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THE SPELL OF FLANDERS 
 
THE SPELL SERIES 
 
 Each volume with one or more colored plates and many illustrations 
 from original drawings or special p holographs. Octavo, with dec- 
 orative cover, gill top, boxed. 
 
 'Per volume $2.50 net, carriage paid $2.70 
 
 THE SPELL OF ITALY 
 
 Bj^ Caroline cAtwater cTVIason 
 
 THE SPELL OF FRANCE 
 
 By" Caroline cAtwater cTHason 
 
 THE SPELL OF SOUTHERN SHORES 
 
 By Caroline tAtwater cTVIason 
 
 THE SPELL OF ENGLAND 
 By" Julia de"W. ^Addison 
 
 THE SPELL OF HOLLAND 
 
 Bi^ Burton E. Stevenson 
 
 THE SPELL OF SWITZERLAND 
 
 By Nathan Haskell Dole 
 
 THE SPELL OF THE ITALIAN LAKES 
 By William D. c^VIcCrackan 
 
 THE SPELL OF TYROL 
 By AVilliam D. cMcCrackan 
 
 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. 
 
f " 
 
 
Cathedral oj Si. Sauveur, Bruges 
 
 (Sec page Ji7) 
 
Spell ^ 
 
 FLANDER3 
 
 Jin Outline of Hit History, Legends and Jlri 
 of 
 
 SELGIUM'S 
 Famous V^Corthem ^Provinces 
 
 Being the ttory of a Twentieth G^Btury Pilgrimage in a Siiteenth 
 Century Land just before the Outbreak of the Great War 
 
 Edward Neville Vose 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 

 Copyright, 1915, 
 By The Page Company 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 First Impression, April, 1915 
 
 THE COLONIAL PRESS 
 C. H. SIMONDS COMPANY, BOSTON, U.S.A. 
 
 APR 17 1915 
 
 ©CI.A397629 
 
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 
 
PUBLISHEES' NOTE 
 
 Lord Beaconsfield once said : *' Flanders lias 
 been trodden by the feet and watered by 
 tbe 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 cover- 
 ing 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 Grov- 
 ernment with the Walloons and with what is now 
 Holland, it was during the long period of their 
 semi-independence that the Flemings achieved 
 
viii Publishers' Note 
 
 many of the artistic and architectural monu- 
 ments 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. 
 
FOEEWOED 
 
 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 mediaeval houses and 
 churches of Ghent and Audenaerde, but in the 
 many discussions of that event to which we lis- 
 tened 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 de- 
 scribed, and within a day or so after the visit 
 narrated. Then each old Flemish '' monu- 
 ment " was in as perfect a state of preserva- 
 tion 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 
 
 ix 
 
X Foreword 
 
 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 ter- 
 rible war have been enacted, will — it is hoped 
 — give them a permanent interest and value. 
 As a painting of some, famous city as it ap- 
 peared 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 par- 
 tially 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 se- 
 quence, as far as possible, the development of 
 Flemish history, architecture and art. The out- 
 line of the intensely fascinating history of the 
 old Flemish communes that has been thus pre- 
 sented 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 
 
Foreword xi 
 
 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 cen- 
 turies of conflict, and in defiance of obstacles 
 that would have daunted a less strong-hearted 
 people, the men of Flanders found the inspi- 
 ration, the patience and the skill to erect some 
 of the noblest examples of mediasval architec- 
 ture, 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 will- 
 ingly 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 peo- 
 ple as a whole are not, at heart, neutral on this 
 subject. The embattled farmers who stood on 
 
xii Foreword 
 
 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 leadershijo of its noble King stand- 
 ing like a rock on the last tiny strip of Belgian 
 soil and stopping the onrush of the most power- 
 ful fighting organisation in the world. At 
 Nietiport and Dixmude and along the blood- 
 stained 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 com- 
 pletely 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 
 
Foreword xiii 
 
 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 pow- 
 erful engines of destruction ever invented by 
 man were used on both sides. Much as we may 
 deplore the results, we cannot blame the indi- 
 vidual commanders. At Antwerp, Ghent, Bru- 
 ges 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 struc- 
 tures have been destroyed, and under what cir- 
 cumstances, we can justly place whatever blame 
 may attach to such a catastrophe where it be- 
 longs' — 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 in- 
 stances it will be possible for the Belgians- — 
 so skilful in the work, of restoration — to re- 
 construct 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 them- 
 
xiv Foreword 
 
 selves the scenes of conflicts that will forever 
 hold a great place in human history. The au- 
 thor ventures to hope that this little book may 
 be found serviceable to such tourists as it con- 
 tains much infoiTQation not to be found in any 
 guide book. If it aids any of them — or any 
 of the far larger host of travellers whose jour- 
 neys 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 thou- 
 sands now that the clash of arms has brought 
 them at the same moment destruction and im- 
 mortal fame. 
 
 Edwakd Neville Vose. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 HAPTEB PAGE 
 
 Publishers' Note . . - vii 
 
 Foreword ix 
 
 I. Introducing Flanders and the Four Pil- 
 grims 1 
 
 II. ViEux Bruges and Count Baldwin op the 
 
 Iron Arm 15 
 
 III. Bruges in the Days of Charles the Good . 30 
 
 IV. How Bruges Became "the Venice op the 
 
 North" 54 
 
 v. dixmude and furnbs . 78 
 
 VI. NiEUPORT AND THE YSER CaNAL .... 94 
 
 VII. When Ypres Was a Greater City than 
 
 London 116 
 
 VIII. COURTRAI AND THE BATTLE OP THE SpURS . 146 
 
 IX. Ghent in the Days op 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 op Tournaisian Art . . 268 
 
 XIV. The Fall op Charles the Bold — Memling 
 
 AT Bruges 285 
 
 XV. Malines in the Time of Margaret op 
 
 Austria 311 
 
 XVI. Ghent Under Charles the Fifth — and 
 
 Since 344 
 
 xy 
 
XVI 
 
 Contents 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 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 
 
 Cathedeal of St. Sauveue, Bruges (in full colour) 
 
 (See page ^7) Frontispiece " 
 
 MAP OF BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS, 
 
 Showing the Old Flemish Principality . facing 1 "- 
 
 Beguinage 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 
 
 Db Dulle Griete, Ghent 208 
 
 Workroom, Petit Beguinage 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'" 
 
 xvii 
 
xviii List of Illustrations 
 
 PAGE 
 
 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 op 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 Mai son des Diables; two fif- 
 teenth 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, Altdenaerde . . . 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 ofthe 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 >'' 
 
List of Illustrations xix 
 
 PAGE 
 
 "The Descent from the Cross" — Rubens. . . 439'-^ 
 
 "Coup de Lance" — Rubens 442' 
 
 " La ViEBGE Au Perroquet"—'Rvbiens .... 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 " 
 
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THE 
 
 SPELL OF FLANDERS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 IlS'TKODUCIN'G FLANDEES AND THE FOUR 
 PILGEIMS 
 
 'LANDERS ! Wliy, where is Flanders? " 
 " There! I told you she'd ask that 
 question. You'll hare 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 signifi- 
 cant. The Professor is always first, a born 
 
The Spell of Flanders 
 
 leader-of-the-way. And I am usually last, car- 
 rying 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 de- 
 voted myself to journalism — and am there- 
 fore dubbed '' the Editor," whenever he wishes 
 to refer to me as a personage instead of a hu- 
 man 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 noth- 
 ing 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 cor- 
 ner of Europe. It has more battle-fields and 
 
Introducing Flanders 
 
 more Gothic churches per square mile than can 
 be found anywhere else. In other parts of Eu- 
 rope you can see mediasval houses, here and 
 there — usually in charge of a smirking care- 
 taker, with his little guidebook for sale, and 
 hungrily anticipating his little fee. In Flan- 
 ders 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, raore 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 
 Eevolutionary forces under old Colonel Put- 
 nam, or whoever it was, delayed the advancing 
 British and covered General Washington's re- 
 treat. Now, does that tablet help you to re- 
 construct your history? No, you are quite 
 aware that the fight took place when Fifth 
 Avenue was open country, but your imagina- 
 tion will not work when you try to make it pic- 
 
The Spell of Flanders 
 
 ture 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 nar- 
 row, 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 sur- 
 named ' ' 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 con- 
 demned men when, one by one, they were led to 
 
Introducing Flanders 
 
 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 lit- 
 tle difference — there are plenty of other tow- 
 ers 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 asso- 
 ciations I, for one, don't want to go there." 
 
 ' ' On the contrary, ' ' I hastened to reply, see- 
 ing 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 lace- 
 makers — we can still find the latter at work 
 in places like Bruges, Malines and Turnhout — 
 of its rare old tapestries from Audenaerde and 
 Toumai, and the fine linens of Courtrai. Then 
 
The Spell of Flanders 
 
 there are wood carvings the like of which you 
 will travel far to see, and old Flemish furni- 
 ture everywhere." 
 
 ' ' To say nothing of the pleasure of learning 
 a little more about the great Flemish school of 
 art in the very hame towns of its most cele- 
 brated artists," added the Professor, who was 
 much elated to see that the frowns were leav- 
 ing 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 mem- 
 ber 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 paint- 
 ings, 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 peo- 
 ple of the town go by. It's better than a play. 
 And on rainy days there is always some quaint 
 
Introducing Flanders 
 
 old-fashioned inn or cafe 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 s'moke 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 ob- 
 ject on this trip will be pleasure. A little 
 knowledge of the history of Flanders, of tapes- 
 try 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 histor- 
 ical savants, or as authorities on art — or pre- 
 tend 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 
 
The Spell of Flanders 
 
 them explained to us, without troubhng our 
 heads about this, that or the other element of 
 technique," I internipted, completing the Pro- 
 fessor'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 din- 
 ner 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 ad- 
 vance. We had started at eight in the morn- 
 ing from Hamburg, intending to stop at Ant- 
 werp just long enough to transfer our belong- 
 ings 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 dis- 
 tance looks on the map — and when we finally 
 arrived at our destination, half an hour late, 
 
Introducing Flanders 
 
 it was long after midniglit 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 pro- 
 vided. 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 vicin- 
 ity of a large railroad station is seldom a de- 
 sirable 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 pres- 
 ently turned into a most unprepossessing street 
 on which several drinking places were still 
 
10 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 open, or were only on the point of closing. 
 Into one of these he led us. After a short con- 
 ference 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 nar- 
 row passageways. But for the flickering can- 
 dle everything was completely dark, and when 
 he finally ushered us into an immense room 
 with a mediaeval 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 mantel- 
 piece 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 
 
Introducing Flanders 11 
 
 winding stairway up which the wicked inn- 
 keeper 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 en- 
 joyed, a most, excellent breakfast. The hotel 
 was quite a popular one, we learned, much fre- 
 quented 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 over- 
 night in whatever town we may chance to be 
 visiting. If, on the other hand, we have not 
 
12 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 sec- 
 ond-class billets d'ahonnement 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. *' Be- 
 tween 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 be- 
 
Introducing Flanders 13 
 
 long 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 Wal- 
 loon 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 re- 
 gards our itinerary. It will make compar- 
 atively 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 ob- 
 scure little town. Nieuport and Fumes 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 fa- 
 miliar to our English cousins. 
 
 " If we start our pilgrimage in Flanders with 
 Bruges, which was the first capital of the 
 
14 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 indefati- 
 gable 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 orig- 
 inator — but what plan ever does, or ever will ? 
 That it enhanced the interest of the trip many- 
 fold we all agreed; it often sustained our flag- 
 ging zeal, and it helped us to know Flanders — 
 the Flanders of the past especially — far bet- 
 ter than we would have done in any other way. 
 
CHAPTEE II 
 
 VIEUX BETJGES AND COUNT BALDWIN OF THE 
 IKON AKM 
 
 ^jf'T is not the purpose of this veracious 
 chronicle to recount the doings and say- 
 ings, 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 Flan- 
 ders. 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 
 
 15 
 
16 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 pic- 
 turesque headlands of Merrie England we had 
 been looking at only a few hours before. 
 
 Now, for a time, the ship kept its course par- 
 allel to the shore, but at a distance of a mile or 
 more. Gradually the coast became more in- 
 habited, 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 un- 
 rolled 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 vis- 
 ible. 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 con- 
 cluded must be Knocke. Here the coastline of 
 the present Kingdom of Belgium ends, the lit- 
 tle Eiver Zwyn — once famous as the channel 
 
Vieux Bruges and Count Baldwin 17 
 
 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 be- 
 longed for centuries to the great overlords of 
 Flanders, the Dukes of Burgundy and their suc- 
 cessors. 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 en- 
 gines presently came to rest once more and we 
 anchored to await daylight and flood tide which, 
 the officers said, would come together. At four 
 
18 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 circum- 
 stance 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 occu- 
 pation in 1794 — closed the river to ocean com- 
 merce. 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 Eevolution 
 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 aiid 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 
 
Vieux Bruges and Count Baldwin 19 
 
 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 navi- 
 gation on this important river and gladly con- 
 tributed the remainder. The imposing monu- 
 ment by Winders on the Place Marnix at Ant- 
 werp, 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, stretch- 
 ing as far as eye could penetrate in the misty 
 distance. Here and there we could see compact 
 little groups of farm buildings, usually ar- 
 ranged around a central courtyard and with 
 their outer walls weU-nigh windowless, as if the 
 peasant proprietors still counted on the pos- 
 sibility of a siege such as their ancestors no 
 doubt often had to sustain against the wander- 
 ing marauders and freebooters who for cen- 
 turies infested the country. Along every road 
 and canal, and beside nearly every cross-coun- 
 try 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 
 
20 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 en- 
 close the Scheldt on either side. Close to the 
 banks an occasional fort commanded the river 
 — outlying links in the great chain of fortifica- 
 tions 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-bot- 
 tomed tramp steamers with th(jir propellers half 
 out of the water and churning furiously in a 
 smother of foam, clumsy canal boats with Flem- 
 ish or German names lying at anchor close to 
 the banks, barges with dingy brownish sails 
 and all manner of strange cargoes. Then, sud- 
 
Vieux Bruges and Count Baldwin 21 
 
 denly, 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 en- 
 tirely different — the green fields and farm- 
 steads 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 Eed 
 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 be- 
 stowing 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) 
 Eosa, not far from Brussels, where we can get 
 our land legs safely on before starting on our 
 tour under the guidance of the Professor. 
 
22 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 Throughout the morning it has rained heav- 
 ily 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 disturhs 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 di- 
 rection 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 
 
Vieux Bruges and Count Baldwin 23 
 
 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. Hap- 
 pily the reverse is equally possible, and fre- 
 quently 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, giv- 
 ing the former their brilliant colouring and the 
 latter their indescribable succulence and fresh- 
 ness. 
 
 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. Eaincoats, it is needless to say, should 
 be in every suitcase — even for a day's outingj 
 
24 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 while a very handy article indeed is a parapluie- 
 canne, or umbrella cane, such as can be pur- 
 chased 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 Eosa 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 Bel- 
 gian style — customary alike in Flanders and 
 in the "Walloon provinces — it occupied our at- 
 tention 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 itin- 
 erary, completely refreshed after the fatigue of 
 our voyage ; and after a bit of shopping at Brus- 
 sels, 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 
 
Vieux Bruges and Count Baldwin 25 
 
 our luncheon the Professor explained briefly the 
 origin of the city and of the County of Flanders. 
 In order to understand the kaleidoscopic his- 
 tory of Flanders it is necessary to forget en- 
 tirely 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 ac- 
 tual 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. Gradu- 
 ally, however, the great cities of Flanders ac- 
 quired from the earlier and better Counts rights 
 and privileges that made them, in many re- 
 spects, sovereign powers, and the most fasci- 
 nating and instructive part of the history of 
 Flanders is the record of the brave struggle 
 made by its burghers to maintain their liber- 
 ties in the face of a steadily advancing tide of 
 tyranny and oppression. 
 
26 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 beauti- 
 ful daughter of Charles the Bald, the son of 
 Charlemagne, fell in love with her, and carried 
 her off for his bride. Judith had been pre- 
 viously married to Ethelwolf, King of Wes- 
 sex 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 Aux- 
 erre 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 Eiver Eoya 
 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 
 
Vieux Bruges and Count Baldwin 27 
 
 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 dis- 
 cover 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 
 Eoya 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 eight- 
 eenth century it has been vaulted over for much 
 of its course through the city, and the Boter- 
 beke runs through subterranean channels for 
 the entire distance from where it enters the 
 city limits to its junction with the Eoya at the 
 comer of the rue Breidel. It flows close to 
 the Cathedral, or possibly beneath it, and di- 
 rectly 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 
 
28 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 of Flemish Counts, and Ms beautiful and tal- 
 ented Countess, no doubt worshipped; and, in 
 the main, the little chapel probably looks to- 
 day very much as it did a thousand years ago. 
 In one corner, apparently outside of the orig- 
 inal outer walls of the structure, the con- 
 cierge showed us a miniature model of the an- 
 cient 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 unques- 
 tionably 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 tramp- 
 ing 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-for- 
 tress 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. 
 
Vieux Bruges and Count Baldwin 29 
 
 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 sim- 
 ple 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 
 jnight 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'erthroAvn. 
 There's nothing left to-day 
 
 But steel and fii-e and stone. 
 
 " Once more we hear the word 
 That sickened earth of old — 
 
 *No law except the sword, 
 
 Unsheathed and uncontrolled.' " 
 
CHAPTER in 
 
 BEUGES IN THE DAYS OF CHARLES THE GOOD 
 
 !iO those for whom the past possesses ele- 
 (^ ments of romance, of mystery and of 
 fascination that our more prosaic and 
 orderly modern world lacks, Bruges offers end- 
 less opportunities for enjoyment. To be sure, 
 the streets are a bit more crowded than they 
 were twenty years ago, and one sees more fre- 
 quent 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 com- 
 plain, 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 di- 
 vides 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 invari- 
 
 30 
 
Bruges in Days of Charles the Good 31 
 
 ably 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 mediaeval 
 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 ex- 
 ample, the rue de I'Ane Aveugle, the Street of 
 the Blind Donkey, with its attenuated side- 
 walks along which a tight-rope walker could 
 hardly advance without stepping off, its road- 
 way too narrow for two blind donkeys to pass 
 abreast, and its charming archway from the 
 Hotel de Ville to the Mais on de Pancien 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 pres- 
 ent ! 
 
32 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 lit- 
 tle 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 fre- 
 quently 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 Eouleau — did 
 we catch a glimpse of any, and they went in- 
 doors as we approached them. It was only the 
 estaminets that we could inspect within. When- 
 ever we found what appeared to be an excep- 
 tionally old house that bore the legend " Hier 
 
Bruges in Days of Charles the Good 33 
 
 Verkoopt men drank " the Professor and I 
 often used to go in and order a glass of Vieux 
 systeme, 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 sur- 
 roundings, the longing to see some one whose 
 costume would, in a measure, suggest the pe- 
 riod when these structures were built came 
 back to us. '' Oh! " exclaimed Mrs. Profes- 
 sor, 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 ar- 
 mour — 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 pic- 
 ture complete." We found, however, one 
 spot in Bruges, dating from the twelfth cen- 
 tury, in which even the costumes were un- 
 changed. This was the Begiiinage, 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 
 
34 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 Eu- 
 i;ope in which these BegTiinages have survived 
 — all of them in Flanders. No institution of 
 the present day recalls so vividly the condi- 
 tions 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. Bald- 
 win 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 ener- 
 getic 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 pop- 
 ulation to flock speedily into these walled 
 towns, and thus laid the foundation for the 
 wonderful civic development of the next four 
 
BEGUINAGE BRIDGE, BRUGES. 
 
Bruges in Days of Charles the Good 35 
 
 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 mon- 
 asteries and convents for the protection of men 
 and women against the many dangers of that 
 lawless age. The famous chapter of St. Dona- 
 tian's at Bruges was one of these, and while 
 the Beguinage dates from a somewhat later 
 epoch, in the town's history, it admirably ex- 
 emplifies 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. 
 
 The Beguinage at Bruges is much smaller 
 than the famous Grrand Beguinage 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 an- 
 tiquity, even for Bruges. We found several of 
 the little houses untenanted for some reason, 
 
36 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 but even the empty ones were spotlessly clean. 
 Tlie Beguines live in small communities or 
 *' convents," under tlie 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 Beguines 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 stor^'' is 
 more dramatic than that of the murder of 
 Charles the Good. It is, in fact, the theme of 
 the great Flemish novelist Hendrick Con- 
 science's most famous book, De Kerels van 
 Vlaanderen, and has been told by several con- 
 temporary chroniclers. When Charles be- 
 came Count of Flanders the feudal system was 
 slowly displacing the anarchy that had resulted 
 from the breakdown of all centralised govern- 
 ment as the Norsemen swept over northern 
 
Bruges in Days of Charles the Good 37 
 
 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 Chate- 
 lain of Bruges, ranking next to the Count him- 
 self; 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 Wal- 
 ter, a nephew of Tancmar, by Eichard de 
 Eaeske, a baron allied by marriage to the 
 house of Erembald. 
 
 To the amazement of all Flanders the chal- 
 lenge, delivered in the presence of Count 
 Charles and all his court, was refused. Wal- 
 ter, whom the historians call '' the Winged 
 Lie," proclaimed that he would fight only with 
 a free man, and that the Lord of Eaeske, by 
 wedding a serf, had become a serf himself^. 
 This was in accordance with a law recently pro- 
 
38 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 mulgated by Charles, but the house of Erem- 
 bald, 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 vir- 
 tually 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 sup- 
 port, Charles undoubtedly meditated the com- 
 plete 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 even- 
 ing, 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 un- 
 attended. 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 
 
Bruges in Days of Charles the Good 39 
 
 be far more deadly. As liis body lay on the 
 stone floor of the great cburch, 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 cere- 
 monies 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 Chatelain and the Provost, but when the 
 city was entered by stratagem and the Erem- 
 balds 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. 
 
40 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 Ber- 
 tulpli, the Provost managed to escape and fled 
 to a little village near Ypres. Here, after re- 
 maining 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 stead- 
 fast 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 
 
Bruges in Days of Charles the Good 41 
 
 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 hope- 
 less. 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 some- 
 what nobler lineage than the rest, should be 
 jEiung 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 
 
42 The Spell of Flande rs 
 
 bodies were denied Christian burial and thrown 
 into a marsh outside of the city, and it is re- 
 lated that for many years thereafter " no man 
 after nightfall would willingly pass that way." 
 
 The house of Erembald was well-nigh an- 
 nihilated 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 Chatelain, 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 Flem- 
 ish nobility. 
 
 The church of St. Donatian no longer stands, 
 having been destroyed during the French Rev- 
 olution. 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 
 
Bruges in Days of Charles the Good 43 
 
 student can obtain a fair idea of the appear- 
 ance of the structure, which can hardly be said 
 to have been imposing externally. It stood op- 
 posite 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 chateau 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 else- 
 where throughout our pilgrimage, the Profes- 
 sor and I sallied forth between five and six 
 o'clock to explore as many of the by-ways and 
 quaint out-of-the-way comers as we could be- 
 fore 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 usu- 
 ally 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 
 
44 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 per- 
 petual 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 bar- 
 ber. Instead of the massive reclining chair, 
 with which all Americans are familiar, one 
 finds in all parts of Belgium, save the big tour- 
 ist 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 
 weil, once one becomes accustomed to them. 
 
Bruges in Days of Charles the G-ood 45 
 
 Eazors in Belgium, however, are almost invari- 
 ably 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 otf a bit of it. On Sundays 
 and holidays, it appears, their husbands offici- 
 ate, 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 
 plait, monsieur," or its equivalent in Flemish, 
 motioning meanwhile toward a small wash basin 
 that is placed in front of the chair. To the un- 
 initiated this is somewhat bewildering, but the 
 professor desires that monsieur will kindly wash 
 his own face. The ablution performed, he pro- 
 ceeds 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 accus- 
 tomed 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 indus- 
 
46 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 trial provinces we found that the first and sec- 
 ond class distinction that one encounters every- 
 where 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 spray- 
 ing 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 heurre could be had with 
 a pot of coffee. This formed our usual break- 
 fast for, it may as well be admitted right now, 
 we did not feel that we could afford the ex- 
 travagance 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 ap- 
 parently made from a kind of light pie-crust, 
 rolled thin and built up in several layers with 
 
Bruges in Days of Charles the Good 47 
 
 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 deli- 
 cacies 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 Ca- 
 thedral 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 ar- 
 chitecture in Flanders flourished as never be- 
 fore or since. The tower was begun in 1116, 
 continued in 1358, and its upper portions added 
 during the last century, so that nearly eight 
 
48 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 Eomanesque, being, no doubt, 
 the portion erected under the supervision of 
 Charles the Good. The rest is Gothic, if so un- 
 ecclesiastical 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 construc- 
 tions 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 Flan- 
 ders. For those who are interested in archi- 
 tectural details there are numerous works writ- 
 ten by experts and discussing exhaustively — 
 if not exhaustingly — every feature of tech- 
 nical importance. Our little party was not 
 learned and these random jottings will there- 
 
Bruges in Days of Charles the G-ood 49 
 
 fore record only such facts as seemed interest- 
 ing to the average American visitor. Nor 
 would it be possible to attempt a detailed ac- 
 count 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 sac- 
 listan, 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 gen- 
 eral 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 Bap- 
 tistry and said to be the earliest picture of the 
 famous Bruges school in existence. The sa- 
 
50 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 vants assign a date prior to 1400 to this work, 
 the author of which is unknown. 
 
 The name of Charles the Good is also associ- 
 ated 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, be- 
 ing 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 pres- 
 ent it is one hundred and twenty-two metres in 
 height, which is said to be the greatest eleva- 
 tion 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 outhne 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 support- 
 ing pillars being of stone. The general effect 
 
Bruges in Days of Charles the Good 51 
 
 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 be- 
 came a Jesuit but continued to practise his art 
 and was especially renowned for the flowers 
 and butterflies with which he adorned his pic- 
 tures. This work, which was finished in 1630, 
 is thought by many to be the artist's master- 
 piece. Another notable treasure is the statue 
 of the Virgin and Child by Michael Angelo, ex- 
 ecuted in 1503. 
 
 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 re- 
 cumbent figure of the famous princess — '' the. 
 greatest heiress in Europe " — who died at the 
 age of twenty-five as a result of an injury re- 
 ceived 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 
 
52 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 of stone and bronze was begun by Pierre de 
 Beckere 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 Pro- 
 fessor, '' one can see the beginning and the end 
 of the most interesting period in the long his- 
 tory 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 as- 
 
Bruges in Days of Charles the Good 53 
 
 pect of a great capital. For three hundred and 
 fifty years its power and fame grew until ' the 
 Venice of the North ' was everywhere recog- 
 nised 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 beau- 
 tiful Marie was brought home to the Princen- 
 hof, dying from her fall at Wynandael, the de- 
 cline 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 
 
 )) 
 
 ^FTER 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 inter- 
 pose, 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 un- 
 
 54 
 
''The Venice of the North" 55 
 
 til 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 mu- 
 nicipal charters were granted to the cities of 
 Bruges, Ghent, Ypres, Furnes, Gravelines, 
 Nieuport, Dunkerque and Damme. 
 
 While the memory of Dierick of Alsace de- 
 serves 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 se- 
 cure 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 pre- 
 pared the body for burial. Deeming himself 
 unworthy to bear so holy a relic, the Count en- 
 trusted it to his chaplain, who never parted 
 
56 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 Eevolution — 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 cere- 
 mony, the procession gradually took on spectac- 
 ular features such as the Flemings love, in- 
 cluding representations of the Apostles, the 
 Nativity, King Herod, and so on. At present 
 La Noble Confrerie du Precieux Sang, or Hon- 
 ourable 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 tear- 
 ing it down, but were happily prevented from 
 doing so by Napoleon. The lower chapel was, 
 however, used as a jail for drunken and dis- 
 orderly persons — and even as a pound for 
 
*'The Venice of the North" 57 
 
 stray dogs — until 1818. The upper cliapel 
 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 
 Eomanesque 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 master- 
 piece of its kind, is very graceful and elegant. 
 The chapel itself is richly decorated and has 
 s"ome 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 
 
58 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 century. Here the Counts of Flanders for- 
 merly took the oath to respect the rights and 
 privileges of the city, this formality taking 
 place in the last window to the right. Orig- 
 inally there were statues of former princes 
 on the fagade and six of these were col- 
 oured by Jean Van Eyck in 1435. All were 
 destroyed during the Eevolution. Part of 
 the interior is still used by various govern- 
 ment officials, while up-stairs the tourists usu- 
 ally visit the ancient Salle Echinivale, or Coun- 
 cil Chamber. This was restored in 1895 and 
 decorated with a series of twelve mural paint- 
 ings 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 inter- 
 esting epitome of the history of the city, the 
 subjects are given herewith : 
 
 1. — Return of the Brugeois from the Battle of the Gol- 
 den Spurs at Courtrai in 1302. 
 
 2. — Foundation of the Order of the Golden Fleece by 
 Philip of Burgundy at Bruges in 1430. 
 
 3. — Dieriek 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. 
 
jr O.: (J ' 
 
 6i / / r inc, B 
 
 rui 
 
"The Venice of the North" 59 
 
 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 m 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. 
 
 One of the most interesting of the almost 
 innumerable mediaeval 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 cen- 
 tury — 1190 to be exact — when Philip of Al- 
 sace 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 ter- 
 ritory was called the Franc or Liberty of Bru- 
 ges, 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 naust 
 
60 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 indus- 
 try. This was the hereditary land of the 
 Karls, whose revolt against the attempt of 
 Charles the Good to force them under the feu- 
 dal yoke cost that monarch his life. 
 
 The charter was called the Keurhrief and 
 laid the foundation for the administration of a 
 code of justice that, rude as it was, meant lib- 
 erty for those who otherwise would have been 
 utterly at the mercy of any feudal lord or wan- 
 dering 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 prop- 
 erty 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 cen- 
 
'The Venice of the North" 61 
 
 turies, and must liave 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 Mag- 
 istrates 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 cen- 
 tury. 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 inter- 
 esting portion of the edifice, and the only one 
 shown to tourists, is the Court Room contain- 
 ing the magnificent Cheminee 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 Blon- 
 deel, a painter of Bruges, and was completed in 
 1530. The fireplace itself is of black marble, 
 surmounted by a frieze in white marble con- 
 taining four bas-reliefs representing the his- 
 tory 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, 
 
62 The Spell of F landers 
 
 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, rep- 
 resented 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 Cas- 
 tile — 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 al- 
 most invisible in the shadow of the Emperor it 
 hardly seems as though the chimney-piece does 
 justice to the loyal and talented woman whoso 
 successful diplomacy the entire work is in- 
 tended to commemorate. As an example of six- 
 
THE BELFKV, BRUGES. 
 
