County of Flanders

See also: Flanders

The Flanders indicated formerly a county , one of the Principauté S of the kingdom of France, at the borders disputed hard between 866, date of its creation, and 1384, date of died of its last particular count, Louis de Male. The county was then gradually integrated into the Burgundian Netherlands and was detached from the kingdom of France in 1526. Louis XIV conquered a part of it on the Spanish . The county ceased existing in 1795 after the French conquest of the Austrian Netherlands.

Territory

The territory of the county of Flanders only corresponds very partially to the territory of the current Flanders Belgian. Vaster, it was located geographically more at the west (the current provinces of Brabant-Fleming, Antwerp and Limbourg did not form part of it).

The historical Flanders extends on:

The Artois, in the south, was detached in 1191 and was set up from it in county in 1237.

History

Roman epoch and Early middle ages (before 866)

Time of the Roman , the territory of the county of Flanders, which belonged to the Gaulle Belgium, was occupied by the Morins, the Ménapiens, by part of the Nerviens and in the south some Atrébates. These people opposed a sharp resistance to Jules César; Nerviens and Eburons reduced in parts a whole legion and exterminated the moist one of another before being submitted to the Romans completely.

The Christianisme was introduced there, under Maximien and Dioclétien, by Piat de Tournai, Chrysole de Comines and Eucher of Maastricht, all three martyrs. In 445, Clodion Hairy the, chief of the Frank , victorious of the Romans, invade this region and took Tournai and Cambrai. This invasion succeeded, in 449, the devastations of Attila.

King in the area since 486, Clovis I {{er}} had seized all the country in 510. Under its descendants, the territory belonged to the Neustrie and was managed by governors known as Forestier S. It is only at the 7th century that the name of Flanders appears: still extended it at that time only with the territory from Bruges.

Origins and increase in county (866-1128)

Origins: 866-879

The county of Flanders finds at the 9th century its territorial base along the valley of the Lily, in the west of the the Scheldt, between Bruges and current the Saint-Omer. It occupies of the grounds gradually released by the sea which recovered this area mainly hitherto. At times Carolingiens some powerful families occupied the loads comtales and abbey (it is the case of the Unrochides for example), but they were not established solely in the area.

The successive divisions of the empire of Charlemagne (Verdun 843, Ribemont 880) and especially the invasions Normans destructuré and weakened this situation. The future county found side of the kingdom of France ( Francia occidentalis , west of the Scheldt), where the capacity more quickly weakened than in the East. The royal incapacity to fight against the Norman ones and their devastations involved the rise to power of local authorities with which the population hoped to be able to be protected.

It is in this context that Baudouin appears, the first of the line of the counts de Flandre. With the title of marquis, he is a count civil servant. Its fortune is born from its marriage in 863 with Judith, girl of the king Charles the Bald person. Its capacity is exerted in the primitive surface of the counties of Bruges, Ghent and Mempisc (Bergues). These Pays will be plain in Comté of Flanders by its successor. With its death (879), the heredity of the load was recognized by the king. Its family will preserve the Flanders until in 1119, then of 1191 to 1280.

Foundation of the Flemish power: 879-1070

His/her son Baudouin II (879 - 918) founds truly the Flemish power. If the Normands devastate the region severely (879 - 883), it roughcasts the county of fortresses (boroughs), where the population can take refuge. Politically, it tries to collect the heritage of Unrochides, possibly by the murder, and reaches that point partially (acquisition of the abbey of Saint-Bertin to Saint-Omer). Its successor Arnoul I {{er}} (918 - 965) succeeds in extending the county towards the south until Canche (Arras, Douai).

Arnoul Ier takes again the heritage, Boulonnais and Ternois, of his/her brother Adalolphe of Boulogne († 933) and runs up consequently, in addition to with the king himself, other the large feudal ones: the duke of Normandy, the count de Vermandois, the duke of France. Warriors, these large lords are also pious. Thus Arnoul Ier supports it the monastic movement and the religious reform. In 962 the children of Adalolphe of Boulogne succeed in recovering thanks to the support of the king Louis IV the county of Boulogne having belonged to their father for one of them, Arnoul II of Boulogne, but in the dependancy of the county of Flanders. Two minorities comtales (Arnoul II of Flanders, Baudouin IV) will not really come to weaken the power of Baudouinides. In 988 the widowed rich person of Arnoul II of Flanders, Rozala of Provence, firm tutor of Baudouin IV, wife the capétien Robert II, but the Flanders maintains its independence. The Flemish territory was stabilized and base will not change any more during two centuries: the original core (around Ghent, Bruges, Lille and Saint-Omer) is directly governed by the count; a southern arc, where the count is represented by local lords of the manor who are not lords of the ground; beyond still, in the South and the East, of the vassal counties (Boulogne, Guînes, Hesdin, Saint-pol., Lens). The interior danger of feudal crumbling inside the county is thus circumscribed.

