THE CATHEDRAL OF TOURNAI
Literature is perhaps nowadays the most characteristic expression of
civilization, just as painting was the most striking mode of expression
in the Renaissance and architecture in the Middle Ages. We have seen
that, in the Netherlands, civic monuments constitute a typical feature
in mediaeval architecture, but, though it is important to insist on the
conditions which favoured and inspired the building of belfries and
cloth-halls, the important part played by churches in the Netherlands,
as in France and England, must nevertheless be acknowledged. It is true
that, considering the intense religious life of the Low Countries from
the tenth to the fifteenth centuries, the number of well preserved old
churches still existing is rather disappointing, but this impression
would be greatly altered if it were possible to revive the buildings
which have fallen victim to destruction or to a worse fate still,
wholesale restoration.
[_SECOND CRUSADE_]
All through the Middle Ages, Belgium was an extraordinarily active
centre of religious teaching and mysticism, and nowhere else perhaps in
Europe did the Christian faith penetrate so deeply among the common
people. Quite apart from the intellectual and aristocratic movements
favoured in the tenth and eleventh centuries by the imperial bishops of
Liege and their celebrated schools, from the deeper influence
exerted in other parts by the Clunisian monks (eleventh century) and by
the Cistercians and Premontres (twelfth century), the enthusiasm
aroused by the crusades is a sufficient proof of the country's
religious fervour. Not only did the nobles play a predominant part,
Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lotharingia, being the leader of the
first crusade and the counts of Flanders, Robert II, Thierry of Alsace,
Philip of Alsace and Baldwin IX, taking a large share in the same and
in subsequent expeditions, but the lower classes enlisted with the same
enthusiasm and flocked around the cross raised by Peter the Hermit and
his followers. It is reported that, during the second crusade, certain
localities lost more than half their male population.
Later, with the development of the Communes, the bourgeois and the
townspeople endeavoured to nominate their own priests and chaplains,
civil hospitals were founded, and, in the thirteenth century, the
mendicant orders enjoyed an enormous popularity, owing to the
familiarity with which they mixed with the people. They followed the
armies in the field, and it was among them that the citizens found
their favourite preachers in times of peace.
The great concourse of merchants and artisans in the towns favoured the
spreading of heresies, and, for a time, the Manicheans, under their
leader Tanchelm, made many converts among the Antwerp weavers; but the
Church was strong enough, at the time, not to appeal hastily to
forcible repression. The heretic preachers were fought, on their own
ground, by Franciscans, Dominicans and other ecclesiastics, who
succeeded in defeating them by their personal prestige. One of these
preachers who was honoured as a saint, Lambert le Begue (the
Stammerer), greatly influenced spiritual life in Liege and the
surrounding districts. The foundation of the characteristically Belgian
institution of the "Beguines," or "Beggards," can, at least partly, be
traced to his religious activity.
This institution, which spread all over the country during the
thirteenth century, shows once more the success of all attempts in the
Netherlands to bring the inspiration of religion into the practice of
everyday life and into close contact with the humble and the poor. It
was specially successful among the women, and absorbed a great many of
the surplus female population. The "Beguines" did not pronounce eternal
vows and could, if they liked, return to the world. They led a very
active life, settled in small houses, forming a large square planted
with trees, around a chapel where they held their services. All the
time not devoted to prayer was given to some manual work, teaching or
visiting the poor. From Nivelles, the movement spread to Ghent, Bruges,
Lille, Ypres, Oudenarde, Damme, Courtrai, Alost, Dixmude, etc., and
even to Northern France and Western Germany. The accomplished type of
the "Beguine" is Marie d'Oignies, who, after a few months of married
life, separated from her husband, spent many years among the lepers,
and finally settled, with a few companions, in the little convent of
Oignies, near Namur.
[_ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE_]
Such was the spirit which inspired the builders of the Belgian
churches. Certainly the most typical and perhaps the most beautiful
is Notre Dame of Tournai, with its romanesque nave, built in the
eleventh century, its early Gothic choir (thirteenth century) and its
later Gothic porch (fourteenth century). It illustrates admirably the
succession of styles used in the country during the Middle Ages and the
series of influences to which these styles were subjected from the East
and from the South. Most of the romanesque churches of the tenth and
eleventh centuries were built either by German architects or by their
Belgian pupils. Though the best examples of the period are now found
either at Tournai (cathedral and St. Quentin), at Soignies (St.