"The Venice of the North" 63 
 
 teenth-century wood-carving, however, and as 
 a most important historical monument, this 
 chimney-piece is by no means the least inter- 
 esting of the many things to be seen at 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 dur- 
 ing our stay. Facing the Grrande 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. More- 
 over, 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 per- 
 fect June days it was our fortune to enjoy. 
 *' Too soon," he said, in answer to our inquir- 
 ing glances — ' ' the Belfry belongs to the period 
 of Bruges' splendour, while the buildings we 
 have seen thus far date from the formative pe- 
 riod when she was still little more than a for- 
 tress on a marsh." 
 
 The original structure dates from the very 
 early Counts of Flanders — possibly from the 
 
64 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 im- 
 portance 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 de- 
 sire 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, carpen- 
 ters and blacksmiths — who thus virtually con- 
 trolled the government. This- room the Pro- 
 fessor desired to see above all else in the old 
 structure. We found the four wrought iron 
 doors, but the archive chamber no longer con- 
 tains 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 an- 
 cient strong-room for the protection of the 
 city's liberties proof against the cunning and 
 
*'The Venice of the North" 65 
 
 power of tyrants, and the precious charters it 
 once held were gradually taken away, despite 
 the stout handiwork of one Erembald, black- 
 smith, who received eighty-one pounds for forg- 
 ing 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 Eu- 
 rope, 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 thou- 
 sand, five hundred square holes in which are 
 fixed the pegs that pull the strings commanding 
 the hammers hanging outside the bells. By al- 
 tering 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: *' Eondo, 15th sonata," by Mo- 
 zart; 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 
 
66 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 competi- 
 tion 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 trans- 
 ported in fancy to the time, centuries ago, when 
 watchmen peered off across these very para- 
 pets 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 hun- 
 dred 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 de- 
 
*^The Venice of the North^> 67 
 
 cay, 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 struc- 
 ture 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 rliymes 
 Eing 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 hun- 
 dred and forty-three feet broad and two hun- 
 dred and seventy-six feet deep. The archeo- 
 logical museum in one wing — which is in 
 
68 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 dur- 
 ing the period of its prosperity, from the 
 twelfth to the fifteenth centuries, was due pri- 
 marily 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 inti- 
 mate 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 ac- 
 tually 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, 
 
'The Venice of the North" 69 
 
 on which the prosperity of the country de- 
 pended, 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 repre- 
 sented 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 mer- 
 chants 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 
 
70 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 de- 
 manded 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 ti- 
 tles 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 quan- 
 tity 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 ap- 
 proach and departure of shipping difficult and 
 
"The Venice of the North" 71 
 
 uncertain, started a downward movement tliat 
 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 pro- 
 verbial 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 me- 
 tropolis of the North. 
 
 The Minnewater, or Lac d 'Amour, is — 
 apart from its exquisite beauty — of interest 
 as another memento of the city's former com- 
 merce. This was the chief harbour for ship- 
 ping, and, no doubt, was thronged with sailing 
 
72 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 trans- 
 porting merchandise to the warehouses of the 
 city and all the varied noise and bustle of a 
 great seaport. It is strangely silent and de- 
 serted now, and the grass grows tall around the 
 round tower built in 1398 by Jan van Ouden- 
 aarde, and the white swans float slowly and 
 majestically beneath the black arches of the ad- 
 joining 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 banls:s 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 pil- 
 grimage 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 
 
''The Venice of the North" 73 
 
 but forgotten town was made an independent 
 commune with two burgomasters, and for two 
 centuries thereafter it enjoyed a great and in- 
 creasing prosperity. It became the chief en- 
 trepot 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, apices 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 sur- 
 rounded by several ancient edifices, and the 
 ruins of a huge church. In the centre of the 
 Place is a modern statue of Jacob van Maer- 
 lant, called " the Father of Flemish Poets." 
 Fame has surely never played any more as- 
 tounding trick than that out of the great host 
 
74 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 arti- 
 sans and craftsmen in a hundred guilds — all, 
 all are forgotten, while an obscure poet, whom 
 very likely many of those who knew him de- 
 rided 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 re- 
 freshment. 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 un- 
 furnished room, bare of ornamentation save for 
 two corl^els, or Gothic brackets, which support 
 the maixi 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 Su- 
 zanne " bathing in a tub over his head. The 
 
"The Venice of the North" 75 
 
 other shows King David with his harp, and is 
 embellished with sundry other figures. 
 
 The remaining room is by far the most inter- 
 esting, for it was here that Charles the Bold 
 publicly betrothed Margaret of York. The 
 room, which is officially termed the Salle des 
 Deliberations, 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 ^^ Farcer e subjectis et dehellare super- 
 bos." This quotation from Vergil (^neid 6: 
 853) sounds rather pompous and out of place in 
 the council chamber of this now completely van- 
 quished 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 mediaeval scenes that 
 bards and novelists so fondly recall, and that 
 — in our age of up-to-date inventions — the 
 
76 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 moving-picture men are so busily reconstruct- 
 ing 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 in- 
 tended 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 pre- 
 liminary inspection must have been very grati- 
 fying. 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 per- 
 form the public ceremony of betrothal. The 
 wedding ring was given in the presence of the 
 English Bishop who had accompanied the Prin- 
 cess, 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 
 
'The Venice of the North" 77 
 
 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 hon- 
 our, 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 re- 
 splendent 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 Eu- 
 rope — 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 FUKNES 
 
 )HE tourist who desires to get away from 
 the maili 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 west- 
 ward from the great Ostende-Brussels express 
 route and visit the all but forgotten cities of 
 Dixmude, Furnes and Nieuport. All but for- 
 gotten, that is, in June, 1914. The world has 
 heard of them since, and it will be many hun- 
 dreds 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 Prafessor 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 
 
 78 
 
Dixmude and Furnes 79 
 
 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'abon- 
 nement 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 sec- 
 ond-class except for a white tidy placed at the 
 back of the cushions. Frequently there was 
 not even the tidy, but the sign, '^ Reserve — 
 VoorheJiouden/ ' converted an ordinary second- 
 class compartment into first-class — a dis- 
 tinction that gave the traveller very little 
 for his money, save the privilege of riding 
 alone. 
 
 On the main express routes that radiate out- 
 ward from Brussels in every direction there 
 were a number of rapides, or fast express 
 
80 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 trains, that made very good time indeed — a 
 speed of a kilometre per minute being about tbe 
 average. On tbe international express trains, 
 some of wbicb are first-class only, tbe speed was 
 somewbat bigber, but tbese we never bad occa- 
 sion to use. After tbe rapides came tbe express 
 trains, generally marked '' direct " or " semi- 
 direct," according to wbetber or not tbey made 
 any intermediate stops before reacbing tbeir 
 final destination. Tbese were only moderately 
 fast, and, if tbey did stop anywbere, lingered so 
 long tbat tbe time gained by tbeir previous 
 speed was largely lost. Tben came tbe type of 
 local train called omnibus or ordinaire, tbat 
 stopped at every station. To tbe American 
 tbese trains would seem astoundingly slow, even 
 for a land tbat is never in a burry. Eacb stop 
 is dragged out, minute after minute, until it 
 seems certain tbat eitber a terrible accident 
 must bave occurred abead, or tbe train crew bas 
 gone on strike. Actually, more tban once, we 
 did see part of tbe crew returning from an es- 
 taminet bard by wbitber tbey" bad gone to bave 
 a friendly glass. Finally, bowever, tbe red- 
 capped station master blows bis wbistle and tbe 
 train reluctantly pulls away. To make a trip 
 of sixty kilometres (forty miles) by one of tbese 
 trains took, on more tban one occasion, two 
 
Dixmude and Furnes 81 
 
 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 exam- 
 ination on the part of the officials and severe 
 penalties for those responsible. However, there 
 does not seem to be much credit attached to be- 
 ing on time when the schedule allows for a stop 
 of from two to fifteen minutes at each station. 
 The man primarily responsible for the move- 
 ment of the trains is not the conductor or en- 
 gineer 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 de- 
 parture. His dark-red cap, embroidered with 
 gold braid, is therefore in evidence at every sta- 
 tion, and until this high functionary gives the 
 word no train moves. As it is, each leaves ex- 
 actly on time — but not a second before, no mat- 
 ter 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 Eailway refers, of course, to the service 
 as it existed down. to the end of July. Since 
 then the destruction of tracks, bridges and tun- 
 
82 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 nels by one army or another has put most of 
 the system out of operation. One of the sad- 
 dest phases of the war is that every one of the 
 thousands of employes of the Belgian State 
 Eailway — from the highest supervising offi- 
 cial to the humblest track walker — was work- 
 ing 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 
 employes the Belgian Govenmient 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 em- 
 ployment. No doubt the death toll of the bat- 
 tles 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 
 
Dixmude and Furnes 83 
 
 his old post again, with the old good service 
 record unf orgotten, and that he will receive the 
 pension he rightfully expects and that his coun- 
 try would gladly give — at last. 
 
 To those who enjoy rambling through the by- 
 ways of history there is no town richer in as- 
 sociations, 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 in- 
 considerable fishing fleet. As one looks across 
 the miles and miles of pleasant fields, inter- 
 spersed with waving windmills and tiny vil- 
 lages, this part of the ancient city's history 
 seems utterly incredible, but it is too well au- 
 thenticated 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 imper- 
 ceptible degrees into its long sleep. 
 
 Like the abode of the Sleeping Princess, of 
 whom Tennyson wrote, one might almost fancy 
 
84 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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. Nich- 
 olas. The pride and joy of this church is its 
 altar screen, or juhe, said to have been designed 
 by Urban Taillebert, the architect of the Church 
 of St. Martin at Ypres and many other cele- 
 brated works of around the year 1600. There 
 is also an ** Adoration of the Magi " by Jor- 
 daens, 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 accom- 
 modate 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 jube, or altar screen, already mentioned, 
 is the one great ' ' sight ' ' of the little town, and 
 
Dixmude and Furnes 85 
 
 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'osuvre of 
 Dixmude is culinary instead of artistic. This 
 is a kind of brioche called zieltjenshoeken, or 
 gateaux d'ames — a sort of " soul cooky," as 
 it were. Twice a year, on certain religious oc- 
 casions, 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 Para- 
 dise. 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 in- 
 stead of hours in it, but last June its impor- 
 tance did not seem to justify giving it a chapter 
 so we planned to visit Furnes the same day. 
 
86 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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, rev- 
 erent 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 
 juhe, if any there be, but out in the open, pleas- 
 ant 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 faith- 
 ful omnibus after the dinner — which we 
 obtained at one of the little restaurants over- 
 looking 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 
 
Dixmude and Furnes 87 
 
 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 mediaeval 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 Eose, 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 re- 
 sided 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 Bel- 
 gian army, and the place of residence of Bel- 
 gium's heroic King. 
 
 The great annual event at Furnes is the fa- 
 mous Procession, which takes place the third 
 Sunday in July. It dates from 1100 or there- 
 abouts, when, according to the legend, Count 
 Eobert of Flanders was on his way back from 
 the Holy Land, bringing with him a piece of 
 the true cross. His voyage across the Mediter- 
 ranean, through the Straits of Gibraltar and 
 
88 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 past the stormy Bay of Biscay, was without in- 
 cident, 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 ex- 
 pected 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 histor- 
 ical representations of the return of Count Rob- 
 ert. 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 
 
Dixmude and Furnes 89 
 
 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 Magda- 
 len, the Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, the 
 Feast at Cana, the Garden of Olives, the Be- 
 trayal of Judas, and a series of scenes repre- 
 senting 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 ' ' speak- 
 ing parts, ' ' all of them in Flemish and delivered 
 with varying degrees of histrionic skill to the 
 crowd that lines the streets. The whole per- 
 formance, apart from its great antiquity, is of 
 interest as being a local and original represen- 
 tation 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, 
 
90 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 its chdtellenie comprising fifty-two villages. 
 In 1297 it was besieged by Robert, the Count of 
 Artois, who fell five years later at the great bat- 
 tle 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 contem- 
 porary 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 Fumes, while 
 smaller than that of Dixmude, is equally pictur- 
 esque. On one side is the old Meat Market, 
 dating from the first quarter of the seventeenth 
 century ; and hard by is the Maison des Espag- 
 nols, or House of the Spaniards, formerly used 
 
Dixmude and Furnes 91 
 
 as a town-hall and erected in the thirteenth cen- 
 tury. 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 
 Chdtellenie, now used as Court House, was be- 
 gun in 1612 — the year the Hotel de Ville was 
 finished — and is chiefly memorable as the meet- 
 ing-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 ob- 
 serve the rights and privileges of the city. The 
 establishment of the Inquisition by his name- 
 sake and grandson, Philip II, affords a ghastly 
 commentary on the manner in which that mon- 
 arch 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 sur- 
 mounted by a bulbous spire, heavy and clumsy, 
 but none the less exceedingly quaint and pic- 
 turesque. Not a few of the ancient houses 
 around the Place and in the adjacent streets 
 were sufficiently mediaeval to have merited a 
 visit had our stay in this fine old Flemish town 
 been longer; but, so far as we could learn, 
 
92 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 none possessed any particular historical inter- 
 est. 
 
 Besides Ste. Walburge, already mentioned — 
 which was evidently planned to be a cathedral, 
 but of which only the choir was ever completed 
 — Fumes possesses the church of St. Nicholas, 
 which has a noble square tower, also unfinished. 
 Both churches are disappointing within, al- 
 though 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 Pro- 
 cession, 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 in- 
 creasing in popularity very rapidly. A land 
 company, with head offices at Brussels, is en- 
 gaged ' 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 
 
Dixmude and Furnes 93 
 
 vicinal runs from Furnes to Coxyde. In ad- 
 dition to the splendid beacli 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. 
 
 These weather-beaten men, with their rough 
 oilskin hats and suits, are the modern repre- 
 sentatives 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 
 
 JHEN the war is over, and tlie era of com- 
 memoration begins, Belgium, if slie 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 infantry- 
 man, one of the round-capped " demons " 
 whose indomitable will and unwavering courage 
 held this last bit of Belgian soil against over- 
 powering 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 
 
 94 
 
Nieuport and the Yser Canal 95 
 
 and until, at last, the great reinforcing hosts of 
 the allies came. 
 
 The little straggling town of Nienport, peace- 
 ful 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 lit- 
 tle 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 es- 
 tablished 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 al- 
 lies, 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 Conde, beat a French 
 army commanded by Turenne not far from the 
 city. Another famous fight before the walls of 
 
96 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 the old town took jjlace 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 march- 
 ing rapidly from the Scheldt past Ostende, pro- 
 ceeded to besiege Nieuport. The Archduke 
 Albert, hastily raising an army of fifteen thou- 
 sand 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 with- 
 draw, 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 Span- 
 iards who, thinking they had met the whole 
 army, sent couriers to Bruges and Ghent an- 
 nouncing the victory. Bells were rung to cele- 
 brate 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 
 
Nieuport and the Yser Canal 97 
 
 up on the very beacli 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, em- 
 bedded 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 prod- 
 igies 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 
 
98 The Spell of Tlanders 
 
 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 re- 
 gard 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 
 
TOWER OF THE TEMPLARS, NIEUPORT. 
 
Nieuport and the Yser Canal 99 
 
 miles to the northward and pleasant fields ex- 
 tend 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. 
 
 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 'amies 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, al- 
 though situated very close to the French fron- 
 tier, we found in this little town and its neigh- 
 
100 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 bours, Dixmude and Furnes, very few people 
 who understood French. Flemish is the uni- 
 versal 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 Peli- 
 can, 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 es- 
 tablishment 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 con- 
 junction with the more slender tower of 
 the Cloth Hall hard by. The approach to 
 the main entrance of the church was be- 
 neath some lofty trees and we did not see 
 
Nieuport and the Yser Canal 101 
 
 a solitary liuman being either outside of the 
 edifice or within it. This church has an inter- 
 esting jube 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 exceed- 
 ingly 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 Fumes, that the 
 Madame developed a violent antipathy to a cer- 
 tain 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 au- 
 diences with word pictures of the tortures of 
 the burning fiery pit, so nearly every old Flem- 
 ish 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 
 
102 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 hap- 
 piness of Mr. and Mrs. Professor, who were con- 
 tinually 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 col- 
 lection 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 inforai us where admission 
 might be obtained. In fact the whole town 
 seemed singularly uninterested in tourists, ap- 
 parently 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 
 
Nieuport and the Yser Canal 103 
 
 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 cJiemin 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 sec- 
 ond runs behind the range of dunes westward to 
 Furnes, where it divides and crosses the French 
 
104 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 Dix- 
 mude. A short distance beyond Dixmude the 
 canal ceases to follow the Eiver Yser, which here 
 flows eastward from a source well across the 
 French boundary, and ascends the Yser's 
 smaller tributary, the Yperlee, 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 Mere de Lom- 
 hartzyde, and who is devoutly believed able 
 to protect the faithful seaman from perils by 
 
Nieuport and the Yser Canal 105 
 
 sea, to aid tlie farmer in Ms 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 pop- 
 ulation 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 fa- 
 mous 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 
 
106 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 wars and changes of the centuries, have con- 
 tinued in spite of the invention of gunpowder 
 and the perfection of firearms — an industry in 
 which Liege, 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 a Voiseau or Perche. In 
 the centre of the village green of the smaller 
 towns, and in some open space in the surburbs 
 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 up- 
 ward 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. 
 
Nieuport and the Yser Canal 107 
 
 The archers gather below the pole and shoot 
 upward, aiming at the ' ' birds ' ' and endeavour- 
 ing to knock them off cleanly. Each shoots in 
 turn, and the prizes — which have been duly an- 
 nounced 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 con- 
 sumed a goodly portion of their favourite bever- 
 ages there is general hilarity — especially if the 
 victor is a popular favourite. Immemorial cus- 
 tom 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 neces- 
 sary carried, home in great state with a band in 
 advance and all the members of the contest fol- 
 lowing in a disorderly, but jolly, crowd. 
 
 The second form of contest is known as the 
 " Tir au herceau/' 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 
 
108 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 
 cafe or estaminet attached to the places where 
 archery contests au herceau are conducted, 
 while such places are always found close by the 
 spot where a Tir a I'oiseau takes place. 
 Between shots the men consume liberal quan- 
 tities of Iambic, faro, or the beer of some neigh- 
 bouring 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 Cath- 
 olics, while the Socialists in the southern prov- 
 inces, 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. 
 
Nieuport and the Yser Canal 109 
 
 To one who lias attended scores of these 
 archeiy 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 liter- 
 ally a nation of sharpshooters. On one occa- 
 sion the writer and a friend took a couple of 
 shots with a carbine in one of the little shoot- 
 ing galleries that accompanied a village ker- 
 messe. We both missed. A young man stand- 
 ing 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 marksman- 
 ship 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 
 
110 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 Amelie should die? " he 
 asked of one of his other daughters. 
 
 '< Why, papa, then you would come and live 
 
Nieuport and the Yser Canal 111 
 
 with me," she replied, adding with a flash of 
 characteristic Belgian humour, " and when I 
 am dead you'll go to live with Felicienne " (a 
 grand-daughter still in her 'teens). As this 
 provided safely for his future for at least an- 
 other fifty years, the old gentleman was greatly 
 relieved, feeling perhaps that if he survived 
 Felicienne 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 bi- 
 cycle 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 Eosa 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 con- 
 testants 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, 
 
112 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 promo- 
 tion 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 ex- 
 amples of remarkable speed have been re- 
 ported, the wimiers bringing comparatively 
 high prices: 
 
 No better idea of the variety of popular 
 amusements can be given than to take the pro- 
 gramme of one little commune that I had an 
 opportunity of copying, entitled " Fetes Com- 
 munales de 1914" — this announcement being 
 printed in French and Flemish. While many 
 of the events were evidently organised by vari- 
 ous societies the officials of the commune as- 
 sumed 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 
 
Nieuport and the Yser Canal 113 
 
 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 herceau and a la percJie has 
 already been explained. The programme, 
 much abbreviated, follows : 
 
 Suii., Apr. 19. — Archery contests, both au berceau and 
 perche. 
 
 Sun., Apr. 26. — Archery contest, au berceau, and rifle 
 contest (carbmes). 
 
 Fri., May 1. — Fete 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 gTand 
 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 com- 
 mune, with rifle contest and concert in 
 evening, followed by popular ball. 
 
114 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 Sun. to Tues., 
 
 July 5, 6, 7, — Annual Kemiesse in the centre of the 
 commune, with archery contest (perche) 
 on Sunday, au berceau on Monday, and 
 Tir du Eoi with public games and 
 sports on Tuesday, Itinerant amuse- 
 ment enterprises of all kinds make 
 these annual kermesses a miniature 
 Coney Island while they last. 
 Sun., July 26. — Tir du Roi and Grand Fete Gymnastique, 
 followed by concert. Fete de Nuit and 
 a ball. 
 Sun., Aug. 9. — Fete d'Enfauce, 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 arch- 
 
 ery 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. — Archeiy au berceau and rifle contest. 
 Sun., Oct. 25. — Same. 
 Sim., Nov. 21. — Archeiy, perche. 
 Smi., Dec. 13. — Rifle contest. 
 
 It must be confessed that this progranune 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, 
 
Nieuport and the Yser Canal 115 
 
 both as an evidence of the popular desire for 
 healthy and rational ont-door enjoyment, and 
 of the disposition of the Grovernment to pro- 
 mote and foster legitimate amusements of all 
 kinds. The kermesse is an European rather 
 than a Belgian institution and requires no de- 
 scription further than that it is a jolly good 
 time for everybody. It has existed in Flan- 
 ders and throughout the Walloon provinces 
 from time immemorial, as ancient paintings 
 and still more ancient historical references con- 
 clusively 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 win- 
 dows of adjacent cafes, 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 su- 
 preme. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 WHEN YPRES WAS A GEEATER CITY THAN LONDON 
 
 ?S we returned from our trip to Dixmude, 
 Furnes and Nieuport, the Professor an- 
 nounced that our next destination would 
 he Ypres. If he had said that it would be 
 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 majes- 
 tically in the waters of the moat that still sur- 
 rounded 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 with- 
 stand the most furious, determined and bloody 
 
 116 
 
When Ypres was Greater than London 117 
 
 assaults in all history. To the German host 
 the mediaeval term la morte d' Ypres was re- 
 vived in those awful weeks of October and 
 November, 1914, for the grim, low-lying ram- 
 parts 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 furi- 
 ous German bombardment, or, at least, severely 
 injured. The account of the various points of 
 interest in the famous old town as they ap- 
 peared 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 re- 
 mains 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 
 
118 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 three times as long as the entire duration of 
 the nation known as the United States of Amer- 
 ica, Ypres was one of the greatest and richest 
 cities in the world. 
 
 It was hard to believe it, however, as we rum- 
 bled 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 op- 
 posite 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 
 
When Ypres was Greater than London 119 
 
 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 cen- 
 times 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 un- 
 locked and we found ourselves immediately in 
 the great Gruild Hall. 
 
 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 Madi- 
 son 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 fore- 
 most 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 in- 
 habitants, its woollen weavers operated four 
 
120 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 thousand looms, and more tlian four hun- 
 dred guilds responded to the calls to arms that 
 sounded, at frequent intervals, from the belfry. 
 The greatest wonder of the edifice is the im- 
 mense 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 country- 
 side 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 run- 
 ner 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 re- 
 peated by many writers since the sixteenth cen- 
 tury and is now such a matter of local pride that 
 no doubt the concierge who permitted one to 
 
When Ypres was Greater than London 121 
 
 get in and set up housekeeping in this spider- 
 less 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 pre- 
 cisely an opposite impression — of unusual 
 loftiness. Just how high the vast room is can 
 best be estimated by noting the wooden facade 
 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, fac- 
 ing 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 Eoyal 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 
 
122 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 ef- 
 fect upon the beholder is impressive in the ex- 
 treme. 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 
 
 Oiir 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 Ciaxsade. 
 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 Lor- 
 raine 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 ar- 
 ranged in exact chronological order, but, taken 
 
When Ypres was Greater than London 123 
 
 together, they form a wonderful pictorial sum- 
 mary of the city's history — down to the Fall 
 of 1914, which merits a separate gallery by it- 
 self. To us the most impressive of the series 
 was the vast picture in two sections showing 
 the triumphant return from the Battle of Cour- 
 trai and the tragic representation of the Black 
 Death, which swept through all the densely 
 populated Flemish towns; but was more de- 
 structive at Ypres than elsewhere. The visita- 
 tion 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 through- 
 out the countryside. 
 
 In the section of the Great Hall beyond the 
 beKry the mural paintings are the work of 
 Louis Delbeke, a painter of Ypres. His pic- 
 tures were the subject of violent criticism when 
 they were first exhibited, and are entirely un- 
 like those in the other portion of the chamber. 
 The artist endeavoured to give his work an ar- 
 chaic 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, Com- 
 merce, Industry, Charities, Literature and so 
 on. The work was interrupted by his death 
 and has never been completed. 
 
124 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 Another room of great interest is the Salle 
 Echevinale, where for five centuries the magis- 
 trates 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 supersti- 
 tion and portraits of tyrants ' ' with a thick coat 
 of whitewash wliich was only accidentally 
 knocked off in 1844, exposing a bit of the an- 
 cient 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 satisfac- 
 tory, but none the less gives us an opportunity 
 to view once more this interesting work — one 
 of the earliest pieces of mural painting in Flan- 
 ders. On the north wall of this room is a mod- 
 ern fresco by Godefroid Guffens, representing 
 " The State Entry of Philip the Bold " in 1384, 
 while on the other side of the room is a monu- 
 mental Flemish chimney-piece carved by Mal- 
 fait of Brussels, with mural paintings on each 
 
When Ypres was Greater than London 125 
 
 side by Jean Swerts — like Guff ens, a painter 
 of the modern Antwerp school. These repre- 
 sent 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 illustrat- 
 ing 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 Eomano-ogival, 
 while the nave and aisles are early Gothic, and 
 the edifice has many other peculiar features of 
 interest to students of architecture. It con- 
 tains the usual paintings, of which none are of 
 remarkable interest, and some excellent choir 
 stalls. The most famous of the Bishop;s of 
 St. Martin, while it was a Cathedral Church, 
 was Jansenius, one of the leading figures in the 
 Beformation, who died of the Plague in 1638. 
 His great work on St. Augustine occupied twen- 
 ty-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 fol- 
 
126 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 lowers of tlie learned Flemish cliurchnian, who 
 were called Jansenists. The archives of the 
 city and church contain much interesting ma- 
 terial regarding this celebrated mediaeval theo- 
 logian. His tomb, which still stands in the 
 church of which he was once the head, formerly 
 contained a long and highly eulogistic inscrip- 
 tion, which, by an order from the Pope in 1655, 
 was cut down to the bare remnant that still re- 
 mains. 
 
 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 Sa- 
 hara 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 country- 
 side by the thousand, while the itinerant huck- 
 sters and pedlars who, in Belgium travel from 
 one fair or market-place to another, set up 
 their canvas-covered booths in long streets 
 
When Ypres was Greater than London 127 
 
 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 of- 
 fered 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 gar- 
 ments for man, woman and child; footwear, 
 headwear, and every conceivable kind of hard- 
 ware, of tinware, of crockery. In short, the 
 display is a veritable department store, for the 
 most part cheap stutf, 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 refresh- 
 ment around the Place and in the adjacent 
 
128 The SpeU of Flanders 
 
 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 Ser- 
 ments, or oath-bound corporations, take their 
 positions gravely and in good order — men of 
 substance these, portly, well-fed, and prosper- 
 ous. Then the Metiers, or lesser crafts- 
 men, 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 re- 
 spective banner, the Count and others of the no- 
 bility 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, 
 
When Ypres was G-reater than London 129 
 
 the noise of tlieir shouts and cries dies away, 
 and once more the still moonlight falls upon the 
 deserted old Place. 
 
 As we sat in one of the cafes facing the Cloth 
 Hall, our minds filled with these and other fan- 
 cies 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 enchant- 
 ment — 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 de- 
 lighted in tales of mystery and enchantment. 
 Some of the most famous stories told by the old 
 Flemish chroniclers relate to the career of Bald- 
 win 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 Comte est La Flandre, 
 La plus belle Duehe est La Bourgogne, 
 La plus belle Royaume est France." 
 
130 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 Eiver Meuse and in- 
 cluding 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 sub- 
 jects felt that he owed to them — of getting 
 married and securing children to insure the suc- 
 cession. 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 Christen- 
 dom, 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 
 
When Ypres was G-reater than London 131 
 
 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 mon- 
 strous 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 prin- 
 cess and -had come to find and wed the richest 
 Count in Christendom, adding that she had 
 learned that the Count of Flanders was the no- 
 blest 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 pro- 
 posed 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 prin- 
 cess was seated stood on the very spot. He 
 then blew so loud a recall upon his horn that it 
 
132 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 was lieard 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 re- 
 paired to Cambrai where they were married in 
 great splendour. The Countess, beautiful as 
 she was, did not become popular, the people at- 
 tributing to her the heavy taxes they had to 
 pay. It was also whispered that she never at- 
 tended the elevation of the Host at mass, al- 
 ways 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 pil- 
 grim 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 Count- 
 ess turned deadly pale and whispered to her 
 
When Ypres was Greater than London 133 
 
 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 beauti- 
 ful maiden of the East, the soul having de- 
 parted 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 supersti- 
 tious Flemings believed the tale about the devil 
 none the less, and the Count's brilliant but 
 tragic later career caused the story to be re- 
 peated and handed down for many generations. 
 
 Only five years . after coming to the throne 
 Count Baldwin announced his intention of going 
 
134 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 on a crusade, and in tlie 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 foun- 
 dation stone of the great Cloth Hall. He 
 finally set out in 1203, but the Venetians com- 
 pelled the crusaders, in payment for their pas- 
 sage, to make a campaign which resulted in the 
 capture of Constantinople, the founding of the 
 Latin Empire, and the election of Count Bald- 
 win 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 Adriano- 
 ple — 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 Val- 
 enciennes, 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 
 
When Ypres was Greater than London * 135 
 
 none of tliem remembered ever having seen be- 
 fore. Gradually this wonder attracted more 
 and more of the people thereabout to see the 
 stranger, and men began to say that he resem- 
 bled 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 Em- 
 peror. 
 
 If he was the Count his country needed him 
 sorely, for the King of France, Philip Augus- 
 tus, 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 pup- 
 pet 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, 
 
136 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 Lille, Courtrai and many smaller towns. Fer- 
 dinand, 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 free- 
 dom 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 farrreach- 
 ing power of the King of France. 
 
 It was under these circumstances that the 
 hermit who men thought resembled Count Bald- 
 win 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 delega- 
 tion from Valenciennes went out to the forest 
 and hailed him as their Count and then he at 
 
When Ypres was Greater than London 137 
 
 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 be- 
 fore Adrianople and made a prisoner by the 
 Bulgarians. While a captive a Bulgarian prin- 
 cess saw him, fell in love, and contrived to ef- 
 fect 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 bur- 
 den. 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 lit- 
 tle moment, since it affected only an infidel, pro- 
 claimed him their Count. The great towns 
 of Flanders flung open their gates to him wher- 
 ever he went, and finally he held his court in 
 Bruges. His neighbours, the Dukes of Bra- 
 bant and Limbourg, and his former ally, the 
 King of England, acknowledged his claims, 
 while his daughter Jeanne fled to France for 
 protection. 
 
