalent in Flemish, motioning meanwhile toward a small wash basin
+that is placed in front of the chair. To the uninitiated this is
+somewhat bewildering, but the professor desires that monsieur will
+kindly wash his own face. The ablution performed, he proceeds to rub a
+piece of alum over the face, after which he sprays it with perfumed
+water, then dries and powders it much in the manner of the American
+barber. When one becomes accustomed to this performance--which costs
+two to three cents in the villages and five to ten cents in the large
+towns--he is apt to prefer it to the American method. Certainly it is
+vastly superior to the hot towel torture so deservedly caricatured
+some years ago by Weber and Fields. In the smaller villages of the
+industrial provinces we found that the first and second class
+distinction that one encounters everywhere in Belgium extends even to
+the barber's chair. The rough clad workman is simply shaved--a few
+fierce scrapes with the razor and it is all over--and is left to wipe
+off the remnants of lather as best he can, usually with a red bandanna
+handkerchief. For this the charge is only two cents--the alum, the
+spraying and the powder being reserved for first-class patrons only.
+
+On our way back to the hotel from these early morning promenades the
+Professor and I kept on the look-out for some _patisserie_ where
+_brioches_ or _cuches au beurre_ could be had with a pot of coffee.
+This formed our usual breakfast for, it may as well be admitted right
+now, we did not feel that we could afford the extravagance of a
+three-franc breakfast at the hotel. The ladies were ready to join us
+by eight o'clock--before that hour it would be useless to look for a
+place open for business--and we conducted them to the _patisserie_ we
+had discovered. The _brioche_, it may be remarked, is a light spongy
+preparation--half cake and half biscuit--while the _cuche au beurre_
+is apparently made from a kind of light pie-crust, rolled thin and
+built up in several layers with butter between. When served fresh and
+hot from the oven the latter is most delicious, but when cold it is as
+tough and soggy as a day-old griddle-cake. The usual charge for these
+delicacies was five centimes (one cent) each, and as three made a very
+substantial meal, and the coffee cost three or five cents per cup, our
+total expenditure for four people was less than two francs. If, as
+often happened--in addition to getting everything hot and
+delicious--we were served on little tables out of doors with a view of
+a cathedral or Hotel de Ville thrown in, we felt that we were getting
+a very good bargain indeed.
+
+Of the Bruges of Charles the Good the most important existing monument
+is the great Cathedral of St. Sauveur, which was rebuilt by him after
+having been partially destroyed by fire in 1116, the work being
+completed in 1127. Probably very little of the structure as we see it
+to-day dates from this period, as the edifice has been enlarged and
+restored many times, much of it dating from the fourteenth and part
+from the sixteenth century--the era when architecture in Flanders
+flourished as never before or since. The tower was begun in 1116,
+continued in 1358, and its upper portions added during the last
+century, so that nearly eight hundred years elapsed before it was
+finally completed in its present form. Many writers speak of this
+tower as clumsy and unsightly, but to me it is one of the most
+majestic and stately structures in Flanders. At any rate, there is no
+other tower like it, and the way in which it lifts its castle-like
+mass of tawny brick high above the tiny houses that surround it is
+profoundly impressive. The lower part of the tower is Romanesque,
+being, no doubt, the portion erected under the supervision of Charles
+the Good. The rest is Gothic, if so unecclesiastical a style can be so
+denominated.
+
+The interior of St. Sauveur dates in the main from a much later period
+than Charles the Good, and as we visited this interesting edifice
+several times an account of its later constructions and paintings will
+be found in a chapter devoted more particularly to the art treasures
+of Bruges. It is not the purpose of this book to weary the reader with
+detailed descriptions of this and every other "monument" in Flanders.
+For those who are interested in architectural details there are
+numerous works written by experts and discussing exhaustively--if not
+exhaustingly--every feature of technical importance. Our little party
+was not learned and these random jottings will therefore record only
+such facts as seemed interesting to the average American visitor. Nor
+would it be possible to attempt a detailed account of the pictures and
+sculptures, either at St. Sauveur or elsewhere. Many of the great
+Flemish churches are literally museums of early Flemish art and a mere
+catalogue of their contents would fill many pages. For the most part
+the works are of mediocre merit, but nearly every church possesses one
+or more masterpieces--which the uninformed visitor can generally
+distinguish by the fact that a charge is made to uncover them. At
+times this practice becomes a bit annoying, particularly when--in
+addition to paying the fee--one has to hunt around for half an hour to
+find the sacristan, who may live two or three blocks away; but, after
+all, it is the tourist who is under obligation for the privilege of
+visiting the churches when they are closed to the general public, and
+all the fees in Flanders add only a trifle to the expense account of
+one's tour.
+
+In St. Sauveur on the occasion of our first visit we were especially
+interested in a curious painting of the Crucifixion located in the
+Baptistry and said to be the earliest picture of the famous Bruges
+school in existence. The savants assign a date prior to 1400 to this
+work, the author of which is unknown.
+
+The name of Charles the Good is also associated with the Church of
+Notre Dame, part of the present structure dating from his reign. The
+bulk of the edifice was erected during the fourteenth and fifteenth
+centuries. The spire was begun in 1440, torn down and rebuilt, being
+finally completed nearly a century later. There is a legend that the
+architect, in despair over the fact that it leans considerably to the
+east, threw himself from its summit. At present it is one hundred and
+twenty-two metres in height, which is said to be the greatest
+elevation ever attained by a structure of this kind built of brick. It
+can hardly be described as beautiful, the dark red of the top portion
+being out of harmony with the rich tawny grey of the lower part, but
+it forms a splendid feature in the sky-line of the city. Perhaps the
+most charming view of it is that obtained from the opposite side of
+the Lac d'Amour. Another excellent point of view is from the Dyver
+with the outline of the tower, reflected in the still waters of the
+Roya.
+
+The interior of this church is, like the tower, built of brick, only
+the great supporting pillars being of stone. The general effect of
+the interior is greatly marred by a wooden rood-loft that separates
+the nave from the choir. In this church there is an interesting
+"Adoration of the Magi" by Daniel Seghers, a painter of the later
+Antwerp school, who became a Jesuit but continued to practise his art
+and was especially renowned for the flowers and butterflies with which
+he adorned his pictures. This work, which was finished in 1630, is
+thought by many to be the artist's masterpiece. Another notable
+treasure is the statue of the Virgin and Child by Michael Angelo,
+executed in 1503.
+
+[Illustration: TOMB OF MARIE OF BURGUNDY, CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME,
+BRUGES.]
+
+The most famous of the possessions of Notre Dame, however, are the
+superb tombs of Charles the Bold and his daughter Marie of Burgundy,
+to be seen only by paying a small fee to enter the chapel in which
+they are placed. That of Marie is the older, and by far the finer of
+the two, and consists of a sarcophagus of black marble upon which
+rests a life-sized recumbent figure of the famous princess--"the
+greatest heiress in Europe"--who died at the age of twenty-five as a
+result of an injury received when hunting in 1482, less than five
+years after her marriage to Maximilian who later became Emperor. At
+the command of her son, Philip the Handsome, this masterpiece of
+stone and bronze was begun by Pierre de Beckère in 1495 and completed
+in 1502. Around the altar-tomb are exquisitely carved statues of
+saints and angels, with twining plants and scrolls and the heraldic
+shields of all the provinces and not a few of the cities within
+Marie's wide domains. The figure of the princess lies above all this
+with her hands folded as if in prayer, a crown upon her head and two
+hounds lying at her feet. The bronze has been cunningly carved to
+represent the finest lace and richly gilded until it seems to be pure
+gold. The body of Charles the Bold was brought from Nancy in 1550 at
+the command of Charles the Fifth, his grandson, and eight years later
+the funeral monument was begun by order of Philip II. It was completed
+in 1562, and is designed in imitation of that of Marie. The figure of
+"the terrible Duke" is shown clad in armour, with his helmet at one
+side and a lion crouching at his feet.
+
+"Here, in this little chapel," said the Professor, "one can see the
+beginning and the end of the most interesting period in the long
+history of Bruges, the alpha and omega of her greatness. At the time
+of Charles the Good the little Bourg on the Roya was slowly emerging
+from obscurity and beginning to assume the aspect of a great capital.
+For three hundred and fifty years its power and fame grew until 'the
+Venice of the North' was everywhere recognised as one of the most
+beautiful and brilliant cities in the world. Then suddenly, almost
+within the span of a single generation, the fickle sea abandoned it
+and it became the quiet inland city that it is to-day, living largely
+upon the memories of its splendid past. When the beautiful Marie was
+brought home to the Princenhof, dying from her fall at Wynandael, the
+decline had already begun, and when the remains of her father were
+placed beside her here in Notre Dame the end had already come and the
+city's merchants and prosperity had departed."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+HOW BRUGES BECAME "THE VENICE OF THE NORTH"
+
+
+After the murder of Charles the Good had been so thoroughly avenged,
+the King of France sought to foist one of his own underlings upon the
+people of Flanders, but they would have none of him, and he fell
+fighting before the gates of one of the Flemish cities. Dierick of
+Alsace was the popular hero and became Count on the death of this
+rival. The King of France sought once more to interpose, but the
+burghers of Bruges retorted proudly: "Be it known to the King and to
+all princes and peoples, and to their posterity throughout all time,
+that the King of France hath no part in the election of a Count of
+Flanders."
+
+Of all the Counts of Flemish blood Dierick proved to be the greatest
+and the wisest who ever ruled over the land. During his long reign of
+forty years (from 1128 to 1168) and that of his son, Philip of Alsace,
+who ruled until 1191, the country prospered and grew rich. Both
+princes encouraged commerce, industry and the arts, and were liberal
+in their policy toward the cities. It was during this Golden Age of
+Flemish history--the longest period of happiness the country ever
+knew--that municipal charters were granted to the cities of Bruges,
+Ghent, Ypres, Furnes, Gravelines, Nieuport, Dunkerque and Damme.
+
+While the memory of Dierick of Alsace deserves to be fondly cherished
+by the people of Flanders as that of a wise and liberal ruler, his
+most famous exploit was bringing back the relic of the Precious Blood
+from Jerusalem. Like most princes of his time, Dierick joined in the
+Crusades, but, unlike many of them, he left his government so strong
+and secure that no harm came to the country during his absence. It was
+the second Crusade, and Dierick departed in 1147, and returned in
+1150, bringing with him this relic, a portion of the most precious
+possession of the Holy Church of Palestine, consisting of a small
+crystal vial filled with what was alleged to be the blood of Christ,
+preserved by Joseph of Aramathea who prepared the body for burial.
+Deeming himself unworthy to bear so holy a relic, the Count entrusted
+it to his chaplain, who never parted with it until the returning
+crusaders delivered it to the chaplains of the court who placed it in
+the chapel built by Baldwin of the Iron Arm, where it still remains in
+its original receptacle.
+
+On the 2nd of May every year from 1303 until now--save for a brief
+interruption during the stormy times of the French Revolution--the
+city of Bruges has celebrated its possession of this holy relic by the
+great Procession of the Holy Blood. At first simply a religious
+ceremony, the procession gradually took on spectacular features such
+as the Flemings love, including representations of the Apostles, the
+Nativity, King Herod, and so on. At present _La Noble Confrerie du
+Precieux Sang_, or Honourable Society of the Holy Blood, is a very
+wealthy and aristocratic organisation, even its affiliated members--of
+whom there are several thousands, of every nationality--esteeming
+their connection with it a great honour.
+
+During the French Revolution mobs stripped the chapel of everything
+that could be torn down or broken, leaving it such a wreck that the
+municipal authorities were considering tearing it down, but were
+happily prevented from doing so by Napoleon. The lower chapel was,
+however, used as a jail for drunken and disorderly persons--and even
+as a pound for stray dogs--until 1818. The upper chapel meanwhile was
+roofless and windowless, a sad wreck of so ancient and famous a
+structure. Both have since been restored, the lower--or Chapel of St.
+Basil--being now just as it was in 1150, and, in the opinion of many
+critics, "the most beautiful and perfect specimen of Romanesque
+architecture in Europe." We had already inspected the lower chapel
+while exploring the Vieux Bourg of Baldwin of the Iron Arm our first
+day at Bruges, but had not spent much time in the upper one. Here the
+most interesting object was naturally the chasse, or casket,
+containing the holy relic after which the chapel is named. This is on
+one side of the little museum of the chapel and is of silver-gilt,
+standing four feet, three inches high. It was made in 1617 by a
+silversmith of Bruges and, while not regarded as a masterpiece of its
+kind, is very graceful and elegant. The chapel itself is richly
+decorated and has some excellent stained glass windows, all of this
+work dating from the middle of the last century.
+
+Adjoining the Chapelle du Saint-Sang is the Hotel de Ville. This
+structure is a very fine example of Flemish municipal architecture,
+dating from the last quarter of the fourteenth century. Here the
+Counts of Flanders formerly took the oath to respect the rights and
+privileges of the city, this formality taking place in the last window
+to the right. Originally there were statues of former princes on the
+façade and six of these were coloured by Jean Van Eyck in 1435. All
+were destroyed during the Revolution. Part of the interior is still
+used by various government officials, while up-stairs the tourists
+usually visit the ancient Salle Echinivale, or Council Chamber. This
+was restored in 1895 and decorated with a series of twelve mural
+paintings representing notable scenes in the history of the city. Of
+these eleven are by Albrecht de Vriendt, and the last by his brother,
+Julian, the first artist dying just before his work was completed. As
+these pictures form an interesting epitome of the history of the city,
+the subjects are given herewith:
+
+        1.--Return of the Brugeois from the Battle of the Golden
+        Spurs at Courtrai in 1302.
+
+        2.--Foundation of the Order of the Golden Fleece by
+        Philip of Burgundy at Bruges in 1430.
+
+        3.--Dierick of Alsace bringing the Holy Blood to the
+        chapel of St. Basil in 1150.
+
+        4.--The interior of the ancient Hospital of St. Jean.
+
+        5.--Magistrates of Bruges renewing the privileges of the
+        Hanseatic League.
+
+        6.--Count Philip of Alsace granting a charter to Bruges
+        (1190).
+
+        7.--Magistrates visiting the Studio of Jean Van Eyck
+        (1433).
+
+        8.--The printing by movable type in Bruges by Jean
+        Britto in 1446.
+
+        9.--Count Louis of Maele laying the foundation of the
+        Town-hall (1376).
+
+        10.--Jacob Van Maerlant, father of Flemish poetry, born
+        at Damme.
+
+        11.--The Free-fair.
+
+        12.--Opening of the new Zwyn canal in 1404.
+
+[Illustration: _Palais du Franc, Bruges_]
+
+One of the most interesting of the almost innumerable mediæval
+buildings in Bruges is the Palais du Franc which, with its many quaint
+turrets and gables, overlooks the fish market on the Quai Vert. The
+associations and history of this sumptuous bit of sixteenth century
+architecture date from the twelfth century--1190 to be exact--when
+Philip of Alsace granted a charter to the region stretching to the
+northward from the city to the sea, and from Aardenburg (now just
+across the Dutch frontier) to Dixmude. This wide tract of territory
+was called the Franc or Liberty of Bruges, and comprised ninety-one
+parishes and the towns of Ostende, Blankenburghe, Eccloo, Lissweghe,
+Aardenburg, Sluys and Dixmude. Of these only the first two are known
+to the tourists of the present day, while one must needs search the
+map very closely to find one or two of the others at all, but in the
+time of Philip all were busy centres of trade and industry. This was
+the hereditary land of the Karls, whose revolt against the attempt of
+Charles the Good to force them under the feudal yoke cost that monarch
+his life.
+
+The charter was called the _Keurbrief_ and laid the foundation for the
+administration of a code of justice that, rude as it was, meant
+liberty for those who otherwise would have been utterly at the mercy
+of any feudal lord or wandering knight. It was the _Magna Carta_ of a
+large part of the Count's dominions and even its stern eye-for-eye and
+life-for-life doctrine was tempered by equivalents in cash that might
+be paid. The life of a Karl was worth twice as much as that of a monk
+or priest, while for each injury there was an appropriate fine. He who
+broke a dyke must lose the hand that did the damage, besides
+forfeiting all his goods; for false weights the penalty was a fine of
+three livres for each offence. Fencing one's property against game
+entailed branding with a red hot iron, or trial by the Count--who
+might confiscate the goods of the guilty party, but his life and
+liberty were to be safe. This cruel game law was not repealed for
+nearly three centuries, and must have entailed much hardship. On the
+whole, however, the charter was liberal for its day, and the country
+under it flourished exceedingly--a sure evidence of wise laws.
+
+The Keurbrief was administered by the Magistrates of the Franc in the
+Palais du Franc, which was therefore a sort of special court. The
+present edifice is not the one erected by Philip, or used by him for
+the purpose, but dates from the early part of the fifteenth century.
+Part of it is still used as the Palais de Justice, but that part of
+the present structure is for the most part modern. The most
+interesting portion of the edifice, and the only one shown to
+tourists, is the Court Room containing the magnificent Cheminée du
+Franc, or chimney-piece, erected in honour of the Ladies' Peace
+negotiated by Margaret of Austria while Regent of the Netherlands in
+1529. The work was executed from designs by Lancelot Blondeel, a
+painter of Bruges, and was completed in 1530. The fireplace itself is
+of black marble, surmounted by a frieze in white marble containing
+four bas-reliefs representing the history of the chaste Suzanne. One
+cannot but wonder what was the connection of thought that suggested
+this story in conjunction with the commemoration of the Treaty of
+Cambrai, but at all events here it is. The reliefs are of varying
+excellence, the one showing Suzanne about to be seized by her aged
+admirers being very sharp and clear, while the fourth which shows the
+culprits being stoned to death is rather indistinct.
+
+The upper part of the monumental chimney is of oak and occupies almost
+the entire side of the room. In the centre stands Charles V,
+represented as a Count of Flanders, nearly life size and finely
+carved. At his right are statues of Maximilian and Marie of Burgundy,
+and at the left Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile--these
+being the Emperor's ancestors on his father's and mother's sides
+respectively. On the throne behind the Emperor are the busts of Philip
+the Handsome and Joanna of Spain, his father and mother, and below
+these are the portraits in small medallions of Charles de Lannoy, who
+won the victory of Pavia where Francis I, the King of France, was
+captured, and Margaret of Austria, who negotiated the treaty. As the
+last mentioned portrait is almost invisible in the shadow of the
+Emperor it hardly seems as though the chimney-piece does justice to
+the loyal and talented woman whose successful diplomacy the entire
+work is intended to commemorate. As an example of sixteenth-century
+wood-carving, however, and as a most important historical monument,
+this chimney-piece is by no means the least interesting of the many
+things to be seen at Bruges.
+
+[Illustration: THE BELFRY, BRUGES.]
+
+Unlike most tourists, the Professor seemed to be in no hurry to
+inspect the famous Belfry, although we had passed it a score of times
+during our stay. Facing the Grande Place, and towering three hundred
+and fifty-three feet into the air, it could not be overlooked, while
+its loud chimes--which rang every quarter of an hour, and can be heard
+for many blocks around--insured that it could not be forgotten.
+Moreover, we more than once took our evening meal at a little
+restaurant just across the Place from it and saw its graceful
+octagonal parapet on one occasion outlined against the fast-flying
+grey clouds of a summer storm and the next day against the blue sky of
+one of the few perfect June days it was our fortune to enjoy. "Too
+soon," he said, in answer to our inquiring glances--"the Belfry
+belongs to the period of Bruges' splendour, while the buildings we
+have seen thus far date from the formative period when she was still
+little more than a fortress on a marsh."
+
+The original structure dates from the very early Counts of
+Flanders--possibly from the time of the first Baldwin--but was
+practically destroyed by a fire in the year 1280. It was then that the
+present edifice was begun, at a period when the commercial and
+industrial importance of the city was already very great. The city's
+seal and archives were stored in a strong room within the belfry
+walls, where four wrought iron doors secured by ten locks and ten keys
+guarded them against abstraction by the emissaries of some Count who
+might desire to curtail the privileges of the city. Eight of these
+keys were kept by the deans of the eight leading guilds--the butchers,
+bakers, shoemakers, tailors, weavers, brokers, carpenters and
+blacksmiths--who thus virtually controlled the government. This room
+the Professor desired to see above all else in the old structure. We
+found the four wrought iron doors, but the archive chamber no longer
+contains archives or the city's seal. It was a most interesting old
+room, nevertheless, and one that ought to particularly interest the
+builders of the elaborate burglar-proof and earthquake-proof vaults
+that extend below so many great banking houses in America. Alas!
+neither the four doors nor the ten locks rendered this ancient
+strong-room for the protection of the city's liberties proof against
+the cunning and power of tyrants, and the precious charters it once
+held were gradually taken away, despite the stout handiwork of one
+Erembald, blacksmith, who received eighty-one pounds for forging the
+doors in the year 1290.
+
+To reach the bells one mounts a steep, dark staircase which is said to
+contain four hundred and two steps, although we did not count them.
+The chimes are claimed to be the finest in Europe, and comprise
+forty-nine bells weighing in the aggregate fifty-six thousand, one
+hundred and sixty-six pounds. They were cast by George Dumery in 1743
+and are noted for their soft tone. The _tambour_ which operates the
+chimes that ring every quarter of an hour weighs nineteen thousand,
+nine hundred and sixty-six pounds and is pierced by thirty thousand,
+five hundred square holes in which are fixed the pegs that pull the
+strings commanding the hammers hanging outside the bells. By altering
+the position of these pegs the tunes can be varied, but the programme
+played while we were in the city was as follows:
+
+At the hour: "Rondo, 15th sonata," by Mozart; at the quarter past: "Le
+Carillon de Dunkerque," a popular air; at the half: "The Day of
+Happiness," by Mozart; at the three-quarters past: "The Three
+Drummers," a Flemish popular air. The official bell-ringer is M. Toon
+Nauwelaerts, a native of Lierre, where his ancestors have been
+bell-ringers for more than a hundred years. Although a young man, M.
+Nauwelaerts won an international competition of bell-ringers organised
+by the city of Bruges in 1911.
+
+The view from the summit of the Belfry is one of the most superb in
+Flanders, especially if the visitor is so fortunate as to have fallen
+on one of those days when the clouds roll in great fleecy masses of
+dazzling white that form a wondrous background for the grim grey tower
+of St. Sauveur and the tapering red spire of the cathedral. As one
+looks down upon the sea of tiny red-roofed houses far below he is
+transported in fancy to the time, centuries ago, when watchmen peered
+off across these very parapets day and night to sound the alarm of an
+approaching foe, or announce the approach of their mighty Count or
+some noble visitor. In so doing he can realise what the old Belfry has
+meant to the city on the Roya. "For six hundred years," wrote M.
+Gilliodts, one of the city's learned archivists, "this belfry has
+watched over the city of Bruges. It has beheld her triumphs and her
+failures, her glory and her shame, her prosperity and her gradual
+decay, and, in spite of so many vicissitudes, it is still standing to
+bear witness to the genius of our forefathers, to awaken alike
+memories of old times and admiration for one of the most splendid
+monuments of civic architecture which the Middle Ages have produced."
+
+The best time of all in which to study and admire the external aspect
+of this noble structure is when the sun is sinking to rest and its
+rays fall slantingly across the sombre pile of tawny brick, touching
+up its projections here and there with high lights that contrast
+sharply with the deep shadows behind them, and listen--as did so often
+our poet Longfellow--to the wonderfully sweet chimes as they ring the
+quarter hours:
+
+    "Low and loud and sweetly blended,
+    Low at times and loud at times,
+    And changing like a poet's rhymes
+    Ring the beautiful wild chimes
+    From the Belfry in the market
+    Of the ancient town of Bruges."
+
+The Halles themselves, of which the Belfry is the chief ornament, are
+notable for their considerable size, forming a rectangle one hundred
+and forty-three feet broad and two hundred and seventy-six feet deep.
+The archeological museum in one wing--which is in course of removal
+to the Gruuthuise Palace--enabled us to see the interior of the
+structure, the extent of which indicates the volume of business that
+was transacted there when Bruges was known as "the Venice of the
+North." The great commercial activity of Bruges during the period of
+its prosperity, from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries, was due
+primarily to the fact that the Counts of Flanders decreed that it
+should be the sole port of entry for the entire country. The burghers
+quickly perceived the priceless value of this privilege, and by their
+enterprise and liberality made the city the foremost metropolis in
+Europe in the volume and variety of its international trade. With
+London its relations were especially intimate and cordial, each city
+granting to the merchants of the other privileges that in those days
+were almost unheard of. For example, the merchants of Bruges in time
+of war were granted forty days of grace in which to dispose of their
+property and provide for their personal safety. On one occasion, while
+a war was actually going on, they were given a special truce of ninety
+days in which to traffic freely with the subjects of the King of
+England. The reason for these unusual favours was that Bruges was the
+great market where the wool of England, on which the prosperity of
+the country depended, was disposed of. Not infrequently the archives
+record instances where the Kings of England treated with the chief
+magistrates of Bruges on terms of complete equality, as if with a
+sovereign power.
+
+Nor was England the only country represented in the market places of
+Bruges during this period. The Doges of Venice often treated directly
+with the Burgomasters of the Italian city's Flemish rival, while the
+powerful Hanseatic League established here their chief establishment
+for the Netherlands. The list of the "Nations," as the groups of
+foreign merchants were called, makes curious reading at the present
+day. There were English, Scotch, French, Lusitanians, Castilians,
+Venetians, Genoans, Florentines; merchants from Aragon, Biscay, Lucca,
+Milan, Lombardy and Navarre. The German merchants from the Hanseatic
+towns of Lubeck, Hamburg, Cologne, Dantzig and Bremen numbered no less
+than forty houses in the year 1362, while the Italian and Spanish
+firms resident in the city were still more numerous. Many of these
+concerns were among the foremost trading and banking houses of the
+Middle Ages, with mercantile transactions extending into every part of
+the known world and strong enough financially to loan money to
+princes. When the Duke of Pembroke was captured by Du Guesclin in the
+Hundred Years' War between England and France it was in Bruges that
+his countrymen borrowed the seventy thousand pounds demanded as
+ransom.
+
+As befitted the first mercantile city in the world, business methods
+were more advanced at Bruges than anywhere else. It is claimed that
+the first insurance policies ever drawn up were devised and signed in
+Bruges about the year 1300. A form of registration of land titles was
+in use there as early as the fifteenth century. Its Bourse, or central
+exchange for merchandise of all kinds, is claimed to have been the
+first ever established.
+
+In a single day in the year 1456 no less than 150 foreign vessels
+arrived at Bruges through its canals and the River Zwyn, and while
+these were, of course, small craft as compared to those of the present
+day there was then no port in the world that could boast of an equal
+quantity of shipping. Industrially, the town was no less important,
+having some fifty thousand artisans belonging to fifty-two different
+guilds.
+
+The silting up of the Zwyn, rendering the approach and departure of
+shipping difficult and uncertain, started a downward movement that
+in less than a century destroyed all of this great activity and
+prosperity. Had it come alone it is probable that the sturdy merchants
+of Bruges would have found a way to overcome this adverse factor to
+their continued success, either by digging a new channel to the sea or
+by dredging, but misfortunes--as is their proverbial wont--did not
+come singly. In 1488, as a result of a conflict between the city and
+Maximilian, the stores and exchanges were closed for three months and
+all business came to a standstill. Seven years later it was said that
+nearly five thousand houses stood vacant and abandoned, no one caring
+either to buy or rent them. One by one the great merchants of the city
+closed their counting-rooms and went away; one by one the artisans
+departed. The last of the "Nations" to desert the declining city was
+the Hanseatic League, which stood by it loyally until 1516, when it
+removed its offices to Antwerp, by that time the acknowledged
+metropolis of the North.
+
+[Illustration: THE MINNEWATER, BRUGES.]
+
+The Minnewater, or Lac d'Amour, is--apart from its exquisite
+beauty--of interest as another memento of the city's former commerce.
+This was the chief harbour for shipping, and, no doubt, was thronged
+with sailing craft, while its banks must have swarmed with merchants
+checking their arriving or departing cargoes, stevedores carrying
+bales and boxes to and fro, clumsy wagons and carts for transporting
+merchandise to the warehouses of the city and all the varied noise and
+bustle of a great seaport. It is strangely silent and deserted now,
+and the grass grows tall around the round tower built in 1398 by Jan
+van Oudenaarde, and the white swans float slowly and majestically
+beneath the black arches of the adjoining bridge which is eight years
+older than the tower. It is said that he, or she, who stands on the
+central arch of this bridge at midnight and expresses a desire will
+have the wish fulfilled, but we did not try it. Before leaving this
+charming spot, however, we went along the banks of the little lake to
+a point where, looking back, we had the round tower and the bridge in
+the middle distance, the lake in the foreground, and the towers of the
+city on the horizon. This view is, without doubt, the finest the old
+town affords.
+
+The visitor to Bruges who is interested in the past should devote at
+least half a day to a pilgrimage to Damme, distant about an hour's
+walk along the canal that leads from the new port of Bruges to the
+sea. In 1180 this now all but forgotten town was made an independent
+commune with two burgomasters, and for two centuries thereafter it
+enjoyed a great and increasing prosperity. It became the chief
+entrepôt for the great commercial city of Bruges during its period of
+splendour, and most of the leading merchants maintained offices there.
+Its warehouses were crowded with merchandise from every corner of
+Europe--wines from France and Spain, beer from England, wool from
+Scotland, silk from Italy, all manner of cloths and stuffs, spices of
+all kinds, metals of every variety known to the metal workers of those
+days, rare and precious goods of every description.
+
+To-day the very scene of all this mercantile activity has vanished.
+Gone are the busy warehouses, the docks and wharves, even the very
+harbour in which--according to ancient chroniclers--a score of ships
+of the largest size then built could anchor easily. All that remains
+is a diminutive Grande Place surrounded by several ancient edifices,
+and the ruins of a huge church. In the centre of the Place is a modern
+statue of Jacob van Maerlant, called "the Father of Flemish Poets."
+Fame has surely never played any more astounding trick than that out
+of the great host who lived in this busy commercial town in the days
+of its prosperity--portly burgomasters, skilled in winning the
+plaudits of the populace; shrewd, far-sighted merchants grown rich
+from the commerce with distant lands; skilled artisans and craftsmen
+in a hundred guilds--all, all are forgotten, while an obscure poet,
+whom very likely many of those who knew him derided as a fool, is
+alone remembered as the one great man of Damme.
+
+Facing the Grande Place is the ancient Hotel de Ville, which, in
+addition to being the most notable monument of the dead town, is also
+an estaminet where the living can get a little refreshment. The main
+floor of this edifice is divided into three large rooms. The first one
+is the estaminet, with its array of bottles and its beer pump
+contrasting most incongruously with the remaining vestiges of its
+ancient grandeur.
+
+Adjoining this is a large, irregular and unfurnished room, bare of
+ornamentation save for two corbels, or Gothic brackets, which support
+the main rafters of the ceiling. These are of wood, elaborately
+carved. One represents Van Maerlant in his study, seated at a desk,
+with what M. Havard calls a "chaste Suzanne" bathing in a tub over his
+head. The other shows King David with his harp, and is embellished
+with sundry other figures.
+
+The remaining room is by far the most interesting, for it was here
+that Charles the Bold publicly betrothed Margaret of York. The room,
+which is officially termed the _Salle des Délibérations_, or Council
+Hall, has a fine old fireplace said to have been restored during the
+seventeenth century. It is decorated with two female figures in hoop
+skirts and bears the motto "_Parcere subjectis et debellare
+superbos_." This quotation from Vergil (Æneid 6:853) sounds rather
+pompous and out of place in the council chamber of this now completely
+vanquished and ruined city, and must have seemed so even in the
+seventeenth century, but it may have been a survival of an inscription
+placed over the original fireplace in the days when Damme dared to
+close its gates even against the men from Bruges itself, and the
+puissant Counts of Flanders had to use force to compel it to open
+them.
+
+It was in the year 1468 that this room in which we are now standing
+had its one great day and became, for a brief space, the setting of
+one of those splendid mediæval scenes that bards and novelists so
+fondly recall, and that--in our age of up-to-date inventions--the
+moving-picture men are so busily reconstructing and re-enacting. The
+Princess had landed at Sluys, near the mouth of the River Zwyn, where
+the Duke of Burgundy paid her a brief visit in secret--possibly to see
+what she looked like, for this was a marriage of state and intended to
+further his far-reaching ambitions. Probably if she had been as homely
+as a witch the wedding would have taken place just the same, but as
+the reverse was the case the preliminary inspection must have been
+very gratifying. The following day the royal lady and her company rode
+to Damme in a fleet of barges gorgeously decorated with gold, rich
+velvets and rare silks. Here she was lodged in this very Council
+Chamber of the Hotel de Ville, and here the Duke came in great state
+to perform the public ceremony of betrothal. The wedding ring was
+given in the presence of the English Bishop who had accompanied the
+Princess, and Charles announced that he would await her presence on
+the morrow at Bruges, where the wedding itself was to be celebrated in
+the Cathedral.
+
+The wedding procession as it departed for Bruges the next day must
+have been another brave sight for the proud citizens of Damme. The
+bride, reclining in a litter borne by four white horses, wore a
+magnificent gown of cloth of gold, a crown on her forehead, a jewelled
+necklace, and a mantle clasped with precious stones. Around her
+pranced her ladies of honour, mounted on white horses gaily bedecked
+with crimson satin. Immediately behind this picturesque group came
+five decorated chariots bearing a score of beautiful ladies from the
+English court, and following these came the guard of honour, or
+escort, provided by the Duke--a squadron of counts, barons and
+knights, with their faithful squires, their horses covered with gold
+and silver, the riders resplendent in bright coloured velvet and rich
+lace. The good people of the Middle Ages dearly loved a pageant, and
+this surely was one to rejoice the heart of every citizen of Damme,
+for here was the pride of the chivalry of all Europe--fair ladies and
+brave men from oversea and from every corner of the great Duke's wide
+dominions--thronging the Grande Place as the procession formed, and
+then falling into their respective places as the long line passed out
+through the city gate and proceeded on the straight, tree-lined
+_grande route_ that led to Bruges.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+DIXMUDE AND FURNES
+
+
+The tourist who desires to get away from the main thoroughfare of
+European travel, to explore out-of-the-way corners, and discover for
+himself wonders and beauties that the learned Mr. Baedeker never heard
+of, cannot do better than to turn away to the westward from the great
+Ostende-Brussels express route and visit the all but forgotten cities
+of Dixmude, Furnes and Nieuport. All but forgotten, that is, in June,
+1914. The world has heard of them since, and it will be many hundreds
+of years before it forgets them again! These little places, which when
+we visited them were nothing but sleepy and quiet country towns, were
+great and prosperous cities in the period when Bruges was slowly
+rising toward its zenith, and the Professor therefore decreed that
+they must come next on our itinerary. We accordingly spent an evening
+studying the _correspondences_, or connections, of the State Railway
+and the _chemin de fer vicinal_, or local steam tramway, and started
+at daybreak the next morning.
+
+Right here it may be said that the Belgian State Railway did its best
+to compensate us for whatever shortcomings we found in the weather or
+in the country generally. Perfect its service can hardly be said to
+have been, but it was excellent and amazingly cheap. Our party
+purchased every two weeks _billets d'abonnement_ that cost us just
+forty-one francs each, or about $8.00, and entitled us to ride on any
+State-owned railway line in the country day or night for fifteen days.
+These were second-class, the third costing twenty-three francs, and
+first sixty francs. The last, by the way, is a useless luxury, as on
+the local lines the first-class compartments are identical with the
+second-class except for a white tidy placed at the back of the
+cushions. Frequently there was not even the tidy, but the sign,
+"_Reservé_--_Voorbehouden_," converted an ordinary second-class
+compartment into first-class--a distinction that gave the traveller
+very little for his money, save the privilege of riding alone.
+
+On the main express routes that radiate outward from Brussels in every
+direction there were a number of _rapides_, or fast express trains,
+that made very good time indeed--a speed of a kilometre per minute
+being about the average. On the international express trains, some of
+which are first-class only, the speed was somewhat higher, but these
+we never had occasion to use. After the _rapides_ came the express
+trains, generally marked "_direct_" or "_semi-direct_," according to
+whether or not they made any intermediate stops before reaching their
+final destination. These were only moderately fast, and, if they did
+stop anywhere, lingered so long that the time gained by their previous
+speed was largely lost. Then came the type of local train called
+_omnibus_ or _ordinaire_, that stopped at every station. To the
+American these trains would seem astoundingly slow, even for a land
+that is never in a hurry. Each stop is dragged out, minute after
+minute, until it seems certain that either a terrible accident must
+have occurred ahead, or the train crew has gone on strike. Actually,
+more than once, we did see part of the crew returning from an
+estaminet hard by whither they had gone to have a friendly glass.
+Finally, however, the red-capped station master blows his whistle and
+the train reluctantly pulls away. To make a trip of sixty kilometres
+(forty miles) by one of these trains took, on more than one occasion,
+two hours and a quarter, and the train arrived on time!
+
+This last point is a feature of the Belgian railway trains. They are
+almost invariably on time, and lateness is a matter for strict
+examination on the part of the officials and severe penalties for
+those responsible. However, there does not seem to be much credit
+attached to being on time when the schedule allows for a stop of from
+two to fifteen minutes at each station. The man primarily responsible
+for the movement of the trains is not the conductor or engineer but
+the _chef de gare_, or station-master. He, or his deputy if the
+station is a large one with many trains, must be on hand when each
+train pulls in, and give the signal for its departure. His dark-red
+cap, embroidered with gold braid, is therefore in evidence at every
+station, and until this high functionary gives the word no train
+moves. As it is, each leaves exactly on time--but not a second before,
+no matter if every passenger has been in place and the doors slammed
+and fastened for the last five minutes!
+
+The foregoing description of the Belgian State Railway refers, of
+course, to the service as it existed down to the end of July. Since
+then the destruction of tracks, bridges and tunnels by one army or
+another has put most of the system out of operation. One of the
+saddest phases of the war is that every one of the thousands of
+employés of the Belgian State Railway--from the highest supervising
+official to the humblest track walker--was working faithfully and
+efficiently, and planning the future of his frugal life, upon the
+assurance that promotion and an old-age pension would reward his zeal.
+This obligation toward its employés the Belgian Government has ever
+faithfully observed, and in the course of our travels we met many
+middle-aged men who told us that they were looking forward to the day
+when their terms of duty would end and they would be pensioned on half
+pay to enjoy a few years of well-earned repose. Probably not one of
+these men ever seriously dreamed that an event could occur that would,
+in the course of a few swift weeks, blot out the record of his life
+work, and deprive him of all opportunity for promotion, for pension,
+and even for employment. No doubt the death toll of the battles on the
+plains of Flanders has been heavy among these courteous, capable and
+industrious men--many of whom were liable for military service in time
+of war--but let us hope that peace, when it comes, will bring to each
+survivor his old post again, with the old good service record
+unforgotten, and that he will receive the pension he rightfully
+expects and that his country would gladly give--at last.
+
+To those who enjoy rambling through the byways of history there is no
+town richer in associations, yet less spoiled by the visits of the all
+but ubiquitous tourist, than Dixmude. At present this little city is
+situated fifteen miles from the sea, yet all the ancient chroniclers
+aver that prior to the thirteenth century it was a seaport with a
+commerce overseas and a not inconsiderable fishing fleet. As one looks
+across the miles and miles of pleasant fields, interspersed with
+waving windmills and tiny villages, this part of the ancient city's
+history seems utterly incredible, but it is too well authenticated to
+be disputed. Ten times, so the histories tell us, Dixmude was besieged
+and bravely defended by its citizens. More than once it was destroyed
+by fire and rebuilt, but at last the blight that destroyed the
+prosperity of its larger and more powerful neighbours, Ypres, Bruges
+and Ghent, struck at the heart of its industries as well and it sank
+by imperceptible degrees into its long sleep.
+
+Like the abode of the Sleeping Princess, of whom Tennyson wrote, one
+might almost fancy that all life had stopped centuries ago at the
+wave of some magic wand. The summer's sun and winter's rain and snow
+of half a thousand years have left but the faintest traces on its old
+houses and its great parish church of St. Nicholas. The pride and joy
+of this church is its altar screen, or _jubé_, said to have been
+designed by Urban Taillebert, the architect of the Church of St.
+Martin at Ypres and many other celebrated works of around the year
+1600. There is also an "Adoration of the Magi" by Jordaens, and the
+usual collection of minor works of art. To us, however, this old
+church was far more interesting externally than within, its huge clock
+tower resembling nothing else that we had seen in Flanders or
+elsewhere. The Grande Place, from which one can obtain a fine view of
+the old church with a row of Lilliputian houses nestling below it, is
+big enough to accommodate all the present inhabitants of the town in
+one corner. In its prime Dixmude is said to have had thirty thousand
+inhabitants, and all the room on the Place was, no doubt, needed on
+market days, but it does not have a fifteenth of that number now, and
+the wide, grass-grown expanse of cobble-stones is entirely deserted.
+
+The _jubé_, or altar screen, already mentioned, is the one great
+"sight" of the little town, and every one asks without fail whether
+you have yet seen it. It is assuredly well worth seeing, being
+wonderfully graceful and dainty, and, perhaps, the finest thing of its
+kind in Northern Europe. The other famous _chef d'oeuvre_ of Dixmude
+is culinary instead of artistic. This is a kind of brioche called
+_zieltjenskoeken_, or _gateaux d'ames_--a sort of "soul cooky," as it
+were. Twice a year, on certain religious occasions, the inhabitants of
+Dixmude consume vast quantities of these confections, which are
+claimed to possess the property--if eaten on the prescribed days--of
+delivering one's soul from purgatory and sending it straight to
+Paradise. We were unfortunately unable to verify this, as our visit
+did not come on the right day, but we found the butter of
+Dixmude--which has enjoyed a great reputation for centuries--to be all
+that was claimed for it, although the Professor insisted on putting a
+shake of salt on his, to the great horror of the maid who served our
+dinner.
+
+Had some Madame Thebes told us what the near future had in store for
+this sleepy and quaint old city we would have spent days instead of
+hours in it, but last June its importance did not seem to justify
+giving it a chapter so we planned to visit Furnes the same day.
+To-day the name of Dixmude has been heard to the farthest ends of the
+world, its great square echoes to the tramp of armed men, its old
+church--after standing for so many centuries--is said to have fallen
+before the withering storm of shrapnel and shells that for days rained
+down upon its defenders. It has been taken and retaken by each side in
+the gigantic combat more than once. It is asleep no longer, forgotten
+no longer; and, in years to come, reverent visitors from many nations
+will visit what may remain of the ancient town. For these the chief
+interest will not lie in the walls of the ruined church or the relics
+of the departed _jubé_, if any there be, but out in the open, pleasant
+fields where, in trenches that the kindly hand of nature will
+gradually obliterate, the brave men of four nations met in one of the
+fiercest and bloodiest death grapples of the great war.
+
+But last July both Madame Thebes and the cannon were silent, so again
+taking our faithful _omnibus_ after the dinner--which we obtained at
+one of the little restaurants overlooking the Grande Place--we next
+journeyed northward to Furnes, which is only a few miles distant
+across the flat Flemish plain. Furnes, according to the antiquarians,
+dates from as early as the year 800, and its day of greatness had
+come and gone centuries ago. Its crooked streets, quaint gabled
+houses, and picturesque corners seemed more mediæval than any place we
+had visited--surpassing even Dixmude in this respect. It was here, by
+the way, that Leopold I was welcomed to the country when he arrived
+after being chosen to be the first King of the Belgians in 1831. The
+Hotel of the Nobele Rose, near the Grande Place, is said to have been
+the Palace of the Countess Gertrude of Flanders in 1093, and if so,
+must be one of the oldest houses in Flanders. The widow of Count
+Philip of Alsace is also said to have resided here in 1218. More
+celebrated, in years to come, than any of these incidents, will be the
+fact that Furnes was for many months of the Great War the headquarters
+of the brave Belgian army, and the place of residence of Belgium's
+heroic King.
+
+The great annual event at Furnes is the famous Procession, which takes
+place the third Sunday in July. It dates from 1100 or thereabouts,
+when, according to the legend, Count Robert of Flanders was on his way
+back from the Holy Land, bringing with him a piece of the true cross.
+His voyage across the Mediterranean, through the Straits of Gibraltar
+and past the stormy Bay of Biscay, was without incident, but as he
+was nearing home a fearful storm in the English Channel threatened to
+send his frail bark to the bottom. The waves were running mountain
+high and all the party expected each moment to be their last when the
+Count suddenly bethought himself of his holy relic and vowed that, if
+his life were spared, he would present it to the first church of which
+he might see the spire.
+
+Immediately the storm ceased, the wind died down, the sea became as
+smooth as a mill-pond, and as the happy mariners looked toward the
+shore of their dear Flanders a ray of sunlight fell upon the tower of
+Ste. Walburge in Furnes. To this church, therefore, in fulfilment of
+his vow, Count Robert presented the relic, now doubly precious by
+reason of this miracle. To commemorate this event the canons of the
+church organised a procession which took place every year and was
+marked by various historical representations of the return of Count
+Robert. About 1650 an act of sacrilege committed by a soldier, who was
+publicly executed for his crime, led to the procession taking on
+certain penitential features by way of expiation on the part of the
+city for this sin. From that time on the procession has included
+representations, for the most part by peasants dressed up for the
+parts, of Abraham and the Prophets, the Flight into Egypt, the Visit
+of the Three Wise Men to the Cradle at Bethlehem, so often painted by
+the artists of the Flemish school, the Stable and the Birth of Christ,
+the Court of Herod, Jesus in the Midst of the Doctors, the Penitent
+Magdalen, the Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, the Feast at Cana, the
+Garden of Olives, the Betrayal of Judas, and a series of scenes
+representing the crucifixion, burial and resurrection. Following these
+tableaux come the penitents, walking masked and barefooted, clad for
+the most part in brown Capuchin robes, and singing or chanting certain
+lines in Flemish. Many of the leading actors in the tableaux have
+"speaking parts," all of them in Flemish and delivered with varying
+degrees of histrionic skill to the crowd that lines the streets. The
+whole performance, apart from its great antiquity, is of interest as
+being a local and original representation of the Biblical story--a
+sort of Flemish passion play, less refined and artistic than that of
+the Swiss peasants of Oberammergau, but none the less conscientious,
+earnest and sincere.
+
+At one time Furnes ranked next to Ghent and Bruges among the cities of
+Flanders in official importance, if not in population and industry,
+its _châtellenie_ comprising fifty-two villages. In 1297 it was
+besieged by Robert, the Count of Artois, who fell five years later at
+the great battle of Courtrai. At Furnes the French arms were
+successful and the city was captured and sacked, "more than two
+thousand houses being burned in two days," according to the
+contemporary chronicles. Philip the Bold, the first of the Burgundian
+Dukes to rule over Flanders, rebuilt its fortifications, and the city
+was deemed worthy under Philip the Good to be designated as the place
+of residence of the French Dauphin, who subsequently became Louis XI,
+when that remarkable young man was in exile through his father's
+displeasure. It may well have been here that the wiliest and most
+unscrupulous of all the Kings of France planned that tortuous and
+secretive policy that--steadily pursued year after year--brought the
+powerful House of Burgundy low at last and made France one nation
+instead of two or three.
+
+The quaint old Grande Place of Furnes, while smaller than that of
+Dixmude, is equally picturesque. On one side is the old Meat Market,
+dating from the first quarter of the seventeenth century; and hard by
+is the _Maison des Espagnols_, or House of the Spaniards, formerly
+used as a town-hall and erected in the thirteenth century. The
+present Hotel de Ville also faces the Place and is well worth a visit,
+although none of its rooms are sufficiently notable to merit a
+detailed description. The ancient _Châtellenie_, now used as Court
+House, was begun in 1612--the year the Hotel de Ville was
+finished--and is chiefly memorable as the meeting-place of the Spanish
+Inquisition. This body held its sessions in the antechamber on the
+first floor and not in the main hall, which is decorated by a mural
+painting by de Vriendt representing Philip the Fair swearing to
+observe the rights and privileges of the city. The establishment of
+the Inquisition by his namesake and grandson, Philip II, affords a
+ghastly commentary on the manner in which that monarch kept the
+similar pledges with which he began his reign. Another fine old
+edifice on the Grande Place is the Belfry, square for half its height,
+then octagonal, and finally surmounted by a bulbous spire, heavy and
+clumsy, but none the less exceedingly quaint and picturesque. Not a
+few of the ancient houses around the Place and in the adjacent streets
+were sufficiently mediæval to have merited a visit had our stay in
+this fine old Flemish town been longer; but, so far as we could
+learn, none possessed any particular historical interest.
+
+Besides Ste. Walburge, already mentioned--which was evidently planned
+to be a cathedral, but of which only the choir was ever
+completed--Furnes possesses the church of St. Nicholas, which has a
+noble square tower, also unfinished. Both churches are disappointing
+within, although the former is, no doubt, of great interest to
+architects as an example of the ogival style, while the latter is
+Gothic and dates from the fourteenth century. The choir stalls in St.
+Walburge are notable examples of the Flemish woodcarvers' art,
+although far less ancient than the church itself.
+
+If the time of your stay is midsummer, as it will be if you come to
+Furnes to see the Procession, do not go away without a day on the
+dunes at Coxyde. This beach is less well known, as yet, than those at
+Ostende, Heyst and Blankenburghe farther to the east but it is
+increasing in popularity very rapidly. A land company, with head
+offices at Brussels, is engaged in erecting summer houses among the
+dunes which look too American in architecture and manner of
+construction for this country where houses are generally built as if
+intended to last a thousand years. A little _chemin de fer_
+_vicinal_ runs from Furnes to Coxyde. In addition to the splendid
+beach and the dunes, which have a dreary grandeur that is always
+fascinating, the shrimp fishermen, or _pecheurs de crevettes_, will
+make the short trip well worth while.
+
+[Illustration: SHRIMP FISHERMEN, COXYDE.]
+
+These weather-beaten men, with their rough oilskin hats and suits, are
+the modern representatives of an ancient Flemish industry--shrimp
+fishing having been carried on along these coasts literally from time
+immemorial. They are very picturesque, both while at work on horseback
+dragging in their nets, and while lounging along the shore, pipe in
+mouth. Jean Delvin has a fine painting representing them in the Museum
+at Ghent, while one of the most powerful of Meunier's statues is
+devoted to the same subject.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+NIEUPORT AND THE YSER CANAL
+
+
+When the war is over, and the era of commemoration begins, Belgium, if
+she is free, should erect at Nieuport, close to the great locks that
+mark the outlet of the Yser Canal--or at some point along the canal
+where the fighting was the fiercest--a monument higher than that at
+Leipzig where the Germans recall their victory over Napoleon, higher
+than the great lion that guards the field of Waterloo. At its summit
+should stand a heroic-sized figure in imperishable bronze of a Belgian
+infantryman, one of the round-capped "demons" whose indomitable will
+and unwavering courage held this last bit of Belgian soil against
+overpowering numbers for days. It was here that Germany's magnificent
+rush from Antwerp to the Channel ports was stopped, and it was the
+last remnant of the little Belgian army that, turning on its foe like
+a lion at bay, hurled back every assault until the little Yser Canal
+ran red and until, at last, the great reinforcing hosts of the allies
+came.
+
+The little straggling town of Nieuport, peaceful and sleepy as it
+looked last summer, is not a stranger to battles and sieges. In the
+time of William the Conqueror Lombartzyde, now a little hamlet on the
+_chemin de fer vicinal_ behind the dunes from Nieuport to Ostende, was
+the shipping port of this region, but great storms filled the harbour
+with sand and the citizens established a "New Port" on another branch
+of the Yser in 1160. It was fortified three years later, and for
+several centuries was one of the strong towns defending the Low
+Countries on the French frontier. Its strategic importance made it the
+scene of many battles and sieges. It was destroyed by the English and
+their allies, the men of Ghent, in 1383. The lonely tower or Donjon of
+the Templars, standing on the edge of the town, is all that remains of
+a monastery of that order which was ruined at that time.
+
+The city itself, however, was quickly rebuilt, and among other
+memorable sieges beat off a great French force in the year 1489. In
+1568 the Spanish, under Condé, beat a French army commanded by Turenne
+not far from the city. Another famous fight before the walls of the
+old town took place in the year 1600 during the long war between Spain
+and her revolted Provinces. Count Maurice of Nassau, at the head of
+twelve thousand men from the United Provinces, had invaded Flanders,
+which still remained under the power of Spain, and marching rapidly
+from the Scheldt past Ostende, proceeded to besiege Nieuport. The
+Archduke Albert, hastily raising an army of fifteen thousand
+Spaniards, advanced unexpectedly on the Dutch, who were taken
+completely by surprise. Perceiving that he was caught in a trap, Count
+Maurice--in order to give his men the courage of despair--ordered the
+Dutch fleet to withdraw, and told his soldiers that they must either
+conquer or "be prepared to drink all the water behind them."
+
+Meanwhile an advance guard of the Dutch army was driven back by the
+advancing Spaniards who, thinking they had met the whole army, sent
+couriers to Bruges and Ghent announcing the victory. Bells were rung
+to celebrate the Archduke's supposed success which, as the event
+proved, was a strategic victory for Nassau as it delayed the enemy
+several hours. It was three o'clock in the afternoon when the
+advancing Spaniards found themselves face to face with the main army
+of the republic, drawn up on the very beach outside the city walls.
+Perceiving their sturdy ranks and unyielding front the Archduke
+hesitated, but the Spaniards urged him not to let them lose their
+prey, whom they regarded as hateful rebels and heretics.
+
+Thus encouraged, the Archduke gave the order to advance and the battle
+soon became general. The fate of the day was decided by the artillery
+of the Dutch which, by a fortunate order of their far-sighted
+commander, had been lifted off from the sand and mounted on platforms
+made from boughs, brush and such timber as was handy. That of the
+Archduke, mounted in haste directly on the beach, embedded itself in
+the sand at each discharge until it became useless, while that of the
+republicans became more accurate and deadly. At the same time the rays
+of the setting sun falling directly in the eyes of the Spanish
+soldiers, who were facing westward, blinded them and caused them to
+fire wildly. The Archduke performed prodigies of valour, having two
+horses killed under him and being himself slightly wounded, but as
+darkness began to fall on the bloody beach Count Maurice ordered a
+charge by a force of cavalry he had held in reserve. This fresh force
+proved irresistible, the Spanish lines began to give way on all sides,
+and the retreat quickly turned into a rout. Even the proud Archduke
+had to seek safety in flight, and the day, which had begun so
+auspiciously, ended in one of the greatest disasters of the disastrous
+war.
+
+Nieuport and its sister cities in this, until lately, half-forgotten
+corner of Flanders were, in former times, renowned for other contests
+happily less bloody than these famous battles. Here, during the Middle
+Ages, flourished a group of societies devoted to rhetoric. In place of
+the still more ancient tourneys, where armed knights fought with lance
+and sword, these "Chambers of Rhetoric" held annual contests of
+oratory. From one end of Flanders to the other the movement spread;
+and these debating societies did much to cultivate a regard for
+learning and dialectic skill among the mass of the population. Sternly
+suppressed by Alva, implacable foe of every form of free thought,
+these societies were revived after the Spanish scourge was withdrawn,
+and some of them continue to the present day.
+
+The visitor who wandered around the long, slightly hilly streets of
+the Nieuport of last July would have had little trouble in locating
+plenty of the "monuments" of its famous past, although the beach has
+now receded two or three miles to the northward and pleasant fields
+extend along the edge of the wide marshes which then were probably
+part of the sea. A curious old lighthouse with a pointed tower stands
+about midway between the present town and Nieuport _Bains_, as the
+beach town is called, showing where the coastline lay some three
+hundred and fifty years ago. Even this spot is now too far inland for
+the light to be seen at sea and a new lighthouse has been built on the
+rampart of dunes that runs, like a miniature mountain range, almost to
+Ostende toward the east, and westward to Coxyde and beyond.
+
+[Illustration: TOWER OF THE TEMPLARS, NIEUPORT.]
+
+Our first visit at Nieuport was to the Tower of the Templars, a huge
+square pile of brick standing in the midst of a potato patch. This
+prosaic environment detracted not a little from the sentimental
+interest of the edifice, and we were unable to get into the structure,
+although one of the gens d'armes of the village was said to have a key
+to the low wooden door at its base. Equally disappointing was a visit
+to the ancient _Halle aux Draps_, or Cloth Hall, now used on certain
+days as a local butter market. Here again, the door was locked and no
+one seemed to know who had the key. Curiously enough, although
+situated very close to the French frontier, we found in this little
+town and its neighbours, Dixmude and Furnes, very few people who
+understood French. Flemish is the universal language hereabouts
+apparently, but it was only on this little trip that we were at all
+inconvenienced by our inability to speak it. Elsewhere in
+Flanders--even at Ypres and Audenaerde, where our friends said we
+would have trouble--we were able to make our French universally
+understood.
+
+On the Grande Place, close to the Cloth Hall, we found a little inn,
+called the Hotel du Pelican, where the Professor proposed that we
+should get some liquid refreshment. We failed, however, to obtain any
+response to our raps and thumps on the door, and concluding that the
+establishment must be run for pelicans only we took ourselves and our
+patronage elsewhere. The Church of Notre Dame, which stands just off
+the Grande Place, we found to be a most quaint and interesting old
+structure dating, it is said, from the thirteenth century. While less
+imposing externally than St. Nicholas at Furnes its massive square
+baroque tower was very striking, and formed a fine picture in
+conjunction with the more slender tower of the Cloth Hall hard by. The
+approach to the main entrance of the church was beneath some lofty
+trees and we did not see a solitary human being either outside of the
+edifice or within it. This church has an interesting _jubé_ or rood
+loft, a fine wooden pulpit, and we also noticed a curious winding
+stairway that seemed to lead upward within one of the pillars at the
+intersection of the transept and the choir. As the tower is not built
+at this point, but at one end of the edifice, it was quite a mystery
+where this stairway went and what its purpose might be, but as it
+seemed exceedingly narrow and dark we did not explore it, nor did we
+find any one to whom we could apply for information about it.
+
+It was in this church, by the way, or possibly in one of those at
+Dixmude or Furnes, that the Madame developed a violent antipathy to a
+certain painting that seems to be one of the most cherished
+possessions of nearly every church in Flanders. As old Cotton and
+Increase Mather delighted in scaring and harrowing their audiences
+with word pictures of the tortures of the burning fiery pit, so nearly
+every old Flemish artist seems to have delighted in portraying most
+vividly the sufferings and martyrdoms of the saints, and one subject
+in particular appears to have caught the fancy of every one of them.
+This was the beheading of John the Baptist. At times the head is shown
+rolling in the dust or mire of the street, at times it is represented
+as being served on a platter--but to one and all of these works of art
+the Madame objected. This circumstance added not a little to the
+happiness of Mr. and Mrs. Professor, who were continually contriving
+to lead her artfully around to inspect some new wonder, which proved
+to be another representation of this agreeable scene. As works of art
+they were nearly all atrocities, but as jokes on the Madame they were
+one and all great successes, and it was really surprising how many of
+them there were.
+
+The Hotel de Ville, a somewhat commonplace looking structure, is said
+to contain a small collection of paintings, but we were unable to make
+any of the phlegmatic gens d'armes whom we found lounging close by
+take enough interest in our questions to inform us where admission
+might be obtained. In fact the whole town seemed singularly
+uninterested in tourists, apparently caring not a bit whether they
+came or stayed away. While the war will undoubtedly change this, still
+any one desiring to visit it will do well to make the trip from
+Ostende or Furnes, returning for the night to some point where hotel
+accommodations are more adequate. In our case we went over to Ostende,
+where there are many good hotels. No doubt a pleasant week or month
+could be spent in this corner of Flanders, but for such a stay the
+best plan would be to go to one of the many little seaside resorts
+between Coxyde and Ostende for one's hotel or pension, and explore the
+hinterland from there.
+
+The ride by the little _chemin de fer vicinal_ from Nieuport to
+Ostende is a very interesting one. At the outset the line crosses the
+huge locks that join the canals to Ostende and Furnes with the tidal
+river Yser. There are seven or eight bridges in all, the different
+canals and channels being separated by tiny islands. Had Madame Thebes
+only suggested that we explore the Yser Canals while we were there
+last July how much more interesting this part of the book would be!
+Unfortunately they looked then much as hundreds of other Belgian
+canals had looked and we gave them only a passing glance. While the
+newspapers in their accounts of the great battle of Flanders usually
+spoke of the Yser Canal as though there was but a single canal, in
+reality there are three canals that flow into the tiny Yser River at
+this point. One of these runs parallel with the coast to Ostende, and
+then onward to Bruges and beyond; the second runs behind the range of
+dunes westward to Furnes, where it divides and crosses the French
+frontier in two branches, one going to Bergues and the other to
+Dunkerque. It is the third branch that achieved immortality in the
+Battle of Flanders. This runs straight inland, at right angles to the
+other two, following the tortuous channel of the old river much of the
+way to Dixmude. A short distance beyond Dixmude the canal ceases to
+follow the River Yser, which here flows eastward from a source well
+across the French boundary, and ascends the Yser's smaller tributary,
+the Yperlée, to Ypres. It did not seem like very much of an obstacle
+from a military standpoint, but brave hearts can make the most of a
+small advantage. Below the big locks the little river runs in its own
+bed to the sea. Here the tide was out the day of our visit and a few
+small fishing boats were lying tipped over sideways in the mud, while
+two or three English ladies were busily sketching the not
+over-picturesque scene. There will be a great many people sketching in
+this vicinity by and by!
+
+About two miles from Nieuport the train passes the church of
+Lombartzyde, within which is a statue of the Virgin known among
+mariners far and wide as the _Bonne Mére de Lombartzyde_, and who is
+devoutly believed able to protect the faithful seaman from perils by
+sea, to aid the farmer in his harvest, to cure the sick and succour
+the distressed. Many are the little ships, patiently carved by fingers
+hardened by toil and exposure, that have been reverently hung before
+the good Virgin's shrine. There are perhaps fewer now than formerly,
+but faith in her protection and power is still strong and will
+probably always continue to be so, for the Flemings are intensely
+loyal to the church.
+
+Not a few of those who visit these little towns, rich in mementoes of
+the past, but otherwise apparently very sleepy and dull, wonder what
+the inhabitants do for amusement. No one who has ever spent a Sunday
+in a Belgian country village need ask this question. From one end of
+the country to the other, in the Borinage or mining provinces of the
+southwest as well as in the Flemish counties of the north, the male
+population devotes the greater part of the day to what may
+unhesitatingly be termed the Belgian national sport--archery. In the
+early part of the Middle Ages Flemish archers were as famous as the
+longbowmen of Merrie England, and on many a hard fought field they
+gave a good account of themselves. Curiously enough, the archery
+societies into which they formed themselves for practice have survived
+all the wars and changes of the centuries, have continued in spite of
+the invention of gunpowder and the perfection of firearms--an industry
+in which Liége, in southern Belgium, has led all other cities--and
+seem to be as vital a part of the national life of the country as ever
+they were. The fact that the bow and arrow is an anachronism troubles
+your Belgian peasant not at all; he shoulders his long bow as
+cheerfully on a Sunday morning as if he were carrying the latest model
+of smokeless powder repeater, with Maxim silencer and all modern
+improvements, instead of a weapon that was out of date and useless
+five hundred years ago.
+
+As practised in Belgium, archery contests are carried on in two ways.
+There is first what is known as the _Tir á l'oiseau_ or _Perche_. In
+the centre of the village green of the smaller towns, and in some open
+space in the suburbs of the larger places, the traveller cannot fail
+to notice what looks like a flag pole, the top of which, however,
+tapers to a slender point, from just beneath which four short arms
+point upward diagonally, while three cross arms are placed
+horizontally below them. On these are fixed the _oiseaux_, or
+birds--blocks of cork covered with tinsel or gaily-coloured paper,
+each with a tuft of feathers stuck at the top. The archers gather
+below the pole and shoot upward, aiming at the "birds" and
+endeavouring to knock them off cleanly. Each shoots in turn, and the
+prizes--which have been duly announced by posters for days
+beforehand--go to those capturing one of the "birds," the value
+varying according to its position. In the contests entitled "_Tir du
+Roi_," the archer bringing down the last bird wins the largest prize
+and is called the "_Roi_," or King, and as by that time the archers
+have one and all consumed a goodly portion of their favourite
+beverages there is general hilarity--especially if the victor is a
+popular favourite. Immemorial custom decrees that the King should deal
+liberally with his subjects and dispense in libations whatever sum he
+may have gained as a prize, after which he is usually escorted, or if
+necessary carried, home in great state with a band in advance and all
+the members of the contest following in a disorderly, but jolly,
+crowd.
+
+The second form of contest is known as the "_Tir au berceau_," and
+consists of shooting at a target. The birds, in this case, are
+fastened about the bull's eye. The archers stand at a distance of one
+hundred metres from the target, which is usually placed at the rear of
+a walled court or garden. Generally a series of wooden arches placed
+at intervals along the line of fire serve to arrest any arrows that go
+wild, while the back of the target is reinforced strongly with straws
+about a foot long laid lengthwise with the line of the shooting and
+packed under great pressure. There is invariably a public café or
+estaminet attached to the places where archery contests _au berceau_
+are conducted, while such places are always found close by the spot
+where a _Tir á l'oiseau_ takes place. Between shots the men consume
+liberal quantities of lambic, faro, or the beer of some neighbouring
+brewer, and discuss politics or the news of the day. A circumstance
+that renders disorders comparatively rare is that each archery society
+consists of men of a single party. The Catholics have their favourite
+places that are patronised exclusively by Catholics, while the
+Socialists in the southern provinces, where that party is strong, have
+their own societies and places of rendezvous. The clergy are heartily
+interested in the Catholic contests, giving liberal prizes and
+attending in considerable numbers to cheer the victors and console the
+vanquished.