The effective reign of Baudouin IV (988 - 1035) and especially that of Baudouin V (1035 - 1067), which dies tutor of the king de France Philippe I {{er}} and father-in-law of William the Conqueror, constitutes the political apogee of this first Flanders. If the extension towards the south is stabilized, it is directed towards the Empire, beyond the Scheldt. The emperors there created steps (Valencian, Ename, Antwerp) and reinforced the capacities of the bishop of Cambrai. In reaction, the counts of Flanders seize Valencian (v. 1007), exchanged against the Country of Waes (northern of Ghent), and of the Four-Trades around Alost (between the Scheldt and Dendre). An imperial Flanders is thus made up: the counts of Flanders are consequently also princes of the Holy roman Empire. The marriage of the future Baudouin VI with Richilde the heiress of Hainaut allows the personal union of the two counties (1067 - 1070).

From one dynastic crisis to another: 1070-1128

The death of Baudouin VI causes a dynastic crisis. The Comté of Hainaut passes to his/her son junior, while the Flanders, to died from his/her oldest son Arnoul III (1071) returns to Robert I {{er}} the Clippings (1071 - 1093), brother of Baudouin VI, which seizes the county after a short war. The descendants of Robert Ier reign until in 1119 - Robert II (1093 - 1111), Baudouin VII (1111 - 1119) - before the heritage does not pass without problem (under the terms of the will of Baudouin VII in favor of its first cousin) to Charles of Denmark (1119 - 1127), wire of Knut IV, king of Denmark.

The counts of Flanders are the large feudal ones and vassal exemplary; they create an administration which allows for the first time the rise in civils servant commoners. It is one period of clearing and the first " neuves" cities; appear. The population grows, the cities develop. The appearance of the Weaving loom horizontal with pedals, towards 1100, involves the appearance of an textile industry in the cities, whereas before this activity was exerted in the campaigns. Textile industry will be consequently a constant of the history of the county, and even beyond the history of the area. The trade of English, famous wool for its excellent quality, is already practiced with the insular kingdom. Other exchanges are also done towards the the Rhineland. The merchants and the craftsmen of the cities (Bruges, Ghent, Lille, Arras, Saint-Omer, Douai) start to organize themselves. Richness of the county east such and its sufficiently strong administration, that three of its counts can give up their ground and go in cross Palestine like pilgrim or .

However the social strain created by industrialization bursts in the years 1125 - 1128. A famine, plague forgotten for a long time, take place in 1125. The clan of Bertulf or Bertholf, provost of the Saint-Donatien church and former serf become chief of the administration comtale since 1091 (what is revealing social changes which affected the feudal company of this time) is blamed in corn traffics. The March 2nd 1127 of the members of the clan of Bertulf assassinate the count Charles the Good, in the Saint-Donatien church of Bruges during the mass of the Ash Wednesday, amazing act which marked time.

The nobility and the middle-class men of Bruges and Ghent faithful to the count cut down the power of Bertulf which is carried out. Charles the Good having died without heir, the king of France, Louis the Large, as a Suzerain, intervenes and imposes Guillaume Cliton, wire of the duke Robert II of Normandy, like his candidate with the succession. The March 23rd 1127, Guillaume Cliton is invested county and, in order to be made accept, promises to grant the first franknesses to the cities as well as abolition from the Tonlieu and the taxable quota. Guillaume having forgotten his promises, the Flemish cities revolt, and prefer another candidate to him, Thierry of Alsace, which is essential finally in 1128.

Political apogee then economic (1128-1280)

Power of the House of Alsace: 1128-1191

Thierry of Alsace, wire of Thierry II of Lorraine, (1128 - 1168) and his/her son Philippe of Alsace (1128 - 1191) have the intelligence to spare the emerging patriciat of the Flemish cities, while tallying urban freedoms. By an effective matrimonial policy, they increase their county by the acquisition of the counties of Vermandois and Amiens, of the Comté of Boulogne, and make sure the seat of évêché of Cambrai. Textile industry quickly continues its rise which will continue until the middle of the 13th century, and the commercial life is organized around five fairs: those of Ypres, Bruges, Torhout, Metz-native Lille and (Mesen in current Flanders).

Flemish cloths are sold, via the Foires of Champagne, through all Europe, of Genoa to Novgorod. Until worms 1175 the clearings allow the creation of many new cities. Philippe of Alsace makes drain the marshes of the Aa. All reflects the economic vitality, which accompanies an important increase in population and a rise by the local political aspirations of the middle-class. The middle-class men sit more and more in the councils of alderman S of which they take little by little control. By granting charters to many small towns and by standardizing those of large (Arras, Bruges, Ghent, Douai, Lille, Ypres, Saint-Omer), the counts give satisfaction to the craftsman-merchants, while controlling the movement. They also found a more effective administration, substituent, as their representatives, the Baillif S with the lords of the manor and collect the Tonlieu X. This richness makes it possible to appease the religious and chivalrous ideals counts Thierry and Philippe of Alsace who will leave like cross in Palestine.

After the death of its chancellor Robert d' Aire, the policy of Philippe of Alsace, which does not have a direct heir, becomes more imprudent. It underestimates the young person Philippe Auguste and makes the error to make him marry his niece Isabelle de Hainaut with in dowry the Artois (1180). The king of France assoit firmly his capacity on this province and also takes again the Vermandois to him (1184 - 1191). In 1187, following the fights of its inhabitants for independence, the town of Tournai also passes to the hands of king de France.

