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BELGIUM FROM THE ROMAN INVASION TO THE PRESENT DAY
Illustration: ALBERT I.
Frontispiece.
_Photo Langfier._
BELGIUM
From the Roman Invasion to the Present Day
by
EMILE CAMMAERTS
With 36 Illustrations and 9 Maps
T. Fisher Unwin Ltd
London: Adelphi Terrace
Copyright by T. Fisher Unwin, 1921
(for Great Britain)
Copyright by G.P. Putnam's Sons
(for the United States of America), 1921
First published 1921
Second Impression 1922
(All rights reserved)
PREFACE
We possess happily, nowadays, a few standard books, of great insight
and impartiality, which allow us to form a general idea of the
development of the Belgian nation without breaking fresh ground. The
four volumes of Henri Pirenne's _Histoire de Belgique_ carry us as far
as the Peace of Muenster, and, among others, such works as Vanderlinen's
_Belgium_, issued recently by the Oxford University Press, and a
treatise on Belgian history by F. Van Kalken (1920) supply a great deal
of information on the modern period. To these works the author has been
chiefly indebted in writing the present volume. He felt the need for
placing the conclusions of modern Belgian historians within reach of
British readers, and believed that, though he might not claim any very
special qualifications to deal with Belgian history, his knowledge of
England would allow him to present his material in the way most
interesting to the English-speaking public.
_Belgium_ is neither a series of essays nor a systematic text-book.
Chronological sequence is preserved, and practically all important
events are recorded in their appointed time, but special stress has
been laid on some characteristic features of Belgian civilization and
national development which are of general interest and bear on the
history of Europe as a whole.
The author wishes to express his sincere thanks to his friend,
Professor Van der Essen, who has been good enough to revise his work.
He is also indebted to Messrs. Van Oest & Co. for allowing him to
reproduce some pictures belonging to _l'Album Historique de la
Belgique_, and to the Phototypie Belge (Ph.B.), Ste anonyme, Etterbeek,
Bruxelles, and other holders of copyright for providing him with
valuable illustrations.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE 5
INTRODUCTION 15
CHAPTER I
THE COAL WOOD 29
Celts and Germans--Roman conquest--Roads of Roman civilization--First
Christianization--Germanic invasion--Natural obstacle presented by
the "Silva Carbonaria"--Origins of racial and linguistic division.
CHAPTER II
FROM SAINT AMAND TO CHARLEMAGNE 37
Frankish capital transferred from Tournai to Paris--Second
Christianization--St. Amand--Restoration of the old bishoprics--
Romanization of the Franks and germanization of the Walloons--
Unification under Charlemagne--Aix-la-Chapelle, centre of the
Empire--First period of economic and intellectual efflorescence.
CHAPTER III
LOTHARINGIA AND FLANDERS 47
Partition after Charlemagne--Treaty of Verdun--The frontier of
the Scheldt--Struggle of feudal lords against the central
power--The Normans.
CHAPTER IV
REGNER LONG NECK 52
Policy of the Lotharingian princes--Influence of the German
bishops--Alliance with Flanders against the Emperor--Decadence
of the central power--Religious reform of Gerard de Brogne--The
Clunisians and the struggle for the investitures--The first
crusade.
CHAPTER V
BALDWIN THE BEARDED 60
Policy of the counts of Flanders--Imperial Flanders--The English
alliance--First prospect of unification--Robert the Frisian.
CHAPTER VI
THE BELFRIES 66
Origin of the Communes; trade and industry--Resistance of feudal lords;
Cambrai--Protection given by the counts of Flanders and the dukes of
Brabant--Social transformation extending to the country-side--The
meaning of the belfries.
CHAPTER VII
THE GOLDEN SPURS 78
Attraction of Flanders on the rest of the country--Attempts at
maintaining neutrality between France and England--Thierry and Philippe
d'Alsace--Baldwin IX--Ferrand of Portugal--Bouvines--Increasing French
influence--Flemish reaction--"Matines Brugeoises"--Consequences of the
Battle of Courtrai--Edward III and Van Artevelde.
CHAPTER VIII
THE CATHEDRAL OF TOURNAI 88
Religious spirit of Belgium in the Middle Ages--The Romanesque
churches--Introduction of Gothic; Period of transition, early
Gothic, secondary period, third period--French and Flemish
languages during the Middle Ages--Picard writers in Walloon
Flanders--First translations and chronicles in French--Origin
of Flemish letters, Willem's _Reinaert_, Van Maerlant.
CHAPTER IX
THE GREAT DUKES OF THE WEST 102
Decline of the Communes--Policy of the Burgundian dukes: Philip
the Bold, John the Fearless, Philip the Good--Territorial
unification and political centralization--Philip's external
policy--Charles the Bold--Dream of a new central Empire.
CHAPTER X
THE TOWN HALLS 112
The meaning of Belgium's Gothic Town Halls--Result of a compromise
between centralization and local liberties--Decline of the cloth
industry--Economic prosperity under the new regime--Transformation
of trade--Antwerp succeeds Bruges.