+
+During the early part of the war numerous references were made in the
+despatches to the marvellous accuracy of the Belgian riflemen. To one
+who has attended scores of these archery contests it is not surprising
+that the Belgians are good shots. Out of date though the bow and arrow
+is, yet the sport cannot fail to train the eye and hand, and constant
+rivalry in such a pastime has made the Belgians literally a nation of
+sharpshooters. On one occasion the writer and a friend took a couple
+of shots with a carbine in one of the little shooting galleries that
+accompanied a village kermesse. We both missed. A young man standing
+by, who worked in the village sugar mill, politely asked which of the
+various pipes and other objects we were aiming at. We indicated one of
+them and, zip! his bullet had shattered it. Half a dozen shots in
+quick succession at different objects we pointed out proved equally
+accurate. It was an exhibition of marksmanship such as one frequently
+sees on the stage in the United States, but being made by a casual
+bystander in a village street it was most impressive. Nor was the lad,
+as I took pains to inquire, noted particularly for his skill in this
+direction--having seldom won prizes in the official contests.
+
+All ages join in this sport, the small boys erecting diminutive poles
+in the fields around the villages, where they imitate their elders
+with toy bows and arrows, while men of seventy or eighty take their
+turn with beardless youths in the prize competitions. While I was
+visiting in the Borinage two years ago the uncle of my hostess
+shouldered his two-metre bow and started off to a "meet" despite his
+eighty-seven years. What is more, his hand had lost none of its
+strength and firmness, and his eyes none of their keenness, for twice
+while I was present he brought down one of the "birds," and I later
+learned that he had won one of the principal prizes. Only the year
+before he had been crowned "King" at one such contest, and the first
+time he ever won that coveted honour was when he was sixteen--or
+seventy-one years before. I doubt whether there is any athletic game
+in the world of which the devotees can point to a longer record of
+success.
+
+This fine old athlete had two brothers older than himself alive at the
+time, the combined ages of the three aggregating two hundred and
+eighty years. One of them, aged ninety-four, recently expressed some
+anxiety as to what would become of him in the event of the death of
+the daughter with whom he was living.
+
+"What will I do if Amèlie should die?" he asked of one of his other
+daughters.
+
+"Why, papa, then you would come and live with me," she replied,
+adding with a flash of characteristic Belgian humour, "and when I am
+dead you'll go to live with Fèlicienne" (a grand-daughter still in her
+'teens). As this provided safely for his future for at least another
+fifty years, the old gentleman was greatly relieved, feeling perhaps
+that if he survived Fèlicienne her children would by that time be old
+enough to take care of him.
+
+While archery is everywhere the dominating pastime of the working
+class it is by no means the only form of popular amusement. The
+bicycle has not yet gone out of vogue in Belgium, and societies exist
+in hundreds of cities and communes for the encouragement of bicycle
+racing. The day of our arrival in the village where Tante Rosa spread
+for us the banquet mentioned in the second chapter, we were so
+fortunate as to witness the final sprint of a twenty-five kilometre
+race. A score of contestants had pedalled ten times over a course
+consisting for the most part of roadways paved with ragged
+cobble-stones, the rest being dirt roads filled with mud puddles owing
+to a recent rain. The riders, as they rushed by, were literally
+covered with mud and had evidently struggled hard to gain one of the
+five prizes which aggregated, as we afterwards learned, the
+munificent sum of eighty francs, sixteen dollars, of which the winner
+received thirty--six dollars!
+
+Another favourite form of recreation is the racing of pigeons, and
+societies for the promotion of this sport exist in every part of the
+Kingdom. Frequently the birds fly from one end of the country to the
+other and many examples of remarkable speed have been reported, the
+winners bringing comparatively high prices:
+
+No better idea of the variety of popular amusements can be given than
+to take the programme of one little commune that I had an opportunity
+of copying, entitled "_Fêtes Communales de 1914_"--this announcement
+being printed in French and Flemish. While many of the events were
+evidently organised by various societies the officials of the commune
+assumed responsibility for the proper conduct of the contests, and
+either provided the prizes or contributed a substantial sum toward
+them, the rest being raised by a fee exacted from each contestant
+which varied from one franc, thirty centimes for the smaller events to
+five francs for the more important ones. With one hundred contestants
+this would yield one hundred and thirty francs, to which the commune
+usually added fifty, making one hundred and eighty francs available
+in all. For the chief events the prizes aggregate 1,000 to 2,000
+francs--quite a respectable sum for a commune of six thousand
+inhabitants. The difference between archery contests _au berceau_ and
+_à la perche_ has already been explained. The programme, much
+abbreviated, follows:
+
+        Sun., Apr. 19.--Archery contests, both au berceau and
+        perche.
+
+        Sun., Apr. 26.--Archery contest, au berceau, and rifle
+        contest (carbines).
+
+        Fri., May 1.--Fête du Travail (Labor Day) Archery
+        contest and popular ball on a public
+        square in the evening--dancing in
+        the street, rain or shine.
+
+        Sun., May 10.--Rifle contest.
+
+        Thurs., May
+        21.--Archery contest.
+
+        Sun., May. 24.--Annual Fair with archery contests of
+        both kinds, rifle contest and grand
+        concert in evening with two bands.
+
+        Sun., May 31.--Kermesse, with archery contests of both
+        kinds and a popular out-door ball in
+        the evening.
+
+        Sun., June 7.--Bicycle Race--outdoor course around
+        the village ten times, 25 kilometres.
+
+        Sun., June 14.--Archery contest au berceau and Tir du
+        Roi (perche).
+
+        Sun., June 21.--Kermesse in another quarter of the commune,
+        with rifle contest and concert in
+        evening, followed by popular ball.
+
+        Sun. to Tues.,
+        July 5, 6, 7,--Annual Kermesse in the centre of the
+        commune, with archery contest (perche)
+        on Sunday, au berceau on Monday, and
+        Tir du Roi with public games and
+        sports on Tuesday. Itinerant amusement
+        enterprises of all kinds make
+        these annual kermesses a miniature
+        Coney Island while they last.
+
+        Sun., July 26.--Tir du Roi and Grand Fête Gymnastique,
+        followed by concert, Fête de Nuit and
+        a ball.
+
+        Sun., Aug. 9.--Fête d'Enfance, distribution of prizes to
+        school children with public exhibition
+        of school gymnastics, etc.
+
+        Sat. and Sun.,
+        Aug. 15 and
+        16.--Kermesse in a third quarter, with archery
+        contests and concert.
+
+        Sun. Mon. and
+        Tues., Aug.
+        30 to Sept. 1.--Annual Kermesse, with archery contests
+        of both kinds, concert and sports and
+        games.
+
+        Sun., Sept. 20.--Archery au berceau and rifle contest.
+
+        Sun., Oct. 25.--Same.
+
+        Sun., Nov. 21.--Archery, perche.
+
+        Sun., Dec. 13.--Rifle contest.
+
+It must be confessed that this programme is somewhat monotonous, but
+in the larger towns it is considerably amplified and varied. Still to
+one who was brought up in a small country village in New Hampshire it
+seems very good, both as an evidence of the popular desire for
+healthy and rational out-door enjoyment, and of the disposition of the
+Government to promote and foster legitimate amusements of all kinds.
+The kermesse is an European rather than a Belgian institution and
+requires no description further than that it is a jolly good time for
+everybody. It has existed in Flanders and throughout the Walloon
+provinces from time immemorial, as ancient paintings and still more
+ancient historical references conclusively show. Its most interesting
+feature to the American visitor is the night dancing out of doors on
+the rough cobble-stones of the town square or on the soft grass of the
+village green. Lighted by flaring gas torches, or sometimes only by
+the moon and such stray beams as fall on the dancers from the open
+doors and windows of adjacent cafés, the spectacle of the gaily
+dancing couples carries the observer back to the days when the world
+was young, and love and laughter and happiness reigned supreme.
+
+[Illustration: AN ANCIENT PAINTING OF THE FLEMISH KERMESSE, BY
+TENIERS.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+WHEN YPRES WAS A GREATER CITY THAN LONDON
+
+
+As we returned from our trip to Dixmude, Furnes and Nieuport, the
+Professor announced that our next destination would be Ypres. If he
+had said that it would he Chingwangtao, or the Comoro Archipelago, the
+ladies could hardly have stared at him more blankly. They had never
+heard of it. Since October the whole world has heard of it, and the
+name of the all but forgotten old town is familiar to every
+schoolboy--and will continue so for generations to come. The record of
+our visit that follows was written amid the pleasant and peaceful
+scenes that it describes. When we were there the swans were swimming
+majestically in the waters of the moat that still surrounded the
+remnants of the old city walls, but we were told that for military
+purposes all this was obsolete. No doubt it was, but the brave old
+town was none the less able--with the help of its stubborn English
+defenders--to withstand the most furious, determined and bloody
+assaults in all history. To the German host the mediæval term _la
+morte d'Ypres_ was revived in those awful weeks of October and
+November, 1914, for the grim, low-lying ramparts of the town meant
+death to countless thousands.
+
+Whether anything whatever is still standing of the old structures
+described in this chapter it is at present impossible to say. The
+British trenches were under a well-nigh continuous storm of shells for
+many weeks, and the town itself must undoubtedly have suffered
+severely. Late in November it was reported that the old Cloth Hall had
+been destroyed by the furious German bombardment, or, at least,
+severely injured. The account of the various points of interest in the
+famous old town as they appeared in peaceful June--together with some
+brief sketches of its former greatness--may be all the more
+interesting now that its ruins lie in the lime-light of the world's
+attention. As compared with the half-dozen tourists that averaged to
+visit Ypres each day before the war the return of peace will see it
+become the Mecca for daily thousands. To these the remains of the town
+itself should vie in interest with the trenches of the famous
+battle-fields of the Great War, for during a period two or three
+times as long as the entire duration of the nation known as the United
+States of America, Ypres was one of the greatest and richest cities in
+the world.
+
+It was hard to believe it, however, as we rumbled into the railroad
+station and, stepping out upon the almost deserted platform, took our
+first look at the place. As is usually the case in Flanders, the train
+deposits the visitor some distance from the centre of the town. The
+very first view was full of delight and promise of better things in
+store, however, for as we emerged from the station we found ourselves
+facing a pretty little park or square on the opposite side of which we
+could see a bit of the ancient city walls which stretched away toward
+the right most invitingly.
+
+Postponing the pleasure of inspecting these renowned ramparts till a
+later occasion, we made our way through narrow winding streets direct
+to the Grande Place, pausing now and then to admire the quaint gabled
+houses on the rue au Beurre (Butter Street). At the Grande Place the
+Professor led us directly to the huge Cloth Hall, which completely
+fills one side of it, for here--he said--we would find the best
+introduction to the history and romance of the city. The concierge
+proved hard to find, and we wandered up-stairs and through a
+deserted corridor, trying several doors that proved all to be locked,
+before we located the familiar sign. Our fees being duly paid--fifty
+centimes each, which was little enough for the privilege of inspecting
+the finest monument of its kind in Flanders, or for that matter in all
+Europe--one of the doors was obligingly unlocked and we found
+ourselves immediately in the great Guild Hall.
+
+[Illustration: CLOTH HALL, YPRES.]
+
+The _Halle aux Draps_, or Cloth Hall, is the largest civil edifice in
+Belgium, and without doubt one of the largest in the world. It is four
+hundred and thirty-three feet long by more than two hundred in
+width--or larger than Madison Square Garden. Its huge bulk, and that
+of the former cathedral hard by, contrast strangely with the present
+dimensions of the little city. Yet when they were built Ypres was the
+powerful rival of Bruges and Ghent, then at the apex of their glory,
+and one of the foremost cities in the world. The Cloth Hall was begun
+in 1200 and completed in 1304, or two years after the Battle of the
+Spurs, a victory won by the guildsmen of Ypres and Bruges against the
+chivalry of France. During that period the city had two hundred
+thousand inhabitants, its woollen weavers operated four thousand
+looms, and more than four hundred guilds responded to the calls to
+arms that sounded, at frequent intervals, from the belfry.
+
+The greatest wonder of the edifice is the immense gallery, or hall,
+which occupies the side next to the Grande Place. This extends for the
+entire length of the building, broken only by the belfry in the centre
+which forms a sort of transept across it. In height it reaches clear
+to the roof, the huge roof beams forming its ceiling. There is a
+veritable forest of these, massive, sturdy, and as perfect as the day
+they were hewed from the fair oaks of the countryside roundabout. The
+concierge will not fail to tell you, if you pause to admire this
+majestic timber-work of six hundred years ago, that from that day to
+this no spider has ever spun its web there--nor is any spider ever
+seen. Like the story of the snakes in Ireland, it would be a big pity
+to spoil this by finding one and pointing it out--one must needs be a
+good runner to do it, and be very sure which road leads to the railway
+station, for it might go hard with him--but we could not see any the
+day we were there. In fact, the legend has been repeated by many
+writers since the sixteenth century and is now such a matter of local
+pride that no doubt the concierge who permitted one to get in and set
+up housekeeping in this spiderless Eden--for it certainly must look
+like the Promised Land to a spider--would not only lose his or her
+job, but be severely punished by the indignant city fathers into the
+bargain.
+
+Looking at the Cloth Hall from across the Grande Place it has the
+aspect of being a low building, but within this gallery one gains
+precisely an opposite impression--of unusual loftiness. Just how high
+the vast room is can best be estimated by noting the wooden façade of
+an ancient house that has been taken down and erected against one wall
+in its entirety. With its three stories and high peaked top this
+structure appears to be literally lost, looking like an undersized pea
+in an extra big pod. The great inner walls of the main gallery, facing
+the windows that look out upon the Grande Place, have been decorated
+by modern frescoes of great historical and artistic interest painted
+by two artists of widely different methods and ideals. The portion
+into which one first enters, extending to the break formed by the
+tower, was decorated by Ferdinand Pauwels, Director of the Royal
+Academy of Dresden. Both the art critics, and those who make no
+pretence to superior knowledge in such matters, agree that this work
+has been magnificently done. The vastness of the wall spaces made it
+possible to paint the pictures on a scale of size and with a wealth of
+detail surpassing the fine frescoes of the Hotel de Ville at Bruges
+and the general effect upon the beholder is impressive in the extreme.
+The pictures represent notable events in the town's history down to
+the fourteenth century, and were begun in 1872 and completed in 1881.
+The subjects selected by the artist are as follows:
+
+    1.--Visit of Count Philip of Alsace to the Hospital of
+    Our Lady in 1187.
+
+    2.--Count Ferdinand of Portugal orders the Magistrates
+    to fortify the town in 1214.
+
+    3.--Countess Jeanne of Constantinople setting prisoners
+    free on Good Friday, 1206.
+
+    4.--5.--The Magistrates give the Countess Margaret the
+    ransom of her son William, who was made prisoner
+    during the 7th Crusade.
+
+    6.--Building the West wing of the Guild Hall in the time
+    of Guy of Dampierre, 1285.
+
+    7.--8.--Return of the armed forces of Ypres in 1302
+    after the Battle of the Spurs.
+
+    9.--The Plague, known as la Morte d'Ypres, in 1347.
+
+    10.--11.--Banquet offered in this very hall to Mahaut,
+    Countess of Flanders, and Matthew, Duke of Lorraine
+    on their marriage in 1314.
+
+    12.--An episode of the siege of Ypres by the English
+    and the men of Ghent in 1383.
+
+As will be noted, the pictures are not arranged in exact chronological
+order, but, taken together, they form a wonderful pictorial summary
+of the city's history--down to the Fall of 1914, which merits a
+separate gallery by itself. To us the most impressive of the series
+was the vast picture in two sections showing the triumphant return
+from the Battle of Courtrai and the tragic representation of the Black
+Death, which swept through all the densely populated Flemish towns;
+but was more destructive at Ypres than elsewhere. The visitation here
+represented was by no means the only one in the city's history, and
+for centuries _la morte d'Ypres_ was a name of terror throughout the
+countryside.
+
+In the section of the Great Hall beyond the belfry the mural paintings
+are the work of Louis Delbeke, a painter of Ypres. His pictures were
+the subject of violent criticism when they were first exhibited, and
+are entirely unlike those in the other portion of the chamber. The
+artist endeavoured to give his work an archaic appearance, in keeping
+with the antiquity of its surroundings, and it was his intention to
+symbolise the various manifestations of the public life of the
+city--Civic Freedom, Commerce, Industry, Charities, Literature and so
+on. The work was interrupted by his death and has never been
+completed.
+
+Another room of great interest is the _Salle Echevinale_, where for
+five centuries the magistrates of Ypres held their sessions. Between
+1322 and 1468 local artists painted on the wall above the three Gothic
+arches in this room a frieze comprising portraits of the early Counts
+and Countesses of Flanders, beginning with Louis of Nevers and ending
+with Charles the Bold. When the French occupied the town in 1794 they
+covered these "emblems of superstition and portraits of tyrants" with
+a thick coat of whitewash which was only accidentally knocked off in
+1844, exposing a bit of the ancient and still brilliantly coloured
+painting. The discovery created quite a sensation, as the very
+existence of this work had been forgotten, and a native artist was
+commissioned to remove the whitewash and restore the paintings, which
+he did in a manner that is not entirely satisfactory, but none the
+less gives us an opportunity to view once more this interesting
+work--one of the earliest pieces of mural painting in Flanders. On the
+north wall of this room is a modern fresco by Godefroid Guffens,
+representing "The State Entry of Philip the Bold" in 1384, while on
+the other side of the room is a monumental Flemish chimney-piece
+carved by Malfait of Brussels, with mural paintings on each side by
+Jean Swerts--like Guffens, a painter of the modern Antwerp school.
+These represent the Magistrates of Ypres issuing an order regarding
+the maintenance of the poor, in 1515; and the visit of the Magistrates
+to one of the Free Schools founded in 1253--thus illustrating the
+early interest taken by the commune in free education and public
+charities.
+
+Leaving this interesting building we went across a small roughly paved
+square to the Church of St. Martin, which dates from the thirteenth
+century, and was for many centuries a cathedral. The unfinished square
+tower was erected in 1433. The choir is Romano-ogival, while the nave
+and aisles are early Gothic, and the edifice has many other peculiar
+features of interest to students of architecture. It contains the
+usual paintings, of which none are of remarkable interest, and some
+excellent choir stalls. The most famous of the Bishops of St. Martin,
+while it was a Cathedral Church, was Jansenius, one of the leading
+figures in the Reformation, who died of the Plague in 1638. His great
+work on St. Augustine occupied twenty-two years of his life while at
+Ypres and caused a tremendous discussion. It was finally declared to
+be heretical, but its teachings had already given rise to an ardent
+group of followers of the learned Flemish churchman, who were called
+Jansenists. The archives of the city and church contain much
+interesting material regarding this celebrated mediæval theologian.
+His tomb, which still stands in the church of which he was once the
+head, formerly contained a long and highly eulogistic inscription,
+which, by an order from the Pope in 1655, was cut down to the bare
+remnant that still remains.
+
+The Grande Place of Ypres is another of the surprises that this tiny
+city has to offer to those unacquainted with its history, for it is
+one of the largest in all Flanders--a veritable Sahara of a Place on a
+hot summer day, albeit a Sahara bordered with many pleasant oases
+where cooling drinks, if they do not bubble up from the ground, can at
+least be had without much difficulty. During most of the week the vast
+paved space is almost deserted, save for an occasional peasant's cart
+that rumbles slowly and clumsily across it, but on market-days it is
+full of picturesque and swarming life. Then the peasants come in from
+the countryside by the thousand, while the itinerant hucksters and
+pedlars who, in Belgium travel from one fair or market-place to
+another, set up their canvas-covered booths in long streets from one
+side of the Grande Place to the other. The country people press along
+between these rows of tiny shops and haggle energetically with the
+proprietors for whatever takes their fancy. An astounding variety of
+wares are offered for sale on these market days--dress goods of every
+description in the great Cloth Hall, which for a brief moment reflects
+a feeble glimmer of its ancient glory; ready-made garments for man,
+woman and child; footwear, headwear, and every conceivable kind of
+hardware, of tinware, of crockery. In short, the display is a
+veritable department store, for the most part cheap stuff, it is true,
+but now and then one runs across laces for which the prices asked are
+quite high. Then, of course, there is the inevitable array of
+everything possible to eat--from the butchers' stalls in the basement
+of the Cloth Hall to the huckster selling live chickens from a bag on
+the corner, and the scores of stands selling fruits and vegetables of
+every seasonable variety.
+
+At last, however, the market comes to an end, the hucksters and market
+gardeners take down their booths and drive away in their heavy Flemish
+carts; the country people, after a more or less protracted visit to
+the places of refreshment around the Place and in the adjacent
+streets, go homeward, and the Grande Place settles down again into its
+sleep of centuries. While we were there the moon was at its full, and
+as its white light fell upon the grass-grown Place and the huge grey
+mass of the Cloth Hall it was not hard to picture the old days come
+back again and review, in fancy, some of the stirring times that the
+old houses around it have looked down upon. The great bell in the
+Cloth Hall tower rings and from far and wide come hurrying throngs of
+sturdy artisans, with their lances, pikes and clubs. The _Serments_,
+or oath-bound corporations, take their positions gravely and in good
+order--men of substance these, portly, well-fed, and prosperous. Then
+the _Métiers_, or lesser craftsmen, assemble--no doubt more noisily
+and boisterously, as would be expected from their rougher class and
+lower breeding. Each of the four hundred guilds assembles around its
+respective banner, the Count and others of the nobility come riding
+up; and with them, on terms of full equality, the commanders of the
+citizen soldiery confer. Then, as the trumpets sound, or mayhap the
+great bell peals again, the hosts march off in serried ranks to the
+city gates, or to take their positions along the walls. The old
+streets echo to the sound of their tramping feet, the noise of their
+shouts and cries dies away, and once more the still moonlight falls
+upon the deserted old Place.
+
+As we sat in one of the cafés facing the Cloth Hall, our minds filled
+with these and other fancies of the olden days--the moonlight, the old
+houses all around us, and the many quaint and ancient things we had
+seen during the day all contributing to the dreamy sense of
+enchantment--the Professor told us something of the legend and history
+of that far-off thirteenth century when much of the Ypres we had seen
+that day was built. It was an age when men firmly believed in magic
+and fairies and delighted in tales of mystery and enchantment. Some of
+the most famous stories told by the old Flemish chroniclers relate to
+the career of Baldwin IX, who came to be known as Baldwin of
+Constantinople. After the long and wise reigns of Dierick of Alsace
+and his son Philip, Flanders had become one of the richest and most
+prosperous countries in Europe. The French, who looked upon its
+fertile plains and fair cities with covetous eyes, composed these
+lines, which no doubt expressed their sincere conviction:
+
+    "La plus belle Comté est La Flandre,
+    La plus belle Duché est La Bourgogne,
+    La plus belle Royaume est France."
+
+Baldwin was not only Count of Flanders, but also Count of Hainaut, of
+which Mons was the capital--his dominions therefore extending from the
+North Sea to the River Meuse and including much of the Ardennes. It
+was in this region--the true fairy-land of Belgium--that the Count met
+with an adventure, according to certain of the chroniclers, which gave
+his reign a most sinister beginning. It happened in this wise. The
+Count was very fond of hunting, and very neglectful of the duty his
+loyal subjects felt that he owed to them--of getting married and
+securing children to insure the succession. For nothing was more
+disastrous to a country than to have its line of princes die out,
+leaving their title to be fought for by all who felt themselves strong
+enough to seize it. The Count was to have married Beatrice of France,
+the most beautiful princess in Christendom, but to the neglect of this
+important matter he went hunting in the Ardennes, where from time
+immemorial the wild boars have been very large and fierce.
+
+Here, after a day of poor sport, the Count came upon a black boar of
+enormous strength which killed several of his dogs and even wounded
+one of his companions. Pursuing the savage beast eagerly the Count
+lost sight of his followers and when he finally brought it to bay he
+was alone. With a blow from his javelin he finally killed it, and then
+cut off its monstrous head. As he paused to get his breath he heard a
+slight rustle in the bushes and there was the most beautiful lady he
+had ever seen, seated on a palfrey. Upon his inquiring who she was,
+and why she was there in the forest alone, she replied that she was an
+Eastern princess and had come to find and wed the richest Count in
+Christendom, adding that she had learned that the Count of Flanders
+was the noblest lord in all the West, and it was therefore that Count
+for whom she was seeking.
+
+To this the Count, who had already fallen deeply in love with the
+beautiful stranger, whose dark eyes flashed upon him with a glance at
+once mysterious and entrancing, replied that he was the Count of
+Flanders and the richest Count under Heaven. He then and there
+proposed to the damsel, offering to marry her at once, nor did he
+perceive that the wild boar he had lately slain had disappeared, and
+even the blood of the battle was gone, while as for the huge head that
+he had cut off with his own hands the palfrey upon which the Eastern
+princess was seated stood on the very spot. He then blew so loud a
+recall upon his horn that it was heard for miles through the great
+forest, and presently the lesser counts and knights who formed his
+train came riding up. To these he introduced the strange princess and,
+despite the prudent counsels of some that it might be well to learn
+more about the lady, he forthwith repaired to Cambrai where they were
+married in great splendour. The Countess, beautiful as she was, did
+not become popular, the people attributing to her the heavy taxes they
+had to pay. It was also whispered that she never attended the
+elevation of the Host at mass, always leaving before the bell was
+rung.
+
+Notwithstanding her unpopularity, and the gossip of the busybodies,
+the Count still loved his bride who bore him two children, Jeanne and
+Margaret, and ever remained as wonderfully beautiful as the day they
+first met in the forest. As they were celebrating Easter one year at
+Wynandael with a great feast a pilgrim arrived from the East with news
+that the Saracens were besieging Constantinople. He was forthwith
+invited into the great hall of the castle and food placed before him,
+which he ate eagerly. Just then the Countess entered, with a train of
+ladies. At sight of her the pilgrim stopped eating and trembled, while
+the Countess turned deadly pale and whispered to her lord to send
+that stranger away as he was wicked and meant only evil by coming
+there. But the Count bade the pilgrim say whereat he was alarmed,
+whereupon the stranger rose and in a loud voice bade the devil who
+filled the body of the Countess to depart from it. At this the
+Countess rose and confessed she was indeed one of the devils cast out
+of Paradise who had inhabited the body of the most beautiful maiden of
+the East, the soul having departed from it. With this confession, at
+which all present were naturally appalled, she rose in all her beauty
+before them and vanished through a window of the hall, nor was she
+ever seen or heard of again.
+
+Other chroniclers and historians deny this story, pointing out that
+the Count was, in fact, happily married to Marie of Champagne and that
+it was the beautiful French Countess and no princess of satanic origin
+who bore his two daughters, Jeanne and Margaret. This, in truth, was
+the case, but many of the superstitious Flemings believed the tale
+about the devil none the less, and the Count's brilliant but tragic
+later career caused the story to be repeated and handed down for many
+generations.
+
+Only five years after coming to the throne Count Baldwin announced his
+intention of going on a crusade, and in the presence of a vast throng
+both he and Marie took the cross in the church of St. Donatian at
+Bruges. This was in 1199, but the Count was not able to leave his
+dominions at once and in the following year he and Marie came to Ypres
+to dedicate the foundation stone of the great Cloth Hall. He finally
+set out in 1203, but the Venetians compelled the crusaders, in payment
+for their passage, to make a campaign which resulted in the capture of
+Constantinople, the founding of the Latin Empire, and the election of
+Count Baldwin as the first Emperor. Marie, meanwhile, had gone to
+Syria by another route and there she died of the plague, only learning
+in her last hour that her husband had become an Emperor and that she
+was an Empress. Her death was the first of the reverses of fortune in
+Baldwin's meteoric career. A year later, in 1205, he fell wounded in a
+battle before the walls of Adrianople--or, perhaps, slain. Certain it
+is that he disappeared from the world of men and for a space of twenty
+years was heard of no more.
+
+Then, in the heart of the great forest that in those days stretched
+from Tournai to Valenciennes, some wood-cutters found a long bearded,
+white-haired old man, his face covered with scars, living the life of
+a hermit in a hut none of them remembered ever having seen before.
+Gradually this wonder attracted more and more of the people thereabout
+to see the stranger, and men began to say that he resembled the good
+Count Baldwin. Some of the nobles who had known the Count heard of it,
+visited the hut in the forest, and declared that this was indeed Count
+Baldwin and the Emperor.
+
+If he was the Count his country needed him sorely, for the King of
+France, Philip Augustus, had during his twenty years' absence all but
+made Flanders a French province. When it became clear that Baldwin was
+either dead or a prisoner of the pagans Philip had seized his two
+daughters--Jeanne being then a girl of fourteen, and Margaret still in
+her cradle--claiming their wardship as the dead Count's suzerain. Five
+years he kept them, nor did he permit them to return till he had
+married Jeanne to a kinsman of his own, Ferdinand of Portugal, who he
+thought would be a mere puppet in his hands. Ferdinand, however,
+proved to be a man of determination and resisted Philip's seizure of
+St. Omer and Aire, two Flemish towns. Philip invaded Flanders with a
+great army, capturing Cassel and destroying Damme and all the
+merchandise stored there, Lille, Courtrai and many smaller towns.
+Ferdinand, unable to resist the superior forces of Philip
+single-handed, brought about an alliance with King John of England.
+The battle of Bouvines shattered this alliance, and for twelve years
+Ferdinand languished in a French prison, while King John was forced to
+grant the Magna Carta to his English subjects. Thus a victory for
+tyranny in Flanders resulted indirectly in a greater victory for the
+cause of freedom in England. Jeanne, while her husband was in prison,
+was the titular Countess of Flanders, but Philip kept her completely
+under the influence of his counsellors. Margaret, meanwhile, had been
+married, but her husband was unable to make head against the
+far-reaching power of the King of France.
+
+It was under these circumstances that the hermit who men thought
+resembled Count Baldwin came on the stage. If he was an impostor his
+_coup_ was shrewdly planned, for Jeanne was as hated by the Flemings
+as her father had been loved. If he was really the good Count and the
+Emperor his arrival in Flanders seemed to that distracted country like
+a direct interposition of Providence. A great delegation from
+Valenciennes went out to the forest and hailed him as their Count
+and then he at last admitted that he was indeed Baldwin of
+Constantinople.
+
+His tale was a strange one, but more easily believed in those wild
+days than it would be now. He had, he asserted, been wounded before
+Adrianople and made a prisoner by the Bulgarians. While a captive a
+Bulgarian princess saw him, fell in love, and contrived to effect his
+escape after he had promised to marry her. Once free, however, he
+repented of his pledge to marry an infidel, and murdered his
+benefactress. This wicked deed was quickly followed by his recapture
+by the barbarians, who made him a slave and even a beast of burden.
+Escaping at last, after many years, he had become a hermit in penance
+for his great sin.
+
+The men of Valenciennes believed this story, and pardoning his
+self-confessed crime as of little moment, since it affected only an
+infidel, proclaimed him their Count. The great towns of Flanders flung
+open their gates to him wherever he went, and finally he held his
+court in Bruges. His neighbours, the Dukes of Brabant and Limbourg,
+and his former ally, the King of England, acknowledged his claims,
+while his daughter Jeanne fled to France for protection.
+
+The chief reason for believing that Baldwin was an impostor is the
+fact that at this crisis of his career he failed signally to show any
+of the decision and judgment that twenty years before had made the
+true Baldwin Emperor. To be sure, twenty years of slavery, and the
+haunting memory of the beautiful Marie of Champagne who had followed
+him to her death, and of the Bulgarian princess whom he had so basely
+slain, may have enfeebled his intellect. He was now an old man. At all
+events, after a period of indecision he did the very thing he never
+should have done--he appealed to Philip for aid against his daughter.
+Summoned to Péronne, where the King of France was then holding court,
+he was subjected to a trial by the royal Council, which clearly showed
+its determination to convict him as an impostor. Perceiving that he
+had blundered into a trap, the old man fled from the castle and
+escaped to Flanders. Here, however, the appeal to Philip and its
+result, together with much French gold judiciously expended in behalf
+of Jeanne, caused the nobility to turn cold. He determined to lay his
+cause before the Pope, but while on his way to Rome was captured and
+sold to Jeanne who ordered him to be hanged in chains in the
+market-place at Lille between two hounds. If he was the true
+Baldwin, after all, few careers in history offer wider contrasts of
+glory and shame.
+
+[Illustration: HOTEL MERGHELYNCK, YPRES.]
+
+Whether one stays at Ypres a day or a week he will not lack for
+objects of interest, for the Cloth Hall and the Cathedral are but the
+beginning of the list. A day is hardly too much to devote to the rue
+de Lille alone, for here are the Hospice Belle, with a number of
+valuable old paintings, and the Hotel-Musée Merghelynck. The latter is
+an institution as unique as it is admirable. Built in 1774 by François
+Merghelynck, a Treasurer and Grand Bailiff of Ypres, this fine mansion
+is filled with furniture and objets d'art of the eighteenth century
+coming from Flanders, Holland and France and collected with rare taste
+and judgment. In its entirety it represents the residence of a
+nobleman of the period, complete down to the smallest detail, with
+every article in its proper place, as if the owner had just stepped
+out and might be expected back at any moment. The seven principal
+rooms are panelled with carved wood. The dining-room is decorated with
+bas-reliefs representing all of the principal implements of husbandry.
+These were carved by Antony Deledicque of Lille and have been compared
+with the work in some of the smaller rooms in the Palace of
+Versailles. The music-room is similarly embellished with
+representations of musical instruments, and all have fine panel
+friezes and gilded carvings. In each room the proprietor of the
+mansion, Arthur Merghelynck, the great-grandson of the original owner,
+has collected a complete equipment of eighteenth-century furniture.
+The dining-room has rare porcelain from Tournai, with the precious
+gilt marks of the choicest make, the music-room has an old-time
+harpsichord, the kitchen possesses an array of old-time pewter, copper
+and brassware. In the chambers the same plan has been faithfully
+carried out, even to placing the owner's uniforms and gala raiment in
+the wardrobes. Permission to visit these delightful rooms is freely
+granted to all visitors to Ypres without charge, other than an
+optional fee to the attendant. We were told that natives of the city
+are not admitted, but forgot to ask the caretaker if this was true.
+
+A little farther down this same rue de Lille is an old edifice that
+for many years has been called the House of the Templars. It has been
+restored and is now used as the Post Office--it was for a long time a
+brewery--but it is not now believed that this was ever the House of
+the famous mediæval order. The Templars, however, did erect at
+Ypres their first house in Europe, and it may well be that this
+structure was copied from it. Beyond this interesting edifice we
+encountered a grim-looking old church, that of St. Peter, within the
+doorway of which is a most curious mediæval Calvary. This church is
+one of the oldest in Flanders, having been built in 1073 by Robert the
+Frisian, one of the early Counts. On this street also stands the
+Hospice St. Jean which was founded in 1277. It contains one fine
+timbered ceiling room, with panelled walls, called the nuns' workroom,
+and some paintings by Kerel van Yper, an obscure local artist of the
+sixteenth century.
+
+[Illustration: CHURCH OF ST. PETER, YPRES.]
+
+In this section we were so fortunate as to see the lace workers, of
+whom there are still several hundred, making _point de Valenciennes_
+outside the doors of their tiny houses. Mrs. Professor never tired of
+watching these women,--who are for the most part middle-aged, while
+some of them are very old--as their nimble fingers dexterously shifted
+the innumerable little bobbins to and fro, while the delicate fabric
+slowly took the design upon which they were working. It is said that
+more Valenciennes lace is made here at Ypres, and at Courtrai and
+among the little Flemish towns between these two cities, than in the
+French city from which this fine point derives its name.
+
+It is along the rue de Lille that the visitor will (let us hope!) find
+the wooden house that is the last, or nearly the last, survival of a
+type of architecture that was once very common in Ypres. It is
+inferior to the one in the Cloth Hall, which also came from this
+street, but is still in use--although it seemed to be closed when we
+passed it. A few steps further on we came to the Porte de Lille with
+its three semi-circular towers, erected in 1395. The Porte is
+connected with the open country beyond by a bridge across the wide
+moat, in which a stately white swan was swimming. The ancient walls,
+built by the famous military engineer Vauban, extend here for a long
+distance in both directions and are in a fairly good state of
+preservation. At the Porte de Thourout, where the fortifications end
+on the northeastern side of the town, there is an open-air swimming
+pool which, according to the local guidebook is free during certain
+hours for men Saturday and Sunday, for women Wednesday, for soldiers
+Thursday and Friday, and for ladies Tuesday. The distinction between
+the women who can come on Wednesday and the ladies who are admitted
+Tuesday is not stated.
+
+From the Porte de Lille we walked along the top of the ramparts toward
+the railway station--a promenade full of interest and charm. The broad
+moat in which a dozen snow white swans were swimming, the huge trees
+arching overhead, the quaint little houses to our right, with now and
+then a narrow street bending back into the town as if inviting us to
+follow and explore it--everything seemed to combine to make this one
+of our pleasantest experiences in Flanders, and we regretted that we
+did not have weeks instead of days in which to study this rare old
+town and visit some of the charming old Flemish villages by which it
+is surrounded.
+
+The causes for the decline of the city from the proud position it
+occupied in the Middle Ages to its comparative insignificance to-day
+can be sketched in a very few words. Like the rest of Flanders, it had
+flourished exceedingly in consequence of the Hundred Years' War
+between France and England. As commerce and industry in these
+two great neighbouring countries declined, that of the Low
+Countries--which were then enjoying a prolonged period of comparative
+peace--augmented with abnormal rapidity. It was inevitable that when
+peace across the frontier was restored much of the trade that France
+had temporarily lost should return to it. A series of great sieges cut
+off the wool traffic with England that formed the foundation of the
+city's industry and prosperity. The first of these was in 1383 when
+the guildsmen of Ypres successfully beat off a powerful army from
+Ghent, aided by a large contingent from England. The plague, that
+terror of every overcrowded industrial town in those days, swept off
+thousands of people in 1347 and in 1490, and a third of the
+inhabitants in 1552. These disasters still further crippled the cloth
+industry. In 1583 and 1584 an eight months' siege and the plague
+together reduced the population so fearfully that when the town at
+last surrendered to the Prince of Parma barely five thousand remained.
+After the religious wars were over it recovered some of its ancient
+prosperity, but between 1648 and 1678 it was besieged no less than
+four times, being a border town and one of the first to be attacked as
+the fortunes of war swayed, first one way and then the other. Roused
+by the ravages of the plague the magistrates cleaned the city, passed
+stringent sanitary regulations, paved the streets and built a costly
+system of sewers--Ypres being one of the first cities in Europe to
+have these modern improvements. Wise as these steps were, they came
+too late to arrest the decline of the town's industries and commerce.
+One by one the artisans gave up the battle against the forces that
+were sapping the foundations of their prosperity and moved away--some
+to Ghent and Bruges, both of which were already beginning to decline;
+others to far-off England, where they remained to lay the foundations
+of the vast textile industry that has since grown up across the
+Channel, but which traces its origin back to the artisans of Ypres in
+the days when the fame of that until lately all but forgotten town was
+known from one end of the world to the other.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+COURTRAI AND THE BATTLE OF THE SPURS
+
+
+Our next expedition, after the delightful visit at Ypres, was to
+Courtrai, which is only twenty-two miles distant, although the two
+plodding little _omnibus_ trains that we took, one after the other,
+were more than an hour getting us there. It was an hour most
+pleasantly spent, however, for we were constantly on the lookout for
+the fields of flax that we had read covered the valley of the River
+Lys as far as eye could see. If this was ever so it certainly was not
+the case in the summer of 1914, for there were more and larger fields
+of barley and other small grains than of flax. Still, we saw a great
+many plantings of the latter, and as the plant was in full bloom the
+sight was a very pretty one--the delicate green of each field being
+faintly tinged with the blue of the tiny flowers. It did not seem to
+be very tall, but it was still early June and a very backward summer.
+We also passed many fields in which the flax of the previous season
+was stacked to bleach, evidently the crop from several fields being
+concentrated into one for this purpose. The water of the River Lys,
+from which some authorities say the French Fleur de Lys derives its
+name, is said to be superior to that of all other rivers for the
+retting of flax, and at all events the raising and preparation of this
+important staple has been the leading industry in this region for
+centuries, although Ghent is more important as a flax manufacturing
+centre.
+
+Presently our destination, of which the Flemish name is Kortrijk, came
+in sight, and we started--with the Professor leading the way, as
+usual--for the Grande Place. Here we found a market going on, with
+numerous booths and stalls arranged in crooked little streets, and
+crowds of thick-set peasant women with big baskets examining the wares
+displayed gingerly as if afraid that too great a display of interest
+would cause the merchants to enhance their prices. Amid this bustle
+and confusion we worked our way slowly to the centre of the Place
+where stood the small ivy-covered Belfry, which dates from early in
+the fourteenth century, and is one of the prettiest in Flanders. When
+the city was sacked in 1382, after one of its many sieges, the Belfry
+was one of the few edifices to escape injury. Repaired or restored in
+1423, in 1519, and again in 1717, this little monument of the Middle
+Ages has come down to us in an admirable state of preservation.
+Originally connected with a small public market, _les petites halles_,
+it gradually came to be surrounded with private houses until only its
+spire was visible, but in 1899 these were torn down and the Belfry
+left isolated as it is now. The clock originally placed on this tower
+is said by the historian Froissart to have been "_l'un des plus biaux
+que on seuist trouver decha ne dela la mer_"--one of the most
+beautiful here or abroad--but was removed by Philip the Bold, the
+first of the Burgundian Dukes to rule over Flanders, to Dijon, the
+capital of Burgundy. This was in 1382, but in 1395 the people of
+Courtrai had replaced it by another equally ingenious. We tried to
+enter the old tower, but found one entrance guarded by the alarming
+sign, "_Haute tension--danger de la mort_," indicating that the
+electric light company used the lower part of the edifice as a
+transforming station. There was another small doorway, but it did not
+appear to have been opened for a long time, and we could find no one
+who knew who had the key.
+
+When we first announced our intention to spend a Summer in Flanders
+many friends protested, "But you do not speak Flemish--how do you
+expect to get along?" Right here it may be stated that this bugbear
+proved without foundation. Even in Ypres, where our Belgian
+acquaintances said we surely would have trouble, we found only two or
+three of those with whom we had occasion to converse who did not
+understand French at least well enough to give us the information we
+required. On a few occasions, when touring the poorer quarters of some
+old Flemish town, we were non-plussed for a moment, but the children
+helped us out in these emergencies by running off eagerly to find some
+one who spoke French. Everywhere we found the people accommodating and
+courteous, never surly as one author says those he met in these very
+same towns were when he visited them half a dozen years ago. To be
+sure, our visits seldom took us into the very little towns, where, no
+doubt, Flemish is often spoken exclusively--as our experience in
+Nieuport showed.
+
+The most curious fact about the little Kingdom of Belgium is that it
+is sharply bi-lingual, the line of demarcation between the French and
+the Flemish speaking provinces running across the country from
+southwest to northeast a little to the south of Brussels; that city,
+however, being far more French than Flemish. Most of the towns have
+two names, which usually mean the same but are often so different in
+form that it is a wonder the people themselves do not get mixed up now
+and then. For example, the French name for the capital of the province
+of Hainaut is Mons, meaning mountain, while the Flemish name is
+Bergen, which means the same thing but looks very different. The
+important railroad junction of Braine-le-Comte between Mons and
+Brussels bears the queer Flemish name of 's Graven-Brakel. Even the
+postage stamps and the paper money are printed in the two languages,
+while the silver money is apparently minted in equal quantities of
+each. All public employés are required by law to know both languages,
+so that the public has no trouble either at the railway stations or
+post-offices. According to official statistics published while we were
+there, 38.17 per cent. of the population of the country speak only
+French; 43.38 per cent. speak only Flemish; while 18.13 per cent.
+speak more than one language and a few speak German only. Of the
+bi-linguals over 60 per cent. declared that they ordinarily spoke
+Flemish.
+
+Facing the Grande Place, and only a few steps from the Belfry, is the
+Hotel de Ville, an unprepossessing structure externally, although the
+historians say that it was once much better looking. It has, at all
+events, been restored, and the statues of the Counts of Flanders that
+were destroyed during the Revolution replaced by modern ones carved by
+a local sculptor. After finding the concierge we were shown a small
+collection of modern paintings by Belgian artists bequeathed to the
+city by one of its wealthy sons. This, however, was merely _en route_,
+as it were, to the great show-place of this--as of all other Flemish
+hotels de ville--the Salle du Conseil. Here the _pièce de résistance_
+is the great chimney-piece, carved in 1525 by unknown sculptors, who
+probably were natives of the city as there were several of good renown
+residing and working there at that period. The elaborate carvings with
+which this masterpiece is decorated comprise three tiers. At the top
+the figures represent the virtues: Faith, Humility, Charity, Chastity,
+Generosity, Temperance, Patience and Vigilance. In the middle section
+a series of pictures carved in stone typify the vices: Idolatry,
+Pride, Avarice, Sensuality, Jealousy, Gluttony, Anger and Idleness.
+The lowest tier contains reliefs that are supposed to show the
+punishment for these vices, although the idea is not always quite
+easy to follow. In niches projecting from the middle section are fine
+statues, carved from wood, of Charles V in the centre, with Justice
+and Peace on the opposite sides. At the right and left sides of the
+chimney-piece are two more tiers of carvings, but of inferior interest
+to those on the front. The beamed ceiling of this fine room is worthy
+of at least a glance, for on the corbels supporting it are some of the
+most curious carvings to be seen in Flanders, representing the
+conquests of woman over man--beginning with Adam and Eve and Samson
+and Delilah, and including several examples from pagan mythology.
+
+We were next conducted down-stairs to the Salle Echevinale, where
+there is another fine chimney-piece which, however, was much less
+interesting than the one we had just seen. This room is further
+embellished with several frescoes by Guffens and Swerts, examples of
+whose work we had already seen at Ypres. The former artist painted the
+large composition entitled the "Departure of Baldwin IX for
+Constantinople," and the latter the more interesting picture of the
+Consultation of the Flemish leaders in this very room the day before
+the Battle of Courtrai. Smaller frescoes depict other notable scenes
+in the old town's history, while small carvings near the ceiling
+represent the chief virtues of an upright judge.
+
+On a hot July day, in the year 1302, there took place, just outside
+the ancient walls of the city, the most famous event in the history of
+Courtrai. This was the great "Battle of the Spurs." In order to
+understand the significance of this conflict--which justly ranks as
+one of the decisive battles of the world--it is necessary to go back
+three-quarters of a century to the Baldwin of Constantinople, or the
+impostor who assumed his name and came to an ignominious end on the
+gibbet at Lille. This was in the year 1225. The following year Philip
+Augustus forced or persuaded Margaret, Baldwin's younger daughter, to
+leave the loyal Fleming to whom she had been married almost since
+childhood and wed one of his retainers, William of Dampierre. Then,
+during a period of more than fifty years, the Kings of France were
+able to exert a steadily increasing influence in Flanders and reduce
+the country more and more completely to a French province. Finally, in
+1296, the exactions of the French monarch--who, at that time, was
+Philip the Fair--became so humiliating that Margaret's son, Guy of
+Dampierre, then the reigning Count, rebelled. A brief war followed,
+ending in Guy's utter defeat and imprisonment, and in 1300 all
+Flanders was formally annexed to the French crown.
+
+Instead of submitting tamely to this act of aggression, the Flemish
+burghers were roused to fight more furiously for their fatherland than
+they had ever done for their Count. At Bruges a true leader of the
+people appeared in the person of Peter de Coninck, the dean of the
+then all-powerful Guild of the Weavers, and one of the most
+picturesque figures in mediæval history. Small and ill-favoured in
+face and figure, with only one eye, and speaking no language but
+Flemish, he was able to arouse the citizens to the wildest pitch of
+fury against their aggressors. Another popular hero of the hour was
+John Breidel, Dean of the Butchers' Guild, and reputed to be one of
+the richest men in Bruges; while a third was William of Juliers,
+Provost of Maestricht--a Churchman turned soldier for the cause of
+liberty. These three raised the standard of the Lion of Flanders to
+which rallied the Clauwaerts, as the Nationalist partisans were
+called; while the friends of France were named--after the Lily of
+France--the Liliaerts. The latter naturally included the magistrates
+and office-holders of the leading towns, and in 1301, when Philip
+made a triumphal progress through the chief cities of his new
+dominions, he was everywhere received with much outward pomp.
+
+[Illustration: STATUE OF PETER DE CONINCK AND JOHN BREIDEL, BRUGES.]
+
+At Bruges the official reception was the most gorgeous of all, the
+rich gowns of the wives and daughters of the burghers causing Queen
+Isabella to exclaim, "I thought I was alone Queen, but here I see six
+hundred!" The mass of the people, however, were cold and sullen, and
+when the King proclaimed some public games no one would take part in
+them. Hardly had the royal party left the city before an insurrection
+broke out. De Coninck was arrested, but his followers burst into the
+prison, and, for a time, the leaders of the Liliaerts were behind the
+bars. A French force soon entered the city and set them free, and De
+Coninck fled to Damme, where the Lion of Flanders waved unmolested
+over a rapidly increasing host of Clauwaerts.
+
+On the 17th of May, 1302, a still stronger army of French entered the
+city, and it was rumoured that a general massacre of the Clauwaerts
+was planned for the morrow. Without waiting for the blow to be struck,
+the men from Damme and the surrounding towns, under the leadership of
+De Coninck and John Breidel, poured into the city before daybreak and
+roaring "_Schilt end vriendt_"--a battle-cry and password that no
+Frenchman could pronounce--they overwhelmed the partisans of the Lily.
+So sudden and unexpected was the attack, in the darkness and among
+narrow streets with which they were not acquainted, that the two
+thousand French knights who had entered the city so gaily on the
+previous day could offer no resistance and were slaughtered almost to
+a man. Barely forty escaped to tell King Philip of the massacre, while
+no record was made of the number of Liliaerts among the Flemings
+themselves who were in the heaps of dead that for three days
+thereafter were being buried in the fields outside of the city. This
+was the famous Matin de Bruges, hardly a glorious day's work
+considered as a feat of arms, but bold enough when regarded as a
+defiance by the artisans of a single industrial town of the most
+powerful monarch of the age.
+
+Philip, as was to be expected, was furious, and at once gathered an
+army the like of which had never before been seen in France; while all
+Flanders, with the exception of Ghent which the French still held,
+rallied to the support of De Coninck and his comrades. Scores of
+Flemish nobles were at that time languishing in French prisons, but
+those who were free to come enlisted under the Lion of Flanders. The
+army of defence consisted for the most part, however, of
+workingmen--members of the great guilds of Bruges, Ypres, Audenaerde
+and the other Flemish towns, with seven hundred even from Ghent. Each
+guild marched under its gorgeous banner, the men armed with long
+pikes, iron lances, short swords, and a sort of club which they
+derisively called "_goedendag_," or "good morning." On the eve of the
+battle a conference was held by the leaders of the army of defence,
+this being the scene depicted in the fine fresco in the Hotel de
+Ville.
+
+About nine or ten in the morning of the following day the French army,
+some forty thousand strong, was seen approaching, led by the youthful
+Count of Artois. After a reconnoitre two experienced officers advised
+the young Prince not to attack the Flemings at once, but to worry them
+with his archers and separate them from the town where their baggage
+and provisions were. "These people have to eat three, or four times a
+day--when they start to retreat, fall on them, you will quickly win,"
+they counselled him.
+
+This sage advice did not appeal to the impetuous young Count, or to
+his valiant knights, who were burning with eagerness to avenge the
+Matin de Bruges. They confidently expected that at the very sight of
+their host, for the most part mounted knights, the cowardly townsmen
+would turn and run. Nor did they pay much heed to the shrewdness and
+skill with which the Flemish leaders had chosen their position. In the
+marshy ground in front of the Flemish army were many streams and
+canals, the water concealed by brushwood, while the River Lys and the
+fortifications of the town protected them against an attack on either
+flank or in the rear.
+
+As the French knights rode forward the first ranks plunged into the
+hidden canals and streams with which the marsh--since known as the
+Bloed Meersch, or Bloody Marsh--was intersected. Then, as five
+centuries later at Waterloo, each succeeding rank pushed in the one
+before it, the canals became choked with drowning men and struggling
+horses, and it was not until these obstacles were literally filled
+with dead bodies that any part of the great French host could approach
+the Flemish lines. Then the Flemish guildsmen were for a moment hard
+pressed, but they quickly rallied and the proud French nobles were
+beaten down beneath their cruel pikes and clubs by hundreds. The Count
+of Artois himself led the reserves into the mêlée when the day was all
+but lost and fought his way clear to the great standard of the Lion of
+Flanders, at the foot of which he fell. Their leader killed, the
+French sought to flee, but the rout and slaughter lasted through the
+long summer twilight and far into the night.
+
+According to an ancient chronicle, twenty thousand Frenchmen went down
+to death that day, including seven thousand knights, eleven hundred
+nobles, seven hundred lords, and sixty-three counts, dukes or princes.
+As to these statistics they differ in every history, but certain it is
+that the flower of French chivalry perished in unheard of numbers
+before the onslaught of the Flemish townsmen, and it is said that in
+all France there was no great house that did not mourn a father, a
+brother or a son.
+
+To the men of Flanders, on the other hand, the victory was complete
+beyond their wildest dreams. They piously gave thanks to Notre Dame de
+Groeninghe, the Abbey overlooking the Bloody Marsh, and hung up seven
+hundred golden spurs taken from the battlefield in the Church of Notre
+Dame. For a time Philip the Fair sought to prolong the conflict, but
+his losses had been too terrible in this battle for him to risk
+another one against the now thoroughly aroused guildsmen, and a few
+years later a treaty was signed that completely rescinded the act of
+annexation and recognised the independence of Flanders once more.
+
+In the little Museum of Paintings we found a most interesting picture
+of the famous battle by the great Belgian artist, Nicaise de Keyser.
+It is said that the historian Voisin suggested this subject to the
+painter, then a young man of twenty-three, and he devoted eight months
+to its execution. Exhibited at the Salon at Brussels in 1836, it made
+a sensation through its merit, the historical importance of the
+subject and the youth of the artist, and was purchased by the city of
+Courtrai by means of a popular subscription. It represents the
+decisive moment of the battle when the Count of Artois, unhorsed and
+disarmed, is about to be killed by the leader of the butchers' guild,
+John Breidel. The museum contains a number of other interesting works
+by Belgian painters, chiefly modern, including one by Constantin
+Meunier, and a number by natives of Courtrai. This last feature is
+characteristic of all these little museums and is a most happy idea.
+In France the museums of fine arts in the provincial towns often form
+in themselves admirable memorials of the famous artists who were born
+or worked there, the names of the most important being carved about
+the frieze or brought to mind in some equally prominent way. In years
+to come it is to be hoped that these little Flemish towns can follow
+this example and erect suitable structures to house their art
+treasures--of which such a collection as this one at Courtrai forms a
+fine nucleus--and in so doing strive to commemorate all of those to
+whom the town is indebted for its artistic fame. In the case of
+Courtrai the roster would be a long one, for local authorities have
+recorded the names of more than two hundred painters, sculptors,
+architects, engravers, metal-workers, miniaturists and master-makers
+of tapestries.
+
+Unlike many Flemish towns, Courtrai is less renowned for its churches
+than for its civic monuments. The great church of St. Martin, whose
+picturesque Gothic tower rises high above the Grande Place, although
+the edifice itself is some hundred yards distant from the Place
+itself, dates from 1382, when an older church on the same site was
+burned by the victorious troops of Charles VI when they sacked the
+city after the Battle of Rosbecque. It was completed in 1439 and
+contains a number of interesting paintings and carvings, several of
+them by local artists and sculptors. The more important Church of
+Notre Dame, with its square unfinished tower, dates from 1211 and was
+founded by Baldwin of Constantinople. At that time the Counts of
+Flanders had a castle at Courtrai and it was at the side of this that
+Count Baldwin and his fair wife Marie located their great church, of
+which the foundation stone was laid before the Count departed on the
+crusade from which he was destined never to return. In the Chapel of
+the Counts, which was built in the fourteenth century, are mural
+paintings of the Counts and Countesses of Flanders, the earlier ones
+dating from the century during which the chapel itself was
+constructed.
+
+The artistic masterpiece of this church is the "Raising of the Cross,"
+by Van Dyck. This fine picture was painted for this very church and
+was delivered by the artist in 1631, the church still possessing his
+receipt for the one hundred livres de gros (about two hundred and
+twenty dollars) paid for it. In 1794 the picture was carried to Paris
+and placed in the Louvre, and on its restoration to the Netherlands
+was several years in the museum at Brussels, being returned to its
+proper place in Notre Dame in 1817. During the night of December
+6th-7th, 1907, it was mysteriously stolen, its disappearance causing a
+great commotion, but January 23rd it was discovered in a field at
+Pitthem, where it had lain exposed to the rain and sunshine since its
+removal from the church. Apparently the robbers had become frightened
+and abandoned it, or possibly were prevented from returning to get it
+by the hue and cry that had been raised. At any rate, it did not seem
+to be much the worse for its little outing, and was duly hung up again
+where any tourist who has a franc to spare can see it.
+
+It was in Notre Dame that the victors after the battle of Courtrai
+hung up seven hundred golden spurs, more or less, picked up from the
+battle-field. These were hung in a little side chapel at present
+decorated by two black lions, but the original spurs were taken away
+when the French sacked the city after the disastrous battle of
+Rosbecque.
+
+A little beyond this interesting old church the rue Guido
+Gezelle--named after the poet who for many years was a _vicaire_ at
+Notre Dame and whose bust stands in a little _bosquet_, or wooded
+parklet, hard by--conducts us to the famous old Broel towers which
+guard an ancient bridge across the Lys. These fine specimens of
+mediæval military architecture are in an admirable state of
+preservation. The Spuytorre, or Southern tower, was first built by
+Philip of Alsace in the twelfth century, was pillaged, and perhaps
+wholly destroyed, by Charles VI and restored or rebuilt by Philip the
+Bold, Duke of Burgundy, in 1386. There was not much to see in this
+tower, save some dungeons below. The Inghelbrugtorre, or South tower,
+was built at the same time as the bridge, in 1411-1413. There was
+formerly an archeological museum in this tower, but we were told that
+it had been removed to the Grandes Halles, near the railroad station,
+which have recently been restored. We subsequently visited the
+collections there, which were very interesting but too miscellaneous
+to be described. Returning from the towers by the rue de Groeninghe we
+paid a brief visit to the fine monument of the Battle of Groeninghe,
+which is the Flemish name for the Battle of the Spurs. At the summit a
+bronze Pucelle of Flanders brandishes a _goedendag_, one of the
+celebrated war-clubs that did such deadly work on that famous day.
+This monument, by Godefroid Devreese, a native of Courtrai, was
+erected by popular subscription in 1905.
+
+It is in these smaller Flemish towns that the visitor who takes the
+time to journey a little away from the closely built houses and rough
+paved streets of the city will find himself after a few minutes of
+brisk walking out in the green fields and winding lanes of the open
+country. The trip is well worth the small exertion, for nowhere in the
+world can one see such marvellous wild flowers--_fleurs des
+champs_--as in Belgium. Every wheat field is sprinkled with the most
+wonderful poppies, of a rich deep red that even the choicest
+artificial flowers in America cannot equal; with blue corn-flowers
+growing tall and big and of an indescribably deep blue that at times
+shades into purple; and along the edges is a thin fringe of small
+purple flowers, shaped like morning glories but much smaller, the
+English name of which I do not know. In the grass of the pasture lands
+are innumerable tiny white marguerites, with here and there a tuft of
+daisies. Along the country lanes one can pick a score of other
+varieties of wild flowers which here bloom all summer long, not to
+mention the exquisite purple heather that makes every hillside glow
+with colour in August and throughout the fall. To us, however, the
+wheat fields with the poppies and corn-flowers were by far the most
+charming as we wandered up and down West Flanders in the month of
+June. Often one or the other grew so profusely as to give the whole
+field a rich mass of colour, at times all red, in other places a solid
+blue.
+
+As we strolled along through these flower gardens of the fields we
+enjoyed still another treat, for everywhere in Belgium the skylarks
+abound in myriads. To one who has never heard them there are few
+enjoyments more exquisite than to watch and listen as these tiny
+minstrels of the sky go through their little performance. Suddenly,
+almost before the eye can locate it, one shoots upward from the waving
+wheat in front of us, his rich trills fairly making the air vibrate
+with melody. Higher and yet higher he goes, his little wings
+struggling wildly, as if the effort of flying and singing at the same
+time was too much for him. Never, for an instant, however, does the
+music stop, and as his tiny form rises farther and farther into the
+air he gradually begins to drive forward in a wide curve--but still
+rising and still fluttering madly--until he becomes a mere speck
+against the sky. Then, all at once, the fluttering wings spread
+outward and are still, and he begins to volplane slowly downward in a
+long slow sweep, while his notes become if possible more shrill and
+vibrating than ever. Then, like a flash, as he nears the ground, he
+darts sharply out of sight and the song is over.
+
+All day long the pleasant, flower-bedecked fields ring with this
+music--at times a dozen are singing in the air at once. When the sun
+is high the birds often rise until completely out of sight, only their
+falling music telling the listener that they are still there. Toward
+evening the flights are shorter, but as the calm of approaching night
+settles over the broad and peaceful fields it seems as if the songs
+are sweeter than at any other time.
+
+Two of the greatest English poets have given us wonderful word
+pictures of this marvellous little bird, which surely sings as sweetly
+in Belgium as in England. Shelley in his famous Ode, describes the
+song itself; his metre imitating the breathless rush of the aerial
+notes:
+
+        "Hail to thee, blithe spirit!
+          Bird thou never wert,
+        That from Heaven, or near it,
+          Pourest thy full heart
+        In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.
+
+        "Higher still and higher
+          From the earth thou springest,
+        Like a cloud of fire;
+          The deep blue thou wingest,
+        And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest."
+
+In Wordsworth's noble lines the thought is less upon the song, but
+dwells upon the mother bird and her hidden nest:
+
+    "Ethereal minstrel! pilgrim of the sky!
+      Dost thou despise the earth where cares abound?
+    Or, while the wings aspire, are heart and eye
+      Both with thy nest upon the dewy ground?
+    Thy nest, which thou canst drop into at will,
+      Those quivering wings composed, that music still!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+GHENT IN THE DAYS OF THE FLEMISH COUNTS
+
+
+During the Middle Ages Ghent was, for nearly five centuries, one of
+the greatest cities in the Occidental world. "If you have ever been in
+Flanders," wrote Jean Froissart, near the close of the fourteenth
+century, "you are aware that Ghent is the sovereign city of Flanders
+in power, in wisdom, in government, in the number of its houses, in
+position and in all else that goes to make a great and noble city, and
+that three great rivers serve to bring to it ships from every part of
+the world." After further eulogising the three rivers referred to,
+which were the Scheldt, the Lys and the Lieve, the chronicler of
+Valenciennes added that the city could put eighty thousand men in the
+field, and that it would require a host of two hundred thousand
+warriors to capture it. These statements, though no doubt
+exaggerations, do not seem to the tourist so impossible of belief as
+corresponding figures regarding the former greatness of the other
+cities in Flanders, for Ghent is still "a great and noble city," while
+some of its once puissant rivals are now little more than country
+villages. In fact, to the visitor who approaches the centre of the
+town from either of its two principal railway stations--it has five in
+all--the city seems to be essentially a modern one, with fine streets
+similar in every way to those to be found in Antwerp or Brussels, and
+it is therefore with a shock of surprise that he suddenly finds
+himself riding past one hoary old structure after another whose
+frowning grey walls and massive architecture bespeak an antiquity
+strangely at variance with their surroundings.
+
+To the Professor, and to all students of the thrilling history of this
+famous old Flemish town, the most interesting of these reminders of
+the Ghent of five hundred or one thousand years ago is the imposing
+Château des Comtes, or Castle of the Counts, the ruins of which stand
+in the very heart of the town with the busy life and bustle of the
+Ghent of to-day surging about them. Hither, as soon as our belongings
+were safely deposited in the hotel, we came--almost as a matter of
+course. In part this magnificent relic of the feudal ages dates from
+the ninth century, when it was called the new castle, _Novum
+Castellum_, to distinguish it from a still older castle situated hard
+by that was destroyed about the year 1010. Two of the three stories
+composing this original structure are still intact and can be seen by
+the visitor when he inspects the cellar of the keep. Here the columns
+and arches are of later construction, but the walls--which are over
+five and a half feet thick--are the work of builders who put these
+stones in place more than a thousand years ago. It was in 1180,
+according to the Latin inscription that can still be read just inside
+of the main entrance from the Place Ste. Pharaïlde, that Philip of
+Alsace--son of the Dierick of Alsace who brought the Holy Blood to the
+chapel of St. Basil at Bruges--erected the present structure. Its
+purpose was "to check the unbounded arrogance of the inhabitants of
+Ghent, who had become too proud of their riches and of their fortified
+houses, which looked like towers." The Count had been in Palestine two
+years before and had greatly admired some of the strong castles
+erected there by the crusaders and instructed his builders to imitate
+these models, which he no doubt described to them.
+
+[Illustration: Photograph by E. Sacré. CASTLE OF THE COUNTS, GHENT.]
+
+After inspecting the remains of the earlier castle we mounted the
+staircase at the left of the entrance tower. This leads to the top of
+the outer castle wall and can be followed entirely around the great
+ellipse formed by the complete structure. From every side fine views
+can be had of the surrounding city and the moat and River Lieve which
+guard the castle on the opposite side from the Place. Coming to the
+square tower behind the entrance gateway we were shown a room on the
+first story formerly used as a prison and torture chamber. From the
+top of this tower the banner of the Count was hoisted when the men of
+Ghent were called upon to follow their over-lord to war. The gateway
+below, at the corner of the Place Ste. Pharaïlde and the rue de la
+Monnaie, has a tragic interest from the fact that here were placed the
+two railings, called _les bailles_, between which those sentenced to
+death by the Council of Flanders were executed. Executions also often
+took place in the outer courtyard between the exterior wall and the
+Keep, or inner structure. In this yard, in 1445, the procession of the
+Order of the Golden Fleece formed for its march to the church of St.
+Bavon, and one can imagine how gay with banners and fair ladies the
+old castle must have been on that occasion.