An emperor and two " large comtesses": 1191-1280

It is thus a territory decreased which passes to the sister of Philippe of Alsace, Marguerite I {{Re}} (1191 - 1194). But its marriage with Baudouin V of Hainaut (Baudouin VIII of Flanders) allows the personal union of the counties of Flanders and Hainaut, and the elder return of the branch of Baudouinides to the head of the county of Flanders. Their son Baudouin IX (1194 - 1205) puts partially in failure Philippe Auguste and, in October 1197, takes again to him Surface-on-the-Lily and Saint-Omer. Philippe Auguste decides to put an end to the war with the Flanders and signs in January 1200, the treaty of Fibula with Baudouin IX who recognizes himself vassal of king de France. The count of Flanders recovers a good part of Artois. Prestige of county east with its roof when the Fourth crusade is diverted towards Constantinople where Baudouin IX is proclaimed emperor downtown this (1204), succeeding the Roman Emperors of the East.

This political prestige of short duration does not prevent Philippe Auguste, after disappearance in 1205 of his/her brother-in-law Baudouin IX (Isabelle de Hainaut, the wife of Philippe Auguste, deceased in 1190 was the sister of Baudouin IX) to take care of his/her two orphan nieces, Marguerite, old of 3 years and Jeanne, 7 years old. By marrying the latter with Ferrand of Portugal in January 1211, the king of France makes sign with the young husbands the treaty of Bridge-with-Vendin (February 24th 1211) by which it recovers the entirety of the Artois. Ferrand, trying to make itself independent of sound Suzerain, organizes a coalition with Jean without Ground and the emperor Otton IV, but it is beaten and made captive during the Bataille of Bouvines the July 27th 1214. Taken along to Paris the count Ferrand remains locked up in a prison of the Louvre until January 1227.

The countess Jeanne only finds herself to control, within the rigorous framework of the treaty of Paris (1214), sanctioning the final loss of the Artois: she undergoes the narrow control of the royal agents and deals with the harvest of an enormous ransom for the release of Ferrand. Its capacity is weakened so much that it is even temporarily destroyed at the time of the usurpation of the false Baudouin (April-May 1225). This adventure, symptom of a social context and difficult policy, then the untimely death of Louis VIII accelerates the release of Ferrand which is granted to the treaty of Melun signed in 1226. This treaty imposes on the cities and vassal of the count fidelity to the king in the event of rebellion of their direct suzerain. The Capétien S stick then, as much by their financial prodigality that by the right, the Flemish nobility. N the other hand, Jeanne of Constantinople and its successors will be pressed, like their predecessors of Alsace, on the cities. Indeed, in spite of the difficulties, it firmly maintains the economic agreements with England, guaranteeing the economic prosperity always growing of the cities and protects the trade effectively, in particular by equipping the towns of a strict legal framework (charters or keures ). Without child surviving of its two marriages (the second with Thomas II of Savoy (1237 - 1244), it is his/her sister Marguerite of Constantinople which succeeds to him.

The reign of Marguerite II (1244 - 1279) is marked by its tumultuous private life. Married as of the ten years age in 1212 with its ambitious tutor, Bouchard d' Avesnes which gave him two surviving wire, it had to separate from him for reasons politico-monk. Remariée in 1223 with Guillaume de Dampierre, it had five children of it. Its accession with the capacity makes crucial the thorn-bush problem of its succession, worsened by the hatred which the countess with wire of its first bed dedicates. One exhausting war of succession is held between Avesnes, protected by the Emperor Frederic II, and Dampierre, supported by the papacy and favorites of king de France, within a vaster framework which is that of the fight between Priesthood and the Empire. The conflict, doubled of a war with the Holland, is marked in particular by the call of Marguerite II with Charles of Anjou in Hainaut. The king of France Louis IX puts a term at the conflict while returning the September 24th 1256 the " Known as of Péronne" , a sentence of division besides identical to that which it had already returned in 1246, namely: in Dampierre will échoira the Flanders rich person and in Avesnes, Hainaut. In addition, the Zealand becomes a county independent of Flemish suzerainty.

This conflict cost very expensive Marguerite II, which was involved in debt and had to require the assistance of the cities, increasing in fact their political importance. But the bright prosperity, encouraged by the two countesses, is not contradicted under their reigns. Jeanne multiplies the charters regulating the échevinage big cities (Ghent with the institution from the “XXXIX”, Bruges, Douai, Ypres in 1228), but also copies this model at the small towns and the châtellenies. The country covers Beffroi S, testimonys of recognized and regulated communal freedoms. For the countesses, the cities are used as counterweight with the nobility, rejoined with the royal cause. Fairs and industry clothier are systematically encouraged, the court comtale playing its part of arbitration fully. The population always increases, as the recovery testifies some to the clearings during the second quarter of the 13th century, ensuring an economic expansion. The practice of the Three-year rotation and the regrouping in villages are one of the phenomena of this period in the Flemish countryside, allowing the maintenance until the 16th century of a cereal output from 20 to 24 hl/ha. Until the middle of the century, one also undertakes the empoldering of the estuaries, started with the Aa at the previous century. Marguerite makes complete great work of drain. The Flemish merchants then export their cloths in whole Europe and become credit princes. Ghent benefits from its situation in extreme cases of the kingdom and the Empire. Ypres is dedicated to the textile trade. Arras, from now on in the county of Artois (created in 1237) knows its apogee. Bruges, especially, becomes an important center of the trade in Northern Europe: in addition to cloth and wool, the leather and the corn of the Baltic circulate, the wines of Italy. The Champagne fairs enter in relation, via Bruges, with the cities of the Hanse. Small towns emergent in all the county. Testifying to the richness of the merchants, the middle-class men, following the example countesses, found their own hospitals and their pious works. The letters are also encouraged: Jeanne protects Manessier, Marguerite, Jean and Baudouin of Cop.