138 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 be- 
 fore had made the true Baldwin Emperor. To 
 be sure, twenty years of slavery, and the haunt- 
 ing memory of the beautiful Marie of Cham- 
 pagne 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 Pe- 
 ronne, where the King of France was then 
 holding court, he was subjected to a trial by the 
 royal Council, which clearly showed its deter- 
 mination to convict him as an impostor. Per- 
 ceiving 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 deter- 
 mined 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 
 
When Ypres was G-reater than London 139 
 
 two hounds. If lie was the true Baldwin, after 
 all, few careers in history offer wider contrasts 
 of glory and shame. 
 
 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 be- 
 ginning 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-Musee Merghe- 
 lynck. The latter is an institution as unique 
 as it is admirable. Built in 1774 by Frangois 
 Merghelynck, a Treasurer and Grand Bailiff 
 of Ypres, this fine mansion is filled with furni- 
 ture 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 imple- 
 ments of husbandry. These were carved by 
 Antony Deledicque of Lille and have been com- 
 pared with the work in some of the smaller 
 
140 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 rooms in the Palace of Versailles. The music- 
 room is similarly embellished with representa- 
 tions 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 orig- 
 inal 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 pew- 
 ter, 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 mediaeval order. The Templars, 
 
CHURCH OF ST. PETER, YPRES. 
 
When Ypres was Greater than London 141 
 
 however, did erect at Ypres their first house in 
 Europe, and it may well be that this struc- 
 ture was copied from it. Beyond this interest- 
 ing edifice we encountered a grim-looking old 
 church, that of St. Peter, within the doorway 
 of which is a most curious mediaeval Calvary. 
 This church is one of the oldest in Flanders, 
 having been built in 1073 by Eobert 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. 
 
 In this section we were so fortunate as to see 
 the lace workers, of whom there are still sev- 
 eral 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 fab- 
 ric 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 
 
142 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 two cities, than in tlie 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 direc- 
 tions and are in a fairly good state of preserva- 
 tion. At the Porte de Thourout, where the for- 
 tifications 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. 
 
When Ypres was Greater than London 143 
 
 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 charm- 
 ing old Flemish villages by which it is sur- 
 rounded. 
 
 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 be- 
 tween France and England. As commerce and 
 industry in these two great neighbouring coun- 
 tries 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 
 
144 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 trade that France liad 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 prosper- 
 ity. 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 re- 
 ligious 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. Eoused 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 
 
When Ypres was Greater than London 145 
 
 these steps were, tliey came too late to arrest 
 the decline of the town's industries and com- 
 merce. 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 
 
 UR 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 pre- 
 
 146 
 
Courtrai and the Battle of the Spurs 147 
 
 vious season was stacked to bleacli, evidently 
 the crop from several fields being concentrated 
 into one for this purpose. The water of the 
 Elver 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 cen- 
 turies, 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 cen- 
 tury, 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 
 
148 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 mar- 
 ket, 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 
 '* I'un des plus hiaux que on seuist trouver 
 decha ne dela la mer " — one of the most beau- 
 tiful here or abroad — but was removed by 
 Philip the Bold, the first of the Burgundian 
 Dukes to rule over Flanders, to Dijon, the cap- 
 ital of Burgimdy. This was in 1382, but in 1395 
 the people of Courtrai had replaced it by an- 
 other 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 
 
Courtrai and the Battle of the Spurs 149 
 
 spend a Summer in Flanders many friends 
 protested, " But you do not speak Flemish — 
 how do you expect to get along 1 ' ' Eight here 
 it may be stated that this bugbear proved with- 
 out 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 accommodat- 
 ing 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 King- 
 dom 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 lit- 
 
150 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 tie 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. I'or 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 employes 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 lan- 
 guage 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 
 
Courtrai and the Battle of the Spurs 151 
 
 steps from tlie Belfry, is the Hotel de Ville, an 
 unprepossessing structure externally, althougli 
 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 Bel- 
 gian 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 piece de re- 
 sistance 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 pe- 
 riod. The elaborate carvings with which this 
 masterpiece is decorated comprise three tiers. 
 At the top the figures represent the virtues: 
 Faith, Humility, Charity, Chastity, Grenerosity, 
 Temperance, Patience and Vigilance, In the 
 middle section a series of pictures carved in 
 stone typify the vices: Idolatry, Pride, Ava- 
 rice, Sensuality, Jealousy, Gluttony, Anger and 
 Idleness. The lowest tier contains reliefs that 
 are supposed to show the punishment for these 
 
152 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 vices, although the idea is not always quite easy 
 to' follow. In niches projecting from the mid- 
 dle 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 composi- 
 tion 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 be- 
 fore the Battle of Courtrai. Smaller frescoes 
 
Courtrai and the Battle of the Spurs 153 
 
 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 signifi- 
 cance 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 cen- 
 tury 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 Mar- 
 garet, Baldwin's younger daughter, to leave 
 the loyal Fleming to whom she had been mar- 
 ried almost since childhood and wed one of his 
 retainers, William of Dampierre. Then, dur- 
 ing a period of more than fifty years, the Kings 
 of France were able to exert a steadily increas- 
 ing influence in Flanders and reduce the coun- 
 try 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 
 
154 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 reigning Count, rebelled. A brief war fol- 
 lowed, ending in Guy's utter defeat and im- 
 prisonment, and in 1300 all Flanders was for- 
 mally 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 mediseval 
 history. Small and ill-favoured in face and 
 figure, with only one eye, and speaking no lan- 
 guage 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 Flan- 
 ders 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 natu- 
 rally included the magistrates and office-holders 
 
STATUE OF PETER DE CONINCK AND JOHN BREIDEL, BRUGES. 
 
Courtrai and the Battle of the Spurs 155 
 
 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. 
 
 At Bruges the official reception was the most 
 gorgeous of all, the rich gowns of the wives and 
 daughters of the burghers causing Queen Isa- 
 bella 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 Erench 
 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 
 
156 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 Breidel, poured into the city before daybreak 
 and roaring *' ScJiilt 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 de- 
 fiance 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 
 
Courtrai and the Battle of the Spurs 157 
 
 in Frencli 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 hun- 
 dred 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 " goe- 
 dendag/' 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 fol- 
 lowing day the French army, some forty thou- 
 sand strong, was seen approaching, led by the 
 youthful Count of Artois. After a recon- 
 noitre 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 bag- 
 gage 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 impet- 
 
158 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 uous young Count, or to liis valiant knights, 
 who were burning with eagerness to avenge 
 the Matin de Bruges. They confidently ex- 
 pected 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 
 
Courtrai and the Battle of the Spurs 159 
 
 beaten down beneath their cruel pikes and 
 clubs by hundreds. The Count of Artois him- 
 self led the reserves into the melee 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 on- 
 slaught 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 
 
160 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 thor- 
 oughly aroused guildsmen, and a few years 
 later a treaty was signed that completely re- 
 scinded 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 sub- 
 ject and the youth of the artist, and was pur- 
 chased by the city of Courtrai by means of a 
 popular subscription. It represents the de- 
 cisive 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 
 
Courtrai and the Battle of the Spurs 161 
 
 France the museums of fine arts in the pro- 
 vincial towns often form in themselves admi- 
 rable memorials of the famous artists who were 
 horn 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 ex- 
 ample and erect suitable structures to house 
 their art treasures — of which such a collec- 
 tion as this one at Courtrai forms a fine nu- 
 cleus — 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 ros- 
 ter would be a long one, for local authorities 
 have recorded the names of more than two 
 hundred painters, sculptors, architects, en- 
 gravers, metal-workers, miniaturists and mas- 
 ter-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 vic- 
 torious troops of Charles VI when they sacked 
 
162 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 founda- 
 tion 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 con- 
 structed. 
 
 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 Nether- 
 
Courtrai and the Battle of the Spurs 163 
 
 lands was several years in the museum at Brus- 
 sels, being returned to its proper place in 
 Notre Dame in 1817. During the night of De- 
 cember 6th-7th, 1907, it was mysteriously 
 stolen, its disappearance causing a great com- 
 motion, 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 be- 
 come 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 Eosbecque. 
 
 A little beyond this interesting old church 
 the rue Gruido Gezelle — named after the poet 
 who for many years was a vicaire at Notre 
 Dame and whose bust stands in a little bosquet, 
 
164 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 mediaeval 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 subse- 
 quently 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 
 
Courtrai and the Battle of the Spurs 165 
 
 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 lit- 
 tle 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 ex- 
 ertion, 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 ar- 
 tificial 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 
 
166 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 tlirougliout 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 pro- 
 fusely 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 ex- 
 quisite than to watch and listen as these tiny 
 minstrels of the sky go through their little per- 
 formance. Suddenly, almost before the eye 
 can locate it, one shoots upward from the wav- 
 ing wheat in front of us, his rich trills fairly 
 making the air vibrate with melody. Higher 
 and yet higher he goes, his little wings strug- 
 gling wildly, as if the effort of flying and sing- 
 ing 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 ris- 
 ing and still fluttering madly — until he be- 
 comes a mere speck against the sky. Then, all 
 
Courtrai and the Battle of the Spurs 167 
 
 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 vi- 
 brating 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 imi- 
 tating the breathless rush of the aerial notes: 
 
 "Hail to thee, blithe spirit! 
 
 Bird thou never wert, 
 That from Heaven, or near it, 
 
 Ponrest thy full heart 
 In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. 
 
168 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 " 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!" 
 
CHAPTEE IX 
 
 GHENT IN THE DAYS OP THE FLEMISH COUNTS 
 
 TURING the Middle Ages Ghent was, for 
 nearly five centuries, one of the great- 
 est 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 wis- 
 dom, 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 fur- 
 ther 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 hun- 
 dred 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 
 
 169 
 
170 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 sta- 
 tions — 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 him- 
 self riding past one hoary old structure after 
 another whose frowning grey walls and mas- 
 sive 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 Chateau des Comtes, 
 or Castle of the Counts, the ruins of which 
 stand in the very lieart 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 
 
Ghent in the Days of the Counts 171 
 
 called the new castle, Novum Castellum, to dis- 
 tinguish 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. Pharailde, that Philip of Al- 
 sace — son of the Dierick of Alsace who 
 brought the Holy Blood to the chapel of St. 
 Basil at Bruges — erected the present struc- 
 ture. Its purpose was " to check the un- 
 bounded arrogance of the inhabitants of Ghent, 
 who had become too proud of their riches and 
 of their fortified houses, which looked like 
 towers." The Couut had been in Palestine 
 two years before and had greatly admired some 
 of the strong castles erected there by the cru- 
 saders and instructed his builders to imitate 
 these models, which he no doubt described to 
 them. 
 
 After inspecting the remains of the earlier 
 
172 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 en- 
 tirely 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 cas- 
 tle on the opposite side from the Place. Com- 
 ing 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 ban- 
 ner of the Count was hoisted when the men of 
 Qhent were called upon to follow their over- 
 lord to war. The gateway below, at the corner 
 of the Place Ste. Pharailde and the rue de la 
 Monnaie, has a tragic interest from the fact 
 that here were placed the two railings, called 
 les bailies, between which those sentenced to 
 death by the Council of Flanders were ex- 
 ecuted. 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. 
 
Ghent in the Days of the Counts 173 
 
 The inner castle, usually styled the Palace, 
 was the actual residence of the Counts of Flan- 
 ders whenever they chanced to be stopping in 
 the city. Thanks to the skilful restoration of 
 the government, the various parts of this edi- 
 fice 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 medias- 
 val nobility, quite apart from their many his- 
 toric 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 fil- 
 ters 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 
 
174 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 mediaeval 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 Flan- 
 ders by itself. Here the Counts, and their suc- 
 cessors, the Dukes of Burgundy, held many of 
 their great banquets and state functions of 
 
Ghent in the Days of the Counts 175 
 
 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 pre- 
 served 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 im- 
 portance 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 per- 
 haps dined on a raised dais at one end, while 
 the throng of courtiers and retainers feasted 
 noisily farther down the hall. On such occa- 
 sions one can imagine how the great stone fire- 
 place, 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. 
 
176 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 Cas- 
 tellane or keeper of the castle; the small au- 
 dience chamber near the bedrooms of their 
 highnesses — which was used on ordinary oc- 
 casions 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 Eomanesque 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 oc- 
 cupied by the sovereigns as a residence, and 
 the stable, no longer needed for horses, be- 
 came a torture chamber and continued to be 
 used for this purpose until the close of the 
 eighteenth century. It is here that the beauti- 
 ful and unfortunate Jacqueline, Countess of 
 Hainaut and Holland, is said to have been con- 
 fined by Philip the Good when that amiable 
 
Ghent in the Days of the Counts 177 
 
 monarch was trying to persuade lier to part 
 with her patrimony. She resisted bravely and 
 was finally released, but her powerful and wily 
 antagonist subjugated her at last. The Pro- 
 fessor 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 dis- 
 cover 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 Spifrs, the citi- 
 zens of Ghent rose en masse against the sher- 
 itfs of King Philip of France, who took refuge 
 here. The infuriated crowd, armed with pikes, 
 axes and swords, beat upon the gates and fi- 
 nally 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 ave- 
 
178 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 ime 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 sup- 
 pressed in the sixteenth century, and from the 
 same year the Court of the Count held ses- 
 sions here. It was used less and less as 
 a residence after this, but from 1407 to 
 1778 was the seat of the Council of Flan- 
 ders, 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 factoiy 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 
 
Ghent in the Days of the Counts 179 
 
 1884. Meanwhile other small buildings were 
 erected around the old walls until they were 
 entirely concealed, and a guidebook of this pe- 
 riod states that of the old castle " nothing 
 now remains but the entrance." In 1887 some 
 archeologists stirred the municipal and na- 
 tional governments to action with a view to 
 saving and restoring this splendid monument 
 of the Middle Ages, the Gateway having al- 
 ready been acquired by the nation in 1872. 
 The work of demolishing the buildings that had 
 clustered about the old walls and of restora- 
 tion 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 in- 
 teresting 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, Scot- 
 land and Ireland. The city, according to this 
 tale, was bravely defended by Dierick, Lord of 
 Dixmude, and aU the attacks of the besiegers 
 
180 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 were repelled for many months. Their majes- 
 ties 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. Not- 
 withstanding 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, how- 
 ever, 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 fa- 
 mous 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 Enge- 
 lande-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. 
 
Ghent in the Days of the Counts 181 
 
 We were unable to find it, however, in one of 
 our early morning tramps, although we found 
 a rue d'Angieterre 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 peas- 
 ants 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 *' monu- 
 ments " 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 
 
182 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 the name of Bavon on his conversion and re- 
 tired into a monastery. A second abbey took 
 the name of St. Bavon, the deceased monk hav- 
 ing been canonized, aiid around these two re- 
 ligious 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 an- 
 cient 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 mon- 
 astery 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 ad- 
 vantage of the protection afforded by these re- 
 ligious institutions, and also of the strategic 
 location of the town at the junction of three 
 rivers. The Quai an Ble 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 Marche du Vendredi, or Fri- 
 day Market, soon followed and Ghent had be- 
 gun the development that was destined to make 
 
Grhent in the Days of the Counts 183 
 
 it, for three centuries, one of the greatest trad- 
 ing centres in the world. 
 
 The present buildings of the Abbey date 
 from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the 
 original structures having been destroyed dur- 
 ing the tenth century. It was during the thir- 
 teenth and fourteenth centuries that the Ab- 
 bey 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 be- 
 came one of many similarly held by the power- 
 ful 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 monas- 
 tery. To build the great fortress by which he 
 held in awe the turbulent citizens of Ghent he 
 ordered the demolishment of a considerable 
 
184 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 part of its buildings and the erection on its site 
 of his citadel, the Chateau cles 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 pro- 
 tected against further injury; and, as they 
 stand, give the observer a most imposing real- 
 isation of their former grandeur. The Ee- 
 fectory, 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 bap- 
 tismal 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 in- 
 spiration of the ancient Abbey, but in the gen- 
 eral views that in every direction give a con- 
 ception of the former vast extent and richness 
 of the buildings. In their present condition 
 

 
 
 
 
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G-hent in the Days of the Counts 185 
 
 the ruins form a series of pictures of wonder- 
 ful beauty, not only in the remains of their 
 architectural and artistic splendour, but be- 
 cause 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. 
 
 Eeturning to the heart of the city, another 
 memento of the earliest period of the city's 
 growth attracted our attention. This was the 
 Chateau of Girard le Diable (Grirard the 
 Devil) the first of the " monuments " to 
 be encountered if one arrives by the South- 
 ern railway station. This edifice, now com- 
 pletely restored and used as the depository 
 of the provincial archives, dates from 1216. 
 Apart from the exterior, however, which re- 
 produces the original appearance of the cas- 
 tle, 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, mak- 
 ing 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. 
 
186 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 From tlie records lie appears to have been a 
 tolerably worthy citizen, holding, as did his 
 father before him, the position of Chatelain 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 his- 
 tory. For two or three centuries it remained 
 the residence of the Chatelains of Ghent, then, 
 for a time, was used by the city as an arsenal, 
 was occupied by the Hieronimites, 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 Marche aux Grains. It was 
 founded in 912, or slightly more than a thou- 
 sand years ago. The original edifice was 
 burned in 1120, so that the present structure 
 dates from that century. A picturesque fea- 
 ture 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 
 
Grhent in the Days of the Counts 187 
 
 for many years crowded between commonplace 
 three-story houses, the church builders of Flan- 
 ders apparently caring very little how the im- 
 posing 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 mediaeval 
 legends. Even in infancy he is alleged to have 
 observed the fasts, refusing the breast of his 
 nurse. He used to look particularly after chil- 
 dren, 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 inno- 
 cents 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 
 
188 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 monkish chronicles — and, after many adven- 
 tures 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 de- 
 scribed 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 com- 
 pleted 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 re- 
 main. Our exploration of the cold and gloomy 
 crypt served to bring back the earlier pe- 
 riod of the history of Ghent in two ways 
 — not only is its present appearance un- 
 doubtedly much the same as it was eight or 
 nine centuries ago, when the city of the weavers 
 
Grhent in the Days of the Counts 185 
 
 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 mer- 
 chants 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 Cha- 
 teau on the Place Ste. Pharailde 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 
 
190 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 had become an important centre for the woollen 
 trade with England, and also for all the 
 branches of woollen manufacture, the '' scar- 
 lets " 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 might- 
 ily by this situation, the shrewd burghers of 
 Ghent, Bruges, Ypres and the other powerful 
 Flemish communes were not backward in ex- 
 tending 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 oli- 
 garchy 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 Flan- 
 ders 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 Flan- 
 
Ghent in the Days of the Counts 191 
 
 ders 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 noth- 
 ing, and all Flanders was over-run by the vic- 
 torious French troops. Ghent, after a brief 
 resistance, yielded, and the French King, mak- 
 ing 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 
 
 fT 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 rela- 
 tive 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 over- 
 lords of France, by bribery and even by down- 
 right 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 four- 
 teenth century that the land of the Flemings 
 
 192 
 
Ghent Governed by Guilds 193 
 
 just missed becoming a nation, and, possibly, a 
 republic. That it failed was due to the fact 
 that, while there existed a splendid and indomi- 
 table 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 com- 
 mune 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 otf. 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, 
 
194 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 immedi- 
 ately, but in almost every instance the guilds- 
 men were able to maintain the results of their 
 great victory and firmly establish the founda- 
 tion 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- 
 metiers, or minor industries, were also repre- 
 sented. 
 
 The apprentice system was rigidly enforced 
 among all the guilds, but the policy of the or- 
 ganisations 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 offi- 
 cers of the guilds supervised the quality of the 
 goods turned out and imposed penalties for 
 poor workmanship or the use of inferior mate- 
 rials. Each guild had its own house or meet- 
 ing-place, and while the fine guild houses on the 
 
Photograph by E. Sacre. 
 
 POST OFFICE, CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS, BELFRY AND 
 CATHEDRAL, GHENT. 
 
Ghent Governed by Guilds 195 
 
 Marche aux Grains date from a somewhat later 
 period, they were no donbt 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 build- 
 ings have been carefully restored, the interiors 
 are now devoted to private uses and contain lit- 
 tle 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. 
 
 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 mu- 
 nicipal authorities as a preparation for the In- 
 
196 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 ternational 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 Ant- 
 werp to the east and Audenaerde to the south. 
 So densely peopled is the Flemish plain that 
 these great cities lie almost close enough to- 
 gether to be within sound of great Roland. 
 
 This was the renowned bell which the bur- 
 ghers 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 giiildsmen to its defence when danger 
 threatened. It bore the following inscription 
 in Flemish : 
 
 Myiien naem is Roelant, als ick clippe dan ist brant 
 Als icke luyde, dan ist stoi-m 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 
 
Ghent Governed by Guilds 197 
 
 weighed twelve thousand, five hundred pounds 
 and was the pride of the city, but was de- 
 stroyed by order of Charles V when he forced 
 the burghers abjectly to submit to his despot- 
 ism in 1540. 
 
 In the lower part of the tower is the ' ' secret 
 room " where from 1402 the burghers kept, be- 
 hind 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 re- 
 searches 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 hun- 
 dred guilds. The upper hall is now used as a 
 Bureau of Information for Tourists, while the 
 lower one is a Bathskeller. 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. Be- 
 hind the Cloth Hall, but nestling close against 
 it, is the quaint little entrance to the communal 
 prison, which was built in 1741 when the pris- 
 
198 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 oners were confined on the lower floor of tlie 
 Cloth Hall. Over the door at the top of the 
 facade 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 daugh- 
 ter — 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 bur- 
 ghers of Ghent, France and England were 
 drifting into the Hundred Years' War. The 
 Count of Flanders, Louis de Nevers, was ar- 
 dently 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 in- 
 stance of the King of France, he ordered all 
 the English merchants in Flanders to be ar- 
 rested and their goods confiscated. The King 
 of England, Edward III, promptly retaliated 
 by prohibiting th^ 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 
 
Ghent Governed by Guilds 199 
 
 weavers were idle, the markets deserted, actual 
 starvation existed, and many of the guildsmen 
 were forced to wander off into the countryside 
 to heg 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 be- 
 half 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 recog- 
 nised as the foremost of the five captains then 
 chosen to administer the government of the 
 city, and was given a larger guard than his col- 
 leagues. The helpless Count of Flanders, un- 
 able to resist, was obliged to ratify the new 
 policy of the burghers, and by the middle of 
 
200 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 re- 
 newed 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 accom- 
 pany the men of Ghent to the annual proces- 
 sion at Tournai wearing their colours. The 
 '' White Hoods," as the warriors of the popu- 
 lar 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 jnatrimo- 
 nial offers, ended by treating directly with Van 
 Artevelde as if with a sovereign prince. 
 
Grhent G-overned by Guilds 201 
 
 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 suze- 
 rain, the King of France, by having Edward 
 claim the crown of France, and it was in con- 
 sequence 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 Marche 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 ex- 
 claiming, '' The English cowards! Oh, the 
 English cowards! " On the King's inquiring 
 what he meant by this, the jester replied, 
 
202 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 '' They were afraid to jump into tlie 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 diffi- 
 cult, he failed to pay the subsidies he had prom- 
 ised, 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 
 Marche 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 inter- 
 view 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 
 
Ghent Governed by Guilds 203 
 
 betrayed the country. After vainly trying to 
 argne with, them, he reluctantly permitted him- 
 self 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 ty- 
 rant, Jacques Van Artevelde ranks as one 
 of the foremost statesmen of his time. He 
 died the '' victim of a faction " and of treach- 
 ery rather than a popular revolt against his 
 policies, for the English alliance was stead- 
 fastly continued after his death. To-day his 
 statue stands on the Marche 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 
 Crecy where the English archers, fighting by 
 the side of many Flemish guildsmen, gave the 
 
204 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 death blow to mediaeval cliivalry and utterly 
 crushed the power of France. 
 
 The weavers, who under Van Artevelde had 
 become the dominant power in all of the Flem- 
 ish 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 privi- 
 leges 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, al- 
 though their numbers had been greatly reduced 
 by the plague, held out stubbornly, but were 
 massacred on the Marche du Vendredi, Tues- 
 day, January 13, 1349, their captain and their 
 Doyen, Gerard 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 be- 
 fore 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 Ed- 
 
Ghent Governed by Guilds 205 
 
 ward wisely welcoming the exiles and giving 
 them every aid in his power to settle in his 
 Kingdom. Later the competition of these fugi- 
 tives 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, how- 
 ever, and the fact that its members were neces- 
 sarily 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 cap- 
 ital, but during the greater part of his reign of 
 forty years was able to continue on fairly 
 peaceful terms with the turbulent city of Grhent 
 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 centu- 
 ries. In 1369 the daughter of the Count mar- 
 ried 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 
 
206 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 Marche 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 Boat- 
 men'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, how- 
 ever, 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 es- 
 
Ghent G-overned by Guilds 207 
 
 caped to Lille and so to France. Van Arte- 
 velde treated the captured city with generosity 
 and was soon captain of all Flanders. His next 
 battle was with the King of France, hut this 
 time he was less fortunate, and at Eosbecque, 
 November 27, 1382, the Flemish host was cut 
 to pieces and its leader slain. Louis of Maele 
 himself died two years later, leaving the repu- 
 tation 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 guilds- 
 men, 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 
 
208 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 richly embroidered cloaks upon them, and re- 
 tired 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 bour- 
 geois 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 chroni- 
 cler 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 mider 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 Man- 
 nekens Aert. According to Froissart, Van Ar- 
 tevelde 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. 
 
Ghent Governed by Guilds 209 
 
 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 considera- 
 bly since Froissart's time, for she is now nine- 
 teen 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. 
 
 Another interesting monument dating from 
 the same period in the city's history as the Bel- 
 fry 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 heau 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 cen- 
 tury later than the chapel, while some of the 
 other buildings date from the seventeenth and 
 eighteenth centuries. 
 
 Grhent contains two Beguinages, a circum- 
 
210 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 stance 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 occa- 
 sions — 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 Beguinage 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 Beguinage was soon established which 
 came to be called the Petit Beguinage. Pro- 
 tected by the successive Counts, and particu- 
 larly by the patronage of the Countesses of 
 Flanders, both institutions flourished and ex- 
 panded steadily. The present Petit Beguinage 
 de Notre Dame dates largely from the seven- 
 teenth century, and the Chapel and streets of 
 tiny houses inhabited by the Beguines are most 
 picturesque. It has accommodations for three 
 hundred sisters. The Grrand Beguinage de 
 Ste. Elisabeth was confiscated during the 
 French Eevolution and the property presented 
 to the almshouses of the city of Ghent. The 
 Committee in charge of the almshouses suffered 
 
Ghent Governed by Guilds 211 
 
 the Beguines to remain undisturbed, however, 
 until 1872 when strained relations resulting 
 from this arrangement led to the Beguines giv- 
 ing up their estahlishment, whi<}h was mod- 
 ernized by the authorities and many of its in- 
 teresting features destroyed. The church re- 
 mains, having become a parish church, and the 
 rue des Prebendieres retains its original ap- 
 pearance. Meanwhile, the Duke of Arenberg 
 purchased ground for a new Grande Beguinage 
 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. 
 
 We spent a very charming afternoon visiting 
 the Grande Beguinage. Passing through the 
 lofty gateway we were greeted by the pleasant- 
 faced BegTiine 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 
 
212 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 been permitted to visit we were first conducted 
 down a long, clean corridor, painted a glaring 
 white, to a parlour or reception room, of wliich 
 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 Be- 
 guine. Here she keeps her napkins, dishes and 
 cooking utensils, and even her bread and pro- 
 visions. A board can be pulled out near the 
 middle, which serves as a table. These cup- 
 boards are so constructed that no Beguine can 
 see into that of her neighbour, and apparently 
 they take their meals one at a time, as one was 
 eating her frngal 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 simmer- 
 ing gently. One Beguine, we were told, has the 
 duty of attending to the kitchen for three weeks, 
 then another, each taking turns. The Beguines 
 
Ghent Governed by Guilds 213 
 
 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 Beguines 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 con- 
 vent, or in the large chapel of the entire Be- 
 guinage, when the sisters are assembled for 
 service is a very picturesque one and gives the 
 visitor an impression likely long to be remem- 
 bered. 
 
 Speaking of the peculiar dining customs of 
 the.BegTiines 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 
 
214 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 men- 
 tally 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, cas- 
 seroles 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 impor- 
 tant, 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 
 
Grhent Governed by Guilds 215 
 
 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 accus- 
 tomed 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 be- 
 fore 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 
 
 X 
 
216 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 repara- 
 tion 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, be- 
 ing 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 utilisa- 
 tion 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 
 
Ghent Governed by Guilds 217 
 
 and individual far more poignant than would be 
 the case where frugality was less deeply in- 
 grained as a national characteristic. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 PHILIP THE GOOD AND THE VAIST EYCKS 
 
 'S 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 Flan- 
 ders 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 Hai- 
 
 218 
 
Philip the Good and the Van Eycks 219 
 
 naut. His eldest son was married to Margaret, 
 daughter of the Eegent of Hainant, 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 Bra- 
 bant 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 remem- 
 bering, 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 Bur- 
 gundians — gathered primarily to invade Eng- 
 land — 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 Phil- 
 ip's sovereignty. The invasion of England 
 
220 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 project came to nothing — as have so many 
 others before and since — but it had at least 
 enabled Philip to establish his power in Flan- 
 ders. 
 
 On Philip's death in 1404, he was succeeded 
 by his son, John the Fearless (as the old chroni- 
 clers 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 murder- 
 ing John the Fearless at Montereau. 
 
 The son of John the Fearless was Philip, 
 called by the chroniclers " the Good." A bet- 
 ter term would have been '* the Magnificent," 
 for goodness was hardly his chief characteris- 
 tic. The murder of his father caused Philip to 
 take the side of England in the long conflict be- 
 tween that country and France that was still 
 raging — a policy that pleased his Flemish com- 
 
Philip the G-ood and the Van Eycks 221 
 
 munes, which depended for their prosperity on 
 the wool trade. Meanwhile Philip took advan- 
 tage of the matrimonial difficulties of Jacque- 
 line of Bavaria, Countess of Hainaut and Hol- 
 land, to compel that beautiful but unfortunate 
 princess to abdicate in his favour. The dun- 
 geon 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 Eegent of France, over which they still 
 claimed sovereignty. It was Philip who cap- 
 tured and indirectly caused the execution of 
 Jeanne d'Arc at the darkest period of French 
 history. 
 
 The now all-powerful Duke of Burgundy sig- 
 nalized his marriage by establishing at Bruges 
 the famous Order of the Grolden 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 
 
222 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 the new order quickly took rank as the very 
 pinnacle of mediaeval 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 ex- 
 erted powers equal, and, in some respects, 
 superior, to those of any crowned monarch. 
 The fetes with which Philip celebrated the es- 
 tablishment 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 domin- 
 ions. 
 