+
+The inner castle, usually styled the Palace, was the actual residence
+of the Counts of Flanders whenever they chanced to be stopping in the
+city. Thanks to the skilful restoration of the government, the various
+parts of this edifice can be seen in approximately their original
+condition, save for the rich tapestries and the scant but solid
+furniture with which the rooms were formerly made habitable. The
+chambers of the Count and Countess are particularly fine specimens of
+the living quarters of the mediæval nobility, quite apart from their
+many historic associations. Below the former is the entrance to the
+underground prison built by Philip of Alsace. It is eighteen feet
+deep, and extends ten and one-half feet below the level of the
+courtyard, while one of the walls is seven and the others six feet
+thick. A little air filters in from a zig-zag opening in one wall, but
+no light. The prisoners were let down into this horrible cavern by
+means of a ladder, or a basket attached to a rope, after which even
+the opening by which they entered was closed and they were left alone
+in the dark. For more than six centuries this cell was in constant
+use, and one cannot but wonder whether milady the Countess in her
+sweet chamber overhead ever had her dreams troubled by visions of the
+despairing victims in their beds of slime who were here awaiting the
+Count's decision as to their final fate. It seems that this prison,
+fearful though it must have been to those incarcerated there, was not
+one of those _oubliettes_ of which the Bastille and many another
+mediæval castle had so many. So far as known, it was only used for
+prisoners awaiting trial, or as a species of solitary confinement for
+serious crimes. In 1657 a school-teacher accused of teaching heretical
+doctrines to his pupils was confined here thirteen months, but there
+is no record of any one being flung down into this pit to be
+"forgotten." Still, it must be said that such proceedings would not be
+likely to become a matter of record, and very little is known about
+what went on behind these grim walls when the Counts of Flanders and
+Dukes of Burgundy held absolute and undisputed sway. Any one who asked
+inconvenient questions would very probably have come here himself!
+
+The Great Hall, which is about one hundred and twenty-five feet long
+by from fifty to sixty feet in width, is a chapter in the history of
+Flanders by itself. Here the Counts, and their successors, the Dukes
+of Burgundy, held many of their great banquets and state functions of
+various kinds. Louis of Maele in 1346 and Philip the Good in 1445 gave
+state banquets in this hall of which long accounts have been preserved
+in the contemporary chronicles. The latter, which was held on the
+occasion of the seventh meeting of the Knights of the Golden Fleece
+already mentioned, must have been quite a tremendous affair. At one
+end of this Hall the Council of the Vieux-Bourg used to pronounce
+sentence upon prisoners, and half a dozen famous treaties and many of
+minor importance were proclaimed in this room. No doubt, also, the
+Great Hall was used as the chief living-room of the castle on less
+formal occasions, when the Count and Countess perhaps dined on a
+raised dais at one end, while the throng of courtiers and retainers
+feasted noisily farther down the hall. On such occasions one can
+imagine how the great stone fireplace, a dozen feet wide and seven or
+eight feet high, must have roared, while the torches and candles used
+to supplement the feeble light from the narrow windows flared and sent
+their smoke up to the grimy rafters overhead. The great room, now so
+empty and silent, was then gay with the variegated costumes of the
+olden time, while its walls echoed to the songs and laughter of the
+boisterous throng.
+
+There are half a score of other rooms to be seen: the kitchen with its
+fireplace big enough to roast an ox whole; the residence of the
+Castellane or keeper of the castle; the small audience chamber near
+the bedrooms of their highnesses--which was used on ordinary occasions
+instead of the great hall--and several others. Of them all the most
+interesting is the ancient stable, which is entered from the castle
+yard. It seems hard to believe that this vast vaulted room, with its
+splendid columns and Romanesque arches was ever designed or used as a
+stable, but such the historians all aver was the case. In appearance
+it resembles an early church or chapel. In a glass case at one side is
+a gruesome collection of skeletons that were uncovered here in 1904,
+presumably those of prisoners who were secretly executed no one knows
+how many years ago. After the fourteenth century the castle ceased to
+be occupied by the sovereigns as a residence, and the stable, no
+longer needed for horses, became a torture chamber and continued to be
+used for this purpose until the close of the eighteenth century. It is
+here that the beautiful and unfortunate Jacqueline, Countess of
+Hainaut and Holland, is said to have been confined by Philip the Good
+when that amiable monarch was trying to persuade her to part with her
+patrimony. She resisted bravely and was finally released, but her
+powerful and wily antagonist subjugated her at last. The Professor
+read, or was told, that there is another prison cell below the waters
+of the moat, and also a passage, miles in length, leading out to the
+open country and intended for escape in case a foe besieging the
+castle seemed likely to take it, but these we were not able to
+discover nor did the official guide to the castle appear to know
+anything about them.
+
+Speaking of sieges, the castle has witnessed more than one. The _Novum
+Castellum_, which preceded the present edifice, was besieged in 1128
+by Dierick of Alsace. In 1302, a few months before the Battle of the
+Spurs, the citizens of Ghent rose en masse against the sheriffs of
+King Philip of France, who took refuge here. The infuriated crowd,
+armed with pikes, axes and swords, beat upon the gates and finally set
+fire to the castle. At this the besieged gave up, and all within were
+forced to run a fearful gauntlet. Without the castle gates the people
+formed a dense mass, bristling with pikes and spears, through which a
+narrow lane was kept open. As the late defenders of the castle emerged
+they had to pass down this avenue of steel, and whoever had committed
+any crime against the burghers never reached the farther end alive,
+whether he was one of the lord high sheriffs or a page. In 1338 the
+Count himself, Louis of Maele, was here besieged by Jacques Van
+Artevelde, and forced to make terms with the great tribune.
+
+The later history of the structure itself is interesting and curious.
+Already in 1302 hovels had been built against the castle walls on the
+land side. In 1350 a mint was installed within the castle, where it
+remained until suppressed in the sixteenth century, and from the same
+year the Court of the Count held sessions here. It was used less and
+less as a residence after this, but from 1407 to 1778 was the seat of
+the Council of Flanders, which succeeded the Court of the Counts. In
+1779 the buildings used by the court were sold and in 1797 and 1798
+those of the Assembly of the Vieux Bourg also passed into private
+hands. The Castellany of the Vieux Bourg was for many years a public
+inn, and in 1807 a factory was established in the Keep, the Great Hall
+being used as a machine-room. The Castellany then became a cotton
+spinning mill, was partly burned in 1829, but rebuilt and continued in
+use as a mill until 1884. Meanwhile other small buildings were
+erected around the old walls until they were entirely concealed, and a
+guidebook of this period states that of the old castle "nothing now
+remains but the entrance." In 1887 some archeologists stirred the
+municipal and national governments to action with a view to saving and
+restoring this splendid monument of the Middle Ages, the Gateway
+having already been acquired by the nation in 1872. The work of
+demolishing the buildings that had clustered about the old walls and
+of restoration lasted from 1889 till 1913, when at last the structure
+was brought into the condition that the visitor beholds to-day. In its
+present form it is unquestionably one of the most interesting and
+important examples of feudal architecture in Europe. Within its sombre
+walls the student has, in records of stone, an epitome of the history
+of ten centuries.
+
+The Professor informed us that, in the course of his researches, he
+had run across a reference to some legend or popular tradition
+concerning a siege of Ghent in the year 930, or thereabouts, by the
+Kings of England, Scotland and Ireland. The city, according to this
+tale, was bravely defended by Dierick, Lord of Dixmude, and all the
+attacks of the besiegers were repelled for many months. Their
+majesties from across the Channel were naturally much incensed at this
+unexpected resistance, and warned the burghers and their valiant chief
+that if they did not surrender within twenty-four hours, they would
+raze the city to the ground and sow corn on its ruins. Notwithstanding
+this threat, to the fulfilment of which the kings aforesaid took a
+mighty oath, the men of Ghent fought stubbornly on, and finally the
+besiegers were forced to give up their enterprise. The English
+monarch, however, in order to fulfil his vow and thereby ease his
+conscience, humbly begged permission of the victors to allow him to
+throw a grain of corn in the market-place. This modest request was
+granted, but to prevent any such stratagem as the one that proved so
+successful in the famous siege of Troy, a tiny hole was made in the
+city wall and the monarch required to crawl through alone, returning
+the same way after the corn-throwing performance was over. From this
+circumstance the name of Engelande-gat was derisively given to the
+little street leading from the Bestroom-Porte to St. Michel--a name
+which Pryse L. Gordon in his book on Holland and Belgium, written in
+1834, stated was still retained at that time. We were unable to find
+it, however, in one of our early morning tramps, although we found a
+rue d'Angleterre which runs into the Place St. Michel directly in
+front of the church, and may have derived its name from that of the
+earlier street which, quite possibly, it may have replaced. The great
+plan of the city drawn by Hondius shows a vast number of streets and
+lanes that to-day have entirely disappeared. The legend, however, may
+have had some basis in fact, although the three kings were no doubt a
+fanciful embellishment added by the peasants as they repeated the
+story of some early attack. There were plenty of small potentates in
+those days prowling about to seize whatever was not well defended, or
+gave promise of rich booty, without going across the Channel to look
+for them.
+
+It was at about this period, in fact a little earlier, that another of
+the famous "monuments" of Ghent was erected. This is the Abbey of St.
+Bavon, which alone would justify a visit to the city if there were
+nothing else to see. A primitive abbey on this site is said to have
+been founded about the year 631 by St. Amand, an early missionary, who
+dedicated it to St. Peter. One of this prelate's converts was a rich
+nobleman named Allowin, who took the name of Bavon on his conversion
+and retired into a monastery. A second abbey took the name of St.
+Bavon, the deceased monk having been canonized, and around these two
+religious institutions a little settlement grew up that was destined
+to expand into the mighty city of Ghent. At St. Bavon, therefore, the
+visitor beholds not merely the ruins of an ancient and famous abbey
+but the birthplace of the city that has played so great a part in the
+history of Flanders and of Europe. When Baldwin II died his widow, the
+daughter of Alfred the Great, had him buried at the monastery of St.
+Peter, to which she made liberal donations. Successive Counts and
+Countesses followed this example, the two abbeys becoming rich and
+powerful, and the town soon became the home of numerous merchants who
+took advantage of the protection afforded by these religious
+institutions, and also of the strategic location of the town at the
+junction of three rivers. The Quai au Blé and the Quai aux Herbes date
+from this epoch, the merchants speedily establishing a market for the
+sale of grain and other products. The Fish Market and the famous
+Marché du Vendredi, or Friday Market, soon followed and Ghent had
+begun the development that was destined to make it, for three
+centuries, one of the greatest trading centres in the world.
+
+The present buildings of the Abbey date from the eleventh and twelfth
+centuries, the original structures having been destroyed during the
+tenth century. It was during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
+that the Abbey attained the zenith of its power. Here, in 1369, was
+solemnised the marriage of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, with
+Margaret, the daughter of Louis of Maele, the last of the Counts of
+Flanders to be known by that title only. This event virtually ended
+the long line of Flemish Counts, for the title thereafter became one
+of many similarly held by the powerful Dukes of Burgundy and their
+successors and was only used on state occasions, or when it served
+their purpose. The unfortunate Michelle, the first wife of Philip the
+Good, was interred here. By a strange irony of fate it was Charles the
+Fifth of all men, the valiant Protector of the Faith, head and front
+of the monarchs who remained steadfastly loyal to the Catholic Church,
+who began the work of destroying this splendid and ancient monastery.
+To build the great fortress by which he held in awe the turbulent
+citizens of Ghent he ordered the demolishment of a considerable part
+of its buildings and the erection on its site of his citadel, the
+_Château des Espagnols_. The Calvinists continued the work of
+destruction in 1581, the French wrecking the buildings still further,
+and the revolt of 1830 completing the ruin of what was in its day of
+prosperity one of the finest monastic institutions in Europe.
+
+Since 1834 the ruins have been carefully protected against further
+injury; and, as they stand, give the observer a most imposing
+realisation of their former grandeur. The Refectory, or dining-hall,
+is still fairly intact, and is used as a museum of sculptures saved
+from the wreck of the other buildings, and including some found in
+other parts of the city. One of these is a tombstone thought to be
+that of Hubert Van Eyck, while another is the _Homme du Beffroi_, one
+of the four stone statues erected in 1338 on the corners of the
+Belfry. A baptismal font found in the ruins of the Abbey contains a
+curious bas-relief representing Adam and Eve being expelled from
+Paradise. It is not, however, in these detached items that the visitor
+will find the chief interest and inspiration of the ancient Abbey, but
+in the general views that in every direction give a conception of the
+former vast extent and richness of the buildings. In their present
+condition the ruins form a series of pictures of wonderful beauty,
+not only in the remains of their architectural and artistic splendour,
+but because Nature, kinder than man, has covered the scars made by the
+despoilers with her choicest tapestries of trailing vines and glowing
+flowers and spread her softest carpets of verdure along the silent and
+deserted cloisters.
+
+[Illustration: RUINS OF THE ABBEY OF ST. BAVON, GHENT.]
+
+Returning to the heart of the city, another memento of the earliest
+period of the city's growth attracted our attention. This was the
+Château of Girard le Diable (Girard the Devil) the first of the
+"monuments" to be encountered if one arrives by the Southern railway
+station. This edifice, now completely restored and used as the
+depository of the provincial archives, dates from 1216. Apart from the
+exterior, however, which reproduces the original appearance of the
+castle, the only portion of interest to the visitor is the crypt which
+is over one hundred feet long and nearly forty-five feet in width,
+making it one of the largest in Flanders. The vaulted roof is
+supported by massive round columns and forms a notable example of the
+ogival style of architecture. We sought in vain to find what the noble
+Sir Girard did or did not do to receive his satanic appellation. From
+the records he appears to have been a tolerably worthy citizen,
+holding, as did his father before him, the position of Châtelain of
+Ghent. A fortunate marriage, apparently, gave him the means to erect
+this exceptionally fine castle, which has--like many of the old
+buildings in the city--had a most varied history. For two or three
+centuries it remained the residence of the Châtelains of Ghent, then,
+for a time, was used by the city as an arsenal, was occupied by the
+Hiéronimites, and then became in succession a school, a mad-house, an
+orphan asylum, a house of correction, and a fire house. Its spacious
+halls now contain the precious charters of the Counts of Flanders and
+innumerable historic documents of Ghent and the other cities of the
+province.
+
+The most ancient church in Ghent is that of St. Nicholas in the Marché
+aux Grains. It was founded in 912, or slightly more than a thousand
+years ago. The original edifice was burned in 1120, so that the
+present structure dates from that century. A picturesque feature of
+the exterior is the row of tiny one-story houses snuggling up against
+the side of the great church on the rue Petite Turquis. The west
+window is an extremely lofty lancet of great beauty. The doorway on
+this side was for many years crowded between commonplace three-story
+houses, the church builders of Flanders apparently caring very little
+how the imposing majesty of their noble churches might be marred by
+adjacent buildings, but these have now been removed and this front of
+the structure cleared.
+
+Among the treasures of this church are the relics of St. Anne, said to
+have been brought from Jerusalem by Godfrey of Bouillon. In the
+sacristy is some oil from the tomb of St. Nicholas of Myra and Bari,
+after whom the church was named. This saint died in 342 and is the
+subject of many picturesque mediæval legends. Even in infancy he is
+alleged to have observed the fasts, refusing the breast of his nurse.
+He used to look particularly after children, young women, sailors and
+travellers. On one occasion he came to an inn where the wicked
+inn-keeper fed his guests with the flesh of young children. St.
+Nicholas immediately went to the tub where the bodies of the innocents
+lay in brine and, reviving them, restored them all alive and whole
+again to their parents. This incident is frequently depicted by
+Flemish painters. After his death the bones of the Saint were buried
+at Myra, but were stolen some centuries later--according to certain
+monkish chronicles--and, after many adventures in which the spirit of
+the deceased prelate participated, the oil which was found in his
+sarcophagus was brought here. Jean Lyon, Dean of the guild of boatmen,
+and one of the heroes of the White Hoods in their resistance to the
+cruel Louis de Maele, was buried in this church.
+
+One of the other churches of Ghent, the Cathedral of St. Bavon, dates
+in part from the same early period as the other monuments described in
+this chapter. Originally dedicated to St. John, the name was changed
+to St. Bavon in 1540 and it became a cathedral nine years later. It is
+not, however, the cathedral--of which the nave and transepts were not
+completed until 1533 to 1559--but the earlier church of St. Jean that
+figures in the history of Ghent under Counts of Flanders. Of this
+church the crypt, which dates from the eleventh or twelfth century,
+and the choir, dating from the thirteenth century, still remain. Our
+exploration of the cold and gloomy crypt served to bring back the
+earlier period of the history of Ghent in two ways--not only is its
+present appearance undoubtedly much the same as it was eight or nine
+centuries ago, when the city of the weavers was just beginning to
+make its power and fame known in the land, but the historian sees here
+the tombs of many of the great men of the city. For the most part
+there were merchant princes, aristocrats, the leaders of the Liliaert
+faction--those who sided with the King of France and took his lilies
+as their emblem.
+
+Under its early Flemish Counts, the history of Ghent was, on the
+whole, one of rapid and almost uninterrupted expansion. The merchants
+who flocked to the little town around the Abbeys of St. Peter and St.
+Bavon were followed by similar throngs of artisans, and as the
+commerce of the city grew apace so its industrial importance expanded.
+On the death of Philip of Alsace, who had erected the Château on the
+Place Ste. Pharaïlde to hold the city in check, its burghers wrested
+from the feeble hands of his widow the famous _Keure_ of 1191, a sort
+of local Magna Carta which confirmed all pre-existing privileges and
+granted others. The same year the Treaty of Arras, by which Baldwin
+VIII ceded Arras and the County of Artois to Philip Augustus, the wily
+and land-grasping King of France, made Ghent virtually the capital of
+Flanders--a position that had hitherto been occupied by Bruges. Like
+its rival on the Roya, Ghent had become an important centre for the
+woollen trade with England, and also for all the branches of woollen
+manufacture, the "scarlets" of Ghent being renowned far and wide. The
+thirteenth century--in consequence of the folly of Baldwin of
+Constantinople who, as we have seen, went off on a fanatical
+enterprise to the Far East, leaving the richest county in the world at
+the mercy of his enemies--saw a steady decline in the power of the
+Counts; and, while the Kings of France profited mightily by this
+situation, the shrewd burghers of Ghent, Bruges, Ypres and the other
+powerful Flemish communes were not backward in extending and securing
+their own powers also. The result was that the successive Counts and
+Countesses were forced to submit to repeated encroachments on their
+authority. In 1228 Count Ferrand established a Council of thirty-nine
+members which soon became a virtual oligarchy and the actual ruler of
+the city. This body, while maintaining at first fairly friendly
+relations with the Counts, soon began to treat with other nations and
+the other cities in Flanders as if it was the actual sovereign. Then,
+as the King of France, toward the close of the thirteenth century,
+began to give evidence of an intention to seize the rich county of
+Flanders for himself--thus despoiling both the Counts and the
+burghers at the same time--Ghent joined heartily in the general
+movement toward a national resistance. In 1297 the Count Guy granted
+the city a new _Keure_, or charter, even more liberal than that of
+1191, and formed an alliance with England against the common foe.
+This, however, came to nothing, and all Flanders was over-run by the
+victorious French troops. Ghent, after a brief resistance, yielded,
+and the French King, making liberal concessions to win the support of
+the most powerful of all the Flemish communes, the Liliaerts, or
+supporters of the Lily of France, were temporarily holding the upper
+hand when the astounding tidings came of the Battle of the Spurs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE AGE WHEN GHENT WAS GOVERNED BY ITS GUILDS
+
+
+It was on the 12th of July, 1302, that the guildsmen of
+Flanders--chiefly, as we have seen, those from the two cities of
+Bruges and Ypres--humbled the chivalry of France and demonstrated the
+fact that the guilds of the great Flemish communes were a power to be
+reckoned with. Obviously, when the greatest monarch of the day had
+been so decisively beaten there was no longer any question as to the
+relative importance of the guilds and the local Counts of Flanders.
+The latter, though still figuring prominently in the history of the
+time, were unable to cope with the might of their united subjects, and
+only by the help of their overlords of France, by bribery and even by
+downright treachery, were they able to maintain themselves on their
+tottering thrones at all. This period is the most interesting in the
+long history of Flanders, for it was during the fourteenth century
+that the land of the Flemings just missed becoming a nation, and,
+possibly, a republic. That it failed was due to the fact that, while
+there existed a splendid and indomitable spirit of freedom in every
+true Flemish breast, the sense of loyalty was local instead of
+national. To his guild and his commune the Fleming was intensely
+loyal, but his patriotism--fine as it was--was too narrow. Each
+commune acted solely for itself, uniting with the others in time of
+great and impending peril, but often sending its armies to fight a
+sister commune over some trifling dispute as soon as the common danger
+was over. The princes were able, by cunningly taking advantage of this
+defect in the Flemish character, to play one commune against another
+and, by dividing the hosts of the guildsmen, to establish finally a
+tyranny too powerful to be thrown off. For one hundred and fifty years
+after the Battle of the Spurs, however, the guilds--although now and
+then temporarily defeated--were, in the main, supreme throughout the
+length and breadth of Flanders, and it was still another century
+before the last spark of civic freedom at Ghent was finally
+extinguished.
+
+Two days after the great fight at Courtrai the victors, headed by the
+redoubtable Peter de Coninck, William of Juliers and Guy of Namur,
+entered the city of Ghent and "converted" the too lukewarm magistrates
+to the popular side. The patrician Liliaerts were expelled from the
+magistracy and many were killed or driven from the city. The Count
+fought stubbornly on, nor did the war with France end immediately, but
+in almost every instance the guildsmen were able to maintain the
+results of their great victory and firmly establish the foundation of
+their power. In the government of the commune of Ghent their voice was
+a potent one. Naturally the wool-spinners and weavers were the
+dominant organisations, while the _petits-métiers_, or minor
+industries, were also represented.
+
+The apprentice system was rigidly enforced among all the guilds, but
+the policy of the organisations was liberal in this respect--for
+example, an apprentice was often sent for a year's journey in other
+cities or countries in order to obtain a wider knowledge of his craft.
+The guildsmen had a hearty and honest pride in good and skilful
+workmanship, and the officers of the guilds supervised the quality of
+the goods turned out and imposed penalties for poor workmanship or the
+use of inferior materials. Each guild had its own house or
+meeting-place, and while the fine guild houses on the Marché aux
+Grains date from a somewhat later period, they were no doubt preceded
+by earlier structures. It was one of the dreams of the Professor to
+rummage about in these ancient edifices, poring over the archives of
+the guilds and inspecting the rooms and halls where their ofttimes
+stormy meetings were held. In this he was destined to be disappointed,
+for while the exteriors of several of these historic buildings have
+been carefully restored, the interiors are now devoted to private uses
+and contain little of interest to the visitor. The archives have been,
+for the most part, preserved in the ancient castle of Girard the
+Devil. Some of the old guild banners still exist, but the guild houses
+themselves are only the empty shells of the powerful organisations
+that once made them their homes.
+
+[Illustration: Photograph by E. Sacré. POST OFFICE, CHURCH OF ST.
+NICHOLAS, BELFRY AND CATHEDRAL, GHENT.]
+
+The most famous structure in Flanders dates from this epoch in the
+town's history. This is the Belfry that has looked down on the red
+roofs of Ghent for nearly six hundred years. The first Belfry was
+begun in 1183, but the present structure was built in 1313-1339, since
+when it has been several times modified and "restored"--not always
+successfully. The latest restoration was carried out by the municipal
+authorities as a preparation for the International Exposition held at
+Ghent in 1913 and was carefully and intelligently done. There are
+three hundred and fifty-five steps in the staircase by which visitors
+ascend the tower, and the climb is one that richly repays those who
+make it. On a clear day one can see beyond Bruges to the northwest, as
+far as Antwerp to the east and Audenaerde to the south. So densely
+peopled is the Flemish plain that these great cities lie almost close
+enough together to be within sound of great Roland.
+
+This was the renowned bell which the burghers of Ghent had cast and
+hung high on their Belfry as an emblem of the city's freedom from
+tyranny and a tocsin to summon the sturdy guildsmen to its defence
+when danger threatened. It bore the following inscription in Flemish:
+
+    Mynen naem is Roelant, als ick clippe dan ist brant
+    Als icke luyde, dan ist storm in Vlaenderlandt.
+
+Freely translated, this is what the bell gave as its autobiography:
+
+    My name is Roland; when I speak softly there is fire at hand,
+    But when I roar loudly it means war in Flanderland.
+
+The original Roland was cast in 1314, or twelve years after the Battle
+of the Spurs. It weighed twelve thousand, five hundred pounds and was
+the pride of the city, but was destroyed by order of Charles V when he
+forced the burghers abjectly to submit to his despotism in 1540.
+
+In the lower part of the tower is the "secret room" where from 1402
+the burghers kept, behind triple doors as at Bruges, the charters and
+privileges of the city. The famous dragon at the tip of the spire was
+for centuries said to have been brought from the Orient at the time of
+Baldwin of Constantinople, but recent researches in the archives of
+the city have shown that it was made at Ghent in the year 1377-78.
+Adjoining the Belfry is the Cloth Hall erected for the most important
+of the city's four hundred guilds. The upper hall is now used as a
+Bureau of Information for Tourists, while the lower one is a
+Rathskeller. Here the columns and vaulted roof greatly resemble the
+crypt of Girard the Devil's castle, save that the little tables and
+excellent Munich and Pilsen to be had there make it decidedly more
+cheerful. The edifice was begun in 1425 and finished, or, at least,
+the work was stopped, in 1441. Behind the Cloth Hall, but nestling
+close against it, is the quaint little entrance to the communal
+prison, which was built in 1741 when the prisoners were confined on
+the lower floor of the Cloth Hall. Over the door at the top of the
+façade is the celebrated bas-relief representing the legend of the
+Mammelokker. The carving really tells all there is to the story; which
+is, in brief, that, on one occasion, when an old man was condemned to
+die of starvation, his daughter--who just then had a baby whom she was
+nursing--secretly gave the breast to her aged parent, thus saving his
+life.
+
+While the Belfry was being built by the burghers of Ghent, France and
+England were drifting into the Hundred Years' War. The Count of
+Flanders, Louis de Nevers, was ardently loyal to France and utterly
+blind to the interests of the great woollen manufacturing communes
+over which he ruled and to those of his own dynasty. In 1336, no doubt
+at the instance of the King of France, he ordered all the English
+merchants in Flanders to be arrested and their goods confiscated. The
+King of England, Edward III, promptly retaliated by prohibiting the
+exportation of wool from England to Flanders and the sale of Flemish
+woollens in his Kingdom. In a few months the Flemish communes of
+Ghent, Bruges and Ypres found themselves facing utter ruin as a result
+of this economic conflict. The spinners and weavers were idle, the
+markets deserted, actual starvation existed, and many of the guildsmen
+were forced to wander off into the countryside to beg for food.
+
+It was at this critical moment that the great figure of Jacques Van
+Artevelde appears upon the stage of Flemish history. Son of a rich
+wool and cloth merchant who had been long prominent among the
+Clauwaerts, or foes of French domination, Jacques Van Artevelde was a
+man of wealth and position who by ancestry and calling was inclined to
+the popular rather than the aristocratic side. On December 28, 1337,
+he harangued the men of Bruges in behalf of peace with England, in
+spite of the obstinate and fatuous policy of the Count. As a result of
+his eloquence, abundantly enforced by the ruin and misery then
+prevailing on every side, the people decided unanimously to establish
+a revolutionary government, which was accomplished peacefully on the
+third of the following month. Van Artevelde was recognised as the
+foremost of the five captains then chosen to administer the government
+of the city, and was given a larger guard than his colleagues. The
+helpless Count of Flanders, unable to resist, was obliged to ratify
+the new policy of the burghers, and by the middle of the year 1338
+the embargo was formally raised on both sides, the woollen industry
+started up once more, and Flanders was declared to be neutral as
+regarded the contest between its two powerful neighbours. In short,
+the wise policy of Van Artevelde was completely triumphant and the
+country again placed on the road to renewed prosperity.
+
+Under the direction of the great tribune the weavers were now the
+dominant factor in the government of Ghent, and soon the influence of
+Van Artevelde made itself felt in Bruges, Ypres and all the other
+Flemish communes, where the guild leaders became likewise the heads of
+the magistracy. The Count strove to reassert his power, but Van
+Artevelde stormed the Castle and the prince was forced to accompany
+the men of Ghent to the annual procession at Tournai wearing their
+colours. The "White Hoods," as the warriors of the popular party were
+called, destroyed the castles of several of the lesser nobility who
+dared to resist their authority and throughout all the land Van
+Artevelde reigned supreme. Edward III, after vainly endeavouring to
+win the Count of Flanders to his side by flattering matrimonial
+offers, ended by treating directly with Van Artevelde as if with a
+sovereign prince.
+
+It was the genius of the great Ghent captain that conceived the
+brilliant idea of overcoming the reluctance of the Flemish communes to
+take sides with England against their feudal suzerain, the King of
+France, by having Edward claim the crown of France, and it was in
+consequence of his arguments that the English monarch finally took
+this bold but adroit step. On the 26th of January, 1340, the communes
+formally recognised Edward as their suzerain on the Marché du Vendredi
+at Ghent--one of the many great events that have taken place on that
+historic spot. The King made Ghent his headquarters, and it was in the
+old Castle of the Counts that his third son, known in English history
+as John of Gaunt (Ghent), was born. In the same year occurred the
+great Battle of Sluys, in which Edward III led the English ships of
+war into the harbour of that town where the French King Philip had
+assembled a vast fleet. The defeated Frenchmen leaped overboard in
+hundreds only to be slain by the Flemings as they swam ashore. No man
+dared tell the King of France of this great disaster until the royal
+jester broke the news by exclaiming, "The English cowards! Oh, the
+English cowards!" On the King's inquiring what he meant by this, the
+jester replied, "They were afraid to jump into the sea as our brave
+Frenchmen did at Sluys!"
+
+This brilliant year, however, saw the climax of the power of Van
+Artevelde. Already the other Flemish communes were beginning to
+grumble at his rule, outbreaks occurring at Audenaerde, Dendermonde
+and Ypres. King Edward began to besiege Tournai with the aid of Van
+Artevelde, but on the French King agreeing to a truce he returned to
+England, leaving his faithful ally to take care of himself as best he
+could. To make matters more difficult, he failed to pay the subsidies
+he had promised, and the tribune was violently accused of having
+played the people false. Meanwhile the guildsmen began to dispute
+between themselves, and on Monday, May 2, 1345, in spite of the
+entreaties of Van Artevelde, the fullers and weavers engaged in a
+bloody battle on the Marché du Vendredi in which the former with their
+_Doyen_, or leader, were massacred. This sad day was called the _Kwade
+Maendag_, or Bad Monday.
+
+Early in July Van Artevelde had a last interview with Edward at Sluys.
+On his return to Ghent a mob of malcontents, led by men in the pay of
+Count Louis of Nevers, besieged the great tribune in his house, crying
+that he had betrayed the country. After vainly trying to argue with
+them, he reluctantly permitted himself to be drawn away from the
+window by his followers, who sought to persuade him to seek safety in
+flight. It was too late, however, as the mob had already burst into
+the house and one of them struck Van Artevelde dead on his own
+threshold. For nearly nine years he had been virtually a king in
+Flanders, his policy bringing unexampled prosperity to the country and
+to his native city.
+
+Although often called a demagogue and a tyrant, Jacques Van Artevelde
+ranks as one of the foremost statesmen of his time. He died the
+"victim of a faction" and of treachery rather than a popular revolt
+against his policies, for the English alliance was steadfastly
+continued after his death. To-day his statue stands on the Marché du
+Vendredi, where, in 1340, he burned the papal interdict against
+Flanders. It represents him in the act of delivering the famous speech
+by which he won the allegiance of his fellow citizens to the English
+alliance. Count Louis profited little by his treachery, for a little
+over a year later, August 26, 1346, he fell in the great battle of
+Crécy where the English archers, fighting by the side of many Flemish
+guildsmen, gave the death blow to mediæval chivalry and utterly
+crushed the power of France.
+
+The weavers, who under Van Artevelde had become the dominant power in
+all of the Flemish communes, soon had good reason to regret his fall,
+for the new Count, Louis of Maele--named like most of the Counts of
+Flanders from the place where he was born, the great castle of
+Maele--was able by liberal promises and the restoration of ancient
+charters and privileges to win the support of most of the cities. At
+Ghent the butchers, fish merchants, and boatmen's guilds submitted,
+followed by the fullers and minor industries. The weavers, although
+their numbers had been greatly reduced by the plague, held out
+stubbornly, but were massacred on the Marché du Vendredi, Tuesday,
+January 13, 1349, their captain and their _Doyen_, Gérard Denys--the
+man who had slain Van Artevelde--being flung into the Lys. The victors
+called this bloody day _De Goede Disendach_, or Good Tuesday, and it
+certainly amply revenged the Bad Monday four years before when the
+weavers were the aggressors. The members of the unfortunate guild were
+now hunted down like dogs throughout all Flanders, great numbers
+fleeing to England where they established the weaving industry--King
+Edward wisely welcoming the exiles and giving them every aid in his
+power to settle in his Kingdom. Later the competition of these
+fugitives and their descendants gave Flanders good cause to rue the
+folly of the internal strife that thus drove away some of the best
+workmen in the country.
+
+The numerical superiority of this guild, however, and the fact that
+its members were necessarily more skilled than the fullers, led to its
+gradual recovery, and by 1359 the weavers were again admitted to a
+share in the government of the communes and the fullers were relegated
+to the inferior position to which their smaller numbers and less
+skilled work entitled them. Louis of Maele made Bruges virtually his
+capital, but during the greater part of his reign of forty years was
+able to continue on fairly peaceful terms with the turbulent city of
+Ghent by means of a careful and detailed adjustment of the order of
+precedence between the various guilds which was devised about the year
+1352 and continued in effect for nearly two centuries. In 1369 the
+daughter of the Count married Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy and
+brother of the King of France--an event full of dire significance for
+the guildsmen as it led to their having, in after years, the powerful
+Dukes of Burgundy as their over-lords instead of the comparatively
+feeble Counts of Flanders. In 1377 Count Louis held a great tournament
+in the Marché du Vendredi. Despite the long conflict between the
+guilds the city was at this period very prosperous.
+
+The Count, however, who was always short of money, sold to the
+citizens of Bruges the right to construct a canal from their port to
+the River Lys. At this Ghent, headed by the Boatmen's Guild, flew to
+arms and a civil war broke out in 1379, the men of Ghent fearing that
+they might lose their monopoly of the grain traffic. After various
+successes and reverses the Count besieged the city and had very nearly
+reduced it by starvation when Philip Van Artevelde, son of the famous
+tribune, came forward and was made Captain-General of the city, in
+1382. The new leader, and a motley crowd of five thousand half-starved
+followers, marched on Bruges, where the Count, at the head of a host
+of over forty thousand, attacked them under the walls of the city. The
+larger army, however, was a mere rabble--over-confident and half
+intoxicated--and Van Artevelde won a complete victory. The Count of
+Flanders was compelled to hide for the night under a heap of straw in
+a poor woman's hovel, and later escaped to Lille and so to France.
+Van Artevelde treated the captured city with generosity and was soon
+captain of all Flanders. His next battle was with the King of France,
+but this time he was less fortunate, and at Rosbecque, November 27,
+1382, the Flemish host was cut to pieces and its leader slain. Louis
+of Maele himself died two years later, leaving the reputation of being
+the worst and weakest of the line of Flemish Counts, as well as the
+last. It was at his request that the French had invaded the country,
+which they swept with fire and sword after the defeat of the Flemish
+guildsmen, but the victory was of no benefit to the broken-down old
+man who no longer dared to show himself in Flanders and died at Paris
+in poverty and neglect.
+
+As an offset to these remarks regarding the weakness of Louis of Maele
+it is only fair to that worthy to relate a little legend generally
+attributed to his reign. It is said that on a certain occasion the
+magistrates of Ghent--which was at the time renowned as the most
+opulent city in Europe--were invited to a great feast given in honour
+of some foreign king. Those in charge of the arrangements forgot,
+however, to put cushions on the chairs and the men of Ghent
+accordingly threw their richly embroidered cloaks upon them, and
+retired when the feast was over without putting them on again. When
+reminded of this the Chief Magistrate replied, "The Flemings are not
+accustomed to carry their cushions with them." Not only the grandees
+but the bourgeois citizens at this period were said to wear purple and
+fine linen. The baths, "stooven," frequented by both sexes, became the
+scenes of great vice and disorder and one ancient chronicler reports
+an incredible number of murders as occurring during a single year at
+gaming tables and drinking places. All this would seem to show that
+Louis of Maele was not so bad a sovereign--for at least the country
+prospered under his rule--but in reality he had, as we have seen, very
+little to do either with the actual government or public policy during
+his long reign.
+
+No visitor to Ghent fails to take a look at De Dulle Griete, or "Mad
+Margery," Philip Van Artevelde's big cannon that stands in the
+Mannekens Aert. According to Froissart, Van Artevelde took with him to
+the siege of Audenaerde "a bombard which was fifty feet in length, and
+shot stones of immense weight. When they fired off this bombard it
+might be heard five leagues off in the daytime, and ten at night.
+The report of it was so loud, that it seemed as if all the devils in
+hell had broken loose." Mad Margery seems to have shrunk considerably
+since Froissart's time, for she is now nineteen feet long and three
+feet in diameter at the mouth. The gun was made of wrought iron and
+weighs thirty-four thousand, one hundred and sixty-six pounds, and was
+capable of throwing a stone weighing seven hundred and eight pounds.
+
+[Illustration: DE DULLE GRIETE, GHENT.]
+
+Another interesting monument dating from the same period in the city's
+history as the Belfry is the Hospital of the Biloque or Biloke. Some
+of the buildings are of much more recent construction, but the Gothic
+chapel was built early in the thirteenth century, apparently about
+1228, with a double gable and immense timber roof. The former
+Refectory offers an example of early brick work at one of its ends,
+_le beau pignon_, that is a joy to architects, and has often been
+described and illustrated in the technical books. The timber roof of
+this structure is also noteworthy. It is now used as a hospital for
+old men. This edifice is a century later than the chapel, while some
+of the other buildings date from the seventeenth and eighteenth
+centuries.
+
+Ghent contains two Béguinages, a circumstance that gives not a little
+trouble to visitors who in trying to visit one are about always--at
+least that was our experience on two occasions--directed to the other.
+Both are large, but one is more notable for its antiquity and the
+other for its size and the perfection of its appointments. The first
+Béguinage in Ghent was founded by Jeanne of Constantinople in 1233 as
+a place of refuge for women disciples of the church who in those evil
+days felt the need of protection, but did not desire to enter the
+conventual life. Little houses sprang up and the institution proved so
+popular that a second Béguinage was soon established which came to be
+called the Petit Béguinage. Protected by the successive Counts, and
+particularly by the patronage of the Countesses of Flanders, both
+institutions flourished and expanded steadily. The present Petit
+Béguinage de Notre Dame dates largely from the seventeenth century,
+and the Chapel and streets of tiny houses inhabited by the Béguines
+are most picturesque. It has accommodations for three hundred sisters.
+The Grand Béguinage de Ste. Elisabeth was confiscated during the
+French Revolution and the property presented to the almshouses of the
+city of Ghent. The Committee in charge of the almshouses suffered
+the Béguines to remain undisturbed, however, until 1872 when
+strained relations resulting from this arrangement led to the Béguines
+giving up their establishment, which was modernized by the authorities
+and many of its interesting features destroyed. The church remains,
+having become a parish church, and the rue des Prébendières retains
+its original appearance. Meanwhile, the Duke of Arenberg purchased
+ground for a new Grande Béguinage at Mont St. Amand, and here a little
+city of small houses, designed in fifteenth-century Flemish style, and
+a new chapel were erected, the work being completed in 1874.
+
+[Illustration: WORKROOM, PETIT BÉGUINAGE DE NOTRE DAME, GHENT.]
+
+We spent a very charming afternoon visiting the Grande Béguinage.
+Passing through the lofty gateway we were greeted by the
+pleasant-faced Béguine who receives all visitors and who directed us
+how to reach the buildings we were permitted to see. As at Bruges, the
+cells were not shown to visitors. Altogether at St. Amand there are
+fourteen "convents" and eighty houses, the former accommodating twenty
+or thirty inmates and the latter two or three, with occasionally some
+lady from the outer world who is taken as a lodger. Each little house
+is numbered and also has a name, usually that of some saint. Arriving
+at the convent we had been permitted to visit we were first conducted
+down a long, clean corridor, painted a glaring white, to a parlour or
+reception room, of which there appear to be several. Then, after the
+Lady Superior had been notified of our presence and had come to
+welcome us, we were taken to the _refter_, or dining-room. The
+inventor of the kitchen cabinet could have taken points from this
+curious apartment. Along the walls and between the windows are a dozen
+or more cupboards, of which one belongs to each Béguine. Here she
+keeps her napkins, dishes and cooking utensils, and even her bread and
+provisions. A board can be pulled out near the middle, which serves as
+a table. These cupboards are so constructed that no Béguine can see
+into that of her neighbour, and apparently they take their meals one
+at a time, as one was eating her frugal repast when we entered, and
+when we passed through the room again a little later her little
+private refectory was closed and another one was seated at her little
+shelf or table. Adjoining this queer dining-room was a large kitchen,
+with an extremely big cook stove, on which a half-dozen little pots
+were simmering gently. One Béguine, we were told, has the duty of
+attending to the kitchen for three weeks, then another, each taking
+turns. The Béguines prepare their own meals to suit themselves, the
+one in charge of the kitchen merely looking after the actual process
+of cooking.
+
+We next visited the workroom, where a group of Béguines were busily
+engaged in making lace. The bright sunshine streaming through the
+large windows on the silent group of workers, each clad in her sombre
+garb of black and white, made a pretty picture. All seemed to be
+care-free and contented, though the expression on their faces could
+hardly be described as one of happiness. As in all conventual
+institutions, the inmates are required to go through quite a series of
+devotional exercises from morning mass to the Benediction Night
+Prayers. The scene in the little chapel attached to each convent, or
+in the large chapel of the entire Béguinage, when the sisters are
+assembled for service is a very picturesque one and gives the visitor
+an impression likely long to be remembered.
+
+Speaking of the peculiar dining customs of the Béguines reminds me
+that in Flanders the judicious should not overlook the importance of
+doing justice to the culinary treats that are provided by even the
+little hotels. For those travellers who look upon eating as one of the
+disagreeable necessities of existence, to be shirked or evaded as far
+as possible, and, in any event, to be hurried through with quickly
+lest something be overlooked that the immortal Mr. Baedeker said must
+be seen, this is one feature of Flemish life that will make no appeal.
+On the other hand, for those who are neither mentally nor bodily
+dyspeptic; who agree with the French aphorism that "the animals feed,
+while man eats"; and who are still able to enjoy a good meal well
+planned, well cooked, and well served, a trip through Flanders will
+bring a new pleasure every day. A peep into any Flemish kitchen will
+convince the most sceptical that here, at all events, one's stomach is
+not likely to be forgotten. Pots and kettles, casseroles and pans,
+pitchers and jugs, large and small, hang around the walls or rest upon
+long shelves--all of brightly polished copper and ready for instant
+service.
+
+The great meal of the day in all parts of Flanders is the dinner, and
+it cuts the day in two--coming between noon and two o'clock and
+usually lasting an hour or more. The evening meal, or supper, is much
+less important, save in a few hotels catering largely to tourists. To
+get up a real Flemish dinner, cooked and served in the best style of
+which the Flemish cooks are capable, the housewife first ascertains
+when the local butcher has fresh-killed meat and plans accordingly.
+Vegetables in Flanders are always good, in their respective seasons,
+but to get the finest quality of meats one must buy just after the
+butcher has made a killing. To Americans, who have been accustomed all
+their lives to eat meat that has been kept on ice, it almost seems as
+though one has never tasted a roast of beef or a shoulder of mutton
+before--so deliciously sweet, tender and juicy are they when cooked
+and eaten before the ice has robbed them of their richness and
+flavour.
+
+It was while we were browsing around Ghent that the ladies discovered
+a bit of handicraft that seems worth mentioning. We subsequently saw
+the same thing at Brussels and Antwerp, so that it appears to be
+distinctly a Belgian industry. In a large window they noticed two
+women engaged in what from over the way might have been taken for
+lace-making. Mrs. Professor hurried across at once to investigate and
+she and the Madame spent half an hour watching the operation. Each of
+the two women was engaged in repairing, the one a pair of trousers and
+the other an overcoat. In each case the repair consisted of literally
+weaving a new segment of cloth in place of the damaged portion. First
+cutting out all of the latter they frayed out an edge of the goods at
+some point where there was sufficient material turned under for their
+purpose. This done they took short strands of each of the various
+coloured yarns and, with infinite patience and skill, wove them
+together in an exact reproduction of the design of the original
+textile. So cleverly was the work done that when completed the
+reparation could not be detected. It is possible that repairing of
+this kind is done in America but none of us had ever seen or heard of
+it. In Belgium it seemed to be fairly common, being styled _Reparation
+invisible_, and the price varying from one to three or four francs for
+each hole repaired, according to the nature of the goods and the
+design. We also saw rugs being repaired in the same manner, as well as
+ladies' dress goods of every description.
+
+It is one of the most deplorable features of the war that its most
+fearful destructiveness should have been wreaked upon a little country
+where every small economy and patient utilisation of trifles had been
+practised for centuries. All Belgium is pre-eminently a land of
+thrift, of painstaking husbanding of small resources, and to beggar
+half the population of such a country means a calamity to each family
+group and individual far more poignant than would be the case where
+frugality was less deeply ingrained as a national characteristic.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+PHILIP THE GOOD AND THE VAN EYCKS
+
+
+As the sunset is often the most beautiful hour of the day, so the
+splendour of the old Flemish communes reached its zenith at the moment
+when many of them were about to sink into their long sleep. This was
+the period of Burgundian rule. Upon the death of Louis of Maele the
+County of Flanders ceased to be a separate sovereignty, as it had been
+since Baldwin of the Iron Arm, for the husband of Margaret, the old
+Count's daughter, was Duke of Burgundy and brother of the King of
+France--a foreign prince whose interests in France far out-weighed in
+his mind his interests in Flanders. The new ruler, Philip the Bold,
+was acknowledged as Count of Flanders in 1384, but was only able to
+enter Audenaerde by stratagem after a siege, and was defied openly by
+the sturdy burghers of Ghent. The following year, however, Philip
+effected a family union by which he virtually controlled the two
+important States of Brabant and Hainaut. His eldest son was married
+to Margaret, daughter of the Regent of Hainaut, while the latter's son
+married Philip's daughter. These marriages were celebrated at Cambrai,
+in April, 1385, and at the same time the Duchess of Brabant recognised
+Philip's second son as heir to the Duchy. Brabant at that time was
+less rich and powerful than Flanders, but its chief cities, Brussels
+and Louvain, were growing rapidly. Hainaut, on the other hand, had
+been termed by one of its leaders "a poor country of proud men"--its
+chief cities, Mons and Valenciennes, being places of third-rate
+importance, and its present vast mineral wealth then undreamed of. The
+marriages of Cambrai are worth remembering, however, as explaining the
+rapidity with which the House of Burgundy extended its sway over
+nearly all of what is now Belgium.
+
+Ghent still resisted its new Count, but an army of one hundred
+thousand French and Burgundians--gathered primarily to invade
+England--destroyed the seaport of Damme, which had been rebuilt since
+its previous destruction by the French, and plundered "the Four
+Trades," as the fertile region thereabout was called. Ghent, however,
+had suffered enough to make it sue for peace and acknowledge Philip's
+sovereignty. The invasion of England project came to nothing--as have
+so many others before and since--but it had at least enabled Philip to
+establish his power in Flanders.
+
+On Philip's death in 1404, he was succeeded by his son, John the
+Fearless (as the old chroniclers call him). The life of this prince
+belongs to the history of France rather than Flanders, as he had
+little use for his Flemish towns except to extort money from their
+burghers--who granted him such sums as he required on his renewing
+acknowledgment of their liberties and privileges. In 1407 John caused
+the murder of his great rival in the government of France, the Duke of
+Orleans. Then came the battle of Agincourt, where the power of France
+was ruined by Henry the Fifth, and in 1419 the son of the Duke of
+Orleans avenged the murder of his father twelve years previously by
+murdering John the Fearless at Montereau.
+
+The son of John the Fearless was Philip, called by the chroniclers
+"the Good." A better term would have been "the Magnificent," for
+goodness was hardly his chief characteristic. The murder of his father
+caused Philip to take the side of England in the long conflict between
+that country and France that was still raging--a policy that pleased
+his Flemish communes, which depended for their prosperity on the wool
+trade. Meanwhile Philip took advantage of the matrimonial difficulties
+of Jacqueline of Bavaria, Countess of Hainaut and Holland, to compel
+that beautiful but unfortunate princess to abdicate in his favour. The
+dungeon in the Castle of the Counts at Ghent, where the fair
+Jacqueline was for a time confined, has already been mentioned. He
+also succeeded in making himself Duke of Brabant, thus uniting in his
+own person the government of these rich provinces with that of
+Flanders and Burgundy and his other possessions in France.
+
+In 1430 Philip married the Princess Isabel of Portugal, a
+great-granddaughter of John, Duke of Lancaster. This marriage cemented
+the English alliance, and the English made Philip Regent of France,
+over which they still claimed sovereignty. It was Philip who captured
+and indirectly caused the execution of Jeanne d'Arc at the darkest
+period of French history.
+
+The now all-powerful Duke of Burgundy signalized his marriage by
+establishing at Bruges the famous Order of the Golden Fleece. This
+consisted of himself, as founder and sovereign prince, and twenty-four
+knights--naturally the highest in the land--and in renown and lustre
+the new order quickly took rank as the very pinnacle of mediæval
+chivalry. Membership was an honour than which there was none higher,
+while members also enjoyed a personal security against the tyranny of
+princes in being amenable only to their comrades of the order. The
+head of such an institution naturally exerted powers equal, and, in
+some respects, superior, to those of any crowned monarch. The fêtes
+with which Philip celebrated the establishment of the order were
+without precedent in the history of Europe for magnificence, and the
+old city of Bruges was for days thronged with the bravest knights and
+the fairest ladies to be found in the Duke's widespread dominions.
+
+Up to this date the policy of Philip had coincided with the interests
+of his great communes in Flanders and his popularity throughout the
+county was unbounded. Not only did friendship with England protect and
+stimulate trade between the two countries, but the misery and ruin of
+France also contributed to extend the commerce of the great towns just
+over the frontier whose trade and industries were unmolested. In 1435
+Philip concluded the treaty of Arras with Charles VII, King of France,
+by which, for the sake of peace, the French King ceded to him a
+number of counties in France and made him, during his lifetime at
+least, an independent prince owing no homage to the French Crown. This
+treaty naturally enraged the English, who at once declared war on
+Burgundy, destroying many Burgundian vessels and raiding its coast
+towns. In revenge Duke Philip marched on Calais with an army of thirty
+thousand Flemings whom he induced to join in the war against their
+ancient ally chiefly through their confidence in his good intentions
+and against their own better judgment. The siege proved to be a long
+one, and the Flemings becoming discontented finally set fire to their
+camp and crying, "_Go, go, wy zyn all vermanden!_" ("Go, go, we are
+all betrayed!") marched back to Flanders, leaving their Duke raging at
+his discomfiture.
+
+This fiasco determined Philip to adopt a new policy toward the
+communes and compel them to obey his orders. On May 22, 1437, he
+camped outside of the city of Bruges with a considerable force of
+knights and Picard footmen, informing the burghers that he was on his
+way to Holland. The next day, telling his men "That is the Holland we
+have come to conquer!" as he pointed to the city, Philip led his
+forces to the market-place. The tocsin in the old belfry instantly
+sounded the alarm, and angry guildsmen and burghers came pouring down
+the narrow streets in thousands. Philip's small force, taken at a
+disadvantage, was forced to retreat to one of the gates. It was shut,
+its heavy bolts securely drawn. Already some of the French force had
+been killed, and in a few moments the Duke himself would have perished
+but for Burgomaster Van de Walle, who brought a smith and broke the
+lock. The Duke escaped with most of his followers, but many who were
+caught in the rear lost their lives. This was the Bruges Vespers--to
+distinguish it from Bruges Matin, the year of the Battle of the Spurs.
+
+Philip now set about humbling the proud city in grim earnest, cutting
+off the commerce upon which its prosperity depended, and even its food
+supplies. To add to the horrors of the siege the plague broke out
+within the city, while leprosy was also prevalent. No less than
+twenty-four thousand died of pestilence and famine before the brave
+burghers at last gave in. Philip's terms were hard. The city officials
+were required to meet him bareheaded and barefooted the next time he
+deigned to visit the defeated commune, and on their knees give him the
+keys of the city. A heavy fine was imposed and forty-two leading
+burghers were excluded from amnesty and beheaded--including Van de
+Walle, who had saved his life at the Bouverie gate. This was the
+"Great Humiliation," as it is sometimes called, but--finding that
+continued hostility to the chief trading centre in his dominions was
+driving foreign traders away--the Duke now took Bruges again into his
+favour and never again molested it during his long reign.
+
+The proud city of Ghent was the next to feel the weight of the
+powerful Duke's displeasure. Rebelling in 1448 against the imposition
+of a tax on salt, called the gabelle, the city defied the Duke's
+authority for five years. Meanwhile Philip gradually cut off its
+supplies, as he had done with Bruges. Ghent was more populous,
+however, and its burgher armies took the field and carried open war as
+far as Audenaerde, which they besieged. Several small battles were
+fought, the advantage resting mainly with the Duke, until on July 23,
+1453, the decisive conflict took place. The Duke's forces were
+encamped at Gavre, a few miles from the city. Spies within the gates
+told the burghers that it would be easy to surprise the camp and
+destroy Philip's army. The tocsin therefore was sounded and the hosts
+of guildsmen and burghers marched out to attack the enemy. The Duke's
+forces, aware of the manner in which the Flemings were to be betrayed,
+were placed where the open ground favoured the Burgundian horsemen. In
+spite of this advantage, the contest was a stubborn one, both the Duke
+and his son Charles narrowly escaping death on one occasion. At last
+the Flemings began to give way, and the battle became a slaughter,
+more than twenty thousand of the guildsmen being slain on the field,
+while all prisoners were hanged. This struggle was called "the red sea
+of Gavre." As the men of Ghent were fleeing toward their city Philip
+sought to pursue them by the shortest way and intercept their flight.
+He accordingly called for a guide. A peasant of the neighbourhood
+volunteered, and, after leading the Burgundian army across fields and
+by-paths for several hours, conducted the victors--not to the gates of
+Ghent, but back to their own camp again! This nameless hero was
+incontinently hanged to the nearest tree, but he no doubt saved the
+city from pillage and rapine that night.
+
+Philip by this victory completely crushed the spirit of the communes,
+for none dared resist when Ghent the all-powerful had failed. He seems
+to have had at least a fleeting realisation, however, that victories
+of this sort were not matters for unmitigated satisfaction. The day
+after the battle the women of Ghent were searching the ghastly heaps
+of dead for the bodies of their husbands, their brothers and their
+lovers when Philip exclaimed--possibly touched by the sad sight--"I do
+not know who is the gainer by this victory. As for me, see what I have
+lost--for these were my subjects!"
+
+The privileges of Ghent were somewhat curtailed, and the dearly loved
+guild banners carried away by the conqueror, but Philip, on the whole,
+was very moderate. The obnoxious gabelle, the cause of the war, was
+removed, and all citizens guaranteed their individual liberties. The
+following year, Philip, possibly to celebrate his now undisputed
+supremacy, gave a series of fêtes at Lille that surpassed even those
+held on the occasion of his marriage at the foundation of the Order of
+the Golden Fleece. Upon one dining table stood a cathedral, with a
+choir singing within; another held a huge pie, inside of which an
+orchestra of twenty-eight musicians played; a third contained a
+pantomime representing Jason in search of the golden fleece. These
+fêtes and tournaments lasted for days, and were the wonder of Europe.
+
+During the remainder of his reign of fifty years Philip never again
+had occasion to make war on his Flemish subjects, and while he
+seriously curtailed the power and importance of the communes, his rule
+was, on the whole, a period of great prosperity for Flanders. Both
+merchants and artisans were waxing rich, while the chief cities were
+being beautified on every hand. It was under Philip the Good that the
+cathedral at Antwerp was begun, and the town halls of Mons, Louvain
+and Brussels erected. It was also during his reign that William Caxton
+learned the art of printing at the house of Colard Manson at Bruges,
+but the prejudice of the burghers led to his banishment as a
+foreigner--thus depriving Bruges of the lustre of his achievements.
+The greatest event of Philip's reign, however, was one of which the
+glory is shared by both Bruges and Ghent--the establishment in
+Flanders of the school of painters in oils whose masterpieces loom so
+large in the history of art.
+
+Like most men whose commanding personality dominates the age in which
+they live, Philip the Good was many sided. The Professor admires him
+because he was, in his judgment, one of the greatest constructive
+statesmen of the Middle Ages--aiming steadily throughout his long
+reign to weld together, by fair means or foul, a compact Burgundian
+nation. On the other hand, I look upon him as a foe rather than a
+friend of true progress, because he crushed the self-governing
+communes and guilds, the bulwarks of personal liberty in feudal
+Europe. Mrs. Professor cares nothing for either of these aspects of
+his career, but looks upon him as great for all time because he was an
+ardent friend and patron of the fine arts.
+
+In this she is undoubtedly right, for no greater glory belongs to any
+of the long line of princes who ruled over Flanders than that which is
+associated with his reign--the birth at Bruges of the art of painting
+with oils and of the wonderful school of painting represented by the
+early Flemish masters. In his _History of Flemish Painting_ Prof. A.
+J. Wauters recounts the names and some faint traces of the work of a
+few Flemish painters who lived prior to the period of Philip the Good.
+At Ghent there are two interesting frescoes dating from about the end
+of the thirteenth century. At that city in 1337 the first guild of
+sculptors was organised, under the patronage of St. Luke, and similar
+corporations were instituted at Tournai in 1341, in Bruges in 1351,
+at Louvain by 1360 and Antwerp by 1382. To this guild from the very
+earliest period the painters belonged, sometimes the goldsmiths and
+goldbeaters being also associated with them. In the same way the
+illuminators of Bruges and Ghent, and the tapestry workers of Arras,
+Tournai, Valenciennes and Brussels were organised into guilds, and
+these associations of men whose work was in a high degree artistic
+soon resulted in the transformation of the artisan into the artist.
+
+Philip the Good was not the first of his line to give encouragement to
+art and artists. One Jehan de Hasselt was court painter to Count Louis
+of Maele, while at the same period the better known Jehan de Bruges
+was _peintre et varlet de chambre_ for the King of France. By the end
+of the fourteenth century not only the great Dukes of Burgundy and the
+Kings of France but many minor princes had their chosen painters,
+imagers, illuminators and tapestry workers. Philip the Bold, the first
+of the Dukes of Burgundy to rule over Flanders, retained his
+father-in-law's painter, Jehan de Hasselt, on his pay-roll for some
+time, and later employed a resident of Ypres, Melchior Broederlam,
+whose masterpiece was an altar-piece for the Carthusian monastery at
+Dijon founded by his patron. Part of this has been preserved and is
+now in the museum of Dijon. It is of interest as the first great
+painting of the early Flemish school and represents the Annunciation
+and Visitation, the Presentation in the Temple, and the Flight into
+Egypt. John the Fearless, the next Duke of Burgundy, likewise had his
+official painter, but it was not until the reign of Philip the Good
+that any of these Ducal artists, with the exception of Broederlam,
+achieved more than mediocre results.
+
+The reason for this may have been the medium with which all painters
+in those days were accustomed to work. This was called tempera, the
+colours being mixed with water, the white of an egg or some other
+glutinous substance, then dried in the sun and varnished over. The
+colours, however, soon became dull and pale--often fading away
+altogether, especially in course of restoration--and the process of
+drying was slow and unsatisfactory. To Flanders belongs the honour of
+the great discovery of the art of painting with oils that
+revolutionised this branch of the fine arts and made the master-works
+of the artists of the brush imperishable for all time.
+
+This epoch-making discovery, which is justly looked upon as the birth
+of modern painting, was made by the two brothers Van Eyck about the
+year 1410. The early accounts attribute the invention wholly to Jean,
+the younger of the two brothers, relating that on a certain occasion
+he had placed a painting on wood, which had cost him much time and
+labour, in the sun to dry when the heat of the sun caused it to crack.
+Seeing his work thus ruined at a blow Jean sought to find some
+substance that would obviate the necessity of drying his paintings in
+the sun and, after many experiments, discovered that linseed oil and
+nut oil were by far the most rapid in drying. He further found that
+the colours mixed better in oil than with the white of an egg or glue.
+They also had more body, a far richer lustre, were impermeable to
+water and--what was best of all--dried just as well in the shade as in
+the sun. Later scholarship is not inclined to give the entire credit
+for this discovery to Jean alone, however, and his elder brother
+Hubert is looked upon by some as the one to whom the glory is due.
+Probably it was the joint result of innumerable experiments made by
+both, each profiting by the mistakes and successes of the other--just
+as was the case with the Wright brothers in perfecting the greatest
+invention of our own times. There were, of course, other pioneers who
+contributed to the great discovery.
+
+The brothers were born at Maeseyck (Eyck-sur-Meuse) near Maestricht,
+and took the name of the village as their own in a way that was then
+very common. Literally they called themselves Hubert and Jean of Eyck.
+They first obtained service under the prince-bishop of Liége, and were
+illuminators of manuscripts and statues as well as painters. The
+increasing wealth and luxury of Flanders under the Dukes of Burgundy
+drew the two brothers to that country and they appear to have been in
+the employ of the Count of Charolais, afterwards the Duke Philip the
+Good, at about the date assigned by the early historians as that when
+the art of painting with oils was discovered. The Count was residing
+at that time in the Château des Comtes at Ghent with his young wife
+Michelle, sister of the Duke of Orleans. In 1419, when the news of the
+murder of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, by the Duke of Orleans
+on the bridge of Montereau arrived at Ghent, Philip rushed into his
+wife's room crying, "Michelle, Michelle! Your brother has killed my
+father!" The shock of this terrible intelligence, and the subsequent
+suspicion of her husband that she knew of the plot, caused the poor
+little French princess to pine away and die two years later. As a
+tribute to her memory the guild of St. Luke was asked by the Duke to
+grant the freedom of the guild to her favourite painters, the two Van
+Eycks, which was done.
+
+Jean, however, did not remain at Ghent, but took service for a time
+under John of Bavaria, whose capital was at The Hague. In 1425 he
+became painter and varlet de chambre of Philip the Good, a position he
+retained until his death. For a time he seems to have travelled about
+with his ducal master, but he eventually settled at Bruges, where most
+of his best work was done. Hubert, meanwhile, remained at Ghent,
+painting for the rich burghers of that prosperous city. Here he
+presently received an order from Jodocus Vydts for an altar-piece for
+a chapel he had founded in the Cathedral of St. Bavon in his native
+city of Ghent. Hubert began work immediately, planned the great work
+and lived to partially complete it when overtaken by death in 1426.
+Hubert was recognised as a great painter in his day, the magistrates
+of Ghent on one occasion going in state to his studio to inspect a
+picture he was painting--which was no doubt the altar-piece for St.
+Bavon. He was, however, wholly forgotten by early historians of art
+in Flanders, and it is only recently that he has been given his proper
+place as one of the first of the great masters of the Flemish school.
+
+The subject chosen by Hubert for the proposed altar-piece was the
+Adoration of the Lamb, and the artist, while true to the conventions
+of the age in which he lived, achieved a work that is still full of
+interest and charm. Like Shakespeare's plays this, the first great
+masterpiece of the Flemish school, belongs not to an age but to all
+time. In its entirety the work consists of twenty panels and comprises
+more than three hundred separate figures. How far it had been
+completed at Hubert's death there is no way to tell, although it is
+customary to attribute to him the architectural frame, the central
+panel showing the lamb, and the large upper panels. Other critics
+believe that Jean practically painted the whole picture when he was
+commissioned by the donor to complete it. The books on Flemish art
+devote many pages to an analytical description of this picture,[1]
+which was finally completed by Jean in 1432. The Duke Philip, his
+patron, and the magistrates of Bruges visited his studio in state to
+inspect the finished picture, which was afterwards publicly exhibited
+at Ghent. When it is considered that this is the very first painting
+in oil that has come down to us it is in every respect a most
+marvellous performance. The three large central panels in the upper
+portion are especially noble and impressive, that of "God the Father,"
+in the centre, being finely expressive of majesty and repose. In the
+panel to the left of the Virgin Mary is a group of youthful angels
+singing, who are so skilfully painted that "one can readily tell from
+looking at them which is singing the dominant, which the
+counter-tenor, and which the tenor and the bass," according to an
+early critic. We were told by a Belgian curé with whom we talked about
+this wonderful picture shortly before our visit to Ghent that the work
+is so fine in its details that in the case of the figures in the
+foreground who are holding open in their hands copies of the
+Scriptures the very passage at which each book is opened can be
+distinguished! We verified this remarkable assertion by the aid of a
+glass loaned us by an attendant.
+
+[Footnote 1: See "The Early Flemish Painters," by J. A. Crowe and G.
+B. Cavalcaselle, pp. 49-63; and "Belgium, Its Cities," by Grant Allen,
+pp. 164-175.]