The end of the reign of Marguerite sees an economic war with England (1270 - 1274) which concludes itself by an agreement very favorable for the kingdom: first steps of a socio-economic situation which is degraded already. Marguerite definitively yields the capacity in Flanders to her son GUI of Dampierre and in Hainaut with her grandson Jean d' Avesnes in 1279. The two counties thus will be again separate after the death of Marguerite the February 10th 1280.

One century of crises (1280-1384)

Royal ambitions vis-a-vis the Flemings: 1280-1320

The following period sees to start an economic decline, marked by the change of the European business practices: the first galères génoises enter the wearing of Bruges in 1280; craftsmen and merchants now will be distinguished: of credit, the trade becomes passive. These changes are accompanied by social crises and policies.

At the beginning of the reign of GUI of Dampierre (1279 - 1305) burst of the revolts in the Flemish cities (1280): the communiers (small craftsmen and workmen) do not support any more the seizure of the upper middle class on the échevinages of the cities. They are subdued, but it does not remain about it less than, to preserve their capacity and to preserve their independence vis-a-vis the count, the urban oligarchs call from now on upon the king systematically. Gradually draw up two camps which will be opposed soon: urban oligarchy and most of the nobility constitute the partisans of king de France or léliaerts in reference to the lily, emblême of the French royalty; they have vis-a-vis them the klauwaerts , in reference to the claw of the lion raised on the blazon of Dampierre, primarily the communiers faithful to the capacity comtal.

Louis IX then his son Philippe III plays without abuse the game of the institutions. Any exchange with Philippe Beautiful the (1285 - 1314) and his legists, who systematically will make play the right in favor it royal capacity. The count Gui is thus private of any freedom to maneuver, and sees himself obliged to enter in open rebellion (1297). The king organizes then the invasion of the Flanders (1297 - 1300). The count Gui, which vainly sought English alliance is made prisoner. The Flanders is brutally incorporated in the royal field. Awkwardnesses and the exactions of the governor Jacques de Châtillon causes an insurrection of the Brugean communiers directed by Pieter de Coninck and Jan Breydel: at the time of the Crossbred of Bruges the May 18th 1302 when early the morning, more than two hundred soldiers of the French garrison are massacred and others driven out. Robert d' Artois, cousin of Philippe Beautiful the, and the constable Raoul de Nesle intervene in reprisals with the head of an army of almost ten thousand men, but the communiers face the French knighthood close to Courtrai and gain emblematic the Bataille of the Gold Spurs the July 11th 1302.

Philippe the Beautiful one takes again the initiative and benefits from undecided the Bataille from Mons-in-Pévèle (August 18th 1304) to impose the Traité Athis-on-Barley (June 23rd 1305), which will never be ratified by the Flemish cities, principal providers of the war indemnities. The Athis-on-Barley treaty allows Robert III of Flanders known as Robert de Béthune to take the head of the county (1305 - 1322) and to succeed his/her father GUI of Dampierre died in a prison of the castle of Pontoise the March 7th 1305. The situation stagnates, marked by economic stagnation, the monetary devaluations and the competitions between the cities (mainly Ghent and Bruges). Robert, always in uncomfortable position between the king and the Flemish cities, opposes the royal capacity systematically. Nevertheless, the king of France will seize the Flanders gallicante or " wallonne" (where French is spoken) that it keeps in pledge with the châtellenies of Lille, Douai and Béthune: it is the Transport of Flanders which is ratified by the Traité of Pontoise. Signed the July 11th 1312 this treaty definitively yields the Flanders gallicante with Orchies to the king, the count touching in compensation a share of the revenue paid by the cities with the king. The successive military campaigns of Philippe the Beautiful one and Louis Hutin in 1312, 1313, 1314 and 1315 do not manage to impose the treaty of Athis. It is finally only the May 5th 1320 which the count Robert de Béthune, come to Paris, swears fidelity with king de France, gives up the Flanders gallicante and agrees to make peace on arbitration of the pope Jean XXII. The June 2nd according to, the cardinal Gaucelin priest, nephew of the pope, attends the official signature of peace between the Flanders and France. The county is now folded up on only one linguistic zone.