CHAPTER XI
THE ADORATION OF THE LAMB 124
Civilization under Burgundian rule--French and Flemish;
bilingualism--Flemish letters: Jean Boendaele, Ruysbroeck--The
Brothers of the Common Life--Writers in French: Jean Le Bel,
Froissart, Chastellain--Development of music: Dufay, Ockeghem,
etc.--Life in fifteenth-century Belgium--The early "Flemish
School of Painting"--Its place in the history of Art--The
brothers Van Eyck--Origins of the school; sculpture, illuminating.
CHAPTER XII 140
Reaction after the death of Charles the Bold--The "Great
Privilege" of Mary of Burgundy--Her marriage with Maximilian;
its consequences--Conflict between Burgundian and Hapsburgian
policies--Philip the Handsome--Margaret of Austria--Accession
of Charles to the Empire--Projects of founding a separate
kingdom--Margaret's second governorship.
CHAPTER XIII
THE LAST STAGE OF CENTRALIZATION 154
Mary of Hungary--Revolt of Ghent--Complete unification--Augsburg
transaction--Pragmatic Sanction--Abdication of Charles V.
CHAPTER XIV
ANTWERP 163
Development of modern trade--Rural industry--Humanism and
Lutheranism--The placards--Anabaptism--Calvinism.
CHAPTER XV
THE BEGGARS 174
Philip II--Marguerite of Parma and the Consulta--Resistance
of the Council of State--The "Compromise"--The
Iconoclasts--Catholic reaction.
CHAPTER XVI
SEPARATION 182
North and South--The Duke of Alba and the Council of
Blood--Requesens--"Spanish Fury"--Pacification of Ghent--Don
Juan--Policy of Orange--Archduke Matthias--The Duke of
Anjou--The "Malcontents"--Confederation of Arras--Union of
Utrecht--"French Fury"--The fall of Antwerp.
CHAPTER XVII
DREAM OF INDEPENDENCE 204
Albert and Isabella--Catholic reaction--Siege of Ostend--Policy
of the Spanish kings--The Walloon League--The States-General.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE TWELVE YEARS' TRUCE 213
Period of reconstruction--Ruin of Antwerp--Revival of industry
and agriculture--Social conditions under Albert and
Isabella--Influence of the Church.
CHAPTER XIX
RUBENS 221
Contrast between Flemish Art in the fifteenth and seventeenth
centuries--Italian influence--Intellectual action of the
Jesuits--Neglect of Flemish--Popular Art: Breughel, Jordaens.
CHAPTER XX
POLITICAL DECADENCE UNDER SPAIN 230
Situation of the Southern Netherlands between the United
Provinces and France--Projects of Partition--Muenster
Treaty--Wars of the Spanish Succession--The Anglo-Batavian
Conference--Treaty of Utrecht--The Barrier system.
CHAPTER XXI
THE OSTEND COMPANY 245
Economic Renaissance under the Austrian regime--Efforts
to liberate Belgian trade--War of Austrian Succession--Charles
de Lorraine--Intellectual decadence--Popular restlessness.
CHAPTER XXII
THE BRABANCONNE REVOLUTION 254
Joseph II and Philip II--Strength of the Burgundian tradition--
Suppression of the Barrier--The "War of the Cauldron"--The emperor's
internal reforms--Popular resistance: Van der Noot and Vonck--The
"Etats Belgiques Unis"--"Statists" and "Vonckists"--The Reichenbach
Convention--Restoration of the Austrian regime.
CHAPTER XXIII
LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY 268
Jemappes--Excesses of the "Sans Culottes"--Neerwinden--Treaty
of The Hague--Policy of the Convention towards occupied
territory--Annexation--The "War of the Peasants"--Napoleonic
rule--The Vienna Treaty.
CHAPTER XXIV
BLACK, YELLOW AND RED 279
The Joint Kingdom--Causes of failure--Belgian grievances--Policy
of William I--Reconciliation of Catholics and Liberals--The
September days.
CHAPTER XXV
THE SCRAP OF PAPER 289
The Conference of London--Attitude of the Belgian delegates--The
"Bases of Separation"--The Luxemburg question--The XVIII
Articles--Prince Leopold--Dutch invasion--The XXIV Articles--Their
final acceptance--Guaranteed neutrality.
CHAPTER XXVI
NEUTRAL INDEPENDENCE 301
The meaning of neutrality--The question of national defence--Risquons
Tout--The policy of Napoleon III--The entrenched camp of
Antwerp--British action in 1870--Leopold II and Emile Banning--Liege
and Namur--Military reform.
CHAPTER XXVII
ECONOMIC RENAISSANCE 315
The Belgian Constitution--Influence of neutrality on internal
politics--Struggle between Liberals and Catholics--The "School
War"--The Labour Party--The Franchise--Economic prosperity:
agriculture, industry, trade--The opening of the Scheldt--The
search for colonial outlet--Leopold II and the Congo Free
State--The Belgian Congo.