+
+The subsequent history of the painting is interesting. Philip II, who
+carried many Flemish masterpieces away to Spain, admired this one,
+but contented himself with a copy by Michel Coxcie, for which he paid
+four thousand ducats--which was quite likely more than the Van Eyck
+brothers received for the original. About 1578 the Calvinists of Ghent
+wished to present the painting to Queen Elizabeth in return for her
+support of their sect. For a time it was placed in the Hotel de Ville
+at Ghent, but was finally restored to the cathedral. After several
+other escapes from destruction or shipment abroad the work was finally
+dismembered out of deference to the views of Joseph II of Austria,
+during the period of Austrian rule in Flanders. He objected to the
+nude figures of Adam and Eve as unsuited to a church, and these were
+accordingly removed. The entire work was carried away during the
+French Revolution, but was returned some years later. The wings,
+however, were not restored to their original position, and were
+finally sold to a London dealer for four thousand pounds sterling. He,
+in turn, sold them to the King of Prussia, and they are now in the
+Museum of Berlin. The wings now at St. Bavon are the copies made by
+Coxcie. The original panels of Adam and Eve were stored for many years
+in the cellars of St. Bavon, and then were exchanged with the Belgian
+Government for the Coxcie wings just mentioned. They are now in the
+Brussels Museum. The Adam and Eve at St. Bavon are not even copies of
+the originals.
+
+[Illustration: "SINGING ANGELS" FROM "THE ADORATION OF THE
+LAMB."--JEAN VAN EYCK.]
+
+Jean Van Eyck enjoyed the confidence and affection of Philip the Good
+until his death, and was often sent on diplomatic missions of great
+importance. On one occasion he was sent to Portugal with an embassy
+appointed to propose a marriage between his ducal patron and the
+Princess Isabel. Jean was also commissioned to paint the portrait of
+the fair Isabel so that his master could judge for himself whether her
+charms were as great as he had fancied them to be. This portrait was
+duly painted and in the inventory of the possessions of Margaret of
+Austria there was a painting by Jean Van Eyck called _La belle
+Portugalaise_, which was, no doubt, the very one painted for Duke
+Philip. It must have been pleasing, for he married the lady. As late
+as 1516 _La belle Portugalaise_ was still in existence at Malines. It
+represented a lady in a red habit with sable trimmings, attended by
+St. Nicholas. It has since disappeared--one of the many thousands that
+were lost or destroyed during the wars of the sixteenth to the
+eighteenth centuries, but both historically and artistically one
+of the most interesting of them all. There are a considerable number
+of authenticated paintings by Jean Van Eyck still in existence.
+Several of these are in the original frames with the artist's famous
+motto, "_Als ik kan_" (As I can), more or less legible. It is by no
+means unlikely that in time to come one or more of those now lost will
+be discovered, thus adding to the priceless heritage that the world
+owes to his immortal brush.
+
+[Illustration: _"George Van der Paele, Canon of St. Donatian
+worshipping the Madonna" Jean Van Eyck_]
+
+Two of the most celebrated of Jean Van Eyck's paintings can be seen at
+Bruges. One of these is in the Museum and shows George Van der Paele,
+Canon of St. Donatian, worshipping the Madonna. Of the portrait of the
+worthy donor Max Rooses, the Director of the Plantin-Moretus Museum at
+Antwerp, says: "The Canon's face is so astoundingly true to life that
+it is perhaps the most marvellous piece of painting that ever aspired
+to reproduce a human physiognomy. This firm, fat painting renders at
+once the cracks of the epidermis and the softness of the flesh. Beside
+this head with its lovingly wrought furrows and wrinkles gleam the
+dazzling white of the surplice with its greenish shimmer, the intense
+red of Mary's mantle, St. Donatian's flowing cape, and the metallic
+reflections of St. George's breastplate." Equally fine as an example
+of faithful portrait painting is the picture of the artist's wife
+which also hangs in this interesting little gallery of old masters.
+
+Four years after Jean Van Eyck's death, which occurred in 1440,
+another Flemish painter of note acquired citizen's rights at Bruges.
+This was Petrus Christus. The most celebrated of his paintings depicts
+the Legend of Ste. Godeberte. The story was that this young lady's
+parents had planned a rich marriage for her, whereas she preferred to
+enter a convent. The prospective bride and her groom visited a
+jeweller's to select the wedding ring and there encountered St. Eloi,
+or Elisius, who was both a goldsmith and a bishop. The Saint, knowing
+the wishes of the maiden, placed the ring upon her finger himself,
+thereby dedicating her to the service of the Lord. This picture was
+painted for the Goldsmiths' Guild of Antwerp, passed into the
+collection of Baron Oppenheim, of Cologne, and is now in a private
+gallery.
+
+Besides the "Adoration of the Lamb," the Cathedral of St. Bavon
+possesses enough other notable works of art to equip a small museum.
+One of these is the wooden pulpit, carved by P. H. Verbruggen, and
+representing the glorification of St. Bavon. Another is the famous
+tomb of Bishop Triest carved by Jerome Duquesnoy in 1654. This
+represents the Bishop reclining on a couch, and has been termed "the
+most beautiful piece of statuary in the country." Still a third
+masterpiece is "St. Bavon withdrawing from the World," by Rubens.
+There are a score of other paintings and pieces of sculpture of
+interest and importance, but all are so over-shadowed by the famous
+polyptych that the average tourist scarcely notices them unless he
+goes back to this remarkable church several times. In front of the
+Château of Girard, and close to the cathedral, stands the impressive
+monument to the two Van Eycks erected by the city in 1913. It is by
+the sculptor Georges Verbanck and represents the brothers receiving
+the homage of the nations.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+TOURNAI, THE OLDEST CITY IN BELGIUM
+
+
+As the ladies were somewhat fatigued by our rambles around Flanders it
+was decided that they would spend two or three quiet days with la
+tante Rosa while the Professor and I made daily excursions into
+wonderland, returning to the home of our hostess every night. The
+nearest point of interest was the city of Tournai, the oldest city in
+all Belgium. There was no direct railway line, however, and--as on
+many other occasions during our pilgrimage--we had no little trouble
+studying out a _correspondence_, or set of connections, that would
+take us there and back without loss of time. We started each morning
+before six o'clock and found the trains at that time of day made up
+mostly of fourth-class coaches filled with working people. The Belgian
+State Railway sells _billets d'abonnement_ for these trains at
+incredibly low rates--a few sous a month for short trips from one town
+to the next, and a few francs a month for rides half way across the
+Kingdom. I have known clerks residing in the extreme southern end of
+the Department of Hainaut, close to the French frontier, who ride
+every day to Mons, ten or fifteen miles distant, and there take a
+train for Brussels. The object of this low rate of fare is the
+paternal desire of the Government that labourers should be able to
+obtain work wherever it may be found and still retain their homes in
+the villages in which they were born and raised. Home ties are very
+strong in Belgium, and the people cheerfully travel considerable
+distances under this plan rather than move away from their relatives
+and friends. Economically it is a very good thing for the country as a
+whole, since it enables the labourer out of work to look for a place
+in a hundred different towns and the employer to draw his help from an
+equally wide area. Thus in times that are not abnormally bad there are
+very few industrial plants without their full quota of hands, and very
+few hands out of work.
+
+The fourth-class coaches are built like the third-class, with cross
+divisions making several compartments, but the division walls do not
+extend to the roof so the passengers can toss things to one another
+over them. Separate cars are provided for men and women, many
+scandals having resulted from the promiscuous herding of both sexes
+which prevailed some twenty years ago. The occupants of the men's cars
+are of all ages, from tiny lads who seem to be hardly more than eight
+or nine--but are no doubt older, as the Belgian laws no longer permit
+minors of that age to work--to grandsires of eighty. All are roughly
+clad, ready to take up their respective tasks the moment they
+arrive--no one thinks of having a separate suit for travelling as most
+of the workmen who commute to and from an American city would do. In
+the women's car the occupants are mostly young girls from fifteen to
+twenty, with a sprinkling of little girls and some women up to thirty,
+but very few who appear to be older than that. They always seem to be
+happy, singing and "carrying-on" with the utmost abandon. They are
+ready to start a flirtation at a moment's notice and occasionally,
+when their car halts in a station next to some other train in which
+there are young men near the windows, the whole bevy of charmers
+devotes itself to making conquests--opening the windows and shouting a
+volley of good-natured raillery to which, if they are natives and used
+to it, the youngsters retort in kind. Then, as the trains start, the
+laughing crowd throws kisses by handfuls and the flirtation is over.
+
+As our train jolted along, with frequent stops to take on and let off
+fourth-class passengers, the Professor explained to me that to be
+consistent to his plan we really should have visited Tournai first.
+However, it was far out of the way as a starting point, and its
+history did not dominate that of all Flanders in the way that the
+early history of Bruges did. In fact, while in early times subject to
+the Counts of Flanders, it was often subject to the French Crown for
+generations at a time, and is usually regarded as a Walloon rather
+than a Flemish city. Its influence on Flemish art and architecture,
+however, led us to include this Ville d'Art in our itinerary.
+
+According to the scholars Tournai is the _Turris Nerviorum_ of Cæsar,
+the capital of the Nervii, and one of the oldest towns north of the
+Alps. In 299 it was the scene of the martyrdom of St. Piat, who
+founded a church on the site of the cathedral. As the visitor gazes at
+that magnificent structure he can reflect that the ground on which it
+stands has been consecrated to divine worship for more than sixteen
+hundred years. During the fourth and fifth centuries Tournai was the
+capital of the branch of the Franks that ruled over the greater part
+of what is now Belgium, but the history of these early days when the
+Roman Empire was tottering to its fall is very meagre, and more than
+half legend at best. The first kings of the Merovingian line are
+shadowy, mythical personages who stalk across the pages of history
+like the ghost in Hamlet--far off, dim, but awe-inspiring.
+
+Childeric is one of the most picturesque of these early kings.
+Expelled from the tribe owing to his youthful gallantries, he fled to
+the court of Basinus, King of the Thuringians. The queen, Basina,
+welcomed him even more warmly than her husband, and hardly had
+Childeric returned home, on being recalled by the tribe some years
+later to rule over them, than she followed him. Arrived at his court,
+she announced that she had come to marry him because he was the
+bravest, strongest and handsomest man she had heard of. She added,
+naïvely, that if she knew of another who surpassed him in these
+particulars not even the sea could keep her from such a rival. Basina,
+who from all accounts should be the patron saint of the suffragettes,
+won her suit and they were married. On the night before the ceremony
+mony, according to an ancient chronicle, she bade Childeric go into
+the courtyard of the palace at Tournai to see what he might see. He
+went at her bidding three times. On the first occasion he beheld a
+long procession of lions, unicorns and leopards, struggling and
+snapping at one another, but all without a sound, nor did the beasts
+cast any shadow. The second time he saw huge bears shambling across
+the courtyard which vanished even while he was gazing at them. Then
+came packs of wolves which ran in circles and leaped, but silently. On
+his last visit he saw dogs of huge size and many colours, and
+innumerable cats which always looked behind them. From these portents
+Basina explained to him the qualities of the race of kings of which he
+was to be the ancestor. Clovis, one of the greatest of the early
+Frankish kings, was the child of Childeric and Basina.
+
+In the sixth century Tournai figured prominently in the narrative of
+the furious wars between Fredegonda and Brunehault, one of the great
+epics of the early Middle Ages. Fredegonda, who was the daughter of a
+bondsman, became by virtue of her beauty and imperious will the wife
+of Chilperic, King of the Franks. Brunehault, equally beautiful, but
+a king's daughter as well as the wife of a king--Sigebert, brother of
+Chilperic--began the contest to avenge the death of her sister
+Galeswintha, whom Fredegonda had caused to be slain. Chilperic and
+Fredegonda were besieged at Tournai in 575, but the latter caused the
+murder of Sigebert, upon whose death the besieging army dispersed.
+Incidents in this siege are depicted in the stained-glass windows of
+the cathedral. The contest between the two fierce queens lasted more
+than half a century, Brunehault at the last being torn to pieces by
+wild horses, when more than eighty years old, by the son of her
+life-long rival.
+
+In 880 the Norsemen fell upon the city and its inhabitants fled to
+Noyon, where they remained for thirty-one years. In its subsequent
+history the old town sustained more than its share of sieges, the
+common lot of all frontier places, and changed hands oftener than any
+other European city. For many generations it was subject to the early
+Counts of Flanders. Philip Augustus then annexed it to France, to
+which it belonged until the reign of Francis I. In 1340 occurred the
+most famous of all its sieges. It belonged at that time to France and
+was attacked by the English under Edward III, a huge army of Flemings
+under Jacques Van Artevelde, the Duke of Brabant and the Count of
+Hainaut with their followers and many others--a host estimated by
+Froissart at one hundred and twenty thousand men. That delightful
+historian devotes more than a dozen chapters to a gossipy account of
+the siege, which lasted more than eleven weeks and was only raised by
+the approach of a French army when the supply of provisions was
+reduced to three days' rations. In 1513 Tournai was captured by Henry
+VIII, who gave the see to Cardinal Wolsey, but soon sold it back to
+the French. The huge round tower a little distance to the right as one
+enters the city from the railway station was erected by the English
+King during his short rule. In 1521 the city was captured by Charles
+the Fifth, becoming a part of his domains, and in 1581 it sustained
+another famous siege. In common with the rest of Flanders and the Low
+Countries, the city had revolted against the atrocities of Philip II.
+It was besieged by the Prince of Parma and heroically defended by
+Christine, Princess of Epinoy, whose statue stands in the Grande
+Place. She was herself wounded and had lost more than three-fourths of
+the garrison before she surrendered.
+
+Tournai once more passed into the hands of the French in 1668, when
+it was captured by Louis XIV and afterwards elaborately fortified by
+Vauban, was retaken by Marlborough in 1709, returned to Austria five
+years later, and captured once more by the French after the battle of
+Fontenoy in 1745. Four years later it was again restored to Austria,
+but was twice taken by the armies of the first French republic,
+remaining French territory till the battle of Waterloo. It would be a
+difficult matter to say how often its fortifications have been built,
+demolished, rebuilt and again destroyed.
+
+The most noteworthy of these later sieges was that of 1745, during the
+War of the Austrian Succession, which brought the English and French
+into conflict even along the frontiers of their far-off American
+colonies. Austrian Flanders became the arena of the decisive campaign
+in this war--in which its inhabitants had absolutely no interest or
+concern whatever--and Tournai was the prize for which the armies
+fought. It was during this and the preceding century that Flanders
+became "the cockpit of Europe"--foreign armies sweeping over its
+fertile plains in wars the very purpose of which was unknown to the
+peasants who helplessly saw their cattle and crops swept away and
+their farmsteads and villages destroyed. It is curious to remark how
+frequently the English were engaged in these conflicts, particularly
+in the vicinity of Tournai. In the words of Lord Beaconsfield,
+"Flanders has been trodden by the feet and watered with the blood of
+successive generations of British soldiers."
+
+An English force formed the nucleus and the backbone of the allied
+army, which was commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, brother of King
+George II. The French forces were led by Maurice de Saxe, the greatest
+military leader of that generation, as Marlborough had been of the one
+before it. King Louis XV--for almost the only time in his long
+reign--played the part of a man throughout this campaign. When Saxe
+explained his plan of campaign, which involved a scheme of field
+fortifications, the "carpet generals" protested loudly that Frenchmen
+were well able to meet their foes on open ground. Louis silenced these
+arm-chair critics and replied to his great field-marshal, "In
+confiding to you the command of my army I intend that every one shall
+obey you, and I will be the first to set an example of obedience."
+
+For a time the allies, which consisted of English, Hanoverian, Dutch
+and Austrian troops--very few Flemings taking part in this campaign
+on either side--were in doubt whether Saxe intended to attack Mons,
+St. Ghislain or Tournai. With his usual rapidity of action, the French
+leader, when his forces suddenly appeared before Tournai, had that
+city completely invested before the allies knew where he was. It was
+early in the month of May, and very rainy, when the allied army
+started from Brussels and marched through the mud toward the
+beleaguered city. On the evening of May tenth, eleven days after the
+siege had begun, they arrived within sight of the quintuple towers of
+the cathedral and the adjacent belfry. Their position was southeast of
+the city, on the route to St. Ghislain and Mons, and the towers were
+therefore sharply outlined against the sunset as the army, standing on
+rising ground, gazed across the rolling country that was to be the
+morrow's battlefield.
+
+Saxe had made the most of the slowness of the allies' advance by
+choosing the ground where he would give battle, and strengthening his
+position with field redoubts, using the little village of Fontenoy as
+a base. The allies attacked from the direction of the little village
+of Vezon, while Louis XV watched the battle from a hill near the
+intersection of the Mons road with that leading from Ramecroix to
+Antoing. The attack began at two o'clock in the morning, the English
+advancing in a hollow square, and it was not until after two in the
+afternoon that Saxe, after bringing every man in his forces into
+action, had the satisfaction of seeing the great square falter and
+turn slowly back--halting every hundred yards to beat off its foes.
+The fiercest unit in the French army was a brigade of Irish volunteers
+who fought like tigers, the men flinging themselves against the
+stubborn English square again and again. A learned historian, who has
+devoted more than eighty pages to a description of the battle, fails
+to give so clear an idea of its decisive moment as does the poet
+Thomas Osborne Davis in half as many lines:
+
+    "Thrice at the huts of Fontenoy the English column failed,
+    And twice the lines of Saint Antoine the Dutch in vain assailed;
+    For town and slope were filled with fort and flanking battery,
+    And well they swept the English ranks and Dutch auxiliary.
+    As vainly through De Barri's wood the British soldiers burst,
+    The French artillery drove them back, diminished and dispersed.
+    The bloody Duke of Cumberland beheld with anxious eye,
+    And ordered up his last reserves, his latest chance to try.
+    On Fontenoy, on Fontenoy, how fast his generals ride!
+    And mustering came his chosen troops, like clouds at eventide.
+
+    "Six thousand English veterans in stately column tread;
+    Their cannon blaze in front and flank, Lord Hay is at their head.
+    Steady they step a-down the slope, steady they climb the hill,
+    Steady they load, steady they fire, moving right onward still,
+    Betwixt the wood and Fontenoy, as through a furnace blast,
+    Through rampart, trench and palisade, and bullets showering fast;
+    And on the open plain above they rose and kept their course,
+    With ready fire and grim resolve that mocked at hostile force;
+    Past Fontenoy, past Fontenoy, while thinner grew their ranks,
+    They broke, as broke the Zuyder Zee through Holland's ocean banks.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    "'Push on my household cavalry!' King Louis madly cried.
+    To death they rush, but rude their shock; not unavenged they died.
+    On through the camp the column trod--King Louis turns his rein.
+    'Not yet, my liege,' Saxe interposed; 'the Irish troops remain.'
+    'Lord Claire,' he said, 'you have your wish; there are your Saxon
+        foes!'
+    The Marshal almost smiles to see, so furiously he goes,
+    How fierce the looks these exiles wear, who're wont to be so gay!
+    The treasured wrongs of fifty years are in their hearts to-day.
+    On Fontenoy, on Fontenoy, nor ever yet elsewhere,
+    Rushed on to fight a nobler band than these proud exiles were.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    "Like lions leaping at a fold, when mad with hunger's pang,
+    Right up against the English line the Irish exiles sprang;
+    Bright was their steel, 'tis bloody now, their guns are filled with
+        gore;
+    Through shattered ranks and severed files and trampled flags they
+        tore.
+    The English strove with desperate strength; paused, rallied,
+        staggered, fled;
+    The green hillside is matted close with dying and with dead.
+    Across the plain and far away passed on that hideous wrack
+    While cavalier and Fantassin rush in upon their track.
+    On Fontenoy, on Fontenoy, like eagles in the sun,
+    With bloody plumes the Irish stand--the field is fought and won!"
+
+On our first day's visit the Professor devoted most of the time to the
+cathedral and the remains that still exist of the earliest period of
+Tournai's long and varied history. As we approached the city, past the
+vast excavations around Antoing connected with the lime pits and kilns
+and cement works that there abound, we could see the five spires of
+the cathedral in the distance. Antoing is only a mile and a half from
+Fontenoy, and the battlefield--marked by a monument erected in
+1907--is happily free from the pits that scar so much of the
+countryside thereabouts, and no doubt looks to-day very much as it did
+on the day of the great fight.
+
+The cathedral of Tournai is the oldest, the most vast, and decidedly
+the most imposing religious edifice in Belgium. Its five great towers
+dominate the entire city and are visible for miles across the
+surrounding plains. The oldest portions of the present structure date
+from about 880, when the inhabitants of Tournai returned after the
+invasion of the Norsemen. The side porches of the naves belong to this
+earliest period. In 1054 a fire destroyed the upper part of the
+cathedral and it was shortly after this that the towers were built.
+There were originally seven of these, the one in the centre being a
+gigantic square structure rising above all the others. The group as it
+then stood was without a rival in Europe, but the two towers to the
+east of the central one were removed with the ancient choir and the
+height of the central tower reduced. In their present form, however,
+the towers compose a magnificent assemblage.
+
+[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF TOURNAI AND THE FIVE-TOWERED
+CATHEDRAL.]
+
+The four outer towers, which surround the now much shorter central
+one, are two hundred and seventy-two feet high, and, although
+apparently alike at the first glance, are not entirely so--a
+circumstance that enhances rather than detracts from the
+picturesqueness of the group. Placed at the crossing of the nave and
+the transept these towers, from without, suggest the fantastic idea
+that instead of one there are two cathedrals, each facing the other,
+and with the central tower uniting them.
+
+In reality, the edifice is large enough to make two cathedrals and
+more, the interior being four hundred and twenty-six feet in length
+and two hundred and twenty feet in width across the transept. Built at
+different epochs, this imposing edifice constitutes a veritable
+history in stone of the development of mediæval architecture. The nave
+was completed in 1070 and the transept in the eleventh and
+twelfth centuries. Both are in the Romanesque style, while the
+choir--originally Romanesque--was rebuilt in 1242-1325 in the early
+Gothic style. It is both longer and almost fifty feet higher than the
+older nave--a fact that leads the observer looking at the structure
+from without to mistake it for the nave itself. In addition to the
+main edifice there is a small parish chapel built against the north
+side of the cathedral, a Gothic edifice dating from 1516-1518, while
+attached to it by a passage over a picturesque arch called _Le
+fausseporte_ is the Bishop's palace. Here there is another chapel, the
+Chapel of the Bishops, dating from the twelfth century.
+
+Like most religious structures in Belgium, the cathedral was for many
+years surrounded, and almost entirely obscured, by small private
+houses of all kinds built up against it. These have now been removed,
+although there are still a few more that we were told were destined to
+come down in order to give a better view of the structure from one
+side. There are three entrances, of which two are noteworthy. One of
+these, called the Porte Mantille, is on the north side facing the
+Place des Acacias, and dates from the twelfth century. It is the
+oldest part of the exterior, and looks it, the round arch of the
+doorway being surrounded by quaint Romanesque sculptures. The winds of
+seven hundred winters have worn these bas-reliefs down considerably,
+but they are still surprisingly clear, the faces, armour and costumes
+of the figures being quite distinct. They are among the oldest stone
+carvings in Europe and show that the art of sculpture was practised
+at Tournai within a century or two after the retirement of the
+Norsemen.
+
+Even more interesting is the fine façade just behind the groined porch
+that faces the Place de l'Evêché. From a distance this end of the
+cathedral is hardly pleasing, the sixteenth-century porch concealing
+the early Romanesque façade and being out of harmony with it. After
+passing within the arches, however, the visitor forgets all this and
+is lost in wonder and admiration at the wealth of stone carving that
+decorates the walls on both sides of the main entrance. There is no
+such decoration in stone to be seen in all Flanders, for the churches
+of Tournai escaped the fury of the iconoclasts--Tournai, at that time,
+belonging to France. Here the sculptors of Tournai have achieved a
+veritable masterpiece. The work is in three tiers and belongs to three
+different periods. The lowest tier, carved in blue stone quarried in
+Tournai itself or near by, is the most remarkable, and is regarded by
+the critics as the finest in artistic merit. It dates from the
+thirteenth century and represents Adam and Eve and various prophets
+and fathers of the church. The second zone is in white stone, now grey
+with age, and was the work of the sixteenth century. It comprises a
+series of small panels carved in bas-relief, those at the left
+depicting--so the authorities at Tournai tell us--a religious
+procession, and those at the right various incidents in the history of
+King Childeric. The highest tier comprises a series of large statues
+in high relief of the apostles, the Virgin Mary, St. Piat and St.
+Eleuthereus. Although the figures are boldly conceived and well
+executed, and, in the main, fairly well preserved, they are
+artistically less important than the others. In its entirety, however,
+this entrance--"_le portail_," "_the_ entrance," as the people of
+Tournai style it--is a place of wonderful interest, a place to be
+visited again and again under different lights and in different moods.
+
+Passing into the interior of the cathedral the visitor is again given
+the impression that here he is not in one church but at least two and
+possibly more. The ancient nave, with its vaulted roof supported by
+three series of Romanesque arches placed one above another, seems
+somehow to be complete by itself and to have no relation to the
+far-off choir which is partially cut off from it by an elaborately
+carved rood loft, which--in its flamboyant Renaissance style--seems
+out of place and tends to mar the general effect of the vast
+interior. The pillars in the nave are not uniform, but have a wide
+diversity of capitals--some decorated with the lotus or conventional
+foliage, others with beasts or birds or quaint, fantastic heads. At
+the intersection of the nave and transept the great pillars supporting
+the central tower are of tremendous proportions and the view looking
+upward from this point is one of extraordinary grandeur. Here, too,
+the rood loft, or _jubé_, can be studied to best advantage. The work
+of Corneille Floris of Antwerp and executed in 1572, it is undoubtedly
+one of the masterpieces of sculpture of its period. The Doric columns
+are of red marble, the architectural outlines of the structure in
+black marble, and the medallions and other bas-reliefs in white.
+Passing through one of the three arches of this portal we come to the
+noble choir. This is the most beautiful portion of the cathedral, its
+vast height and the richly coloured light that streams downward from
+its fine stained-glass windows creating a very atmosphere of majesty
+and inspiration.
+
+While we were inspecting the choir and the ambulatory, which contains
+several paintings and carvings of no little interest, the Professor
+discovered that the hours had been slipping by faster than we had
+imagined and as there were several relics of the earliest period of
+the city's history that we wished to visit on our first day we decided
+to betake ourselves to the Grande Place and postpone our visit to the
+far-famed treasury of the cathedral to another day. We found a little
+place to dine directly facing the Belfry, and with the Princess of
+Epinoy, in her coat of mail and brandishing her battle-axe, standing
+on her monument hard by. The Place is a very large one, but most of
+the houses facing it have been so modernized as to lose much of their
+mediæval aspect, although the ancient Cloth Hall--which has recently
+been restored--no doubt looks much as it did when in its prime.
+
+The Belfry was naturally our first stopping place after we had done
+justice to the excellent dinner in half a dozen courses that two
+francs had secured for us. This edifice dates from 1187, and stands
+slightly back from the apex of the triangle formed by the Grande
+Place. According to some authorities the peculiar shape of the Place
+is due to the intersection of two Roman roads at the point where the
+Belfry now stands. Externally the tower, which is two hundred and
+thirty-six feet high, strikingly resembles the Belfry of Ghent.
+Within, after climbing a winding stairway for some distance, we
+were shown several large rooms with heavy timber ceilings that were
+once used as prison cells. They looked fairly comfortable, as compared
+with the dungeons in the Château des Comtes, and one of them was then
+in use by the small son of the concierge as a play-room and was
+littered with toys--mostly of his own manufacture, apparently. The
+doors to these "cells" were of massive construction and locked by keys
+nearly a foot long, or at least it seemed so, though we did not
+measure them. The view from the top of the edifice is picturesque and
+well worth the climb. A melodious set of chimes is installed near the
+top, which ring every half hour. The big bell, _la Bancloque_, which
+called the people to arms, was cast in 1392, and must have been rung
+quite frequently during the stirring days when Tournai was being
+fought for by armies from half the countries in Europe.
+
+[Illustration: THE BELFRY, TOURNAI.]
+
+From the Belfry we visited the ancient Church of St. Brice which
+stands in one of the very oldest quarters of the city. Almost facing
+the church are two buildings known as the Roman houses. Although
+hardly dating from the time of the Romans they are undoubtedly very
+ancient. Only the outer walls, however, remain of the original
+construction, the interiors dating from a much later period. One of
+these houses was untenanted when we were there, and the other was an
+estaminet. We entered it and ordered drinks, and asked if we could see
+the up-stairs rooms, but apparently they were not very tidy as the
+landlady declined to show them, assuring us that there was nothing to
+see. At No. 18 on the same street, rue Barre-Saint-Brice, is another
+estaminet in a house of very ancient construction. After quite a
+search we found the caretaker of the church. As old as the oldest part
+of the cathedral this structure is a remarkable example of Romanesque
+architecture. Externally it looks from the rear like three stone barns
+built close together, but its square tower is lofty and imposing,
+although much injured by a silly sort of hat which was stuck on early
+in the last century. The most interesting object within was a quaint
+Tournai tapestry representing a variety of Biblical subjects.
+
+In the year 1653 archeologists and historians throughout Europe were
+greatly excited over one of the most interesting finds of ancient
+relics ever recorded. In the house now No. 8 on the Terrace
+Saint-Brice, on one side of the church, was dug up at a depth of eight
+feet a veritable museum of arms and jewels since known as the
+Treasure of Childeric I, whose marriage with Basina was preceded by so
+many portents. More than a hundred gold coins of the Byzantine
+Emperors were found, several hundred golden bees, a quantity of silver
+money of great antiquity, divers clasps and buckles--all mingled with
+the remains of human bones, which may have been those of the
+Merovingian King and his imperious spouse. One ring bore a bust of a
+man with long hair holding a lance, with the inscription _Childerici
+Regis_. After passing through various hands the collection came into
+the possession of Louis XIV, and eventually into the Bibliotheque
+Royale at Paris. Here, in 1831, it was stolen. The thieves were
+pursued and threw their booty into the Seine, where a few pieces were
+afterwards recovered and are now in the numismatic collection of the
+Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris.
+
+Not far from this interesting old quarter are some picturesque remains
+of the ancient city walls, two ivy covered towers facing a moat in
+which there is still some water. These are called the Marvis Towers,
+and were erected during the thirteenth century. On our way back to the
+station we made a little detour in order to see the curious _Pont des
+Trous_--literally "the Bridge of the Holes," meaning loopholes--the
+most ancient specimen of mediæval military architecture in Belgium.
+The tower on the side farthest from the centre of the city was built
+prior to 1259, the other in 1304, and the bridge with its three ogival
+arches in 1330. Across the bridge at short intervals are narrow
+loopholes to enable the defenders to fire at foes approaching by way
+of the River Scheldt. One of the towers is said to contain a fine
+vaulted room, but as we were unable to find any one who knew who had
+the key to the little door at its foot we did not see this room or the
+passage-way across the bridge. Between this bridge and the railway
+line we noticed a high stone wall of ancient construction which, from
+its location, may also have been a fragment of the city walls. Further
+on is the Henry VIII tower, which was built by the English monarch
+after he captured the city in 1513, as part of a citadel intended to
+hold the citizens in check. The tower is slightly over seventy-five
+feet in diameter and the walls at the base are said to be twenty feet
+thick. The rest of the citadel has long since disappeared and this
+vestige of it is now the centre of a pleasant little park much
+frequented on sunny days by nursemaids and children. Amid these
+peaceful surroundings it was, when we saw it, hard to picture the old
+tower as having ever been the scene of fierce conflicts with furious
+foes striving to batter a breach in its massive walls or scale it with
+long ladders, while its defenders fired volley after volley through
+its tiny windows and flung down big stones or boiling tar from its
+parapet.
+
+The strategy of the early part of the present war did not call for a
+protracted defence of Tournai, with the result that, as this is being
+written, the old city is reported to have suffered little or no
+damage. In view of the frequency with which it had been contended for
+in former wars it is to be hoped that this one--which has so far been
+more destructive than all previous wars put together--will pass quaint
+old Tournai by and that the great cathedral with its five towers and
+marvellous stone carvings may be spared for generations yet to come.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+SEVEN CENTURIES OF TOURNAISIAN ART
+
+
+The citizens of Tournai of to-day have given to their beautiful city
+the name of "Ville d'Art." To be sure, the same title is claimed for
+Bruges and Ghent, for Antwerp and Malines. The first two are justly
+proud of their many beautiful monuments of the past and their
+associations with the work of the early Flemish painters, Antwerp of
+its connection with the later development of painting in Flanders and
+the most artistic of the early printers, Malines of its lace and its
+splendid examples of religious architecture and art. Tournai, however,
+has a broader title to the phrase than any of them in that the
+artistic activities of its gifted sons have not been confined to one
+medium or two, but have been independently developed along half a
+score of different lines and during a period covering more than seven
+centuries. Not only is the city a rich repository of the artistic
+productions of past ages, but it is still more notable in having been
+one of the most prolific producers of beautiful and artistic things.
+To the true connoisseur a stay of several weeks in this fine old
+border town would be none too long to afford opportunity to study all
+of its collections and rummage in out-of-the-way corners for stray
+specimens that the dealers and bargain hunters have overlooked.
+Unfortunately, neither the Professor nor I can lay claim to more than
+a rudimentary knowledge of such matters and in the chronicle of our
+rambles in the City of Art there may be much to make the judicious
+grieve. It is not, however, so much in order to give an account of
+what we saw that this chapter is written as in the hope that it may
+suggest how much there is to see for those whose eyes are better
+trained and more discriminating than ours.
+
+Tournai looms large in the history of early Flemish painting, for it
+was here that the next important group of masters after the Van Eycks
+appeared. As early as the first half of the fourteenth century
+paintings on cloth were executed at Tournai, followed by what was
+termed "flat painting" for panels. About 1406 the first of the great
+artists whose names have come down to us settled at Tournai. This was
+Robert Campin. He acquired the right of citizenship in 1410 and died
+in 1444, being thus a contemporary of the Van Eycks. He is known to
+have painted many works, but until recently none of these had been
+definitely identified. Now, thanks to the earnest and patient study of
+Belgian scholars, he seems likely to be given his rightful place as
+one of the greatest of the early Flemish masters--after having been
+completely forgotten for nearly five hundred years! His most important
+work is an altarpiece in the possession of the Mérode family at
+Brussels, while the Frankfort Museum and the Prado at Madrid contain
+some fine examples of his skill.
+
+It is known that Robert Campin was the master of two other Tournai
+artists, Rogier Van der Weyden and Jacques Daret, of whom the former
+soon far surpassed his teacher in renown. Daret entered the atelier of
+Robert Campin in 1418, when a lad of fourteen, obtained the title of
+apprentice in 1427, and became a member of the Guild of St. Luke in
+1432. One of his pictures, a panel showing the Nativity, was in the
+collection of the late Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan. Van der Weyden, whose
+Walloon name was Roger de la Pasture, became one of Campin's
+apprentices in 1427--the same date as Daret--and was admitted to the
+guild of the painters at Tournai in 1432. He spent much of his time at
+Brussels, however, and is sometimes considered as belonging to that
+city rather than Tournai. A "Descent from the Cross" now at the
+Escorial is his most famous picture. It was painted for the Archers'
+Company at Louvain and a copy of it, made by the master himself, was
+hung in the Church of St. Pierre in that city. About 1430 Van der
+Weyden was commissioned to paint four large panels for the Hall of
+Justice in the new Hotel de Ville at Brussels. Two of these showed
+Trajan, the Just Emperor, and the other two depicted the Justice of
+Herkenbald, and for more than two centuries the series was regarded as
+the finest group of paintings in the Low Countries. They were
+destroyed at the bombardment of Brussels in 1695, but tapestries
+copied from the originals still exist in the Museum at Berne, having
+been captured by the Swiss when Charles the Bold was defeated at
+Granson.
+
+In 1443 the artist began what in the judgment of the art critics was
+his most important work, an altarpiece representing "The Last
+Judgment" for the chapel of a hospital at Beaune, near Dijon in
+Burgundy, where it still remains. The museum at Antwerp contains a
+triptych of the Seven Sacraments by this master, showing the interior
+of a cathedral suggestive of that of Tournai--and, in fact, it was for
+the Bishop of Tournai that it was originally painted. Nearly every
+important art gallery in Europe contains one or more works by Van der
+Weyden, who not only was very industrious, receiving numerous orders
+from the great men of his day, but fortunate in having most of his
+masterpieces preserved from the destruction that overtook so much of
+the work of the early Flemish artists.
+
+The former Cloth Hall of Tournai, erected in 1610, was completely and
+very successfully restored in 1884, and is now used to house an
+admirable little collection of paintings and a museum of antiquities.
+The paintings are, for the most part, the work of Tournai artists, and
+most of its three hundred and eighty titles are of local rather than
+international interest. There are several works, however, of the
+highest rank, and the museum as a whole serves admirably to illustrate
+the fact that the traditions and inspiration of the first great
+masters of Flemish painting, whose work has made the name of Tournai
+illustrious for all time, have never been wholly forgotten in their
+native city. To be sure, there is nothing to represent Robert
+Campin or Jacques Daret, nor had the caretaker ever heard of either of
+them--a fact hardly to be wondered at, since the works of the former
+have not yet been fully identified by the critics. Van der Weyden is
+credited with a "Descent from the Cross" in the museum catalogue, but
+many critics hold this to be a copy of a lost work by Hugo Van der
+Goes. Those in charge of the museum have wisely included some
+excellent photographs of the more famous works by Van der Weyden in
+the leading European galleries--a plan that might well be followed
+with respect to the other notable works by Tournaisian artists. The
+masterpiece of the collection is the well known "Last Honours to
+Counts Egmont and Horn," by Louis Gallait, the greatest of Tournai's
+modern artists, whose statue stands in the little park before the
+railway station. A replica of this fine but gruesome work was painted
+by the artist for the Antwerp museum. The Tournai museum contains
+nearly a dozen other works bequeathed to the city by this painter,
+including several admirable portraits--a branch in which he was
+especially skilful. The powerful "Abdication of Charles V" by this
+master hangs in the Brussels museum, and his notable "Last Moments of
+the Comte d'Egmont" in the museum of Berlin.
+
+[Illustration: A TRIPTYCH OF THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS BY ROGIER VAN DER
+WEYDEN.]
+
+Equally fine in a very different way, but less widely known, is a
+spirited painting by a comparatively unknown artist, Van Severdonck,
+representing the Princess of Epinoy valiantly defending a breach in
+the walls during the siege of Tournai in 1581. We were unable to
+obtain a photograph of this admirable work as it is so hung that it is
+difficult to get a good light upon it. A fine portrait of St. Donatian
+is attributed in the catalogue to Jan Gossaert or Mabuse (from
+Maubeuge where he was born). By some critics it is assigned to
+Bellegambe, who was born at Douai in French Flanders and was a
+contemporary of Gossaert. The museum also contains works by Hennebicq,
+who painted the historical picture of Philip Augustus granting a
+charter to the city of Tournai in the Hotel de Ville; Hennequin, the
+teacher of Gallait; Stallaert, whose "Death of Dido" is in the museum
+of Brussels, and several other natives of Tournai who are less well
+known. From Robert Campin, who settled at Tournai about 1406 and died
+in 1444, to Louis Gallait, whose three great masterpieces were painted
+between 1840 and 1850, and to Stallaert and Hennebicq, who laid aside
+their brushes in the first decade of the present century, there
+extends a period of five hundred years during which the noble art of
+painting has been practised and taught at Tournai by men of commanding
+genius--a record in the history of art that no town in the world of
+similar size has ever equalled.
+
+It is worthy of remark, in passing, that the art of sculpture which
+was practised at Tournai with such notable success as early as the
+thirteenth century, and steadily thereafter for several hundred years,
+has not survived to the present day. There are no modern sculptors in
+the list of Tournaisian artists, but the cathedral is a veritable
+museum of the stone carvings of the past. The men of the chisel,
+moreover, must be credited with giving some of the inspiration that
+made the work of the early artists of the brush so notable. Van der
+Weyden, particularly, shows the influence of sculpture and a marked
+appreciation of its effects in the framework and backgrounds of many
+of his pictures. Moreover, for several centuries the sculptors of
+Tournai enjoyed a renown that extended throughout Flanders and
+northern France. In the churches of Tournai and of many other cities
+examples of their work can be seen that show a continuous record of
+achievement from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries.
+
+Closely allied to the carvers of stone were those who worked in metals
+and of these Tournai had its full share. A street of the Goldsmiths
+(rue des Orfévres) near the Grande Place indicates the importance of
+that industry in ancient times. The best example of this branch of
+Tournaisian art is to be found in the treasury of the cathedral. This
+is the superb Chasse, or Reliquary of St. Eleuthereus, which is
+considered to be one of the finest products of the goldsmith's art
+during the Middle Ages. While the name of the maker of this
+masterpiece is unknown, it is unquestionably of Tournaisian origin and
+was completed in 1247. Built in the form of a sarcophagus, and made of
+silver, heavily gilded, it is almost bewildering in the richness and
+intricacy of its decorations and filigrees. At one end is a large
+seated figure of Christ, at the other of St. Eleuthereus, while the
+sides contain figures of the Virgin and the Apostles. Around, above
+and below these chief figures the artist has placed a labyrinth of
+minor ones, of churches and landscapes, of columns, arches and
+architectural embellishments, all carved with a richness of design
+that cannot be adequately described. Still older, for it dates from
+1205, is the Chasse de Notre Dame, another treasure of the cathedral.
+This was made by Nicolas de Verdun, a citizen of Tournai, and is of
+wood, painted and adorned with curious bas-reliefs representing
+incidents from the New Testament. A third chasse, which on account of
+its great value is kept under lock and key in the treasury, like that
+of St. Eleuthereus, is called the Chasse des Damoiseaux. It is made of
+silver and bears in relief, and enamelled, the arms of some of the
+patrician families of the city in the thirteenth and fourteenth
+centuries, when the Confrerie des Damoiseaux held many brilliant
+tournaments in Tournai and other cities. This chasse, the keeper told
+us, was not made at Tournai, but at Bruges. Although very beautiful,
+it is not considered so notable a work of art as its companion.
+
+During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Tournai rivalled Dinant
+as a producer of fine copper and brassware, and in this industry the
+artistic instincts of its citizens soon led them to produce pieces of
+remarkable distinction. One of the finest of these is the baptismal
+font in the church of Notre Dame at Hal, made in 1446. The artisans of
+Tournai turned out a prodigious number of fine products of the
+copper-smith's art during the two centuries mentioned--lamps,
+candlesticks, chandeliers, funeral monuments, crucifixes and other
+religious articles; and, in fact, it was not until the eighteenth
+century that this industry declined, only to give place to the
+manufacture of gilded bronze ware.
+
+The cathedral and the museum of antiquities contain some choice
+examples of another great Tournaisian art industry of the Middle
+Ages--the manufacture of rich tapestries. During the fourteenth
+century the renown of the products of Tournai in this field was
+already considerable, and between 1440 and 1480 its artisans surpassed
+even those of Arras. In richness of colouring, diversity and
+sprightliness of subjects, beauty of design and workmanship, the
+tapestries of Tournai rank among the finest art productions of the
+Middle Ages. In 1477, when Louis XI seized Arras and dispersed its
+workmen, many of them fled to Tournai, Audenaerde and Brussels,
+establishing the industry in those cities. Tournai, where it had
+already made great progress, was the first to benefit by this
+emigration and for a time became the leading tapestry-making centre in
+Europe. It was the school of Tournai that was the true forerunner of
+the still more famous tapestry weavers of Brussels in depicting
+historical and mythological scenes of the utmost vivacity and
+richness, while the ateliers of Audenaerde specialised more largely in
+quieter pastoral scenes and landscapes. Philip the Good, the most
+fastidious connoisseur of his age, ordered several tapestries at
+Tournai, including the history of Gideon in eight panels to decorate
+the Hall of the Order of the Golden Fleece. In the cathedral the most
+notable of the Tournai tapestries illustrates vividly the story of
+Joseph, while one of the best in the museum depicts the history of
+Abraham--the angels announcing the birth of Isaac. The border of a
+Tournai tapestry usually bears the mark of the ateliers of that city,
+a castle tower, which is plainly to be seen on the one last mentioned.
+The cathedral also possesses a remarkable tapestry of Arras, made by
+Pierrot Féré in 1402, and depicting incidents connected with the lives
+of St. Piat and St. Eleuthereus and the plague at Tournai. This
+masterpiece originally hung above the stalls in the choir, and more
+than half of it has been destroyed at one time or another. The
+remainder has been placed in a continuous panel, like a panorama,
+around a semi-circular chapel back of the treasury, and constitutes
+one of the most curious relics of the mediæval art to be seen in
+Europe. According to some authorities the designs for this work were
+drawn by one of the artists of the Tournai school of painters from
+which Van der Weyden subsequently received his instruction. At all
+events the scenes are extremely naïve, and the artist has inserted
+sundry little devils who are giving expression to their contempt of
+the various religious ceremonies depicted in some of the sections in a
+manner that, to say the least, is most unconventional.
+
+The wars and troubles of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries very
+nearly extinguished the art industries of Tournai, the number of
+master-weavers of tapestries declining from two hundred and fourteen
+between 1538 and 1553 to forty in 1693, and twenty-nine in 1738. It
+was only a few years after the last date, however, when a new art
+industry became established in the city. In 1751 a native of Lille,
+named François Péterink, began the manufacture at Tournai of fine
+porcelains. Dinner sets elaborately decorated and daintily formed,
+vases, statues and statuettes of "biscuit" equal to the finest
+products of Sèvres, Saxony or England, were turned out in considerable
+quantities for more than a century, and the porcelains of Tournai
+became so renowned that princes vied with one another to secure these
+works of art. It is still possible for the collector to secure some of
+these fine products, the trademarks being a rude castle tower or two
+crossed swords with tiny crosses at their intersecting angles. In the
+finest tableware these are usually in gold, but red or some other
+colour should not be despised, as the genuine Tournai ware is becoming
+rare and already brings high prices. These marks, it should be added,
+have been imitated, and the amateur will do well to consult expert
+advice before purchasing.
+
+Still another noteworthy art industry of Tournai merits at least a
+word in passing. From the very earliest period after the art of making
+stained or painted glass was invented the ateliers of the "Ville
+d'Art" have excelled in this fine branch of handicraft. During the
+fifteenth century Tournaisian artists made the seven stained glass
+windows in the transept of the cathedral that depict in glowing
+colours the history of the contest between Childeric and Sigebert and
+the donations and privileges granted to the bishop and the cathedral
+by Chilperic. Not only are these scenes of the utmost interest
+historically, but the student of costumes and customs during the
+Middle Ages and the student of early Flemish art will both find in
+them abundant material for study. It has already been said that the
+cathedral of Tournai is in itself a history of Flemish architecture
+covering a period of well-nigh a thousand years. It is also a
+veritable museum of Flemish art, and especially of Tournaisian art, in
+almost all of its many branches.
+
+In the eighteenth century the apparently inextinguishable artistic
+spirit of Tournai found expression in the production of carpets that
+recalled the best period of its tapestry weavers. The carpet in the
+cabinet of Napoleon at Fontainebleau and the celebrated carpet of the
+Legion of Honour, which was shown in the French pavilion at the recent
+exposition at Turin, were made at Tournai during this period. At the
+same epoch the goldsmiths and coppersmiths, whose activities had never
+entirely ceased during the centuries of trouble, began once more to
+turn out their artistic products in considerable quantities, nor have
+these ateliers entirely ceased operations at Tournai to this day.
+Truly the name "Ville d'Art" has been fairly won and kept by this
+little city, if seven centuries of almost uninterrupted artistic
+endeavour and achievement count for anything!
+
+It is a somewhat remarkable feature of modern Belgium, however, that
+while its cities abound in beautiful and artistic things, the common
+people--both the working classes and the _bourgeoisie_, or fairly
+prosperous middle-class of small merchants and manufacturers--seem to
+have very little interest in pictures or works of art, and little or
+no desire to acquire them. The average Belgian home is utterly bare of
+ornament, save perhaps a crucifix or a religious image or chromo--if
+these can be termed ornamental. Reproductions of the fine masterpieces
+of painting and statuary in which this little country is so rich are
+incredibly scarce and difficult to procure--save only the very famous
+pictures, of which copies have been made to sell to tourists in the
+larger cities. Even these the native Belgian apparently never buys,
+and the art stores carry very few coloured prints of moderate price
+such as are to be seen everywhere in the United States. In fact, of
+those we saw a considerable proportion were of American manufacture.
+Of course these remarks do not allude to the stores handling original
+paintings by ancient and modern masters, costly water-colours and
+etchings. These are purchased in Belgium, as everywhere else, by the
+wealthy class, whose homes are as rich and artistic as any in the
+world. It is the absence of interest by the two classes first
+mentioned that seems to me so remarkable in a country that for
+centuries has been passionately devoted to art in all its
+manifestations, and, for its population and area, is without doubt the
+world's largest producer of beautiful things.
+
+On the other hand, the Belgian of even the humblest social standing is
+invariably fond of flowers. In the cities every woman on her way to or
+from market buys a bouquet for the table, while in the country there
+is no garden without its little flower-bed, or flower-bordered paths,
+or rambling rosebushes climbing up the high brick garden wall or
+arching over the entrance. This shows an intense and inborn love of
+the beautiful. Why is it, then, that men and women whose daily lives
+are spent in creating beautiful things--rare lace, fine wood-carvings,
+rich brass or copper ware--are content with homes that are as bare of
+ornament as any prison cell?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE FALL OF CHARLES THE BOLD--MEMLING AT BRUGES
+
+
+There are few careers in history more fascinating, more spectacular,
+more dramatic, than that of the last Duke of Burgundy who ruled over
+Flanders--Charles the Bold. Heir to dominions that included all of
+what is now Belgium and Holland, nearly a third of France, and
+portions of what is now Germany, Charles was by far the most powerful
+of the feudal lords of his day, surpassing the King of France, and
+even the Emperor in the splendour and wealth of his court and in the
+number of feudal princes and knights whom he could summon to his
+standard. He not only had dreams of becoming a king himself, but was,
+on one occasion, offered a crown--the Emperor Frederick III proposing
+to make him King of Brabant. This he refused--a serious error, for he
+could easily have extended his royal title, once legally acquired,
+over the rest of his dominions.
+
+In "all the pomp and pageantry of power," however, Charles was every
+inch a king--magnificent in his hospitality, exceedingly ceremonious
+and punctilious in court etiquette, and fond of showing his vast power
+on every occasion. On the other hand, he was profoundly ignorant of
+the fact that the real source of his wealth and strength was in the
+great industrial communes of Flanders, Brabant and Liége, and the
+cruelty with which he destroyed the cities of Liége and Dinant cost
+him the affection and good will of all his people. His great
+antagonist was Louis XI of France--also one of the most picturesque
+figures in history--but the exact antithesis of Charles in almost
+every respect. While Charles never received a delegation unless seated
+on a throne, the loftiness and grandeur of which filled every eye,
+Louis dressed plainly--often wearing the grey cloak of a pilgrim, and
+almost invariably a pilgrim's hat, with a leaden image of some saint
+in the hat-band. On one occasion, when he paid a visit to his subjects
+in Normandy, riding in company with the gorgeous Duke of Burgundy, the
+peasants exclaimed, "Is that a King of France? Why, the whole outfit,
+man and horse, is not worth twenty francs!"
+
+Charles, like his father, held his ducal court wherever he might
+happen to be--both princes often carrying a lengthy train of baggage,
+including even furniture and tapestries, from one castle to another.
+Bruges, however, is identified with some of the most important events
+of his career, and he held his court there much oftener than at the
+ancestral capital of Burgundy, Dijon. During the last years of the
+reign of his father, Philip the Good, Charles acted as Regent, and it
+was during this period of his rule that he astonished and terrified
+Europe by the ferocity with which he avenged an insult to his parents'
+honour by utterly destroying the prosperous city of Dinant and
+slaughtering most of its male inhabitants. On his accession to the
+ducal throne, however, the great communes of Ghent, Bruges, Malines
+and Brussels were able to extort from their new Duke all of the
+privileges that his father had taken away during his long reign.
+Charles granted these with fury in his heart, vowing openly that
+before long he would humble these presumptuous burghers. Fortunately
+for the liberties of the Flemish towns, their Duke's attentions were
+speedily called elsewhere and he found no opportunity to carry out his
+threats.
+
+Fomented by the emissaries of Louis XI, the turbulent citizens of
+Liége--already a large and prosperous manufacturing town, as advanced
+in the metallurgical arts as the Flemish cities were in the textile
+industries--rose in insurrection against their Bishop-Prince, an ally
+of Charles. With an army of one hundred thousand feudal levies Charles
+quickly suppressed this revolt. The following year Louis ventured to
+place himself in Charles' power by paying him a visit at his powerful
+castle of Péronne. This famous historical incident is brilliantly
+described by Sir Walter Scott in _Quentin Durward_. To the king's
+alarm and very extreme personal danger, the people of Liége took the
+moment of this visit to rise again. Charles was furious, and, not
+unjustly considering Louis to be the author of this attack on his
+authority, had that monarch locked up in a room in the castle. Nor was
+he placated until Louis signed a treaty still further extending the
+power of the Dukes of Burgundy in France, and agreed to join Charles
+in the expedition to punish his unruly subjects. This time the city
+after being captured was given over to the half-savage Burgundian
+soldiery to be sacked, some forty thousand of its inhabitants
+perishing.
+
+Returning to Flanders, Charles bitterly denounced the cautious policy
+of the burghers in refusing to pay tax levies for his armies unless
+they knew how the money was to be spent. "Heavy and hard Flemish heads
+that you are," he cried to a delegation from Ghent, "you always remain
+fixed in your bad opinions, but know that others are as wise as you.
+You Flemings, with your hard heads, have always either despised or
+hated your princes. I prefer being hated to being despised. Take care
+to attempt nothing against my highness and lordship, for I am powerful
+enough to resist you. It would be the story of the iron and the
+earthen pots."
+
+Presently Louis, repudiating the recent treaty as being extorted by
+force, invaded Charles' dominions and captured several cities on the
+Somme. Charles sought to retake them and was repulsed both at Amiens
+and Beauvais, the defenders at the latter place being urged to
+stronger resistance by Jeanne Hachette, one of the heroic figures of
+French history. Charles now turned his attention to the German side of
+his dominions, and here also the implacable enmity of Louis stirred up
+enemies for him in every direction. In Alsace the people rose in
+revolt and slew the cruel governor Charles had set over them, while
+the Swiss defeated the Marshal of Burgundy. Charles set forth to
+re-establish his authority with an army of thirty thousand men, the
+flower of his feudal levies. The Swiss, alarmed, sued for peace,
+assuring the powerful Duke that there was more gold in the spurs and
+bridles of his horsemen than could be found in all of Switzerland.
+
+Charles, however, was bent on punishing these impudent mountaineers
+and ordered the invasion of their country. The defenders of the little
+fortress of Granson surrendered on the approach of his army, but in
+flagrant violation of the terms he had just granted the Duke of
+Burgundy ordered the entire garrison to be hanged. This act was
+speedily avenged, for the Swiss a few days later utterly routed the
+Burgundian forces just outside of Granson. The mountaineers in this
+battle advanced in a solid phalanx against which Charles' horsemen and
+archers could make no impression. The blow to the pride and prestige
+of the Duke was far more serious than the loss of the engagement and
+the scattering of his army. With great difficulty he raised fresh
+levies, the Flemish communes granting aid only on condition that no
+further subsidies should be demanded for six years to come. The battle
+of Granson took place March 2, 1476. By June he had raised another
+and a larger army, and on the 22nd met the Swiss again at Morat. On
+reviewing his host before the battle, Charles is said to have
+exclaimed, "By St. George, we shall now have vengeance!" but the
+vengeance was not to be always on one side, for the Swiss, making
+their battle-cry "Granson! Granson!" in remembrance of their
+countrymen, whom Charles had treacherously slain, almost annihilated
+his army. The Swiss showed no mercy and took no prisoners, while the
+number of killed on the Burgundian side amounted to eighteen thousand.
+Charles escaped with his life, accompanied by a small body of his
+knights.
+
+For a time it seemed as if his rage and despair at these two defeats
+would cause the proud Duke to lose his reason, nor could his threats
+or entreaties secure more assistance from Flanders. He managed,
+however, to keep the field, and with a small force sat down to besiege
+Nancy--which had been lost to him again after Morat. The town held out
+stubbornly, as all towns did, now that Charles' cruelty and treachery
+to those who surrendered were known, and the Burgundian forces
+suffered much hardship from the cold, for it was now mid-winter. On
+January 5th Charles gave battle to an advancing force of Swiss, was
+again crushed and the greater part of his little army killed. After
+the battle the Duke could not be found, and no man knew what had
+become of him. The following day a page reported that he had seen his
+master fall, and could find the place. He led the searchers to a
+little pond called the Etang de St. Jean. Here, by the border of a
+little stream, they found a dozen despoiled bodies, naked and frozen
+in the mud and ice. One by one they turned these over. "Alas," said
+the little page presently, "here is my good master!" Disfigured, with
+two fearful death wounds, and with part of his face eaten by wolves,
+it was indeed the body of the great Duke.
+
+Even his enemies did honour to the dead prince. Clothed in a robe of
+white satin, with a crimson satin mantle, his body was borne in state
+into the town he had vainly sought to conquer, and placed in a velvet
+bed under a canopy of black satin. His remains were interred in the
+church of St. George at Nancy, where they remained for more than fifty
+years. The Emperor, Charles V, then had them brought to Bruges and
+placed in the church of St. Donatian. His son, Philip II, removed
+them, five years later, to the wonderful shrine in the Church of
+Notre Dame where they remained until the French Revolution, when they
+were scattered to the winds as the bones of a tyrant. The sarcophagus,
+however, of the Duke and his gentle daughter, Marie, still remain, as
+we have seen, and are among the finest in existence.
+
+The death of the powerful Duke of Burgundy made a profound impression
+throughout Europe, and still remains, as Mr. Boulger in his admirable
+_History of Belgium_ says, "one of the tragedies of all history." His
+downfall was mainly due to the implacable hostility of Louis XI, whom
+he had once publicly humiliated at Péronne and affected at all times
+to despise. Many of the Swiss and Germans who fought against him in
+his last fatal campaign were hired mercenaries in the pay of the King
+of France, while some of his most trusted followers and advisers were
+traitors in constant correspondence with his wily and unscrupulous
+antagonist. Had Charles sought to conciliate his great Flemish
+communes instead of intimidate them his reign might have been
+prolonged by their powerful aid, and his dream of establishing a
+kingdom of Burgundy have been realised. As it was, he failed signally
+in most of his undertakings, and with all his fury and vainglory and
+cruelty lost in ten years the huge power that his father had taken
+fifty years to accumulate.
+
+Marie, Charles' only daughter, was left by his sudden and unexpected
+death "the greatest heiress in Christendom," but also well-nigh
+helpless to rule over or even hold her widespread dominions. To
+prevent the King of France from taking advantage of this situation her
+Flemish counsellors advised her to accept an offer of marriage from
+Maximilian, son of the Emperor Frederick III, and in August of the
+same year that saw the battle of Granson they were quietly married at
+Bruges. This event made Flanders a still smaller unit than before in a
+vast aggregation of states that in the course of events was being
+combined under the rule of the House of Hapsburg, nor did Marie's
+untimely death, less than five years later, in any wise delay the
+process of consolidation.
+
+Bruges, during the stormy reign of Charles the Bold and the quarter of
+a century of anxiety and troubles for its burghers that followed after
+the battle of Nancy, was steadily losing its population and material
+prosperity, and, at the same time, acquiring its greatest claim to
+fame--for it was between the year 1462 and 1491 that Memling, the
+foremost of the early Flemish painters, executed the wonderful series
+of masterpieces that have come down to us. And it is to Bruges that
+the student of art must come to see the famous Fleming at his best,
+for there are more of his important works here than in all the rest of
+the world put together.
+
+In common with many others in the early Gothic school very little is
+known of the early life of Hans Memling, but the recent discovery in
+an old manuscript of a note stating that he was born at or near
+Mayence gives a most interesting clue both as to his birthplace and
+the origin of his name. In the Rhineland district near Mayence there
+is a small tributary to the great river called Memling, and a village
+named Memlingen. It is probable, therefore, that--just as the brothers
+Van Eyck called themselves Hubert and Jean of Eyck--so their most
+famous successor called himself Hans of Memling. For lack of authentic
+details regarding his early career legend has supplied a most
+interesting history--that he was wild and dissolute in his younger
+days, was wounded while fighting with Charles the Bold at Nancy,
+dragged himself to the door of the hospital of St. Jean at Bruges, and
+was there tenderly nursed back to health and strength, in gratitude
+for which he painted for the kind sisters the little gallery of fine
+works that are still preserved in the original chapter house of the
+institution. All of this romance, and that of his love for one of the
+sisters, makes a charming background for many of the accounts of his
+life and work, but the painstaking scholarship of modern days has
+shown that at the time when he was supposed to be lying wounded and
+destitute at the hospital he was in fact very prosperous, having
+lately bought the house in which he lived and his name appearing as
+one of the leading citizens of whom the commune had borrowed money. It
+is perhaps pleasanter on the whole to think of the artist as rich and
+honoured instead of at the other extreme of the social scale--but the
+legend is, after all, so much more romantic that we cannot give it up
+without regret.
+
+At Bruges the first spot for the admirer of Memling to visit is, of
+course, the hospital of St. Jean, and at the hospital the first thing
+to see is the world-famous shrine of St. Ursula. Little it is, yet
+beyond price in value. It was constructed as a casket to contain the
+relics of the Saint and was completed in 1489. In design it is a
+miniature Gothic chapel two feet ten inches high and three feet
+long, with three little panels on each side which contain Memling's
+famous pictures setting forth the life and martyrdom of the Saint and
+the eleven thousand other virgins who shared her fate. The story of
+the famous pilgrimage to Rome and its melancholy ending at Cologne has
+been told so often that it need not be repeated here. Ask one of the
+sisters to tell it to you in her charming broken French--for they are
+Flemish, these sweet-faced sisters, and, as a rule, understand neither
+French nor English.
+
+[Illustration: SHRINE OF ST. URSULA, HOSPITAL OF ST. JEAN, BRUGES.]
+
+This fact is said to have served them in good stead on the terrible
+day when the bandit-soldiery of the French Republic clamoured at the
+doors of the hospital in 1494. "The shrine! the shrine!" they cried,
+"give us the shrine!" ("_La châsse, la châsse, donnez nous la
+châsse!_") The nuns, who had never heard it called by that name, but
+knew it only by its Flemish name of _Ryve_, replied that they did not
+possess such a thing as a _châsse_, and their voices and expressions
+so clearly showed their truthfulness and innocence of any deceit that
+the rabble of soldiers went away and the shrine was saved. Early in
+the nineteenth century the Mother Superior refused a most tempting
+offer to purchase the shrine, replying, "We are poor, but the
+greatest riches in the world would not tempt us to part with it."
+
+While the paintings on the shrine are the most famous of Memling's
+works, they are not regarded by the critics as being his best. As Mr.
+Rooses expresses it, "The artist seems to have been less intent on
+perfection of detail for each figure than on the marvellous polychromy
+of the whole." The hospital of St. Jean possesses three of the
+master's greatest works--two triptychs entitled "The Marriage of St.
+Catherine" and "The Adoration of the Magi," and the diptych
+representing the Madonna and Martin Van Nieuwenhove. The museum at
+Bruges contains still another masterpiece, a picture showing in the
+centre St. Christopher, St. Maurus and St. Giles--the first bearing
+the Infant Christ upon his shoulders--while the two shutters contain
+the usual portraits of the donors. One of Memling's most important
+works was a picture of "The Last Judgment" which was painted for an
+Italian, Jacopo Tani, and placed on board ship to be sent to Florence
+by sea. The ship was captured by privateers in the English Channel,
+and as its owners were citizens of Dantzig it was presented by them to
+the Church of Our Lady in that city, where it still remains. There
+are several admirable works by this master at the museums of Brussels
+and Antwerp, while others are scattered throughout Europe, and one
+particularly fine example of his art was brought to America by the
+late Benjamin Altman and now hangs in the Altman collection at the
+Metropolitan Museum at New York.
+
+While the chief interest to the visitor at the hospital of St. Jean is
+the remarkable collection of works by Memling, the old buildings
+themselves merit more than a casual glance. Some of them date from the
+twelfth century, and the view looking back at the ancient waterfront
+from the bridge by which the rue St. Catherine here crosses the river
+is particularly picturesque. The old brick structures go down to the
+very water's edge, and sometimes below it, and the entire pile from
+this side must look much as it did in Memling's day.
+
+Another artist whose work sheds lustre on the old town of Bruges was
+Gheerhardt David. For nearly four centuries his name and even his very
+existence were forgotten, his paintings being attributed to
+Memling--in itself a high evidence of their merit. Recent studies by
+James Weale and other scholars have given us quite a complete life of
+this artist, who lived between 1460 and 1523, and a number of his
+works have been identified. All of these seem to have been painted at
+Bruges, and some of the more notable ones still remain there. The
+municipal authorities commissioned him to paint two great pictures
+representing notable examples of justice such as Van der Weyden had
+done for the Hotel de Ville at Brussels. These depict the flaying
+alive of the unjust Judge Sisamnes by Cambyses, King of Persia, and
+are still preserved in the museum at Bruges. The museum also possesses
+another masterpiece by this artist, "The Baptism of Christ." Others
+that have been identified through painstaking study of the old
+archives of the city and contemporary sources are located in the
+National Gallery at London and in the museum of Rouen.
+
+The prosperity of Bruges was declining very fast while David was
+painting the last of his religious pictures and the merchants were
+steadily leaving the city for Antwerp, which was now rising into
+importance. The artists, whose prosperity depended upon the wealth of
+the burghers were also drifting to the new commercial metropolis on
+the Scheldt and the famous school of Bruges was near its end by the
+middle of the sixteenth century. The last artists who worked at
+Bruges were of minor interest. Adriaen Ysenbrant, Albert Cornelis and
+Jean Prévost belong to this period, and their most important works are
+still preserved in the city where they were executed. "The Virgin of
+the Seven Sorrows," in the church of Notre Dame, is attributed to the
+first, a triptych in the church of St. Jacques to the second, while
+the museum has several pictures by Prévost, including an interesting
+"Last Judgment," and another striking representation of the same
+subject by Pieter Pourbus, of which there is a copy in the Palais du
+Franc. The masterpieces by Jean Van Eyck in this museum have already
+been mentioned, and the small but exceedingly rich collection also
+includes a fine production entitled "The Death of the Virgin," which
+is now generally attributed to Hugo Van der Goes--one of the
+comparatively few works by that master that have come down to us.