 Up to this date the policy of Philip had coin- 
 cided with the interests of his great communes 
 in Flanders and his popularity throughout the 
 county was unbounded. Not only did friend- 
 ship 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 fron- 
 tier whose trade and industries were unmo- 
 lested. In 1435 Philip concluded the treaty of 
 Arras with Charles VII, King of France, by 
 which, for the sake of peace, the French King 
 
Philip the Good and the Van Eycks 223 
 
 ceded to liim a number of counties in France 
 and made him, during Ms 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 Bur- 
 gundy, 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 verman- 
 den! " ("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 con- 
 siderable 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 
 
224 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 instantly sounded the alarm, and angry guilds- 
 men and burghers came pouring down the nar- 
 row 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 Bur- 
 gomaster Van de "VValle, 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 twen- 
 ty-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 bare- 
 footed the next time he deigned to visit the de- 
 feated commune, and on their knees give him 
 the keys of the city. A heavy fine was imposed 
 
Philip the Good and the Van Eycks 225 
 
 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 contin- 
 ued 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. 
 Eebelling 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 en- 
 camped 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 de- 
 stroy Philip's army. The tocsin therefore was 
 sounded and the hosts of guildsmen and bur- 
 
226 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 ghers 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 Burgun- 
 dian 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 vic- 
 tors — 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, 
 
Philip the Good and the Van Eycks 227 
 
 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 bod- 
 ies 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 sub- 
 jects! " 
 
 The privileges of Ghent were somewhat cur- 
 tailed, and the dearly loved guild banners car- 
 ried away by the conqueror, but Philip, on the 
 whole, was very moderate. The obnoxious ga- 
 belle, 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 
 fetes 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 sing- 
 ing within; another held a huge pie, inside of 
 which an orchestra of twenty-eight musicians 
 played; a third contained a pantomime repre- 
 senting Jason in search of the golden fleece. 
 These fetes and tournaments lasted for days, 
 and were the wonder of Europe. 
 
228 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 During the remainder of liis reign of fifty 
 years Pliilip never again had occasion to make 
 war on his Flemish subjects, and while he seri- 
 ously curtailed the power and importance of the 
 communes, his rule was, on the whole, a period 
 of great prosperity for Flanders. Both mer- 
 chants 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 Co- 
 lard 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 estab- 
 lishment in Flanders of the school of painters 
 in oils whose masterpieces loom so large in the 
 history of art.. 
 
 Like most men whose commanding person- 
 ality doininates the age in which they live, 
 Philip the Good was many sided. The Profes- 
 sor admires him because he was, in his judg- 
 ment, one of the greatest constructive states- 
 men of the Middle Ages — aiming steadily 
 
Philip the Good and the Van Eycks 229 
 
 throughout his long reign to weld together, by 
 fair means or foul, a compact Burgundian na- 
 tion. On the other hand, I look upon him as a 
 foe rather than a friend of true progress, be- 
 cause 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 repre- 
 sented 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 thir- 
 teenth century. At that city in 1337 the first 
 guild of sculptors was organised, under the pat- 
 ronage of St. Luke, and similar corporations 
 were instituted at Tournai in 1341, in Bruges 
 
230 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 in 1351, at Louvain by 1360 and Antwerp by 
 1382. To this guild from the very earliest pe- 
 riod the painters belonged, sometimes the gold- 
 smiths 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 associa- 
 tions 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 tap- 
 estry workers. Philip the Bold, the first of the 
 Dukes of Burgundy to rule over Flanders, re- 
 tained 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 
 
Philip the Good and the Van Eycks 231 
 
 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 re- 
 sults. 
 
 The reason for this may have been the me- 
 dium 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 dry- 
 ing was slow and unsatisfactory. To Flanders 
 belongs the honour of the great discovery of 
 the art of painting with oils that revolution- 
 ised this branch of the fine arts and made the 
 master-works of the artists of the brush im- 
 perishable for all time. 
 
 This epoch-making discovery, which is justly 
 
232 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 oc- 
 casion 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 drjdng his paintings 
 in the sun and, after many experiments, dis- 
 covered 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 imper- 
 meable 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 
 
Philip the Good and the Van Eycks 23S 
 
 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 them- 
 selves Hubert and Jean of Eyck. They first 
 obtained service under the prince-bishop of 
 Liege, and were illuminators of manuscripts 
 and statues as well as painters. The increas- 
 ing 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, after- 
 wards the Duke Philip the Good, at about the 
 date assigned by the early historians as that 
 when the art of painting with oils was dis- 
 covered. The Count was residing at that time 
 in the Chateau des Comtes at Ghent with his 
 young wife Michelle, sister of the Duke of Or- 
 leans. In 1419, when the news of the murder 
 of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, by 
 the Duke of Orleans on the bridge of Mon- 
 tereau 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 sub- 
 sequent suspicion of her husband that she knew 
 
234 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 of the plot, caused the poor little French prin- 
 cess 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 set- 
 tled 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 for- 
 
Philip the Good and the Van Eycks 235 
 
 gotten by early historians of art in Flanders, 
 and it is only recently tliat 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 pro- 
 posed altar-piece was the Adoration of the 
 Lamb, and the artist, while true to the conven- 
 tions 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 pic- 
 ture when he was commissioned by the donor 
 to complete it. The books on Flemish art de- 
 vote many pages to an analytical description of 
 this picture,^ which was finally completed by 
 Jean in 1432. The Duke Philip, his patron, 
 
 1 See " The Early Flemish Painters," by J. A. Crowe and 
 G, B. Cavalcaselle, pp. 491-63 ; and " Belgium, Its Cities," by 
 Grant Allen, pp. 164-175. 
 
236 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 sing- 
 ing the dominant, which the counter-tenor, and 
 which the tenor and the bass," according to an 
 early critic. We were told by a Belgian cure 
 with whom we talked about this wonderful pic- 
 ture 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 hold- 
 ing open in their hands copies of the Scriptures 
 the very passage at which each book is opened 
 can be distinguished! We verified this re- 
 markable assertion by the aid of a glass loaned 
 us by an attendant. 
 
 The subsequent history of the painting is in- 
 teresting. Philip II, who carried many Flem- 
 
SINGING ANGELS PROM THE ADORA- 
 
 TION OP THE LAMB. ' ' — JEAN VAN EYCK. 
 
Philip the Good and the Van Eycks 237 
 
 ish 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 Grhent wished to 
 present the painting to Queen Elizabeth in re- 
 turn 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 dis- 
 membered 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 Eevolution, but was returned some 
 years later. The wings, however, were not re- 
 stored to their original position, and were fi- 
 nally 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 Mu- 
 seum of Berhn. 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 
 
238 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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. 
 
 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 Mal- 
 ines. 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 
 
pa.tro3: 
 
 worshititttft!' ilit' XJ fioaufui ''''■■ -I'fdn f an Eyrk ■ 
 
 Nicholas 
 
Philip the Good and the Van Eycks 239 
 
 centuries, but both bistorically and artistically 
 one of the most interesting of them all. There 
 are a considerable number of authenicated 
 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. 
 
 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, wor- 
 shipping the Madonna. ' Of the portrait of the 
 worthy donor Max Eooses, 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 wrin- 
 kles gleam the dazzling white of the surplice 
 with its greenish shimmer, the intense red of 
 Mary's mantle, St. Donatian 's flowing cape, 
 
240 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 interest- 
 ing 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 stor^^ was that this 
 young lady's parents had planned a rich mar- 
 riage 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 hirnself, thereby dedicat- 
 ing her to the service of the Lord. This pic- 
 ture 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 
 
Philip the Good and the Van Eycks 241 
 
 P. H. Verbruggen, and representing the glori- 
 fication of St. Bavon. Another is the famous 
 tomb of Bishop Triest carved by Jerome Du- 
 quesnoy in 1654. This represents the Bishop 
 reclining on a conch, and has been termed ^ ' the 
 most beautiful piece of statuary in the coun- 
 try. ' ' Still a third masterpiece is ' ' St. Bavon 
 withdrawing from the World," by Eubens. 
 There are a score of other paintings and pieces 
 of sculpture of interest and importance, but 
 all are so over-shadowed by the famous polyp- 
 tych that the average tourist scarcely notices 
 them unless he goes back to this remarkable 
 church several times. In front of the Chateau 
 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 
 
 TOUKNAI, THE OLDEST CITY IN BELGIITM 
 
 ]S 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 Kosa 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 di- 
 rect railway line, however, and — as on many 
 other occasions during our pilgrimage — we 
 had no little trouble studying out a correspond- 
 ence, 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 work- 
 ing people. The Belgian State Eailway sells 
 billets d'ahonnement for these trains at in- 
 credibly low rates — a few sous a month for 
 short trips from one town to the next, and a 
 
 242 
 
Tournai, the Oldest City in Belgium 243 
 
 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 dis- 
 tant, 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 ibe 
 found and still retain their homes in the vil- 
 lages 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 abnor- 
 mally 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 
 
244 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 grand- 
 sires of eighty. All are roughly clad, ready 
 to take up their respective tasks the moment 
 they arrive — no one thinl?:s of having a sep- 
 arate suit for travelling as most of the work- 
 men who commute to and from an American 
 city would do. In the women's car the occu- 
 pants 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 oc- 
 casionally, 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 
 
Tournai, the Oldest City in Belgium 245 
 
 in kind. Then, as the trains start, the laugh- 
 ing 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 passen- 
 gers, 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 usu- 
 ally regarded as a Walloon rather than a Flem- 
 ish 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 Caesar, the capital of the 
 Nervii, and one of the oldest towns north of 
 the Alps. In 299 it was the scene of the mar- 
 tyrdom 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 conse- 
 crated to divine worship for more than sixteen 
 hundred years. During the fourth and fifth 
 
246 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 Koman 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 his- 
 tory 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, 
 naively, that if she knew of another who sur- 
 passed 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 cere- 
 
Tournai, the Oldest City in Belgium 247 
 
 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 prom- 
 inently 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 bonds- 
 man, became by virtue of her beauty and im- 
 perious will the wife of Chilperic, King of the 
 Franks. Brunehault, equally beautiful, but a 
 
248 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 be- 
 sieged 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 Eu- 
 ropean city. For many generations it was sub- 
 ject 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 at- 
 tacked by the English under Edward III, a 
 huge army of Flemings under Jacques Van 
 
Tournai, the Oldest City in Belgium 249 
 
 Artevelde, the Duke of Brabant and the Comit 
 of Hainant with their followers and many 
 others — a host estimated by Froissart at one 
 hundred and twenty thousand men. That de- 
 lightful 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 Wol- 
 sey, 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 do- 
 mains, 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 be- 
 sieged 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 sur- 
 rendered. 
 
 Tournai once more passed into the hands of 
 
250 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 the French in 1668, when it was captured by 
 Louis XIV and afterwards elaborately forti- 
 fied 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 mat- 
 ter 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. Aus- 
 trian Succession, which brought the English 
 and French into conflict even along the fron- 
 tiers of their far-off American colonies. Aus- 
 trian Flanders became the arena of the de- 
 cisive campaign in this war — in which its in- 
 habitants had absolutely no interest or con- 
 cern whatever — and Tournai was the prize for 
 which the armies fought. It was during this 
 and the preceding century that Flanders be- 
 came ' ' the cockpit of Europe ' ' — foreign ar- 
 mies 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 
 
Tournai, the Oldest City in Belgium 251 
 
 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 genera- 
 tions of British soldiers." 
 
 An English force formed the nucleus and the 
 backbone of the allied army, which was com- 
 manded by the Duke of Cumberland, brother 
 of J^ing 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 cam- 
 paign. When Saxe explained his plan of cam- 
 paign, which involved a scheme of field forti- 
 fications, 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 com- 
 mand of my army I intend that every one shall 
 obey you, and I will be the first to set an ex- 
 ample of obedience." 
 
 For a time the allies, which consisted of Eng- 
 lish, Hanoverian, Dutch and Austrian troops 
 
252 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 — very few Flemings taking part in this cam- 
 paign 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 ap- 
 peared 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 Brus- 
 sels and marched through the mud toward the 
 beleaguered city. On the evening of May 
 tenjth, eleven days after the siege had begun, 
 they arrived within sight of the quintuple 
 towers of the cathedral and the adjacent bel- 
 fry. 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 at- 
 tacked from the direction of the little village 
 of Vezon, while Louis XV watched the battle 
 from a hill near the intersection of the Mons 
 
Tournai, the Oldest City in Belgium 253 
 
 road with that leading from Eamecroix to 
 Antoing. The attack began at two o'clock in 
 the morning, the English advancing in a hol- 
 low square, and it was not nntil after two in 
 the afternoon that Saxe, after bringing every 
 man in his forces into action, had the satis- 
 faction 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 volun- 
 teers 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 descrip- 
 tion 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 tlie huts of Fontenoy the English column 
 failed, 
 
 And twice the lines of Saint Antoine the Dutch in vain as- 
 sailed ; 
 
 For town and slope were filled with fort and flanking bat- 
 tery, 
 
 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 dis- 
 persed. 
 
 The bloody Duke of Cumberland beheld with anxious eye, 
 
 And ordered up his last reserves, his latest chance to try. 
 
254 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 On Fontenoy, on Fontenoy, how fast his generals ride! 
 And mustering came his chosen troops, like clouds at even- 
 tide. 
 
 " Six thousand English veterans in stately column tread ; 
 Their cannon blaze m front and flank, Lord Hay is at their 
 
 head. 
 Steady they step a-down the slope, steadj' 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 show- 
 ering 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 re- 
 main.' 
 
 * Lord Claire,' he said, ' you have your wish ; there are 
 your Saxon foes ! ' 
 
Tournai, the Oldest City in Belgium 255 
 
 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 axe filled 
 with gore J 
 
 Through shattered ranks and severed files and trampled 
 flags they tore. 
 
 The English strove with desperate strength; paused, ral- 
 lied, 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 de- 
 voted 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 ap- 
 proached 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 
 
256 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 be- 
 long to this earliest period. In 1054 a fire de- 
 stroyed 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 re- 
 duced. In their present form, however, the 
 towers compose a magnificent assemblage. 
 
Tournai, the Oldest City in Belgium 257 
 
 The four outer towers, which surround the now 
 much shorter central one, are two hundred and 
 seventy-two feet high, and, although appar- 
 ently 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 mediae- 
 val architecture. The nave was completed in 
 1070 and the transept in the eleventh and 
 twelfth centuries. Both are in the Eoman- 
 esque style, while the choir — originally Eoman- 
 esque — 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 
 
258 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 des- 
 tined 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 cos- 
 tumes of the figures being quite distinct. They 
 are among the oldest stone carvings in Europe 
 and show that the art of sculpture was prac- 
 
Tournai, the Oldest City in Belgium 259 
 
 tised at Tournai within a century or two after 
 the retirement of the Norsemen. 
 
 Even more interesting is the fine facade just 
 behind the groined porch that faces the Place 
 de I'Eveche. From a distance this end of the 
 cathedral is hardly pleasing, the sixteenth-cen- 
 tury porch concealing the early Eomanesque 
 fa§ade 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 repre- 
 sents 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 
 
260 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 his- 
 tory of King Childeric. The highest tier com- 
 prises 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 artisti- 
 cally less important than the others. In its 
 entirety, however, this entrance — ^' le por- 
 tail," '^ the entrance," as the people of Tour- 
 nai style it — is a place of wonderful interest, 
 a place to be visited again and again under dif- 
 ferent 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 Eo- 
 manesque 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 in- 
 
Tournai, the Oldest City in Belgium 261 
 
 terior. The pillars in tlie nave are not uni- 
 form, 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 propor- 
 tions and the view looking upward from this 
 point is one of extraordinary grandeur. 
 Here, too, the rood loft, or jube, 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 sculp- 
 ture 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 th^t 
 streams downward from its fine stained-glass 
 windows creating a very atmosphere of maj- 
 esty and inspiration. 
 
 While we were inspecting the choir and the 
 ambulatory, which contains several paintings 
 and carvings of no little interest, the Profes- 
 sor discovered that the hours had been slipping 
 
262 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 mediaeval aspect, al- 
 though the ancient Cloth Hall — which has re- 
 cently 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. Ac- 
 cording to some authorities the peculiar shape 
 of the Place is due to the intersection of two 
 Eoman roads at the point where the Belfry now 
 stands. Externally the tower, which is two 
 hundred and thirty-six feet high, strikingly re- 
 sembles the Belfry of Ghent. Within, after 
 
THE BELFRY, TOURNAI. 
 
Tournai, the Oldest City in Belgium 263 
 
 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 com- 
 pared with the dungeons in the Chateau 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 pic- 
 turesque and well worth the climb. A melo- 
 dious 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. 
 
 From the Belfry we visited the ancient 
 Church of St. Brice which stands in one of the 
 very oldest quarters of the city. Almost fac- 
 ing the church are two buildings known as the 
 Eoman houses. Although hardly dating from 
 the time of the Eomans they are undoubtedly 
 very ancient. Only the outer walls, however. 
 
264 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 remain of the original construction, the inte- 
 riors 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 de- 
 clined 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 cathe- 
 dral this structure is a remarkable example of 
 Eomanesque architecture. Externally it looks 
 from the rear like three stone barns built close 
 together, but its square tower is lofty and im- 
 posing, although much injured by a silly sort 
 of hat which was stuck on early in the last cen- 
 tury. The most interesting object within was 
 a quaint Tournai tapestry representing a va- 
 riety of Biblical subjects. 
 
 In the year 1653 archeologists and historians 
 throughout Europe were greatly excited over 
 one of the most interesting finds of ancient rel- 
 ics 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 
 
Tournai, the Oldest City in Belgium 265 
 
 veritable museum of arms and jewels since 
 known as the Treasure of Cliilderic 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 sil- 
 ver money of great antiquity, divers clasps and 
 buckles — all mingled with the remains of hu- 
 man 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 
 Eoyale 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 nu- 
 mismatic collection of the Bibliotheque Nation- 
 ale 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 
 
266 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 see the curious Pont des Trous — literally *' the 
 Bridge of the Holes," meaning loopholes — the 
 most ancient specimen of mediaeval 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 loop- 
 holes to enable the defenders to fire at foes ap- 
 proaching by way of the Eiver 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 pas- 
 sage-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 
 
Tournai, the Oldest City in Belgium 267 
 
 and children. Amid these peaceful surround- 
 ings 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 bat- 
 ter a breach in its massive walls or scale it 
 with long ladders, while its defenders fired vol- 
 ley 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 CENTUEIES OF TOUKNAISIAN" ART 
 
 HE 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 Ant- 
 werp 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 paint- 
 ing in Flanders and the most artistic of the 
 early printers, Malines of its lace and its splen- 
 did examples of religious architecture and art. 
 Tournai, however, has a broader title to the 
 phrase than any of them in that the artistic ac- 
 tivities of its gifted sons have not been confined 
 to one medium or two, but have been inde- 
 pendently developed along half a score of dif- 
 ferent lines and during a period covering more 
 than seven centuries. Not only is the city a 
 ricli repository of the artistic productions of 
 
 268 
 
Seven Centuries of Tournaisian Art 269 
 
 past ages, but it is still more notable in having 
 been one of the most prolific producers of beau- 
 tiful and artistic things. To the true con- 
 noisseur 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 hunt- 
 ers 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 chap- 
 ter is written as in the hope that it may sug- 
 gest how much there is to see for those whose 
 eyes are better trained and more discriminat- 
 ing 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 
 
270 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 iden- 
 tified. Now, thanks to the earnest and patient 
 study of Belgian scholars, he seems likely to 
 be given his rightful place as one of the great- 
 est of the early Flemish masters — after hav- 
 ing been completely forgotten for nearly five 
 hundred years ! His most important work is 
 an altarpiece in the possession of the Merode 
 family at Brussels, while the Frankfort Mu- 
 seum and the Prado at Madrid contain some 
 fine examples of his skill. 
 
 It is known that Robert Campin was the mas- 
 ter of two other Tournai artists, Rogier Van 
 der Weyden and Jacques Daret, of whom the 
 former soon far surpassed his teacher in re- 
 nown. Daret entered the atelier of Robert 
 Campin in 1418, when a lad of fourteen, ob- 
 tained the title of apprentice in 1427, and be- 
 came 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, be- 
 came one of Campin 's apprentices in 1427 — 
 
Seven Centuries of Tournaisian Art 271 
 
 the same date as Daret — and was admitted to 
 the guild of the painters at Tonrnai in 1432. 
 He spent much of his time at Brussels, how- 
 ever, 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 Herken- 
 bald, 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 tap- 
 estries 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 judg- 
 ment 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 
 
272 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 remains. The museum at Antwerp contains a 
 triptych of the Seven Sacraments by this mas- 
 ter, showing the interior of a cathedral sug- 
 gestive of that of Tournai — and, in fact, it 
 was for the Bishop of Tournai that it was orig- 
 inally 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 hav- 
 ing 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 re- 
 stored 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 high- 
 est rank, and the museum as a whole serves ad- 
 mirably 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. 
 

 
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Seven Centuries of Tournaisian Art 273 
 
 To be sure, there is nothing to represent Rob- 
 ert Campin or Jacques Daret, nor had the care- 
 taker 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 in- 
 cluded some excellent photographs of the more 
 famous works by Van der Weyden in the lead- 
 ing European galleries — a plan that might 
 well be followed with respect to the other nota- 
 ble works by Tournaisian artists. The master- 
 piece of the collection is the well known ' ' Last 
 Honours to Counts Egmont and Horn," by 
 Louis Gallait, the greatest of Toumai's mod- 
 ern 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, includ- 
 ing 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 
 
274 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 " Last Moments of the Comte d'Egmont " in 
 the museum of Berlin. 
 
 Equally fine in a very different way, but less 
 widely known, is a spirited painting by a com- 
 paratively 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 at- 
 tributed 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 mu- 
 seum also contains works by Hennebicq, who 
 painted the historical picture of Philip Augus- 
 tus granting a charter to the city of Tour- 
 nai in the Hotel de Ville; Hennequin, the 
 teacher of Gallait; Stallaert, whose " Death of 
 Dido " is in the museum of Brussels, and sev- 
 eral 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 
 
Seven Centuries of Tournaisian Art 275 
 
 the first decade of the present century, there 
 extends a period of five hundred years during 
 which the noble art of painting has been prac- 
 tised and taught at Tournai by men of com- 
 manding 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 Tour- 
 nai 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 cathe- 
 dral is a veritable museum of the stone carv- 
 ings of the past. The men of the chisel, more- 
 over, must be credited with giving some of the 
 inspiration that made the work of the early 
 artists of the brush so notable. Van der Wey- 
 den, particularly, shows the influence of sculp- 
 ture 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 
 
^76 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 acliievement from the twelfth to the sixteenth 
 centuries. 
 
 Closely allied to the carvers of stone were 
 those who worked in metals and of these Tour- 
 nai had its full share. A street of the Gold- 
 smiths (rue des Orfevres) 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 master- 
 piece is unknown, it is unquestionably of Tour- 
 naisian origin and was completed in 1247. 
 Built in the form of a sarcophagus, and made 
 of silver, heavily gilded, it is almost bewilder- 
 ing in the richness and intricacy of its decora- 
 tions and filigrees. At one end is a large 
 seated figure of Christ, at the other of St. Eleu- 
 thereus, 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 architec- 
 tural embellishments, all carved with a richness 
 of design that cannot be adequately described. 
 
Seven Centuries of Tournaisian Art 277 
 
 Still older, for it dates from 1205, is the Chasse 
 de Notre Dame, another treasure of the cathe- 
 dral. 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 thir- 
 teenth and fourteenth centuries, when the Con- 
 frerie des Damoiseaux held many brilliant tour- 
 naments in Tournai and other cities. This 
 chasse, the keeper told us, was not made at 
 Tournai, but at Bruges. Although very beau- 
 tiful, 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 prodi- 
 gious number of fine products of the copper- 
 
278 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 smith's art during the two centuries mentioned 
 
 — lamps, candlesticks, chandeliers, funeral 
 monuments, crucifixes and other religious arti- 
 cles ; 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 prod- 
 ucts of Tournai in this field was already consid- 
 erable, and between 1440 and 1480 its artisans 
 surpassed even those of Arras. In richness of 
 colouring, diversity and sprightliness of sub- 
 jects, 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 work- 
 men, many of them fled to Tournai, Auden- 
 aerde and Brussels, establishing the industrj'^ 
 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 lead- 
 ing tapestiy-making centre in Europe. It was 
 the school of Tournai that was the true fore- 
 runner of the still more famous tapestry weav- 
 ers of Brussels in depicting historical and 
 
Seven Centuries of Tournaisian Art 279 
 
 mythological scenes of the utmost vivacity and 
 richness, while the ateliers of Audenaerde spe- 
 cialised more largely in quieter pastoral scenes 
 and landscapes. Philip the Good, the most fas- 
 tidious connoisseur of his age, ordered several 
 tapestries at Toumai, including the history of 
 Gideon in eight panels to decorate the Hall of 
 the Order of the Golden Fleece. In the cathe- 
 dral the most notable of the Tournai tapestries 
 illustrates vividly the story of Joseph, while 
 one of the best in the museum depicts the his- 
 tory of Abraham — the angels announcing the 
 birth of Isaac. The border of a Tournai tap- 
 estry 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 Fere in .1402, and depicting in- 
 cidents 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 mediaeval art 
 to be seen in Europe. According to some au- 
 
280 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 thorities tlie designs for this work were drawn 
 by one of the artists of the Tournai school of 
 painters from which Van der Weyden subse- 
 quently received his instruction. At all events 
 the scenes are extremely naive, and the artist 
 has inserted sundry little devils who are giving 
 expression to their contempt of the various re- 
 ligious ceremonies depicted in some of the sec- 
 tions 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 es- 
 tablished in the city. In 1751 a native of Lille, 
 named Francois Peterink, began the manufac- 
 ture at Tournai of fine porcelains. Dinner sets 
 elaborately decorated and daintily formed, 
 vases, statues and statuettes of '' biscuit " 
 equal to the finest products of Sevres, Saxony 
 or England, were turned out in considerable 
 quantities for more than a century, and the por- 
 celains of Tournai became so renowned that 
 princes vied with one another to secure these 
 
Seven Centuries of Tournaisian Art 281 
 
 works of art. It is still possible for the col- 
 lector to secure some of these fine products, the 
 trademarks being a rude castle tower or two 
 crossed swords with tiny crosses at their inter- 
 secting angles. In the finest tableware these 
 are usually in gold, but red or some other col- 
 our 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 purchas- 
 ing. 
 
 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 Chil- 
 peric. Not only are these scenes of the utmost 
 interest historically, but the student of cos- 
 tumes and customs during the Middle Ages and 
 the student of early Flemish art will both find 
 
282 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 in- 
 extinguishable 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 Fon- 
 tainebleau and the celebrated carpet of the Le- 
 gion 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 dur- 
 ing 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 cen- 
 turies of almost uninterrupted artistic endeav- 
 our and achievement count for anything! 
 
 It is a somewhat remarkable feature of mod- 
 ern Belgium, however, that while its cities 
 
Seven Centuries of Tournaisian Art 283 
 
 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 col- 
 oured 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 han- 
 dling 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 men- 
 
284 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 tioned that seems to me so remarkable in a 
 country that for centuries has been passion- 
 ately 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? 
 
CHAPTEE XIV 
 
 THE FALL OF CHARLES THE BOLD MEMLING 
 
 AT BRUGES 
 
 )HERE are few careers in Mstory more 
 fascinating, more spectacular, more dra- 
 matic, than tliat of the last Duke of Bur- 
 gundy 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 power- 
 ful 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 him- 
 self, 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 ex- 
 tended his royal title, once legally acquired, 
 over the rest of his dominions. 
 
 285 
 
286 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 In " all the pomp and pageantry of power," 
 however, Charles was every inch a king — 
 magnificent in his hospitality, exceedingly cere- 
 monious and punctilious in court etiquette, and 
 fond of showing his vast power on every occa- 
 sion. 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 Liege, 
 and the cruelty with which he destroyed the 
 cities of Liege and Dinant cost him the affec- 
 tion 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 lof- 
 tiness and grandeur of which filled every eye, 
 Louis dressed plainly — often wearing the grey 
 cloak of a pilgrim, and almost invariably a pil- 
 grim'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 Bur- 
 gundy, 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 
 
The Fall of Charles the Bold 287 
 
 wherever he might happen to be — both 
 princes often carrying a lengthy train of bag- 
 gage, 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 Kegent, and it was during 
 this perioti 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 Di- 
 nant and slaughtering most of its male inhabit- 
 ants. 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. For- 
 tunately 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 
 
288 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 turbulent citizens of Liege — already a large 
 and prosperous manufacturing town, as ad- 
 vanced in the metallurgical arts as the Flem- 
 ish 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 sup- 
 pressed this revolt. The following year Louis 
 ventured to place himself in Charles' power by 
 paying him a visit at his powerful castle of 
 Peronne. 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 
 Liege took the moment of this visit to rise 
 again. Charles was furious, and, not unjustly 
 considering Louis to be the author of this at- 
 tack on his authority, had that monarch locked 
 up in a room in the castle. Nor was he pla- 
 cated until Louis signed a treaty still further 
 extending the power of the Dukes of Burgundy 
 in France, and agreed to join Charles in the ex- 
 pedition 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 inhabit- 
 ants perishing. 
 Returning to Flanders, Charles bitterly de- 
 
The Fall of Charles the Bold 289 
 
 nounced 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 opin- 
 ions, but know that others are as wise as you. 
 You Flemings, with your hard heads, have al- 
 ways 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 re- 
 sist 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 Beau- 
 vais, the defenders at the latter place being 
 urged to stronger resistance by Jeanne Hach- 
 ette, one of the heroic figures of French his- 
 tory. Charles now turned his attention to the 
 German side of his dominions, and here also 
 the implacable enmity of Louis stirred up ene- 
 mies for him in every direction. In Alsace 
 the people rose in revolt and slew the cruel 
 governor Charles had set over them, while the 
 
290 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 viola- 
 tion 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 engage- 
 ment and the scattering of his army. With 
 great difficulty he raised fresh levies, the Flem- 
 ish communes granting aid only on condition 
 that no further subsidies should be demanded 
 for six years to come. The battle of Granson 
 
The Fall of Charles the Bold 291 
 
 took place March 2, 1476. By June lie had 
 raised another and a larger army, and on the 
 22nd met the Swiss again at Morat. On re- 
 viewing 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 anni- 
 hilated his army. The Swiss showed no mercy 
 and took no prisoners, while the number of 
 killed on the BurgTindian 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 de- 
 spair 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 be- 
 siege Nancy — which had been lost to him 
 again after Morat. The town held out stub- 
 bornly, as all towns did, now that Charles ' cru- 
 elty and treachery to those who surrendered 
 were known, and the Burgundian forces suffered 
 much hardship from the cold, for it was now 
 
292 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 mid- winter. On January 5tli Charles gave bat- 
 tle 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 con- 
 quer, 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. Dona- 
 tian. His son, Philip II, removed them, five 
 
The Fall of Charles the Bold 293 
 
 years later, to the wonderful shrine in the 
 Church of Notre Dame where they remained 
 until the French Eevolution, 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 Eu- 
 rope, 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 humili- 
 ated at Peronne and affected at all times to de- 
 spise. 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 fol- 
 lowers and advisers were traitors in constant 
 correspondence with his wily and unscrupulous 
 antagonist. Had Charles sought to conciliate 
 his great Flemish communes instead of intimi- 
 date them his reign might have been prolonged 
 by their powerful aid, and his dream of estab- 
 lishing a kingdom of Burgundy have been real- 
 ised. As it was, he failed signally in most of 
 his undertakings, and with all his fury and 
 
294 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 wide- 
 spread 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 consoli- 
 dation. 
 