To be able of the cities - to be able of the counts: 1320-1384

As of after the signature of the treaty, prosperity returns. Robert III dies in 1322. Its grandson Louis I {{er}} succeeds to him (1322 - 1346), but vassal faithful and been obstinated of the Capétiens, it makes many awkwardnesses which make it unpopular and cause very quickly a great revolt led in particular by Zannekin (1323 - 1328). The count rassoit his authority only thanks to the intervention of the king Philippe VI (Battle of Cassel, August 23rd 1328).

The advent of the king Valois has other consequences on the county: the Flanders will be the theater, as of 1337 of the first steps and the beginnings of the Guerre One hundred Year old. The francophile count opposes the interests anglophiles Flemings. The king Edouard III of England, playing of the economic weapon, threatens the Flanders of the blockade of wool and industrial competition in the textile production. Vis-a-vis the threat, the Ganteses give each other a chief, the powerful orator Jacques van Artevelde (1337). The Gantese preaches neutrality in the Franco-English conflict, the economic agreement with England, the alliance of the three " Membres" of Flandres (Ghent, Bruges, Ypres) and economic and military union of the Netherlands. Quickly Ypres and Bruges join in Artevelde and the count is put off-side. The Gantese powerful orator treats directly with king Edouard (recognized suzerain as king de France) and made raise the embargo of wools. He controls indeed the Flanders of 1339 with 1345. It is an attempt at introduction of an original popular capacity. However, Artevelde makes the error to be thrown more and more in English alliance. The economic intransigence of the big cities vis-a-vis Lowland which they choke and the competition between fullers and tisserands make the remainder: Jacques van Artevelde is assassinated in Ghent by the tisserands (July 17th 1345). But English alliance is maintained, and, after Crécy (where Louis Ier is killed) and the catch of Calais by the English (1347), the One hundred Year old War is diverted county.

The reign of Louis II (1346 - 1384) sees the restoration of the confidence of the Flemings towards their dynaste. The political skill of the new count enables him to avoid the traps of English alliance, while maintaining an economic cooperation. Peace is signed with England (1348), the tisserands are subdued in Ghent (1349) and the tender with king de France ceases being automatic (refusal of the Hommage, 1350). In spite of the devastations of the Black Death (1348), thirty years of economic prosperity (1349 - 1379) and of political and social peace are passed then under its reign. The count reforms and modernizes then the institutions of the county, specializing the various components of his old court. He negotiates with great success the two successive marriages of his heiress. The second marriage of Marguerite de Male with new the duke of Burgundy Philippe de Valois allows the Transport of Flanders , i.e. the return of the Flanders gallicante to the county. Artois is also allocated to the count by play of heritage (1382).

The quarrels of bell-towers violently awake nevertheless in 1380: the Gantese tisserands take again their attempt at hegemony and try to impose it on Bruges, new capital of the count. It is long the, bloody one and complicated revolt of the white Chaperons (1380 - 1385), partly carried out by Philippe van Artevelde (the son of Jacques). It is in Philippe de Valois that returns to crush the revolt with Roosebeke (November 27th 1382). But Ghent resists until after the death of Louis II (1384).

The Burgundian time and its continuations (1384-1555)

The glare of the Burgundian time: 1384-1470

The period during which reign the Valois of Burgundy inaugurates a new phase of the history of the county of Flanders. Indeed, the duke-counts of this dynasty little by little will agglomerate with their possessions an important whole of territories, by marriages, heritages, captations of an inheritance, forces, nepotism or purchases. In addition to the Artois and the Flanders that Philippe Bold the already has of the chief of his wife (1384, 1405) Marguerite III, the Boulonnais (1416, 1419 - 1438), the the Brabant and the Limbourg (1406, 1430), the Namurois (1421), the Comté of Hainaut, the Holland, the Zealand and the Frise (1428, 1433), the Picardy (1435 - 1463, 1465 - 1477), the Luxembourg (1443) and the Gueldre (1472) enters the Burgundian field. The seat of évêché of Liege (1408 - 1482) and that of Cambrai (1439 - 1479) to the hands of are combined of Valois of Burgundy. The Flanders is found thus at the end of the period within a unit which, forgotten the two Burgundies and the dream lotharingien of Charles Bold the, is geographically coherent. But if the Flanders is melted little by little among the Pays of by-on this side , soon the Netherlands, it remains about it during all the period the most important element because more populated and richest. Burgundy, at the beginning of the period, the center of gravity of the ducal capacity passes to the Flanders during the period. Marie of Burgundy will yield Burgundy, but will keep the Flanders and the the Netherlands.

In Philippe fact the Bold one (1384 - 1404) and Jean Without Peur (1405 - 1419) are above all the French princes and act politically as France (regency of Charles VI, quarrel of the Armagnacs and Burgundian, English conquest). But Philippe the Good (1419-1467) (which controls indeed the septentrional provinces starting from 1413) and Charles Bold the (1467-1477) (which controls indeed as from 1465) resident in Flanders and, made significant, are made bury in Bruges. Their common points are that they ensure a relative peace in the county, that they spare local susceptibilities, while installing an effective administration of state gradually, enabling them to establish a constant tax which finances their political ambitions. To this end, they aim, at least for the three first, with the neutrality of their states.