+There are also several other works by P. Pourbus, and a powerful
+allegorical picture by Jean Prévost representing Avarice and Death.
+There is undoubtedly no collection of paintings in the world of which
+the average value is so great as that of the little group in the
+hospital of St. Jean, and the one in the Bruges museum--while it has
+quite a few of minor interest and value--would also bring a very high
+average if subjected to the bidding of the world's millionaire art
+lovers.
+
+[Illustration: _An Illumination by Gheerhardt David of Bruges, 1498;
+St. Barbara_]
+
+Bruges possesses another museum of great interest which dates from the
+days of the last Dukes of Burgundy. This is the Gruuthuise mansion, of
+which the oldest wing was built in 1420, and much of the finer portion
+about 1470 by Louis, or Lodewyk, Van der Gruuthuise, who here
+entertained Charles the Bold and his pretty daughter--becoming one of
+the latter's chief advisers on the death of her father and one of the
+two Flemish noblemen who witnessed her marriage. The stately old
+palace is therefore rich with historic associations. As we entered its
+broad courtyard, however, we were most unfavourably impressed by its
+rough-paved surface with the grass growing thick between the stones.
+Surely this must have looked very different in the days when knights
+and fair ladies swarmed here like bees, and the city, which has so
+carefully restored everything else, would do well to at least park
+this otherwise very pretty little enclosure. The interior is both
+pleasing and disappointing. The edifice itself is superb as a survival
+of a nobleman's palace of the fifteenth century, and as an example of
+Flemish interior architecture. The grand stone staircase, the massive
+fireplaces, also in white stone, and one or two of the rooms in their
+entirety give a fine impression of the splendour of the establishment
+maintained by the great Lord of Gruuthuise in the days when he counted
+King Edward IV of England and Richard Crookback among his guests, and
+was engaged in collecting the marvellous library now in Paris.
+Everywhere, over the fireplaces, and in various stone carvings, one
+reads the proud motto of the powerful builders of this palace, _Plus
+est en nous_.
+
+When the palace was in course of restoration some years ago the
+workmen uncovered a secret chamber behind the great stone fireplace in
+the kitchen, concealed within the masonry of the huge chimney, and
+within it the skeleton of a man. A secret staircase was also
+discovered here which led to two underground passages branching off in
+opposite directions. Strangely enough neither of them has ever been
+explored, but one is supposed to lead to the vaults beneath the
+adjoining church of Notre Dame, and the other to some point outside
+the city walls. Some have conjectured that it leads to the Château of
+Maele, some four miles distant, but probably it went to the manor of
+the Lords of Gruuthuise at Oostcamp. Within this mansion a modern Sir
+Walter Scott could easily conjure forth a new series of Waverley
+novels treating of the stirring days when Bruges was virtually the
+capital of Flanders and Flanders was the brightest jewel in the
+Burgundian crown.
+
+All this is most fascinating, and, as far as it goes, helps us to
+reconstruct in fancy the great days of the past. The disappointing
+feature about the palace is the museum itself, which, although
+interesting and valuable, utterly spoils many of the fine rooms by
+converting them into mere exhibition places. In a measure the
+authorities have followed the admirable plan of the owners of the
+Hotel Merghelynck at Ypres, and the immense kitchen, for example,
+contains only kitchen utensils of the Middle Ages--a most complete and
+interesting collection. The same is also true of the large dining-room
+on the same floor, but as one proceeds farther the atmosphere of
+antiquity becomes lost and it is all nothing but museum. The palace
+contains a splendid collection of old lace, the gift of the Baroness
+Liedts, but it seemed to us that it would have been much better to
+have housed this and the various collections of antiquities in some
+less famous and historic structure and endeavoured to restore all of
+these rooms to approximately their condition when Charles the Bold
+stalked through them.
+
+The period of Philip the Good and his terrible son was the one in
+which mediæval Bruges took on substantially its present form. In
+addition to the Gruuthuise Palace scores of important edifices, public
+and private, were built or rebuilt at this time, while hundreds of
+smaller houses were constructed--of which many remain in existence
+to-day. The greatest and most famous edifice dating in large part from
+this epoch is the cathedral of St. Sauveur whose grim, castle-like
+tower dominates the entire city. The lowest part of the tower dates
+from 1116-1127--as already related in the chapter on Bruges under
+Charles the Good--when the church was rebuilt after a fire that
+destroyed the primitive structure erected on the site a century or
+more earlier. Between 1250 and 1346, or for almost a century, the men
+of Bruges were slowly piling up a noble church in the early Gothic
+style, but another fire in 1358 necessitated rebuilding the nave and
+transept--a task which occupied the next ten or fifteen years. In 1480
+work was begun upon the five chapels of the choir and nine years later
+the Pope, Innocent VIII, granted a special Bull of Indulgence in
+favour of benefactors of this work, which appears to have been delayed
+for lack of funds. Work of various kinds was continued until the
+middle of the sixteenth century, but, in the main, the great church
+was nearly as we see it now by the year 1511. The upper part of the
+tower is comparatively modern, dating from 1846, and the spire from
+1871. While it has been criticised by some as ungainly and cumbrous,
+the effect of this tower, from whatever angle it may be viewed, is
+very pleasing. The high lights and shadows on a sunny morning, or late
+in the afternoon, make it far more beautiful than its sister of Notre
+Dame, while against the grey cloud masses of a typical Flemish sky its
+huge tawny mass stands out sharp and clear, the embodiment of majesty
+and strength.
+
+The interior of the church is very large, measuring three hundred and
+thirty-one feet by one hundred and twenty-five feet, with an extreme
+width of one hundred and seventy-four feet across the transepts. Its
+polychrome decorations and stained glass windows are modern. In
+another place the wealth of art treasures in this church would merit a
+chapter, but in Bruges they are so overshadowed by the many
+masterpieces to be seen elsewhere that we felt somewhat satiated
+after such a feast and spent very little time looking at the pictures
+here. The most famous one is a "Martyrdom of St. Hippolytus," by
+Dierick Bouts, which is interesting because so few examples of this
+primitive master are in existence. It is a triptych, the central panel
+showing the saint about to be torn to pieces by wild horses, on the
+left an incident in the life of the saint, and on the right the
+donors. The last picture has been attributed by many critics to Hugo
+Van der Goes, and for many years the entire picture was thought to be
+the work of Memling. Bouts delighted in unpleasant subjects, which he
+depicted with great realism.
+
+[Illustration: "THE LAST SUPPER."--THIERRY BOUTS.]
+
+Dierick, or Thierry, Bouts settled at Louvain about the middle of the
+fifteenth century. Beyond the fact that he came from Haarlem nothing
+is known of his early life and training, but as Van der Weyden of
+Tournai had done some important work at Louvain it is likely that
+Bouts may have derived some of his inspiration from studying the
+methods of that master. He was a contemporary of Memling. Two of his
+paintings, "The Last Supper" and the gruesome "Martyrdom of St.
+Erasmus," were executed for the wealthy brotherhood of the Holy
+Sacrament and were hung in the church of St. Peter.[2] Bouts became
+the official painter for the city of Louvain and produced a "Last
+Judgment" for the hall of the échevins which has since been lost, and
+two panels for the council-room of the Hotel de Ville representing
+"The Judgment of Otho." These are now in the museum at Brussels. The
+Queen having accused an earl of offending her honour, the latter is
+decapitated. The head is then given to his Countess, together with a
+glowing bar of iron. In the second panel she is shown triumphantly
+holding both, the hot iron refusing to burn her and thereby
+vindicating her husband's innocence. The result of the ordeal is shown
+in the distance where the false Queen is being executed at the stake.
+These pictures were ordered, in imitation of those painted by Van der
+Weyden for the Hotel de Ville at Brussels, as part of a series of
+panels designed to instill the love of virtue and justice into the
+minds of the magistrates and people. The artist's death prevented his
+completing two other panels that the archives of Louvain show had been
+ordered. Besides this "Martyrdom of St. Hippolytus" a comparatively
+small number of other works from his brush are listed in the
+catalogues of various European museums.
+
+[Footnote 2: They were probably destroyed during the burning of
+Louvain by the Germans.]
+
+Of the other structures in Bruges of to-day there are a score that
+merit a visit from those who are interested in the city's splendid
+past, and that date for the most part from the last years of the
+Burgundian period. In the rue des Aiguilles there still exists a
+fragment of the Hotel Bladelin, the town house of Peter Bladelin, who
+was for many years Controller-General of Finance, Treasurer of the
+Order of the Golden Fleece, and the trusted agent of the Dukes in all
+manner of business and private affairs. Peter subsequently built the
+town of Middleburg, for the church in which Van der Weyden painted one
+of his most famous pictures. The Ghistelhof in the same street also
+dates from this epoch, and was built by the Lords of Ghistelle. Then
+there is the Hotel d'Adornes and the church of Jerusalem, which was
+formerly the private chapel of the rich brothers Anselm and John
+Adornes. There is still a fine mediæval atmosphere lingering about
+this group of buildings, although much altered from what they were in
+their prime. The church itself is most curious, and beneath the choir
+is a crypt that leads to a reproduction of the Holy Sepulchre, said to
+be a facsimile of the one in the garden of Joseph of Arimathea. It
+would take a volume to cite all of the fine old structures of which
+traces still exist in this, the most picturesque of all the Flemish
+cities. The reader who desires to find them all cannot do better than
+to take Ernest Gilliat-Smith's brilliant _Story of Bruges_ with him
+and look for them, one by one. For those who cannot devote a week or
+more to this delightful task a quicker way to see the Bruges of
+Charles the Bold is to stroll slowly along the Quai Vert, the Quai des
+Marbriers and the Quai du Rosaire and let the beautiful vistas of the
+Vieux Bourg with its quaint red roofs and noble towers become engraved
+upon the memory, for here, more completely than anywhere else, one can
+see the Bruges of the past much as it looked in the day of its
+greatest splendour when it was about to sink into its long sleep.
+
+Thus far Bruges has not suffered seriously from the war, and it is
+profoundly to be hoped that no bombardment such as crumbled its fair
+neighbour Termonde into utter ruin will create similar havoc amid
+these indescribably beautiful scenes. A few hours would suffice to
+destroy artistic and architectural treasures of a value that would
+make the destruction of Louvain seem of little consequence in
+comparison.
+
+[Illustration: QUAI VERT, BRUGES.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+MALINES IN THE TIME OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA
+
+
+Since this chapter was written the ill-fated city of Malines has been
+swept with shot and shell for many days together, its once happy and
+prosperous inhabitants driven far and wide--many of them into foreign
+lands--and it is doubtful if a single one of the various ancient
+edifices which we visited last June has escaped injury.
+Notwithstanding these sad facts it has seemed best to retain the
+chapter substantially as it was written, inasmuch as it affords a pen
+picture of the old town as it looked on the very eve of its
+destruction. Let us hope that when the war is over it will be found
+that most, if not all, of its famous old structures can be restored
+again. As the scene of some of the most stubborn conflicts of the
+great war, it is likely that the city will be more generally visited
+by tourists than was the case when its architectural and artistic
+treasures were uninjured, save by the gentle hand of time. To those
+who thus visit it the following account of the Malines that was may
+prove interesting.
+
+Situated midway between Antwerp and Brussels, on a route formerly
+traversed by scores of _rapides_ every day, the ancient city of
+Malines--which is the French spelling, the Flemish being Mechelen--was
+exceptionally easy to visit, yet during the three days that we spent
+wandering along its entrancing old quays and streets and inspecting
+its many "monuments" we saw not a single tourist. This was the more
+remarkable because Malines is not only one of the very oldest cities
+in Northern Europe, but was for centuries among the most famous. For a
+considerable period it was the capital of all the Netherlands, and it
+is still the religious capital of Belgium--the archbishop of its
+cathedral church exercising authority over the bishops of Bruges,
+Ghent, Liége, Namur and Tournai.
+
+No matter from which side one approaches the city the first object to
+be seen is the vast square tower of the Cathedral of St. Rombaut, and
+as this huge structure--the eighth wonder of the world, according to
+Vauban--dominates the town, so the church itself has dominated the
+history of the city on the River Dyle for more than eleven
+centuries. According to tradition St. Rombaut, or Rombold, to use the
+English spelling, sought to convert the savage tribes inhabiting the
+marshes that extended along the river about the middle of the eighth
+century, the date of his martyrdom being placed at 775. A Benedictine
+abbey was shortly afterwards established near his tomb, which steadily
+grew in importance and power until by the twelfth century it had
+become one of the most important religious institutions in the region.
+During the thirteenth century the prince-bishops of Malines became the
+virtual sovereigns of the city, one of them--Gauthier Berthout,
+sometimes called the Great--defeating the Duke of Gueldre, who
+attempted in 1267 to assert his authority over that of the prelate. At
+this period many of the religious institutions of Malines were
+established under the patronage of Gauthier Berthout and his
+successors.
+
+[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF ST. ROMBAUT. MALINES.]
+
+Meanwhile the comparative immunity of the city from the ravages of the
+wars that so often raged at that period between the various feudal
+lords of the region caused great numbers of artisans to settle there,
+particularly weavers, while the cloth merchants' guild came to be
+recognised as entitled to a voice in the civil affairs of the
+commune. Ships, according to the chronicles, came up the River Dyle in
+such numbers as to make the commercial activity of the town rival that
+of Antwerp--a statement that is hard to believe when one gazes at the
+tiny River Dyle of to-day. However, the ships in those days were very
+small, and the river, like so many others in Belgium, was no doubt
+broader then than it is now that the marshes have all been drained.
+The weavers and other artisans were a turbulent lot, and it soon
+became evident that the bishops lacked the power to hold them in
+check.
+
+This led to a series of alienations of the temporal power over the
+commune to neighbouring princes whose armies were strong enough to
+keep the unruly burghers in restraint. The first of these was effected
+in the year 1300 between the prince-bishop, Jean Berthout, and Jean
+II, Duke of Brabant. In 1303 the news of the great victory gained over
+the nobility by the Flemish communes at Courtrai caused the citizens
+to revolt against their new master, the Duke, who besieged the city
+and finally reduced it by starvation. Until this time the Dyle had
+never been bridged, its waters flowing over a broad marshy bed. This
+made the siege the more difficult as the attacking forces were
+separated by the river, and it was five months before the sturdy
+burghers yielded. To this day an annual procession, called the
+_peysprocessie_, perpetuates the memory of this famous siege.
+
+During the next half century the civil authority over the city became
+a veritable shuttlecock of politics and war, shifting back and forth
+between the Dukes of Brabant and the Counts of Flanders. It was bought
+and sold like a parcel of real estate, but eventually rested with the
+Counts of Flanders, who had first acquired it by purchase in 1333, and
+were finally left in undisputed possession by a treaty signed in 1357.
+Four years later a violent insurrection of the weavers and other
+artisans broke out that was only mastered after the city had been in
+their possession fifteen days, but with the advent of the Dukes of
+Burgundy to the supreme power over all of Flanders, Brabant, Hainaut
+and Holland, the unruly workmen were no longer strong enough to resist
+these redoubtable princes. Great numbers of them emigrated to other
+cities, and the cloth industry, after languishing for a time, finally
+disappeared.
+
+Like most Flemish towns, Malines has its principal railway station
+located on its very outskirts, and as far as possible from the Grande
+Place. A tram car was standing in front of the station on the morning
+of our first visit, but it seemed that it did not start for ten
+minutes. A score of roomy two-seated carriages invited our patronage,
+but we valiantly decided to walk. We soon regretted our decision as
+the walk proved to be long and hot, with very little of interest to
+see, as the houses in this part of the town are comparatively modern.
+At the bridge across the Dyle we paused for a few moments to admire
+the fine views that can here be had of the old Church Notre Dame au
+delà de la Dyle to the westward and the equally picturesque Notre Dame
+d'Hanswyck to the eastward. Just beyond the river is the entrance to
+the Botanical Gardens, and as our first visit chanced to be on a
+Friday we walked in unmolested and enjoyed the welcome shade and the
+beautiful landscape effects of this charming little park. Later on we
+learned that Friday is the only week-day on which admission is free, a
+fee of ten cents being exacted on other days.
+
+As is the case in most Belgian cities, the street from the station to
+the heart of the town, although continuous and straight, changes its
+name more than once. At the outset it is the rue Conscience, then the
+rue d'Egmont, and from the bridge across the Dyle to the Grande Place
+it is named Bruul. Entering the Place from this side we paused to
+admire the tremendous tower of the cathedral which here burst upon us
+in all its majestic grandeur, although the edifice is situated a
+little to the west of the Place itself. In front of us, on the right,
+was a singularly dilapidated ruin, which we learned was the old Cloth
+Hall. Part of it is used as a police station, part is vacant with its
+window openings devoid of sashes or glass staring blankly at the sky,
+while part is devoted to housing a small museum of municipal
+antiquities. The first Cloth Hall at Malines was destroyed by fire in
+1342, and the new one that was begun to replace it was never finished,
+owing to the ruin of the cloth industry during the struggles between
+the artisans and their overlords, and a belfry which it was proposed
+to erect similar to that at Bruges was never begun. The museum
+contains a number of pictures by Malines artists, of historical rather
+than artistic interest, a "Christ on the Cross," by Rubens, and a
+variety of relics of the city's famous past. Curiously enough, there
+is not a single piece of lace in the collection, nor anything to
+represent the great cloth weaving industry--the two branches of
+manufacture to which the city owes so much of its former wealth and
+fame.
+
+Adjoining the _Halle aux Draps_ to the north is a fine modern
+post-office built from designs drawn by the great Malines architect of
+the sixteenth century, Rombaut Keldermans, for a new Hotel de Ville,
+which was never built. Unfortunately its principal façade overlooks
+the narrow rue de Beffer instead of the Grande Place, and its
+beautiful details cannot be seen as effectively as could be desired.
+In the Vieux Palais, the ancient "Schepenhuis," or house of the
+bailiffs, situated a little south of the Place, we were shown the
+original design by Keldermans. It is kept in a sliding panel on the
+wall and, although somewhat dim with age, can still be studied in
+detail. The modern architects of the post-office have reverently
+followed the plans of the great master so that at least this one of
+his many brilliant architectural dreams has come true, and now stands
+carved in imperishable stone just as his genius conceived it nearly
+four centuries ago.
+
+To the ancestor of this architect, Jean Keldermans, is generally
+attributed the honour of designing the tower of St. Rombaut, the
+architectural glory of Malines and one of the most magnificent
+structures of the kind in the world. There are a thousand places
+throughout the city where the photographer or painter can obtain
+attractive views of this masterpiece, but perhaps the best of all is
+from a point some distance down the Ruelle sans Fin (Little Street
+without End) where a quaint mediæval house forms an arch across the
+narrow street, while behind and far above it rises the majestic tower.
+From whatever standpoint one regards the great tower, whether gazing
+up at its vast bulk from directly beneath--a point of view that the
+camera cannot reproduce--or from any of the little streets that
+radiate away from it, its grandeur and beauty are equally impressive.
+
+[Illustration: TOWER OF THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. ROMBAUT FROM THE RUELLE
+SANS FIN.]
+
+Begun in 1452, work on the great tower advanced slowly. In 1468,
+according to a memorial tablet near the southern side of the tower,
+Gauthier Coolman was buried there. It was the custom in the Middle
+Ages to thus recognise the _magister operis_, or creator of the work,
+but it is generally acknowledged that Jean Keldermans is entitled to
+share in the credit for this achievement. Jean was the first in a
+family of famous architects, his brothers André, Mathieu and Antoine
+I, following the same profession, and their skill being handed down
+to later generations, of whom the most famous were Antoine II, Rombaut
+and Laurent. At the beginning of the sixteenth century work on the
+great tower was stopped, owing to lack of funds, after attaining a
+height of three hundred and eighteen feet. The plans, of which
+sketches are still preserved at Brussels, called for carrying the
+spire upward to a total height of five hundred and fifty feet, and in
+the ambulatory of the cathedral we found a plaster cast showing the
+spire as it was proposed to erect it. The stones to complete the work
+were already cut and brought to Malines, but were carried away between
+1582 and 1584 by the Prince of Orange to build the town of
+Willemstadt. Apart from its height, this tower is remarkable for its
+great bulk, measuring no less than twenty-five metres in diameter at
+the base.
+
+On each side for most of its height the architect designed a series of
+lofty Gothic windows. Of these the lowest are filled in with masonry,
+except for a tiny window in the centre. In the higher ones stone
+blinds fill in the openings, while the topmost pair are wide open to
+the sky. The well-known legend about the over-excitable citizen of
+Malines who cried "Fire!" one night after seeing the full moon
+through these windows gave the people of the town for many years the
+nickname of _Maanblusschers_, or moon extinguishers, and also gave
+rise to the slur in the last three words of the following Latin
+distich in which an old monkish poet compares the six chief cities of
+Belgium:
+
+    _Nobilibus Bruxella viris, Antwerpia Nummis,
+    Gandavum laqueis, formosis Bruga puellis,
+    Lovanium doctis, gaudet Mechlinia stultis._
+
+    Brussels is renowned for its noble men, Antwerp for its money,
+    Ghent for its halters, Bruges for its pretty girls,
+    Louvain for its scholars, Malines (Mechelen) for its fools.
+
+This seems rather hard on Malines, and also on Ghent, the allusion to
+that city referring to numerous occasions when its sovereigns humbled
+the burghers by forcing them to plead for mercy with halters around
+their necks.
+
+On the outside of the tower, close to its present summit, is a clock
+the face of which is claimed to be the largest in the world. As the
+same claim is made for the great clock on an industrial establishment
+in Jersey City I will simply give the dimensions of the one at Malines
+and let those interested make the comparison for themselves: Diameter
+of face, 13.5 metres; circumference, 41 metres; length of hour hand,
+3.62 metres; height of figures, 1.96 metres. The minute hands were
+originally 4.25 metres long, but are missing on all four sides. This
+renders the time-piece hardly one to be consulted if one is catching a
+train, as the exact minute can only be estimated from the position of
+the hour hand. Furthermore, the gilding on the hour hands and on most
+of the figures has become so dim that only the strongest eyes can
+distinguish the former, and some of the latter can only be made out
+from their position. As the city appeared to be exceedingly proud of
+the size of this clock it seemed strange that the authorities did not
+authorise the expenditure of the small sum necessary to re-gild it.
+
+It is a hard climb to the top of the tower, but one well worth making,
+not only for the fine panorama of the city that unfolds itself wider
+and wider as one mounts higher, but for the opportunity thus afforded
+of seeing the fine _carillon_, or set of chimes, and the curious
+mechanism operating the clappers that strike the hours. Just before
+reaching the floor upon which these are placed the guide conducts the
+visitor to a trap door from which one can look down into the interior
+of the cathedral--a thrilling experience to be enjoyed only by those
+who are not inclined to be dizzy. The massive timber work supporting
+the huge bells was constructed in 1662, but the oldest of the bells
+dates from 1498, or six years after the discovery of America. The two
+biggest bells are named Salvator and Charles, of which the larger one
+weighs 8,884 kilos, or more than nine tons, and requires twelve men to
+ring it. There are four other big bells and forty-five for the entire
+_carillon_, most of which were cast by Pierre Hémony of Amsterdam, the
+Stradivarius of bell founders, in 1674. Altogether they form four
+octaves, the giants chiming in with the others as the music demands.
+The keyboard which operates the little hammers is operated by both
+hand and foot power, and the _carillonneur_ who operates it is worthy
+of the splendid instrument at his command, being Josef Denyn, the son
+of an equally famous _carillonneur_, and reputed to be the finest in
+Europe. M. Denyn not only gives frequent concerts at Malines, but also
+at Antwerp and Bruges, as well as in many European cities outside of
+Belgium.
+
+We made a special trip to Malines one Monday afternoon in June solely
+to listen to one of these concerts, which takes place on that day
+between eight and nine in the evening, during the months of June,
+August and September. The sleepy old town was thronged with
+automobiles, for the renown of these famous concerts has spread far
+and wide, and some of the cars, we were told, had come from points as
+far away as Ostende, Blankenburghe and Heyst, while scores were from
+Antwerp and Brussels. The crowd gathered quietly in the streets
+surrounding the great tower and a great silence seemed to pervade the
+entire city as the hour of eight approached. Then, faint and far at
+first, came the first dulcet tones from this great organ of the sky,
+until--as the music swelled and more of the larger bells began to
+blend their notes in the harmony--the very air seemed vibrant with
+celestial sounds. The selection, as we afterwards learned, was one of
+the _Volksliederen_, or pieces of folk music for the rendition of
+which M. Denyn is famous. As we listened we realised as never before
+the part the ancient _carillon_ was meant to take in the daily life of
+the people. It is, in truth, as a French author has beautifully
+expressed it, the orchestra of the poor, giving expression through its
+wondrous notes to their joys and their sorrows. On the occasion of
+great fêtes its music is light and gay, in attune with the popular
+rejoicing; in times of public grief the _carillon_ gives utterance to
+notes of lamentation; when a famous citizen is being borne to his last
+resting-place through the streets lined with silent mourners the
+_carillon_ sends the deep notes of its funeral dirges across the city;
+in time of war or sudden danger the great bells roar the wild tocsin
+of alarm; in time of peace their softest notes breathe a sweet prayer
+of peace and benediction at eventide.
+
+While we were visiting the tower we were shown the _tambour_ cast in
+copper by means of which the clock strikes the hours, the half hours
+and the quarters. This was cast in 1783, and two years were required
+to make the sixteen thousand, two hundred square holes into which drop
+the teeth that actuate the striking hammers.
+
+The interior of St. Rombaut, while majestic and imposing, is hardly as
+masterly as the tower. On the occasion of our first visit a high mass
+was being celebrated and we reverently joined the throng of
+worshippers. In addition to the choir there was a body of some two
+hundred young men in the centre of the cathedral who participated in
+the singing, a curé beating time for them. Their strong manly voices
+blended finely with the higher notes of the distant choir boys and
+the deep tones of the organ. From the top of the choir long crimson
+streamers were suspended, terminating at the back of the high altar
+and giving a rich note of colour to the interior, while the light from
+the stained glass windows overhead poured downward in many-coloured
+rays upon the throng of black-robed priests, with a sprinkling of
+higher dignitaries clad in purple. Truly a picture that filled the eye
+with the pageantry of religion, even as the rolling notes of the
+sonorous chants filled the ear!
+
+After the service was over, and the great cathedral, but now so
+crowded, was deserted, we started on our tour of inspection. It would
+be a tedious task to chronicle all of the objects of interest. The
+carved stalls of the Gothic choir are far less elaborate in
+workmanship than those at Amiens. The altar by Faid'herbe, a native of
+Malines, is imposing, but not of remarkable merit. The carved pulpit
+in the nave, however, is a veritable masterpiece of wood carving by
+Michel Van der Voort of Antwerp, and dates from 1723. Below, St.
+Norbert is shown flung from his horse by a thunderbolt, above is the
+Crucifixion at the left, with the Virgin and St. John standing below
+the cross, while at the right is shown a charming representation of
+the Fall, with Eve offering the apple to Adam, both figures embowered
+in a mass of foliage that twines up the stairway to the pulpit and
+lifts its branches far overhead. The masterpiece of the paintings is
+an altarpiece by Van Dyck representing the Crucifixion, a notable
+representation of the gradations of grief in the faces of the Virgin
+and Mary Magdalen. The attendant requires a franc to uncover this
+picture. "The Adoration of the Shepherds," by Erasmus Quellen, in the
+opposite arm of the transept, while less famous, is a noble piece of
+work.
+
+As would be expected from its great religious importance, Malines has
+numerous minor churches that contain much of interest to the visitor.
+The largest of these is Notre Dame au delà de la Dyle, situated across
+the River Dyle from the oldest part of the city, but dating from the
+fifteenth century. Here the tourist usually asks to see "The
+Miraculous Draught of Fishes," by Rubens, a highly coloured triptych
+that is only uncovered when one pays a franc to the attendant. As this
+master produced some seventeen hundred known works it would cost a
+small fortune to see them all at a franc apiece, but this one dates
+from the artist's best period and is fully worth the price charged to
+see it. It is vigorous in treatment, and the Fishmongers' Guild, which
+purchased it from the artist in 1618 for sixteen hundred florins,
+certainly got very good value for their money. The wings are painted
+on both sides. This church also contains the curious Virgin with the
+Broken Back. According to the popular legend her sharp leaning to the
+right is due to the fact that one day, when the sacristan of the
+church failed to wake up in time to ring the angelus the lady
+obligingly did it for him, but wrenched her spine in the effort. Her
+smug smirk of satisfaction, as if over a duty well performed, no doubt
+also dates from the same incident.
+
+Hardly less interesting is the ancient church of Notre Dame
+d'Hanswyck, situated on the same side of the Dyle as the other Notre
+Dame just described. A chapel was erected on the site of this church
+soon after the country was converted from paganism by St. Rombaut, and
+a large church was built near the end of the thirteenth century. This,
+however, was pillaged by the iconoclasts in 1566, riddled by shot from
+the cannon of the Prince of Orange in 1572, and finally completely
+demolished eight or nine years later by the Gueux. It was not until
+1663 that the present edifice was begun. It was designed by Luke
+Faid'herbe, the famous sculptor of Malines and a pupil of Rubens, and
+was built under his personal supervision. The church itself is a
+veritable museum of the works of this master. The finest and most
+famous of these are the two bas-reliefs in the dome, one showing "The
+Nativity," and the other "The Saviour Falling Under the Burden of the
+Cross." The pulpit, by Theodore Verhaegen, is a fine example of
+Flemish wood carving. In this church the chief treasure, from the
+standpoint of its priests and parishioners, is the miraculous statue
+of the Virgin, which dates from 988, or earlier, according to some
+authorities. It is made of wood, painted and gilded, and is life size.
+Not the least miraculous feat of this interesting relic of the Middle
+Ages is its escape from destruction, at the hands of the iconoclasts,
+the Gueux, and the French revolutionists. At the period when the
+church itself was destroyed the statue was hidden in a secret
+subterranean passage for nearly a century; during the French
+Revolution it was successively lodged in various houses in the rue
+d'Hanswyck--each time being replaced in the church, after the danger
+was over, amid great popular rejoicing.
+
+Another church that is a small art gallery is that of St. Jean, not
+far from the cathedral. Here is the fine "Adoration of the Magi," by
+Rubens, which many critics consider one of the four best of his
+ceremonial works. It was painted in 1617, the year before "The
+Miraculous Draught of Fishes," at Notre Dame de la Dyle, when the
+artist was fresh from his studies in Italy, and before his success had
+caused him to employ a throng of students to assist in the production
+of his works. Furthermore, it was executed for this very church, which
+still possesses his receipt for the final payment, written in Flemish,
+dated March 24, 1624, and signed by the artist, "Pietro Paulo Rubens."
+The price was eighteen hundred florins, but for good measure the
+church obtained three small paintings by the great master to be hung
+below the triptych. In 1794 these pictures were taken to Paris and the
+"Adoration of the Magi" was not restored to its original position
+until after the fall of Napoleon. Two of the small pictures, "The
+Adoration of the Shepherds" and "The Resurrection," are now in the
+museum of Marseilles--having never been returned--while the third,
+"Christ on the Cross," after changing hands several times, was at last
+purchased by an amateur who recognised its authorship and history and
+restored it to the church of St. Jean. The two little pictures on
+either side of it, often attributed to Rubens, are by Luc Franchoys
+the younger. This church also boasts some marvellous Flemish wood
+carvings. Around the two pillars of the transept where it intersects
+the nave are some bas-reliefs, six altogether, by Theodore Verhaegen
+and his pupils, that if there was nothing else to see would alone
+justify a visit to St. Jean, while the pulpit by the same master,
+representing "The Good Shepherd Preaching to His People," is one of
+the most noteworthy of the numerous examples of pulpit carving to be
+seen in Flanders. Below the organ are two more admirable bas-reliefs
+carved in Flemish oak by Pierre Valckx, a pupil of Verhaegen.
+
+Of the many other churches in the old town it would be tedious to
+speak. Nowhere in all Flanders did we see so many black-robed priests
+walking solemnly about--although they do not lack in any part of the
+country. All Belgium, in fact, is full of priests, monks and nuns,
+owing to the expulsion of the religious orders from France some years
+ago. We frequently engaged them in conversation to ascertain more
+about the monuments we were visiting and invariably found them
+courteous and well-informed, and not infrequently we were indebted to
+them for suggestions or information of much value. At the same time,
+it must be said that it seems to a layman as though there are far too
+many for so small a country, but their fine spirit of devotion during
+the war--when thousands of them shared cheerfully the hardships of the
+soldiers--will never be forgotten.
+
+Of the civil edifices in Malines the most important is the Hotel de
+Ville. Architecturally it is disappointing, save for the older
+portion, which was called Beyaerd, and was purchased by the commune in
+1383. The greater part of the edifice was reconstructed during the
+eighteenth century. The many rooms in the interior are pleasing but
+hardly notable, nor are the paintings and sculptures important save to
+the historian. In the Vieux Palais, the room in which the Great
+Council of the Netherlands held its sessions from 1474 to 1618, is
+still preserved in its original state, while one of the ancient
+paintings on the wall shows the Council in session. In this building
+also is the curious statuette of the Vuyle Bruydegom called
+"Op-Signorken," whose grinning face and quaint mediæval costume are
+reproduced on many postcards. The history of this worthy is best
+told in French--and in whispers!
+
+[Illustration: _IN HET PARADIJS_ AND _MAISON DES DIABLES_: TWO
+FIFTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES, MALINES.]
+
+In our tramps around the narrow, crooked streets of the old town, and
+along its picturesque quays, we found many fine examples of fifteenth
+and sixteenth century architecture. On the Quai au Sel is the House of
+the Salmon, the ancient guildhouse of the fishmongers, which dates
+from 1530, and on the Quai aux Avoines we visited the little estaminet
+entitled _In het Paradijs_, with its two painted reliefs of the Fall
+and Expulsion from Eden, and the _Maison des Diables_--so called from
+the carved devils that decorate its wooden façade of the sixteenth
+century. The Grand Pont across the Dyle to these old quays itself
+dates from the thirteenth century, as its grimy arches testify.
+
+After the defeat and death of Charles the Bold at Nancy his widow,
+Margaret of York, transferred her residence to Malines, and here she
+raised and educated the two children of her daughter, Marie of
+Burgundy, Philip the Handsome and Margaret of Austria. Their father,
+the Emperor Maximilian, was so occupied with affairs of state over his
+widely scattered realm that he seldom came to the city, but from 1480
+onward the States General of the Netherlands often met here, and in
+1491 Philip the Handsome presided at a chapter of the Order of the
+Golden Fleece at the cathedral of St. Rombaut. On his premature death,
+in 1506, Maximilian again became Regent, as Philip's eldest son
+Charles was barely six years old. The following year Maximilian made
+his daughter Margaret of Austria Governess-General of the Netherlands
+and guardian of Philip's children. Margaret at once chose Malines,
+where she had herself been educated, as her seat of government and
+there she reigned as Regent until her death twenty-three years later.
+This period was the golden age in the history of the city on the Dyle,
+its brief day of splendour.
+
+In her infancy Margaret had been betrothed to the son of the King of
+France, Louis XI--the cunning enemy of her house whose plots had
+brought about the ruin of her grandfather, Charles the Bold. She was
+only three, and the Prince Dauphin, afterwards Charles the Eighth, was
+only twelve. Nine years later a more advantageous alliance caused him
+to renounce this betrothal, and Margaret was subsequently married by
+proxy to the son of the King of Spain. On her voyage from Flushing to
+Spain a storm arose which nearly wrecked her ship, and after it had
+somewhat subsided she and her companions amused themselves by each
+writing her own epitaph. That composed by Margaret, then a sprightly
+girl of eighteen, is well known:
+
+    _Cy gist Margot la gentil' Damoiselle,
+    Qu' ha deux marys et encor est pucelle._
+
+Eventually, however, she arrived safely at Burgos, but her young
+husband, Prince John of Asturias, died suddenly seven months later of
+a malignant fever. At the age of nineteen, therefore, Margaret had
+already missed being Queen of France and Queen of Spain. After two
+years at the Spanish court, where she was very popular, she returned
+to Flanders, arriving in 1500, just in time to be one of the
+godmothers at the christening of her nephew, Charles, at the church of
+St. Jean in Ghent. The following year Margaret married Philibert II,
+Duke of Savoy, surnamed the Handsome, who was the same age as herself.
+This time her married life proved to be only a little longer than the
+other, for her husband died in 1504. Left twice a widow while still in
+the bloom of youth, the Duchess devoted herself to poetry and the
+erection of a church at Brou in her second husband's duchy of Savoy.
+
+There, on the walls, woodwork, stained glass windows and tombs she
+repeated her last motto:
+
+    FORTUNE . INFORTUNE . FORT . UNE
+
+which has generally been interpreted to mean that Fortune and
+Misfortune have tried sorely (fort) one lone woman (une).
+
+The palace of Margaret of York stood on the rue de l'Empereur, where
+some vestiges of it still remain, but Margaret of Savoy and of Austria
+found this edifice inadequate to the requirements of a Regent and
+acquired the Hotel de Savoy opposite. This has been restored and is
+now used as the Palais de Justice, but--apart from its pretty
+courtyard and one fine fireplace--we found very little to recall the
+glories of the period when the great men of all the Netherlands
+gathered here. The edifice was largely reconstructed by Rombaut
+Keldermans, and it was here that the boyhood of the future Emperor
+Charles the Fifth was passed, watched over by his Aunt Margaret. At
+the time of her accession as Regent Margaret was twenty-seven years
+old--"a fair young woman with golden hair, rounded cheeks, a grave
+mouth, and beautiful clear eyes," according to one observer. Her
+father, the Emperor Maximilian, was very fond and proud of her, and
+the greatest treasure in the library in the Vieux Palais is a
+"graduale," or hymnbook, which he presented to her in recognition of
+her services in educating his grandchildren. On one of the pages in
+this book is an illuminated picture showing Maximilian himself seated
+on a throne surmounted by the arms of Austria, with Margaret and the
+youthful Charles and his sister forming part of the group gathered in
+front of him. The other illustrations in this priceless volume, all of
+which we were permitted to examine, consist of religious subjects.
+
+The events connected with the regency of Margaret of Austria belong to
+the history of Europe. More than once she aided her father in solving
+the great problems of government and diplomacy with which he was
+confronted, notably in the prominent part she took in the negotiations
+resulting in the League of Cambrai, which was directed against
+France--the nation to which she always showed an unrelenting hostility
+for the slight put upon her in childhood. In 1516 Charles became of
+age, and two years later--while the new King of Spain was visiting his
+Spanish subjects--Margaret was again proclaimed Regent of the
+Netherlands. In 1519 Maximilian died, and five months later Charles
+was elected King of the Romans, and was chosen Emperor the following
+year, succeeding to the widest dominions ever ruled over by one man in
+the history of Europe. In fact it is doubtful if any sovereign since
+has exercised so vast a power, as the Kings and Emperors of later
+years have had their authority more restricted, while that of Charles
+was absolute.
+
+In 1529 Margaret brought about the negotiations that resulted in the
+famous Ladies' Peace between the Pope, the Emperor Charles, and the
+Kings of France, England and Bohemia. Margaret represented Spain, and
+Louise of Savoy, her sister-in-law and the mother of Francis, the King
+of France, represented that monarch. The result of the conferences was
+a treaty that was highly advantageous to Spain, and a great diplomatic
+victory for Margaret; but as all Europe was tired of war the terms
+were accepted and peace proclaimed amid great popular rejoicings, the
+fountains at Cambrai flowing wine instead of water. The splendid
+mantelpiece in the Hotel de Franc at Bruges was erected to commemorate
+this treaty, although it hardly does justice to the prominent part
+taken by Margaret in negotiating it. The conclusion of the Treaty of
+Cambrai marks the climax of Margaret's career and also that of the
+House of Austria. In addition to the vast empire ruled over by
+Charles, his brother Ferdinand was King of Bohemia, and his sisters
+Eleanor, Isabel, Marie and Katherine, Queens of France, Denmark,
+Hungary and Portugal respectively. All owed their brilliant positions
+to the patience and skill of their Aunt Margaret who, as her
+correspondence shows, was looking forward to the time when she could
+hand over the government of the Netherlands to the Emperor and spend
+her remaining days in quiet seclusion.
+
+Under her wise rule the Netherlands had attained the greatest
+prosperity ever known. Industry and commerce flourished, peace and
+safety reigned throughout her broad dominions. At her court in Malines
+Margaret gathered a brilliant group of artists, poets and men of
+letters. Mabuse (Jan Gossaert), Bernard Van Orley and Michel Coxcie
+were among the famous Flemish artists patronised by the Duchess.
+Rombaut Keldermans received many commissions as architect from the
+great Lady of Savoy and her Imperial nephew for important edifices not
+only at Malines but at Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent and throughout the
+Low Countries. In 1451 the Pope, Nicholas V, had proclaimed a Holy
+Year at Malines and enormous numbers of pilgrims visited the city in
+consequence. Their lavish gifts made possible the rapid erection of
+most of the splendid religious edifices with which the city is so
+amply provided, and it was during the reign of Margaret that these
+structures were completed and decorated. Among the beautiful buildings
+executed during this period may be mentioned the Belfry at Bruges, the
+tower of St. Rombaut, the Hotel de Ville at Ghent, the spire of the
+cathedral at Antwerp, the cathedral of Ste. Gudule at Brussels, and
+many minor churches throughout the Low Countries.
+
+Margaret displayed rare taste for works of art, and her palace was a
+veritable treasure house of masterpieces, as an inventory prepared at
+her direction shows. One of the most famous of these was the portrait
+of Jean Arnolfini and his wife by Jean Van Eyck, which--after many
+vicissitudes--has now found a permanent resting place in the National
+Gallery at London, unless some militant suffragette adds another
+chapter to its chequered history. Another treasure has been less
+fortunate, namely the portrait of _La belle Portugalaise_, wife of
+Philip the Good, which was painted by Jean Van Eyck under
+circumstances already described in another chapter. This famous
+picture disappeared during the religious wars and has never been
+discovered. The inventory lists a great many other paintings, of which
+some are still in existence and some have been lost. The descriptions
+are often quaint and charming, and may have been dictated by the
+Duchess herself, as for example: "_Une petite Nostre-Dame disant ses
+heures, faicte de la main de Michel (Coxcie) que Madame appelle sa
+mignonne et le petit dieu dort_," and "_Ung petit paradis ou sont
+touxs les apôtres._" Other artists of note in the collection were
+Bernard Van Orley, Hans Memling, Roger Van der Weyden, Dierick Bouts,
+Jerome Bosch and Gerard Horembout.
+
+[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF JEAN ARNOLFINI AND HIS WIFE BY JEAN VAN
+EYCK.]
+
+Among the men of letters whom Margaret gathered around her were Jean
+Molinet, her librarian and a poet who often celebrated her charms;
+Jean Lemaire de Belges, who became her historian; Erasmus, Nicolas
+Everard, Adrian of Utrecht, Cornelius Agrippa, Massé, Rénacle de
+Florennes, Louis Vivés, and many others. Her library was as choice as
+her collection of paintings and included a Book of Hours and several
+other illuminated manuscripts now in the Bibliotheque Royale at
+Brussels, and many of the mediæval classics. History records few great
+personages whose personality, considered from every aspect, is more
+pleasing than that of this gracious lady, whose very pets are known to
+us through the frequent references made to them by her literary
+courtiers. Her career, though shaded by sadness and disappointment,
+was a great and noble one, and, while she lived, the land over which
+she ruled remained in almost uninterrupted peace and prosperity--the
+wars of the Emperor being for the most part waged far away on the
+plains of Italy or in France.
+
+On the last day of November, 1530, the Regent Margaret passed away at
+her palace at Malines in the fiftieth year of her age and the
+twenty-third of her regency. For forty-five days the bells of the
+churches throughout the city tolled at morning, noon and night in
+expression of the profound grief of the people at their great loss.
+The dirges may well have been for the departure of the city's
+greatness as well, for the death of its great patroness proved the
+beginning of its decline. The new Regent, Marie of Hungary, removed
+her court to Brussels, and although Malines, by way of compensation,
+was made the seat of an arch-bishopric it never recovered its former
+splendour and sank rapidly into the quiet town that it was when the
+great war added a new and tragic chapter to its history.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+GHENT UNDER CHARLES THE FIFTH--AND SINCE
+
+
+But for the great disaster at Nancy, it is altogether probable that
+Charles the Bold would, before very long, have sought to chastise the
+burghers of Ghent as he did those of Liége, but his unexpected death,
+and the ruin of his plans, gave the citizens at least a brief period
+of respite from the tyranny that had been pressing more and more
+heavily upon them since the "bloody sea of Gavre." His daughter,
+Marie, was only nineteen when her father's fall placed her at the
+mercy of the turbulent communes, and at Ghent as well as Bruges she
+was forced to grant a charter restoring the many privileges that
+Charles and Philip the Good had taken away. She was even helpless to
+save the lives of two of her most trusted counsellors, who were
+accused by the men of Ghent of treacherous correspondence with their
+wily enemy, Louis XI, and--in spite of her entreaties and tears in
+their behalf in the Marché de Vendredi--were publicly beheaded in the
+first year of her brief reign.
+
+Shortly after the untimely death of this princess whose popularity
+might have held the communes in check, her husband, Maximilian, began
+the long war that finally resulted in establishing his authority over
+all of Flanders. This accomplished, he established his daughter,
+Margaret of Austria, as Regent and during the twenty-three years of
+her wise and gentle reign the country remained for the most part at
+peace and its commerce and prosperity returned.
+
+It was during the struggle with Maximilian that the Rabot was
+constructed at Ghent, in 1489. The previous year the Emperor Frederick
+III, father of Maximilian, had threatened the city at this point,
+where its fortifications were weakest, and the two famous pointed
+towers were built as part of the protective works designed to render a
+similar attack impossible. Although somewhat mutilated in 1860, the
+twin towers still stand, and with the curious intervening structure
+constitute one of the finest bits of military architecture of the
+fifteenth century that has come down to us. Historically, they form a
+monument of the victory gained by the commune over Frederick and his
+son in their first attempt to curtail its liberties and privileges.
+
+On the 24th of February of the year 1500 the city of Ghent learned
+that a baby boy had been born at the Cour de Princes, to its
+sovereigns, Philip the Handsome and Joanna of Spain, who was destined
+to become the most powerful monarch in the world. On the day when this
+fortunate baby was baptised with the name of Charles, the city gave
+itself up to rejoicings that might well have been tempered had it
+known the fate that was in store for it at the hands of its
+illustrious son forty years later. As it was, joy reigned, and at
+night ten thousand flaming torches flared, the great dragon in the
+belfry spouted Greek fire, and on a rope suspended from the top of the
+belfry to the spire of St. Nicholas a tight-rope dancer performed
+prodigies of skill for the cheering crowds that thronged the streets
+below.
+
+Fifteen years later, when Charles was declared of age, it was at Ghent
+that he was proclaimed Count of Flanders. The following year he became
+King of Spain, and in 1520 Emperor; thus at the age of twenty ruling
+over all the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Northern Italy, Spain and
+the vast empire in the new world--then in course of conquest by
+Pizzaro, Cortés and the other Spanish conquistadores. While the
+city's most famous son was advancing to the zenith of human power and
+wealth, its own fortunes were steadily declining. The long contest
+with Maximilian and the competition of England had struck a death blow
+to the cloth industry, which languished for a time and then gradually
+decayed and disappeared. The Cloth Hall was therefore left unfinished,
+which accounts for its insignificance as compared with similar
+structures in other Flemish towns where the textile trade was far less
+important than that of Ghent in the days of its greatest prosperity.
+The city continued, however, to be the centre of the grain trade as
+before, and the fine façade of the Maison des Bateliers (House of the
+Boatmen's Guild), on the Quai au Blé, was built at this epoch, in
+1534.
+
+[Illustration: Photograph by E. Sacré. MAISON DE LA KEURE, HOTEL DE
+VILLE, GHENT.]
+
+A still more notable structure, the Hotel de Ville, dates in part from
+the time of Charles. This edifice in reality comprises a group of
+buildings erected at different epochs and for diverse purposes.
+Architecturally the most beautiful of these is the Maison de la Keure,
+which forms the corner of the Marché au Beurre and the rue Haut Port,
+extending for most of its length on the latter somewhat narrow street.
+This was designed and built by Dominique de Waghenakere of Antwerp
+and the famous Rombaut Keldermans of Malines, and was erected between
+1518 and 1534. The actual edifice represents only a quarter of the
+fine design of the architects and lacks an entire story with various
+decorative features which would have greatly improved its appearance
+and made it one of the finest Hotels de Ville in Flanders. As it is,
+this part is by far the best of the entire structure. The Maison des
+Parchons facing the Marché au Beurre was built in 1600 to 1620 and is
+in the Italian Renaissance style and vastly inferior to the fine
+Gothic structure of a century earlier. The other portion of the
+building comprises a Hall for the States of Flanders, in the ruelle de
+Hotel de Ville, built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; the
+grande conciergerie joining this to the earlier Gothic Maison de la
+Keure and built in 1700; and a Chambre des Pauvres built by order of
+Charles V in 1531, of which the present façade dates from 1750.
+
+The inner rooms of this collection of buildings, of different ages and
+different architectural styles, are of relatively minor interest. The
+Grande Salle de Justice de la Keure is somewhat imposing with its
+large fireplace, but its lack of other decorations makes it rather
+cold and gloomy and we were glad to leave it. Much more beautiful is
+the Salle de l'Arsenal, built half a century later. In the Chapel of
+St. John the Baptist, which adjoins the Salle de Justice in the most
+ancient part of the edifice, and is now used as a Salle des Mariages,
+is a fine picture representing Marie of Burgundy begging her people to
+forgive Hugonet and Humbercourt, her two ministers who--despite her
+tearful pleas--were executed in the Place Ste. Pharaïlde hard by.
+
+On the death of Margaret of Austria the Emperor appointed his sister,
+Marie of Hungary, Regent of the Netherlands. The steady decline of its
+trade and the increasing poverty of the people caused the city of
+Ghent to seethe with discontent, and in 1539 an outbreak occurred that
+gave the Regent great alarm. Under the leadership of a group of
+demagogues the _Métiers_ or lower associations of artisans, overawed
+the magistrates and seized Liévin Pyn, an aged and honourable member
+of the Council and Dean of the _Métiers_ who was unjustly accused of
+giving the Queen Regent a false report on the situation and of having
+stolen the great banner of the city. This unfortunate old man was
+subjected to fearful tortures in the Château des Comtes, but
+resolutely refused to confess to any of the acts charged against him.
+Nevertheless, he was finally executed on the Place Ste. Pharaïlde--one
+of the most pitiful and unjust of the many cruel tragedies enacted
+there. Broken and weakened from the tortures to which he had been
+subjected, he had to be carried to the place of execution, where his
+indomitable spirit was such that before bowing before the axe of the
+executioner he sternly reproached his judges with their cowardice, and
+predicted that the people would soon have occasion to regret the
+fatuous course they were pursuing.
+
+The dying old man spoke the truth. The Emperor was then in Spain and
+matters connected with the government of his world-encircling realm
+demanded for the moment his attention, but he was none the less kept
+well informed as to what was going on in his native city, where
+affairs meanwhile progressed from bad to worse, until a veritable
+state of anarchy prevailed. When Charles learned of the virtual
+insurrection against his authority that prevailed, and of the death of
+Liévin Pyn, he was furious and vowed to inflict upon the rebellious
+city a vengeance that would deter all other cities in the empire from
+ever following its example. Slowly, but with a deliberateness that
+boded ill for the foolhardy rabble who for the moment guided the
+destinies of the commune, the Emperor made his preparations for a trip
+to the Low Countries. Two months after the execution of Pyn it became
+known in the city that their puissant sovereign was on his way. The
+news filled the mutineers with terror. No longer was Ghent in the
+proud position she had occupied under the Counts of Flanders and the
+first Dukes of Burgundy--the premier city of the realm and a foe to be
+respected and even feared. The power of Charles V was too vast for
+even the most ignorant to think of armed resistance to his authority,
+now that he was about to assert it in person. Many of those
+responsible for the period of anarchy fled, others went into hiding.
+
+Early in the year 1540 the Emperor arrived at Cambrai, proceeding next
+to Valenciennes and Brussels. Meanwhile a strong force of German
+soldiers entered the city--meeting with no resistance from its now
+thoroughly terrified inhabitants, many of whom no doubt wished they
+could restore the dead Doyen des Métiers, whom they had so cruelly
+sacrificed, to life again that he might plead their cause with the
+dreaded Emperor. They had good reason to tremble, for in a few days
+the ring-leaders of the late troubles began to be arrested and all men
+were forbidden, under penalty of death, to harbour them or aid them to
+escape their sovereign's wrath. A few days later nine of the mutineers
+were executed on the Place Ste. Pharaïlde where Liévin Pyn had
+perished at their hands six months before. The magistrates were now
+filled with terror and abjectly pleaded for mercy. The Emperor
+haughtily replied that he knew how to be merciful and also how to do
+justice, and that he would presently give judgment on the city "in
+such a manner that it would never be forgotten and others would take
+therefrom an example."
+
+This disquieting response was followed by the Emperor's famous visit
+to the top of the cathedral tower in company with the Duke of Alva. It
+was on this occasion that the latter, with the ferocity that
+afterwards made his name a by-word for cruelty for future ages,
+counselled his sovereign to utterly destroy the rebellious city. To
+this the Emperor responded with the _bon mot_ that showed at once his
+sense of humour and his moderation. Pointing to the wide-spreading red
+roofs of the populous city he asked, "How many Spanish skins do you
+think it would take to make a glove (_Gand_, the French spelling of
+Ghent, also means glove) as large as this?"
+
+[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF THE DUKE OF ALVA BY A. MORO.]
+
+Meanwhile, under the direct supervision of the Emperor, a huge citadel
+began to be erected on the site of the ancient little town surrounding
+the Abbey of St. Bavon--a choice that involved the destruction of many
+of the Abbey buildings. The Emperor, while this work was going on,
+remained at the Princenhof where he held his court, but gave no sign
+as to what the fate of the city was to be. It was not until April
+29th, 1540, that he finally--in the presence of a great throng of
+princes, nobles and the members of his Grand Council, with the city
+magistrates on their knees at his feet--gave his long delayed
+decision. In a loud voice the Imperial herald first read a list of
+thirty-five crimes committed by the people of the city, declaring them
+guilty of _dèsléalté_, _désobéyssance_, _infraction de traictés_,
+_sedition_, _rébellion et de léze-magesté_. In consequence of these
+crimes the sentence deprived them forever of their privileges, rights,
+and franchises. It directed that the charters, together with the red
+and black books in which they were registered, should be turned over
+to the Emperor to do with them as he pleased, and it was forbidden
+ever again to invoke or appeal to them. It pronounced the
+confiscation of all the goods, rents, revenues, houses, artillery and
+war material belonging to the city or to the _Métiers_. It confiscated
+the great bell Roland and decreed that it must be taken down. It
+further directed that three days later the magistrates, thirty members
+of the bourgeois or middle class, the Doyen of the weavers, six men
+from each _Métier_ and fifty "creesers" should beg pardon of the
+Emperor and Queen. The suppliants on this occasion were dressed in
+black, with heads and feet bare, and cords about their necks, and were
+compelled to beg the pardon of the Emperor on their knees in the
+market-place. Besides this public degradation the magistrates were
+required to wear the cords about their necks thereafter during the
+exercise of their functions. It is said, however, that before very
+long the hemp was converted into a rich cord of gold and silk, which
+they wore as a scarf--as if it were a badge of honour instead of one
+of disgrace.
+
+The walls of the city were to be still further demolished, and the
+sovereign reserved the right to specify later which towers, gates and
+walls should be torn down to erect the citadel. Finally, a heavy money
+indemnity was exacted, and the following day a new code of laws in
+sixty-five articles was promulgated--the famous Concession
+Caroline--which served as the basis of government until the end of the
+old régime during the French Revolution. The city, no doubt, breathed
+a sigh of relief that the Emperor exacted no further toll of human
+life, but the conditions were none the less heavy enough. In brief,
+these terms ended, once and for all, every vestige of self-government,
+and swept away all of the privileges for which the burghers had fought
+for so many centuries. The year 1540 marks the end, therefore, of the
+long and brilliant history of the Flemish communes--for no other city
+dared resist the Emperor's authority after this--and thereafter
+Flanders became a mere province in the wide dominions of sovereigns
+who seldom visited its cities and frequently did not even speak the
+language of its people.
+
+Among the tombstones in the Cathedral of St. Bavon one that deserves
+more than a passing glance is that of Bishop Triest. Designed by the
+celebrated sculptor, Jerome Duquesnoy, it is a notable example of
+Flemish sculpture, besides possessing an added interest by reason of
+the fact that the artist sought to destroy it when complete. More
+important, however, than the monument and its story is the fact that
+Bishop Triest was the father of the art of horticulture for which
+Ghent is so renowned today. It was in his gardens--which were famous
+throughout the seventeenth century--that rare and exotic plants were
+for the first time planted out of doors in Flanders and trained to
+grow in the form of pyramids, arches, summer-houses, and a hundred
+fantastic shapes. The "Belvedere Gardens" of the worthy prelate became
+the model for other gardeners, and the seed, planted in fertile soil,
+from which sprang a great industry.
+
+Not content with cultivating his own gardens the Bishop sought to
+encourage in every way the humble gardeners of the city, giving them
+his august protection, his friendly counsel, making loans to the
+needy, and uniting them into a society under the patronage of St.
+Amand and Ste. Dorothy. This noble example was speedily followed by
+the city, which also encouraged the horticulturists. In 1640 William
+de Blasère, an alderman of the city, constructed the first hothouse
+ever seen in Europe. It was a hundred feet long, made of wood and
+glass, heated with huge stoves, and sufficiently high to accommodate
+the exotic plants that, in summertime, were set outdoors. This novelty
+made a great stir and brought many visitors to Ghent. Soon afterward a
+society of horticulturists was founded, and by the end of the century
+a botanical garden was established.
+
+In the opening years of the nineteenth century this institution very
+nearly came to an end. It was costly to keep up, produced little or no
+revenue, and Napoleon, who was then First Consul and included Ghent in
+his rapidly widening dominions, decided that it should be suppressed.
+A friend of the garden skilfully took advantage of a visit of
+Josephine to Ghent to enlist her aid in persuading her husband to
+spare it. Inviting the future empress to visit the establishment, he
+contrived that the plants and flowers should plead their own cause.
+Between two palms at the entrance he had a huge placard suspended
+bearing the words: "_Ave, Cæsar, morituri te salutamus_." Then, along
+the different walks, each flower and plant bore a card proportionate
+to its size and containing a verse alluding to its approaching
+destruction. Naturally surprised at this outburst of poetry on the
+part of the "nymphs" of the garden, as the flowers styled themselves
+in their effusions, Josephine inquired the reason for it. This gave
+her conductor his opportunity, and he pleaded for the preservation of
+the garden with such ardour and eloquence that he won her assurance
+that if her wishes had any weight his beautiful garden should be
+preserved and its "nymphs" should not perish in exile. The event
+proved that he had secured a powerful ally, for the edict of the First
+Consul was rescinded and the garden was saved.
+
+To-day Ghent boasts of her title of "the City of Flowers." The
+Botanical Garden is protected by a Royal Society, there are many
+private collections that are worth going far to see, and more than
+five hundred establishments, large and small, are engaged in
+horticulture as an industry, the annual exports amounting to millions
+of dollars. Bishop Triest can therefore be thanked for giving Flanders
+one of its great industries.
+
+Speaking of Napoleon, it is not generally remembered that Ghent was,
+for the brief space of one hundred days, the capital of France. When
+Napoleon returned from Elba, and was received with open arms by the
+very troops sent to attack him, Louis XVIII fled incontinently to
+Ghent where he set up a feeble court at his residence on the rue des
+Champs. Here Guizot, Chateaubriand, and his other ministers met
+formally every morning to discuss with His Majesty the chances of his
+ever getting back to Paris again--Paris where, by the way, the mob was
+singing mockingly:
+
+    "Rendez nous notre père de Gand
+        Rendez nous notre père!"
+
+It would take a satirist like Dickens or Thackeray to describe the
+scene when the fat monarch sat down to his mid-day meal, in the
+presence of whoever might wish to watch the curious spectacle. He
+conquered enormous quantities of food, but depended on Wellington and
+Blücher to conquer the army of Napoleon. The forms of sovereignty were
+none the less carefully observed, as the little court waited day by
+day for the great event that all men could see was drawing steadily
+nearer. At last, as the thunder of Napoleon's guns startled the allies
+from their dance at Brussels, and the tramp of his advancing squadrons
+shook the fields of Waterloo, this fat little fly on the chariot wheel
+of European politics prepared once more for flight. Coaches were made
+ready to carry the entire court to Ostende, where an English vessel
+awaited them if the battle went against the allies. All day long the
+horses stood in the courtyard, the drivers whip in hand. History does
+not record what gastronomic feats His Majesty performed that day, but
+late at night the tidings came that the Grande Armée was in retreat,
+and that King Louis could return to his kingdom.
+
+Ghent shares with Bruges the glory of being the birthplace of Flemish
+painting. The famous "Adoration of the Lamb," by the brothers Van
+Eyck, was ordered by a wealthy burgher of Ghent for the cathedral of
+St. Bavon--where the greater part of the original work still rests. It
+was at Ghent that Hubert, the elder brother, planned the masterpiece
+and completed his share of it. But Ghent also had masters belonging to
+the early Flemish school whose fame she does not have to share with
+any other city. One of these was Josse or Justus, usually called
+Justus of Ghent, who visited Italy in 1468 and there painted several
+pictures. Another was Hugo Van der Goes who gave promise of becoming
+as great a master as Jean Van Eyck when he suddenly gave up his chosen
+profession and entered the Monastery of Rouge-Cloitre, near Bruges. He
+was admitted to the Guild of Painters at Ghent in 1467, and left the
+world of action in 1476--eventually becoming insane and dying six
+years later. There is a story to the effect that he once painted a
+picture of Abigail meeting David for a burgher of Ghent who lived in a
+house near the bridge called the Muyderbrugge, and while engaged on
+this work--which was painted on the wall above a fireplace--fell in
+love with his patron's daughter. The painting proved a great success,
+but the stern parents frowned on the suit of the young artist, and the
+daughter, in despair, entered the convent of the White Ladies known as
+the Porta Coeli, near Brussels. The house, which was said to have been
+entirely surrounded by water, has long since disappeared, together
+with the painting, but the story may be the explanation for the
+abandonment by the artist of a promising career when he was still in
+the prime of life. One of the finest pictures in the Modern Gallery at
+Brussels is that by E. Wauters representing the madness of Van der
+Goes. The painter is shown seated and staring eagerly at some phantasm
+before him--perhaps a vision of the fair Abigail--while a group of
+little choir boys are striving, under the leadership of a monk, to
+exorcise the evil demon that possesses their famous brother by means
+of sacred songs and chants. It is said that this method of cure was
+indeed attempted while he was at Rouge-Cloitre, but without success.
+
+The best work of both of these artists is, unfortunately, far from
+Flanders--being found in Italy, where Flemish painters were in their
+day very highly regarded. "The Last Supper," which was the greatest
+masterpiece of Justus, was painted as an altarpiece for the
+brotherhood of Corpus Christi at Urbino and still hangs in the church
+of Sant' Agatha in that Italian town. "The Adoration of the
+Shepherds," which was the greatest work of Van der Goes, is in the
+Uffizi Gallery at Florence. At Bruges there are two paintings
+attributed to this master, "The Death of the Virgin," in the museum,
+and the panel representing the donors in "The Martyrdom of St.
+Hippolytus" in the church of St. Sauveur. The greater part of the
+paintings by Van der Goes in Belgium were destroyed by the iconoclasts
+in the sixteenth century, including several of which his
+contemporaries and other early writers spoke in the highest terms.
+Frequent mention is made of his skill as a portrait painter, and Prof.
+A. J. Wauters, after a careful study of his known works throughout
+Europe, ascribes to him the famous portrait of Charles the Bold in the
+museum at Brussels. The early writers state that private houses at
+Bruges and Ghent, as well as churches, were filled with his works. Let
+us hope that some of these--hidden away during the religious wars or
+at the time of the iconoclasts--may yet be discovered and identified.
+
+Ghent, during the fifteenth century, was the artistic centre of
+Flanders, and the names, but not the works, of many of its painters
+have come down to us. One of the most celebrated of these in
+contemporary annals was Gerard Van der Meire, to whom tradition has
+assigned the triptych of "The Crucifixion" in the cathedral of St.
+Bavon. This artist rose to high rank in the Guild of St. Luke, to
+which he was admitted in 1452, and a considerable number of paintings
+in various European galleries are attributed to him. An Italian writer
+ascribes to him one hundred and twenty-five of the exquisite
+miniatures in the famous Grimani Breviary, now in the library of St.
+Mark's at Venice. If this were true, Van der Meire was indeed a great
+artist, but this book was illustrated after his death.
+
+[Illustration: "THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS."--HUGO VAN DER GOES.]
+
+According to the Royal Commission of Art and Archeology of Belgium,
+Ghent contains more noteworthy antiquities than any other town in the
+Kingdom. The Commission, it appears, divides the "antiquities" into
+three classes, according to their relative importance, and credits
+Ghent with thirteen of the first class, ten of the second and six of
+the third--or twenty-nine in all. The figures for the other Flemish
+cities are: Antwerp, seven first, five second, six third, total
+eighteen; Bruges, four first, six second, six third, total sixteen;
+Tournai, three first, six second, six third, total fifteen; Malines,
+four first, eight second, two third, total fourteen. Many places are
+credited with two or three each. We tried to get a copy of the Report
+of the Commission giving the names of the antiquities in each class,
+and the reasons for ranking them, but were unable to do so during our
+stay in Belgium. It would have been a learned check on the list of
+places we had found most interesting. Quite likely we would have found
+that the Commission gave the first rank to some "antiquity" we did not
+see at all, and maybe never heard of! However, we saw enough to occupy
+every minute of our brief vacation, and the majority of those we
+missed--wilfully at least--were churches, of which Flanders has enough
+to fill three books like this were one to faithfully report them all.