 Bruges, during the stormy reign of Charles 
 the Bold and the quarter of a century of anxi- 
 ety 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 
 
The Fall of Charles the Bold 295 
 
 1491 that Memling, the foremost of the early 
 Flemish painters, executed the wonderful se- 
 ries 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 to- 
 gether. 
 
 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 in- 
 teresting clue both as to his birthplace and the 
 origin of his name. In the Ehineland 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 
 
296 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 nursed back to health and strength, in grati- 
 tude for which he painted for the kind sisters 
 the little gallery of fine works that are still pre- 
 served in the original chapter house of the in- 
 stitution. 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 des- 
 titute at the hospital he was in fact very pros- 
 perous, having lately bought the house in which 
 he lived and his name appearing as one of the 
 leading citizens of whom the commune had bor- 
 rowed money. It is perhaps pleasanter on the 
 whole to think of the artist as rich and hon- 
 oured 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 
 
SHRINE OF ST. URSULA, HOSPITAL OF ST. JEAN BRUGES. 
 
The Fall of Charles the Bold 297 
 
 ten inches high and three feet long", with three 
 little panels on each side which contain Mem- 
 ling'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 Eome 
 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 Flem- 
 ish, these sweet-faced sisters, and, as a rule, 
 understand neither French nor English. 
 
 This fact is said to have served them in good 
 stead on the terrible day when the bandit-sol- 
 diery of the French Republic clamoured at the 
 doors of the hospital in 1494. " The shrine! 
 the shrine ! ' ' they cried, ' ' give us the shrine ! ' ' 
 {" La chdsse, la chdsse, donnez nous la 
 chdsse! ") 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 chdsse, 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, reply- 
 
298 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 ing, '' 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. 
 Eooses 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 pos- 
 sesses 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 Ma- 
 donna and Martin Van Nieuwenhove. The 
 museum at Bruges contains still another mas- 
 terpiece, a picture showing in the centre St. 
 Christopher, St. Maurus and St. Giles — the 
 first bearing the Infant Christ upon his shoul- 
 ders — while the two shutters contain the 
 usual portraits of the donors. One of Mem- 
 ling'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. 
 
The FaU of Charles the Bold 299 
 
 There are several admirable works by this 
 master at the musemns of Brussels and Ant- 
 werp, 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 Alt- 
 man collection at the Metropolitan Museum at 
 New York. 
 
 While the chief interest to the visitor at the 
 hospital of St. Jean is the remarkable collec- 
 tion 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 water- 
 front 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. Eecent studies by 
 James Weale and other scholars have given 
 us quite a complete life of this artist, who lived 
 
300 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 between 1460 and 1523, and a number of bis 
 works bave been identified. All of tbese seem 
 to bave been painted at Bruges, and some of 
 tbe more notable ones still remain tbere. Tbe 
 municipal autborities commissioned bim to 
 paint two great pictures representing notable 
 examples of justice sucb as Van der Weyden 
 bad done for tbe Hotel de Ville at Brussels. 
 Tbese depict tbe flaying alive of tbe unjust 
 Judge Sisamnes by Cambyses, King of Persia, 
 and are still preserved in tbe museum at 
 Bruges. Tbe museum also possesses anotber 
 masterpiece by tbis artist, ^' Tbe Baptism of 
 Cbrist." Otbers tbat bave been identified 
 tbrougb painstaking study of tbe old arcbives 
 of tbe city and contemporary sources are lo- 
 cated in tbe National Gallery at London and in 
 tbe museum of Kouen. 
 
 Tbe prosperity of Bruges was declining very 
 fast wbile David was painting tbe last of bis 
 religious pictures and tbe mercbants were 
 steadily leaving tbe city for Antwerp, wbicb 
 was now rising into importance. Tbe artists, 
 wbose prosperity depended upon tbe wealtb of 
 tbe burgbers were also drifting to tbe new com- 
 mercial metropolis on tbe Scbeldt and tbe fa- 
 mous scbool of Bruges was near its end by tbe 
 middle of the sixteenth century. Tbe last art- 
 
-'^tiiiiiiMltiinanon i?y unt'erhard! David of Bruges, 
 - 14.98; St. Barhara ' " 
 
■^fe 
 
 
The FaU of Charles the Bold 301 
 
 ists who worked at Bruges were of minor in- 
 terest. Adriaen Ysenbrant, Albert Cornelis 
 and Jean Prevost belong to tliis 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 Prevost, including an interesting '^ Last 
 Judgment," and another striking representa- 
 tion 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 in- 
 cludes a fine production entitled '' The Death 
 of the Virgin," which is now generally attrib- 
 uted to Hugo Van der Goes — one of the com- 
 paratively few works by that master that have 
 come down to us. There are also several other 
 works by P. Pourbus, and a powerful allegor- 
 ical picture by Jean Prevost 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 lit- 
 tle group in the hospital of St. Jean, and the 
 one in the Bruges museum — while it has quite 
 
S02 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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. 
 
 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 there- 
 fore 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 be- 
 tween 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 other- 
 wise 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 ex- 
 ample of Flemish interior architecture. The 
 
The Pall of Charles the Bold 303 
 
 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 
 Eichard Crookback among his guests, and was 
 engaged in collecting the marvellous library 
 now in Paris. Everywhere, over the fire- 
 places, 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 restora- 
 tion 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 be- 
 neath the adjoining church of Notre Dame, and 
 the other to some point outside the city walls. 
 Some have conjectured that it leads to the 
 Chateau of Maele, some four miles distant, but 
 probably it went to the manor of the Lords of 
 Gruuthuise at Oostcamp. Within this man- 
 
304 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 sion 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 Burgnndian 
 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 meas- 
 ure the authorities have followed the admi- 
 rable plan of the owners of the Hotel Merghe- 
 lynck at Ypres, and the immense kitchen, for 
 example, contains only kitchen utensils of the 
 Middle Ages — a most complete and interest- 
 ing 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 bet- 
 ter to have housed this and the various collec- 
 tions of antiquities in some less famous and 
 historic structure and endeavoured to restore 
 
The Fall of Charles the Bold 305 
 
 all of these rooms to approximately their con- 
 dition when Charles the Bold stalked through 
 them. 
 
 The period of Philip the Good and his ter- 
 rible son was the one in which mediasval Bruges 
 took on substantially its present form. In ad- 
 dition to the Gruuthuise Palace scores of im- 
 portant 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 great- 
 est 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 tran- 
 sept — 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 spe- 
 
306 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 cial Bull of Indulgence in favour of benefac- 
 tors of this work, which appears to have been 
 delayed for lack of funds. Work of various 
 kinds was continued until the middle of the six- 
 teenth 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 crit- 
 icised 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 beauti- 
 ful 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 chap- 
 ter, but in Bruges they are so overshadowed 
 by the many masterpieces to be seen elsewhere 
 
THE LAST SUPPER. THIERRY BOUTS. 
 
The Pall of Charles the Bold 307 
 
 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 ex- 
 amples of this primitive master are in exist- 
 ence. It is a triptych, the central panel show- 
 ing 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 sub- 
 jects, which he depicted with great realism. 
 Dierick, or Thierry, Bouts settled at Louvain 
 about the middle of the fifteenth century. Be- 
 yond the fact that he came from Haarlem noth- 
 ing 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 inspira- 
 tion 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 
 
308 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 of St. Peter.^ Bouts became the official painter 
 for the city of Louvain and produced a *' Last 
 Judgment " for the hall of the echevins which 
 has since been lost, and two panels for the 
 council-room of the Hotel de Ville represent- 
 ing ' ^ The Judgment of Otho. ' ' These are now 
 in the museum at Brussels. The Queen hav- 
 ing 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 refus- 
 ing to bum her and thereby vindicating her hus- 
 band '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 instil 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 *' Mar- 
 tyrdom of St. Hippolytus " a comparatively 
 small number of other works from his brush 
 
 1 Tliey were probably destroyed during the burning of Lou- 
 -pain by the Germans. 
 
The Fall of Charles the Bold 309 
 
 are listed in the catalogues of various Eu- 
 ropean museums. 
 
 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 pri- 
 vate atfairs. Peter subsequently built the 
 town of Middleburg, for the church in which 
 Van der Weyden painted one of his most fa- 
 mous 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'Adomes and the church of Jerusalem, 
 which was formerly the private chapel of the 
 rich brothers Anselm and John Adornes. 
 There is still a fine mediaeval atmosphere lin- 
 gering 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 re- 
 production of the Holy Sepulchre, said to be a 
 
310 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 mem- 
 ory, for here, more completely thaA 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 beau- 
 tiful scenes. . A few hours would suffice to de- 
 stroy artistic and architectural treasures of a 
 value that would make the destruction of Lou- 
 vain seem of little consequence in comparison. 
 
QUAI VERT, BRUGES. 
 
CHAPTEE XV 
 
 MALINES IIT THE TIME OP MAKGAEET OF AUSTEIA 
 
 jINCE this chapter was written the ill- 
 fated city of Malines has been swept 
 with shot and shell for many days to- 
 gether, its once happy and prosperous inhabit- 
 ants driven far and wide — many of them into 
 foreign lands — and it is donbtful if a single 
 one of the various ancient edifices which we 
 visited last June has escaped injury. Notwith- 
 standing these sad facts it has seemed best to 
 retain the chapter substantially as it was writ- 
 ten, 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 stub- 
 born conflicts of the great war, it is likely that 
 the city will be more generally visited by tour- 
 ists than was the case when its architectural 
 and artistic treasures were uninjured, save by 
 
 311 
 
312 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 rapldes every day, the ancient city 
 of Malines — which is the French spelling, 
 the Flemish being Mechelen — was exception- 
 ally 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 ver}^ 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 exercis- 
 ing authority over the bishops of Bruges, 
 Ghent, Liege, Namur and Toumai. 
 
 No matter from which side one approaches 
 the city the first object to be seen is the vast 
 square tow^er of the Cathedral of St. Rombaut, 
 and as this huge structure — the eighth won- 
 der of the world, according to Vauban — domi- 
 nates the town, so the church itself has domi- 
 nated the history of the city on the Eiver Dyle 
 
CATHEDRAL OF ST. ROMBAUT, MALINES. 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 313 
 
 for more than eleven centuries. According to 
 tradition St. Eombaut, 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 aft- 
 erwards 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 — defeat- 
 ing 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. 
 
 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 
 
314 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 affairs of the commune. Ships, according to 
 the chronicles, came up the Eiver 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 Eiver 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 be- 
 came evident that the bishops lacked the power 
 to hold them in check. 
 
 This led to a series of alienations of the tem- 
 poral 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 be- 
 tween 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 sep- 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 315 
 
 arated by the river, and it was five montlis 
 before the sturdy burghers yielded. To this 
 day an annual procession, called the peyspro- 
 cessie, perpetuates the memory of this famous 
 siege. 
 
 During the next half century the civil author- 
 ity over the city became a veritable shuttle- 
 cock 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 vio- 
 lent 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 Bur- 
 gundy to the supreme power over all of Flan- 
 ders, Brabant, Hainaut and Holland, the un- 
 ruly 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 
 
316 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 car- 
 riages invited our patronage, but we valiantly 
 decided to walk. We soon regretted our de- 
 cision 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 dela 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 Gar- 
 dens, 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 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 317 
 
 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 tremen- 
 dous 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 antiqui- 
 ties. The first Cloth Hall at Malines was de- 
 stroyed by fire in 1342, and the new one that 
 was begun to replace it was never finished, ow- 
 ing to the ruin of the cloth industry during the 
 struggles between the artisans and their over- 
 lords, and a belfry which it was proposed to 
 erect similar to that at Bruges was never be- 
 gun. The museum contains a number of pic- 
 tures 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 any- 
 thing to represent the great cloth weaving in- 
 
318 The Spell of Flanderg 
 
 dustry — 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 facade 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 architec- 
 tural 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 Kel- 
 dermans, is generally attributed the honour of 
 designing the tower of St. Rombaut, the archi- 
 tectural glory of Malines and one of the most 
 
TOWER OP THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. ROMBAUT FROM THE 
 RUELLE SANS FIN. 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 319 
 
 magnificent structures of the kind in the world. 
 There are a thousand places throughout the 
 city where the photographer or painter can ob- 
 tain attractive views of this masterpiece, but 
 perhaps the best of all is from a point some 
 distance down the Euelle sans Fin (Little 
 Street without End) where a quaint mediaeval 
 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 impres- 
 sive. 
 
 Begun in 1452, work on the great tower ad- 
 vanced slowly. In 1468, according to a memo- 
 rial tablet near the southern side of the tower, 
 Gauthier Coolman was buried there. It was 
 the custom in the Middle Ages to thus recog- 
 nise 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 Andre, Mathieu and Antoine I, follow- 
 ing the same profession, and their skill being 
 
320 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 §is it 
 was proposed to erect it. The stones to com- 
 plete 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 ar- 
 chitect designed a series of lofty Gothic win- 
 dows. Of these the lowest are filled in with 
 masonry, except for a tiny window in the cen- 
 tre. 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 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 321 
 
 through these windows gave the people of the 
 town for many years the nickname of Maan- 
 hlusschers, 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 : 
 
 Nohilibus 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, 
 Lou vain 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 hum- 
 bled the burghers by forcing them to plead for 
 mercy with halters around their necks. 
 
 On the outside of the tower, close to its pres- 
 ent 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 com- 
 parison for themselves: Diameter of face, 
 
322 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 ex- 
 ceedingly proud of the size of this clock it 
 seemed strange that the authorities did not 
 authorise the expenditure of the small sum nec- 
 essary 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 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 323 
 
 thrilling experience to be enjoyed only by those 
 who are not inclined to be dizzy. The massive 
 timber work supporting the huge bells was con- 
 structed in 1662, but the oldest of the bells 
 dates from 1498, or six years after the dis- 
 covery 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 Hemony of Amsterdam, the Strad- 
 ivarius of bell founders, in 1674. Altogethei; 
 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 Eu- 
 rope. M. Denyn not only gives frequent con- 
 certs 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 Mon- 
 day afternoon in June solely to listen to one 
 of these concerts, which takes place on that day 
 
324 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 between eight and nine in the evening, during 
 the months of June, August and September. 
 The sleepy old town was thronged with auto- 
 mobiles, for the renown of these famous con- 
 certs 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 fetes 
 its music is light and gay, in attune with the 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 325 
 
 popular rejoicing; in times of public grief the 
 carillon gives utterance to notes of lamenta- 
 tion; 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 strik- 
 ing hammers. 
 
 The interior of St. Eombaut, 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 hun- 
 dred young men in the centre of the cathedral 
 who participated in the singing, a cure beating 
 time for them. Their strong manly voices 
 blended finely with the higher notes of the dis- 
 
326 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 tant choir boys and the deep tones of the or- 
 gan. 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 down- 
 ward in many-coloured rays upon the throng 
 of black-robed priests, with a sprinkling of 
 higher dignitaries clad in purple. Truly a pic- 
 ture that filled the eye with the pageantry of 
 religion, even as the rolling notes of the sonor- 
 ous 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 charm- 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 327 
 
 ing representation of the Fall, with Eve offer- 
 ing the apple to Adam, both figures embowered 
 in a mass of foliage that twines np the stair- 
 way 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 Adora- 
 tion 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 relig- 
 ious importance, Malines has numerous minor 
 churches that contain much of interest to the 
 visitor. The largest of these is Notre Dame 
 au dela de la Dyle, situated across the Eiver 
 Dyle from the oldest part of the city, but dat- 
 ing from the fifteenth century. Here the tour- 
 ist usually asks to see '' The Miraculous 
 Draught of Fishes," by Eubens, a highly col- 
 oured triptych that is only uncovered when one 
 pays a franc to the attendant. As this mas- 
 ter 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 
 
328 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 price charged to see it. It is vigorous in treat- 
 ment, and the Fishmongers' Guild, which pur- 
 chased 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 curi- 
 ous 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 pil- 
 laged 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. 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 329 
 
 It was designed by Luke Faid'herbe, the fa- 
 mous sculptor of Malines and a pupil of 
 Eubens, and was built under bis personal su- 
 pervision. Tbe church itself is a veritable 
 museum of the works of this master. The fi- 
 nest and most famous of these are the two bas- 
 reliefs in the dome, one showing '' The Nativ- 
 ity," 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 in- 
 teresting relic of the Middle Ages is its escape 
 from destruction, at the hands of the icono- 
 clasts, the Gueux, and the French revolution- 
 ists. 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 Eevolution it was succes- 
 sively 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. 
 
330 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 Miracu- 
 lous Draught of Fishes," at Notre Dame dela 
 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. Fur- 
 thermore, 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 flor- 
 ins, but for good measure the church obtained 
 three small paintings by the great master to 
 be hung below the triptych. In 1794 these pic- 
 tures 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 i;iever 
 been returned — while the third, " Christ on 
 the Cross," after changing hands .several 
 times, was at last purchased by an amateur 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 331 
 
 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 Eubens, are by Luc Franchoys 
 the younger. This church also boasts some 
 marvellous Flemish wood carvings. Around 
 the two pillars of the transept where it inter- 
 sects the nave are some bas-reliefs, six alto- 
 gether, by Theodore Verhaegen and his pupils, 
 that if there was nothing else to see would 
 alone justify a visit to St. Jean, while the pul- 
 pit 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 Flan- 
 ders. Below the organ are two more admi- 
 rable 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 re- 
 ligious orders from France some years ago. 
 We frequently engaged them in conversation 
 to ascertain more about the monuments we 
 
332 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 were visiting and invariably found them cour- 
 teous 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 dur- 
 ing 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 im- 
 portant 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 eight- 
 eenth century. The many rooms in the inte- 
 rior 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 pre- 
 served in its original state, while one of the 
 ancient paintings on the wall shows the Coun- 
 cil in session. In this building also is the curi- 
 ous statuette of the Vuyle Bruydegom called 
 '* Op-Signorken," whose grinning face and 
 quaint mediaeval costume are reproduced on 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 333 
 
 many postcards. The history of this worthy is 
 best told in French — and in whispers! 
 
 In our tramps around the narrow, crooked 
 streets of the old town, and along its pictur- 
 esque 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 Diahles — so called from the carved 
 devils that decorate its wooden facade of the 
 sixteenth century. The Grand Pont across 
 the Dyle to these old quays itself dates from 
 the thirteenth century, as its grimy arches tes- 
 tify. 
 
 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 occu- 
 pied with affairs of state over his widely scat- 
 tered realm that he seldom came to the city, 
 but from 1480 onward the States General of 
 
334 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 the Netherlands often met here, and in 1491 
 Philip the Handsome presided at a chapter of 
 the Order of the Golden Fleece at the cathe- 
 dral 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-Gen- 
 eral 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 be- 
 trothed 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 grand- 
 father, 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 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 335 
 
 wrecked lier ship, and after it had somewhat 
 subsided she and her companions amused them- 
 selves by each writing her own epitaph. That 
 composed by Margaret, then a sprightly girl of 
 eighteen, is well known: 
 
 Cy gist Margot la gentiV Bamoiselle, 
 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, arriv- 
 ing in 1500, just in time to be one of the god- 
 mothers 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. 
 
336 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 There, on the walls, woodwork, stained glass 
 windows and tombs she repeated her last 
 motto : 
 
 FORTUNE . INFOETUNE . 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 I'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 re- 
 stored and is now used as the Palais de Jus- 
 tice, but — apart from its pretty courtyard and 
 one fine fireplace — we found very little to re- 
 call the glories of the period when the great 
 men of all the Netherlands gathered here. 
 The edifice was largely reconstructed by Eom- 
 baut Keldermans, and it w^as here that the boy- 
 hood of the future Emperor Charles the Fifth 
 was passed, watched over by his Aunt Mar- 
 garet. 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, 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 337 
 
 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 Maxi- 
 milian 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, con- 
 sist 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 LeagTie of Cam- 
 brai, which was directed against France — the 
 nation to which she always showed an unre- 
 lenting 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 Eegent of the 
 
338 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 Netherlands. In 1519 Maximilian died, and 
 five months later Charles was elected King of 
 the Romans, and was chosen Emperor the fol- 
 lowing year, succeeding to the widest domin- 
 ions ever ruled over by one man in the history 
 of Europe. In fact it is doubtful if any sover- 
 eign 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 nego- 
 tiations 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, repre- 
 sented that monarch. The result of the con- 
 ferences was a treaty that was highly advan- 
 tageous to Spain, and a great diplomatic vic- 
 tory for Margaret ; but as all Europe was tired 
 of war the terms were accepted and peace pro- 
 claimed 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 commem- 
 orate this treaty, although it hardly does jus- 
 tice to the prominent part taken by Margaret 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 339 
 
 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 briUiant positions to the patience and 
 skill of their Aunt Margaret who, as her cor- 
 respondence shows, was looking forward to 
 the time when she could hand over the govern- 
 ment of the Netherlands to the Emperor and 
 spend her remaining days in quiet seclusion. 
 
 Under her wise rule the Netherlands had at- 
 tained the greatest prosperity ever known. 
 Industry and commerce flourished, peace and 
 safety reigned throughout her broad domin- 
 ions. At her court in Malines Margaret 
 gathered a brilliant group of artists, poets and 
 men of letters. Mabuse (Jan Grossaert), Ber- 
 nard 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 impor- 
 tant edifices not only at Malines but at Ant- 
 werp, Brussels, Ghent and throughout the Low 
 
340 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 Countries. In 1451 the Pope, Nicholas V, had 
 proclaimed a Holy Year at Malines and enor- 
 mous numbers of pilgrims visited the city in 
 consequence. Their lavish gifts made possible 
 the rapid erection of most of the splendid re- 
 ligious edifices with which the city is so amply 
 provided, and it was during the reign of Mar- 
 garet that these structures were completed and 
 decorated. Among the beautiful buildings ex- 
 ecuted during this period may be mentioned 
 the Belfry at Bruges, the tower of St. Eom- 
 baut, 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 pre- 
 pared 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 Na- 
 tional Gallery at London, unless some militant 
 suffragette adds another chapter to its cheq- 
 uered history. Another treasure has been 
 less fortunate, namely the portrait of La 
 helle Portugalaise, wife of Philip the Good, 
 
PORTRAIT OF JEAN ARNOLPINI AND HIS WIFE BY JEAN VAN 
 
 EYCK. 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 341 
 
 which was painted h^ 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 ex- 
 istence and some have been lost. The descrip- 
 tions are often quaint and charming, and may 
 have been dictated by the Duchess herself, as 
 for example: '' Une petite Nostre-Dame di- 
 sant 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 apotres." Other artists of 
 note in the collection were Bernard Van Orley, 
 Hans Memling, Eoger Van der Weyden, Die- 
 rick Bouts, Jerome Bosch and Gerard Horem- 
 bout. 
 
 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 Beiges, who became 
 her historian; Erasmus, Nicolas Everard, Ad- 
 rian of Utrecht, Cornelius Agrippa, Masse, 
 Renacle de Florennes, Louis Vives, and many 
 others. Her library was as choice as her col- 
 lection of paintings and included a Book of 
 Hours and several other illuminated manu- 
 
342 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 scripts now in the Bibliotlieque Eoyale at 
 Brussels, and many of the mediaeval 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 liter- 
 ary 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 uninter- 
 rupted 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 Ee- 
 g"ent 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 ex- 
 pression 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 
 Eegent, Marie of Hungary, removed her court 
 to Brussels, and although Malines, by way of 
 compensation, was made the seat of an arch- 
 
Malines and Margaret of Austria 343 
 
 bishopric it never recovered its former splen- 
 dour 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 
 
 UT for tlie 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 Liege, 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 re- 
 storing 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 correspond- 
 ence with their wily enemy, Louis XI, and — 
 in spite of her entreaties and tears in their be- 
 half in the Marche de Vendredi — were pub- 
 
 344 
 
Ghent Under Charles the Fifth 345 
 
 licly beheaded in the first year of her brief 
 reign. 
 
 Shortly after the untimely death of this prin- 
 cess whose popularity might have held the 
 communes in check, her husband, Maximilian, 
 began the long war that finally resulted in es- 
 tablishing 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 re- 
 turned. 
 
 It was during the struggle with Maximilian 
 that the Rabot was constructed at Ghent, in 
 1489. The previous year the Emperor Fred- 
 erick III, father of Maximilian, had threatened 
 the city at this point, where its fortifications 
 were weakest, and the two famous pointed tow- 
 ers 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 inter- 
 vening 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 
 
346 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 first attempt to curtail its liberties and privi- 
 leges. 
 
 On the 24th of Febraary 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 potverful mon- 
 arch in the world. On the day when this fortu- 
 nate 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 prodi- 
 gies of skill for the cheering crowds that 
 thronged the streets below. 
 
 Fifteen years later, when Charles was de- 
 clared of age, it was at Ghent that he was pro- 
 claimed 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, North- 
 em Italy, Spain and the vast empire in the new 
 world — then in course of conquest by Pizzaro, 
 
I'liotograph by E. Saere. 
 
 MAISON DE LA KEURE, HOTEL DE VILLE, GHENT. 
 
Ghent Under Charles the Fifth 347 
 
 Cortes and the other Spanish conquistadores. 
 While the city's most famous son was advanc- 
 ing to the zenith of human power and wealth, 
 its own fortunes were steadily declining. The 
 long contest with Maximilian and the competi- 
 tion 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 unj&nished, 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 fagade of the Maison des Bateliers 
 (House of the Boatmen's Guild), on the Quai 
 au Ble, was built at this epoch, in 1534. 
 
 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 Marche au 
 Beurre and the rue Haut Port, extending 
 for most of its length on the latter somewhat 
 narrow street. This was designed and built 
 
348 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 by Dominique de Wagiienakere of Antwerp 
 and the famous Eombaut Keldermans of Ma- 
 lines, 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 appear- 
 ance 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 Marche au Beurre was 
 built in 1600 to 1620 and is in the Italian Re- 
 naissance 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 fagade dates from 1750. 
 
 The inner rooms of this collection of build- 
 ings, of different ages and different architec- 
 tural 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 
 
Ghent Under Charles the Fifth 349 
 
 cold and gloomy and we were glad to leave it. 
 Much more beautiful is the Salle de 1 'Arsenal, 
 built half a century later. In the Cbapel of 
 St. John the Baptist, which adjoins the Salle 
 de Justice in the most ancient part of the edi- 
 fice, and is now used as a Salle des Mariages, 
 is a fine picture representing Marie of Bur- 
 gundy begging her people to forgive Hugonet 
 and Humbercourt, her two ministers who — 
 despite her tearful pleas — were executed in the 
 Place Ste. Pharailde hard by. 
 
 On the death of Margaret of Austria the 
 Emperor appointed his sister, Marie of Hun- 
 gary, Eegent 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 oc- 
 curred that gave the Regent great alarm. Un- 
 der the leadership of a group of demagogues 
 the Metiers or lower associations of arti- 
 sans, overawed the magistrates and seized Lie- 
 vin Pyn, an aged and honourable member of 
 the Council and Dean of the Metiers who 
 was unjustly accused of giving the Queen Ee- 
 gent a false report on the situation and of hav- 
 ing stolen the great banner of the city. This 
 unfortunate old man was subjected to fearful 
 tortures in the Chateau des Comtes, but reso- 
 
350 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 lutely refused to confess to any of the acts 
 charged against him. Nevertheless, he was 
 finally executed on the Place Ste. Pharailde — 
 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 con- 
 nected 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 atfairs meanwhile pro- 
 gressed 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 
 Lievin 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 de- 
 
G-hent Under Charles the Fifth 351 
 
 liberateness that boded ill for the foolhardy 
 rabble who for the moment guided the destinies 
 of the commune, the Emperor made his prep- 
 arations 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 Bur- 
 gundy — 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 
 Metiers, whom they had so cruelly sacrificed, to 
 life again that he might plead their cause with 
 the dreaded Emperor. They had good reason 
 
352 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 sov- 
 ereign's wrath. A few days later nine of the 
 mutineers were executed on the Place Ste. 
 Pharailde where Lievin Pyn had perished at 
 their hands six months before. The magis- 
 trates 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 pres- 
 ently 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 hon 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, 
 
PORTRAIT OF THE DUKE OF ALVA BY A. MORO. 
 
Ghent Under Charles the Fifth 353 
 
 the French spelling of Ghent, also means 
 glove) as large as this? " 
 
 Meanwhile, under the direct supervision of 
 the Emperor, a huge citadel began to be erected 
 on the site of the ancient little town surround- 
 ing the Abbey of St. Bavon — a choice that in- 
 volved the destruction of many of the Abbey 
 buildings. The Emperor, while this work was 
 going on, remained at the Prineenhof 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 pres- 
 ence 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, de- 
 claring them guilty of deslealte, desoheys- 
 sance, infraction de tr aides, sedition, rebellion 
 et de leze-mageste. In consequence of these, 
 crimes the sentence deprived them forever of 
 their privileges, rights, and franchises. It di- 
 rected 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 
 evej again to invoke or appeal to them. It pro- 
 
354 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 nounced the confiscation of all the goods, rents, 
 revenues, houses, artillery and war material be- 
 longing to the city or to the Metiers. 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 Me- 
 tier 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 Em- 
 peror on their knees in the market-place. Be- 
 sides 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 fa- 
 
Ghent Under Charles the Fifth 355 
 
 mous Concession Caroline — whicli served as 
 the basis of government until the end of the old 
 regime during the French Revolution. The 
 city, no doubt, breathed a sigh of rehef 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 com- 
 munes — for no other city dared resist the Em- 
 peror '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 pass- 
 ing 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 
 
356 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 horticulture for which Ghent is so renowned to- 
 day. It was in his gardens — which were fa- 
 mous 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 gar- 
 deners, 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 Wil- 
 liam de Blasere, an alderman of the city, con- 
 structed 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 horticul- 
 
Ghent Under Charles the Fifth 357 
 
 turists was founded, and by the end of the cen- 
 tury a botanical garden was established. 
 
 In the opening years of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury 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 wid- 
 ening dominions, decided that it should be sup- 
 pressed. 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 plac- 
 ard suspended bearing the words: " Ave, Cce- 
 sar, 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 po- 
 etry on the part of the ' ' nymphs ' ' of the gar- 
 den, 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 
 
358 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 Ms beautiful garden sliould 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 re- 
 scinded and the garden was saved. 
 
 To-day Ghent boasts of her title of * ' the City 
 of Flowers." The Botanical Garden is pro- 
 tected by a Royal Society, there are many pri- 
 vate 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 there- 
 fore be thanked for giving Flanders one of its 
 great industries. 
 