Philippe the Bold one installs in Lille the permanent Council for the Countries of by-on this side, on the model of the council created by Louis de Male. Philippe the Good redesigns his important administration completely. He places under the same jurisdiction Flanders and the Brabant and creates for the Flanders a room of the accounts in Lille, parallel with those of Brussels and Dijon. The first State-Generals of the Netherlands are joined together in 1464. Charles the Bold one goes still further while establishing a supreme court from justice for all his possessions (Parlement Malignant) and a single room of the accounts, in Malines. Since 1468, the call to the Parlement of Paris for the Flanders was removed, returning in fact the county feudally independent of the kingdom (agreement torn off with Louis XI with Péronne).

In spite of the epidemics of Plague and the famines local (1400 - 1401, 1410 - 1411, 1425 - 1426, 1432 - 1433, 1438 - 1439…) and the destruction related to the war, the country is repopulated. The historians estimate the population of the county at 600.000 inhabitants in 1469. Ghent exceeds 50.000 inhabitants, Bruges 40.000, Lille 20.000 and Ypres as Douai border 10.000 hearts. Economically, the Flemish cities know their song of the swan. The count-dukes stabilize so much is little the currency (creation of the `large' of Flanders by Philippe II in 1390; devaluated in 1418, it is revalued by Philippe III in 1433; regulation of an identical striking of the currency in all the workshops in 1434). The traditional textile industry, increasingly competed with by England in particular, is replaced gradually, in particular in Bruges, by that of art, the luxury, the bank and finances. The seat of the Hanseatic League restored in this city in 1392, the return of the merchants gênois in 1397, the privileges granted to the foreign merchants (Portuguese, Castilian, French) ensures, in spite of two temporary departures of the Hanse (1436 - 1438 and 1451 - 1457) and it fast development of Antwerp and Amsterdam, the position of Bruges like international center of trade until in the years 1480.

The political effervescence of the cities, which will cause their ruin in the long term, continues punctually however. According to the example of Liege, Antwerp (1434), Bruges (1436 - 1438) and Ghent (1452 - 1453) know revolts, repressed without care by Philippe the Good. This last, strongly marked by the assassination of his/her father (1419) initially took again his pro-English policy, going until recognizing the accession of Henri V of England to the throne of France. But the weakening of England during the minority of Henri VI and the reconquests of Charles VII lead it to establish peace with his/her Valois cousin. The treaty of Arras 1435 sees the rupture with England, bad financial ally, personal vassalic independence with the French monarch and the acquisition of the cities of the Sum and Boulogne (Only Turned remainder in the royal bosom). That inevitably involves disorders in Flanders (unfruitful head office of Calais by theBurgundian ones, English attacks in maritime Flanders, revolts of already evoked Bruges and Ghent). In spite of that, Philippe de Bon succeeds in maintaining the neutrality of his states. The English provisioning, suspended in 1435, is restored and the situation returns to the normal as of 1439.

The rapid decline: 1470-1482

The less careful policy of Charles the Bold one generates an open war with Louis XI (December 3rd 1470). The Flanders directly undergoes the economic smothering orchestrated by the king de France: prohibition of the corn export towards the states of By On this side , attacks by the French corsairs of the Flemish boats of fishing to the Herring, strong tax on the goods coming from the Burgundian states… Food shortages and economic crisis combined and struck full whip the Flanders. By seeking other economic outlets in the Rhenish basin, Charles II finds death in front of Nancy (January 7th, 1477).

The sudden death of Bold makes open the conflict with Louis XI: the king of France, which seizes Artois and Burgundy and whose troops penetrate in Hainaut, threatens the Flanders directly. The heiress of Charles, Marie of Burgundy (1477-1482) must yield to the decentralizing forces her territories to maintain her legitimacy: she grants to the State-Generals of Ghent the Grand Privilege (February 11th, 1477) removing the Parliament of Malignant in particular, and creates the Great Council in which the Flanders has four representatives (out of twenty-five). She grants many charters (of which three in Bruges, in Ypres) and returns many capacities to the Three Members of Flanders, after having deposed the Franc of Bruges of the title. The urban trades find their revenge on the patriciat. Marie cannot however prevent Bruges from revolting and to only carry out wildly the old Burgundian symbols of the centralism are the chancellors Hugonet and Humbercourt (April 3rd, 1477).

Marie marries in haste the archduke Maximilien of Austria thus giving an armed wing in her states. The archduke contains the French advance, in particular pushing back an attack on Audenarde and Ypres (May 1478) and gaining, with the Flemish communal militia, the victory of Guinegate (August 7th, 1479). The war worsened by the hard climatic conditions (the winter 1479 - 1480 is particularly rigorous) generates the famine (1480). The corn, from now on imported Prussia by the Hanse via the wearing of Bruges, is very expensive and the ships are under the constant threat of the French corsairs. The lack of money of Marie and Maximilien obliges them to raise half the course of the gold currencies (1478). In front of the economic difficulties, the cities balk more and more to grant their financial aid. Also the accidental death of Marie (March 27th, 1482), obliges it Maximilien to conclude with France the treaty from Arras (December 23rd, 1482), negotiated partially directly between Ghent and Louis XI. Maximilien gives up Artois, but preserves the integrity of the Flanders, seigniories of Lille, Douai and Orchies included/understood.