CHAPTER XXVIII
INTELLECTUAL RENAISSANCE 331
Architecture and Sculpture in modern Belgium--The Modern School
of painting--A National School of Literature in French and
Flemish--The Flemish movement.
CHAPTER XXIX
CONCLUSION 342
Part played by Belgium in the Great War--German occupation--The
"Making of a Nation"--The "Resistance of a Nation"--Result of
the Treaty of Versailles--Future of Belgium.
INDEX 349
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ALBERT I _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
CLOTH HALL, YPRES 66
CASTLE OF THE COUNTS, GHENT 67
CLOTH HALL AND BELFRY, BRUGES 75
SEAL OF THE TOWN OF DAMME 78
SEAL OF GUY DE DAMPIERRE 78
TOURNAI CATHEDRAL 88
BRONZE FONT, ST. BARTHOLOMEW, LIEGE 91
SAINTE GUDULE, BRUSSELS 93
PHILIP THE GOOD 105
CHARLES THE BOLD 109
TOWN HALL, BRUGES 112
THE FIRST ANTWERP EXCHANGE 121
TOWN HALL, OUDENARDE 124
THE ADORATION OF THE LAMB 133
THE ADORATION OF THE LAMB 135
PLOURANT 137
MARY OF BURGUNDY 140
MAXIMILIAN I 142
PHILIP THE FAIR 146
JUANA OF CASTILE 146
CHARLES V 152
MARGARET OF AUSTRIA 152
THE INFANTA ISABELLA 204
ARCHDUKE ALBERT 204
PULPIT OF SAINTE GUDULE, BRUSSELS 225
THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS (BREUGHEL) 229
PROCLAMATION OF THE PEACE OF MUENSTER 236
JOSEPH II 254
VAN DER NOOT 262
SCENE OF THE BRABANCONNE REVOLUTION 265
LEOPOLD I 293
LEOPOLD II 310
PALACE OF JUSTICE, BRUSSELS 332
"THE PUDDLER" (MEUNIER) 334
LIST OF MAPS
BELGIUM IN ROMAN TIMES 29
DIVISION OF CHARLEMAGNE'S EMPIRE 47
FEUDAL BELGIUM 52
THE NETHERLANDS UNDER THE RULE OF THE DUKES OF BURGUNDY 102
BELGIUM UNDER THE RULE OF THE KINGS OF SPAIN 204
BELGIUM UNDER THE RULE OF THE EMPERORS OF AUSTRIA 245
BELGIUM UNDER FRENCH RULE 268
THE UNITED KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS 279
MODERN BELGIUM (TREATIES OF 1830-39 AND 1919) 289
INTRODUCTION
The history of the Belgian nation is little known in England. This
ignorance, or rather this neglect, may seem strange if we consider the
frequent relations which existed between the two countries from the
early Middle Ages. It is, however, easy enough to explain, and even to
justify. The general idea has been for a long time that the existence
of Belgium, as a nation, dated from its independence, and that previous
to 1830 such a thing as Belgian history did not even exist. All through
feudal times we are aware of the existence of the County of Flanders,
of the Duchy of Brabant, and of many other principalities, but, in no
official act, does the term "Belgique" occur. Even after the
unification of the fifteenth century, when the country came under the
rule of the Dukes of Burgundy, the notion of a distinct nationality,
such as the French or the British, remains hidden to the superficial
student, the Netherlands forming merely a part of the rich possessions
of the most powerful vassals of France. Through modern times the
Belgian provinces, "les provinces belgiques" as they were called in the
eighteenth century, pass under the rule of the kings of Spain, of the
emperors of Austria and of the French Republic, to be finally merged,
after the fall of Napoleon, into the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The
word "Belgium," as a noun, is only found in a few books; "belgique" is
a mere adjective applied to the southern portion of the Netherlands.
It must be admitted that the Belgian official historians of the old
school did very little to dispel this wrong impression. In their
patriotic zeal they endeavoured to picture Belgium as struggling
valiantly all the time against foreign oppression. They laid great
stress on Caesar's words: "Of all the Gauls the Belgians are the
bravest," and pictured the popular risings of the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries in the same light as the 1830 revolution. If we are
to believe them, the Belgian people must have been conscious from their
origin of their unity. They considered national princes, such as the
Burgundian Dukes, in the same light as Philip II or the Austrian
Emperors, and, instead of clearing the air, added to the confusion.
Their interpretation of history according to the principles of national
liberty of the Romantic period could not be taken seriously, and the
idea prevailed that, if the Belgian nation was not merely a creation of
European diplomacy, its existence could only be confirmed by the
future, and rested on but frail foundations in the past.