 Speaking of Napoleon, it is not generally re- 
 membered 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 Gui- 
 zot, 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 : 
 
Ghent Under Charles the Fifth 359 
 
 " Rendez nous notre pere de Gand 
 Rendez nous notre pere ! " 
 
 It would take a satirist like Dickens or Thack- 
 eray to describe the scene when the fat mon- 
 arch sat down to his mid-day meal, in the pres- 
 ence of whoever might wish to watch the curi- 
 ous spectacle. He conquered enormous quanti- 
 ties of food, but depended on "Wellington and 
 Bliicher 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 char- 
 iot 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 gastro- 
 nomic feats His Majesty performed that day, 
 but late at night the tidings came that the 
 Grande Armee was in retreat, and that King 
 Louis could return to his kingdom. 
 
360 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 Ghent shares with Bruges the glory of being 
 the birthplace of Flemish painting. The fa- 
 mous '* Adoration of the Lamb," by the broth- 
 ers Van Eyck, was ordered by a wealthy bur- 
 gher 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 masteri^iece and completed 
 his share of it. But Ghent also had masters be- 
 longing 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 be- 
 coming 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 Muy- 
 derbrugge, and while engaged on this work — 
 which was painted on the wall above a fireplace 
 — fell in love with his patron 's daughter. The 
 
Ghent Under Charles the Fifth 361 
 
 painting proved a great success, but the stern 
 parents frowned on the suit of the young artist, 
 and the daughter, in despair, entered the con- 
 vent 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 
 ]Dainting, but the story may be the explanation 
 for the abandonment by the artist of a promis- 
 ing career when he was still in the prime of life. 
 One of the finest pictures in the Modern Gal- 
 lery at Brussels is that by E. Wauters repre- 
 senting 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 pos- 
 sesses 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 
 Eouge-Cloitre, but without success. 
 
 The best work of both of these artists is, un- 
 fortunately, far from Flanders — being found 
 in Italy, where Flemish painters were in their 
 day very highly regarded. " The Last Sup- 
 per," which was the greatest masterpiece of 
 Justus, was painted as an altarpiece for the 
 
362 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 brotherhood of Corpus Christi at Urbino and 
 still hangs in the church of Sant' Agatha in that 
 Italian town. '' The Adoration of the Shep- 
 herds," 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 de- 
 stroyed by the iconoclasts in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, including several of which his contem- 
 poraries 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 mu- 
 seum 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 icono- 
 clasts — 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 
 

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Ghent Under Charles the Fifth 363 
 
 come down to us. One of the most celebrated 
 of these in contemporary annals was G-erard 
 Van der Meire, to whom tradition has assigned 
 the triptych of '' The Crucifixion " in the ca- 
 thedral 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 es?- 
 quisite miniatures in the famous Grimani Bre- 
 viary, now in the library of St. Mark's at Ven- 
 ice. If this were true. Van der Meire was in- 
 deed a great artist, but this book was illustrated 
 after his death. 
 
 According to the Eoyal Commission of Art 
 and Archeology of Belgium, Ghent contains 
 more noteworthy antiquities than any other 
 town in the Kingdom. The Commission, it ap- 
 pears, 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; Tour- 
 nai, three first, six second, six third, total fijf- 
 
364 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 teen; 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 Eeport 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 inter- 
 esting 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 '' Arriere-Faucille," for- 
 merly the home of a rich seigneur, but since 
 1901 used as a Eoyal 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 Flem- 
 
Ghent Under Charles the Fifth 365 
 
 ish. gables, called the Zwarte Moor and tlie 
 Groot Moor. Built in 1481, or thereabouts^ the 
 Confrerie of St. George had its headquarters 
 here for many years. 
 
 The guilds have already been mentioned, and 
 the fagades of all of the more famous of the 
 guild houses have been carefully restored. 
 These include the Maison des Mesureurs de Ble 
 and the Maison des Francs Bateliers on the 
 Quai aux Herbes, the Maison des Magons and 
 the Maison des Bateliers non francs. The an- 
 cient Grand Boucherie, recently restored, is an- 
 other interesting ' ' monument. ' ' It seems that 
 the Butchers ' Guild at Ghent owed its prosper- 
 ity 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 mo- 
 nopoly of the slaughtering and meat-selling 
 business which survived all the various dynas- 
 tic changes till the French Eevolution. 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 I'Etape, or Staple House, a granary dating 
 from the thirteenth century, which stands beside 
 the guild houses on the Quai aux Herbes. In 
 
^66 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 short, the tourist can easily find enough of in- 
 terest in this rare old Flemish city to occupy 
 many days of leisurely sight-seeing. Ghent, 
 like Bruges, has thus far been spared the de- 
 struction 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 
 
 AUDENAEEDE AND MARGARET OF PARMA 
 
 fT was on a pleasant morning in June tliat 
 the Professor and I set forth on a little 
 expedition to the famous town of the tap- 
 estry 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 
 
 367 
 
368 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 surroundings, that we would fain have de- 
 scended at one of the little stations and spent 
 the day exploring and photographing this 
 charming corner of Flanders. The most beau- 
 tiful spot of all bore the pretty name of Louise- 
 Marie — the thatch- roofed houses nestling co- 
 sily together upon a hillside. This little sta- 
 tion, 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. Pres- 
 ently 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. In- 
 stead of stopping, however, our train went on 
 past the church, past the town, past everything, 
 until we began to fear that our faithful ' ' omni- 
 bus " had suddenly gone crazy and fancied it- 
 self 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-Aus- 
 gang " 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. 
 
Audenaerde and Margaret of Parma 369 
 
 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 car- 
 riage 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 lit- 
 tle interest. It appears that this is a memorial 
 erected in honour of the volunteers from Au- 
 denaerde 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. 
 Geef s, bears the following inscription : 
 
 " Ordre de Jour 
 
 Offieiers et Soldats ! Vous avez pris votre part des travaux 
 
 et des luttes dans la gvierre du Mexique, votre 
 
 valeur dans les combats, votre discipline 
 
 dans les fatigues des longnes 
 
 marches ont honore le 
 
 nom Beige. 
 
 Au moment de vous rembarquer pour aller revoir votre 
 
 patrie recevez les adieux de vos freres d'armes du 
 
 corps expeditionaire frangais. 
 
370 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 Dans quelques semaines vous aurez revu les rivages de votre 
 
 patrie y conservez, je I'espere, bon souvenir de leux 
 
 qui ont soufert et combattu a vos cotes, 
 
 ainsi que du Marechal de Fi'ance 
 
 qui a eu I'honneur de 
 
 vous commander. 
 
 Le Marechal 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 con- 
 quest so many thousands of miles away — a fu- 
 tile 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 rav- 
 ages 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 
 
Photogrhpli by K. Saeru. 
 
 HOTEL DE VILLE, AUDENAERDE. 
 
Audenaerde and Margaret of Parma 371 
 
 only in Flanders, but in the whole of Europe. 
 Little it undeniably is, although it towers up 
 bravely above the low two-story buildings sur- 
 rounding it, but its very smallness gives its 
 marvellous fagade the richness and delicacy of 
 the finest lace. Begun in 1525, it was com- 
 pleted 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. 
 
 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 Pede, who also de- 
 signed 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 de- 
 stroyed during the religious wars and the 
 French Eevolution and have never been re- 
 placed. This seems a great pity, as Flanders 
 still possesses many stone-carvers of great skill. 
 
372 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 sculp- 
 tor'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 War- 
 rior, who, with his diminutive standard bearing 
 the arms of the city, stands on the topmost pin- 
 nacle 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 out- 
 side world while little Audenaerde has stood 
 still! 
 
 Even without its statues the principal facade 
 of the Hotel de Ville merits more than a pass- 
 ing glance. In the admirable harmony of its 
 proportions, the delicate beauty of its details. 
 
Audenaerde and Margaret of Parma 373 
 
 in the excellence of the stone carvings — al- 
 most 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 per- 
 fect 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 Jus- 
 tice and Power on either side. Below are the 
 arms of Austria, Flanders, and of Audenaerde. 
 This masteriDiece was carved by Paul Van der 
 Schelden. The walls on each side of the fire- 
 place are decorated with modern mural paint- 
 ings depicting Liederick de Buck, the first 
 Forester of Flanders, Dierick of Alsace, Bald- 
 win 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 
 
374 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 the various kingdoms and principalities belong- 
 ing 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 om- 
 nipresent 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 with- 
 out being perceived by the sentinel stationed 
 in the tower of this very Hotel de Ville to an- 
 nounce his arrival. On reaching the gates, 
 therefore, the Imperial cortege found no one 
 to welcome the great monarch. The Burgo- 
 master 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. 
 
WOODEN DOORWAY, CARVED BY VAN DER SCHELDEN, HOTEL 
 DE VILLE, AUDENAERDE. 
 
Audenaerde and Margaret of Parma 375 
 
 Adjoining the Salle du Peuple is a smaller 
 chamber, the Salle des Echevins, 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 pos- 
 sible. How faithfully the artist performed his 
 task the result shows. Around its top stand 
 wooden cupids surmounting a richly carved 
 entablature containiilg the arms of Charles V 
 in the centre with those of Flanders and of 
 Audenaerde on either side. The first is sup- 
 ported 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 deco- 
 
376 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 rated 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 mar- 
 shal'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 fa- 
 mous in later Flemish history. Of these the 
 most noteworthy is that of Margaret of Parma, 
 which hangs close to that of her father, the 
 Empe!ror. 
 
 Just across the Grande Place from the Hotel 
 de Ville stands the Tower of Baldwin, undoubt- 
 edly 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 Con- 
 
Audenaerde and Margaret of Parma 377 
 
 quest. The concierge of the Hotel de Ville in- 
 formed 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 au- 
 thorities 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 pro- 
 vided with lips to whisper the secrets they over- 
 heard, they could no doubt settle this question; 
 and at the same time throw some additional 
 light upon a famous bit of mediaeval 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 Eegent 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 
 Toumai 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 trust- 
 
378 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 worthy 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 at- 
 tended 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 Maitre de Chambre ex- 
 traordinaire 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 
 Famese, a grandson of Pope Pius HI, 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 
 
Audenaerde and Margaret of Parma 379 
 
 Duke of Parma who became the foremost mili- 
 tary leader on the Spanish side during the 
 sanguinary war between Philip II and the 
 Netherlands. On the death of her father, Mar- 
 garet was made Eegent 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, say- 
 ing 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 al- 
 ways borne toward the Low Countries where 
 she was bom and raised and of which she knew 
 all the languages."' She retired from the Ee- 
 gency 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 big- 
 oted, less cruel, and less blind to the best in- 
 terests of the country and of his own dynasty, 
 
380 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 it is possible that the great popularity of the 
 Duchess — who was- sincerely loved by the ma- 
 jority 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 fear- 
 ful history of the next eighty years — the 
 blackest page in human history — might never 
 have been written. Unfortunately, modera- 
 tion and conciliation were as foreign to the na- 
 ture 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 icono- 
 clasts, 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 chap- 
 els, 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 com- 
 
Audenaerde and Margaret of Parma 381 
 
 pleted in a few hours, in others organised bands 
 of pillagers worked systematically for days be- 
 fore 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 Flan- 
 ders is beyond computation. The Eegent 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 resent- 
 ment, meditated vengeance, however, and in 
 1568 replaced the t,oo gentle Margaret by the 
 Duke of Alva. 
 
 For the Professor the Hotel de Ville con- 
 tained still another room of inexhaustible in- 
 terest. 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 interest- 
 ing objects were four chairs once used by 
 Charles V; the ancient keyboard of the carillon 
 which formerly hung in the belfry of the town 
 
382 The SpeU of Flanders 
 
 kail but is now installed in the tower of Ste. 
 Walburge, and some water-colour designs for 
 tapestries. A large painting of the Last Judg- 
 ment covered a considerable part of one wall. 
 This is attributed to Heuvick, and originally 
 hung in the Salle des Echevins. It was the an- 
 cient 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 cur- 
 tains 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 col- 
 lection also included a variety of ancient arms 
 and coins, several curious mediaeval 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 Eiver 
 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 be- 
 giiming 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 
 
CHURCH OP STE. WALBURGE, AUDENAERDE. 
 
Audenaerd e and Margaret of Parma 383 
 
 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 sup- 
 port the high, pointed roof are still as sound 
 as the day they were laid in positign. 
 
 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 Norse- 
 men 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 Auden- 
 aerde as his Flemish place of residence the 
 burghers determined to enlarge and beautify 
 their church and erected the semi-circular por- 
 tion of the choir in 1406 to 1408. Soon after- 
 wards 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 hun- 
 dred and seventy-three feet, but in 1804 the 
 
384 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 lit- 
 tle 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 paint- 
 ings 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 Grayer, a fol- 
 lower 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 in- 
 teresting treasures of the church is its collec- 
 tion of tapestries of Audenaerde. Three of the 
 more important ones represent landscapes — 
 in fact the majority of Audenaerde tapestries 
 
Audenaerde and Margaret of Parma 385 
 
 that I liave seen may be thus described — with 
 castles, churches, and farmhouses in the centre 
 and roses, tulips and other flowers in the fore- 
 ground. 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 belong- 
 ing to the Confrerie de la Ste. Croix, which 
 shows an Oriental landscape with Jerusalem in 
 the distance, and at the four comers the fig- 
 ures of Herod, Pilate, Anna and Caiphas. 
 
 Tapestry weaving Was introduced into Flan- 
 ders during the time of the Crusades, the re- 
 ports of the returning crusaders regarding the 
 splendid carpets and rugs of the Orient arous- 
 ing 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 manufac- 
 ture of tapestries spread to all the cities in the 
 valley of the Scheldt and received a particu- 
 larly important development at Audenaerde, 
 which soon became the leading tapestry cen- 
 tre of Flanders. The weavers adopted Saint 
 Barbara as their patron, and in 1441 were or- 
 
386 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 ganised 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 thou- 
 sand 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, Vic- 
 tor 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 re- 
 ligious 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 Eng- 
 land, never to return. This emigration con- 
 tinued well into the seventeenth century, as 
 various decrees passed by the magistrates be- 
 tween 1604 and 1621, confiscating the posses- 
 sions of such emigrants, testify. 
 
Audenaerde and Margaret of Parma 387 
 
 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 Bobbins, one of the most cele- 
 brated master-weavers of Audenaerde, was in- 
 vited to come to France in 1622 and was after- 
 wards proclaimed at Beavais to be the Chef 
 de tons 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 
 veritahles tapis d' Audenaerde, and this com- 
 petition 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 Eiver 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 
 
388 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 completed in 1239. It thus belongs to the 
 transitional period between the Eomanesque 
 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 f allijig 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 beauti- 
 ful 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 fore- 
 runner of Eubens 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, es- 
 pecially those in the left wing, and the entire 
 work is an admirable example of early Flemish 
 
Audenaerde and Margaret of Parma 389 
 
 art. The cliurcli also possesses an interesting 
 work by Simon de Pape representing the in- 
 vention of the cross. Beneath the organ loft 
 were three tapestries of Audenaerde workman- 
 ship which the caretaker obligingly spread out 
 on the church floor for our inspection. All 
 were in a poor state of preservation. One rep- 
 resented 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 Aude- 
 naerde at a later period than in the larger cities 
 farther to the eastward. The cure 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 Smallen- 
 dam to admire the superb view of Ste. Wal- 
 burge across the river. A bit further on we 
 entered a quaint little estaminet bearing the 
 inviting name of In der Groote Pinte which 
 
390 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 we freely translated as '' the big pint." Ap- 
 parently our Flemisli was inexact, for the bev- 
 erage with which we were served was not not- 
 able 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 Chateau 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 me- 
 diaeval 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 (Convents des Soeurs-Noires), 
 the Abbey of Maegdendale, the Convent of 
 Notre Dame de Sion, and the Beguinage — the 
 last an especially charming little spot with a 
 delightful street entrance dating from the mid- 
 dle of the seventeenth century. 
 
 It is hard to believe, as one wanders about 
 
Audenaerde and Margaret of Parma 391 
 
 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 ram- 
 parts four times in less than two centuries de- 
 fied the armies of the neighbouring — but, alas, 
 not always neighbourly — city of Ghent, even 
 the redoubtable Philip Van Artevelde retir- 
 ing 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 salt quand il reviendra. 
 II reviendra a Paques, 
 Mirlonton, mirlonton, mirlontaine, 
 
392 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 II reviendra a Paques, 
 Ou a la Trinite. (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 HISTOEY AND LEGENDS 
 
 JHILE 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 
 Eiver Scheldt at a point where that important 
 stream, which flows entirely across Flanders, 
 becomes a tidal estuary. From the most an- 
 cient times the prosperity of Antwerp — which 
 in French is called Anvers, in Flemish Ant- 
 werpen — 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 
 Csesar. Brabo cut off the dead giant's right 
 hand and flung it into the river in token that 
 
 393 
 
394 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 thenceforth it should be free from similar ex- 
 tortions. The visitor will find this legend re- 
 called 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 in- 
 crease 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 do- 
 minions 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 
 
Old Antwerp — History and Legends 395 
 
 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 Tete 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 litera- 
 ture, 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 sur- 
 rounding 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 de- 
 scendant, Charles V. On the whole, the Dukes, 
 being absentees, were easy rulers — the shrewd 
 burghers seizing upon their moments of weak- 
 
396 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 ness 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, sur- 
 rounding 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 com- 
 mercial 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 Dec- 
 laration of Independence, that were remark- 
 able for wisdom and liberality. *' "Within the 
 town of Antwerp," the charter read, '' all men 
 are free and there are no slaves. No inhab- 
 itant 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 
 
Old Antwerp — History and Legends 397 
 
 — 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 accord- 
 ing 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 Eobinson, 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 Arte- 
 velde a treaty of alliance with the communes of 
 Brabant and Flanders. The Kings of England 
 did not, however, retain their suzerainty over 
 Antwerp verjr 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 be- 
 
398 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 siege 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 great- 
 ness of Antwerp by a liberal charter which he 
 granted to the Merchant Adventurers of Eng- 
 land. 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 fol- 
 lowed 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 seven- 
 teen thousand to over forty-four thousand in- 
 habitants. 
 
 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 mediaeval in 
 
THE VIELLE BOUCHERIE. ANTWERP. 
 
Old Antwerp — History and Legends 399 
 
 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 con- 
 tained .stalls for fifty-three butchers. The 
 streets surrounding this quaint structure of 
 ragged brick are well nigh as ancient and in- 
 tereSkting as the ' ' monuments ' ' which one en- 
 counters 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 en- 
 tertainment of guests of the Margraves and 
 their successors, the Burgundian Dukes, for 
 nigh on to eight centuries. 
 
 In 1485 the rivalry between Antwerp and 
 Bruges reached the point of open war. The 
 men of Bruges built a fort commanding the 
 Eiver Scheldt at a point near Calloo, mounting 
 on it no less than sixty cannon. The Antwerp 
 burghers met this challenge by building a sim- 
 ilar fort at Austruwel, and then attacked and 
 captured the Flemish fort on April 23 — St. 
 George's Day. A yearly procession still com- 
 
400 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 memorates this victory in tlie 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 pros- 
 perity of Antwerp, as if proud and eager to be- 
 come the handmaiden of so valiant and beauti- 
 ful a city, for the western entrance of the 
 Scheldt gradually deepened at about this pe- 
 riod — 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 
 
Old Antwerp— History and Legends 401 
 
 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 ac- 
 count 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 ac- 
 count 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 car- 
 nival. 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 Lou- 
 vain, 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. 
 
402 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 in- 
 tended 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, heart- 
 ily admitted that the young artist who had 
 painted it merited all praise and gave his con- 
 sent to the nuptials. 
 
 The museum at Antwerp is rich in master- 
 pieces 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 mediaeval 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 
 
THE BANKER AND HIS WIFE. MATSYS. 
 
Old Antwerp — History and Legends 403 
 
 " 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 master- 
 piece, and the oldest dated picture by this art- 
 ist, '' 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 Stadel Institute at 
 Frankfort. Matsys was one of the first Flem- 
 ish 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 mas- 
 ter in a number of European museums, while 
 a considerable number of his pictures have 
 become lost or have not as yet been identi- 
 fied. 
 
 Matsys is the greatest name in the history of 
 Flemish art between the masters of Bruges and 
 the school of Eubens. 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 Ant- 
 werp guild of St. Luke at the age of twenty- 
 
404 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 Mar- 
 tin 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 Antwei^ 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 Breu- 
 'ghel, 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 neigh- 
 bouring 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, 
 
Old Antwerp — ^History and Legends 405 
 
 the noisy mirth of rustic festivities, and was al- 
 ways 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 Em- 
 peror Eudolph 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 scat- 
 tered about Europe. 
 
 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. Some- 
 what influenced perhaps by Jerome Bosch, a 
 Brabant painter of the previous century re- 
 nowned for his weird and eccentric conceptions, 
 Breughel is never conventional. His work is 
 that of a humourist, a satirist who sees the fol- 
 lies of the world but laughs at them. His pic- 
 tures are admirable in their colouring, execu- 
 tion and the grouping of the figures, and they 
 are especially interesting in their vivid por- 
 trayal of the every-day Flemish life of the times 
 in which he lived. 
 
 The visitor to Antwerp cannot fail to observe 
 
406 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 vic- 
 tims, 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. Pres- 
 ently 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 win- 
 dows of people's houses. Men feared to speak 
 evil of the Long Wapper, for something terri- 
 ble 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 
 
Old Antwerp — ^History and Legends 407 
 
 were erected that finally tke evil fiend liad 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 Wap- 
 per 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 em- 
 bankment 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 al- 
 ways 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 
 
408 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 re- 
 sulted 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 of- 
 fered 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 van- 
 ished, leaving only an echo of wild laughter. 
 
 In the country to the east of Antwerp there 
 are many quaint legends still told at the peas- 
 ants' firesides on stormy winter nights about 
 the Kaboutermannekens who in ancient times 
 frequented that neighbourhood. Near the vil- 
 lage of Gelrode there is a small hill on the sides 
 
Old Antwerp — History and Legends 409 
 
 of which are many little caves which were for- 
 merly the abode of these fairies, the hill being 
 called the Kabouterberg to this day in conse- 
 quence. There is a similar hill, called Kabou- 
 termannekensberg, between Turnhout and Cas- 
 terle. 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 for- 
 tunate as to see them. These little gnomes or 
 elves seem to have resembled their kind as re- 
 ported in the folk-lore of other northern coun- 
 tries, 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 in- 
 stantly rushed off at an incredible speed until 
 
410 The SpeU of Flanders 
 
 lie came to some water into wliicli he pitched 
 his terrified rider headlong. This accom- 
 plished to his satisfaction he vanished, crying 
 '' Kludde, Kludde! " as he went away, whence 
 came his name. 
 
CHAPTEE XIX 
 
 THEEE CENTURIES OF ANTWERP PEINTEES 
 
 'HE 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 
 Fohker, a rich Fugger. It is related that an- 
 other 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. 
 
 411 
 
412 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 This period of wealth and prosperity contin- 
 ued till the very end of the reign of the Em- 
 peror, 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 suprem- 
 acy of this town over the others in his Flemish 
 domiuions. 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 al- 
 
Three Centuries of Antwerp Printers 413 
 
 tars, and paintings and statues almost without 
 number. The organ, then the wonder of Eu- 
 rope, was ruined, and the rabble dressed itself 
 in the costly vestments of the clergy and car- 
 ried 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 mov- 
 able contents, while a few here and there were 
 burned. As noted in the chapter on Aude- 
 naerde, Margaret of Parma was Eegent at this 
 time and acted resolutely to suppress the dis- 
 orders — which were largely due to the supine 
 attitude of the local magistrates at the begin- 
 ning. 
 
 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 por- 
 tion of the Netherlands that remained subject 
 to Spain. Two events, however, in the long 
 
414 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 war were so directly concerned with Antwerp, 
 and loom so large in its history, that they can- 
 not 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 Eegent of the Netherlands, quickly 
 took stern measures for the repression of fur- 
 ther 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 se- 
 cretly, his government a failure, his army mu- 
 tinous, and half of the country he had been sent 
 to rule in open and successful revolt. War 
 with England had ruined the commerce of Ant- 
 werp, Alva's fiscal policy and incessant taxes 
 had half beggared the people of the entire 
 
Three Centuries of Antwerp Printers 415 
 
 country, while thousands of the noblest and 
 bravest in the land had met death on the scaf- 
 fold or in the torture chambers of the Inquisi- 
 tion. 
 
 Eequesens, the next Eegent, 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 Eequesens 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 cap- 
 tured the town of Alost, where they forced the 
 citizens to give them food and shelter. On No- 
 vember 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 Eoda, a 
 Spaniard, had proclaimed himself the com- 
 mandant of the fortress until the new Eegent, 
 Don John of Austria, should arrive in Flan- 
 ders. 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. 
 
416 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 There were fourteen thousand armed bur- 
 ghers, four thousand Walloons and an equal 
 number of German troops — twenty-two thou- 
 sand in all. It may have been that they felt 
 unduly secure against an attack on that day be- 
 cause 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 es- 
 planade cleared a few years before by Alva, 
 shouting their war cry, Sant J ago y cierra Es- 
 pana. 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 treacher- 
 ously 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 dis- 
 organised 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 
 
Three Centuries of Antwerp Printers 417 
 
 mercenaries, most of whom had joined the vic- 
 tors in order to share in the spoils, were mas- 
 ters 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 contempo- 
 rary 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 Span- 
 iards. 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 breast- 
 plates made of solid gold. Like the ill-gotten 
 
418 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 gains of tlie Spaniards in America, however, 
 none of this booty — the reward of treachery, 
 of assassination, of cruelty and the sudden set- 
 ting 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 pres- 
 ently 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 per- 
 mission was given to the people to destroy the 
 citadel that the tyrant Alva had built to over- 
 awe 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. 
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Three Centuries of Antwerp Printers 419 
 
 ture of this incident which hangs in the Ant- 
 werp museum. 
 
 Six years later the Duke d'Alengon, 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 hun- 
 dred 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 swash- 
 bucklers 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 hap- 
 pened January 17, 1583. 
 
 The following year Alexander Farnese, the 
 Duke of Parma — and the son of the Duchess 
 of Parma, whose career as Eegent of the Neth- 
 erlands was briefly described in the chapter on 
 Audenaerde, her birthplace — determined to be- 
 siege Antwerp, which, since the Spanish Fury, 
 had fallen into the hands of the revolted Prov- 
 inces. Unfortunately for its defenders, Wil- 
 liam the Silent had just died at the hands of an 
 assassin and his plans for the protection of the 
 
420 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 city by flooding all of the marshes surrounding 
 it were not followed. The butchers opposed 
 flooding all of their pasture lands and the im- 
 portant 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 Kowen- 
 stein 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 ulti- 
 mate 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 build- 
 ers 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 achieve- 
 ments ever known. The defenders of the city 
 sent huge fireships down the river to destroy 
 
Three Centuries of Antwerp Printers 421 
 
 the bridge. One of these actually exploded 
 against the structure and another off Calloo, de- 
 stroying more than eight hundred Spanish sol- 
 diers 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 dark- 
 ness the Prince of Parma made another furious 
 assault and finally drove back the allies, cap- 
 turing 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, 
 
422 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 re- 
 gion 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 lieavj fine imposed by the 
 conquerors upon the city for its rebellion com- 
 pleted 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 
 
Three Centuries of Antwerp Printers 423 
 
 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 hand- 
 maids to the printer, Antwerp possesses one of 
 the rarest treasure-houses in the world. This 
 is the Museum Plantin-Moretus, for three cen- 
 turies the head office and workshop of the great 
 printing-house whose name it bears. 
 
 Christopher Plantin, the founder of this fa- 
 mous establishment, was by birth a Frenchman 
 — having first seen the light of day in the vicin- 
 ity 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 Eobert Mace. Here also he met 
 Jeanne Ei^dere, 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 
 
424 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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, how- 
 ever, 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 
 Cayas, 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 re- 
 sumed the trade of printer, which he had 
 learned at Caen. Instead of a misfortune, as 
 
Three Centuries of Antwerp Printers 425 
 
 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 Coun- 
 tries, 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 en- 
 titled " La Institutione di una fanciulla nata 
 nohilmente." 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 Eegent, 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 
 '' Brief ve 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, 
 
426 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 histoiy of printing, the 
 famous Biblia Regia. This was an edition of 
 the Bible in four ancient languages, Latin, 
 Hebrew, Greek and Chaldean. The Hebrew 
 tyjDe was purchased from a Venetian printer, 
 while the last two were cast expressly for this 
 book. His friend Cayas interested Philip II 
 in the project and that monarch sent the great 
 scholar Arias Montanus from Alcala to super- 
 vise the work. At the suggestion of Cardinal 
 Granville, Syriac was added to the other texts, 
 so that, including French, there were six lan- 
 guages in all. The first volume of this " Poly- 
 glot 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 
 heljD meet the expense the King of Spain ad- 
 vanced 21,200 florins, and granted Plantin a 
 monopoly for its sale throughout the Spanish 
 dominions for the period of twenty years. A 
 
Three Centuries of Antwerp Printers 427 
 
 similar monopoly was granted by the Pope, the 
 Emperor, the King of France and the Eepub- 
 lic 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 prom- 
 ised by Philip II to himself and his son-in-law, 
 Eaphelingen, 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 pa- 
 tience towards envious colleagues, whom he in- 
 sists 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 sell- 
 ing 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. 
 
428 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 print- 
 ing 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 pur- 
 chased 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 
 
Three Centuries of Antwerp Printers 429 
 
 liimself, but Ms 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 Ant- 
 werp he fled, with many other Catholics, to 
 Cologne, where he thought for a time of estab- 
 lishing his chief printing-office. After the 
 siege he hurried home, but a short time later 
 his health began to fail. 
 