Towards Seventeen independent provinces: 1482-1555

The archduke, appointed tutor of his children by Marie of Burgundy on his bed of death, obtains States only a reduced mainbournie. It is their son Philippe the Beautiful (Philippe IV in Flanders) which is established count de Flandre (1483 - 1506) in January 1483 (it will transmit the title to his son Charles Quint and by him to the Habsbourg of Spain, then of Austria). The Flemish cities try to be opposed to the dissolution of the county in a vaster entity (Netherlands, soon empire of Habsbourg) by a rigidity reactionary and often violent: Maximilien is thus prisoner of the Brugeans at the beginning 1488, and obliged to guarantee the blood bath to which it assists. These events are symptomatic irremediable decline of the Flanders since the end of the reign of Charles the Bold one. Major economic crisis, rise of the prices, destruction of the campaigns, natural disasters (famines, stranding of Zwin), these factors are worsened by the limited conservatism of the guilds and the political arrogance of Ghent which puts at back the other provinces. The economic customers, the political elites and cultural move towards Antwerp or the Brabant (Malignant, Brussels), fleeing rigorism and violences. The defense of their privileges, from now on without contents, is a rearguard action for the cities. In 1491 the Gantese chief Coppenholle is carried out. Maximilien become emperor (1493), Philippe the Beautiful starts his personal reign (1494 - 1506) by restricting the concessions of considerably 1477: it restores in particular the Franc of Bruges like fourth Member of Flanders, thus counterbalancing the capacity of the cities. In 1496 a treaty ( Intercursus Magnus ) cleanses the trade with the England. The Parliament Malignant east restores in 1504.

The count, sovereign of the Netherlands, if it is still present in Flanders, inherits in 1504 per marriage the crown Castille and dies in his new kingdom (1506). His/her son Charles, the future Charles Quint, born in Ghent, remains present in the Netherlands, under the control of his aunt Marguerite of Austria; but it cumulates soon all the heritage of its ancestors: it leaves the Netherlands for Spain in 1517 and becomes Germanic emperor in 1519. Between 1517 and 1555 Charles of Ghent , remains only ten years in the Netherlands, even if there remain ataviquement Burgundian . It leaves his aunt Marguerite of Austria (1517 - 1530), then her sister Marie of Hungary to control the Netherlands. It intervenes nevertheless personally to crush the last revolt of Ghent 1539, caused primarily by misery, the beginnings of Protestantism and the refusal of a new tax. The iniquitous execution of Liévin Pyn illustrates the insurrection, that Charles represses pitilessly: in addition to the execution of the principal leaders, the Concession Caroline (1540) definitively abolishes the privileges of the commune and the ditches of Ghent are filled. Nevertheless, the digging of the channel between Ghent and the the Eastern Scheldt are initiated as of 1547.

In 1526 the treated of Madrid abolishes the Vassalité of the Flanders with respect to France, which also gives up Tournai, conquered in 1520. The last bond, vassalic, of the county in France is broken. The county is integrated into the Seventeen Provinces Cercle of Burgundy by Charles Quint in 1548. The county is thus formally attached to the Holy roman Empire, but, like the other provinces, with a vassalage reduced to the extreme. The Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 rule and simplifies the procedure of succession in the provinces. Also the son of Charles, Philippe II of Spain succeeds it his father at the time of his abdication in 1555. This prince is Spanish and knows neither the Flanders, nor the Netherlands.

The sovereigns " étrangers" (1555-1795)

After a hard time of disorders and wars, and after the proclamation of independence of the United Provinces (1581), only the Netherlands of the South of which the county of Flanders forms part, remain under Spanish domination (Spanish Netherlands), then Austrian starting from 1714 (Austrian Netherlands).

One bloody era of disorders and wars: 1566-1585

The mortuary and limited intransigence of Philippe II of Spain (if little Philippe V Flanders) precipitates the Netherlands with the human catastrophe and finally with the scission of the Provinces in two entities politically and religieusement separate. The county of Flanders will be touched of full whip by the terrible conflict, interfering war independence, religious war and civil war.

The Enquiry that the local elites moderated under the preceding reign, becomes exaggerated under the reign of Philippe. Following the papal Bubble of 1559, the old episcopal structure dating from the franque time is brought up to date. Whereas the county concerned three hitherto évêché S at least (that of Thérouanne for Ypres and south-west, that of Cambrai for the east and that of Tournai for the heart of the county), only one bishop installed with Bruges governs the whole of the territory now. But this improvement reinforces the Spanish seizure and eagerness against the Hérétique S with the Roman Catholicisme . Many urban elites became Protestant are. The Luthéranisme appeared as of after 1517, thanks to the Imprimerie and at the height humanistic context of the area. The Anabaptistes developed thereafter, but since the years 1550, the Calvinisme dominates the Protestant movement.