This idea was strengthened by the knowledge that the country possessed
neither strong natural frontiers, like Great Britain, France, Italy or
Spain, nor the bond created by unity of language like Germany. Other
European countries, it is true, like Holland or Poland, did not
constitute strong geographical units and lacked definite boundaries
but their people talked at least the same idiom and belonged, as far as
the word may be used in a broad sense, to the same race. Others, like
Switzerland, were divided between various languages, but possessed
geographical unity. Belgium could not claim any of these distinctive
features. Her boundaries remained widely open in all directions. From
the cultivated plains of Flanders to the wild hills of the Ardennes she
offered the greatest variety of physical aspects. What is more, her
people were nearly equally divided, by a line running from the south of
Ypres to the north of Liege, between two different languages, two
different races. According to recognized standards, the very existence
of the Belgian nation was a paradox, and though the history of mankind
presents many similar contrasts between the hasty conclusions of the
untrained mind and the tangible reality of facts, these cannot be
recognized at first, and require a deeper knowledge of the past than
that which can be provided by the study of warlike conflicts and
political changes.
It was therefore left to the modern school of Belgian historians, and
more especially to Professor Pirenne, of Ghent, to place the study of
the origin of the Belgian nation in its right perspective and to show
that, in spite of diversity of race and language, lack of natural
boundaries and centuries of foreign domination, Belgian unity was based
on deep-rooted traditions and possessed strong characteristics in every
department of human activity which could be recognized from the early
Middle Ages to the modern period. By a close study of the economic and
intellectual life of the people and of their institutions, Pirenne and
his disciples made evident what every artist, every writer had already
realized, that, in spite of all appearances, Belgian unity had never
been impaired in the past by the language barrier, and that both parts
of the country presented common characteristics, common customs, and
common institutions which no foreign rule was able to eradicate. They
showed furthermore that these characteristics, determined by the common
interests and aspirations of the whole people, were so strong that they
inspired the policy of many foreign princes who, by their birth, would
naturally have been led to disregard them. They may still be found in
the country's old charters, in ancient chronicles, in the works of the
so-called Flemish School of painting, and in every monument of the past
which has survived the devastation of war. To these witnesses Belgian
historians will not appeal in vain, when they endeavour to show that
the origins of Belgian national unity may be sought as far back as
those of any other nation in Europe, and that if more exposed than her
powerful neighbours to the vicissitudes of war, Belgium always
succeeded in preserving, throughout her darkest days, some living token
of her former prosperity and of her future independence.
* * * * *
If, as we trust, the reader is convinced after reading this short
sketch of Belgium's history that Belgian nationality is more than a
vain word, and that the attitude adopted by the Belgian people in
August 1914, far from being an impulsive movement, was merely the
result of the slow and progressive development of their national
feeling throughout the ages, he will also realize that this development
has received many checks, and is therefore very different from that
which may be traced in the history of England, for instance, or even in
that of France. Nowhere would the familiar image of the growing tree be
more misleading. Belgian history possesses some remarkable landmarks,
under Charlemagne, for instance, at the time of the Communes, under the
rule of the Dukes of Burgundy, under Charles V, and during the recent
period of independence. But, between these periods of prosperity and
even splendour, we notice some periods of stagnation due to internal
strife or even complete decadence, when the country became a prey to
foreign invasion. Few peoples have experienced such severe trials, few
have shown such extraordinary power of recovery. Peace and a wise
government coincide invariably with an extraordinary material and
intellectual efflorescence, war and oppression with the partial or
total loss of the progress realized a few years before, so that the
arts and trades of Belgian cities which shine at one time in the
forefront of European civilization seem totally forgotten at another.
In more than one way Belgium has lived under a troubled sky, where
heavy showers succeed bright sunshine, while the towers of Ypres,
Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, Louvain and Brussels appear and disappear on
the horizon.
How can we explain the tragedy of these abrupt changes? How can we
justify these sudden alternations in the life of a hard-working and
peace-loving people who never indulged in any dreams of imperialism and
foreign conquest?
A look at the map will help us to solve the mystery. The plain of
northern Europe may be divided into two wide areas, the French plain,
whose waters run from East to West into the Atlantic, and the German
plain, whose waters run from South to North into the North Sea and the
Baltic. These wide expanses are connected by a narrow strip of
territory through which all communications skirting the hills and
mountains of the South must necessarily be concentrated, and whose
waters follow a north-westerly direction towards the Straits of Dover.
This small plain, only 90 miles wide from Ostend to Namur, constitutes
a natural link between Germany and France, and plays, from the
continental point of view, the same part as the Straits, on its
northern coast. Even to-day, in spite of the progress of railway
communications, the main line from Paris to Berlin passes along the
Sambre and Meuse valleys, through Namur, Liege and Aix-la-Chapelle, and
the events of August 1914 are only the last example of the frequent use
made of this road throughout history, by invaders coming from the East
or from the South. For peaceful and warlike intercourse, Belgium is
situated on the natural highway connecting the French and German
plains. This geographical feature alone would suffice to influence the
historical development of the country. But there is another.
It so happens that by an extraordinary arrangement of the map, which
one may be tempted to call a coincidence, the sea straits are placed
in close proximity to the continental narrows, so that the natural
route from Great Britain to central Europe crosses in Belgium the
natural route from France to Germany. This appears all the more clearly
if we take into consideration the fact that the seventeen provinces
extended in the past from the Zuyder Zee to the Somme, and that Bruges,
and later on Antwerp, benefited largely from the trade of the Thames.