 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 mar- 
 ried, three of them to men associated with him 
 in the printing office. The eldest, Margaret, 
 married Francis Eaphelingen, the chief proof- 
 reader and an able linguist; while the second, 
 Martina, married Jean JJloretus, the father of 
 a long line, of which the eldest sons bore the 
 same name so that they came to be distin- 
 guished by numbers, the first being Jean More- 
 tus 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 
 
430 The SpeU of Flanders 
 
 housewives have of helping their husbands. 
 A fourth, Magdalen, when only a child, cor- 
 rected proofs on the Bihlia Regia in five lan- 
 guages, 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 
 fonn 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 com- 
 posed the following French couplet, which ex- 
 presses and describes his own character better 
 than any epitaph could do: 
 
 " Un Labeur courageux muni d'humble Constance 
 Resiste a 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 
 
Three Centuries of Antwerp Printers 431 
 
 tombstone. WMle Ms name is not associated 
 with the earliest beginnings of the art of print- 
 ing, and the products of his press do not there- 
 fore command the ahnost 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 print- 
 ing-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 ; Cris- 
 pin, 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 life- 
 time 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, 
 
432 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 Eubens, 
 who illustrated many of the publications of the 
 house during this period. In the fourth gen- 
 eration, 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 com- 
 pletely 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 ex- 
 istence of three hundred and twelve years, and 
 in 1876 the last representative of the house, 
 Edouard Moretus, sold the entire establish- 
 ment, with all its priceless collections and fur- 
 nishings, 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 cor- 
 
Three Centuries of Antwerp Printers 433 
 
 rector's room of the old establishnient sur- 
 passed that of the days of Plantin and Jean 
 Moretns I. Rubens, Van Dyck, Erasmus Quel- 
 lin and a host of other artists; Lsevinius Tor- 
 rentius, bishop and poet, Kiliaen, the lexico- 
 grapher, 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 Flan- 
 ders 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 Eooses, its renowned cura- 
 tor, 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 at- 
 tendant in each room — all of whom are 
 garbed in brown with a quaint cap of the same 
 
434 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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, anec- 
 dotes 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. 
 Denuce, 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 mil- 
 lionaire. The collection in its entirety, if dis- 
 persed 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 de- 
 spoil it or disperse it. Even the very furnish- 
 ings of the chambers up-stairs are associated 
 
Three Centuries of Antwerp Printers 435 
 
 with the house of Plantin, were used by the 
 family for many years; the paintiiigs that 
 crowd the walls like an art gallery are for the 
 most part by Eubens — portraits of leading 
 members of the family. Then there are num- 
 berless drawings, prints and engravings that 
 represent the work of half of the greatest art- 
 ists of the Flemish schoor during the century 
 of its greatest splendour — an inimitable, in- 
 describable 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 Bi- 
 bles, including a fine copy of Gutenberg's Bi- 
 ble latine of 1450; rare German and Italian 
 incunabula, choice examples of the work of the 
 early Flemish printers, including Les diets 
 moraulx des philosophes, printed by Colard 
 Manson at Bruges in 1477. There are exam- 
 ples of early French, Dutch and Italian print- 
 ing; there are Aldines, Estiennes, Elzevirs; 
 books from the first printing presses of Switz- 
 erland, Spain and Portugal. Truly the histo- 
 
436 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 rian 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 Ant- 
 werp presses. Most valuable of all is the col- 
 lection 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 com- 
 posing 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 
 
Three Centuries of Antwerp Printers 437 
 
 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. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 ANTWEEP FROM THE TIME OF RUBENS TILL TO-DAY 
 
 ?F there is one name more honoured in 
 Flanders than any other — more often em- 
 ployed as the name of hotels, restau- 
 rants or cafes; more frequently on the lips of 
 guides, caretakers and sacristans; more con- 
 stantly 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 paint- 
 ers, yet no task can be more superfluous, since 
 nothing can be said that will add in the slight- 
 est degree to his fame. He ranks in the his- 
 tory of art with the greatest masters in the 
 world — with Michael Angelo, Leonardo, Rem- 
 brandt, Raphael, Titian and Velasquez — and 
 it is probable that more books have been writ- 
 ten about him than about Antwerp itself. 
 Occasional references have been made in 
 
 438 
 
THE DESCENT PROM THE CROSS. — RUBENS. 
 
Antwerp from the Time of Rubens 439 
 
 previous chapters to notable paintings by 
 Eubens to be seen in various churches through- 
 out 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 Eubens will find him at his best 
 and in greatest profusion. And the most fa- 
 mous spot enriched by his unrivalled art is 
 the cathedral. Here hang his two greatest de- 
 votional 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 — in- 
 stant and enduring fame. The companion 
 work was completed the following year. Nei- 
 ther 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 sep- 
 arating Rubens' house from that of the guild. 
 Both, however, are in an ideal location where 
 they now are, and form an admirable starting 
 
440 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 point from which to see, first the cathedral, and 
 then the work of Rubens as a whole. 
 
 The Cathedral of Notre Dame is without 
 doubt the most beautiful Gothic church in Bel- 
 gium, and has thus far happily escaped the 
 ravages of the present war — passing un- 
 scathed through the furious German bombard- 
 ment 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 cathe- 
 dral 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 
 
Antwerp from the Time of Rubens 441 
 
 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 Eubens 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 in- 
 terest in this vast church, which is a veritable 
 museum of art, architecture, history and hu- 
 man progress. The high altarpiece is another 
 famous Eubens, an ' ' Assumption ' ' — a sub- 
 ject which he painted no less than ten times. 
 There are half a dozen other notable paintings 
 
442 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 modem — having been begun in 
 1840, and completed forty years later. The 
 elaborately carved pulpit was made in the 
 eighteenth century by the sculptor Michel Ver- 
 voort, and was intended for the Abbey of St. 
 Bernard. 
 
 After the completion of the two great mas- 
 terpieces now in the cathedral Rubens was by 
 universal acclaim acknowledged to be the fore- 
 most painter in Flanders and of his time. His 
 studio was besieged by artists desirous of be- 
 coming the pupils of the brilliant master. As 
 early as 1611 he wrote that he had already re- 
 fused 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 Com- 
 munion of St. Francis," now in the museum 
 at Antwerp, and, according to Fromentin, his 
 greatest masterpiece; in 1620 the '' Coup de 
 
COUP DE LANCE. RUBENS. 
 
Antwerp from the Time of Rubens 443 
 
 Lance," now at the museum of Antwerp, and 
 his finest work according to some other author- 
 ities. 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 Liech- 
 tenstein 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. 
 
 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 Con- 
 stantine 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 
 
444 The Spell of Banders 
 
 these works in liis hands acquired a permanence 
 of artistic value that is in itself one of the high- 
 est 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 do\Yn to 
 the minutest detail! 
 
 According to a report made in 1879, by the 
 Commission Anversoise chargee de reunir 
 Vouevre de Rubens, en gravures ou en photo- 
 graphies, there are altogether no less than two 
 thousand, tw6 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 sub- 
 jects of which the " Spear Thrust " {Coup de 
 Lance), ''Adoration of the Magi or Wise 
 Men," the '' Last Communion of Saint Fran- 
 cis," the '' Christ on the Straw " {a la Paille), 
 " The Prodigal Son," and '' Virgin Instructed 
 
Antwerp from the Time of Rubens 445 
 
 by Saint Anne " are among the more notable. 
 Both here and at the Plantin Museum the stu- 
 dent of Eubens 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 Par- 
 rot) which was presented by Eubens to the 
 Guild of St. Luke when he was elected Presi- 
 dent of that famous organisation in 1631. 
 Near the Place de Meir is the house of Eubens, 
 largely a replica of the original built in the 
 eighteenth century — few vestiges of the build- 
 ing 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. 
 
 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 Eubens chapel is in the ambulatory, behind 
 the high altar, and contains a picture of the 
 ' ' Holy Family ' ' which, according to the crit- 
 ics, is one of the worst of the artist's pictures. 
 Several of the faces are those of his own fam- 
 
446 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 ily, 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 Eubens 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, six- 
 teen 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 pic- 
 tures 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 some- 
 times reproached with having neither the out- 
 line of Raphael, the depth of Leonardo da 
 Vinci, the largeness of Titian, the naturalness 
 
Antwerp from the Time of Rubens 447 
 
 of Velasquez, nor the chiaroscuro of Eem- 
 brandt. But he has the outline, the depth, the 
 largeness, the naturalness and the chiaroscuro 
 of Eubens; is not that enough? " 
 
 To appreciate fully the magnitude of this 
 greatest of all Flemings it is necessary to re- 
 call, 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 transfer- 
 ring the sovereignty over the loyal provinces 
 possessed by the Crown of Spain to his daugh- 
 ter 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 im- 
 provement 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 seven- 
 teenth and eighteenth centuries gave employ- 
 ment to upwards of twelve thousand hands, and 
 diamond-cutting became an industry of grow- 
 
448 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 ing importance. While the commercial stag- 
 nation was severely felt, the city did not de- 
 cline like Bruges, but held much of its popu- 
 lation and recovered some of its former wealth. 
 The Archdukes, who were relieved of the 
 paralysing necessity of referring every impor- 
 tant 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. Eeligious per- 
 secutions ceased. Eager to win the Jove 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 re- 
 mainder of his lifetime their favour never 
 ceased, and on many occasions Rubens was 
 sent as a special ambassador of the Govern- 
 ment on important diplomatic missions. His 
 courtly manners and stately appearance fa- 
 voured him, as well as his now tremendous ar- 
 tistic reputation. He was knighted by Charles 
 I, while on a visit to England, and created a 
 Master of Arts by the University of Cam- 
 bridge. Among his friends he numbered — 
 besides his royal patrons, Moretus, the printer, 
 and Rockox, the burgomaster — many of the 
 
PETER PAUL RUBENS. 
 
Antwerp from the Time of Rubens 449 
 
 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 astound- 
 ing variety of subjects — one calculation places 
 the total number at eight thousand! 
 
 As if his own achievements were not enough, 
 the genius of Eubens 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 his- 
 tory of art. Of his many pupils the greatest 
 is Anthony Van Dyck, who was born at Ant- 
 werp in 1599 and entered the studio of the mas- 
 ter 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. Eubens 
 had urged his promising pupil to visit Italy, 
 and not only gave him a letter of intro- 
 duction but provided funds for the long jour- 
 ney. The youth set forth, but in a little vil- 
 lage on the way there happened to be a ker- 
 messe 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 
 
450 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 days to courting lier. Meanwhile his funds ran 
 out, and he bethought himself with horror, 
 when it was too late, that this meant the aban- 
 donment of the trip to Italy. In his extremity 
 he applied to the parish priest and otfered to 
 paint an altarpiece for the village church on 
 very moderate terms. It is related that the 
 priest smiled indulgently at the youth's pre- 
 tensions 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 can- 
 vas, and leave the matter of the price to the 
 cure'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 con- 
 noisseur 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 re- 
 ported whether the future painter of kings and 
 courtiers ever returned to visit his fair inam- 
 orata of the kermesse, but this pretty story, 
 
Antwerp from the Time of Rubens 451 
 
 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 mas- 
 ter'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 pe- 
 riod, 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 no- 
 bility 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 
 
452 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 at Antwerp possesses twelve of his paintings, 
 of which one of the most interesting is the 
 " Christ on the Cross " painted for the Domin- 
 ican nuns in recognition of the care and ten- 
 derness with which they had nursed his father 
 during the old man's last illness. The cata- 
 logue 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 col- 
 lections 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 Eubens and Van 
 Dyck during the fruitful years when those mas- 
 ters 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 Ant- 
 
Antwerp from the Time of Rubens 453 
 
 werp for more tlian a century. Faid'herbe, 
 whose work abounds at Malines, was another 
 sculptor of the highest rank who was a direct 
 pupil of Eubens; Dusquesnoy, Grupello and 
 Verbrugghen were renowned sculptors who 
 owed much to his influence. 
 
 After Eubens 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 de- 
 picted 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 
 Grayer 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 mak- 
 ing herself for all time one of the art capitals 
 of the world. 
 
 In pictures of homely Flemish life David 
 
454 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 par- 
 ticular field. He, too, was prolific — one cata- 
 logTie 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 in- 
 numerable throng of minor artists — pupils of 
 Eubens, Van Dyck and their successors — 
 much of whose work is of excellent merit. Any 
 half-dozen of these would have rendered an- 
 other city notable in the history of art, but 
 here their achievements are lost as are the he- 
 roic 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 philoso- 
 pher will not regard too seriously the dicta of 
 the learned as to which of these lesser paint- 
 ings 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 pic- 
 ture for one to go into raptures over, if the 
 
Antwerp from the Time of Rubens 455 
 
 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 en- 
 joy it to the utmost, for of such joys Flanders 
 is full. In out of the way comers everywhere 
 one can find genre pictures like those of Tenier, 
 brilliantly coloured groups suggestive of Eu- 
 bens, 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 prede- 
 cessors, and retire on the proceeds! Who 
 knows ? 
 
 The visitor to the Eoyal 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 illu- 
 minated 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 gal- 
 
456 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 leries go, some five hundred and fifty alto- 
 gether, but the general average of quality is 
 exceptionally high — much superior in this re- 
 spect it seemed to us than the far larger col- 
 lection 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 '' An- 
 cient Fishmarket " at Antwerp by Frans Bos- 
 suet, 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 de- 
 scribed, 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 com- 
 
■"^-t^\ 
 
Antwerp from the Time of Rubens 457 
 
 pleted, in 1565, by Cornells de Vriendt when it 
 was partially destroyed during the Spanish 
 Fury. Eebuilt 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 de- 
 pict the zenith of Antwerp's commercial and 
 artistic splendour. The great reception-room 
 is decorated with four superb historical fres- 
 coes 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. 
 
 While the Hotel de Ville is most gratifying 
 to the eye and the imagination, it is not, how- 
 ever, intimately associated with many impor- 
 tant 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 re- 
 verted to Spain. Thereafter, for more than 
 two centuries, the city, together with Flanders, 
 
458 The Spell of 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 likeli- 
 hood 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 Fonte- 
 noy 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 com- 
 plete impartiality. The Empress Maria The- 
 resa was popular in her Netherlands domin- 
 ions, 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. 
 
Antwerp from the Time of Rubens 459 
 
 to the immense joy of its citizens. The Ans- 
 trians soon crushed the revolution and reoc- 
 cupied the city, but the great victory of the 
 French republicans, nnder 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 Im- 
 perial forces again occupying the city in 1793, 
 but the French victory at Fleurus the follow- 
 ing year turned the tables again and Antwerp 
 once more became subject to the republic. 
 
 All these years the Scheldt had been firmly 
 closed, J.oseph 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 in- 
 creased tenfold in consequence of this decree. 
 On the other hand, the sans-culottes very 
 nearly rivalled the image-breakers in the vig- 
 our with which they destroyed the city's relig- 
 ious 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 nionument of any 
 
460 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 value except for the lead, iron, copper and tim- 
 ber 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 Em- 
 peror's defeat and abdication, Antwerp, under 
 Gen. Camot, 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 re- 
 turning. In 1830 began the revolution that re- 
 sulted in the independence of Belgium. One 
 of its first events was the bombardment of the 
 city of Antwerp by the Dutch troops holding 
 
Antwerp from the Time of Rubens 461 
 
 the citadel. The following year Prince Leo- 
 pold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was elected by the 
 National Congress as King of the Belgians 
 Tinder 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 projec- 
 tiles 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 pros- 
 perous 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 Eiver 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 pos- 
 sible for a nation to have, the fine Belgian pub- 
 
462 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 e 
 
 lie service system was developed and the pros- 
 perity of its cities and citizens promoted in 
 every practical way. In the two decades fol- 
 lowing 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 Eotterdam 
 tripled. Since then the business of the port 
 has advanced even faster, and the imposing 
 modem business buildings that now line the 
 Place de Meir, one of the handsomest commer- 
 cial streets in the world, afford abundant tes- 
 timony 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 prede- 
 cessors were continued, and the little country 
 was enjoying peace and contentment such as 
 never came to it during the centuries of for- 
 eign 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 
 
Antwerp from the Time of R ubens 463 
 
 better than the best of their self-appointed mas- 
 ters 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 " 
 
 ;UR 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. 
 
 464 
 
Where Modern Flanders Shines 465 
 
 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 bar- 
 ren of results, and in 1601 the Archdukes de- 
 termined 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 becom- 
 ing a '' thorn in the foot " to the government 
 of the Archdukes. Queen Elizabeth, whose de- 
 feats 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 
 aii English commander. Since Albert's acces- 
 
466 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 sion 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 Arch- 
 dukes were obliged to erect eighteen forts 
 around Ostende and keep them constantly gar- 
 risoned and supplied. This cost ninety thou- 
 sand crowns a month and kept the rich prov- 
 ince in a state of perpetual war. Towns in the 
 vicinity were compelled to pay tribute in order 
 to escape pillage, and commerce — then, as al- 
 ways, 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 addi- 
 tional 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 ar- 
 rived before Ostende and formally began its 
 
Where Modern Flanders Shines 467 
 
 investment. The Infanta Isabella came with 
 him, and often shared camp life with her hus- 
 band 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 hke of whicli had never before been known 
 in Europe. In fact nearly all Europe was di- 
 rectly engaged in the conflict. On the Arch- 
 dukes' side were Spaniards, Italians and Wal- 
 loons; 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 opera- 
 tions 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 mil- 
 itary science of the day. Never before had the 
 world seen such cannons and engines of de- 
 struction. 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 receiv- 
 ing new provisions and supplies, and a con- 
 stant stream of reinforcements, by sea. The 
 Dutch, English and French ships came and 
 went almost at will. All the summer and fall 
 
468 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 of 1601 the siege dragged on, and through the 
 cold winter that followed. In 1602 Sir Fran- 
 cis 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 Gen- 
 oese 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, as- 
 saults, 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 Sep- 
 tember 13th, 1603, Sand Hill, after a resistance 
 of three years, was captured. Seven days 
 
Where Modern Flanders Shines 469 
 
 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 Arch- 
 duchess 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 re- 
 mained a city without inhabitants, the Arch- 
 dukes rebuilding the place but population com- 
 ing to it but slowly. In 1722 The East and 
 West India Company of the Austrian Nether- 
 lands was founded at Ostende, chiefly by Ant- 
 werp 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 fish- 
 
470 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 ing-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 race- 
 track. The coming of the cross-channel steam- 
 ers still further stimulated its growth, and at 
 present it is one of the most beautiful and pic- 
 turesque of all the Flemish cities. 
 
 Our visit was unfortunate — as we regret- 
 fully 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 Eussia, 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. How- 
 ever, 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 ter- 
 
Where Modern Flanders Shines 471 
 
 rible 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 any- 
 body 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 di- 
 rectly 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 
 
472 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 of the embankment. Here tlie 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 Bel- 
 gium, the cafes and hotels place their tables 
 and chairs far out into the roadway, so that we 
 can sit outdoors in the manner that the Ma- 
 dame 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 every- 
 thing, rooms, meals, service, pleasure, cigars, 
 tips, and even for the English newspapers, in- 
 creases 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 par- 
 ticularly excessive — though in August they 
 are usually much higher than in July — but 
 there is a constant succession of incidental ex- 
 penses 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 im- 
 posing and stately — making a brave show as 
 
Where Modern Flanders Shines 473 
 
 one looks down the long line that extends for 
 several miles from the harbour entrance west- 
 ward 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 apart ements meuhles, 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 at- 
 tended to all the details of the menage, cooking 
 and serving the meals and providing maid serv- 
 ice, but that messieurs must provide the pro- 
 visions, 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 Kur- 
 saal is a place of relatively little interest, al- 
 though 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 
 
474 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 centre of tlie 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 re- 
 freshments, although I have seen pictures in 
 which the room was filled with seats in solid 
 rows, like a theatre. It was much more com- 
 fortable the way we found it, and the concert 
 was very enjoyable. At the intermission, how- 
 ever, we observed that nearly everybody rose 
 and flocked off into an anteroom leading out 
 of the concert hall. The Professor and I de- 
 cided 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 Inno- 
 cents 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 
 
Where Modern Flanders Shines 475 
 
 end of the corridor we found ourselves in a 
 large circular room around which were a num- 
 ber of small tables on which visitors were roll- 
 ing 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 door- 
 way was heavily curtained with velvet draper- 
 ies 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 draper- 
 ies 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 re- 
 ported what we had seen, and took our turn at 
 looking after the wraps while they visited the 
 circular room. They likewise returned, re- 
 porting 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 
 
476 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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, giv- 
 ing our names, hotel address, home address 
 and one reference. This done, we each re- 
 ceived 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 hun- 
 dred people were gathered about half a dozen 
 roulette tables. No one paid the slightest atten- 
 tion to us, nor did any employe 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 oval- 
 shaped blue, marked five hundred and an ob- 
 long one marked one thousand. In less than 
 three minutes one player lost eight of the thou- 
 sand fl-anc chips, and then, this being appar- 
 
Where Modern Flanders Shines 477 
 
 ently 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. 
 
 At about this period of the evening the Ma- 
 dame raised a commotion by discovering that 
 her reticule was open and a piece of money 
 had fallen out onto the thick carpet. The Pro- 
 fessor and I instantly got down to look for it, 
 and even the croupiers at the adjoining gam- 
 ing 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 attend- 
 ants, and doubt if so small a coin had ever 
 been seen before in this northern Monte Carlo. 
 The Madame, however, was serenely indiffer- 
 ent 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 
 
478 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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. Sev- 
 eral 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 old- 
 est 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 cafes de- 
 signed to accommodate a thousand guests, but 
 which were then almost deserted. The rain 
 ceased suddenly toward nightfall and we re- 
 turned to the Digue for a farewell look at the 
 crowds and the long beach. It was night be- 
 
Where Modern Flanders Shines 479 
 
 fore we had seen enough, and then, after order- 
 ing and enjoying to the utmost our last Flem- 
 ish dinner, we made our way to the Gare Mari- 
 time 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 moon- 
 beams, we knew that our pilgrimage was over. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE SPELL OF FLANDEES 
 
 PN" tliis little book the author has endeav- 
 oured 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 ob- 
 trude 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 man- 
 ner in which its artists and sculptors have por- 
 trayed its famous past. As Mr. Griffis in 
 " Belgium, the Land of Art," has well ex- 
 pressed 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 at- 
 tractively. By pen and in print, on canvas, in 
 
 480 
 
The Spell of Flanders 481 
 
 mural decoration, in sculpture, in monuments 
 of bronze and marble, in fireplaces and in 
 wood-carving, tlie 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 archi- 
 tecture, of tapestry and lace-making, of the ori- 
 gin of the great woollen and linen industries, 
 of guilds and the organisation of labour, of 
 the commune or municipal republic in its earli- 
 est 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 prog- 
 ress. 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 
 
482 The Spell of Flanders 
 
 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 inexpressi- 
 ble 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 to- 
 gether. 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 
 
The Spell of Flanders 483 
 
 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 peo- 
 ple of the brave nation of which Flanders 
 forms so important and so famous a part. 
 May all of those on whom the spell of Flan- 
 ders 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 Amer- 
 ican 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 
 com 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 
 
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 Kervyn de Lettenhove: Huguenots et Gueux. 
 
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 Zimmern, H. : The Hansa Towns. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Aardenburg, 59. 
 
 Adornes, Anselm and John, 
 of Bruges, 309. 
 
 Adrian of Utrecht, 341. 
 
 Agincourt, Battle of, 220. 
 
 Agrippa, Cornelius, 341. 
 
 Aire, seized by Philip Augus- 
 tus, 135. 
 
 Albert, Archduke, and Regent 
 of Spanish Netherlands, de- 
 feated 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 Bel- 
 gians, makes headquarters 
 at Furnes in the Great War, 
 87; continues wise policies 
 of predecessors, 462; peace 
 and contentment under 
 reign of, 462-463. 
 
 Alencon, Duke of, 419. 
 
 Alfred the Great, taught by 
 Judith, afterwards Coun- 
 tess 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. Ba- 
 von, 181-182. 
 
 Alost, seized by Spanish mu- 
 tineers, 415. 
 
 Alsace, revolts against tyran- 
 ny of Charles the Bold, 289. 
 
 Alva, Duke of, recommends 
 destruction of Ghent, 352; 
 made Regent of Spanish 
 Netherlands, 381; 386; pol- 
 icy a failure, 414-415; 416; 
 citadel and statue demol- 
 ished, 418-419; 447. 
 
 Amiens, repulses Charles the 
 Bold, 289; 326. 
 
 Angelo, Michael, Virgin 
 and Child at Bruges, 51; 
 (Jompalreid with Rubens, 
 438. 
 
 Antigonus, legend of, 393- 
 394. 
 
 Antoing, village near Fonte- 
 noy, 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 Wey- 
 den at, 272 ; works by Mem- 
 ling 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 
 
 489 
 
490 
 
 Index 
 
 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 Boiicherie and 
 Steen, 399; new trade 
 routes favour city, 399^01 ; 
 Quentin Matsys, 401-403; 
 other early Antwerp paint- 
 ers, 403-405; legends of 
 the Long Wapper, Kludde, 
 etc., 405-410; prosperity 
 under Charles V, 411; out- 
 break 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 achieve- 
 ments of Rubens, 442-447; 
 mild government of Arch- 
 dukes, 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 his- 
 
 tory 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, por- 
 traits of, by Jean Van 
 Eyck, 340. 
 
 Arnulph the Great, strength- 
 ens Flemish cities, 35; 
 founds St. Donatian's at 
 Bruges, 35. 
 
 Arras, Treaty of 1191, 189; 
 Treaty of 1435, 222-223; 
 tapestry workers organ- 
 ised, 230; tapestries of, 
 278-279; starting point of 
 tapestry 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 Ar- 
 tevelde, 208; besieged by 
 Philip the Bold, 218; be- 
 sieged by men from Ghent, 
 225; Louis XI drives tap- 
 estry weavers from Arras 
 to, 278; tapestry ateliers 
 specialise in pastoral scenes, 
 279 ; country around, de- 
 scribed, 367-368; monu- 
 ment to volunteers who 
 died in Mexico, 369-370; 
 
Index 
 
 491 
 
 description of Hotel de 
 Ville, 370-376; birthplace 
 of Margaret of Parma, 377; 
 communal museum in Ho- 
 tel 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; Cha- 
 teau 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 War 
 of the Austrian Succession, 
 458; under Austrian Em- 
 pire, 458-459. 
 
 Auxerre, marriage of Baldwin 
 I and Judith in 863, 26. 
 
 B 
 
 Baldwin of Constantinople, 
 
 Count of Flanders, 129- 
 
 139; painting of, at Cour- 
 
 trai, 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 Flan- 
 ders, tower of, at Aude- 
 naerde, 376. 
 
 Baldwin VIII, signs Tteaty 
 of Arras, 189. 
 
 Basina, marriage to Childeric 
 at Tournai, 246-247; 265. 
 
 Basinus, King of the Thurin- 
 gians, 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. 
 
 Bgguinage, at Bruges, 33-36; 
 origin of institution, 34- 
 35; Grand B6guinage at 
 Ghent, 35; description of, 
 209-213; Petit Beguinage 
 at Ghent, 210; at Aude- 
 naerde, 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, de- 
 scription of, 262-263; at 
 Bruges, completed under 
 Margaret of Austria, 340. 
 
 Belgian coast, 16; Belgian 
 barbers, 44^6; Belgian 
 
492 
 
 Index 
 
 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 Nieu- 
 
 port to, 104. 
 Berthout, Gauthier, Bishop of 
 
 Malines, 312. 
 Berthout, Jean, Bishop of 
 
 Malines, 314. 
 Bertulph, Provost of St. Don- 
 
 atian, 37; executed at 
 
 Ypres, 40^1. 
 Bicycle racing in Belgium, 
 
 111-112. 
 Billets d'ahonnement, 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. 
 Blas&re, William de, con- 
 structs first hothouse at 
 
 Ghent, 356. 
 Blaton, 368. 
 Blbndeel, Lancelot, 61. 
 Bliicher, 359. 
 Bosch, Jerome, 341 ; 405. 
 Botanical Garden at Malines, 
 
 316; at Ghent, 356-358. 
 Boterbeke River, intersection 
 
 with the Roya, 26; subter- 
 ranean channel of, 27. 
 
 Boulger, "History of Bel- 
 gium," quoted, 293. 
 
 Bouts, Dierick, life and prin- 
 cipal works, 307-309; 341; 
 401. 
 
 Bouvines, Battle of, 136. 
 
 Brabant, Duchy of, 137; 
 united to Flanders by mar- 
 riages of Cambrai, 218- 
 219; Philip the Good be- 
 comes 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, "Nurs- 
 ery Garden" in Antwerp 
 Museum, 456. 
 
 Braine-le-Comte, Flemish 
 name for, 150. 
 
 Brauwer, Adrian, 454. 
 
 Breidel, John, Dean of Butch- 
 ers' 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 char- 
 acteristics, 404-405. 
 
 Brioches, 46. 
 
 Britto, Jean, printer at 
 Bruges, 58. 
 
 Broederlam, Melchior, early 
 painter of Ypres, 230'-231. 
 
Index 
 
 493 
 
 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 Flan- 
 ders, 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 Eouleau, 32; for- 
 tified 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; 
 Ealles, description of, 67- 
 68; period of greatest com- 
 mercial activity, 68-70; 
 silting up of the Zwyn, 70^ 
 71; Baldwin of Constanti- 
 nople holds coixrt 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; guilds- 
 men from Bruges at Battle 
 of the Spurs, 157; 171; su- 
 perseded by Ghent as capi- 
 tal 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 Humilia- 
 tion," 224-225; Guild of 
 St. Luke organised, 229- 
 230; Jehan de Bruges, 230; 
 "Ville d'Art," 268; 277; 
 principal capital of Charles 
 the Bold, 287; marriage of 
 Maximilian and Marie of 
 Burgundy, 294 ; Memling 
 at Bruges, 294-299; Gheer- 
 hardt David, 299-300; 
 other early Flemish paint- 
 ers, 300-302; the Gruut- 
 huise Palace, 302-305 ; 
 Cathedral of St. Sauveur, 
 305-307; other fine old 
 mediaeval buildings, 309- 
 310; 312; "renowned for its 
 pretty girls," 321; 323; 
 Treaty of Cambrai, 338- 
 339; Belfry completed un- 
 der Margaret of Austria, 
 340 ; 344 ; paintings by Van 
 der Goes, 362; "monu- 
 ments" classified, 363; 366; 
 393; 394; 397; 398; at- 
 tempt to close the Scheldt, 
 399-400; 401; 434; 448; 
 456. 
 
 Brunehault, rival of Frede- 
 gonda, 247-248. 
 
 Brussels, 9; relation to Flan- 
 ders, 12-13; more French 
 
494 
 
 Index 
 
 than Flemish, 13; weather 
 at, 22-23; passage through, 
 24; 150; 170; 219; Hotel 
 de Ville built by Philip the 
 Good, 228; tapestry work- 
 ers organised, 230; part of 
 the "Adoration of the 
 Lamb" in Museum, 238; 
 243; work of Van der Wey- 
 den 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 no- 
 ble men," 321; 324; 339; 
 Cathedral of Ste. Gudule 
 erected, 340 ; manuscripts 
 of Margaret of Austria in 
 Bibliotheque Koyale, 342 ; 
 Marie of Hungary removes 
 capital to, 342; 351; 359; 
 "Madness of Hugo Van der 
 Goes" in the Modern Gal- 
 lery, 361; portrait of 
 Charles the Bold by Van 
 der Goes, 362; 367; 368; 
 Henri Van P6de architect 
 of Hotel de Ville, 371; 
 "Legend of St. Anne," by 
 Quentin Matsys, 403; 443; 
 444; Modern Gallery com- 
 pared with Royal Museum 
 at Antwerp, 456; 464. 
 Burgundy, Dukes of, 4; 17; 
 
 174; the marriages of Cam- 
 brai, 218-219; power ex- 
 tended by Treaty of Arras, 
 222-223; further extended 
 at P^ronne, 288; defeated 
 by Swiss at Granson, Morat 
 and Nancy, 290-292; King- 
 dom of Burgundy almost 
 established, 293; 315; 351; 
 early chateau at Aude- 
 naerde, 390; 395; acquire 
 Antwerp, 398; tyranny of, 
 462. 
 Byzantine Emperors, coins of, 
 found at Tournai, 265. 
 