Vincent) and at Nivelles (Ste. Gertrude), the centre of the school was
at Liege, where St. Denis, St. Jacques, St. Barthelemy and especially
Ste. Croix still show some traces of this early work. The main features
of these buildings, in their original state, are, beside the use of the
rounded arch, round or octagonal turrets, with pointed roofs, over the
facade and sometimes over the transept.
Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL, TOURNAI (TWELFTH-FOURTEENTH CENTURY).
_Ph. B._
With the decline of German political and intellectual influence, Gothic
was introduced into the country by French architects. In the last years
of the twelfth century, Tournai thus became the meeting-place of the
two currents, and, owing to its favourable position on the Scheldt and
to the material available in the district, dominated the whole
religious architecture of Flanders. The period of transition lasted
over a century and produced some of the most characteristic religious
buildings of the country, in which both the rounded and pointed arches
are happily combined. To this period belong St. Jacques and Ste.
Madeleine of Tournai, St. Nicolas and St. Jacques of Ghent and the
pretty little church of Pamele, built by Arnold of Binche (near
Tournai) between 1238 and 1242, where beside the romanesque turrets of
the facade may be found a short central octagonal Gothic tower. The
well-known Church of St. Sauveur at Bruges, begun in 1137, belongs to
the same period, but brick instead of Tournai stone has been used for
its erection. The same feature is found in a good many Gothic churches
in maritime Flanders and Holland, which were too distant from the
Hainault quarries.
Tournai again, in the choir of its cathedral, furnishes a good example
of Belgian early Gothic (thirteenth century), of which the destroyed
cathedral of Ypres, St. Martin, was considered the masterpiece. All
trace of the round arch has now disappeared and the columns are formed
by massive pillars.
As the Gothic style develops in its secondary period (late thirteenth
and beginning of fourteenth century) the windows increase in size, the
pillars are fluted and the tracery of the windows becomes more and more
complicated. The best examples of this particular Gothic still in
existence are the choir of St. Paul at Liege and Notre Dame of Huy
(begun in 1311).
Illustration: BRONZE FONT IN THE CHURCH OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW, LIEGE
(1107-1118).
The baptism of Christ.
St. Peter baptising Cornelius.
[_GOTHIC CATHEDRALS_]
The most important and the best preserved Belgian churches belong,
however, to the third period of Gothic, when clustered columns replace
pillars, tracery becomes flamboyant and spires soar higher and higher
above the naves. Brabant is especially rich in fourteenth and fifteenth
century churches. Possessing its own quarries, it was independent of
Tournai, and can claim an original style altogether free from Hainault
or French influence. In this group must be mentioned Notre Dame of Hal;
the cathedral of St. Rombaut, in Malines, begun in 1350 and whose
flat-roofed tower was only finished in 1452; Ste. Gudule, in Brussels,
the oldest of them all, with some parts dating as far back as the
thirteenth century, a flamboyant porch and two flat-roofed towers
similar to those of St. Rombaut; and, finally, the great cathedral of
Antwerp, begun in 1387, with one of the highest towers in Europe and
certainly the slenderest, whose various stories mark the transformation
of style as they rise to end in a purely Renaissance spire.
Illustration: COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF SAINTE GUDULE, BRUSSELS
(THIRTEENTH-FOURTEENTH CENTURY).
_Ph. B._
Most of these romanesque and Gothic churches have no unity of style,
owing to the long period covered during their building. From a purely
architectural point of view, they lack perhaps the purity of some of
their French and German rivals, but they are all the more interesting
to the historian and bring him into close contact with the
transformation of mind and manners from the Middle Ages to the
Renaissance.
In order not to split up our subject we have wandered from the
civilization of the Middle Ages into the early Renaissance. Let us now
go back to Notre Dame of Tournai, with her five pointed towers, and see
what we may learn from her with regard to the intellectual and literary
developments of the period. In the same way as the building of its
choir, in the early thirteenth century, shows evident traces of French
influence, so the use of French, among the upper classes and in the
literature of the period, becomes more and more predominant.
During the first centuries of the Middle Ages, French influence in
Flanders was particularly noticeable in the monasteries. Almost in
every monastery Walloon and Flemish monks lived side by side, and it
became necessary that their abbots should be able to make themselves
understood by both sections of the community. Thierry of St. Trond was
chosen by the monks of St. Peter at Ghent "quoniam Theutonica et
Gaulonica lingua expeditus." Examples abound of bishops, teachers and
preachers able to express themselves in Flemish and French. The
"Cantilene of Ste. Eulalie," the oldest poem written in the French
language, was discovered in the monastery of St. Amand together with
one of the oldest German writings, the "Ludwigslied." The Clunisian
influence tended also to spread the use of French in the northern
districts.