This then is what is meant when Belgium is spoken of as being placed at
"the cross-roads of Europe." Most of the continental communications
between Great Britain and Germany or Italy, on the one hand, or between
France and Germany on the other, were bound to pass through her
provinces. She was, and is still to a certain extent, the predestined
meeting-ground of British, French and German culture, the market-place
where merchandise and ideas from the North, the West, the East and the
South may be most conveniently exchanged, and she derives her
originality from the very variety of the influences which surround her.
The division of languages and races helped her in her task, and,
instead of proving an obstacle to national development, contributed to
it whenever circumstances proved favourable. The original contribution
of the people to this development may be somewhat difficult to define,
but the result is no less evident. Belgian, or as it is sometimes
called, Flemish culture, though intimately connected with France and
Germany, is neither French nor German, still less English. Its
characteristics are derived from the combination of various European
influences strongly moulded by long-standing traditions and habits.
"The will to live together" which, according to Renan, is at the root
of every nationality, and proves stronger than unity of race and
language, finds nowhere a better illustration than in the strange part
played by the Belgian nation in the history of Europe. Common
interests, common dangers, common aspirations produced and maintained a
distinct civilization which, according to all the laws of materialistic
logic, ought to have been wrecked and swamped long ago by the
overwhelming influences to which it was subjected.
* * * * *
As early as the ninth century, under the rule of Charlemagne, these
characteristics began to show themselves. The Emperor chose
Aix-la-Chapelle for his capital, not only because he possessed vast
domains in the region, but also because, from this central position, he
was better able to keep in contact with the governors of a vast Empire
which extended from the Elbe to Spain and Italy. Aix-la-Chapelle, "the
Northern Rome," became the metropolis of commerce as well as the
political capital. The various intellectual centres created in the
neighbourhood, at the monasteries of Liege, Tongres, and Maesyck
attracted English, Irish, French and Italian poets, musicians, lawyers
and theologians.
Later, in the twelfth century, when the free Communes developed all
over Western Europe and succeeded in breaking the power of feudalism,
it was left to Ghent and Bruges to raise the free city to a standard
of independence and prosperity which it did not attain in other
countries, placed under a stronger central power. In the shadow of
their proud belfries over 80,000 merchants and artisans pursued their
active trade, and Bruges, "the Venice of the North," became the
principal port of Europe and the centre of banking activity.
The part played by the Burgundian Dukes in European politics during the
Hundred Years' War is well known in this country, but the importance of
their action in unifying the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands is
not sufficiently realized. In fact, in spite of their foreign origin,
their policy was so much inspired by the interest of the country that
they may be considered as national princes. The "Great Dukes of the
West" did for Belgium, in the fifteenth century, what Louis XI did for
France, and what Henry VIII did for England, half a century later. They
succeeded in centralizing public institutions and in suppressing, to a
great extent, local jealousies and internal strife which weakened the
nation and wasted her resources. Under their rule the Belgian provinces
rose to an unequalled intellectual and artistic splendour and gave to
the world, by the paintings of the brothers Van Eyck and their school,
one of the most brilliant expressions of the early Renaissance.
This prominent situation was maintained, in spite of the fall of the
Burgundian dynasty, when, through the marriage of Mary of Burgundy with
Maximilian, Belgium passed under the sway of the Hapsburg dynasty.
Under Charles V, Antwerp inherited the prosperity of Bruges, and
became the principal centre of European commerce. It was visited every
year by 2,500 ships, and the amount of commercial transactions made
through its exchange was valued at forty million ducats per year.
Even after the disastrous wars of religion which separated the Northern
Netherlands, or United Provinces, from the southern provinces, and
ruined for two centuries the port of Antwerp, there was a short
respite, under the wise rule of the Archdukes Albert and Isabella
(1598-1633), during which the art of Rubens, Van Dyck and Jordaens
threw a last glamour on Belgium's falling greatness.
This rapid sketch of the happy periods of Belgian history would not be
complete if we did not allude to the wonderful recovery made by the
country as soon as the Powers granted her the right to live as an
independent State after the unhappy experiment of the joint Kingdom of
the Netherlands (1815-1830). Her population increased twofold. The
Scheldt was reopened and Antwerp regained most of its previous trade.
At the time of the German invasion modern Belgium occupied the first
rank in Europe with regard to the density of her population, the yield
of her fields per acre, the development of her railway system and the
importance of her special trade per head of inhabitants. In spite of
her small area, she occupied the fifth rank among the great trading
nations of the world, and the names of Maeterlinck, Verhaeren, Cesar
Franck and Meunier show that she had reconquered a great part of her
former intellectual prestige.