+
+In Ghent there are, as at Bruges, many interesting private houses
+scattered throughout the city. The Professor and I on our morning
+walks looked up many of these, but the list would be tedious to
+enumerate. One of the most famous is the "Arriére-Faucille," formerly
+the home of a rich seigneur, but since 1901 used as a Royal
+Conservatory of Music. Its castle-like tower is very picturesque, but
+we saw nothing of interest in the interior. Near by are two very old
+houses with typically Flemish gables, called the Zwarte Moor and
+the Groot Moor. Built in 1481, or thereabouts, the Confrerie of St.
+George had its headquarters here for many years.
+
+[Illustration: OLD GUILD HOUSES, QUAI AUX HERBES, GHENT.]
+
+The guilds have already been mentioned, and the façades of all of the
+more famous of the guild houses have been carefully restored. These
+include the Maison des Mesureurs de Blé and the Maison des Francs
+Bateliers on the Quai aux Herbes, the Maison des Maçons and the Maison
+des Bateliers non francs. The ancient Grand Boucherie, recently
+restored, is another interesting "monument." It seems that the
+Butchers' Guild at Ghent owed its prosperity to the fact that Charles
+V chanced one day to fall in love with the pretty daughter of a Ghent
+butcher. This young lady obtained for her son and his descendants an
+imperial monopoly of the slaughtering and meat-selling business which
+survived all the various dynastic changes till the French Revolution.
+The butchers were called _Prinse Kinderen_, or Prince's Children, and
+seem to have made a very good thing out of the blot on their family
+escutcheon. Another old edifice is the Maison de l'Etape, or Staple
+House, a granary dating from the thirteenth century, which stands
+beside the guild houses on the Quai aux Herbes. In short, the tourist
+can easily find enough of interest in this rare old Flemish city to
+occupy many days of leisurely sight-seeing. Ghent, like Bruges, has
+thus far been spared the destruction that has overtaken so many of the
+smaller Flemish towns during the war and, as far as is at present
+known, all of its twenty-nine monuments are still intact.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+AUDENAERDE AND MARGARET OF PARMA
+
+
+It was on a pleasant morning in June that the Professor and I set
+forth on a little expedition to the famous town of the tapestry
+weavers, leaving the ladies to rest and shop at Brussels. The
+poplar-trees that line the country roads and canals in all parts of
+Belgium were in full bloom and their light cotton-clad seeds were
+drifting like snow in every direction. Moreover, contrary to our
+experience for some time past, the sun seemed likely to shine all day
+and our old friend J. Pluvius was in complete retreat. Our route lay
+for a considerable distance through a charming hop country, the plots
+being much smaller than one sees in Kent or in Central New York State,
+but very numerous, and, no doubt, aggregating a considerable acreage.
+Farther along we passed through a superb stretch of hilly country
+where many of the houses and barns had thatched roofs and were so
+picturesque, both in themselves and in their surroundings, that we
+would fain have descended at one of the little stations and spent the
+day exploring and photographing this charming corner of Flanders. The
+most beautiful spot of all bore the pretty name of Louise-Marie--the
+thatch-roofed houses nestling cosily together upon a hillside. This
+little station, by the way, is on the line from Blaton to Audenaerde
+(in Flemish Oudenaarde), as we were approaching our destination from
+the south instead of directly from Brussels. Presently the great tower
+of Ste. Walburge loomed up ahead on our right, and we could even catch
+a glimpse of the famous Hotel de Ville. Instead of stopping, however,
+our train went on past the church, past the town, past everything,
+until we began to fear that our faithful "_omnibus_" had suddenly gone
+crazy and fancied itself a "_rapide_" bound for goodness knows where.
+At last, however, the station came in sight, but we even sped past
+that, coming to rest finally some distance down the railroad yard. As
+we walked back toward the "_Sortie-Ausgang_" gateway we debated
+whether we would drive back to the town in a cab or take a tram.
+Emerging on the street we promptly decided to walk, since neither cab
+nor tram-car could be seen.
+
+There was no danger of losing our way, for there, straight down the
+long street before us, we could see the huge mass of Ste. Walburge
+towering far above the little houses around it. After a leisurely walk
+of five or six minutes we arrived at a large bleak-looking square,
+called the Place de Tacambaro, at the centre of which stood a monument
+that--had we been in a carriage or on a tram-car--we would have passed
+without more than a passing glance. As it was, we paused to read the
+inscriptions and found that, for Americans, they told a story of no
+little interest. It appears that this is a memorial erected in honour
+of the volunteers from Audenaerde who died in Mexico in the service of
+the unfortunate Emperor Maximilian. The south side of the monument,
+which represents a reclining female figure by the sculptor, W. Geefs,
+bears the following inscription:
+
+        "Ordre de Jour
+
+        Officiers et Soldats! Vous avez pris votre part des travaux
+        et des luttes dans la guerre du Mexique, votre
+        valeur dans les combats, votre discipline
+        dans les fatigues des longues
+        marches ont honoré le
+        nom Belge.
+
+        Au moment de vous rembarquer pour aller revoir votre
+        patrie recevez les adieux de vos frères d'armes du
+        corps expeditionaire français.
+
+        Dans quelques semaines vous aurez revu les rivages de votre
+        patrie y conservez, je l'espère, bon souvenir de leux
+        qui ont soufert et combattu à vos cotes,
+        ainsi que du Maréchal de France
+        qui a eu l'honneur de
+        vous commander.
+
+        Le Maréchal de France, Commandant en Chef.
+
+        BAZAINE."
+
+Proceeding along the street, which still led straight toward the great
+church, we discussed the strange fate that had led these valiant
+Flemings to give their lives in a war of conquest so many thousands of
+miles away--a futile sacrifice as the event proved, with this little
+monument as their sole reward.
+
+Almost before we were aware of it we found ourselves at the Grande
+Place with the Hotel de Ville right in front of us. We were on the
+west side of the little structure, which on the rue Haute adjoins the
+ancient Halle aux Draps. An old doorway gives on the rue Haute, but is
+no longer used, the entrance being now through the Hotel de Ville.
+
+While the two principal churches of the town have suffered severely
+from the fanatical ravages of the iconoclasts, or image breakers, the
+Hotel de Ville can be seen in almost its pristine magnificence.
+Architecturally this monument is generally considered as one of the
+finest, not only in Flanders, but in the whole of Europe. Little it
+undeniably is, although it towers up bravely above the low two-story
+buildings surrounding it, but its very smallness gives its marvellous
+façade the richness and delicacy of the finest lace. Begun in 1525, it
+was completed twelve years later at a cost of "65,754 livres parisis,
+16 sols, 2 deniers." Those who are curious can ascertain the modern
+equivalent of the "Paris pound" of 1537, but even when we add the 16
+sols, 2 deniers, it seems as though the burghers got very good value
+for their money.
+
+[Illustration: HOTEL DE VILLE, AUDENAERDE. Photograph by E. Sacré.]
+
+Late Gothic is the period to which this gem in the galaxy of splendid
+Flemish town halls belongs. It is considered the masterpiece of its
+architect, Henri Van Péde, who also designed the superb Hotel de Ville
+at Brussels and that at Louvain. The many little niches on the front
+once contained statues of the noble lords and dames of Flanders,
+including no doubt several of the great house of Lalaing, the Count
+Philippe de Lalaing having laid the corner stone. Unfortunately these
+were all destroyed during the religious wars and the French Revolution
+and have never been replaced. This seems a great pity, as Flanders
+still possesses many stone-carvers of great skill, and the kindly
+hand of time would soon mellow the new work to harmonise with the old.
+As it is, every niche contains the iron projection that formerly held
+its statue in place, so that the work of restoration would consist of
+simply carving each of the little statues in the sculptor's own
+atelier, wherever it might be, and afterwards placing them in
+position.
+
+One of the original statues still remains in place, however, and is
+entitled to the honour of being styled the oldest citizen of
+Audenaerde. This is none other than Hanske 't Krijgerke, Petit Jean le
+Guerrier, or Little John the Warrior, who, with his diminutive
+standard bearing the arms of the city, stands on the topmost pinnacle
+of the tower. His gaze is ever toward the South, with a far-away look
+in his eyes, across the Grande Place and toward the distant hills.
+During the three hundred and seventy-eight years that he has been
+standing there, braving the winter rains and the summer sunshine, how
+many changes have taken place in the great outside world while little
+Audenaerde has stood still!
+
+Even without its statues the principal façade of the Hotel de Ville
+merits more than a passing glance. In the admirable harmony of its
+proportions, the delicate beauty of its details, in the excellence of
+the stone carvings--almost perfectly preserved--that form wreaths and
+festoons of stone about its Gothic windows, there is nothing finer to
+be seen in all Flanders. The high pointed roof, with its tiny dormer
+windows, is exactly as the architect intended it, and the charming
+little tower seems as perfect as the day the last of the
+sixteenth-century masons left it.
+
+The interior is worthy of the exterior. On the first floor a large
+hall, called the Salle du Peuple--Hall of the People--extends from one
+side of the building to the other. This contains a fine stone
+fireplace surmounted by a splendidly carved Gothic mantelpiece with
+statues of Ste. Walburge in the centre and Justice and Power on either
+side. Below are the arms of Austria, Flanders, and of Audenaerde. This
+masterpiece was carved by Paul Van der Schelden. The walls on each
+side of the fireplace are decorated with modern mural paintings
+depicting Liederick de Buck, the first Forester of Flanders, Dierick
+of Alsace, Baldwin of Constantinople, and Charles the Fifth. Between
+the windows overlooking the Grande Place are the Arms of Castile and
+Aragon, while at the ends of each of the great beams that support the
+ceiling are carved the arms of the various kingdoms and
+principalities belonging to Charles V.
+
+Already we perceive that the shadow of the great Emperor rests heavily
+on this little city of Audenaerde, and as we proceed further in our
+explorations the more dominating and omnipresent does his personality
+become. Even the very arms of the city bear a mute evidence to his
+generosity and sense of humour. It is related that on a certain
+occasion the Emperor and his stately train approached the city without
+being perceived by the sentinel stationed in the tower of this very
+Hotel de Ville to announce his arrival. On reaching the gates,
+therefore, the Imperial cortège found no one to welcome the great
+monarch. The Burgomaster and the members of the Council, who should
+have been there in their robes of state, were conspicuous by their
+absence. Had this happened to his ancestor Charles the Bold, whose
+fiery temper brooked no discourtesy, even when unintended, it might
+well have gone hard with the unfortunate officials. As it was, the
+Emperor overlooked the slight, but not long afterwards he maliciously
+inserted a pair of spectacles in the arms of the city, remarking that
+in future they would thus be able to see more clearly the approach of
+their sovereign.
+
+[Illustration: WOODEN DOORWAY, CARVED BY VAN DER SCHELDEN, HOTEL DE
+VILLE, AUDENAERDE.]
+
+Adjoining the Salle du Peuple is a smaller chamber, the Salle des
+Échevins, or the Council Chamber of the ancient commune. Here there is
+another stone fireplace slightly inferior to the one in the larger
+hall, but resembling it in general design. The statues here represent
+the Virgin Mary in the centre, with Justice and Hope on either side.
+The chief masterpiece in this room, however, is the wooden doorway
+carved by Van der Schelden, who was instructed by the burghers to make
+it as beautiful as possible. How faithfully the artist performed his
+task the result shows. Around its top stand wooden cupids surmounting
+a richly carved entablature containing the arms of Charles V in the
+centre with those of Flanders and of Audenaerde on either side. The
+first is supported by two griffins, the second by two lions and the
+last by two savages. The panels of the door itself and of the
+sidewalls forming the complete portal are richly carved, each design
+being different from all the others. For this bit of wood-carving the
+frugal burghers paid the sum of one thousand, eighteen livres parisis,
+or nine hundred and twenty-three francs--something over $175--and the
+artist furnished the wood!
+
+Formerly the walls of this room were decorated with tapestries of
+Audenaerde, but at the time of Louis XIV these were all removed and
+taken to Paris. Most of the tapestries in the town overlooked by le
+Grande Monarque were subsequently taken away by Napoleon, so that the
+Hotel de Ville of the city that gave these treasures to the world, and
+that should possess the finest collection of them, has been stripped
+completely bare. In their stead the Council Chamber at present
+contains a collection of paintings of no special artistic merit but of
+great historical interest. There is, of course, a portrait of Charles
+V, wearing the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece. A portrait
+of Louis XIV on horseback and bearing a marshal's baton, by Philippe
+de Champaigne, forms a poor substitute for the tapestries filched by
+His Majesty. This collection also comprises several portraits of
+personages famous in later Flemish history. Of these the most
+noteworthy is that of Margaret of Parma, which hangs close to that of
+her father, the Emperor.
+
+Just across the Grande Place from the Hotel de Ville stands the Tower
+of Baldwin, undoubtedly the oldest structure in the city, and erected
+by Baldwin V, a Count of Flanders who died in 1067, making it date
+from the Norman Conquest. The concierge of the Hotel de Ville
+informed us that this little tower, which adjoins another ancient
+edifice now used as a brewery, was the birthplace of Margaret, but
+this does not appear to be altogether certain. Some authorities state
+that the honour belongs to a little two-story house with a high,
+steep-sloping roof that also faces the Place. If the walls of these
+old houses had the ears that proverbially belong to all walls, and
+were still further provided with lips to whisper the secrets they
+overheard, they could no doubt settle this question; and at the same
+time throw some additional light upon a famous bit of mediæval romance
+and scandal.
+
+Of all the natives of the ancient town of Audenaerde the most famous
+was Margaret, afterwards the Duchess of Parma, and for many years
+Regent of the Low Countries, over which she ruled with an almost
+imperial sway. Her father was the great Emperor, Charles V, who
+dallied here for several weeks as guest of the Countess de Lalaing,
+wife of the Governor of Audenaerde, while his soldiers were besieging
+Tournai in the year 1521. The attraction that kept him so far from his
+army was a pretty Flemish maiden named Jehanne or Jeanne Van der
+Gheynst. According to the none too trustworthy Strada, this young
+lady was a member of the Flemish nobility, but according to the city
+archives it appears that she belonged to a family of humble tapestry
+workers residing at Nukerke, a suburb of Audenaerde. At all events,
+her pretty face attracted the attention of the youthful
+Emperor--whether at a ball, as Strada says, or while she was serving
+as maid of the Countess de Lalaing, as many writers assume, or perhaps
+at a village Kermesse which Charles might well have attended
+incognito. After the little Margaret was born the mother received an
+annual income of twenty-four livres parisis from the Emperor. In 1525
+she married the Maître de Chambre extraordinaire of the Counts of
+Brabant, and died in 1541. Charles took his little daughter and had
+her brought up as a princess. In 1537, when she was only fifteen years
+old, she was married by the Emperor to Alexander, the Duke of Urbin, a
+cruel and dissolute Italian prince who, however, died the same year.
+The following year she was married to Octavio Farnese, a grandson of
+Pope Pius III, who was then only fourteen. She was herself strongly
+opposed to this marriage, but the Emperor was obdurate and she finally
+yielded. Her son, Alexander Farnese, was the famous Duke of Parma who
+became the foremost military leader on the Spanish side during the
+sanguinary war between Philip II and the Netherlands. On the death of
+her father, Margaret was made Regent of the Low Countries by her
+half-brother Philip II. She arrived at Ghent, July 25th, 1559, and on
+August 7th the King presented her to the States General, saying that
+he had chosen her as his representative because she was so close to
+him by birth and "because of the singular affection she has always
+borne toward the Low Countries where she was born and raised and of
+which she knew all the languages." She retired from the Regency in
+1567, but was called back once more in 1580 at the personal request of
+the King. As her son Alexander was then at the zenith of his power,
+and opposed to her resuming the regency, she finally declined the
+honour which was reluctantly given to him. She died in 1586 at the age
+of sixty-six.
+
+It was her fortune, or rather misfortune, to rule over the Netherlands
+at a period when the seething forces of religious unrest and protest
+were becoming too violent to be restrained. Had Philip II, her
+half-brother, been less bigoted, less cruel, and less blind to the
+best interests of the country and of his own dynasty, it is possible
+that the great popularity of the Duchess--who was sincerely loved by
+the majority of her subjects and respected by all--might have enabled
+the Government to restrain the rising passions of the people. If,
+instead of a policy of savage repression, the King of Spain had
+authorised Margaret to pursue a policy of moderation and conciliation,
+the fearful history of the next eighty years--the blackest page in
+human history--might never have been written. Unfortunately,
+moderation and conciliation were as foreign to the nature of that
+sombre monarch as to Torquemada himself, and fanaticism fought
+fanaticism with a fury that was as devoid of intelligence as it was of
+mercy.
+
+The first act in the drama of blood was the sudden outbreak of the
+frenzy of the iconoclasts, or image-breakers, which swept over the
+greater part of the Spanish Netherlands in the month of August, 1566.
+Scarcely a church, a chapel, a convent or a monastery, escaped the
+devastation that resulted from these fanatical attacks. Paintings,
+statuary, altars and chapels, even the tablets and monuments of the
+dead--the accumulated art treasures of centuries--were torn to pieces
+or carried bodily away. In some places the work of destruction was
+completed in a few hours, in others organised bands of pillagers
+worked systematically for days before the local authorities--taken
+completely by surprise--recovered their wits and put a stop to the
+work of desecration. The loss to art and civilisation effected by the
+iconoclasts in Flanders is beyond computation. The Regent acted with
+energy and decision, her spirited appeals to the magistrates finally
+bringing them to their senses and resulting in a speedy restoration of
+order. Philip, who had just cause for resentment, meditated vengeance,
+however, and in 1568 replaced the too gentle Margaret by the Duke of
+Alva.
+
+For the Professor the Hotel de Ville contained still another room of
+inexhaustible interest. This was the museum of the commune which
+occupies the entire second floor. For some reason--certainly not from
+fear of the suffragette, which is a non-existent species in
+Belgium--this is closed to the public, but we were admitted by
+courtesy of the Secretary of the Commune. The collection is of the
+utmost value to the historian and archeologist, but is rather badly
+kept. Among the most interesting objects were four chairs once used by
+Charles V; the ancient keyboard of the _carillon_ which formerly hung
+in the belfry of the town hall but is now installed in the tower of
+Ste. Walburge, and some water-colour designs for tapestries. A large
+painting of the Last Judgment covered a considerable part of one wall.
+This is attributed to Heuvick, and originally hung in the Salle des
+Échevins. It was the ancient custom to have a painting of this
+subject, covered by curtains, in the olden justice halls. When a
+witness was about to be sworn the curtains were suddenly drawn back
+and the sight of the picture, which represented with great vividness
+the destruction of the damned, was intended to prevent false
+testimony. The collection also included a variety of ancient arms and
+coins, several curious mediæval strong boxes, and two huge snakes
+which hung from the rafters overhead. There are no snakes in Belgium
+to-day, but our guide assured us that a crocodile had once been taken
+in the River Scheldt near Audenaerde, so the snakes may have been
+natives after all--assuming, of course, that the crocodile story is
+correct.
+
+Back of the Hotel de Ville proper is the still more ancient Cloth
+Hall, dating from the beginning of the thirteenth century. Its small,
+high windows were built slantingly, to prevent archers from sending
+arrows directly into the interior. At some comparatively recent
+period two large windows were cut through, the walls on each side,
+but a goodly number of the earlier windows still remain, and the beams
+that support the high, pointed roof are still as sound as the day they
+were laid in position.
+
+[Illustration: CHURCH OF STE. WALBURGE, AUDENAERDE.]
+
+To the west of the Grande Place, and scarcely a stone's throw from
+Baldwin's Tower, rises the vast grey mass of Ste. Walburge, with ten
+or twelve tiny fifteenth or sixteenth century houses nestling snugly
+up against it. This splendid church dates from the very foundation of
+the city, an early chapel erected on this site having been sacked and
+burned by the Norsemen in 880. Twice after this the church was
+destroyed in the wars between Flanders and France, but in 1150 was
+begun an edifice of which some portions still remain. When John the
+Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, chose Audenaerde as his Flemish place of
+residence the burghers determined to enlarge and beautify their church
+and erected the semi-circular portion of the choir in 1406 to 1408.
+Soon afterwards the great nave was begun, but was not completed for
+fully a century, in 1515. The tower, one of the finest in the world,
+advanced still more slowly and was not entirely finished until 1624.
+Its original height was three hundred and seventy-three feet, but in
+1804 the wooden spire was struck by lightning and burned. It has
+never been rebuilt, and the present height of the tower is two hundred
+and ninety-five feet. As it is, it dominates the little city and
+commands a wide view across the broad valley of the Scheldt in every
+direction. It was a stiff climb, up a perpetually winding stone
+stairway, to the top, but the view well repaid us for the exertion.
+
+The interior of the edifice suggests a great metropolitan cathedral
+rather than the chief church of a small provincial town. The choir,
+which suffered severely from the ravages of the iconoclasts, has
+recently been restored with great skill, and is now one of the most
+beautiful in Europe. This church contains several paintings by Simon
+de Pape, a native of Audenaerde, whose father was the architect of the
+spire burned in 1804, also an "Assumption of the Virgin Mary" by
+Gaspard de Crayer, a follower of Rubens, who painted more than two
+hundred religious pictures. This, like all the others, is of mediocre
+merit. To the student of history and of ancient art one of the most
+interesting treasures of the church is its collection of tapestries of
+Audenaerde. Three of the more important ones represent landscapes--in
+fact the majority of Audenaerde tapestries that I have seen may be
+thus described--with castles, churches, and farmhouses in the centre
+and roses, tulips and other flowers in the foreground. Like most
+Audenaerde tapestries also they are crowded with winged
+creatures--birds flying or singing in the trees and hens, turkeys and
+pheasants strolling in the grass. A tapestry of a different genre is
+one belonging to the Confrerie de la Ste. Croix, which shows an
+Oriental landscape with Jerusalem in the distance, and at the four
+corners the figures of Herod, Pilate, Anna and Caiphas.
+
+Tapestry weaving was introduced into Flanders during the time of the
+Crusades, the reports of the returning crusaders regarding the
+splendid carpets and rugs of the Orient arousing a desire on the part
+of the Flemish weavers to imitate them. Castle walls, however thick
+and strongly built, were apt to be damp and cold and a great demand
+speedily sprang up for the new productions for wall coverings.
+Starting at Arras and Tournai, the manufacture of tapestries spread to
+all the cities in the valley of the Scheldt and received a
+particularly important development at Audenaerde, which soon became
+the leading tapestry centre of Flanders. The weavers adopted Saint
+Barbara as their patron, and in 1441 were organised into a
+corporation. In their original charter it was stipulated that each
+apprentice must work three years for his first employer. Despite the
+severity of this regulation the manufacture of tapestries expanded
+with such rapidity that in 1539 no less than twenty thousand
+persons--including men, women and children--were employed as tapestry
+weavers at Audenaerde and its environs.
+
+Among the famous Flemish artists who painted designs for the tapestry
+weavers of Audenaerde may be mentioned Floris, Coxcie, Rubens, David
+Teniers, Gaspar de Witte, Victor Janssens, Peter Spierinckx, Adolphus
+de Gryeff, and Alexander Van Bredael, while there were a host of
+others. Gradually, however, the artisans began to be discontented with
+their rate of pay, which the master tapestry makers kept at a low
+figure, and the advent of the religious wars found them eager to join
+any movement of revolt. After the outburst of the iconoclasts and the
+arrival of the Duke of Alva many fled to the Dutch provinces and to
+England, never to return. This emigration continued well into the
+seventeenth century, as various decrees passed by the magistrates
+between 1604 and 1621, confiscating the possessions of such emigrants,
+testify.
+
+[Illustration: A FLEMISH TAPESTRY OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.]
+
+Another cause that contributed to the ruin of the tapestry industry at
+Audenaerde was the active effort made by the Kings of France, Louis
+XIII and Louis XIV, to induce the best weavers and master-workmen to
+emigrate to Paris. Philippe Robbins, one of the most celebrated
+master-weavers of Audenaerde, was invited to come to France in 1622
+and was afterwards proclaimed at Beavais to be the _Chef de tous les
+tapitsers du Roy_. Many of the weavers who went to Paris and Brussels
+on their own account established ateliers where they manufactured what
+they proclaimed to be _veritables tapis d'Audenaerde_, and this
+competition still further injured the industry which soon afterward
+disappeared entirely from the city that gave its name to this type of
+tapestry and has never since been re-established there. With the
+departure of its weavers the little city on the Scheldt rapidly
+declined in importance, and for the past two centuries has been the
+sleepy little market-town that it is to-day.
+
+On the other side of the River Scheldt, which flows through the town
+and is crossed by several bridges, is the interesting Church of Notre
+Dame de Pamela, which dates from the thirteenth century, having been
+constructed in the remarkably short space of four years and completed
+in 1239. It thus belongs to the transitional period between the
+Romanesque style and the pure Gothic and is of interest to the student
+of architecture as one of the most perfect examples of this period in
+Flanders. The general effect of the interior, especially when viewed
+from the foot of the organ loft, is noble and imposing in the highest
+degree. Our visit was during a sunny afternoon, and the effect of the
+long beams of light falling from the lofty windows of the nave across
+the stately pillars below was indescribably beautiful. Truly this
+masterpiece of stone expresses in its every line the truth of
+Montalembert's beautiful remark that in such a church every column,
+every soaring arch, is a prayer to the Most High.
+
+One of the most curious of the paintings in Notre Dame de Pamela is a
+triptych by Jean Snellinck, a painter of Antwerp and a forerunner of
+Rubens who was greatly in vogue among the tapestry weavers of
+Audenaerde. This work represents the "Creation of Eve" in the central
+panel, the "Temptation" at the left and the "Expulsion from Eden" at
+the right. The figures are all finely painted, especially those in the
+left wing, and the entire work is an admirable example of early
+Flemish art. The church also possesses an interesting work by Simon
+de Pape representing the invention of the cross. Beneath the organ
+loft were three tapestries of Audenaerde workmanship which the
+caretaker obligingly spread out on the church floor for our
+inspection. All were in a poor state of preservation. One represented
+a woodland scene with three peasants on their way to market in the
+foreground. The second had a curious group of fowls in the foreground,
+while the third showed a sylvan scene with a mother and three
+daughters, each of the girls bearing a basket of flowers.
+
+Both Ste. Walburge and Notre Dame de Pamela suffered severely from the
+fury of the iconoclasts, although the storm broke in Audenaerde at a
+later period than in the larger cities farther to the eastward. The
+curé of Ste. Walburge and four priests of Notre Dame de Pamela were
+thrown by the rioters into the Scheldt and drowned October 4th, 1572,
+while both churches were sacked.
+
+On our way back from visiting the smaller church we paused on the quay
+named Smallendam to admire the superb view of Ste. Walburge across the
+river. A bit further on we entered a quaint little estaminet bearing
+the inviting name of _In der Groote Pinte_ which we freely translated
+as "the big pint." Apparently our Flemish was inexact, for the
+beverage with which we were served was not notable for quantity. It
+proved, moreover, to be exceedingly sour and unpleasant, and we left
+our glasses unfinished. In the course of a tour around the town we
+inspected what remains of the ancient Château de Bourgogne, the early
+residence of the Dukes of Burgundy. The principal building is now used
+by a Justice of the Peace, and we found little of interest save some
+old walls and a massive inner courtyard. At the hospital of Notre
+Dame, opposite the great tower of Ste. Walburge, we found two more
+Audenaerde tapestries in an admirable state of preservation, while a
+dozen fine mediæval doorways in different parts of the town attracted
+our attention. For so small a place there are a great many religious
+institutions, many of them of great antiquity. Among these may be
+mentioned the Convents of the Black Sisters (Couvents des
+Soeurs-Noires), the Abbey of Maegdendale, the Convent of Notre Dame de
+Sion, and the Béguinage--the last an especially charming little spot
+with a delightful street entrance dating from the middle of the
+seventeenth century.
+
+It is hard to believe, as one wanders about the half-deserted streets
+of this sleepy old Flemish town, that in its day of greatness it was a
+city of no mean power, holding its own sturdily against the greatest
+princes in the world. Of its ancient walls and towers not a single
+trace remains, yet those vanished ramparts four times in less than two
+centuries defied the armies of the neighbouring--but, alas, not always
+neighbourly--city of Ghent, even the redoubtable Philip Van Artevelde
+retiring from in front of them discomfited in 1382. Three centuries
+later, in 1684, Louis XIV was beaten off from an assault on these same
+walls, but in revenge he ordered the bombardment of the city. This
+resulted in a conflagration from which it had not fully recovered half
+a century later. In 1708 the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of
+Savoy won a great victory over the French under the walls of
+Audenaerde. To this day along the frontier between France and Flanders
+the peasant women lull their babies to sleep with a crooning ballad
+which begins:
+
+    Malbrook s'en va't en guerre,
+    Mirlonton, mirlonton, mirlontaine;
+    Malbrook s'en va't en guerre,
+    Dieu sait quand il reviendra.
+    Il reviendra à Pâques,
+    Mirlonton, mirlonton, mirlontaine,
+    _Il reviendra à Pâques,
+    Ou à la Trinité. (bis)_
+
+Small wonder that even the nursery songs tell of war and chant the
+name of the great Duke two hundred years after the Battle of
+Audenaerde, for during three centuries the Flemish plains were the
+battlefield of Europe. Happily the present war has not as yet smitten
+Audenaerde with any serious damage, although Le Petit Guerrier, from
+his perch on the belfry of the Hotel de Ville, has no doubt looked
+down upon long lines of marching men and gleaming bayonets.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+OLD ANTWERP--ITS HISTORY AND LEGENDS
+
+
+While Bruges and Ghent were in their prime as centres of Flemish
+commerce and industry a rival that was destined ultimately to supplant
+and eclipse them both was slowly growing up along the banks of the
+River Scheldt at a point where that important stream, which flows
+entirely across Flanders, becomes a tidal estuary. From the most
+ancient times the prosperity of Antwerp--which in French is called
+Anvers, in Flemish Antwerpen--has been closely connected with the
+river. According to the legends a giant named Antigonus once had a
+castle where the city now stands and exacted a toll of all who passed
+up or down the river. Evasion of this primitive high tariff was
+punished by cutting off both the culprit's hands. Of course this giant
+just had to be killed by the hero, whose name was Brabo, and who was
+said to have been a lieutenant of Cæsar. Brabo cut off the dead
+giant's right hand and flung it into the river in token that
+thenceforth it should be free from similar extortions. The visitor
+will find this legend recalled in the city's arms--which has two hands
+surmounting a castle--and in many works of art. Brabo is said to have
+become the first Margrave of Antwerp, and to have founded a line of
+seventeen Margraves, all bearing the same name, but the deeds and even
+the existence of these princes is as mythical as those of their
+ancestor--or the famous legend of Lohengrin, which belongs to this
+period of Antwerp's history.
+
+Like London, Antwerp is situated sixty miles from the sea. In olden
+days commerce was rather inclined to seek the more inland ports, as
+being safer from storms and less exposed to sudden attacks. The size
+of ocean-going ships was, moreover, slowly but steadily increasing
+from generation to generation, and this increase favoured Antwerp,
+which had a deep, sure channel to the sea, as against its early rival
+Bruges, whose outlet, the little River Zwyn, was gradually silting up.
+The fact that the town was situated just outside of the dominions of
+the Counts of Flanders probably helped its early growth, for the
+jealous men of Bruges might otherwise have obtained from the Counts
+decrees restricting, and perhaps prohibiting, its expansion. As it
+was, the great Counts ruled all of the left bank of the Scheldt from
+Antwerp to the sea, and also the waters of the river as far as one
+could ride into it on horseback and then reach with extended sword.
+
+The Tête de Flandre, opposite the centre of the older part of the
+city, marks the end of Flanders proper in this direction. As already
+explained by the Professor, however, Antwerp is none the less
+essentially a Flemish city in its art and architecture, its language
+and literature, and for many centuries of its brilliant history, and
+for these reasons deserves a place in this book.
+
+Like the County of Flanders, the region surrounding Antwerp was an
+outlying "march" or frontier district of the Empire, and its rulers
+therefore derived their feudal title from the Emperor. About the year
+1100 the Emperor bestowed the march on Godfrey of the Beard, Count of
+Louvain and first Duke of Brabant. To the Dukes of Brabant it
+thereafter always belonged until that title, with so many others,
+became merged in those acquired by the Dukes of Burgundy and united in
+their illustrious descendant, Charles V. On the whole, the Dukes,
+being absentees, were easy rulers--the shrewd burghers seizing upon
+their moments of weakness to wrest new privileges from them, and
+relying upon their strength for protection in times of danger. From
+time immemorial the burghers claimed a monopoly right to trade in
+fish, salt and oats. Other trading privileges followed, and by the
+time of the first Duke of Brabant the town was already an important
+one, with a powerful Burg, or fortress, surrounding five acres of land
+and buildings. Among the latter was the Steen, or feudal prison, a
+part of which still stands close to the river and is used as a museum
+of antiquities.
+
+The early Dukes greatly extended the commercial rights and privileges
+of the town, Henry III granting a charter that allowed its citizens to
+hold bread and meat markets and trade in corn and cloth. Duke John I
+granted rights in his famous Core van Antwerpen, dated nearly five
+hundred years before the Declaration of Independence, that were
+remarkable for wisdom and liberality. "Within the town of Antwerp,"
+the charter read, "all men are free and there are no slaves. No
+inhabitant may be deprived of his natural judges, nor arrested in his
+house on civil suit." In 1349 Duke John III granted a charter that not
+only confirmed all of its ancient privileges, but gave exceptional
+rights and liberties to foreigners--causing many of them to come and
+settle there. Among these was the right granted to any dweller within
+the city to sue: citizens according to local customs, foreigners
+according to the laws of their own lands. As at Bruges and Ghent all
+these precious charters were kept in a box having many locks, of which
+the keys were kept by delegates of the Broad Council of the city.
+"This box," said Mr. Wilfred Robinson, in his valuable historical
+sketch of Antwerp, "might only be opened in the presence of all the
+civic authorities, while they stood around it bareheaded and holding
+lighted tapers in their hands. Truly it must have been a quaint and
+solemn scene!"
+
+Some fifty years prior to the charter last mentioned Duke John II
+married one of the daughters of Edward I, King of England, and gave
+that monarch the city of Antwerp as a fief. Edward III used the city
+as a naval base, and in 1339 signed there with Jacques Van Artevelde a
+treaty of alliance with the communes of Brabant and Flanders. The
+Kings of England did not, however, retain their suzerainty over
+Antwerp very long, for it next passed--once more by marriage--to the
+daughter of Louis of Maele, Count of Flanders. The city sought to
+resist, and Count Louis was obliged to besiege it and punished the
+burghers severely for their disobedience. On his death it passed to
+Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, along with the entire County of
+Flanders of which it was then a part, and thereafter remained under
+the Burgundian Dukes and their successors.
+
+In 1446 Philip the Good--whose policy had proved so disastrous to
+Bruges and Ghent--laid the foundation for the commercial greatness of
+Antwerp by a liberal charter which he granted to the Merchant
+Adventurers of England. The English merchants had already left Bruges,
+where the River Zwyn was fast silting up, and now came to Antwerp and
+established there a most extensive trade. They were followed by the
+merchants of the other nations, and in less than seventy-five years
+after the granting of the charter the population of the city had
+doubled twice--from less than seventeen thousand to over forty--four
+thousand inhabitants.
+
+It was during this period that many of the most interesting structures
+of "old Antwerp"--the portion of the city between the Steen and the
+cathedral and north of the Hotel de Ville--were built. We spent
+several interesting mornings tramping these quaint old winding
+streets, some of which are still as mediæval in aspect as any to be
+seen in Europe. The _Vielle Boucherie_, recently restored, dates from
+the reign of Louis of Maele. In its time it contained stalls for
+fifty-three butchers. The streets surrounding this quaint structure of
+ragged brick are well nigh as ancient and interesting as the
+"monuments" which one encounters here and there while exploring them.
+The Steen itself dates, as we have seen, from the very earliest period
+of the city's history, but is only a remnant of what it was. In the
+days of the Spanish Inquisition this grim old structure became a place
+of dread, and its gloomy dungeons--which the cheerful and smiling
+guide showed us by candlelight, for two cents a head--were in constant
+use for the entertainment of guests of the Margraves and their
+successors, the Burgundian Dukes, for nigh on to eight centuries.
+
+[Illustration: THE _VIELLE BOUCHERIE_, ANTWERP.]
+
+In 1485 the rivalry between Antwerp and Bruges reached the point of
+open war. The men of Bruges built a fort commanding the River Scheldt
+at a point near Calloo, mounting on it no less than sixty cannon. The
+Antwerp burghers met this challenge by building a similar fort at
+Austruwel, and then attacked and captured the Flemish fort on April
+23--St. George's Day. A yearly procession still commemorates this
+victory in the long contest to maintain the freedom of the river. A
+fleet of forty-nine merchant vessels that the Flemings had detained
+came triumphantly up the river, and the conflict for supremacy between
+the old sea gateway of the Netherlands and the new was settled once
+for all--as far as poor Bruges was concerned--in favour of Antwerp,
+the new maritime queen of the North.
+
+The river itself seemed to favour the prosperity of Antwerp, as if
+proud and eager to become the handmaiden of so valiant and beautiful a
+city, for the western entrance of the Scheldt gradually deepened at
+about this period--from causes that in those days no one tried to
+understand. This gave the port a deep channel to the sea to
+accommodate the growing draught of ocean-going ships. The discoveries
+of Columbus and Vasco da Gama helped the port also. Until then Venice
+had enjoyed a monopoly of the sugar trade of the East. Now it came
+sea-borne to Antwerp, and the formerly profitable overland sugar trade
+between Venice and Germany was ruined. This caused the Portuguese to
+establish a factory at Antwerp. The Spaniards followed, while the
+English and Italians enlarged their warehouses. Several great German
+trading houses opened premises in the city, although the Hanseatic
+League did not abandon Bruges for Antwerp until 1545--being the very
+last to go.
+
+While the decline of Bruges led the painters of that city to desert it
+for its fast-growing rival on the Scheldt, Quentin Matsys, the
+greatest of the early Antwerp artists, does not seem to have derived
+much of his inspiration from the masterpieces of the Bruges school.
+The early chronicles give a most romantic account of the life of this
+painter, who was born at Louvain about 1466. According to these more
+or less legendary stories he was at first a blacksmith, and changed to
+a painter through love for a damsel whose father was a great patron
+and admirer of that art. Another account has it that he took up
+painting owing to illness, first colouring images of the saints such
+as were then given to children during the carnival. Blacksmith he
+certainly was, as his father had been before him, and the wonderful
+cover for the well in front of the cathedral is his handiwork. It
+seems probable, however, that he first learned the art of painting at
+Louvain, probably as an apprentice to the son of Dierick Bouts. At
+Antwerp he soon fell in love with a beautiful girl, who may have been
+the model for some of his charming Madonnas. The story is told by one
+old chronicler that the maiden's father opposed the match because the
+young suitor was not a sufficiently skilful artist. On a certain
+occasion Matsys, finding his intended father-in-law out, painted a fly
+on one of the figures in a painting belonging to him. On his return
+the owner of the painting started to brush the fly off and, seeing his
+mistake, heartily admitted that the young artist who had painted it
+merited all praise and gave his consent to the nuptials.
+
+The museum at Antwerp is rich in masterpieces by Matsys, including his
+greatest work, "The Entombment." This is a triptych, the panels
+showing Herod's banquet with the head of John the Baptist lying on the
+table, and St. John in the boiling oil. The "Madonna," in the same
+museum, is one of the sweetest faces ever painted among the hundreds
+of Madonnas that abound in mediæval art, and one cannot but feel that
+it is the very face that won the heart of the artist and caused him to
+adopt painting as his profession. Its resemblance to the face of the
+Madonna now in the Berlin museum strengthens this theory. At Antwerp
+also there are to be seen "The Holy Face," a companion painting to the
+"Madonna" just mentioned, and the gruesome yet appealing "Veil of
+Veronica," showing the livid face of the Saviour with drops of blood
+from the cruel crown of thorns trickling down across it. The museum at
+Brussels possesses another masterpiece, and the oldest dated picture
+by this artist, "The Legend of St. Anne," which was completed in 1509
+for the brotherhood of St. Anne at Louvain. He also painted several
+strong and striking portraits, of which the best is that of Erasmus at
+the Städel Institute at Frankfort. Matsys was one of the first Flemish
+artists to present subjects of every-day life as well as religious
+episodes and characters. "The Banker and his Wife," at the Louvre in
+Paris, is the finest example of this kind. There are authenticated
+works by this master in a number of European museums, while a
+considerable number of his pictures have become lost or have not as
+yet been identified.
+
+[Illustration: "THE BANKER AND HIS WIFE."--MATSYS.]
+
+Matsys is the greatest name in the history of Flemish art between the
+masters of Bruges and the school of Rubens. It was his success that
+made Antwerp the Florence of the North. Among Matsys' successors Frans
+de Vriendt, better known as Frans Floris, was one of the most notable.
+He was a member of the Antwerp guild of St. Luke at the age of
+twenty-three, and produced a vast number of works, many of which can
+still be seen scattered among the churches and art collections of
+Flanders. He had over one hundred pupils, of whom Martin de Vos
+achieved the greatest fame. As this painter worked after the
+destruction of the image-breakers many of his religious subjects
+survive to this day. The Antwerp museum contains no less than
+twenty-three of his works, as against only four by his master. Both of
+these artists, however, were profound admirers of the Italian school,
+and the work of Floris especially--though vastly admired in his
+day--is now looked upon as more Italian than Flemish, more imitative
+than original.
+
+This cannot be said of the next really great painter to appear in
+Flanders, Peter Breughel the Elder. Born at the little village of
+Breughel, near Breda in Brabant, about 1526, this artist studied for a
+time in Italy--as did all of his contemporaries--and then settled at
+Antwerp. Here he obtained the themes of many of his most famous
+compositions. "In the port, in the tavern, in the fairs of
+neighbouring villages," says Prof. A. J. Wauters, "meeting now a young
+couple in the giddy dance, or a drunkard stumbling in his path, he
+sought the humble spectacle of homely things, the noisy mirth of
+rustic festivities, and was always in quest of every-day subjects,
+which earned for him, at the hands of posterity, the surname of
+'Breughel of Peasants.'" He later removed to Brussels, where he
+received many commissions, particularly from the Emperor Rudolph II,
+who greatly admired his work. Several of his chief masterpieces are
+therefore in the Imperial Museum at Vienna, but the Royal Museum at
+Antwerp contains four of his works, while several others are scattered
+about Europe.
+
+[Illustration: "WINTER."--PETER BREUGHEL.]
+
+To the lover of Flemish paintings Breughel is one of the most
+characteristic and charming of them all. His art is distinctively
+Flemish, in subject, treatment and inspiration. Somewhat influenced
+perhaps by Jerome Bosch, a Brabant painter of the previous century
+renowned for his weird and eccentric conceptions, Breughel is never
+conventional. His work is that of a humourist, a satirist who sees the
+follies of the world but laughs at them. His pictures are admirable in
+their colouring, execution and the grouping of the figures, and they
+are especially interesting in their vivid portrayal of the every-day
+Flemish life of the times in which he lived.
+
+The visitor to Antwerp cannot fail to observe the images of the
+Virgin placed at the corners of nearly every street in the older
+quarter of the city. These are said to be due to the Long Wapper, a
+somewhat humorous but none the less grim and terrifying fiend who was
+wont, many centuries ago, to play weird pranks upon the good people of
+Antwerp after nightfall. He used to lie in wait for wayfarers upon
+deserted by-streets in the uncanny hours between midnight and dawn.
+Pouncing upon his terrified victims, he would carry them off,
+sometimes never to return. Now and then he assumed the form of a lost
+baby, to which, being found by some charitable mother, the breast was
+given. Presently the good woman discovered to her horror that the
+foundling was swelling and becoming heavy, and when she put it down
+the Wapper assumed his own shape and ran off shrieking. At times he
+peered into church windows and howled and gibbered at the worshippers,
+and afterwards frightened them terribly as they went homeward, or,
+stretching his body to an incredible length, he peered into the upper
+windows of people's houses. Men feared to speak evil of the Long
+Wapper, for something terrible was certain to happen to those who did.
+At last it was found that he would never pass an image of the Virgin,
+and that is why so many were erected that finally the evil fiend had
+no more streets left in which to play his mad pranks and left Antwerp
+for the lonely moors and dunes along the seacoast where he is still
+said to be seen.
+
+The place most frequented by the Long Wapper was a little stream which
+came to be called the Wappersrui in consequence, and a bridge across
+it the Wappersbrucke. Here he often strode out of the water with his
+long thin legs extending far down into its dark depths like two black
+stilts. Once he had reached the embankment he shrank instantly to a
+diminutive size--usually taking the form of a schoolboy. These first
+appearances were generally between daylight and dark, when the
+twilight made it difficult to distinguish faces clearly, and he always
+took the place of some boy who happened to be absent. A favourite game
+of the boys, who were then returning from school, was called
+shove-hat. In this game one boy tossed his hat on the ground and the
+others shoved and kicked it about with their feet while its owner
+sought to regain it. When it came the turn of the Long Wapper to throw
+down his hat the first one to give it a kick broke his wooden shoe to
+pieces and fractured his toes, for the hat proved to be a heavy iron
+pot. Then the street echoed with a jeering "Ha, ha, ha!" but the
+Wapper had disappeared.
+
+His pranks upon grown-up people were apt to be far more serious in
+their consequences than those just described. Often he paused at some
+tavern door and joined the party seated there in a game of cards,
+which invariably resulted in a violent quarrel in the course of which
+one or more of the players was usually killed. On another occasion he
+appeared in broad daylight selling mussels. Encountering four women
+sitting outside their door at work he opened a mussel and offered it
+to one of them. She tasted it, but it turned into dirt in her mouth.
+Apologising, he opened another, which all could see was a sound, fine
+mussel, and offered it to another of the women. No sooner was it in
+her mouth than it turned into a huge spider. The women thereupon set
+upon him, but he defended himself so rudely that two of them were
+nearly killed, when he suddenly vanished, leaving only an echo of wild
+laughter.
+
+In the country to the east of Antwerp there are many quaint legends
+still told at the peasants' firesides on stormy winter nights about
+the Kaboutermannekens who in ancient times frequented that
+neighbourhood. Near the village of Gelrode there is a small hill on
+the sides of which are many little caves which were formerly the
+abode of these fairies, the hill being called the Kabouterberg
+to this day in consequence. There is a similar hill, called
+Kaboutermannekensberg, between Turnhout and Casterle. They were also
+called Red Caps or Klabbers, and were usually clad in red from head to
+foot, and often had green hands and faces, according to those who were
+so fortunate as to see them. These little gnomes or elves seem to have
+resembled their kind as reported in the folk-lore of other northern
+countries, being the willing and loyal slaves of those who treated
+them kindly, and the bitter, and sometimes dangerous, enemies of those
+who misused them.
+
+Still another local sprite--this time a spirit of evil resembling in
+some respects the Long Wapper--was known as Kludde. This fiend was
+often met with after dark in many parts of Flanders, and even in
+Brabant. At times Kludde would appear to the peasants as the dusk of
+twilight was deepening into the intense darkness of night on the
+Flemish plains, in the guise of an old, half-starved horse. If a
+farmer or stable-boy mistook him for one of his own horses and mounted
+on Kludde he instantly rushed off at an incredible speed until he
+came to some water into which he pitched his terrified rider headlong.
+This accomplished to his satisfaction he vanished, crying "Kludde,
+Kludde!" as he went away, whence came his name.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THREE CENTURIES OF ANTWERP PRINTERS
+
+
+The joyous entry of the boy prince who was afterward to become Charles
+V was the signal for ten days of rejoicing by the citizens of Antwerp.
+This was early in the year 1515; and, in truth, the city prospered
+mightily under the rule of the great Emperor, who favoured it on many
+notable occasions. The bankers and merchant princes of Antwerp became
+renowned the world over for their wealth and magnificence. Anthony
+Fugger, who was the banker of Maximilian and Charles V, left a fortune
+of six million golden crowns, and it is said that his name survives to
+this day as a synonym for wealth--the common people calling any one
+who is extremely rich a _rykke Fokker_, a rich Fugger. It is related
+that another rich Antwerp merchant, Gasparo Dozzo, on being privileged
+to entertain the Emperor in his house, cast into the fire a promissory
+note for a large loan he had formerly made to his sovereign.
+
+This period of wealth and prosperity continued till the very end of
+the reign of the Emperor, but under his successor, Philip II, the city
+was plunged into misfortunes and miseries as swift and as appalling as
+those that befell in the terrible Fall of 1914. In 1556 Philip opened
+a chapter of the Knights of the Golden Fleece at St. Mary's, afterward
+the cathedral, in Antwerp--thereby recognising the supremacy of this
+town over the others in his Flemish dominions. Among the new knights
+to whom he gave the accolade were William the Silent and the Count of
+Horn. Little men thought on that day of festivity and good will what
+the future held in store for them all!
+
+On August 18, 1566, the miraculous statue of the Blessed Virgin was
+taken from its place in St. Mary's church and carried through the
+streets of the city in a solemn procession--as it had been for nearly
+two hundred years. This time there were murmurs of disapproval from
+the crowds that lined the streets, some stones were thrown, and the
+procession hastily returned to the church. The next day a small mob,
+composed for the most part of boys and men of the lowest class,
+entered the church and destroyed the statue and the entire contents of
+the sacred edifice, including some seventy altars, and paintings and
+statues almost without number. The organ, then the wonder of Europe,
+was ruined, and the rabble dressed itself in the costly vestments of
+the clergy and carried away the treasures of the church and even the
+contents of the poor boxes. This was the beginning of the work of the
+image-breakers, as they came to be called, which spread throughout
+Flanders until scarcely a religious edifice had escaped the
+destruction of its movable contents, while a few here and there were
+burned. As noted in the chapter on Audenaerde, Margaret of Parma was
+Regent at this time and acted resolutely to suppress the
+disorders--which were largely due to the supine attitude of the local
+magistrates at the beginning.
+
+She had all but succeeded in restoring peace and quiet throughout
+Flanders when Philip suddenly decided to send an army there, and
+selected the Duke of Alva to command it. The story of the eighty
+years' war that followed is familiar to every American through
+Motley's account of it, although that brilliant writer is more
+concerned with the details relating to the Dutch provinces than those
+regarding the portion of the Netherlands that remained subject to
+Spain. Two events, however, in the long war were so directly
+concerned with Antwerp, and loom so large in its history, that they
+cannot be passed over here. Both have a renewed interest in view of
+the history of Antwerp's latest siege in 1914. These are the Spanish
+Fury, and the great siege of the city by the Duke of Parma.
+
+Alva, who superseded the gentle Margaret of Parma as Regent of the
+Netherlands, quickly took stern measures for the repression of further
+disorders at Antwerp, which he regarded as a hot-bed of heresy. A huge
+citadel was built at the southern end of the town, near the Scheldt,
+in 1572, in the centre of which Alva erected a bronze statue of
+himself. On the marble pedestal the inscription related how "the most
+faithful minister of the best of Kings had stamped out sedition,
+repelled the rebels, set up religion, and restored justice and peace
+to the country." So far were these boasts from being true that only
+the following year, in 1573, Alva stole away to Spain secretly, his
+government a failure, his army mutinous, and half of the country he
+had been sent to rule in open and successful revolt. War with England
+had ruined the commerce of Antwerp, Alva's fiscal policy and incessant
+taxes had half beggared the people of the entire country, while
+thousands of the noblest and bravest in the land had met death on the
+scaffold or in the torture chambers of the Inquisition.
+
+Requesens, the next Regent, was unable either to stem the rising tide
+of revolt or to pay his soldiers--King Philip failing to send funds
+until the pay of the Spanish veterans was at one time twenty-two
+months in arrears. The sudden death of Requesens in 1576 left matters
+in a nearly chaotic condition. The veterans who had been fighting in
+Zeeland against the Dutch mutinied and returning to Flanders captured
+the town of Alost, where they forced the citizens to give them food
+and shelter. On November 4th, 1576, the mutineers marched to Antwerp,
+some two thousand strong, where they joined the Spaniards and
+mercenaries in the citadel. They were under the command of an
+_Eletto_, or elected leader. Jerome Roda, a Spaniard, had proclaimed
+himself the commandant of the fortress until the new Regent, Don John
+of Austria, should arrive in Flanders. Under these two worthies the
+combined forces in the citadel, some five thousand men in all,
+proceeded to attack the city. The citizens, on their side, had for
+some time feared such an attack and should have been able to repel
+it. There were fourteen thousand armed burghers, four thousand
+Walloons and an equal number of German troops--twenty-two thousand in
+all. It may have been that they felt unduly secure against an attack
+on that day because it was Sunday. It is certain that they were badly
+commanded.
+
+Shortly after noon the Spaniards rushed from the citadel and across
+the broad open esplanade cleared a few years before by Alva, shouting
+their war cry, _Sant Jago y cierra España_. The _Eletto_ was the first
+to fall, but the rush of furious soldiers was not to be stopped by a
+single volley. The Walloons put up a brave fight but part of the
+Germans treacherously lowered their pikes and let the Spaniards pass
+down the rue St. Georges. On the Place de Meir the defenders made
+another stand, but were swiftly swept back in a confused and
+disorganised mass by the Spanish cavalry. At the Hotel de Ville the
+burghers fought fiercely until the mutineers set fire to the edifice.
+In the conflagration that followed not only this noble structure, one
+of the finest in Europe, but the adjoining guild houses and some
+eighty other buildings were consumed. Of the Hotel de Ville only the
+blackened walls remained. By nightfall the Spaniards and the German
+mercenaries, most of whom had joined the victors in order to share in
+the spoils, were masters of the doomed city.
+
+That night the scenes of pillage and rapine as the savage and half
+drunken soldiers swept through the streets and ransacked the houses of
+all who did not instantly pay a stiff ransom, exceed the descriptive
+powers of the contemporary historians. One of the burgomasters was
+stabbed to end a quarrel as to his ransom. Many burghers were killed
+near the town hall, or were burned within it like rats. For three days
+the city was given up to be sacked. The number who were killed,
+including women and children, has been variously estimated at from
+seven thousand to seventeen thousand of the citizens and defenders of
+the city, and from two hundred and fifty to six hundred of the
+Spaniards. The loss in property amounted to many millions, but no
+accurate estimate could be made of it, as many who suffered most in
+this respect lost their lives as well. Cartloads of plunder were sent
+out of the city, while much of it was actually sold by those who did
+not care or dare to keep it in a temporary market-place at the Bourse.
+Some were said to have concealed their wealth by having sword hilts
+and breastplates made of solid gold. Like the ill-gotten gains of the
+Spaniards in America, however, none of this booty--the reward of
+treachery, of assassination, of cruelty and the sudden setting free of
+all the basest elements in human nature--profited its captors very
+greatly. In a few days after the arrival of Don John, the new Regent,
+the mutinous soldiers were paid off and marched away to Maestricht and
+presently to other battlefields, from Flanders to Lombardy, where, no
+doubt, most of the golden breastplates and sword hilts fell--in due
+time--to other conquerors. Such was the Spanish Fury--until 1914 the
+worst blot on civilisation that history records.
+
+Soon after the Spaniards left the city permission was given to the
+people to destroy the citadel that the tyrant Alva had built to
+overawe the town. The entire population flocked to this welcome
+task--men, women and children, each taking a shovel, a basket or a
+barrow. It is related that even the great ladies of the city took part
+in the work of demolition--so hated had the grim fortress become. The
+statue of the cruel Duke that he had so vaingloriously erected in the
+centre of the citadel only five years before was torn down and dragged
+through the streets by a cheering throng. Charles Verlat has given the
+world a vivid picture of this incident which hangs in the Antwerp
+museum.
+
+[Illustration: "DRAGGING THE STATUE OF THE DUKE OF ALVA THROUGH THE
+STREETS OF ANTWERP."--C. VERLAT.]
+
+Six years later the Duke d'Alençon, who had been made nominal
+sovereign over the Low Countries by William the Silent, planned to
+treacherously attack and sack the city with his French soldiers, some
+three thousand, five hundred strong. This time, however, the citizens
+were not caught napping and when the tocsin in the cathedral called
+the alarm the burghers rushed out in thousands. The French
+swashbucklers proved to be less stubborn fighters than the Spanish
+veterans and soon were driven back in a confused mass to the city
+gates, most of them being killed and the cowardly Duke only saving
+himself by flight. This episode has been derisively called the French
+Fury. It happened January 17, 1583.
+
+The following year Alexander Farnese, the Duke of Parma--and the son
+of the Duchess of Parma, whose career as Regent of the Netherlands
+was briefly described in the chapter on Audenaerde, her
+birthplace--determined to besiege Antwerp, which, since the Spanish
+Fury, had fallen into the hands of the revolted Provinces.
+Unfortunately for its defenders, William the Silent had just died at
+the hands of an assassin and his plans for the protection of the city
+by flooding all of the marshes surrounding it were not followed. The
+butchers opposed flooding all of their pasture lands and the important
+Kowenstein Dyke was not cut. The Prince of Parma, who was the greatest
+military leader of his age, swiftly captured the forts on the Flemish
+side of the river, seized the Kowenstein Dyke--which extended on the
+Brabant side from a point opposite Calloo to Starbroeck--and began to
+build a bridge across the river itself. This daring project, if
+successful, would completely isolate Antwerp from the sea and its
+Dutch allies and render certain its ultimate subjection by starvation.
+
+The bridge was built partly on piles, as far out as the water was
+sufficiently shallow, then the intervening gap was spanned by means of
+thirty-two large vessels anchored at both ends and lashed together by
+chains and heavy cables. The structure was completed in February,
+1585, to the amazement of the besieged burghers and the great joy of
+the Prince's army. It would seem a small affair to the pontoon bridge
+builders of to-day, being two thousand, four hundred feet long and
+twelve feet wide, but at that time it was deemed one of the most
+notable achievements ever known. The defenders of the city sent huge
+fireships down the river to destroy the bridge. One of these actually
+exploded against the structure and another off Calloo, destroying more
+than eight hundred Spanish soldiers and endangering their intrepid
+leader himself. The bridge was wrecked, but Farnese repaired it before
+the people at Antwerp learned of the success of their attempt.
+
+A tremendous attack was next made on the Kowenstein Dyke, with a view
+to cutting it--a feat that could have been done without any trouble if
+the Prince of Orange's counsels had been followed a few months
+earlier. A fleet of one hundred and fifty Dutch ships joined in the
+battle from the sea side, while a strong force of Flemings, English
+and Dutch from Antwerp attacked the dyke from the land side. After a
+fierce struggle it was cut, the waters rushed through and one vessel
+loaded with provisions for the beleaguered city made its way past.
+That night Antwerp rejoiced, but in the darkness the Prince of Parma
+made another furious assault and finally drove back the allies,
+capturing twenty-eight ships of the Dutch fleet and filling in the
+dyke once more. This victory--which as a feat of arms was one of the
+most brilliant of the war--sealed the fate of the city, which finally
+capitulated August 17th. So important was this success to the
+Spanish, cause that Isabella, the daughter of King Philip, was
+awakened by her father during the night by the tidings, "Antwerp is
+ours!" Its fall settled approximately the extent of the region that
+was left to the Spanish Crown out of the wreck of its former empire in
+the Low Countries. Thenceforth all of the provinces to the west and
+south of Antwerp--the region now comprised in the Kingdom of
+Belgium--remained subject to the King of Spain and his Austrian
+successors until the great French Revolution. The remaining provinces
+became the Dutch Republic and now form the Kingdom of Holland.
+
+The Spanish Fury and the great siege had together well-nigh destroyed
+the commerce of the port, and the heavy fine imposed by the conquerors
+upon the city for its rebellion completed its ruin. Packs of wild dogs
+are said to have roamed unmolested through the outlying villages,
+which stood deserted, while even wolves were seen. Grass grew in the
+once crowded streets of the city, and famine added to the miseries of
+its fast declining population. It would hardly be conceivable that a
+quarter of a century of hideous misrule could have so utterly
+obliterated the prosperity of this once opulent city, but for the
+fearful object lesson afforded in 1914 that war is still as potent a
+breeder of destruction and despair as it was in that dark age.
+
+Enough, however, of wars and sieges and the sack of cities. Antwerp's
+past includes many pleasanter stories as well--stories of progress and
+achievement. To those who are interested in the noble art of printing,
+and the various branches of the fine arts that serve as handmaids to
+the printer, Antwerp possesses one of the rarest treasure-houses in
+the world. This is the Museum Plantin-Moretus, for three centuries the
+head office and workshop of the great printing-house whose name it
+bears.
+
+Christopher Plantin, the founder of this famous establishment, was by
+birth a Frenchman--having first seen the light of day in the vicinity
+of Tours in the year 1514. Fleeing from the plague with his father to
+Lyons, he went from there to Orleans, to Paris, and finally to Caen in
+Normandy, where he learned the art of printing from Robert Mace. Here
+also he met Jeanne Rivière, who became his wife in 1545 or 1546. The
+couple soon went to Paris, where Plantin learned the art of
+bookbinding and of making caskets and other articles of elegance from
+leather. In 1549 he came to Antwerp and the following year was
+enrolled as a citizen and also as a member of the famous guild of St.
+Luke with the title of printer. He does not appear to have followed
+this profession, however, but speedily gained much renown for his
+exquisite workmanship as a bookbinder and casket maker, finding
+several wealthy patrons and protectors-among them Gabriel de Çayas,
+Secretary of Philip II, then the most powerful monarch in Christendom.
+
+In the year 1555, while on his way to deliver in person a jewel-case
+he had just made for this client, he met with an adventure that
+changed the course of his career. It was quite dark before he had
+completed his errand, and as he made his way along the narrow, ill-lit
+streets of the old city he was set upon by a party of drunken
+revellers who mistook him, with the casket under his arm, for a guitar
+player against whom they had some grievance. One of the party ran the
+unfortunate casket-maker through the body with his sword, and he had
+barely strength enough to drag himself home, more nearly dead than
+alive. Skilful medical and surgical aid finally saved his life, but
+left him unable to do any manual work. He therefore gave up his
+casket-making and resumed the trade of printer, which he had learned
+at Caen. Instead of a misfortune, as it no doubt seemed at the time,
+this sword thrust proved the turning point in his career, for in his
+new profession he was destined to achieve undying fame.
+
+There were at this time no less than sixty-six printing establishments
+in the Low Countries, of which thirteen were at Antwerp, some of the
+latter rivalling the best printers of Paris, Basel and Venice in the
+beauty of their productions. Plantin's first book was issued the year
+of his accident, in 1555, and was entitled "_La Institutione di una
+fanciulla nata nobilmente_." During the next seven years his presses
+turned out a limited number of works, but in 1562 his office was
+raided by order of the Regent, Margaret, the Duchess of Parma, and
+three of his workmen seized and condemned to the galleys for a
+heretical book they had printed unknown to him, entitled "_Briefve
+instruction pour prier_." Plantin fled to France, and to avoid
+confiscation he had some of his friends, acting as creditors, sell and
+buy in his printing plant. The following year--having convinced the
+Government of his orthodoxy--he returned to Antwerp and organised a
+company consisting of himself and four partners, including some of his
+pretended creditors. While this arrangement lasted, from 1563 to
+1567, more than two hundred books were printed, and forty workmen kept
+constantly employed. His work was already considered notable for the
+beauty of its type and excellence of the paper used.
+
+Soon after the partnership was dissolved Plantin undertook what was
+destined to be the greatest work of his career, and one of the most
+notable in the history of printing, the famous _Biblia Regia_. This
+was an edition of the Bible in four ancient languages, Latin, Hebrew,
+Greek and Chaldean. The Hebrew type was purchased from a Venetian
+printer, while the last two were cast expressly for this book. His
+friend Çayas interested Philip II in the project and that monarch sent
+the great scholar Arias Montanus from Alcala to supervise the work. At
+the suggestion of Cardinal Granville, Syriac was added to the other
+texts, so that, including French, there were six languages in all. The
+first volume of this "Polyglot Bible," as it came to be called,
+appeared in 1569 and the eighth and last in 1573. The work proved to
+be exceedingly costly, and to help meet the expense the King of Spain
+advanced 21,200 florins, and granted Plantin a monopoly for its sale
+throughout the Spanish dominions for the period of twenty years. A
+similar monopoly was granted by the Pope, the Emperor, the King of
+France and the Republic of Venice. In spite of all this, the book
+brought its printer no profits, but kept him in debt for the rest of
+his life. Pensions promised by Philip II to himself and his
+son-in-law, Raphelingen, were never paid.
+
+Between the editor of the great Bible and its printer a strong
+friendship sprang up. "This man," wrote Arias on one occasion, "is all
+mind and no matter. He neither eats, drinks, nor sleeps." And again,
+"Never did I know so capable and so kindhearted a man. Every day I
+find something fresh to admire in him, but what I admire the most is
+his humble patience towards envious colleagues, whom he insists on
+wishing well, though he might do them much harm."
+
+Besides the _Biblia Regia_ Plantin, now at the height of his fame,
+managed to turn out a vast quantity of printed matter. High in royal
+favour by reason of this worthy work, he had no difficulty in
+obtaining for himself and his heirs a profitable monopoly for printing
+and selling missals and breviaries throughout Spain's wide dominions.
+While the largest printers at Paris rarely employed more than six
+presses, Plantin kept twenty-two constantly at work, had agents at
+Paris and Leyden, and sent a member of his family every year to attend
+the fairs at Leipzig and Frankfort. In 1575 his office is said to have
+had seventy-three kinds of type, weighing over seventeen tons.
+
+In 1570 he was appointed by Philip to the newly created office of
+Prototypographer in the Netherlands. Masters and men in the printing
+trade had to apply to him for certificates as to their fitness, while
+he was also required to draw up a list of forbidden books. In this,
+curiously enough, one of the earlier products of his own press found a
+place--a rhyming version of the Psalms in French by Clement Marot.