 Caen, Normandy, Plantin 
 learns art of printing in, 
 423; 424. 
 
 Caesar, 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 "Adora- 
 tion 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 Ant- 
 werp, 460. 
 
 Cassel, captured by Philip 
 Augustus, 135. 
 
Index 
 
 495 
 
 Castle of the Counts (Cha- 
 teau des Comtes ) , at Ghent, 
 170-179; stormed by Jac- 
 ques Van Artevelde, 200; 
 birthplace of John fii 
 Gaunt, 201; 233; 262; 
 Ligvin Pyn tortured at, 
 349. 
 Caxton, William, learns print- 
 ing at Bruges, 228. 
 Cayas, Gabriel de, patron of 
 Christopher Plantin, 424 ; 
 interests Philip II in Biblia 
 Begia, 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 
 Eevolution, 56-57; restora- 
 tion, 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; em- 
 ploys Van Dyek 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; cap- 
 tures Tournai, 249; "Ab- 
 dication 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; withdrav?s 
 all the city's ancient priv- 
 ileges, 350-355; origin of 
 Butchers' Guild of Ghent, 
 365; portrait of, at Aude- 
 naerde, 373; many remind- 
 ers 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 Ant- 
 Averp, 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 Aus- 
 tria, 458; 469. 
 
496 
 
 Index 
 
 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 Ba- 
 
 sina 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 Aude- 
 
 naerde, 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, promul- 
 gated by Charles V in 1540, 
 
 355. 
 
 Columbus, discovery of Amer- 
 ica helps Antwerp, 400. 
 
 Conde, 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. 
 
 Cortes, 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 cas- 
 tle, 28; Emperor makes ti- 
 tle hereditary, 34; 54; 
 151; castle of, at Ghent, 
 170-179; foster Abbey of 
 St. Bavon, 182; make 
 Ghent their capital, 1S9; 
 decline in power of, 190; 
 weakness after Battle of 
 the Spurs, 192-193; obtain 
 temporal power over Ma- 
 lines, 315; 351; Scheldt 
 their frontier, 394-395. 
 
 Courtrai, linens, 5; fortified 
 by Baldwin II, 34; 58; de- 
 stroyed by Philip Augus- 
 tus, 136; lace makers at, 
 141; 146; Belfry, 147-148; 
 Hotel de Ville, 151-153; 
 Battle of Courtrai, 152- 
 
Index 
 
 497 
 
 160; churches of, 161-163; 
 Broel towers at, 164; 193; 
 314. 
 
 Coxcie, Michel, 237; 238; 
 339; 341; 386. 
 
 Coxyde, dunes at, 92-93; 
 pecheurs de crevettes, 93. 
 
 Grayer, Gaspard de, 384; re- 
 ligious pictures of, 453. 
 
 Crecy, Battle of, 203. 
 
 Crispin, 431. 
 
 Crowe and Cavalcaselle, "The 
 Early Flemish Painters," 
 cited, 235. 
 
 Cuches au heurre, 46-47. 
 
 Cumberland, Duke of, de- 
 feated 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 as- 
 pect, 72-75; betrothal of 
 Margaret of York by 
 Charles the Bold, 76-77; 
 destroyed by Philip Augus- 
 tus, 135 ; rallying place for 
 Clauwaerts before the Ma- 
 tin de Bruges, 155; de- 
 stroyed 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" quot- 
 ed, 253-255. 
 
 Delbeke, Louis, 123. 
 
 Deledicque, Antony, 139. 
 
 Delvin, Jean, 93. 
 
 Dendermonde ( Termonde ) , 
 202; 310. 
 
 Denuce, assistant curator of 
 Plantin Museum, 434. 
 
 Denyn, Josef, official bell 
 ringer at Malines, 323- 
 324; 440. 
 
 Denys, GSrard, Dean of Weav- 
 ers 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; por- 
 trait 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 Cru- 
 sades, 13 ; part of the Franc 
 of Bruges, 59; history of, 
 83; church of St. Nicholas, 
 84-85 ; gateaux d'ames, 85 ; 
 ravages of the war, 86; 
 
498 
 
 Index 
 
 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; Bat- 
 tle 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 Eng- 
 land, 198; treats with 
 Jacques Van Artevelde, 
 200; wins Battle of Sluys, 
 
 201 ; welcomes Flemish 
 weavers, 204-205; besieges 
 Tournai, 248-249; at Ant- 
 werp, 397. 
 
 Edward IV, King of England, 
 guest of the Lord of Gruut- 
 huise, 303. 
 
 Egmont, Count of, "Last 
 Honours to" and "Last Mo- 
 ments of" by Louis Gallait, 
 273-274. 
 
 Eleanor, Queen of France, 
 339. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen of England, 
 237; sends English garri- 
 son to Ostende, 465-466. 
 
 Epinoy, Christine, Princess 
 of, heroic defence of Tour- 
 nai, 249; statue of, 262; 
 painting of, 274. 
 
 Erasmus, 341. 
 
 Erembald, house of, 37; mur- 
 der of Charles the Good, 
 38; besieged in church of 
 St. Donatian, 30; 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. 
 
 Faid'herbe, Luke, sculptor of 
 Malines, 326 ; designs 
 
Index 
 
 499 
 
 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. 
 
 F6r6, 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 cap- 
 ital of, 13; plan of chron- 
 ological tour of, 14; cli- 
 mate, 22-24; travel hints, 
 23; origin of the Coimty, 
 25; just misses becoming 
 independent, 192-193; "the 
 cock-pit of Europe," 250- 
 251; 286; end of independ- 
 ence in 1540, 355; arms of, 
 at Audenaerde, 373; the 
 Scheldt its Eastern bound- 
 ary, 394-395. 
 
 Flemish architecture, 3; art, 
 6; inns, 7-11; language, 
 12-13; coast, 15-16; clean- 
 liness, 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 monu- 
 ment, 256; 458. 
 
 Franchoys, Luc, 331. 
 
 Francis I, King of France, 
 62; loses Tournai, 248; 
 concludes Treaty of Cam- 
 brai, 338-339. 
 
 Fredegonda, Queen of the 
 Franks, 247-248. 
 
 Frederick II, Emperor, of- 
 fers 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 Cru- 
 sades, 13; receives charter 
 from Philip of Alsace, 55; 
 history, 86-87; 90; the 
 Procession of, 87-89; prin- 
 cipal buildings, 90-92. 
 
 Fyts, John, animal pictures 
 of, 453. 
 
500 
 
 Index 
 
 G 
 
 Galeswintha, sister of Brune- 
 hault, 248. 
 
 Gallait, Louis, "Last Honours 
 to Counts Egmont and 
 Horn," 273; other notable 
 works, 213-274; in Ant- 
 werp Museum, 456. 
 
 Gavre, Battle of, 225-227; 
 344. 
 
 Geefs, W., sculptor, 369. 
 
 George II, King of England, 
 251. 
 
 Gertrude, Countess of Flan- 
 ders, 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; Chateau 
 des Comtes, 170-179; Ab- 
 bey of St. Bavon, 181-185; 
 chateau of Girard the 
 Devil, 185-186; church of 
 St. Nicholas, 186-188; ca- 
 thedral 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; ex- 
 torts concessions from 
 Charles the Bold, 287; de- 
 nounced by Charles, 289; 
 312; "renowned for its hal- 
 ters," 321; Hotel de Ville 
 completed, 340; 344; the 
 Rabot, 345-346 ; rejoicings 
 over birth of Charles V, 
 346; decline of cloth indus- 
 try, 347; Hotel de Ville, 
 description of, 347-349 ; 
 outbreak of 1539, 349; 
 execution of Lievin Pyn, 
 350 ; Emperor withdraws 
 liberties and privileges, 
 350-355 ; Bishop Triest and 
 beginnings of horticulture, 
 355-357 ; Botanical Gar- 
 den, 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 Par- 
 ma presented as Regent at, 
 
Index 
 
 501 
 
 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), chateau of, 1S5- 
 
 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. 
 Grifiis, "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 Lode- 
 
 wyk) Van der, 302; 303. 
 Gruuthuise Palace, 68; 302- 
 
 305. 
 Gryeflf, Adolphus de, 386. 
 Gueldre, Duke of, 313. 
 Gueux, 328; 329. 
 Gitffens, 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 cen- 
 tury, 194-195; slaughter of 
 the fullers, 202; slaughter 
 of the weavers, 204; expul- 
 sion of weavers, 204-205; 
 at Malines, 313-315; house 
 of Boatmen's Guild at 
 Ghent, 347; flue guild 
 houses of Ghent, 365; or- 
 igin 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, Chatelain of Bruges, 
 37; 42. 
 
 Hainaut, County of, 130; 
 united to Flanders by mar- 
 riages of Cambrai, 218- 
 219; Philip the Good be- 
 comes Count of, 221; 243; 
 Count of, at siege of Tour- 
 nai, 249. 
 
 Hal, baptismal font at, 277. 
 
 Hanseatic League, 58; at 
 
502 
 
 Index 
 
 Bruges, 69 ; abandons 
 Bruges for Antwerp, 71; 
 
 401. 
 Hay, Lord, at Battle of Fon- 
 
 tenoy, 254. 
 Hemony, Pierre, 323. 
 Hennebicq, painter of Tour- 
 
 nai, 274. 
 Hennequin, painter of Tour- 
 
 nai, 274. 
 Henry III, Duke of Brabant, 
 
 grants privileges to Ant- 
 werp, 396. 
 Henry V, King of England, 
 
 wins Battle of Agincourt, 
 
 220. 
 Henry VIII, captures Tour- 
 
 nai, 249; tower of, 266- 
 
 267. 
 Herkenbald, "Justice of," 
 
 painting by Van der Wey- 
 
 den, 271. 
 Heuvick, early painter of Au- 
 
 denaerde, 382. 
 Heyst, 16; 324. 
 Higronimites, 186. 
 Horembout, Gerard, 341. 
 Horn, Count of, "Last Hon- 
 ors to," 273; 412. 
 Hugonet, minister of Marie 
 
 of Burgundy, 349. 
 Humbercourt, minister of 
 
 Marie of Burgundy, 349. 
 Hundred Years' War, 70; 
 
 143; 198. 
 
 Iconoclasts for "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 Neth- 
 erlands, 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; por- 
 trait of, 238; picture of, in 
 collection of Margaret of 
 Austria, 340-341. 
 
 Jacqueline, Countess of Hai- 
 naut and Holland, 176- 
 177; forced to abdicate, 
 221. 
 
 Jansenius, Bishop of St. Mar- 
 tin at Ypres, 125-126. 
 
 Janssens, Victor, 386. 
 
 Jean II, Duke of Brabant, 
 314. 
 
 Jeanne d'Arc, 221. 
 
 Jeanne of Constantinople, 
 Countess of Flanders, 122; 
 
Index 
 
 503 
 
 132; 135; 136-139; founds 
 first Beguinage at Ghent, 
 210. 
 
 Jelian de Bruges, early paint- 
 er, 230. 
 
 Jehan de Hasselt, early paint- 
 er, 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, Re- 
 gent of the Netherlands, 
 415; 418. 
 
 John of Bavaria, 234. 
 
 John I, Dulse of Brabant, 
 grants the Core van Ant- 
 werp en, 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, alli- 
 ance with Ferdinand of 
 Portugal, 136. 
 
 Jordaens, Jacob, "Adoration 
 of the Magi" at Dixmude, 
 84; characteristics, 453; 
 455; 456. 
 
 Joseph II, Emperor of Aus- 
 
 tria, 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 Flem- 
 ish painter, 360-362, 
 
 Justus Lipsius, meets Chris- 
 topher Plantin, 429; writes 
 his epitaph, 430; 431; 441. 
 
 K 
 
 Kaboutermannekens, legends 
 of, 408-409. 
 
 Karls, refuse allegiance to 
 feudal overlords, 37; sup- 
 port the Erembalds, 38; 
 receive Keurbrief from 
 Philip of Alsace, 60-61. 
 
 Katherine, Queen of Portugal, 
 339. 
 
 Keldermans, Andre, Antoine 
 I, Antoine II, Jean, Lau- 
 rent and Mathieu, all ar- 
 chitects of Malines, 319- 
 320. 
 
 Keldermans, Rombaut, archi- 
 tect of Malines, 318; 320; 
 rebuilds Hotel de Savoy, 
 336 ; receives many commis- 
 sions from Margaret of 
 Austria, 339-340; designs 
 Maison de la Eeure at 
 Ghent, 348. 
 
 Kerel van Yper, painter of 
 Ypres, 141. 
 
504 
 
 Index 
 
 Kermesse, its antiquity, 115; 
 3718; 449. 
 
 Keyser, Nicaise de, 160. 
 
 Kiliaen, the Flemish lexicog- 
 rapher, 433. , 
 
 Kipling, quoted, 29. 
 
 Kludde, legends of, 409-410. 
 
 Ivnocke, 16. 
 
 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, 02. 
 
 Larks in Belgium, 166-168. 
 
 Legend of Baldwin of Con- 
 stantinople, 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 Ma- 
 lines, 332-333; of Anti- 
 gonus and Brabo at Ant- 
 werp, 393-394; of Lohen- 
 grin, 394; of Quentin 
 Matsys, 401-402; of the 
 Long Wapper of Antwerp, 
 
 405-408; of the Kabouter- 
 mannekens, 408-409 ; of 
 Kludde, 409-410; of Van 
 Dyck at Saventhem, 449- 
 451. 
 
 Lemaire des Beiges, Jean, 
 341. 
 
 Leopold I, King of the Bel- 
 gians, first welcomed to 
 Belgium at Furnes, 87; 
 elected King, 461; frees the 
 Scheldt in 1863, 461. 
 
 Leopold II, King of the Bel- 
 gians, an efficient chief 
 executive, 461-462; Palace 
 at Ostende, 470. 
 
 Leys, Baron Henri, 456; 
 jjaintings in Hotel de Ville 
 at Antwerp, 457. 
 
 Liederick de Buck, portrait 
 of, 373. 
 
 Liedts, Baroness, lace collec- 
 tion at Bruges, 304. 
 
 Liege, 106; 286; insurrec- 
 tions 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 Au- 
 gustus, 136; Baldwin of 
 Constantinople executed at, 
 138-139; 207; fetes held 
 by Philip the Good at, 227; 
 280. 
 
 Lissweghe, 59. 
 
 Lombartzyde, 95; statue of 
 the Virgin, 104-105. 
 
Index 
 
 505 
 
 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 dur- 
 ing 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 as- 
 sassination of Jacques Van 
 Artevelde, 202-203; death 
 at Crecy, 203. 
 
 Louis the Fat, King of 
 France, 41-42. 
 
 Louis XI, King of France, 
 lives at Furnes while 
 Dauphin, 90; drives tap- 
 estry weavers from Arras, 
 278; implacable foe of 
 Charles the Bold, 286; fo- 
 ments insurrection at Liege, 
 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 tapes- 
 tries from Audenaerde, 
 376; portrait of, 376; 387; 
 bombards Audenaerde, 391. 
 
 Louis XV, King of France, at 
 Battle of Fontenoy, 251- 
 255; Joyous Entry at Ant- 
 werp, 458. 
 
 Louis XVIII, King of France, 
 at Ghent, 358-359. 
 
 Louise of Savoy, 338. 
 
 Louvain, 219; Hotel de Ville, 
 228; Guild of St. Luke or- 
 ganised, 230; work of Van 
 der Weyden at, 271; Die- 
 rick Bouts at, 307-3018; 
 310; "renowned for its 
 scholars," 321; 371; 395; 
 birth-place of Quentin 
 Matsys, 401; 403. 
 
 Lyon, Jean, Dean of Boat- 
 men'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. 
 
 Ma'ele, Chateau of, near 
 Bruges, 303. 
 
 Mahaut, Countess of Flan- 
 ders, 122. 
 
 Malfait of Brussels, 124. 
 
 Malines, lace makers at, 5; 
 centre of Flemish architec- 
 ture, art and learning, 12; 
 "Ville d'Art," 268; extorts 
 privileges from Charles the 
 Bold, 287; terrible destruc- 
 
506 
 
 Index 
 
 tion in the Great War, 311; 
 situation and importance, 
 312; early history, 312- 
 315; Cloth Hall and mu- 
 seum, 317; 318; Cathedral 
 of St. Rombaut, 318-323; 
 chimes, 323-325 ; interior 
 of Cathedral, 325-327; "re- 
 nowned for its fools," 321; 
 Notre Dame au dela 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 Ma- 
 lines, 336; Regent of the 
 Netherlands, 337; negotia- 
 tiates the "Ladies' Peace," 
 338-339 ; brilliant court, 
 339; taste for art and lit- 
 erature, 340-342; untimely 
 death, 342-343; 345; 349. 
 
 Margaret, Countess of Flan- 
 
 ders, 122; 132; 135; 130; 
 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 ; su- 
 perseded by Duke of Alva, 
 3181; 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, Coun- 
 tess of Flanders, 133; dedi- 
 cates Cloth Hall at Ypres, 
 134; death in Syria, 134; 
 162. 
 
 Marie, Queen of Hungary, 
 339; Regent of the Nether- 
 lands, 342-343 ; insurrec- 
 tion at Ghent during reign 
 of, 349-350; 354. 
 
 Marlborough, Duke of, cap- 
 tures Tournai, 250; wins 
 Battle of Audenaerde, 391; 
 recalled in peasant nursery 
 
Index 
 
 507 
 
 song, 391-392; takes Ant- 
 werp after Battle of Ra- 
 millies, 458. 
 
 Marot, Clement, 428. 
 
 Marvis Towers at Tournai, 
 265. 
 
 Masse, 341. 
 
 Matsys, Quentin, life and 
 principal works, 401-403. 
 
 Matthew, Duke of Lorraine, 
 122. 
 
 Maurice, Count of jSTassau, 
 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 Mex- 
 ico, 369. 
 
 Memling, Hans, at Bruges, 
 295-296; works of, in Hos- 
 pital 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 pecheiir 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; for- 
 merly 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 Plan- 
 tin-Moretus museum to city 
 of Antwerp, 432. 
 
 Moretus, Jean I, marries 
 Martina, daughter of Chris- 
 topher 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 
 
508 
 
 Index 
 
 of Charles the Bold before, 
 292; 295; 333. 
 
 Namur, 312. 
 
 Napoleon, saves Chapel of the 
 Holy Blood, 56; 94; 282; 
 330; 358; 358-359; re- 
 moves tapestries from Au- 
 denaerde, 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 Cru- 
 sades, 13; receives charter 
 from Philip of Alsace, 55; 
 some famous sieges of, 95; 
 Battle of the Dunes, 96- 
 98; Chambers of Phetoric, 
 99 ; Tower of tlie Templars, 
 Cloth Hall and church of 
 Notre Dame, 99-101; the 
 Yser River, locks and ca- 
 nals, 103-104; 465; 473. 
 
 Norsemen, anarchy resulting 
 from invasions of, 36 ; cap- 
 ture Tournai, 248; 256; 
 259; burn church at Au- 
 denaerde, 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 dela de la 
 Dyle, church of, at Ma- 
 lines, 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; fetes at Lille, 227; 
 Tournai tapestries ordered 
 for, 279; chapter at Ma- 
 lines, 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; re- 
 nown 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- 
 
Index 
 
 509 
 
 477; the Estacade, 477- 
 478; last glimpses of, 478- 
 479. 
 
 Orleans, Duke of, 220 ; 233. 
 
 Ortelius, 431. 
 
 Oudenaarde, Jan van, 72. 
 
 Pape, Simon de, early painter 
 of Audenaerde, 384; 389. 
 
 Parma, Duke of, captures 
 "Y^res, 144; besieges Tour- 
 nai, 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. , 
 
 Peronne, 138; Louis XI visits 
 Charles the Bold at, 288; 
 293. 
 
 Peterinck, Frangois, 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 Keur- 
 hrief, 59-61; 87; 129; 
 builds Spuytorre at Cour- 
 trai, 164; erects Chateau 
 des Comtes at Ghent, 171; 
 173; 189. 
 
 Philip Augustus, King of 
 
 France, 135-136; 138; 153; 
 Treaty of Arras, 189; an- 
 nexes Tournai, 248; paint- 
 ing of, at Tournai, 274. 
 
 Philip the Bold, Duke of Bur- 
 gundy, 90; 124; removes 
 clock at Courtrai, 148; re- 
 builds Spuytorre at Cour- 
 trai, 164; marries Mar- 
 garet of Maele, 183; sig- 
 nificance 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; de- 
 feated at Courtrai, 157- 
 160; sheriffs of, besieged at 
 Ghent, 177. 
 
 Philip the Good, Duke of Bur- 
 gundy, 4; 58; 90; 175; 
 176; becomes Count of 
 Flanders, Hainaut and Hol- 
 land, and Duke of Brabant, 
 220-221; foimds 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 fgtes at 
 
510 
 
 Index 
 
 Lille, 227; divergent esti- 
 mates of character, 228- 
 229; 231; visits studio of 
 Jean Van Eyck, 235-236; 
 orders portrait of Isabel of 
 Portugal, 238; orders tap- 
 estries 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 11, King of Spain, 91; 
 236-237; 249; 292-293; 
 unwise policy provokes re- 
 volt, 379-380; sends Duke 
 of Alva to punish icon- 
 oclasts, 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 Beckfere, 52. 
 
 Pius 11, 378. 
 
 Pizarro, 346. 
 
 Plantin, Christopher, early 
 life, 423-424 ; establishes 
 printing house at Antwerp, 
 425; issues the Biblia Re- 
 gia, 426-427; extent of 
 business, 427-428 ; moves 
 to Friday Market, 428- 
 429; death, 429-430; ex- 
 tent 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. 
 
 Prevost, Jean, 301. 
 
 Procession of the Holy Blood 
 at Bruges, 56; Procession 
 at Furnes, 87-89; Peys- 
 processie at Malines, 315. 
 
 Pyn, Li6vin, execution of, 
 349-350; 351; 352. 
 
 Q 
 
 Quellin, Erasmus, "The Ado- 
 ration of the Shepherds" 
 at Malines, 327; 433; 
 foimds 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 Mar- 
 garet, eldest daughter, 429. 
 
 Renacle de Florennes, 341. 
 
 Reparation inmsihle, 215- 
 216. 
 
 Requesens, Regent of the 
 Netherlands, 415. 
 
 Richard, Duke of Gloucester, 
 later Richard III, King of 
 England, 303. 
 
Index 
 
 511 
 
 Riviere, Jeanne, wife of Chris- 
 topher Plan tin, 423; aids 
 husband with a linen busi- 
 ness, 429. 
 
 Robbins, Philippe, master tap- 
 estry 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 Ant- 
 werp, 448. 
 
 Roda, Jerome, 415. 
 
 Roland, the great bell at 
 Ghent, 196-197; inscrip- 
 tion on, 196; taken down 
 by Charles V, 354. 
 
 Rooses, Max, Director of 
 Plantin-Moretus Museum, 
 quoted, 239-240; 298; de- 
 scription of Plantin Mu- 
 seum, cited, 433. 
 
 Rosbecque, Battle of, 162; 
 163; 207. 
 
 Roya, at Bruges, 26; 27; 52. 
 
 Rubens, Peter Paul, "St. Ba- 
 von withdrawing from the 
 World" at Ghent, 241; 
 "Christ on the Cross" at 
 Malines, 317; "Miraculous 
 Draught of Fishes" at Ma- 
 lines, 327-328; "Adoration 
 of the Magi" at Malines, 
 330; 386; 433; rank among 
 the masters, 438; two mas- 
 
 terpieces in Cathedral at 
 Antwerp, 339-440; "Resur- 
 rection" in the Cathedral, 
 441; at height of fame, 
 442-444; enormous produc- 
 tivity, 444-445 ; death, 445 ; 
 Prof. Wauters' estimate of, 
 446-447; patronised by the 
 "Archdukes," 448 ; diplo- 
 matic missions, 448; let- 
 ters, 449; 455; 456. 
 Rudolph II, Emperor of Aus- 
 tria, 405. 
 
 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, 1818- 
 189; altar-piece by the Van 
 Eycks, 234-238; other 
 works of art in, 240-241 ; 
 355; 360. 
 
 St. Brice, church of, at Tour- 
 nai, 263-264. 
 
 St. Donatian, church of, at 
 Bruges, 35; scene of mur- 
 der of Charles the Good, 
 38; besieged by foes of the 
 Erembalds, 39-41 ; Erem- 
 balds flung from tower, 41; 
 destroyed in French Revo- 
 
512 
 
 Index 
 
 lution, 42; relics and ap- 
 proximate site, 42-43; 292. 
 
 St. Eleuthereus, statue of, on 
 portal of Cathedral, 260; 
 Chasse of, 276-277 ; life of, 
 depicted on tapestry in Ca- 
 thedral, 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 ]\Iemling 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 Ma- 
 lines, 330-331. 
 
 St. Luke, Guild of, first or- 
 ganised 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 Ru- 
 bens President, 445. 
 
 St. Martin, church of, at 
 Courtrai, 161-162. 
 
 St. Martin, church of, at 
 Ypres, 125-126. 
 
 St. Mary, church of, at Ant- 
 werp, 412; becomes Ca- 
 thedral 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 Lou- 
 vain, 307-308. 
 
 St. Piat, martyrdom at Tour- 
 nai, 245; statue of, on por- 
 tal 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. 
 
Index 
 
 513 
 
 Ste. Walburge, church of, at 
 Furnes, 88 and 92. 
 
 Saventhem, 449-451. 
 
 Savoy, Diichess of, see Mar- 
 garet of Austria. 
 
 Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Leopold, 
 Prince of, elected King of 
 the Belgians, 461. 
 
 Saxe, Maurice, victor at Fon- 
 tenoy, 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; Ant- 
 werp from, 21; monument 
 on Place Marnix, 19; 169; 
 at Tournai, 266; 300; 
 snakes in, 382; at Aude- 
 naerde, 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 dur- 
 ing reign of the Archdukes, 
 447; opened to navigation 
 in 1795, 459; docks erected 
 by Napoleon, 460; free un- 
 der 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 Sky- 
 lark, 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 pic- 
 tures 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 paint- 
 ings at Ypres, 125; at 
 Courtrai, 152. 
 
 T 
 
 Taillebert, Urban, 84. 
 
 Tancmar, Lord of Straten, 37. 
 
 Tani, Jacopo, 298. 
 
 Tapestry, 5; workers organ- 
 ised into a guild, 230; in 
 church of St. Brice at Tour- 
 nai, 264; weaving at Tour- 
 nai, 278-280; 376; at Au- 
 denaerde, 384-390. 
 
514 
 
 Index 
 
 Templars, Tower of, at Nieu- 
 port, 95; 99; House of, at 
 Ypres, 140-141. 
 
 Teniers, David, 7; 386; mas- 
 ter of scenes of homely 
 Flemish life, 453-454; 455; 
 456. 
 
 Tournai, tapestries, 5; forest 
 of, 134; besieged by Ed- 
 ward III, 202; Guild of St. 
 Luke organised, 229; tapes- 
 try workers organised, 230; 
 oldest city in Belgium, 242 ; 
 turris Nerviorum of Caesar, 
 245; capital of Merovin- 
 gian 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 Troxis, 
 and tower of Henry VIII, 
 265-267; Yille d'Art, 268- 
 269 and 281-282; Robert 
 Carapin, 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 sil- 
 versmiths at, 276-277; cop- 
 persmiths at, 277-278; tap- 
 estry weavers, 278-280; 
 porcelains of, 280-281; 
 manufactures of stained 
 glass, 281-282; manufac- 
 ture of fine carpets, 282; 
 
 312; "monuments" classi- 
 fied, 363; 377; tapestry 
 weaving at, 383. 
 
 Trajan, "the Just Emperor," 
 painting by Van der Wey- 
 den, 271. 
 
 Triest, Bishop, tomb in Ca- 
 thedral of St, Bavon at 
 Ghent, 241 ; encourages hor- 
 ticulture at Ghent, 355-356 ; 
 358. 
 
 Turenne, defeated by Cond6 
 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; Bat- 
 tle of Sluys, 201-202; as- 
 sassination, 202-204; 248- 
 249; 397. 
 
 Van Artevelde, Philip, brief 
 career, 206-207; big cannon 
 
Index 
 
 515 
 
 of, 208; at siege of Auden- 
 aerde, 391. 
 
 Van Bredael, Alexander, 
 386. 
 
 Van den Broeck, 431. 
 
 Van Dyck, Anthony, "The 
 Raising of the Cross" at 
 Courtrai, 162-1635 "The 
 Crucifixion" at Malines, 
 327; 433; pupil of Rubens, 
 4991; "Saint Martin divid- 
 ing Cloak among the Beg- 
 gars," 499-451; at Ant- 
 werp, 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 serv- 
 ice of Philip the Good, 233- 
 234; plans and begins "The 
 Adoration of the Lamb," 
 234-235; death, 234; monu- 
 ment, 241; 269; 270; 295; 
 360. 
 
 Van Eyck, Jean, colours stat- 
 ues 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 
 Portugalai-se" 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 
 
 j)oet, 59; statue at Damme, 
 
 73-74. 
 Van der Meire, Gerard, 
 
 painter of Ghent, 363. 
 Van Meuwenhove, Martin, 
 
 painting of, by Memling, 
 
 298. 
 Van Noort, Adam, teacher of 
 
 Rubens, 441. 
 Van Orley, Bernard, 339; 341. 
 Van der Paele, George, paint- 
 ing of, by Jean Van Eyck, 
 
 239-240. 
 Van P6de, Henri, 371. 
 Van der Schelden, Paul, sculp- 
 tor, 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 Toumai, 250; 
 
 312. 
 Verbanck, Georges, 24 L 
 
516 
 
 Index 
 
 Verbruggen, P. H., sculptor, 
 
 241; 453. 
 Vere, Sir Francis, English 
 
 commander at Ostende, 
 
 4G7-468. 
 Verhaegen, Theodore, sculp- 
 tor, 329; fine carvings at 
 
 Malines, 331. 
 Verlat, Charles, 418-419. 
 Vervoort, Michel, 442. 
 Viv6s, 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, 4oG- 
 
 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 disre- 
 garded, 420-421. 
 
 Winders, sculjitor, 19. 
 
 Witte, Gaspar de, 386. 
 
 Wolsey, Cardinal, 249, 
 
 Wordsworth, quoted, 168. 
 
 Wynandael, 53; 132. 
 
 Yperl§e, tributary to the 
 Yser, 104. 
 
 Ypres, at the time of the Cru- 
 sades, 13; fortified by Bald- 
 win 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, 
 
Index 
 
 517 
 
 118-125; church of St. 
 Martin, 125-126; Grande 
 Place, 126-129; Musee Mer- 
 ghelynck, 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; influ- 
 ence of Jacques Van Arte- 
 velde in, 200; 202; Mel- 
 chior 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 Ger- 
 man advance, 94; the locks, 
 the river and the three 
 canals, 103-104. 
 
 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. 
 
rHl34 8 9 
 

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