There is one striking resemblance between all periods of Belgian
development. Whether in the ninth, the thirteenth, the fifteenth or the
nineteenth century, they express the civilization of the time, and
succeed in producing a typical example of essentially European culture,
imperial under Charlemagne, communal in the Middle Ages, centralized
under national princes during the Renaissance, highly industrialized
and colonial in modern times. This trait must be considered when
Belgium is represented as the "kernel of Europe," as combining the
spirit of the North, East and South. It is not enough to say that the
country seems predestined to this task by her geographical position and
her duality of race and language bringing together the so-called
"Germanic" and "Latin" tendencies; it must be added that, whenever
historical circumstances allowed it, the people made full use of such
advantages. Whether under local princes, or under foreign princes who
understood Belgian interests, given peace conditions at home and
abroad, the country never failed to rise to the occasion.
But these periods of greatness were short-lived compared with the
periods of decadence which succeeded them. After the division of the
Empire of Charlemagne the Belgian counties and duchies found themselves
plunged in the throes of feudal disputes and divided between the Kings
of France and the Emperors of Germany. The power of the suzerain was
nowhere weaker than in these distant marches, and the Belgian princes
were left free to pursue their quarrels with complete disregard of the
common interest. The prosperity of the Communes in the thirteenth and
beginning of the fourteenth centuries, was rapidly undermined by
internal strife and by the difficulties the Counts of Flanders
experienced in trying to conciliate their duty to their French suzerain
with the interest of the people which prompted an English alliance. The
fall of Charles the Bold provoked a fresh outburst of the spirit of
local independence, which greatly endangered the country's peace, and,
if the situation was restored, under Philip the Fair and Charles V,
during the first part of the sixteenth century, the second part of this
century witnessed the gradual exhaustion of the Southern Netherlands
divided against themselves and subjected to the attacks of both Spanish
and Dutch.
The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which are for other
countries, like France, a period of exceptional national prestige, mark
the deepest stage of Belgian decadence and humiliation. The Scheldt was
closed, trade and industry were practically dead, foreign troops,
French, Dutch, Spanish or Austrian, ceaselessly pursued their work of
devastation. A foreign possession, open to the incursions of her
possessors' enemies, sacrificed by her masters at every stage of the
peace negotiations in order to save their native country, Belgium lost
Dutch Flanders, Northern Brabant and part of Limburg to Holland, French
Flanders, Franche Comte and Artois to France. The Treaty of Muenster
sealed the fate of Antwerp, and the Treaty of the Barriers left the
Dutch in possession of all the country's most important fortified
positions.
Though it gave back to Belgium her natural frontier in the North and
reopened the Scheldt for a short time, the French regime did not
greatly improve the economic situation. After the union with Holland
(1815), the political struggle which followed prevented the people from
enjoying the full benefit of the change, so that we must wait until
1830 before being able to notice any considerable improvement.
* * * * *
This general survey will suffice to show that Belgian history may be
divided into periods of progress and decadence. The same may be said,
it is true, of the history of all nations. But nowhere else is the
difference between the higher and lower levels so pronounced and the
intervals between the acts so protracted. As we have already said, the
country passes suddenly from the brightest limelight of fame to the
darkest recess of mediocrity and oblivion. Some of these contrasts,
such as those existing between Charlemagne's united Empire and feudal
divisions, are shared by the rest of Europe. Others, at the time of the
Renaissance and the Reformation, and when the country came under
Spanish, Austrian and French rule, are peculiar to Belgium. To the slow
development of national unity, her history adds the obstacles of
foreign domination and foreign invasion. The exceptional situation of
the country on the map gives equally great chances of ruin and
recovery. The same conditions which bring about Belgium's downfall
contribute largely to her restoration, the same roads which bring
wealth in time of peace, are followed, in time of war, by foreign
armies. She is not only the cross-roads of Europe, she is the
battlefield of Europe. From Bouvines (1214) to Waterloo and Ypres,
almost all the great battles which decided the fate of Europe and
determined her balance of power were fought on Belgian soil. Sometimes
the inhabitants took a share in the struggle, oftener they were not
even given the chance to interfere, while the Powers settled other
quarrels at their expense.
The Belgian people have acquired a remarkable reputation for their
sturdiness and their power of recovery. But, while they are entirely
irresponsible for their weakness, which can only be attributed to the
small size and the defenceless character of their country, they cannot
be considered as entirely responsible for their strength. A port like
Antwerp, if at all accessible, is bound to prosper under any
circumstances. A town like Brussels cannot fail to benefit by its
unique situation, from an international point of view. With her rich
coal mines among her fertile fields, Belgium, considering her size, is
perhaps more richly endowed by Nature than any other country in Europe.
But such exceptional advantages have been more than compensated in the
past by the heavy risks which this richness implied.
Illustration: BELGIUM IN ROMAN TIMES.
CHAPTER I
THE COAL WOOD
It is usually assumed that, while human conditions alter throughout the
ages, natural surroundings remain sensibly the same. This may be true
with regard to people whose history is only affected by the streams
which cross their land and the hills and mountains which protect them
by natural barriers. When dealing with a country like Belgium however,
widely open on all sides, we cannot be content with such wide
generalizations. We must ask ourselves if some important physical
features have not been altered by the work of man and if some natural
obstacles, which have since disappeared, did not affect the earlier
stage of Belgian history.