+This office does not seem to have paid much salary, if any, or to have
+given its first possessor anything but a lot of worry.
+
+The Plantin Press was located at various places about the city until
+1576, when it was established on the rue Haute near the Porte de St.
+Jean. Three years later Plantin purchased from the owner of this
+property the premises occupied by the present museum and extending
+from the rue Haute through to the Friday Market, with a large gateway
+opening into the latter. Plantin had been only eight months in this
+new location when the Spanish Fury broke out. He was away on a
+journey himself, but his son-in-law, Moretus, had to pay a heavy
+fine to save the printing-office from pillage. The next few years were
+full of trouble and anxiety. For a time Plantin had to leave Antwerp,
+going to Leyden, where he met Justus Lipsius and was made printer to
+the University. During the great siege of Antwerp he fled, with many
+other Catholics, to Cologne, where he thought for a time of
+establishing his chief printing-office. After the siege he hurried
+home, but a short time later his health began to fail.
+
+[Illustration: COURTYARD OF THE PLANTIN MUSEUM, ANTWERP.]
+
+It was in the house on the Friday Market that the dying printer
+gathered his family about him. His only son had died in infancy, but
+his five daughters had all lived to be married, three of them to men
+associated with him in the printing office. The eldest, Margaret,
+married Francis Raphelingen, the chief proof-reader and an able
+linguist; while the second, Martina, married Jean Moretus, the father
+of a long line, of which the eldest sons bore the same name so that
+they came to be distinguished by numbers, the first being Jean Moretus
+I--like a line of kings. This son-in-law was Plantin's business
+manager. The third daughter aided the mother, who ran a linen business
+in the frugal way that many Flemish housewives have of helping their
+husbands. A fourth, Magdalen, when only a child, corrected proofs on
+the _Biblia Regia_ in five languages, and later married her father's
+Paris agent. The fifth married a brother of Jean Moretus I, who became
+a diamond-cutter.
+
+Plantin had from a very early date adopted the motto "_Labori et
+Constantia_," together with the emblem of a hand holding a pair of
+open compasses, which may be seen over the Friday Market gateway to
+the museum. This emblem, with the motto entwining it in the form of a
+scroll, or appearing above, below or across it in a hundred
+variations, is the mark by which connoisseurs can distinguish the
+products of the Plantin Press. It must have been constantly in the
+mind of the great printer himself, for on his deathbed he composed the
+following French couplet, which expresses and describes his own
+character better than any epitaph could do:
+
+    "Un Labeur courageux muni d'humble Constance
+    Resiste à tous assauts par douce Patience."
+
+On July 1, 1589, this "giant among printers" breathed his last, and
+was buried in the ambulatory of the cathedral, his friend Justus
+Lipsius writing the inscription for his tombstone. While his name is
+not associated with the earliest beginnings of the art of printing,
+and the products of his press do not therefore command the almost
+fabulous prices paid for the rarest productions of some of the first
+printers, Christopher Plantin was not only the greatest printer of his
+age, but one of the greatest in the history of the art. Almost from
+the first he knew how to gather about him the foremost scholars and
+artists of his time, making his establishment not merely a
+printing-office but an institution of learning, a home of the fine
+arts. Arias Montanus, editor of the _Biblia Regia_, aided by a host of
+the most learned churchmen of Europe; Justus Lipsius, lecturer before
+Princes at the Universities of Leyden and Louvain; Mercator and
+Ortelius, the geographers, from whom the world learned the right way
+to make maps and atlases; Crispin, Van den Broeck, Martin de Vos, and
+a score of the foremost Flemish artists, who were employed by Plantin
+to illustrate his books; these and many more no doubt were frequent
+visitors at the printing-house during the lifetime of its founder.
+
+These noble traditions were fully maintained under his successors.
+Jean Moretus I ruled over the destinies of the house until his death,
+in 1610, leaving it to his two sons, Jean II and Balthazar I. The
+latter was the greatest of the dynasty of printers after Plantin and
+Jean Moretus I. He was a warm friend of Rubens, who illustrated many
+of the publications of the house during this period. In the fourth
+generation, represented by Balthazar III, who ruled for half a
+century, from 1646 to 1696, the family was ennobled, but after this
+period the house confined its output and commerce to missals and
+breviaries, under the monopoly granted by Philip II for the countries
+under the rule of Spain. This business was completely destroyed by an
+edict prohibiting the importation of foreign books into the Spanish
+dominions, and in 1800 the printing office ceased operations. It
+resumed activity on a small scale once or twice during the nineteenth
+century, but finally closed in 1867, after an existence of three
+hundred and twelve years, and in 1876 the last representative of the
+house, Edouard Moretus, sold the entire establishment, with all its
+priceless collections and furnishings, to the City of Antwerp for the
+sum of 1,200,000 francs, to be maintained as a museum.
+
+During the splendid period of activity in the first half of the
+seventeenth century, the throng of famous men in the libraries and the
+corrector's room of the old establishment surpassed that of the days
+of Plantin and Jean Moretus I. Rubens, Van Dyck, Erasmus Quellin and a
+host of other artists; Lævinius Torrentius, bishop and poet, Kiliaen,
+the lexicographer, and scores of other learned men; Princes and Dukes
+innumerable, the patrons and protectors of the house--all these and
+many more were constant visitors. To the student the museum of to-day
+recalls these great names with a freshness and vividness that the
+ordinary museum fatally lacks, for here are countless mementoes of
+their presence in the very proofs and prints they handled and
+corrected, in the letters they wrote, in the sketches drawn by the
+greatest artists of Flanders and engraved by the foremost engravers of
+the time.
+
+As a detailed description of the Plantin Museum can be found in all
+the guidebooks, while an excellent handbook regarding its treasures by
+Max Rooses, its renowned curator, can be purchased for a franc, it
+would be unnecessary as well as tedious to recount them here. To those
+who have but a little time at their disposal a liberal honorarium to
+the attendant in each room--all of whom are garbed in brown with a
+quaint cap of the same colour, as the printers of the house were wont
+to be dressed in the great olden days--will bring forth a wealth of
+curious and interesting information not to be found in any book,
+anecdotes of distinguished visitors, bits of lore about this or the
+other treasure, that will make the trifling investment well worth
+while. In our case we made our first visit in this way, roaming about
+the splendid old rooms and dipping into this case or that at
+random--like butterflies amid a bower of roses. Visitors were few that
+day and we had each attendant to ourselves. Later on we made another
+visit, armed with letters of introduction to M. Denucé, the learned
+assistant curator, and through his courtesy revisited each room once
+more. A single book--one of the marvellous collections of early
+Bibles--was, according to the attendant in that room, made the object
+of an offer of a million francs, or maybe it was a million dollars, by
+a well-known American millionaire. The collection in its entirety, if
+dispersed by auction, would doubtless fetch many millions--but it
+belongs exactly where it is. Like the collection of Van Eycks and
+Memlings in Bruges, it would be a world calamity to despoil it or
+disperse it. Even the very furnishings of the chambers up-stairs are
+associated with the house of Plantin, were used by the family for
+many years; the paintings that crowd the walls like an art gallery are
+for the most part by Rubens--portraits of leading members of the
+family. Then there are numberless drawings, prints and engravings that
+represent the work of half of the greatest artists of the Flemish
+school during the century of its greatest splendour--an inimitable,
+indescribable collection!
+
+Among other pictorial treasures we saw a collection of views of old
+Antwerp that the Professor said he would gladly have spent a month in,
+if only his vacation were a little longer. Then there were the
+books--and again words fail to convey an adequate idea of the richness
+and interest of the collection. There are nearly a score of early
+German Bibles, including a fine copy of Gutenberg's _Bible latine_ of
+1450; rare German and Italian incunabula, choice examples of the work
+of the early Flemish printers, including _Les dicts moraulx des
+philosophes_, printed by Colard Manson at Bruges in 1477. There are
+examples of early French, Dutch and Italian printing; there are
+Aldines, Estiennes, Elzevirs; books from the first printing presses of
+Switzerland, Spain and Portugal. Truly the historian of the early art
+of printing might come here and complete his work within these charmed
+walls--he would need no other materials! Naturally the collection of
+books printed by the house itself is large, though not complete, and
+there are a great many products of other Antwerp presses. Most
+valuable of all is the collection of manuscripts, which includes a
+huge Latin Bible completed in 1402 and ornamented with the most
+marvellous miniatures. Here are also several superb Books of Hours and
+many other books with choice miniatures.
+
+The printing-rooms also deserve all the time the tourist can spare.
+The proofreaders' room is a gem, architecturally, artistically, and
+from its historic associations with one of the world's finest arts. A
+few old proof sheets are still lying on the high desks, near the
+stained glass windows with their tiny panes. The typeroom has still
+some of the old fonts of type and original matrices, while the
+composing and pressroom has two presses of the sixteenth century, and
+many quaint and curious devices then in use. All these rooms, together
+with the large state rooms, which contain the manuscripts and choicest
+examples of early printing, surround a charming courtyard which is
+still kept bright with flowers as it was in the days of the
+founders of the great house. The City of Antwerp is justly proud of
+this noble monument to its great family of great printers, which
+serves to keep green the memory of their achievements and of their
+fine artistic taste and skill as no other form of memorial could do.
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT PRINTING PRESSES AND COMPOSING CASES, PLANTIN
+MUSEUM, ANTWERP.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+ANTWERP FROM THE TIME OF RUBENS TILL TO-DAY
+
+
+If there is one name more honoured in Flanders than any other--more
+often employed as the name of hotels, restaurants or cafés; more
+frequently on the lips of guides, caretakers and sacristans; more
+constantly in the mind of every tourist, be he or she American,
+English or Continental--it is the name of the greatest of Flemish
+painters, Peter Paul Rubens. No book on Flanders, and most assuredly
+no work touching on Antwerp, would be complete without some reference
+to the life and work of this prince among painters, yet no task can be
+more superfluous, since nothing can be said that will add in the
+slightest degree to his fame. He ranks in the history of art with the
+greatest masters in the world--with Michael Angelo, Leonardo,
+Rembrandt, Raphael, Titian and Velasquez--and it is probable that more
+books have been written about him than about Antwerp itself.
+
+Occasional references have been made in previous chapters to
+notable paintings by Rubens to be seen in various churches throughout
+Flanders--particularly to "The Miraculous Draught of Fishes" at
+Malines, which is said to have been saved from the destruction of that
+city, having been carried away before the first of its many
+bombardments. It is at Antwerp, however, that the tourist who desires
+to study the work of Rubens will find him at his best and in greatest
+profusion. And the most famous spot enriched by his unrivalled art is
+the cathedral. Here hang his two greatest devotional works, "The
+Elevation of the Cross" and "The Descent from the Cross." The former
+was painted in 1610 and gave the young artist--he was then only
+thirty-three--instant and enduring fame. The companion work was
+completed the following year. Neither was originally painted for the
+cathedral. "The Elevation of the Cross," the earlier and inferior of
+the two, was intended to be the altarpiece for the church of Ste.
+Walburge, while the other was painted for the Society of Arquebusiers,
+to adjust a difficulty that had arisen over apportioning the cost of a
+wall separating Rubens' house from that of the guild. Both, however,
+are in an ideal location where they now are, and form an admirable
+starting point from which to see, first the cathedral, and then the
+work of Rubens as a whole.
+
+[Illustration: "THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS."--RUBENS.]
+
+The Cathedral of Notre Dame is without doubt the most beautiful Gothic
+church in Belgium, and has thus far happily escaped the ravages of the
+present war--passing unscathed through the furious German bombardment
+of the city. Begun in 1352 it was, like other churches of its size,
+centuries in reaching completion. The exquisite lace-work in stone of
+the north tower was completed during the sixteenth century, but was
+not wholly finished when the iconoclasts ravaged the interior of the
+edifice. Originally the church of St. Mary, it became the Cathedral of
+Notre Dame in 1560. The nave and transepts were not vaulted until
+1611-16, or the very period when Rubens was painting the famous
+pictures that now hang in the south transept. Work on the south tower
+was discontinued in 1474, which seems a pity, as its completion would
+have made the cathedral one of the most perfect specimens of Gothic
+architecture in the world. As it is, the single tower dominates the
+old part of the city and is a familiar feature of its sky line. The
+chimes of the cathedral are famous, and are often played by Jef Denyn
+of Malines. There are forty bells of various sizes, of which the
+greatest was named Charles V, and requires the strength of nineteen
+men to swing it. This bell was founded some eight years before the
+young Duke Charles made his joyous entry into Antwerp, and no doubt
+rang lustily on that occasion.
+
+The interior of the cathedral is very vast, comprising six aisles, but
+is too well known to require description. Among the numerous paintings
+with which the chapels are adorned is one, a "Descent from the Cross,"
+by Adam Van Noort, the teacher of Jordaens, and said to be the first
+who taught Rubens how to handle a brush. In the second chapel on the
+south is an interesting "Resurrection" by Rubens, which was painted in
+1612 for the tomb of his friend Moretus, of the famous printing-house
+of Plantin. The fourth chapel on the same side contains the tomb of
+Christopher Plantin, with an inscription by his colleague and friend,
+Justus Lipsius, and several family portraits. The visitor will find
+many other points of interest in this vast church, which is a
+veritable museum of art, architecture, history and human progress. The
+high altarpiece is another famous Rubens, an "Assumption"--a subject
+which he painted no less than ten times. There are half a dozen other
+notable paintings by other artists, but the majority are of minor
+artistic importance. The rich Gothic choir stalls, however, are worth
+more than a passing glance, for the wood-carvings here are very fine,
+although modern--having been begun in 1840, and completed forty years
+later. The elaborately carved pulpit was made in the eighteenth
+century by the sculptor Michel Vervoort, and was intended for the
+Abbey of St. Bernard.
+
+After the completion of the two great masterpieces now in the
+cathedral Rubens was by universal acclaim acknowledged to be the
+foremost painter in Flanders and of his time. His studio was besieged
+by artists desirous of becoming the pupils of the brilliant master. As
+early as 1611 he wrote that he had already refused more than a hundred
+applicants. In 1614 he painted "The Conversion of St. Bavon," now in
+the cathedral of St. Bavon at Ghent; in 1617 "The Adoration of the
+Magi" in the church of St. John at Malines, and "The Last Judgment,"
+now in the Pinacothek of Munich; in 1618 "The Miraculous Draught of
+Fishes" at Malines; in 1619 "The Last Communion of St. Francis," now
+in the museum at Antwerp, and, according to Fromentin, his greatest
+masterpiece; in 1620 the "Coup de Lance," now at the museum of
+Antwerp, and his finest work according to some other authorities. In
+1622-23 he produced the twenty-four superb paintings of the Galerie
+des Medicis. The "Lion Hunt," and the "Battle of the Amazons," now in
+the Pinacothek at Munich, belong to this decade, together with the six
+paintings of the history of Decius in the Liechtenstein Gallery, and
+thirty-nine pictures for the church of the Jesuits, of which all but
+three were destroyed at the burning of the church in 1718. The three
+are in the museum of Vienna.
+
+[Illustration: "COUP DE LANCE."--RUBENS.]
+
+Here, in the space of a little over ten years, were nearly a hundred
+masterpieces--works of such magnitude that two or three would have
+sufficed to immortalise any other painter. Yet in addition to these
+labours he designed for the tapestry-workers of Brussels the life of
+Achilles in eight parts, the history of Constantine in twelve, and
+many other cartoons of extraordinary merit. His friend, Moretus, in
+accordance with the high traditions of the house of Plantin, came to
+him for designs for many books, and he drew borders, designs,
+title-pages and vignettes, and illustrated himself a book on cameos.
+He even painted triumphal arches and cars for ceremonial processions,
+and these works in his hands acquired a permanence of artistic value
+that is in itself one of the highest tributes to his genius. The fine
+portraits of Albert and Isabella, now in the museum at Brussels, were
+painted for a triumphal arch in the Place de Meir--yet they are
+masterpieces of portraiture, perfect and splendid down to the minutest
+detail!
+
+According to a report made in 1879, by the _Commission Anversoise
+chargée de réunir l'ouevre de Rubens, en gravures ou en
+photographies_, there are altogether no less than two thousand, two
+hundred and thirty-five pictures and sketches by this amazingly
+prolific artist, and four hundred and eighty-four designs--a total of
+two thousand, seven hundred and nineteen known works. At Antwerp alone
+there are upwards of one hundred pictures, of which more than a score
+are masterpieces of world-wide renown and incalculable value. Besides
+the great trio at the cathedral, and the family portraits in the
+Plantin Museum, the museum catalogues more than thirty subjects of
+which the "Spear Thrust" (_Coup de Lance_), "Adoration of the Magi or
+Wise Men," the "Last Communion of Saint Francis," the "Christ on the
+Straw" (_à la Paille_), "The Prodigal Son," and "Virgin Instructed
+by Saint Anne" are among the more notable. Both here and at the
+Plantin Museum the student of Rubens can find many interesting prints,
+sketches and minor examples of the great master's work. At the museum
+also is the interesting Holy Family known as "_La Vierge au
+Perroquet_" (Virgin with the Parrot) which was presented by Rubens to
+the Guild of St. Luke when he was elected President of that famous
+organisation in 1631. Near the Place de Meir is the house of Rubens,
+largely a replica of the original built in the eighteenth century--few
+vestiges of the building in which the great painter held his almost
+royal court remaining. It is worth a visit, but is far inferior to the
+Plantin Museum as a memorial and in the interest and importance of its
+contents.
+
+[Illustration: "_LA VIERGE AU PERROQUET._"--RUBENS.]
+
+On his death in 1640--"twenty years too early"--the artist was buried
+in the church of St. Jacques, an edifice rivalling the cathedral in
+size and interest. It was the burial-place of many of the wealthiest
+families in Antwerp. The Rubens chapel is in the ambulatory, behind
+the high altar, and contains a picture of the "Holy Family" which,
+according to the critics, is one of the worst of the artist's
+pictures. Several of the faces are those of his own family, which
+probably was the reason why his widow placed it here.
+
+Besides the paintings in various churches and museums in Flanders
+there are twenty-three by Rubens in the museum at Brussels,
+seventy-seven in the Pinacothek at Munich, ninety at Vienna, sixty-six
+at Madrid, fifty-four in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg and the same
+number in the Louvre at Paris, sixteen at Dresden, thirty-one at
+London, while a considerable number can be seen in various public and
+private art collections in the United States. "He is everywhere,"
+writes Prof. Wauters with justifiable enthusiasm, "and everywhere
+triumphant. No matter what pictures surround him, the effect is
+invariable; those which resemble his own are eclipsed, those that
+would oppose him are silenced; wherever he is he makes you feel his
+presence, he stands alone, and at all times occupies the first
+place.... He has painted everything--fable, mythology, history,
+allegory, portraits, animals, flowers, landscapes--and always in a
+masterly way.... Is he perfect? No one is. Has he faults? Assuredly.
+He is sometimes reproached with having neither the outline of Raphael,
+the depth of Leonardo da Vinci, the largeness of Titian, the
+naturalness of Velasquez, nor the chiaroscuro of Rembrandt. But he
+has the outline, the depth, the largeness, the naturalness and the
+chiaroscuro of Rubens; is not that enough?"
+
+To appreciate fully the magnitude of this greatest of all Flemings it
+is necessary to recall, for a moment, the times in which he lived.
+Fourteen years after the capture of Antwerp by the Prince of Parma,
+Philip II determined--when on his deathbed--to give the Spanish
+Netherlands partial independence by transferring the sovereignty over
+the loyal provinces possessed by the Crown of Spain to his daughter
+Isabella and her husband, the Archduke Albert. The arrival of the
+Archdukes, as they were called, in 1599, was made the occasion of a
+joyous entry that, on the whole, was justified by their
+Government--which was a great improvement over anything that had
+preceded it since the days of the unspeakable Alva. To be sure, the
+war with the States of Holland still dragged on, and the Scheldt was
+closed. But the burghers wisely sought to replace the loss of their
+sea trade by encouraging industries. Silk and satin manufactures
+during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries gave employment to
+upwards of twelve thousand hands, and diamond-cutting became an
+industry of growing importance. While the commercial stagnation was
+severely felt, the city did not decline like Bruges, but held much of
+its population and recovered some of its former wealth.
+
+The Archdukes, who were relieved of the paralysing necessity of
+referring every important act to Madrid, did their best to heal the
+terrible wounds of the early years of the war and restore some degree
+of tranquillity and prosperity to their dominions. Religious
+persecutions ceased. Eager to win the love of their subjects, the
+Archdukes welcomed Rubens to Antwerp when he returned to his native
+city on the death of his mother in 1608, and in order to keep him from
+returning to Italy made him their court painter in 1609. During the
+remainder of his lifetime their favour never ceased, and on many
+occasions Rubens was sent as a special ambassador of the Government on
+important diplomatic missions. His courtly manners and stately
+appearance favoured him, as well as his now tremendous artistic
+reputation. He was knighted by Charles I, while on a visit to England,
+and created a Master of Arts by the University of Cambridge. Among his
+friends he numbered--besides his royal patrons, Moretus, the printer,
+and Rockox, the burgomaster--many of the most famous scholars and
+statesmen of his time. He was interested in literature and science as
+well as art in all its branches and wrote a vast number of letters on
+an astounding variety of subjects--one calculation places the total
+number at eight thousand!
+
+[Illustration: PETER PAUL RUBENS.]
+
+As if his own achievements were not enough, the genius of Rubens was
+the torch that set aflame a renaissance of Flemish painting that made
+the later Flemish school, which justly bears his name, the peer of any
+in the long history of art. Of his many pupils the greatest is Anthony
+Van Dyck, who was born at Antwerp in 1599 and entered the studio of
+the master at the age of fifteen. In the little church of Saventhem,
+not far from Brussels, is the most famous of Van Dyck's early
+paintings which shows his precocious talent. Rubens had urged his
+promising pupil to visit Italy, and not only gave him a letter of
+introduction but provided funds for the long journey. The youth set
+forth, but in a little village on the way there happened to be a
+kermesse into the merriment of which he entered heartily. Among others
+with whom he danced was a beautiful country girl with whom the artist
+fell so deeply in love that he was unable to proceed any further, but
+devoted himself for days to courting her. Meanwhile his funds ran
+out, and he bethought himself with horror, when it was too late, that
+this meant the abandonment of the trip to Italy. In his extremity he
+applied to the parish priest and offered to paint an altarpiece for
+the village church on very moderate terms. It is related that the
+priest smiled indulgently at the youth's pretensions that he was a
+historical painter and put him off, saying that there were no funds.
+Van Dyck, however, persisted, and offered to paint the picture if
+provided only with the canvas, and leave the matter of the price to
+the curé's liberality.
+
+These terms could hardly be refused, and the young artist set to work
+with such energy that in a few weeks the picture was finished. The
+priest admired the work greatly, particularly the beautiful figure of
+the Saint--the subject selected having been Saint Martin dividing his
+Cloak among the Beggars--and sent for a connoisseur from Brussels to
+decide if he should keep the picture. The verdict was favourable, and
+the price paid to the artist enabled him to proceed on his journey to
+Italy. It is not reported whether the future painter of kings and
+courtiers ever returned to visit his fair inamorata of the kermesse,
+but this pretty story, which is told in a rare little book, "Sketches
+of Flemish Painters," published at The Hague in 1642, was written by a
+contemporary, and may quite possibly have been true. At any rate,
+there is the painting itself to prove it.
+
+On his return to Antwerp in 1625 Van Dyck left behind him in Italy
+more than a hundred paintings, in itself a prodigious achievement. He
+now began to work in his native city with a rapidity and perfection
+resembling his master's and produced the altarpieces that are among
+the master works of Flemish churches. Here also he painted a
+marvellous galaxy of portraits of the great artists of his time and of
+the Flemish, French and Spanish nobility. His marvellous etchings also
+belong to this period, so that Antwerp is associated with much of his
+finest work in two great branches of art. In 1632 the artist went to
+London, which he had visited on one or two previous occasions, and
+became painter to the court of Charles I. Here he remained for the
+rest of his lifetime, painting more than three hundred and fifty
+pictures portraying the royal family and nobility of England. He died
+in 1641, or only a year after his master, leaving a record of varied
+achievement comprising more than one thousand, five hundred works. The
+museum at Antwerp possesses twelve of his paintings, of which one of
+the most interesting is the "Christ on the Cross" painted for the
+Dominican nuns in recognition of the care and tenderness with which
+they had nursed his father during the old man's last illness. The
+catalogue of the museum somewhat conceals the artist's name under the
+Flemish form, Antoon Van Dijck, which hardly suggests the brilliant
+and debonnaire Sir Anthony of Whitehall and the beauties of England
+under Charles the First. There are sixty-seven works by this master in
+Vienna, forty-one at Munich, thirty-eight at St. Petersburg,
+twenty-four at the Louvre, twenty-one in Madrid and nineteen in
+Dresden, but England possesses the largest collections of his
+productions, most of those he painted at London still remaining in the
+public and private galleries of that country.
+
+It would be a tedious task to recount the names and works of the
+throng of lesser artists who studied at the feet of Rubens and Van
+Dyck during the fruitful years when those masters were giving their
+talents to the world with such amazing prodigality. Erasmus Quellin I,
+the Elder, was one of the first--a sculptor who founded a family of
+notable sculptors and painters who lived and gained renown at
+Antwerp for more than a century. Faid'herbe, whose work abounds at
+Malines, was another sculptor of the highest rank who was a direct
+pupil of Rubens; Dusquesnoy, Grupello and Verbrugghen were renowned
+sculptors who owed much to his influence.
+
+[Illustration: "AS THE OLD BIRDS SING THE YOUNG BIRDS PIPE."--JACOB
+JORDAENS.]
+
+After Rubens and Van Dyck the greatest name in the Flemish school of
+this brilliant period was that of Jacob Jordaens, who learned his art
+under Rubens' old master, Adam Van Noort, and married his teacher's
+beautiful daughter Catherine, who posed for many of his pictures. The
+numerous family gatherings depicted by this master are famous, one of
+the most characteristic of them all being the well-known "As the Old
+Birds Sing the Young Birds Pipe" in the Antwerp museum. His satyrs and
+peasants and rural scenes are among the finest products of the Flemish
+school. The religious pictures of Gaspard de Crayer and Gerard
+Zeghers, the portraits of Cornelius de Vos, and the animal pictures of
+Francis Snyders and John Fyts all belong to this epoch when Antwerp,
+although sinking in commercial and political importance, was making
+herself for all time one of the art capitals of the world.
+
+In pictures of homely Flemish life David Teniers, who belongs to the
+next generation of Antwerp artists, achieved a fame that places him in
+a sense in a class by himself, for none of the earlier masters
+surpassed him in his particular field. He, too, was prolific--one
+catalogue enumerating no less than six hundred and eighty-five of his
+works. Of the same genre is the work of Adrian Brauwer, whose early
+death prevented him from leaving so great a legacy to posterity.
+Besides these masters of the first rank, Antwerp boasts an almost
+innumerable throng of minor artists--pupils of Rubens, Van Dyck and
+their successors--much of whose work is of excellent merit. Any
+half-dozen of these would have rendered another city notable in the
+history of art, but here their achievements are lost as are the heroic
+deeds of the private soldiers in a great army. The mind cannot retain
+so many names, cannot appraise and classify so bewildering a mass of
+productions.
+
+For this reason the tourist who is a philosopher will not regard too
+seriously the dicta of the learned as to which of these lesser
+paintings is or is not of the first rank in the order of merit. What
+of it if the guidebook does not indicate by its little stars that this
+is a picture for one to go into raptures over, if the sacristan or
+guide passes it coldly by? If it appeals to us by all means let us
+pause and admire it, let us study it, find out about it, learn
+something of its history and that of the unknown artist who painted
+it. Indeed, if on such closer inspection it still appeals to us, let
+us buy it if we can--but at all events let us enjoy it to the utmost,
+for of such joys Flanders is full. In out of the way corners
+everywhere one can find genre pictures like those of Tenier,
+brilliantly coloured groups suggestive of Rubens, scenes of bucolic
+feasting in imitation of Jordaens. And here and there, who knows,
+perhaps one may yet discover an original by one of these greater
+artists or their rare predecessors, and retire on the proceeds! Who
+knows?
+
+The visitor to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts at Antwerp should not
+leave without devoting at least a day to the modern paintings. To an
+American, accustomed to museums where long walls filled with dreary
+mediocrities are illuminated only at rare intervals with something
+altogether fine and satisfactory, these modern galleries are a treat.
+Picture after picture, room after room--all are beautiful and worthy,
+many are splendid. The collection of modern paintings is not large as
+European galleries go, some five hundred and fifty altogether, but
+the general average of quality is exceptionally high--much superior in
+this respect it seemed to us than the far larger collection at
+Brussels, though it is not so regarded by the critics. The interiors
+of Henri de Braekeleer, and his charming Nursery Garden, for example,
+what could be finer? The "Ancient Fishmarket" at Antwerp by Frans
+Bossuet, a native of Ypres; the "Lull before the Storm," by P. J.
+Clays, of Bruges, one of whose paintings is in the Metropolitan Museum
+at New York--all these are notable. So are the historical pictures of
+Baron Leys, Guffens, Louis Gallait and Charles Verlat--but the list is
+too long. These pictures are not to be described, they must be seen.
+Individually the savants may quarrel as to their merits, but, taking
+them all together, these paintings--for the most part by Flemish
+artists--prove that the great traditions of Rubens and Van Dyck,
+Jordaens and Teniers, have not been forgotten in their native land and
+that modern Flemish art is a worthy successor to the greatness of the
+past.
+
+The lover of the beautiful has yet another treat in store for him when
+he visits the famous old Hotel de Ville. It had hardly been
+completed, in 1565, by Cornelis de Vriendt when it was partially
+destroyed during the Spanish Fury. Rebuilt a few years later in its
+present form, it contains some of the most beautiful rooms to be seen
+in all Europe. The vestibule and grand staircase are richly decorated
+with coloured marble, while imposing frescoes depict the zenith of
+Antwerp's commercial and artistic splendour. The great reception-room
+is decorated with four superb historical frescoes by Baron Leys, while
+the exquisite Salle des Mariages is completely surrounded with
+allegorical paintings portraying the history of the marriage ceremony
+by Lagye, a pupil of Leys. In the rooms of this edifice the history of
+the famous old city lives again, while in its splendid fireplaces and
+minor decorations one can see examples of every branch of Flemish art.
+
+[Illustration: HOTEL DE VILLE, ANTWERP.]
+
+While the Hotel de Ville is most gratifying to the eye and the
+imagination, it is not, however, intimately associated with many
+important events in the history of the city. Albert and Isabella,
+while they ruled, were virtually independent sovereigns, but on the
+death of Albert without issue, in 1621, the country reverted to Spain.
+Thereafter, for more than two centuries, the city, together with
+Flanders, Brabant and the other loyal provinces of the Netherlands,
+became the football of European politics, and Belgium received its
+sinister name of "the cockpit of Europe." The people, as a whole, took
+little interest in the great wars of the Spanish and of the Austrian
+Successions that were fought largely to decide who should rule over
+them, since there seemed no likelihood of their in any event ever
+being able again to rule over themselves. Marlborough, after his great
+victory at Ramillies, occupied the city with English troops in 1706,
+and in 1715 the Hotel de Ville was the scene of the signing of the
+treaty that ended the war. By this treaty the Spanish Netherlands were
+ceded to Austria, becoming subject to the Emperor Charles VI. Thirty
+years later the French victory at Fontenoy made them masters of the
+city, and Louis XV had a joyous entry the following year. Two years
+later, in 1748, the country was handed back to Austria and Charles
+made a joyous entry in turn, the people apparently welcoming any
+change of government with complete impartiality. The Empress Maria
+Theresa was popular in her Netherlands dominions, but her son Joseph
+II made Austrian rule so odious that there was a revolt, and in 1790
+Antwerp was taken by the patriot army, to the immense joy of its
+citizens. The Austrians soon crushed the revolution and reoccupied the
+city, but the great victory of the French republicans, under
+Dumouriez, at Jemappes destroyed the power of Austria in the
+Netherlands, and in 1792 the army of the _sans-culottes_ entered
+Antwerp. The defeat of Dumouriez at Neerwinden resulted in the
+Imperial forces again occupying the city in 1793, but the French
+victory at Fleurus the following year turned the tables again and
+Antwerp once more became subject to the republic.
+
+All these years the Scheldt had been firmly closed, Joseph II having
+made a feeble attempt to free the river, which had collapsed at the
+first shot from the Dutch forts. In 1795 the free navigation of the
+river was decreed by the French, and a ship came up and was received
+in state by the delighted burghers. It is stated that the value of
+real estate in the city increased tenfold in consequence of this
+decree. On the other hand, the _sans-culottes_ very nearly rivalled
+the image-breakers in the vigour with which they destroyed the city's
+religious monuments. The cathedral and churches were despoiled, and it
+was even proposed to tear down the cathedral, because (they said), "it
+cannot be reckoned a monument of any value except for the lead, iron,
+copper and timber it contains." Fortunately Napoleon seized the reins
+of power at Paris at about this time, and put an end to such nonsense.
+In 1803 the First Consul visited Antwerp, which--as he afterwards
+said--was "like a loaded pistol pointed at the heart of England."
+Filled with this idea, he systematically sought to revive the commerce
+of the port and erected great docks there for his war vessels,
+portions of which still remain. In 1814, after the Emperor's defeat
+and abdication, Antwerp, under Gen. Carnot, was the last French
+stronghold in the Netherlands to yield.
+
+After the second defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo Antwerp succeeded in
+recovering most of the paintings that had been carried away to France
+by the republicans in 1794. The treaty that followed the last
+Napoleonic war gave all of what is at present Belgium to the King of
+Holland, William I, who favoured Antwerp in many ways. As the Scheldt
+still remained free the commerce of the port was considerable and
+prosperity seemed to be returning. In 1830 began the revolution that
+resulted in the independence of Belgium. One of its first events was
+the bombardment of the city of Antwerp by the Dutch troops holding
+the citadel. The following year Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
+was elected by the National Congress as King of the Belgians under the
+title of Leopold I. The war with Holland was not yet over, however,
+and in 1832 the English, French and Belgian troops began a siege of
+the citadel at Antwerp, which was still in the hands of the Dutch. The
+fortress had one hundred and forty-three guns, and the besiegers two
+hundred and twenty-three, and it is stated that sixty-three thousand
+projectiles were fired against it. The fortress was a mass of ruins
+before its sturdy defenders capitulated.
+
+From 1832 until 1914 Antwerp and the liberty-loving Flemings of
+ancient Flanders remained free, happy and increasingly prosperous
+under the wise and moderate rule of their chosen Kings. Leopold I
+reigned until his death in 1865, and proved to be one of the wisest
+monarchs in history. For Antwerp his greatest achievement was the
+final freeing of the River Scheldt in 1863, after more than ten years
+of diplomatic negotiations, from the tolls which the Dutch had
+insisted in levying since 1839. Under his successor, Leopold II, one
+of the most efficient chief executives it was possible for a nation to
+have, the fine Belgian public service system was developed and the
+prosperity of its cities and citizens promoted in every practical way.
+In the two decades following the freeing of the Scheldt the commerce
+of the port of Antwerp increased six-fold, while that of its rivals,
+London and Liverpool, doubled and that of Hamburg and Rotterdam
+tripled. Since then the business of the port has advanced even faster,
+and the imposing modern business buildings that now line the Place de
+Meir, one of the handsomest commercial streets in the world, afford
+abundant testimony to its prosperity and wealth--as do the fine
+residences of its merchants to be seen in drives through the outskirts
+of the city. Under Albert I the wise policies of his predecessors were
+continued, and the little country was enjoying peace and contentment
+such as never came to it during the centuries of foreign oppression
+and tyranny that began with the acquisition of Flanders and Brabant by
+the Dukes of Burgundy. It is the greatest moral issue in this war
+whether Belgium, after being free for less than eighty-five years,
+shall once more pass into the hands of a foreign power. Its people
+have demonstrated conclusively that under the limited monarchy they
+have chosen they are capable of governing themselves far better than
+the best of their self-appointed masters ever did in the bad old days
+that, they had hoped, had forever passed away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+WHERE MODERN FLANDERS SHINES--OSTENDE AND "LA PLAGE"
+
+
+Our last stopping place in Flanders was the one that many tourists
+visit first, the gay watering place of Ostende. Here a little fleet of
+fast Channel steamers convey the traveller to Dover in four or five
+hours, while an excellent service of through express trains connect
+the Dover end of the water route with London, and the Ostende end with
+Brussels, Berlin and half the capitals of Europe. Our stay in
+Flanders, however, was drawing to a close, and we were headed for
+Liverpool, where the new _Aquitania_ was waiting to bear us home.
+
+The tourist who expects in Ostende to find much that is reminiscent of
+the Flanders of the sixteenth century, of which so much has been said
+in the other chapters of this book, will be disappointed. To be sure,
+it is not a young city, being mentioned in the chronicles of Flanders
+as far back as the eleventh century. In the Eighty Years' War between
+Spain and her revolted Dutch colonies Ostende was for a long time held
+by the Dutch, who beat off two severe attacks by the Spaniards in 1583
+and 1586, the former led by the all but invincible Farnese, Prince of
+Parma. In the year 1600 the Battle of the Dunes took place at
+Nieuport, in which the troops of the Archduke Albert were defeated by
+a Dutch army under Maurice, Prince of Nassau. This victory, while it
+gave great encouragement to the enemies of Spain by demonstrating that
+the renowned Spanish soldiers were not invincible, was otherwise
+barren of results, and in 1601 the Archdukes determined to besiege
+Ostende, which was the last stronghold of the Dutch in Flanders.
+
+Prior to the war with Philip II Ostende had been little more than an
+obscure fishing-village, but since it had been fortified by the Dutch,
+and had so successfully maintained itself against all assaults, the
+place was fast becoming a "thorn in the foot" to the government of the
+Archdukes. Queen Elizabeth, whose defeats of Philip's armadas had made
+England mistress of the seas, was determined that Spain should not
+regain so important a strategic base, and had kept an English garrison
+there under an English commander. Since Albert's accession the town
+had been greatly strengthened by new ramparts, bastions and
+fortifications of every type, then known in the engineering art of
+warfare. To protect Flanders against this hostile fortress in its very
+midst the Archdukes were obliged to erect eighteen forts around
+Ostende and keep them constantly garrisoned and supplied. This cost
+ninety thousand crowns a month and kept the rich province in a state
+of perpetual war. Towns in the vicinity were compelled to pay tribute
+in order to escape pillage, and commerce--then, as always, dependent
+upon peace--languished.
+
+The Estates of Flanders under these direful conditions offered the
+Archdukes three hundred thousand florins a month as long as the siege
+to rid them of this menacing stronghold might last, and three hundred
+thousand florins additional as a bonus to be paid in instalments--a
+third when the city was invested, a third when a breach was made in
+the fortifications, and the balance when the place was taken. These
+terms are curiously similar to those employed in drawing building
+loans at the present day and show that the Flemings had lost none of
+their ancient caution.
+
+On July 5th, 1601, the Archduke Albert arrived before Ostende and
+formally began its investment. The Infanta Isabella came with him,
+and often shared camp life with her husband during the weary months
+that followed. The siege from the very first developed into a contest
+of engineers and military strategists on the taking and the defence of
+fortified places the like of which had never before been known in
+Europe. In fact nearly all Europe was directly engaged in the
+conflict. On the Archdukes' side were Spaniards, Italians and
+Walloons; on the ramparts of the defenders were lined up side by side
+English, Dutch, French, German and Scotch forces. The fortress was
+commanded by Sir Francis Vere. The operations of the siege consisted
+of mining and counter-mining, the erection and destruction of
+batteries, storming of outlying works--all the devices of attack and
+defence known to the military science of the day. Never before had the
+world seen such cannons and engines of destruction. The siege became
+Homeric, epic, a seventeenth-century Siege of Troy.
+
+The great difficulty of the besiegers was their inability to cut off
+the town from receiving new provisions and supplies, and a constant
+stream of reinforcements, by sea. The Dutch, English and French ships
+came and went almost at will. All the summer and fall of 1601 the
+siege dragged on, and through the cold winter that followed. In 1602
+Sir Francis Vere and a large part of the garrison were relieved and a
+new commander and garrison installed without the Archdukes being able
+to prevent the manoeuvre. In 1603 Ambrose, the Marquis Spinola, a
+young scion of a rich Genoese family, offered to take charge of the
+siege of Ostende and to capture the city. As the Archduke Albert had
+made a complete failure of the job, and was unpopular besides among
+his troops, whom he had not been able to pay with any regularity, he
+welcomed this offer and Spinola assumed the command. His wealth
+enabled him to pay and feed his soldiers, while his youth and ambition
+made him a wary and energetic commander. Day and night he took part in
+person in supervising the mines, assaults, trenches and erection of
+new positions. Gradually, under his vigorous leadership, the besiegers
+began to burrow their way into the town. Maurice of Nassau, unable to
+pierce Spinola's network of entrenchments around the town created a
+diversion by besieging and capturing Sluys. In spite of this, however,
+Spinola clung doggedly to his prey and on September 13th, 1603, Sand
+Hill, after a resistance of three years, was captured. Seven days
+later the Governor, who now controlled nothing but the heart of the
+town, capitulated and on September 22nd, the garrison marched out with
+all the honours of war. Hardly a soul of the former population of
+Ostende remained at the time of its capture, and it is said that the
+Archduchess Isabella "wept at the sight of the mound of earth, all
+that remained of the city which she had been so anxious to capture."
+It was estimated that the place, which had been little more than a
+village, cost the besiegers one hundred thousand lives and the
+defenders sixty thousand. The siege had lasted three years, two months
+and seventeen days, but the "thorn" had at last been extracted.
+
+For several years after this Ostende remained a city without
+inhabitants, the Archdukes rebuilding the place but population coming
+to it but slowly. In 1722 The East and West India Company of the
+Austrian Netherlands was founded at Ostende, chiefly by Antwerp
+capitalists and merchants, who were deeply interested in the
+enterprise. Factories were established in India, but the Emperor
+Charles VI dissolved the company in 1731 in order to secure English
+and Dutch support for his Pragmatic Sanction. The next century was one
+of stagnation, the town reverting to a fishing-place, but almost at
+the moment of Belgian independence--or from about 1830--it began to be
+renowned as a watering-place. It owes much of its present prosperity
+to Leopold II, who made it a place of royal residence during the
+summer, and whose royal palace still looks down upon the _Digue_ not
+far from the racetrack. The coming of the cross-channel steamers still
+further stimulated its growth, and at present it is one of the most
+beautiful and picturesque of all the Flemish cities.
+
+Our visit was unfortunate--as we regretfully told one another at the
+time--in that it came in July, before the season had really opened.
+August is the time to come, the waiters and hotel porters all assured
+us, for then the Grand Dukes come from Russia, the long special trains
+from Germany roll in one after another loaded to capacity, the Channel
+steamers arrive three times a day with decks black with English
+tourists, and Ostende's many kinds of gaiety are in full swing.
+However, the opening of the August season in 1914 was conducted under
+circumstances that made us rather glad we were there in July. The
+Germans came, to be sure, but the gaiety departed.
+
+No one in Ostende foresaw a bit of the terrible future when we were
+there in July. The long curving beach was crowded with people,
+little people for the most part, and most of the queer little
+beach-houses--summer cottages on wheels--were gradually getting
+rented. The beach is splendidly broad and smooth, but the slope
+seaward is so slight that at low tide one must needs go very far out
+to get into the water at all. This did not seem to trouble anybody
+very much, for we saw few who ever went near the water, most of the
+pleasure-seekers staying on the warm, dry sand up near the big sloping
+sea wall of the _Digue_. For families with small children the little
+summer-houses seemed rather attractive, as papa and mamma could sit
+within, sheltered from sun or rain, while the youngsters rollicked all
+day long in the deep sand.
+
+The _Digue_ just mentioned is a high artificial seawall or embankment,
+faced with sloping stone on the sea side and surmounted by a broad
+boulevard--the Esplanade. It slopes gradually on the landward side,
+one row of stately hotels and lodging-houses facing directly on the
+Esplanade, while on the side streets the buildings drop each below the
+other until they reach the level of the town, which is some forty or
+fifty feet lower than the summit of the embankment. Here the
+fashionable crowds promenade at the proper times, while the
+unfashionable promenade all day long and far into the night. Even in
+July the sight is a most fascinating one, and the Bohemianism of the
+crowd and its diversity of national types most interesting. Here, as
+everywhere in Belgium, the cafés and hotels place their tables and
+chairs far out into the roadway, so that we can sit outdoors in the
+manner that the Madame so much enjoys and eat our dinner, or sip our
+coffee and cognac, while watching the ever-changing crowds go by.
+
+At Ostende the scale of expenses for everything, rooms, meals,
+service, pleasure, cigars, tips, and even for the English newspapers,
+increases or falls according to the proximity or remoteness of the
+_Digue_. If you are on top of it--look out! To Americans the
+charges, even in the finer big hotels, do not seem particularly
+excessive--though in August they are usually much higher than in
+July--but there is a constant succession of incidental expenses that
+make the voyager as a rule hurry more than once to the banker where
+his letter of credit can have another illegible notation made on it.
+Externally the hotels are very imposing and stately--making a brave
+show as one looks down the long line that extends for several miles
+from the harbour entrance westward to Westende and beyond half way to
+Nieuport. Within they are pretty much like all Belgian hotels of the
+better class. For the novelty of the thing we thought of renting one
+of the tiny _apartements meublés_, that, each with a charming broad
+window--usually open all day long like a piazza--look out directly
+upon the sea. The price was a thousand francs a month, which seemed
+too much for what was after all little more than one big room with an
+alcove. The landlady informed us that she attended to all the details
+of the _ménage_, cooking and serving the meals and providing maid
+service, but that messieurs must provide the provisions, both solid
+and liquid.
+
+The great show place of Ostende is, of course, the Kursaal, a huge
+structure of glass, iron and stone belonging to no particular school
+of architecture, but in the main making a pleasing impression and
+serving very well indeed for the somewhat diversified uses for which
+it is intended. In the daytime the Kursaal is a place of relatively
+little interest, although well-dressed people flock through it at all
+hours. At night it is the scene of much animation, and is, as it was
+meant to be, the centre of the gay life of the town. A large
+orchestra gives a concert every evening in a very pretty concert hall,
+which, when we were there, contained numerous little tables for
+refreshments, although I have seen pictures in which the room was
+filled with seats in solid rows, like a theatre. It was much more
+comfortable the way we found it, and the concert was very enjoyable.
+At the intermission, however, we observed that nearly everybody rose
+and flocked off into an anteroom leading out of the concert hall. The
+Professor and I decided that there appeared to be "something doing" in
+that direction and followed the crowd, leaving the ladies to look
+after our wraps, and promising to return and get them if we found
+anything worth while.
+
+I fear that the narrative of our experience may sound a bit like an
+extract from _Innocents Abroad_, but I will relate the thing as it
+happened and make no pretence that we were a bit more sophisticated
+than we really were. The crowd seemed to be headed through a long and
+handsome corridor toward a distant room. We followed along, passing on
+the way what looked more or less like the office of a hotel, with a
+register book and two or three clerks, to which we paid no attention.
+Arrived at the end of the corridor we found ourselves in a large
+circular room around which were a number of small tables on which
+visitors were rolling balls down toward a group of pockets--some such
+a game as one sees at Coney Island or any popular American amusement
+resort. The price was two francs for three shots, and barkers were
+shouting lustily to all comers to try their luck. On one side a
+doorway was heavily curtained with velvet draperies and here
+occasional groups of the guests were silently disappearing. We
+approached this mysterious passageway and sought to pass like the
+others when two tiny lads in brilliant livery demanded our cards. On
+our replying that we had none, a large man, also in livery, appeared
+from somewhere behind the draperies and courteously informed us that
+special membership or admission cards were required from all who
+wished to proceed further.
+
+We thereupon returned to the ladies and reported what we had seen, and
+took our turn at looking after the wraps while they visited the
+circular room. They likewise returned, reporting that admission beyond
+the curtains had been refused. After the concert was over we decided
+to make another attempt--as both the Professor and I surmised what
+attraction lay beyond the mysterious portal. Pausing at the hotel
+office we had previously noticed, we asked bluntly how admission to
+the hidden room could be secured, and were told that a card would be
+given each of us on the sole formality of registering. This we
+accordingly did, giving our names, hotel address, home address and one
+reference. This done, we each received a card admitting two and
+departed to find the Madame and Mrs. Professor.
+
+Arriving at the doorway armed with the cards we had received, we were
+ushered at once into a very handsome room where perhaps three hundred
+people were gathered about half a dozen roulette tables. No one paid
+the slightest attention to us, nor did any employé appear to care
+whether we played or contented ourselves with merely looking on.
+Practically every one in the room, however, was playing--with all the
+tense earnestness that this game of chance seems to impress upon its
+devotees. White chips, we observed, cost five francs, reds twenty,
+round blues a hundred--or twenty dollars. There were, in addition, a
+large ovalshaped blue, marked five hundred and an oblong one marked
+one thousand. In less than three minutes one player lost eight of the
+thousand franc chips, and then, this being apparently enough for
+the evening, lit a cigar and started for home. While he was playing we
+observed an over-painted young woman who had just lost her last stake
+solicit a loan from him. He tossed the girl a hundred-franc chip and
+left without pausing to see whether she won or lost with it. We were
+more curious. She lost.
+
+[Illustration: THE "SALLE DES JEUX" IN THE KURSAAL, OSTENDE.]
+
+At about this period of the evening the Madame raised a commotion by
+discovering that her reticule was open and a piece of money had fallen
+out onto the thick carpet. The Professor and I instantly got down to
+look for it, and even the croupiers at the adjoining gaming table
+paused to take in the incident. Two or three attendants and waiters
+hurried up to help when the Madame spied her lost coin and
+triumphantly seized it. It was a one centime piece--worth a fifth of a
+cent! I have never seen a more disgusted-looking group of attendants,
+and doubt if so small a coin had ever been seen before in this
+northern Monte Carlo. The Madame, however, was serenely indifferent to
+their opinion. This was the nearest, I may add, that we came to losing
+any money there.
+
+At the end of the Esplanade is the Estacade, a pier that extends well
+out to sea. Pleasure steamers start here for short trips along the
+coast, and turning to the right at this end of the town one comes to
+the harbour and the broad basin where hundreds of little brown-sailed
+shrimp fishing-boats congregate. Several of these came in while we
+were there and sold their cargoes, almost as soon as they were tied
+up, to groups of eager market-women with big baskets. Several girls
+sat along the quay wall mending huge nets also used in the shrimp
+fishery. The little back streets in this vicinity, and around the
+quaint fish-market, are the oldest in the town--and the most crooked.
+
+The principal business street of the little city is the rue de Flandre
+and its continuation, the rue de la Chapelle, which together take one
+from the Digue de Mer straight to the railway and boat stations. On
+one side of this street is the Place d'Armes, where a military band
+played every evening, and facing which is the Hotel de Ville. Our last
+day was spent poking about this part of the town in a pouring rain,
+with an occasional peep into huge cafés designed to accommodate a
+thousand guests, but which were then almost deserted. The rain ceased
+suddenly toward nightfall and we returned to the Digue for a farewell
+look at the crowds and the long beach. It was night before we had
+seen enough, and then, after ordering and enjoying to the utmost our
+last Flemish dinner, we made our way to the Gare Maritime to take the
+night boat for Dover. As we steamed out past the long Estacade and
+looked back upon the gleaming lights along the Digue we saw the moon
+rising redly above the masts in the little harbour. This was our last
+view of Flanders, and, as we regretfully saw the lights of the city
+sink out of sight behind the tossing waves that gleamed brightly under
+the moonbeams, we knew that our pilgrimage was over.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE SPELL OF FLANDERS
+
+
+In this little book the author has endeavoured to portray as clearly
+as his limited powers of expression permitted, some of the many
+elements that make the spell that Flanders lays upon the minds and
+hearts of those who know it and love it well. It is a complex
+influence, composed of many and widely diverse factors. If in the
+narrative a thread of history has been permitted to obtrude itself,
+sometimes perhaps at undue length, it is because before all else
+Flanders is a land whose interest lies in its long and romantic
+history, and in the marvellous manner in which its artists and
+sculptors have portrayed its famous past. As Mr. Griffis in "Belgium,
+the Land of Art," has well expressed it, "No other land is richer in
+history or more affluent in art than is Belgium. In none have devout,
+industrious, patriotic and gifted sons told their country's story more
+attractively. By pen and in print, on canvas, in mural decoration, in
+sculpture, in monuments of bronze and marble, in fireplaces and in
+wood-carving, the story may be read as in an illuminated missal.
+Belfries, town halls, churches, guild houses, have each and all a
+charm of their own." If these pages have caught ever so little of that
+charm they have served their purpose.
+
+To the student of history, of art and architecture, of tapestry and
+lace-making, of the origin of the great woollen and linen industries,
+of guilds and the organisation of labour, of the commune or municipal
+republic in its earliest and finest development, and--before all
+else--of liberty in its age-long conflict with tyranny and oppression,
+Flanders is a land of endless interest and inspiration. Nowhere else
+in the world can there be found within so small a compass so many
+monuments of the past, so many of the milestones of human progress.
+That some of these relate to a past so remote as to be all but
+forgotten, while others are hidden away in spots where few tourists
+ever penetrate, only enhances the pleasure of those who are so
+persevering or so fortunate as to find them.
+
+Like rare wine, Flanders has mellowed with age, the storms and
+sunshine of succeeding centuries touching its fine old houses, its
+noble churches and splendid town halls and guild houses but
+lightly--imparting the majesty of antiquity without the sadness of
+decay. Its dramatic and tragic history--some of which was so terrible
+in the making--lives again, without the old-time rancour and hatred,
+as the foundation upon which artists with chisel, brush or pen have
+created some of the finest of the world's masterpieces.
+
+That to-day Flanders has once more, as so often in the past, become
+the battleground of warring Europe gives an element of inexpressible
+sadness to these feeble attempts to sketch its glories as they were
+only a few short months ago. Already some of the splendid monuments
+described in these pages have been shattered by engines of war more
+destructive than all those of all former wars taken together. The
+noble Hotel de Ville at Ypres, the fine old church of St. Nicholas at
+Dixmude, the incomparable cathedral of Malines--we know that these at
+least have suffered fearfully, that they may have been injured beyond
+any hope of restoration.
+
+In this last sad chapter of Flemish history, it is a pleasure to be
+able to record the fact that the people of the United States have for
+the first time entered its pages--and in a work of mercy. To the
+American people have been given the opportunity, the means and the
+disposition to play a noble part in this later history of much
+troubled Flanders--to feed the starving, care for the widowed and
+orphaned non-combatants of the great war, to help bind up the nation's
+wounds and restore hope and courage to its fearfully afflicted people.
+This is our part in the history of Flanders--our duty to the people of
+the brave nation of which Flanders forms so important and so famous a
+part. May all of those on whom the spell of Flanders falls do their
+share, however small, to help in this great work so long as the need
+lasts!
+
+And when the great war is over let no American tourist omit Flanders
+from his or her European itinerary. Its churches and town halls, its
+quaint crooked streets and sixteenth-century houses, have received a
+new and greater baptism of fire that has made them, one and all,
+shrines to which every lover of liberty should make a pilgrimage. Even
+the pleasant Belgian fields, with their bright poppies and corn
+flowers, have a more profound interest now that so many of them have
+been stained with a deeper red than the poppies ever gave.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHY
+
+
+    ALLEN, GRANT: Belgium: Its Cities.
+
+    ALTMEYER: Des Causes de la Décadence du Comptoir hanséatique
+    de Bruges.
+
+    ARMSTRONG, EDWARD: Emperor Charles V.
+
+
+    BALAU, S.: Soixante-dix Ans d'Histoire contemporaine de Belgique.
+
+    BOULGER, DEMETRIUS C.: Belgian Life in Town and Country.
+      -- Belgium of the Belgians.
+      -- The History of Belgium.
+
+    BUMPUS, T. F.: Cathedrals and Churches of Belgium.
+
+
+    CHARRIANT, H.: La Belgique Moderne.
+
+    CHRISTYN, J. B.: Les Délices des Pays-Bas.
+
+    CONSCIENCE, HENRI (or HENDRYK): De Kerels van Vlaanderen
+    (The Lion of Flanders).
+      -- Many of the other works of this great Flemish author have
+      been translated into English, French or German.
+
+    CONWAY: Early Flemish Artists.
+
+    CROWE, SIR J. A. and CAVALCASELLE, C. B.: The Early Flemish
+    Painters, Notices of their lives and work.
+
+
+    DE FLOU, CHARLES: Promenades dans Bruges.
+
+    DELEPIERRE, OCTAVE: Annales de Bruges.
+      -- Chasse de Ste. Ursule.
+      -- Histoire de Charles le Bon.
+      -- Histoire de Marie de Bourgogne.
+      -- Galerie des Artistes Brugeois.
+      -- Old Flanders, or Popular Traditions and Legends of Belgium.
+      -- Sketch of the History of Flemish Literature.
+
+    DESTRÉE, J. and VAN DEN VEN, P.: Tapisseries des Musées
+    Royaux du Cinquantenaire à Bruxelles.
+
+    DESTRÉE, OLIVER GEORGES: The Renaissance of Sculpture in
+    Belgium.
+
+    DUCLOS, AD.: Bruges, Histoire et Souvenirs.
+
+
+    EDWARDS, GEORGE WHARTON: Some Old Flemish Towns.
+
+
+    FRIS, VICTOR: Histoire de Gand.
+
+    FROISSART, SIR JOHN: Chronicles of England, France, Spain
+    and the Adjoining Countries.
+
+    FROMENTIN, EUGÈNE: The Old Masters of Belgium and Holland
+    (Les maîtres d'autrefois).
+
+
+    GÉNARD, P.: Anvers à travers les Ages.
+      -- La Furie Espagnole, in Annales de l'Académie d'Archéologie
+      d' Anvers.
+
+    GEFFROY, GUSTAVE: Les Musées d'Europe: La Belgique.
+
+    GILLIAT-SMITH, ERNEST: The Story of Bruges.
+
+    GORDON, PRYSE L.: Belgium and Holland.
+
+    GRIFFIS, W. E.: Belgium the Land of Art.
+
+
+    HAGGARD, A. C. P.: Louis XI and Charles the Bold.
+      -- Two Great Rivals (François I and Charles V).
+
+    HAVARD, HENRY: La Flandre a vol d'oiseau.
+
+    HOLLAND, CLIVE: Belgians at Home.
+
+    HYMANS, HENRI: Anvers, in Les Villes d'Art célèbres.
+      -- Bruges et Ypres, in same series.
+      -- Gand et Tournai, in same series.
+
+
+    JAMESON, MRS. ANNA BROWNELL: Sacred and Legendary Art.
+      -- Legends of the Madonnas.
+      -- Legends of the Monastic Orders.
+
+
+    KERVYN DE LETTENHOVE: Huguenots et Gueux.
+      -- La Flandre pendant les trois derniers Siècles.
+
+    KINTSCHOTS, L.: Anvers et ses Faubourgs.
+
+    KIRK, J. F.: History of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.
+
+    KLINGENSTEIN, L.: The Great Infanta Isabel.
+
+
+    MAC DONNELL, JOHN DE COURCY: Belgium, her Kings, Kingdom
+    and People.
+
+    MICHIELS, A.: Rubens et l'École d'Anvers.
+
+    MOTLEY, JOHN LOTHROP: The Rise of the Dutch Republic.
+      -- History of the United Netherlands.
+
+
+    NAMÉCHE: Histoire Nationale de la Belgique.
+
+
+    OMOND, GEORGE W. T.: Brabant and East Flanders.
+      -- Belgium.
+
+
+    PIRENNE, H.: Histoire de la Belgique.
+
+
+    REIFFENBURG: Mémoire sur le Commerce des Pays-Bas au XVe
+    et au XVIe Siècle.
+      -- Histoire de l'Ordre de la Toison d'Or.
+
+    ROBERTSON, WILLIAM: History of the Reign of the Emperor,
+    Charles the Fifth.
+
+    ROBINSON, WILFRID C.: Antwerp, an Historical Sketch.
+
+    ROOSES, MAX: Art in Flanders.
+      -- Christophe Plantin, Imprimeur anversois.
+      -- Catalogue du Musée Plantin-Moretus.
+      -- Geschiedenis de Antwerpsche schilderschool.
+
+    ROYAL ACADEMY OF BELGIUM: Biographie Nationale.
+
+
+    SCHAYES, A. G. B.: Histoire de Architecture en Belgique.
+
+    SCOTT, SIR WALTER: Quentin Durward.
+
+    SCUDAMORE, CYRIL: Belgium and the Belgians.
+
+    SINGLETON, ESTHER: Art of the Belgian Galleries.
+
+    SKRINE, FRANCIS HENRY: Fontenoy and the War of the Austrian
+    Succession.
+
+    SMYTHE, C.: The Story of Belgium.
+
+    STEPHENS, F. G.: Flemish Relics.
+
+    STRADA, FAMIANO: De Bello Belgico (in French, Histoire de
+    la Guerre de Flandre).
+
+
+    THORPE, BENJAMIN: Netherlandish Traditions, in his Northern
+    Mythology.
+
+    TREMAYNE, ELEANOR E.: The First Governess of the Netherlands,
+    Margaret of Austria.
+
+
+    VAN DE VYVERE, PAUL: Audenaerde et ses Monuments.
+
+    VILBORT, JOSEPH: Renaissance de la Littérature flamande, les
+    Romans non traduits de Henri Conscience.
+
+
+    WAAGEN: Handbook of Painting in the German, Flemish and
+    Dutch Schools.
+
+    WAUTERS, PROFESSOR A. J.: The Flemish School of Painting.
+
+
+    ZIMMERN, H.: The Hansa Towns.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+    A
+
+    Aardenburg, 59.
+
+    Adornes, Anselm and John, of Bruges, 309.
+
+    Adrian of Utrecht, 341.
+
+    Agincourt, Battle of, 220.
+
+    Agrippa, Cornelius, 341.
+
+    Aire, seized by Philip Augustus, 135.
+
+    Albert, Archduke, and Regent of Spanish Netherlands, defeated in
+        Battle of the Dunes, 96-98;
+      portrait by Rubens, 441;
+      arrival at Antwerp, 447;
+      welcomes Rubens, 448; 457;
+      siege of Ostende, 465-469.
+
+    Albert I, King of the Belgians, makes headquarters at Furnes in the
+        Great War, 87;
+      continues wise policies of predecessors, 462;
+      peace and contentment under reign of, 462-463.
+
+    Alençon, Duke of, 419.
+
+    Alfred the Great, taught by Judith, afterwards Countess of Flanders,
+        26;
+      daughter Alfrida marries Baldwin II, 24; 182.
+
+    Alfrida, daughter of Alfred the Great, 34; 182.
+
+    Allen, Grant, "Belgium, its Cities," cited, 235.
+
+    Allowin, afterwards St. Bavon, 181-182.
+
+    Alost, seized by Spanish mutineers, 415.
+
+    Alsace, revolts against tyranny of Charles the Bold, 289.
+
+    Alva, Duke of, recommends destruction of Ghent, 352;
+      made Regent of Spanish Netherlands, 381; 386;
+      policy a failure, 414-415; 416;
+      citadel and statue demolished, 418-419; 447.
+
+    Amiens, repulses Charles the Bold, 289; 326.
+
+    Angelo, Michael, Virgin and Child at Bruges, 51;
+      compared with Rubens, 438.
+
+    Antigonus, legend of, 393-394.
+
+    Antoing, village near Fontenoy, 253; 255-256.
+
+    Antwerp, an experience in, 8-11;
+      crippled by closing of the Scheldt, 18-19;
+      first view of, 20-21; 71; 170; 228;
+      "_Ville d'Art_," 268;
+      painting by Van der Weyden at, 272;
+      works by Memling at, 299;
+      merchants leave Bruges for, 300; 312;
+      "renowned for its money," 320; 323; 324;
+      Cathedral spire completed, 339-340;
+      "monuments" classified, 363;
+      legend of Antigonus and Brabo, 393-394;
+      Scheldt displaces the Zwyn as a highway of commerce, 394-395;
+      under Dukes of Brabant, 395-397;
+      under Dukes of Burgundy, 397-398;
+      _Vielle Boucherie_ and Steen, 399;
+      new trade routes favour city, 399-401;
+      Quentin Matsys, 401-403;
+      other early Antwerp painters, 403-405;
+      legends of the Long Wapper, Kludde, etc., 405-410;
+      prosperity under Charles V, 411;
+      outbreak of the iconoclasts, 412-413;
+      failure of the Duke of Alva, 414-415;
+      the "Spanish Fury," 415-418;
+      citadel and statue of Alva demolished, 418-419;
+      the "French Fury," 419;
+      the great siege, 419-422;
+      ruin resulting from the Fury and the siege, 422-423;
+      the great printing house of Plantin-Moretus, 423-437;
+      home of Rubens, 438-439;
+      Cathedral, description of, 439-442;
+      life and achievements of Rubens, 442-447;
+      mild government of Archdukes, 447-448;
+      Van Dyck, 449-452;
+      Quellin, Jordaens, David Teniers and lesser Antwerp artists,
+        452-455;
+      Royal Museum of Fine Arts, 455-456;
+      Hotel de Ville, 456-457;
+      later history from the Archdukes to the Great War, 457-463.
+
+    Archery contests in Belgium, 105-110.
+
+    Ardennes, 130.
+
+    Arenburg, Duke of, 211.
+
+    Arnolfini, Jean, and wife, portraits of, by Jean Van Eyck, 340.
+
+    Arnulph the Great, strengthens Flemish cities, 35;
+      founds St. Donatian's at Bruges, 35.
+
+    Arras, Treaty of 1191, 189;
+      Treaty of 1435, 222-223;
+      tapestry workers organised, 230;
+      tapestries of, 278-279;
+      starting point otapestry weaving, 385.