The first exactions of the Révolte of the gueux, which will lead to the Guerre Eighty year old, take place in Flanders: the calvinists iconoclasts ransack the first religious buildings in August 1566: the St-Laurent church with Steenvoorde, the monastery of St-Antoine with Bailleul, then tens of churches around Poperinge, Bergues-Saint-Winoc, Cassel before Antwerp and Ghent. The Flanders, more vulnerable geographically than Zealand or Holland, undergoes full whip the terrible repression of the pile cluster (execution of the count d' Egmont to advise state of Flanders and Count de Hornes, 1568): the Protestant elites which are not massacred escape. The trade and industry are this time ruined for a long moment. The Massacre of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in France (1572) disappoints the hopes of William of Orange to take again the Flanders. The bloody mutinies of the unpaid Spanish soldiers ( Spanish Fury in Antwerp), the recall of the pile cluster (1574), and the death of its successor (1576) make it possible the States to proclaim the Pacification of Ghent and to be linked against the Spaniards (November 5th 1576).

But religious fanaticisms are exacerbated too much. Ghent, then Ypres and Bruges became theocratic republics calvinists on the model Genevese. The churches of their surroundings were systematically plundered. Also, after the defeat of Gembloux in front of Alexandre Farnèse (1578), the beaten catholic Walloon regiments attack the Flemish calvinists, however their compatriots. The Union of Arras gathers in January 1579 the provinces of the south with catholic predominance, like Douai, which are recognized faithful to the Spanish monarch. The Union of Utrecht to north, Protestant woman, answers him; Bruges, Ghent, Ypres, Turned, Antwerp… join it. It is the civil war and the end of the Seventeen Provinces.

The Flanders, with the so plane geography, cannot be maintained in the United Provinces, car-proclaimed independent in 1581: to cities fall into the hands from the duke from Parma: Turned in November 1581, Audenarde in July 1582, Ypres in January 1583, Bruges in May 1584, Ghent finally in September of the same year. Towards 1585 after the fall (and ruins it) of Antwerp, without government aid of north, the Flanders enters the Spanish era definitively.

The Spanish period: 1585-1714

The Spaniards consequently core all the levels of the administration, without never being established. The strength of the Flanders vanishes in the Counter-Reformation. Deprived of its trade by the refusal of the Spain to associate it with that of the Indies, and by the closing of the estuary of the the Scheldt by the Plain Provinces, the county becomes an empty shell of which the structure will remain nevertheless until the end of the eighteenth century.

The southernmost Netherlands become after the Traité of the Pyrenees in 1659 a buffer state between the French ambitions and the Linked Provinces, which forgot very quickly any idea of reunification. The Flanders undergoes the quasi ceaseless wars between the European powers. Louis XIV seizes the south of the county gradually (Tournai, Douai, Armentières, Lille, Bergues, Furnes in 1668 with the Paix of Aachen, Courtrai, Audenarde between 1668 and 1678, Cassel, Ypres in 1678 with the Traité of Nimègue), before ebbing partially. The Flanders remains devastated by the campaigns of the French Army (1642 - 1658, 1661 - 1668, 1673 - 1678, 1689 - 1697, 1700 - 1705).

The War of succession of Spain sees the limited withdrawal of the France (loss of Ypres and Poperinge) and the administration of the territory not the Anglo-Dutch ones (1705 - 1714) until the Traité of Utrecht which places the southernmost Netherlands under Austrian control.

The Austrian period and end of the county: 1714-1795

The Paix of Utrecht (1713) gives the southernmost Netherlands to the Austria of Charles VI. They must however ensure the financing of the maintenance of Dutch garrisons in the Flemish cities of Furnes, Ypres, Knokke, Warneton, Menin, Tournai and Termonde. Peace is maintained until in 1744, date where the France occupies again the country (1744 - 1748). The economic situation improves somewhat. Marie-Therese (1744 - 1780) and Joseph II (1780 - 1790) try to reduce the sclerosing power of the guilds. Joseph II fact of dismantling the fortresses held by the Dutchmen, that it drives out of Flanders (1782).

The radical reforms of the Emperor brutal and are imposed by the top. The county, like the other administrative structures, is removed (January 1st 1787), restored (May 30th 1787), again removed (December 17th 1787) and the Austrians are finally driven out (Révolution brabançonne). In 1790, during the first meeting of the State-Generals since 1632, the county integrates transitory the State-Belgium-Plain proclaimed into this occasion. But, as of the end 1790, Austria occupies the territory again.

The final knell of the county sounds in 1795, date on which, after the war (1792 - 1794) and the conquest (1794), it is transformed (except Tournai, attached to the department of Jemmapes) into two department S French: the the Scheldt and the Yser, prototypes of the future provinces Belgian of Flanders-Eastern and Flanders-Western, created in 1814 within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and integrated into the Belgium in 1830.

Titulature and statute

The count of Flanders was one of the six even laic primitive of the Royaume of France (laic pars with the advent of Hugues Capet in July 987). Two counts de Flandre had the title of regent of France: the first, Baudouin V, was tutor in 1060 of Philippe I {{er}}, its nephew; the second, Philippe of Alsace, wire of Thierry of Alsace, had the supervision of Philippe Auguste. Another count, Baudouin IX, was Empereur of Constantinople (1204).

See too

  • List of the counts de historical Flandre

  • List of the French counties
  • History of Belgium
  • For the etymology, to see with: .

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