The traveller who crosses the country to-day from Ostend to Arlon will
at once recognize its main features: first a low-lying plain, between
the sea and Brussels, then a district of smooth hills, as far as Namur,
and finally, beyond the Meuse, the deeply cut valleys and high plateaux
of the Ardennes, reaching an average of 1,500 feet above sea-level. In
this last region only will the aspect of the country suggest to him the
idea of some natural obstacle to free communications, though it could
in no way appear forbidding when compared to the mountains of Scotland
and Wales.
But at the time of the Roman conquest (57 _B.C._), Belgium, that is to
say the country peopled by various tribes designated by Julius Caesar
under the name of "Belgae," was very different from what it is to-day.
The flat coast, unprotected against the incursions of the sea, was
bordered by wide marshes, while all the southern part of the country
was covered by a thick forest, the "Silva Carbonaria," which merged in
the wild plateaux of the Ardennes and formed, at the time, a serious
obstacle to any incursion coming from the north or the east.
These physical conditions must have favoured the guerrilla warfare
waged for four years by the various Celtic tribes against the Roman
invader, and it is no doubt partly to them that the old "Belgae" owed
their reputation of courage and fortitude. These tribes, occupying the
Scheldt and Meuse valleys, formed the rearguard of the Celtic wave of
invasion which, coming from the East, had spread across Western Europe.
At the time of the Roman conquest they were already closely pressed by
a vanguard of Germanic tribes which had settled in Zeeland and on the
left bank of the Rhine, so that even at this early stage of Belgium's
history we find the dualistic character of Belgian civilization marked
in the division of the country into two Roman provinces, "Belgica
Secunda," in the west, and "Germania Inferior," in the east.
[_ROMAN INFLUENCES_]
The immediate effect of the Roman conquest, which was far more rapid
than in Britain, was to stop for a time the influx of German tribes by
the establishment of a solid barrier along the Rhine. The colonists of
German origin were soon absorbed by the old inhabitants of the country,
and were subjected with them to the powerful influence of Roman
culture. Celts and Germans alike became Belgo-Romans, and adopted the
trade and the institutions of their conquerors.
As far as we can make out from the scanty documents at our disposal,
Roman civilization moved along the Rhine towards Cologne, whence a
great Roman highway was built towards the West, crossing the Meuse at
Maestricht and, following the edge of the Coal Wood, through Tongres
and Cambrai to Boulogne. This road, known through the early Middle Ages
as the "Road of Brunehaut," was for a long time the main way running
from east to west in a country where all the important streams, such as
the Meuse, the Scheldt and their tributaries, ran from south to north.
The extent of Roman influence may be gauged by the position which the
various parts of the country occupied towards this highway. Tongres and
Tournai still possess Roman remains. The foundations of Roman villas
are found in the provinces of Namur, Hainault and Artois, while all
traces of Roman occupation have disappeared from Flanders. The sandy
and marshy nature of the soil in Northern Belgium may to a certain
extent account for this fact, and we know that, in some instances, the
stones provided by old Roman structures were used, in the Middle Ages,
for the construction of new buildings. But it can nevertheless be
assumed that, generally speaking, communications remained the principal
factor of Roman civilization in these far-away marches of the Empire,
and that Roman influence, so strongly felt on the Rhine and along the
Meuse, became gradually less important as the distance increased. The
country was almost exclusively agricultural, but it is interesting to
note, in view of later developments, that, even at this remote period,
the Menapii, who dwelt in Flanders, had acquired a reputation for
cattle breeding and manufactured woollen mantles which, under the name
of "birri," were exported beyond the Alps.
Though strongly influenced by Rome in their trade and methods of
agriculture, the Belgo-Romans had retained their language and religion.
Romanization, in the full meaning of the word, only began during the
last years of the third century, under the influence of Christianity.
During the third century, the bishopric of Treves included the whole of
"Germania Inferior." A special bishopric was established subsequently
at Cologne, and, about the middle of the fourth century, at Tongres.
Others appeared later at Tournai, Arras and Cambrai. This gradual
spread of Christianity, which moved along the same roads as Roman
civilization, from Cologne towards the West, only reached Flanders half
a century later.
The Christianization of the country must have been far from complete
when the incursions of the Germanic tribes, greatly encouraged by the
gradual decline of the Roman Empire, brought a sudden and dramatic
change in the life and development of the two Roman provinces.
* * * * *
[_THE FRANKS_]
During the third and fourth centuries, the pressure of the Germanic
tribes, which had been considerably delayed by the Roman conquest,
reasserted itself. The Rhine frontier was subjected to repeated
assaults, which the depleted legions were no longer in a position to
repulse effectively. The Franks attacked from the east and the north
through Zeeland, while part of the Saxons who attacked Britain raided
at the same time the Belgian coast. In spite of the military successes
of the Emperors Constantine and Julian, the situation became so
threatening that a second line of defences was fortified on the Meuse
and along the great Roman highroad running from Tongres to Tournai. In
358, Julian authorized the Franks to settle in the sandy moors east of
the Scheldt (Toxandria), and when, at the beginning of the fifth
century, Stilicon recalled the legions in order to defend Italy against
the Goths, the German tribes, finding themselves unopposed, invaded the
country of the Scheldt and the Lys, reducing into serfdom the old
inhabitants who had escaped massacre. The Rhine ceased henceforth to be
the Empire's frontier. The latter ran now along the great highway from
Tongres to Arras. Before their second line of defences the Romans,
under AEtius, put up a last fight, but they were defeated by the
Frankish king Clodion, who extended his kingdom along the coast as far
as the Somme and established himself at Tournai (431), where his grave
was discovered twelve centuries later.