+
+    Artois, Count of, besieges Furnes, 90;
+      leads French at Battle of the Spurs, 157;
+      death, 159; 160;
+      County of Artois ceded to France, 189.
+
+    Audenaerde, tapestries, 5;
+      guildsmen from at Battle of the Spurs, 157; 202;
+      siege of by Philip Van Artevelde, 208;
+      besieged bPhilip the Bold, 218;
+      besieged by men from Ghent, 225;
+      Louis XI drives tapestry weavers from Arras to, 278;
+      tapestry ateliers specialise in pastoral scenes, 279;
+      country around, described, 367-368;
+      monument to volunteers who died in Mexico, 369-370;
+      description of Hotel de Ville, 370-376;
+      birthplace of Margaret of Parma, 377;
+      communal museum in Hotel de Ville, 381-382;
+      Cloth Hall, 382-383;
+      church of Ste. Walburge, 383-385;
+      tapestry weaving at, 385-387;
+      church of Notre Dame de Pamela, 387-389;
+      Château de Bourgogne, 390;
+      many religious institutions of, 390;
+      sieges and battles of the past, 391-392; 413.
+
+    Austria, War of the Austrian Succession, 250;
+      Austrian troops at Fontenoy, 251;
+      arms of, at Audenaerde, 373;
+      Flanders during Warof the Austrian Succession, 458;
+      under Austrian Empire, 458-459.
+
+    Auxerre, marriage of Baldwin I and Judith in 863, 26.
+
+
+    B
+
+    Baldwin of Constantinople, Count of Flanders, 129-139;
+      painting of, at Courtrai, 152; 153; 162; 189; 197;
+      portrait of, 373.
+
+    Baldwin of the Iron Arm, first Count of Flanders, 26;
+      remains of old Bourg, 27;
+      traces of chapel, 28; 55-56; 57; 218.
+
+    Baldwin II, marries Alfrida, 34;
+      fortifies Flemish towns, 34-35; 182.
+
+    Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, tower of, at Audenaerde, 376.
+
+    Baldwin VIII, signs Treaty of Arras, 189.
+
+    Basina, marriage to Childeric at Tournai, 246-247; 265.
+
+    Basinus, King of the Thuringians, 246.
+
+    Battle of the Spurs, 58; 119;
+      account of, 156-160; 177; 191;
+      effects of, 192-193; 196; 224; 314.
+
+    Bazaine, Marshal of France, 370.
+
+    Beaconsfield, Lord, quoted, 251.
+
+    Beaune, painting by Van der Weyden at, 271.
+
+    Beauvais, repulses Charles the Bold, 289; 387.
+
+    Béguinage, at Bruges, 33-36;
+      origin of institution, 34-35;
+      Grand Béguinage at Ghent, 35;
+      description of, 209-213;
+      Petit Béguinage at Ghent, 210;
+      at Audenaerde, 390.
+
+    Belfry, at Bruges, built above the Boterbeke, 27;
+      history and description of, 63-67;
+      at Courtrai, 147-148;
+      at Ghent, 184;
+      description of, 195-198;
+      at Tournai, description of, 262-263;
+      at Bruges, completed under Margaret of Austria, 340.
+
+    Belgian coast, 16;
+      Belgian barbers, 44-46;
+      Belgian State Railway train service, 79-83;
+      Belgian popular sports, 105-115;
+      Belgian thrift, 216-217;
+      Belgian State Railway, working peoples' trains, 242-245.
+
+    Bellegambe, 274.
+
+    Bergues, canal from Nieuport to, 104.
+
+    Berthout, Gauthier, Bishop of Malines, 312.
+
+    Berthout, Jean, Bishop of Malines, 314.
+
+    Bertulph, Provost of St. Donatian, 37;
+      executed at Ypres, 40-41.
+
+    Bicycle racing in Belgium, 111-112.
+
+    _Billets d'abonnement_, 3; 79;
+      for working-people, 242-243.
+
+    Biloque (or Biloke) Hospital at Ghent, 209.
+
+    Bladelin, Peter, town house at Bruges, 309;
+      founder of Middleburg, 309.
+
+    Blankenberghe, from the sea, 16;
+      part of the Franc of Bruges, 59; 324.
+
+    Blasère, William de, constructs first hothouse at Ghent, 356.
+
+    Blaton, 368.
+
+    Blondeel, Lancelot, 61.
+
+    Blücher, 359.
+
+    Bosch, Jerome, 341; 405.
+
+    Botanical Garden at Malines, 316;
+      at Ghent, 356-358.
+
+    Boterbeke River, intersection with the Roya, 26;
+      subterranean channel of, 27.
+
+    Boulger, "History of Belgium," quoted, 293.
+
+    Bouts, Dierick, life and principal works, 307-309; 341; 401.
+
+    Bouvines, Battle of, 136.
+
+    Brabant, Duchy of, 137;
+      united to Flanders by marriages of Cambrai, 218-219;
+      Philip the Good becomes Duke of, 221;
+      Duke of, at siege of Tournai, 249; 286;
+      Dukes of, contend with Counts of Flanders for Malines, 315;
+      Dukes of, rule over Antwerp, 395-397.
+
+    Brabo, legend of, 393-394.
+
+    Braekeleer, Henri de, "Nursery Garden" in Antwerp Museum, 456.
+
+    Braine-le-Comte, Flemish name for, 150.
+
+    Brauwer, Adrian, 454.
+
+    Breidel, John, Dean of Butchers' Guild at Bruges, 154;
+      at the Matin de Bruges 155-156;
+      at the Battle of Courtrai, 157-160.
+
+    Breughel, Peter the Elder, principal works and characteristics,
+        404-405.
+
+    _Brioches_, 46.
+
+    Britto, Jean, printer at Bruges, 58.
+
+    Broederlam, Melchior, early painter of Ypres, 230-231.
+
+    Broel Towers at Courtrai, 164.
+
+    Brou, in Savoy, 335-336.
+
+    Bruges, repels Philip the Good in 1437, 4;
+      murder of Charles the Good, 4-5 and 36-42;
+      lace makers at, 5;
+      the first capital of Flanders, 13;
+      first visit to, 24;
+      founding of, 26;
+      derivation of name, 26-27;
+      _Vieux Bruges_ (old Bruges), 27-28;
+      more tourists than formerly, 30;
+      some quaint old streets, 31;
+      lacemakers on rue du Rouleau, 32;
+      fortified by Baldwin II, 34;
+      from Charles the Good to Marie of Burgundy, 52-53;
+      charter granted by Philip of Alsace, 55;
+      description of Hotel de Ville, 57-59;
+      Belfry and chimes, 65-67;
+      _Halles_, description of, 67-68;
+      period of greatest commercial activity, 68-70;
+      silting up of the Zwyn, 70-71;
+      Baldwin of Constantinople holds court at, 137;
+      artisans from Ypres move to, 145;
+      revolt against the French, 154;
+      visit of King of France, 155;
+      the Matin de Bruges, 155-156;
+      guildsmen from Bruges at Battle of the Spurs, 157; 171;
+      superseded by Ghent as capital of Flanders, 189; 190; 192; 197;
+      influence of Jacques Van Artevelde in, 200;
+      capital of Louis of Maele, 205; 210;
+      Philip the Good establishes Order of the Golden Fleece, 221-222;
+      the Bruges Vespers, 223-224;
+      the "Great Humiliation," 224-225;
+      Guild of  St. Luke organised, 229-230;
+      Jehan de Bruges, 230;
+      "_Ville d'Art_," 268; 277;
+      principal capital of Charlesthe Bold, 287;
+      marriage of Maximilian and Marie of Burgundy, 294;
+      Memling at Bruges, 294-299;
+      Gheerhardt David, 299-300;
+      other early Flemish painters, 300-302;
+      the Gruuthuise Palace, 302-305;
+      Cathedral of St. Sauveur, 305-307;
+      other fine old mediæval buildings, 309-310; 312;
+      "renowned for its pretty girls," 321; 323;
+      Treaty of Cambrai, 338-339;
+      Belfry completed under Margaret of Austria, 340; 344;
+      paintings by Van der Goes, 362;
+      "monuments" classified, 363; 366; 393; 394; 397; 398;
+      attempt to close the Scheldt, 399-400; 401; 434; 448; 456.
+
+    Brunehault, rival of Fredegonda, 247-248.
+
+    Brussels, 9;
+      relation to Flanders, 12-13;
+      more French than Flemish, 13;
+      weather at, 22-23;
+      passage through, 24; 150; 170; 219;
+      Hotel de Ville built by Philip the Good, 228;
+      tapestry workers organised, 230;
+      part of the "Adoration of the Lamb" in Museum, 238; 243;
+      work of Van der Weyden at, 271;
+      "Abdication of Charles V," by Gallait at, 273;
+      Stallaert's "Death of Dido" at, 274;
+      tapestry weavers of Arras driven to, 278;
+      extorts privileges from Charles the Bold, 287;
+      works by Memling at, 299;
+      works by Dierick Bouts at, 308;
+      "renowned for its noble men," 321; 324; 339;
+      Cathedral of Ste. Gudule erected, 340;
+      manuscripts of Margaret of Austria in Bibliotheque Royale, 342;
+      Marie of Hungary removes capital to, 342; 351; 359;
+      "Madness of Hugo Van der Goes" in the Modern Gallery, 361;
+      portrait of Charles the Bold by Van der Goes, 362; 367; 368;
+      Henri Van Péde architect of Hotel de Ville, 371;
+      "Legend of St. Anne," by Quentin Matsys, 403; 443; 444;
+      Modern Gallery compared with Royal Museum at Antwerp, 456; 464.
+
+    Burgundy, Dukes of, 4; 17; 174;
+      the marriages of Cambrai, 218-219;
+      power extended by Treaty of Arras, 222-223;
+      further extended at Péronne, 288;
+      defeated by Swiss at Granson, Morat and Nancy, 290-292;
+      Kingdom of Burgundy almost established, 293; 315; 351;
+      early château at Audenaerde, 390; 395;
+      acquire Antwerp, 398;
+      tyranny of, 462.
+
+    Byzantine Emperors, coins of, found at Tournai, 265.
+
+
+    C
+
+    Caen, Normandy, Plantin learns art of printing in, 423; 424.
+
+    Cæsar, Julius, 245; 393.
+
+    Calais, siege of by Philip the Good, 223.
+
+    Calloo, 399; 420; 421.
+
+    Calvinists, partially destroy Abbey of St. Bavon, 184;
+      propose to present "Adoration of the Lamb" to Queen Elizabeth,
+        237.
+
+    Cambrai, 61;
+      Marriages of, 218-219;
+      League of, 337;
+      Treaty of, 338-339; 351.
+
+    Campin, Robert, early painter of Tournai, 270; 273; 274.
+
+    Carnot, Gen., defence of Antwerp, 460.
+
+    Cassel, captured by Philip Augustus, 135.
+
+    Castle of the Counts (Château des Comtes), at Ghent, 170-179;
+      stormed by Jacques Van Artevelde, 200;
+      birthplace of John of Gaunt, 201; 233; 262;
+      Liévin Pyn tortured at, 349.
+
+    Caxton, William, learns printing at Bruges, 228.
+
+    Çayas, Gabriel de, patron of Christopher Plantin, 424;
+      interests Philip II in _Biblia Regia_, 426.
+
+    Chapel of the Holy Blood at Bruges, crypt of St. Basil, 27-28;
+      receives relic from Dierick of Alsace, 55-56;
+      Procession and _Confrerie_, 56;
+      ruined during French Revolution, 56-57;
+      restoration, 57; 58.
+
+    Charlemagne, breaking up of empire of, 26.
+
+    Charles the Bald, creates title of Count of Flanders, 26.
+
+    Charles the Bold, 3;
+      tomb at Bruges, 51-53;
+      betrothal at Damme, 75-77; 124; 271;
+      meteoric career and death, 285-294; 295; 302; 305; 310; 333; 344;
+      portrait of, 362.
+
+    Charles I, King of England, knights Rubens, 448;
+      employs Van Dyck as court painter, 451-452.
+
+    Charles V, the Emperor, 52; 62;
+      statue at Courtrai, 152;
+      destroys Abbey of St. Bavon, 183-184;
+      orders bell Roland removed, 197;
+      captures Tournai, 249;
+      "Abdication of," painting by Louis Gallait, 273; 292;
+      christened, 335;
+      educated by Margaret of Austria, 336;
+      becomes King of Spain, 337;
+      elected King of the Romans, 338;
+      chosen Emperor, 338;
+      rejoicings at Ghent over birth of, 346;
+      vast extent of dominions at age of twenty, 346-347; 348;
+      revolt of Ghent in 1539, 349-350;
+      withdraws all the city's ancient privileges, 350-355;
+      origin of Butchers' Guild of Ghent, 365;
+      portrait of, at Audenaerde, 373;
+      many reminders of, at Audenaerde, 374;
+      inserts spectacles in arms of Audenaerde, 373;
+      statue of, 375;
+      portrait of, 376;
+      father of Margaret of Parma, 377-378; 381; 395;
+      aids prosperity of Antwerp, 411; 412;
+      great bell at Antwerp named for, 441.
+
+    Charles the Good, murder of, 4-5 and 36-42;
+      rebuilds Cathedral of St. Sauveur, 47;
+      erects part of church of Notre Dame, 50;
+      Bruges in the days of, 52-53; 54; 305.
+
+    Charles VI, Emperor of Austria, 458; 469.
+
+    Charles VI, King of France, sacks Courtrai, 161-162;
+      wins battle of Rosbecque, 207; 218.
+
+    Charles VII, King of France, concludes Treaty of Arras, 222-223.
+
+    Charles VIII, King of France, 334.
+
+    Charolais, Count of, 233.
+
+    Chateaubriand, minister of Louis XVIII, 358.
+
+    Childeric, marriage with Basina at Tournai, 246-247;
+      incidents in life of, carved on portal of the Cathedral, 260;
+      relics of, discovered, 264-265; 281.
+
+    Chilperic, King of the Franks, 247;
+      besieged at Tournai, 248; 281.
+
+    Chimes, at Bruges, 65-67;
+      at Malines, 322-325;
+      at Audenaerde, 381;
+      at Antwerp, 440.
+
+    Christus, Petrus, early painter of Bruges, 240.
+
+    Claire, Lord, at Battle of Fontenoy, 254.
+
+    Clauwaerts, partisans of Flemish independence, 154;
+      Jacques Van Artevelde, leader of, 199.
+
+    Clays, P. J., 456.
+
+    Clovis, King of the Franks, 247.
+
+    _Concession Caroline_, promulgated by Charles V in 1540, 355.
+
+    Columbus, discovery of America helps Antwerp, 400.
+
+    Condé, defeats French under Turenne, 95.
+
+    Conscience, Hendryk, Flemish novelist, 36.
+
+    Conynck, Peter de, Dean of Weavers at Bruges, 154;
+      leader at the Matin de Bruges, 155-156;
+      at Battle of Courtrai, 157-160; 193.
+
+    Coolman, Gauthier, 319.
+
+    Cornelis, Albert, early painter of Bruges, 301.
+
+    Cortés, 347.
+
+    Counts of Flanders, rule over part of France, 12;
+      origin of County, 25;
+      the first Count, Baldwin of the Iron Arm, 26;
+      model of first castle, 28;
+      Emperor makes title hereditary, 34; 54; 151;
+      castle of, at Ghent, 170-179;
+      foster Abbey of St. Bavon, 182;
+      make Ghent their capital, 189;
+      decline in power of, 190;
+      weakness after Battle of the Spurs, 192-193;
+      obtain temporal power over Malines, 315; 351;
+      Scheldt their frontier, 394-395.
+
+    Courtrai, linens, 5;
+      fortified by Baldwin II, 34; 58;
+      destroyed by Philip Augustus, 136;
+      lace makers at, 141; 146;
+      Belfry, 147-148;
+      Hotel de Ville, 151-153;
+      Battle of Courtrai, 152-160;
+      churches of, 161-163;
+      Broel towers at, 164; 193; 314.
+
+    Coxcie, Michel, 237; 238; 339; 341; 386.
+
+    Coxyde, dunes at, 92-93;
+      _pêcheurs de crevettes_, 93.
+
+    Crayer, Gaspard de, 384;
+      religious pictures of, 453.
+
+    Crécy, Battle of, 203.
+
+    Crispin, 431.
+
+    Crowe and Cavalcaselle, "The Early Flemish Painters," cited, 235.
+
+    _Cuches au beurre_, 46-47.
+
+    Cumberland, Duke of, defeated at Fontenoy, 251-255.
+
+
+    D
+
+    Damme, receives charter from Philip of Alsace, 55;
+      birth of Van Maerlant (mural painting), 59;
+      period of prosperity and present aspect, 72-75;
+      betrothal of Margaret of York by Charles the Bold, 76-77;
+      destroyed by Philip Augustus, 135;
+      rallying place for Clauwaerts before the Matin de Bruges, 155;
+      destroyed by Philip the Bold, 219.
+
+    Danes, invasions of, 34.
+
+    Daret, Jacques, early painter of Tournai; 270; 273.
+
+    David, Gheerhardt, life and principal works, 299-300.
+
+    Davis, Thomas Osborne, poet, "Battle of Fontenoy" quoted, 253-255.
+
+    Delbeke, Louis, 123.
+
+    Deledicque, Antony, 139.
+
+    Delvin, Jean, 93.
+
+    Dendermonde (Termonde), 202; 310.
+
+    Denucé, assistant curator of Plantin Museum, 434.
+
+    Denyn, Josef, official bell ringer at Malines, 323-324; 440.
+
+    Denys, Gérard, Dean of Weavers at Ghent, 204.
+
+    Devreese, Godefroid, sculptor of Courtrai, 165.
+
+    Dierick of Alsace, Count of Flanders, 54;
+      wise rule, 54-55;
+      brings Holy Blood from Jerusalem, 55-56; 59; 129; 171;
+      besieges ancient castle at Ghent, 177;
+      portrait of, 373.
+
+    Dierick, Lord of Dixmude, legendary hero, 179.
+
+    Dijon, capital of Burgundy, 148;
+      paintings by Melchior Broederlam at, 230-231;
+      "The Last Judgment" by Van der Weyden, at Beaune, 271; 287.
+
+    Dinant, 277; 286.
+
+    Dixmude, at time of the Crusades, 13;
+      part of the Franc of Bruges, 59;
+      history of, 83;
+      church of St. Nicholas, 84-85;
+      _gâteaux d'ames_, 85;
+      ravages of the war, 86;
+      Yser River and canal, 103-104;
+      church of St. Nicholas destroyed by the Germans, 482.
+
+    Dozzo, Gasparo, rich Antwerp merchant, 411.
+
+    Dumery, George, 65.
+
+    Du Guesclin, 70.
+
+    Dumuriez, general of first French Republic, 459.
+
+    Dunes, viewed from the sea, 15;
+      at Coxyde, 92-93;
+      Battle of the Dunes, 96-98; 465.
+
+    Dunkerque, receives charter from Philip of Alsace, 55;
+      canal from Nieuport to, 104.
+
+    Duquesnoy, Jerome, 241; 355;
+      influenced by Rubens, 453.
+
+    Dyle, river, at Malines, 312; 314;
+      views from, 316; 317;
+      _grand pont_ across, 333; 334.
+
+    Dyver, at Bruges, 27;
+      view of Notre Dame from, 50.
+
+
+    E
+
+    Eccloo, part of the Franc of Bruges, 59.
+
+    Edward I, King of England, obtains Antwerp as a fief, 397.
+
+    Edward III, King of England, 198;
+      treats with Jacques Van Artevelde, 200;
+      wins Battle of Sluys, 201;
+      welcomes Flemish weavers, 204-205;
+      besieges Tournai, 248-249;
+      at Antwerp, 397.
+
+    Edward IV, King of England, guest of the Lord of Gruuthuise, 303.
+
+    Egmont, Count of, "Last Honours to" and "Last Moments of" by Louis
+        Gallait, 273-274.
+
+    Eleanor, Queen of France, 339.
+
+    Elizabeth, Queen of England, 237;
+      sends English garrison to Ostende, 465-466.
+
+    Epinoy, Christine, Princess of, heroic defence of Tournai, 249;
+      statue of, 262;
+      painting of, 274.
+
+    Erasmus, 341.
+
+    Erembald, house of, 37;
+      murder of Charles the Good, 38;
+      besieged in church of St. Donatian, 39;
+      flung from church tower, 41;
+      house nearly annihilated, 42.
+
+    Erembald, blacksmith at Bruges, 65.
+
+    Ethelwolf, King of Wessex, 26.
+
+    Eugene, Prince of Savoy, 391.
+
+    Everard, Nicholas, 341.
+
+
+    F
+
+    Faid'herbe, Luke, sculptor of Malines, 326;
+      designs church of Notre Dame d'Hanswyck, 329;
+      pupil of Rubens, 453.
+
+    Farnese, Octavio, Duke of Parma, 378.
+
+    Ferdinand of Aragon, 62.
+
+    Ferdinand, King of Bohemia, 339.
+
+    Ferdinand of Portugal, Count of Flanders, 122; 135-136.
+
+    Féré, Pierrot, tapestry maker of Arras, 279.
+
+    Ferrand, Count of Flanders, 190.
+
+    Flanders, location of, 1 and 12-13;
+      historical interest of, 3-5;
+      Bruges first capital of, 13;
+      plan of chronological tour of, 14;
+      climate, 22-24;
+      travel hints, 23;
+      origin of the County, 25;
+      just misses becoming independent, 192-193;
+      "the cock-pit of Europe," 250-251; 286;
+      end of independence in 1540, 355;
+      arms of, at Audenaerde, 373;
+      the Scheldt its Eastern boundary, 394-395.
+
+    Flemish architecture, 3;
+      art, 6;
+      inns, 7-11;
+      language, 12-13;
+      coast, 15-16;
+      cleanliness, 43-44;
+      language in West Flanders, 99-100;
+      Belgium bi-lingual, 149-150;
+      Flemish dinners, 213-215.
+
+    Fleurus, Battle of, 459.
+
+    Floris, Corneille, 261.
+
+    Floris, Frans, 386;
+      life and chief works, 403-404.
+
+    Flowers in Belgium, 165-166;
+      fondness of people for, 284;
+      Bishop Triest encourages horticulture at Ghent, 355-356;
+      first hothouse, 356;
+      Botanical Gardens at Ghent, 357-358.
+
+    Flushing, 17; 334.
+
+    Fontenoy, Battle of, 250-255;
+      battlefield and monument, 256; 458.
+
+    Franchoys, Luc, 331.
+
+    Francis I, King of France, 62;
+      loses Tournai, 248;
+      concludes Treaty of Cambrai, 338-339.
+
+    Fredegonda, Queen of the Franks, 247-248.
+
+    Frederick II, Emperor, offers crown to Charles the Bold, 285; 294;
+      defeated by burghers of Ghent, 345.
+
+    Froissart, 148;
+      eulogy of Ghent, 169;
+      description of "Mad Margery," 208-209;
+      describes siege of Tournai, 249.
+
+    Fugger, Anthony, fame of his wealth, 411.
+
+    Furnes, at time of the Crusades, 13;
+      receives charter from Philip of Alsace, 55;
+      history, 86-87; 90;
+      the Procession of, 87-89;
+      principal buildings, 90-92.
+
+    Fyts, John, animal pictures of, 453.
+
+
+    G
+
+    Galeswintha, sister of Brunehault, 248.
+
+    Gallait, Louis, "Last Honours to Counts Egmont and Horn," 273;
+      other notable works, 273-274;
+      in Antwerp Museum, 456.
+
+    Gavre, Battle of, 225-227; 344.
+
+    Geefs, W., sculptor, 369.
+
+    George II, King of England, 251.
+
+    Gertrude, Countess of Flanders, 87.
+
+    Ghent, fortified by Baldwin II, 34;
+      receives charter from Philip of Alsace, 55;
+      attack on Nieuport in 1383, 95;
+      repulsed at Ypres, 144;
+      artisans from Ypres move to, 145;
+      loyal to French in 1302, 156;
+      greatness in the Middle Ages, 169-170;
+      Château des Comtes, 170-179;
+      Abbey of St. Bavon, 181-185;
+      château of Girard the Devil, 185-186;
+      church of St. Nicholas, 186-188;
+      cathedral of St. Bavon, 188;
+      rapid growth in power, 189-191;
+      takes popular side after Battle of the Spurs, 194;
+      guilds, 194-195;
+      Belfry, 195-198;
+      Cloth Hall (Halles), 197;
+      the Mammelokker, 198;
+      Jacques Van Artevelde, 199-204;
+      expulsion of weavers, 204-205;
+      Philip Van Artevelde, 206-207;
+      resists Philip the Bold, 218;
+      rebels against Philip the Good, 225;
+      crushed at Gavre, 226-227; 228;
+      Guild of St. Luke organised, 229; 230; 233;
+      "the Adoration of the Lamb," 234-238; 262;
+      "_Ville d'Art_," 268;
+      extorts concessions from Charles the Bold, 287;
+      denounced by Charles, 289; 312;
+      "renowned for its halters," 321;
+      Hotel de Ville completed, 340; 344;
+      the Rabot, 345-346;
+      rejoicings over birth of Charles V, 346;
+      decline of cloth industry, 347;
+      Hotel de Ville, description of, 347-349;
+      outbreak of 1539, 349;
+      execution of Liévin Pyn, 350;
+      Emperor withdraws liberties and privileges, 350-355;
+      Bishop Triest and beginnings of horticulture, 355-357;
+      Botanical Garden, 357-359;
+      Louis XVIII at, 358-359;
+      Justus of Ghent and Hugo Van der Goes, 360-362;
+      Gerard Van der Meire, 363;
+      ranks first in "monuments," 363;
+      some of its minor monuments, 363-366;
+      Margaret of Parma presented as Regent at, 379; 391; 394; 397; 442.
+
+    Ghistelle, Lords of, 309.
+
+    Gilliat-Smith, Ernest, "Story of Bruges," cited, 310.
+
+    Gilliodts, archevist of Bruges, quoted, 66-67.
+
+    Girard the Devil (Girard le Diable), château of, 185-186; 195; 197;
+        241.
+
+    Godfrey of the Beard, Duke of Brabant, 395.
+
+    Godfrey of Bouillon, 187.
+
+    Gordon, Pryse L., cited, 180.
+
+    Gossaert, Jan (or Mabuse), painting by, at Tournai, 274;
+      at court of Margaret of Austria, 339.
+
+    Granson, Battle of, 271; 290; 291; 294.
+
+    Granville, Cardinal, 426.
+
+    Gravelines, 55.
+
+    Griffis, "Belgium, the Land of Art," quoted, 480.
+
+    Groeninghe, Abbey of, 159;
+      Flemish name for Battle of the Spurs, 164.
+
+    Grupello, sculptor of Rubens school, 453.
+
+    Gruuthuise, Louis (or Lodewyk) Van der, 302; 303.
+
+    Gruuthuise Palace, 68; 302-305.
+
+    Gryeff, Adolphus de, 386.
+
+    Gueldre, Duke of, 313.
+
+    Gueux, 328; 329.
+
+    Guffens, Godefroid, fresco at Ypres, 124;
+      at Courtrai, 152.
+
+    Guido Gezelle, poet, 163.
+
+    Guilds, at Bruges, 64 and 70;
+      the 400 guilds of Ypres, 128;
+      guild leaders in 1302, 154;
+      at Battle of Courtrai, 157;
+      power of, 192-193;
+      guild houses in 14th century, 194-195;
+      slaughter of the fullers, 202;
+      slaughter of the weavers, 204;
+      expulsion of weavers, 204-205;
+      at Malines, 313-315;
+      house of Boatmen's Guild at Ghent, 347;
+      fine guild houses of Ghent, 365;
+      origin of Butchers' Guild, 365.
+
+    Guizot, minister of Louis XVIII, 358.
+
+    Guy of Dampierre, Count of Flanders, 122; 153-154;
+      grants Ghent a new _Keure_, 191.
+
+    Guy of Namur, 193.
+
+
+    H
+
+    Hachette, Jeanne, heroine of Beauvais, 289.
+
+    Hacket, Châtelain of Bruges, 37; 42.
+
+    Hainaut, County of, 130;
+      united to Flanders by marriages of Cambrai, 218-219;
+      Philip the Good becomes Count of, 221; 243;
+      Count of, at siege of Tournai, 249.
+
+    Hal, baptismal font at, 277.
+
+    Hanseatic League, 58;
+      at Bruges, 69;
+      abandons Bruges for Antwerp, 71; 401.
+
+    Hay, Lord, at Battle of Fontenoy, 254.
+
+    Hémony, Pierre, 323.
+
+    Hennebicq, painter of Tournai, 274.
+
+    Hennequin, painter of Tournai, 274.
+
+    Henry III, Duke of Brabant, grants privileges to Antwerp, 396.
+
+    Henry V, King of England, wins Battle of Agincourt, 220.
+
+    Henry VIII, captures Tournai, 249;
+      tower of, 266-267.
+
+    Herkenbald, "Justice of," painting by Van der Weyden, 271.
+
+    Heuvick, early painter of Audenaerde, 382.
+
+    Heyst, 16; 324.
+
+    Hiéronimites, 186.
+
+    Horembout, Gerard, 341.
+
+    Horn, Count of, "Last Honors to," 273; 412.
+
+    Hugonet, minister of Marie of Burgundy, 349.
+
+    Humbercourt, minister of Marie of Burgundy, 349.
+
+    Hundred Years' War, 70; 143; 198.
+
+
+    I
+
+    Iconoclasts (or "Image Breakers"), at Malines, 328; 329; 370;
+      outbreak of, 380-381;
+      at Audenaerde, 389;
+      at Antwerp, 412-413; 440.
+
+    Innocent VIII, 305-306.
+
+    Inquisition, meeting-place at Furnes, 91; 415.
+
+    Isabella of Castile, 62.
+
+    Isabel, Queen of Denmark, 339.
+
+    Isabella, Queen of France, 155.
+
+    Isabella, Regent of the Netherlands, 422;
+      portrait by Rubens, 444;
+      arrival at Antwerp, 447;
+      encourages Rubens, 448; 457;
+      at siege of Ostende, 467;
+      weeps at ruin of the town, 469.
+
+    Isabel of Portugal, marries Philip the Good, 221;
+      portrait of, 238;
+      picture of, in collection of Margaret of Austria, 340-341.
+
+
+    J
+
+    Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut and Holland, 176-177;
+      forced to abdicate, 221.
+
+    Jansenius, Bishop of St. Martin at Ypres, 125-126.
+
+    Janssens, Victor, 386.
+
+    Jean II, Duke of Brabant, 314.
+
+    Jeanne d'Arc, 221.
+
+    Jeanne of Constantinople, Countess of Flanders, 122; 132; 135;
+        136-139;
+      founds first Béguinage at Ghent, 210.
+
+    Jehan de Bruges, early painter, 230.
+
+    Jehan de Hasselt, early painter, 230.
+
+    Jemappes, Battle of, 459.
+
+    Joanna of Spain (Jeanne de Castile), 62; 346.
+
+    John, Prince of Asturias, 334-335;
+      sudden death, 335.
+
+    John, Don, of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands, 415; 418.
+
+    John of Bavaria, 234.
+
+    John I, Duke of Brabant, grants the _Core van Antwerpen_, 396.
+
+    John II, Duke of Brabant, gives Antwerp to Edward I, 397.
+
+    John III, Duke of Brabant, extends rights of foreigners at Antwerp,
+        396-397.
+
+    John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, 220;
+      court painter of, 231; 233; 383.
+
+    John of Gaunt (Ghent), Duke of Lancaster, birth of, 201; 221.
+
+    John, King of England, alliance with Ferdinand of Portugal, 136.
+
+    Jordaens, Jacob, "Adoration of the Magi" at Dixmude, 84;
+      characteristics, 453; 455; 456.
+
+    Joseph II, Emperor of Austria, 237;
+      revolt against, 458-459.
+
+    Josephine, Empress of France, saves Botanical Garden at Ghent,
+        357-358.
+
+    Judith, first Countess of Flanders, 26;
+      traces of her chapel, 28; 34.
+
+    Justus of Ghent, early Flemish painter, 360-362.
+
+    Justus Lipsius, meets Christopher Plantin, 429;
+      writes his epitaph, 430; 431; 441.
+
+
+    K
+
+    Kaboutermannekens, legends of, 408-409.
+
+    Karls, refuse allegiance to feudal overlords, 37;
+      support the Erembalds, 38;
+      receive _Keurbrief_ from Philip of Alsace, 60-61.
+
+    Katherine, Queen of Portugal, 339.
+
+    Keldermans, André, Antoine I, Antoine II, Jean, Laurent and Mathieu,
+        all architects of Malines, 319-320.
+
+    Keldermans, Rombaut, architect of Malines, 318; 320;
+      rebuilds Hotel de Savoy, 336;
+      receives many commissions from Margaret of Austria, 339-340;
+      designs _Maison de la Keure_ at Ghent, 348.
+
+    Kerel van Yper, painter of Ypres, 141.
+
+    Kermesse, its antiquity, 115; 378; 449.
+
+    Keyser, Nicaise de, 160.
+
+    Kiliaen, the Flemish lexicographer, 433.
+
+    Kipling, quoted, 29.
+
+    Kludde, legends of, 409-410.
+
+    Knocke, 16.
+
+
+    L
+
+    _Lac d'Amour_, Bruges, see Minnewater.
+
+    Laevinius Torrentius, 433.
+
+    Lagye, Victor, 457.
+
+    Lalaing, Countess of, 377; 378.
+
+    Lalaing, Philippe, Count of, 371.
+
+    Lannoy, Charles de, 62.
+
+    Larks in Belgium, 166-168.
+
+    Legend of Baldwin of Constantinople, 130-133;
+      of siege of Ghent in 930, 179-180;
+      of St. Nicholas, 187;
+      of the Mammelokker, 198;
+      concerning the wealth of the Flemish burghers, 207-208;
+      of the marriage of Childeric and Basina, 246-247;
+      of Memling's wound at Nancy, 295-296;
+      of the "Vuyle Bruydegom" at Malines, 332-333;
+      of Antigonus and Brabo at Antwerp, 393-394;
+      of Lohengrin, 394;
+      of Quentin Matsys, 401-402;
+      of the Long Wapper of Antwerp, 405-408;
+      of the Kaboutermannekens, 408-409;
+      of Kludde, 409-410;
+      of Van Dyck at Saventhem, 449-451.
+
+    Lemaire des Belges, Jean, 341.
+
+    Leopold I, King of the Belgians,
+      first welcomed to Belgium at Furnes, 87;
+      elected King, 461;
+      frees the Scheldt in 1863, 461.
+
+    Leopold II, King of the Belgians,
+      an efficient chief executive, 461-462;
+      Palace at Ostende, 470.
+
+    Leys, Baron Henri, 456;
+      paintings in Hotel de Ville at Antwerp, 457.
+
+    Liederick de Buck, portrait of, 373.
+
+    Liedts, Baroness, lace collection at Bruges, 304.
+
+    Liége, 106; 286;
+      insurrections at, 287-288;
+      city sacked, 288; 312; 344.
+
+    Lieve, river, at Ghent, 169; 172.
+
+    Liliaerts, partisans of France, 154; 189; 191; 194.
+
+    Lille, destroyed by Philip Augustus, 136;
+      Baldwin of Constantinople executed at, 138-139; 207;
+      fêtes held by Philip the Good at, 227; 280.
+
+    Lissweghe, 59.
+
+    Lombartzyde, 95;
+      statue of the Virgin, 104-105.
+
+    Longfellow, quoted, 67.
+
+    Long Wapper of Antwerp, legends of, 405-408.
+
+    Louis of Maele, Count of Flanders, 59; 175;
+      besieged at Ghent, 178; 183; 204;
+      marriage of daughter, 205-206;
+      defeated by Philip Van Artevelde, 206;
+      death, 207;
+      wealth of Ghent during reign of, 207-208; 218;
+      court painter of, 230; 397.
+
+    Louis of Nevers, Count of Flanders, 124; 194; 198;
+      vainly resists popular party, 199-200;
+      hires assassination of Jacques Van Artevelde, 202-203;
+      death at Crécy, 203.
+
+    Louis the Fat, King of France, 41-42.
+
+    Louis XI, King of France, lives at Furnes while Dauphin, 90;
+      drives tapestry weavers from Arras, 278;
+      implacable foe of Charles the Bold, 286;
+      foments insurrection at Liége, 287-288;
+      stirs up German resistance to Charles, 289;
+      causes downfall of Charles, 293; 294; 334; 344.
+
+    Louis XIII, King of France, 387.
+
+    Louis XIV, captures Tournai, 250; 265;
+      removes tapestries from Audenaerde, 376;
+      portrait of, 376; 387;
+      bombards Audenaerde, 391.
+
+    Louis XV, King of France, at Battle of Fontenoy, 251-255;
+      Joyous Entry at Antwerp, 458.
+
+    Louis XVIII, King of France, at Ghent, 358-359.
+
+    Louise of Savoy, 338.
+
+    Louvain, 219;
+      Hotel de Ville, 228;
+      Guild of St. Luke organised, 230;
+      work of Van der Weyden at, 271;
+      Dierick Bouts at, 307-308; 310;
+      "renowned for its scholars," 321; 371; 395;
+      birth-place of Quentin Matsys, 401; 403.
+
+    Lyon, Jean, Dean of Boatmen's Guild, 188.
+
+    Lys, river, 146;
+      superior for retting flax, 147; 158; 164; 169; 204; 206.
+
+
+    M
+
+    Mabuse, see Jan Gossaert.
+
+    Mace, Robert, teaches art of printing to Christopher Plantin, 423.
+
+    Maele, Château of, near Bruges, 303.
+
+    Mahaut, Countess of Flanders, 122.
+
+    Malfait of Brussels, 124.
+
+    Malines, lace makers at, 5;
+      centre of Flemish architecture, art and learning, 12;
+      "_Ville d'Art_," 268;
+      extorts privileges from Charles the Bold, 287;
+      terrible destruction in the Great War, 311;
+      situation and importance, 312;
+      early history, 312-315;
+      Cloth Hall and museum, 317; 318;
+      Cathedral of St. Rombaut, 318-323;
+      chimes, 323-325;
+      interior of Cathedral, 325-327;
+      "renowned for its fools," 321;
+      Notre Dame au delà de la Dyle, 327-328;
+      Notre Dame d'Hanswyck, 328-329;
+      church of St. Jean, 330-331;
+      Hotel de Ville, 332;
+      Vieux Palais, 332-333;
+      some fine old houses, 333;
+      Margaret of Austria, early life, 333-336;
+      her court at Malines, 336; 342;
+      death,342-343;
+      "monuments" classified, 363; 439; 442;
+      Cathedral sadly injured, 482.
+
+    Mammelokker, bas relief and legend of, 198.
+
+    Manson, Collard, printer at Bruges, 228; 435.
+
+    Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands, 61-62;
+      childhood and early life, 333-336;
+      Palace at Malines, 336;
+      Regent of the Netherlands, 337;
+      negotiates the "Ladies' Peace," 338-339;
+      brilliant court, 339;
+      taste for art and literature, 340-342;
+      untimely death, 342-343; 345; 349.
+
+    Margaret, Countess of Flanders, 122; 132; 135; 136; 153.
+
+    Margaret, daughter of Louis of Maele, 183; 205-206; 218.
+
+    Margaret of Parma, portrait at Audenaerde, 376;
+      birth and marriages, 377-378;
+      Regent of the Netherlands, 379;
+      popularity, 379-380;
+      suppresses outbreak of the Iconoclasts, 380-381;
+      superseded by Duke of Alva, 381; 413; 419; 425.
+
+    Margaret of York, betrothal to Charles the Bold at Damme, 75-77;
+      resides at Malines, 333; 336.
+
+    Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria, 458.
+
+    Marie of Burgundy, tomb at Bruges, 51-53;
+      statue, 62; 293;
+      marries Maximilian, 294;
+      children of, 333; 344; 345; 349.
+
+    Marie of Champagne, Countess of Flanders, 133;
+      dedicates Cloth Hall at Ypres, 134;
+      death in Syria, 134; 162.
+
+    Marie, Queen of Hungary, 339;
+      Regent of the Netherlands, 342-343;
+      insurrection at Ghent during reign of, 349-350; 354.
+
+    Marlborough, Duke of, captures Tournai, 250;
+      wins Battle of Audenaerde, 391;
+      recalled in peasant nursery song, 391-392;
+      takes Antwerp after Battle of Ramillies, 458.
+
+    Marot, Clement, 428.
+
+    Marvis Towers at Tournai, 265.
+
+    Massé, 341.
+
+    Matsys, Quentin, life and principal works, 401-403.
+
+    Matthew, Duke of Lorraine, 122.
+
+    Maurice, Count of Nassau, wins Battle of the Dunes, 96-98; 465;
+      captures Sluys, 468.
+
+    Maximilian, Emperor, 51;
+      statue of, 62;
+      conflict with Bruges, 71;
+      marriage to Marie of Burgundy, 294; 333;
+      Regent of Flanders, 334;
+      fondness for daughter, Margaret of Austria, 337;
+      death, 338; 345; 347; 411.
+
+    Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, 369.
+
+    Memling, Hans, at Bruges, 295-296;
+      works of, in Hospital of St. Jean, 296-298;
+      other notable paintings, 298-299; 307;
+      in collection of Margaret of Austria, 341.
+
+    Mercator, 431.
+
+    Merghelynck Museum at Ypres, 139-140; 304.
+
+    Meunier, Constantin, statue of _pecheur des crevettes_, 93;
+      painting at Courtrai, 160.
+
+    Michelle, first wife of Philip the Good, 183;
+      death of, 233-234.
+
+    Middleburg, paintings by Van der Weyden at, 309.
+
+    Minnewater, 33;
+      view of Notre Dame from, 50;
+      formerly chief harbour of Bruges, 71-72.
+
+    Molinet, Jean, 341.
+
+    Mons, capital of Hainaut, 130;
+      Flemish name for, 150; 219;
+      Hotel de Ville, 228; 243; 252.
+
+    Montalembert, quoted, 388.
+
+    Montanus, Arias, supervises _Biblia Regia_, 426;
+      opinion of Christopher Plantin, 427; 431.
+
+    Morat, Battle of, 291.
+
+    Moretus, Balthazar I, 432.
+
+    Moretus, Edouard, sells Plantin-Moretus museum to city of Antwerp,
+        432.
+
+    Moretus, Jean I, marries Martina, daughter of Christopher Plantin,
+        429; 431; 432;
+      tomb in the Cathedral, 441;
+      employs Rubens, 443;
+      friend of Rubens, 448.
+
+    Moretus, Jean II, 431-432.
+
+    Montereau, murder of John the Fearless at, 220.
+
+    _Morte d'Ypres, la_ (the Death of Ypres), 117; 122; 123; 144.
+
+    Motley, cited, 413.
+
+
+    N
+
+    Nancy, siege of, 291;
+      death of Charles the Bold before, 292; 295; 333.
+
+    Namur, 312.
+
+    Napoleon, saves Chapel of the Holy Blood, 56; 94; 282; 330; 358;
+        358-359;
+      removes tapestries from Audenaerde, 376;
+      at Antwerp, 460.
+
+    Nauwelaerts, official bell ringer of Bruges, 66.
+
+    Neerwinden, Battle of, 459.
+
+    Nicholas V, Pope, 340.
+
+    Nicholas de Verdun, 277.
+
+    Nieuport, at time of the Crusades, 13;
+      receives charter from Philip of Alsace, 55;
+      some famous sieges of, 95;
+      Battle of the Dunes, 96-98;
+      Chambers of Rhetoric, 99;
+      Tower of the Templars, Cloth Hall and church of Notre Dame,
+        99-101;
+      the Yser River, locks and canals, 103-104; 465; 473.
+
+    Norsemen, anarchy resulting from invasions of, 36;
+      capture Tournai, 248; 256; 259;
+      burn church at Audenaerde, 383.
+
+    Notre Dame, Cathedral of, at Antwerp, 20; 228;
+      well cover made by Quentin Matsys, 401;
+      description of, 440-442.
+
+    Notre Dame de Pamela, church of, at Audenaerde, 387-389.
+
+    Notre Dame, church of, at Bruges, 50-53;
+      remains of Charles the Bold placed in, 292; 303; 306.
+
+    Notre Dame, church of, at Courtrai, 162-163.
+
+    Notre Dame au delà de la Dyle, church of, at Malines, 316;
+      description, 327-328.
+
+    Notre Dame d'Hanswyck, church of, at Malines, 316;
+      description, 328-329.
+
+    Notre Dame, Cathedral of, at Tournai, 245;
+      description, 255-262.
+
+
+    O
+
+    Order of the Golden Fleece, 58; 172; 175;
+      established by Philip the Good, 221-222;
+      fêtes at Lille, 227;
+      Tournai tapestries ordered for, 279;
+      chapter at Malines, 334;
+      at Antwerp, 412;
+      portrait of Charles V wearing insignia of, 376.
+
+    Ostende, part of the Franc of Bruges, 59; 102;
+      canal from Nieuport to, 103; 324; 359;
+      on main tourist routes, 464;
+      great siege of 1601-1603, 465-469;
+      renown as a watering place since 1830, 470;
+      description of the _Digue_, the Esplanade and the beach, 471-472;
+      summer prices at, 472-473;
+      the Kursaal, 473-477;
+      the Estacade, 477-478;
+      last glimpses of, 478-479.
+
+    Orleans, Duke of, 220; 233.
+
+    Ortelius, 431.
+
+    Oudenaarde, Jan van, 72.
+
+
+    P
+
+    Pape, Simon de, early painter of Audenaerde, 384; 389.
+
+    Parma, Duke of, captures Ypres, 144;
+      besieges Tournai, 249;
+      son of Margaret of Parma, 378;
+      Regent of the Netherlands, 379; 414;
+      siege of Antwerp, 419-422; 447;
+      siege of Ostende, 465.
+
+    Pauwels, Ferdinand, 121-122.
+
+    Pavia, Battle of, 62.
+
+    Pembroke, Duke of, 70.
+
+    Péronne, 138;
+      Louis XI visits Charles the Bold at, 288; 293.
+
+    Péterinck, François, maker of fine porcelains at Tournai, 280.
+
+    Philibert II, Duke of Savoy, 335.
+
+    Philip of Alsace, Count of Flanders, grants charters to many Flemish
+        cities, 55; 59;
+      grants the _Keurbrief_, 59-61; 87; 129;
+      builds Spuytorre at Courtrai, 164;
+      erects Château des Comtes at Ghent, 171; 173; 189.
+
+    Philip Augustus, King of France, 135-136; 138; 153;
+      Treaty of Arras, 189;
+      annexes Tournai, 248;
+      painting of, at Tournai, 274.
+
+    Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, 90; 124;
+      removes clock at Courtrai, 148;
+      rebuilds Spuytorre at Courtrai, 164;
+      marries Margaret of Maele, 183;
+      significance of this event, 205-206;
+      acknowledged as Count of Flanders, 218;
+      arranges the marriages of Cambrai, 218-219;
+      death, 220;
+      court painter of, 230-231; 397.
+
+    Philippe de Champaigne, 376.
+
+    Philip the Fair (Philippe le Bel), King of France, 153;
+      annexes Flanders, 154;
+      at Bruges, 155;
+      rage over the Matin de Bruges, 156;
+      defeated at Courtrai, 157-160;
+      sheriffs of, besieged at Ghent, 177.
+
+    Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, 4; 58; 90; 175; 176;
+      becomes Count of Flanders, Hainaut and Holland, and Duke of
+        Brabant, 220-221;
+      founds Order of the Golden Fleece, 221-222;
+      siege of Calais, 222-223;
+      repulsed at Bruges (Bruges vespers), 223-224;
+      humbles Bruges, 224-225;
+      crushes Ghent at Gavre, 225-227;
+      holds fêtes at Lille, 227;
+      divergent estimates of character, 228-229; 231;
+      visits studio of Jean Van Eyck, 235-236;
+      orders portrait of Isabel of Portugal, 238;
+      orders tapestries at Tournai, 279; 287; 305; 340; 344;
+      grants liberal charter to Antwerp, 398.
+
+    Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy, 51; 62; 91;
+      education, 333;
+      premature death, 334; 346.
+
+    Philip II, King of Spain, 91; 236-237; 249; 292-293;
+      unwise policy provokes revolt, 379-380;
+      sends Duke of Alva to punish iconoclasts, 381; 412; 413-415;
+      rejoices at fall of Antwerp, 422; 424;
+      aids Plantin to publish _Biblia Regia_, 426; 427; 432; 447; 465.
+
+    Philip of Valois, King of France, 201-202.
+
+    Pierre de Beckère, 52.
+
+    Pius II, 378.
+
+    Pizarro, 346.
+
+    Plantin, Christopher, early life, 423-424;
+      establishes printing house at Antwerp, 425;
+      issues the _Biblia Regia_, 426-427;
+      extent of business, 427-428;
+      moves to Friday Market, 428-429;
+      death, 429-430;
+      extent of achievements, 431;
+      tomb in the Cathedral, 441.
+
+    Plantin-Moretus Museum, at Antwerp, 423; 432-437;
+      portraits by Rubens, 444;
+      sketches by Rubens, 445.
+
+    Pourbus, Pieter, 301.
+
+    Prévost, Jean, 301.
+
+    Procession of the Holy Blood at Bruges, 56;
+      Procession at Furnes, 87-89;
+      _Peysprocessie_ at Malines, 315.
+
+    Pyn, Liévin, execution of, 349-350; 351; 352.
+
+
+    Q
+
+    Quellin, Erasmus, "The Adoration of the Shepherds" at Malines, 327;
+        433;
+      founds family of sculptors and painters, 452-543.
+
+    "Quentin Durward" by Sir Walter Scott, cited, 288.
+
+
+    R
+
+    Rabot at Ghent, 345-346.
+
+    Raeske, Richard de, 37.
+
+    Ramillies, Battle of, 458.
+
+    Raphelingen, Francis, chief proof-reader of Christopher Plantin,
+        427;
+      marries Margaret, eldest daughter, 429.
+
+    Rénacle de Florennes, 341.
+
+    _Reparation invisible_, 215-216.
+
+    Requesens, Regent of the Netherlands, 415.
+
+    Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III, King of England,
+        303.
+
+    Rivière, Jeanne, wife of Christopher Plantin, 423;
+      aids husband with a linen business, 429.
+
+    Robbins, Philippe, master tapestry weaver of Audenaerde, 387.
+
+    Robert the Frisian, Count of Flanders, 141.
+
+    Robert II, Count of Flanders, 87-88.
+
+    Robinson, Wilfrid, "Antwerp, an Historical Sketch," quoted, 397.
+
+    Rockox, burgomaster of Antwerp, 448.
+
+    Roda, Jerome, 415.
+
+    Roland, the great bell at Ghent, 196-197;
+      inscription on, 196;
+      taken down by Charles V, 354.
+
+    Rooses, Max, Director of Plantin-Moretus Museum, quoted, 239-240;
+        298;
+      description of Plantin Museum, cited, 433.
+
+    Rosbecque, Battle of, 162; 163; 207.
+
+    Roya, at Bruges, 26; 27; 52.
+
+    Rubens, Peter Paul, "St. Bavon withdrawing from the World" at Ghent,
+        241;
+      "Christ on the Cross" at Malines, 317;
+      "Miraculous Draught of Fishes" at Malines, 327-328;
+      "Adoration of the Magi" at Malines, 330; 386; 433;
+      rank among the masters, 438;
+      two masterpieces in Cathedral at Antwerp, 339-440;
+      "Resurrection" in the Cathedral, 441;
+      at height of fame, 442-444;
+      enormous productivity, 444-445;
+      death, 445;
+      Prof. Wauters' estimate of, 446-447;
+      patronised by the "Archdukes," 448;
+      diplomatic missions, 448;
+      letters, 449; 455; 456.
+
+    Rudolph II, Emperor of Austria, 405.
+
+
+    S
+
+    St. Amand, early missionary, 181.
+
+    St. Basil, crypt of, at Bruges, 27-28;
+      restoration, 57; 171.
+
+    St. Bavon, Abbey of, at Ghent, 181-185; 189;
+      destruction of, by Charles V, 353.
+
+    St. Bavon, Cathedral of, at Ghent, 172;
+      crypt, 188-189;
+      altar-piece by the Van Eycks, 234-238;
+      other works of art in, 240-241; 355; 360.
+
+    St. Brice, church of, at Tournai, 263-264.
+
+    St. Donatian, church of, at Bruges, 35;
+      scene of murder of Charles the Good, 38;
+      besieged by foes of the Erembalds, 39-41;
+      Erembalds flung from tower, 41;
+      destroyed in French Revolution, 42;
+      relics and approximate site, 42-43; 292.
+
+    St. Eleuthereus, statue of, on portal of Cathedral, 260;
+      _Chasse_ of, 276-277;
+      life of, depicted on tapestry in Cathedral, 279.
+
+    St. George, church of, at Nancy, 292.
+
+    St. Ghislain, 252.
+
+    Ste. Gudule, Cathedral of, at Brussels, 340.
+
+    St. Jacques, church of, at Antwerp, 445-446.
+
+    St. Jean, Hospital of, at Bruges, legend of nursing Memling,
+        295-296;
+      Shrine of St. Ursula, 296-298;
+      other works by Memling at, 298;
+      description of, 299; 301.
+
+    St. Jean, church of, at Ghent, name changed to St. Bavon in 1540,
+        188.
+
+    St. Jean, church of, at Malines, 330-331.
+
+    St. Luke, Guild of, first organised in Flemish towns, 229-230;
+      admits brothers Van Eyck at Bruges, 234;
+      at Tournai, 270-271;
+      at Ghent admits Van der Meire, 363;
+      admits Frans Floris at Antwerp, 403;
+      admits Christopher Plantin at Antwerp, 423;
+      elects Rubens President, 445.
+
+    St. Martin, church of, at Courtrai, 161-162.
+
+    St. Martin, church of, at Ypres, 125-126.
+
+    St. Mary, church of, at Antwerp, 412;
+      becomes Cathedral of Notre Dame in 1560, 440.
+
+    St. Michel, church of, at Ghent, 181.
+
+    St. Nicholas, church of, at Dixmude, 84-85; 482.
+
+    St. Nicholas, church of, at Ghent, 186-188.
+
+    St. Omer, seized by Philip Augustus, 135.
+
+    St. Peter, monastery of, at Ghent, 181-182; 189.
+
+    St. Peter, church of, at Louvain, 307-308.
+
+    St. Piat, martyrdom at Tournai, 245;
+      statue of, on portal of Cathedral, 260;
+      life of, depicted on tapestry in Cathedral, 279.
+
+    St. Rombaut, Cathedral of, at Malines, 312; 313;
+      first view of, 317;
+      the tower and its builders, 318-323;
+      the chimes, 323-325;
+      interior and art treasures, 325-327; 328;
+      tower completed, 340.
+
+    St. Sauveur, Cathedral of, at Bruges, 47-50; 305-307; 362.
+
+    Ste. Ursula, Shrine of, 296-298.
+
+    Ste. Walburge, church of, at Audenaerde, 368; 369; 382;
+      description of, 383-385; 389.
+
+    Ste. Walburge, church of, at Furnes, 88 and 92.
+
+    Saventhem, 449-451.
+
+    Savoy, Duchess of, see Margaret of Austria.
+
+    Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Leopold, Prince of, elected King of the Belgians,
+        461.
+
+    Saxe, Maurice, victor at Fontenoy, 251-255.
+
+    Scheldt, estuary, 17;
+      "the greyest of grey rivers," 18;
+      history of navigation on, 18-19;
+      view from, 19-20;
+      river traffic on, 20;
+      Antwerp from, 21;
+      monument on Place Marnix, 19; 169;
+      at Tournai, 266; 300;
+      snakes in, 382;
+      at Audenaerde, 387; 389;
+      legend of Brabo, 393-394;
+      displaces the Zwyn as highway of commerce, 394-395;
+      fight for mastery of, 399-400;
+      deepens as commerce grows, 400; 401; 414;
+      closed during reign of the Archdukes, 447;
+      opened to navigation in 1795, 459;
+      docks erected by Napoleon, 460;
+      free under the Dutch, 460;
+      freed permanently by Leopold I in 1863, 461;
+      growth of commerce since, 462.
+
+    Scott, Sir Walter, "Quentin Durward," cited, 288; 304.
+
+    Seghers, Daniel, 51.
+
+    Shelley, "Ode to the Skylark," quoted, 167-168.
+
+    Sigebert, brother of Chilperic, 248; 281.
+
+    Sluys, part of the Franc of Bruges, 59;
+      landing place of Margaret of York in 1468, 76;
+      Battle of, 201;
+      captured by Maurice of Nassau, 468.
+
+    Snellinck, Jean, "Creation of Eve" at Audenaerde, 388-389.
+
+    Snyders, Francis, animal pictures of, 453.
+
+    Spanish Fury, the, 415-418.
+
+    Spierinckx, Peter, 386.
+
+    Spinola, Ambrose, Marquis of, captures Ostende, 468-469.
+
+    Stallaert, "Death of Dido," 274.
+
+    Steen, 396; 398;
+      description of, 399.
+
+    Strada, the historian, cited, 378.
+
+    Swerts, Jean, mural paintings at Ypres, 125;
+      at Courtrai, 152.
+
+
+    T
+
+    Taillebert, Urban, 84.
+
+    Tancmar, Lord of Straten, 37.
+
+    Tani, Jacopo, 298.
+
+    Tapestry, 5;
+      workers organised into a guild, 230;
+      in church of St. Brice at Tournai, 264;
+      weaving at Tournai, 278-280; 376;
+      at Audenaerde, 384-390.
+
+    Templars, Tower of, at Nieuport, 95; 99;
+      House of, at Ypres, 140-141.
+
+    Teniers, David, 7; 386;
+      master of scenes of homely Flemish life, 453-454; 455; 456.
+
+    Tournai, tapestries, 5;
+      forest of, 134;
+      besieged by Edward III, 202;
+      Guild of St. Luke organised, 229;
+      tapestry workers organised, 230;
+      oldest city in Belgium, 242;
+      _Turris Nerviorum_ of Cæsar, 245;
+      capital of Merovingian Kings, 245-248;
+      many sieges, 248-250;
+      Battle of Fontenoy, 250-255;
+      Belfry, 262-263;
+      Roman houses and church of St. Brice, 263-264;
+      relics of King Childeric, 264-265;
+      Marvis Towers, _Pont des Trous_, and tower of Henry VIII, 265-267;
+      _Ville d'Art_, 268-269 and 281-282;
+      Robert Campin, Jacques Daret and Van der Weyden, 269-272;
+      Cloth Hall and Museum of Fine Arts, 272-275;
+      later artists, 274-275;
+      sculptors at, 275-276;
+      gold and silversmiths at, 276-277;
+      coppersmiths at, 277-278;
+      tapestry weavers, 278-280;
+      porcelains of, 280-281;
+      manufactures of stained glass, 281-282;
+      manufacture of fine carpets, 282; 312;
+      "monuments" classified, 363; 377;
+      tapestry weaving at, 383.
+
+    Trajan, "the Just Emperor," painting by Van der Weyden, 271.
+
+    Triest, Bishop, tomb in Cathedral of St. Bavon at Ghent, 241;
+      encourages horticulture at Ghent, 355-356; 358.
+
+    Turenne, defeated by Condé near Nieuport, 95.
+
+    Turin, Exposition of, Tournai carpet shown at, 282.
+
+    Turnhout, lace makers at, 5;
+      fairy hill near, 409.
+
+
+    U
+
+    Urbin, Duke of, 378.
+
+
+    V
+
+    Valckx, Pierre, sculptor, 381.
+
+    Valenciennes, 134; 137;
+      lace made at Ypres, 141; 219;
+      tapestry workers organised, 230; 351.
+
+    Van Artevelde, Jacques (or Jacob), besieges Louis of Maele at Ghent,
+        178;
+      rise to power, 199-200;
+      alliance with Edward III, 201;
+      Battle of Sluys, 201-202;
+      assassination, 202-204; 248-249; 397.
+
+    Van Artevelde, Philip, brief career, 206-207;
+      big cannon of, 208;
+      at siege of Audenaerde, 391.
+
+    Van Bredael, Alexander, 386.
+
+    Van den Broeck, 431.
+
+    Van Dyck, Anthony, "The Raising of the Cross" at Courtrai, 162-163;
+      "The Crucifixion" at Malines, 327; 433;
+      pupil of Rubens, 499;
+      "Saint Martin dividing Cloak among the Beggars," 499-451;
+      at Antwerp, 451;
+      court painter of Charles I, 451;
+      chief works, 451-452; 456.
+
+    Van Eyck, Hubert, tombstone at Abbey of St. Bavon, 184;
+      discovery of art of painting with oils, 231-233;
+      in service of Philip the Good, 233-234;
+      plans and begins "The Adoration of the Lamb," 234-235;
+      death, 234;
+      monument, 241; 269; 270; 295; 360.
+
+    Van Eyck, Jean, colours statues for Hotel de Ville at Bruges, 58;
+        59;
+      discovery of art of painting with oils, 231-233;
+      enters service of Philip the Good, 233-234;
+      completes "The Adoration of the Lamb," 235;
+      later paintings, 238-239;
+      death, 240;
+      monument, 241; 269; 270; 295; 301;
+      "_La Belle Portugalaise_" at Malines, 341-342; 360.
+
+    Van der Gheynst, Jehanne (or Jeanne), 377-378.
+
+    Van der Goes, Hugo, 273; 301; 307;
+      life and principal works, 360-362.
+
+    Van Maerlant, Jacob, Flemish poet, 59;
+      statue at Damme, 73-74.
+
+    Van der Meire, Gerard, painter of Ghent, 363.
+
+    Van Nieuwenhove, Martin, painting of, by Memling, 298.
+
+    Van Noort, Adam, teacher of Rubens, 441.
+
+    Van Orley, Bernard, 339; 341.
+
+    Van der Paele, George, painting of, by Jean Van Eyck, 239-240.
+
+    Van Péde, Henri, 371.
+
+    Van der Schelden, Paul, sculptor, 373;
+      wooden doorway at Audenaerde, 375.
+
+    Van Severdonck, 274.
+
+    Van de Walle, burgomaster of Bruges, 224; 225.
+
+    Van der Voort, Michel, sculptor of Antwerp, 326.
+
+    Van der Weyden, Rogier (Roger de la Pasture), 270-272; 273;
+      influence of sculpture on, 275; 280; 300; 307; 308; 309; 341.
+
+    Vauban, military engineer, constructs walls of Ypres, 142;
+      fortifies Tournai, 250; 312.
+
+    Verbanck, Georges, 241.
+
+    Verbruggen, P. H., sculptor, 241; 453.
+
+    Vere, Sir Francis, English commander at Ostende, 467-468.
+
+    Verhaegen, Theodore, sculptor, 329;
+      fine carvings at Malines, 331.
+
+    Verlat, Charles, 418-419.
+
+    Vervoort, Michel, 442.
+
+    Vivés, Louis, 341.
+
+    Voisin, Belgian historian, 160.
+
+    Vos, Martin de, many works of, at Antwerp, 404; 431.
+
+    Vriendt, Albrecht and Julian de, frescoes at Bruges, 58-59;
+      at Furnes, 91.
+
+    Vriendt, Cornelius de, 456-457.
+
+    Vos, Cornelius de, portraits of, 453.
+
+    Vydts, Jodocus, 234.
+
+
+    W
+
+    Waghenakere, Dominique de, architect, 348.
+
+    Walloon provinces, 13; 24.
+
+    Walter of Straten, 37.
+
+    Waterloo, Battle of, 94; 158; 250; 359; 460.
+
+    Wauters, Prof. A. J., "History of Flemish Painting," cited, 229;
+      attributes portrait of Charles the Bold to Van der Goes, 362;
+      on Peter Breughel the Elder, quoted, 404-405;
+      eulogy of Rubens, quoted, 446-447.
+
+    Wauters, Emile, painting of the madness of Hugo Van der Goes, 361.
+
+    Weale, James, cited, 299.
+
+    Westende, 473.
+
+    White Hoods, 188;
+      destroy castles of Liliaert nobles, 200.
+
+    William of Dampierre, Count of Flanders, 153.
+
+    William I, King of Holland, 460.
+
+    William of Juliers, Provost of Maestricht, 154; 193.
+
+    William the Silent, Prince of Orange, 320; 328; 412; 419;
+      death, 419;
+      plans for defence of Antwerp disregarded, 420-421.
+
+    Winders, sculptor, 19.
+
+    Witte, Gaspar de, 386.
+
+    Wolsey, Cardinal, 249.
+
+    Wordsworth, quoted, 168.
+
+    Wynandael, 53; 132.
+
+
+    Y
+
+    Yperlée, tributary to the Yser, 104.
+
+    Ypres, at the time of the Crusades, 13;
+      fortified by Baldwin II, 34;
+      execution of Provost of St. Donatian at, 40-41;
+      receives charter from Philip of Alsace, 55;
+      stubborn defence in the Great War, 116-118;
+      _Halle aux Draps_, or Cloth Hall, 118-125;
+      church of St. Martin, 125-126;
+      Grande Place, 126-129;
+      Musée Merghelynck, 139-140;
+      rue de Lille and ancient city walls, 141-143;
+      causes of decline, 143-145;
+      language spoken at, 159;
+      guildsmen of, at Battle of the Spurs, 157; 190; 192; 198-199;
+      influence of Jacques Van Artevelde in, 200; 202;
+      Melchior Broederlam, early painter of, 230-231; 304;
+      Hotel de Ville destroyed by the Germans, 482.
+
+    Ysenbrant, Adriaen, early painter of Bruges, 301.
+
+    Yser Canal, limit of the German advance, 94;
+      the locks, the river and the three canals, 103-104.
+
+
+    Z
+
+    Zee-Brugge, from the sea, 16.
+
+    Zeghers, Gerard, religious pictures of, 453.
+
+    Zwyn, ancient channel to Bruges, 16-17; 59;
+      silting up of, 70-71;
+      replaced by the Scheldt, as channel of commerce, 394-395; 398.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41830 ***