[_LANGUAGE FRONTIER_]
It seemed as if the Franks, in their irresistible advance, were going
to wipe out from Belgium and Gaul all trace of Roman civilization, and
such a catastrophe would no doubt have occurred, if a natural obstacle
had not broken their impetus. We mentioned above that, south of a line
running from Dunkirk to Maestricht, the country was covered with a
thick forest, the "Silva Carbonaria." This wall of wood did more to
stop the invaders than the heroic efforts of AEtius. It sheltered the
Celts from the Franks in Belgium as the mountains of Wales and the
hills of Cornwall sheltered them from the Saxons in Great Britain.
Conquests were pursued by the Frankish kings and their nobles, but the
invasion stopped. The movement ceased to be ethnical and became
political. The Franks reached the clearings of the forest and nominally
subjected Gaul to their power, but they were now in a minority, and the
conquered soon succeeded in absorbing the conquerors. It is significant
that the "Lex Salica," the oldest document in which the name of the
Coal Wood is mentioned, describes it as "the boundary of the
territories occupied by the Frankish people." To the north of this
boundary the country was entirely in the hands of the invaders; to the
south, the "Wala," as the Franks called the Belgo-Romans, succeeded in
maintaining themselves and in preserving to a certain extent the Roman
language and civilization. The old limit, running in a northerly
direction and dividing in the past "Germania Inferior" from "Belgica
Secunda," had been bent under the pressure of the Frankish invasions,
and ran now from east to west, but the dualism which we noted above had
not disappeared. The Franks settled in the north, the romanized Celts
or "Walas" occupied the south. The first are the ancestors of the
Flemings of to-day, the second of the Walloons, and the limit of
languages between the two sections of the population has remained the
same. It runs to-day where it ran fourteen centuries ago, from the
south of Ypres to Brussels and Maestricht, dividing Belgium almost
evenly into two populations belonging to two separate races and
speaking two different languages. The ancient forest has disappeared,
but its edge is still marked on the map. We cross it to-day without
noticing any alteration in the landscape, but the distant voices of the
peasants working in the fields remind us of its ancient shadow and
impassable undergrowth. The traveller wonders, one moment, at the
change, then takes up the road again, adding one further unanswered
question to his load of unsolved problems. The historian evokes the
terrible years of the fifth century, when the fate of Europe hung in
the balance and when the surging waves of Pagan Germanism spent their
last energy along that leafy barrier which saved Christianity and Roman
civilization, and incidentally gave the Belgian nation its most
prominent and interesting character. The singsong of a Walloon sentence
may thus suggest the rustling of the leaves and the piping of early
birds, while the more guttural accents of a Flemish name remind us of
the war-cry of wild hordes and the beating of "frameas."
The Frankish invasions of the fifth century may be considered the most
important event of Belgium's early history. Whether the unity of the
Belgian nation is questioned or upheld, we must inevitably go back to
the cause of its real or apparent division. If such division, from
being racial and linguistic, had become political or economic--that is
to say, if the language boundary had coincided with some of the
boundaries which divided the country at a later stage--the idea that
Belgium was born in 1830 and constituted an "artificial creation of
European diplomacy" might not be groundless. Here, as in many other
countries of Europe, nationality would have been determined mostly by
race and language. This, however, is not the case. At no period of
Belgian history did any division follow the linguistic frontier. On the
contrary, most of the political and ecclesiastical units created during
the Middle Ages included both elements of the population, and, through
frequent intercourse and common interests, these two people, speaking
different languages, became gradually welded into one. When in the
fifteenth century the various duchies and counties came under the sway
of the dukes of Burgundy, national unity was realized, as it was
realized in England or in France at the same time, through the
increasing power and centralizing action of modern princes. A few
prejudiced writers have vainly endeavoured to exaggerate the racial or
linguistic factor, and contended that, in the eyes of science, Belgian
nationality could not exist. The duty of a scientist is not to distort
the manifestations of natural phenomena in the light of some more or
less popular idea. His duty is to explain facts. The development and
permanence of Belgian nationality, in spite of the most adverse
conditions, is one of these facts. The existence of the Swiss nation,
far more deeply divided than the Belgian, shows that it is not unique.
But even if it were unique, it ought to be accounted for. It is far
easier to indulge in broad generalizations than to devote oneself to a
close study of nature or man. It is not the rules, it is the exceptions
which ought to retain our attention, for only exceptions will teach us
how imperfect are our rules.