[_BI-LINGUALISM_]
The same bilingual characteristic may be found among the nobles, who
met frequently in the course of their military expeditions or peaceful
tournaments. Intermarriages between families belonging to both parts of
Lotharingia and Flanders were frequent. Besides, most of the large
domains lay across the language frontier. The knowledge of French soon
became an essential condition of a good education, and the children of
Flemish lords were sent to French abbeys in order to perfect their
knowledge of the language. It may be assumed that, at the end of the
eleventh century, the majority of the aristocracy was bilingual. It was
one of the reasons which gave the Belgian nobles such a prominent
position in the crusades. A contemporary writer, Otto of Friesingen,
explains that Godfrey of Bouillon was placed at the head of the
crusaders because, "brought up on the frontier between romanized and
Teutonic people, he knew both languages equally well."
This penetration of French, not only in Flanders, which was nominally
attached to the kingdom of France, but also in Lotharingia and even in
Liege, the centre of German influence, is all the more remarkable as it
implied no political hegemony, the counts of Flanders being practically
independent, at the time, and the other nobles attached to the Empire.
It was not introduced by conquest, as in England in the eleventh
century, or through immigration, like German into Bohemia or into the
Baltic States. The race of the northern provinces remained relatively
pure, and the adoption of a second language by the aristocracy can only
be explained by the intimate relations created between Thiois
(Flemings) and Walloons owing to political conditions, to diocesan
boundaries and social intercourse.
The influence of French was still further increased during the twelfth
century, which is the classical epoch of French literature in the
Middle Ages, and during which trade became so much more active owing to
the formation of the Communes. It was not only spoken by nearly all the
counts of Flanders and used in their private correspondence, but it
became, to a certain extent, the official language when Latin was
dispossessed of its monopoly. Its use ceased to be confined to the
aristocracy and spread to the bourgeoisie, owing to the frequent
intercourse between Flemish and French merchants at the fairs of
Champagne. All bills of exchange were written in French, and even the
Lombards and the Florentine bankers used it in their transactions. Its
knowledge was as necessary, at the time, as a knowledge of English may
be to-day to all exporters. As late as 1250, it was the only popular
language in which public documents were written. It is true that, in
Northern Flanders, many Germanic terms are mixed with it, but it exerts
practically no influence on the early development of the Flemish
language. The linguistic situation in Flanders, during the thirteenth
century, is interesting to compare with that existing in England, at
the same time, where the imported tongue was progressively absorbed by
the native, just as the Normans were absorbed by the Saxons. Again, it
is typical of the pacific character of French penetration that when, in
the middle of the thirteenth century, Flemish prose, having
sufficiently developed, was adopted for public acts, no restriction
whatever was placed on this custom. French, however, remained the
language used by the counts and by their officers. The documents of the
period present an extraordinary medley of Latin, French and Flemish
texts.
Brabant was not so strongly influenced, partly because the dukes
belonged to the old native dynasty and partly because the dukedom
entered later into the current of trade intercourse. French was used at
court, and a knowledge of it was considered as a necessary
accomplishment for a nobleman. But the dukes used Flemish in their
relations with their Flemish subjects, and when Latin gradually
disappeared, the popular language took its place in public acts.
[_PICARD WRITERS_]
This efflorescence of the French language must be connected with the
great prosperity of Walloon Flanders and the development, in Arras,
Douai, Lille, Tournai and Valenciennes, of an intense literary
movement, including poets, chroniclers and translators endowed with a
distinct originality. As late as the thirteenth century these writers,
who had adopted the Picard dialect, proclaimed their independence from
purely French literature, so that, in their own domain, they play a
similar part to that played by the Tournai master-builders in theirs.
The counts of Flanders and Hainault, among them Philip of Alsace,
Baldwin V and Baldwin VI, patronized native literature and even
attracted to their courts some of the greatest French poets of the
period, such as Chretien de Troyes and Gautier d'Epinal. The dukes of
Brabant imitated this example and patronized Adenet le Roi, who was
considered the most eminent Belgian trouvere. We still possess a few
songs composed by Duke Henry III. Nothing can give us a better insight
into the intellectual life of some of the nobles of the time than the
following lines in which Lambert d'Ardres describes the manifold
activities of Baldwin II, Count of Guines (1169-1206). This prince
"surrounded himself with clerks and masters, asked them questions
unceasingly and listened to them attentively. But, as he would have
liked to know everything and could not remember everything by heart, he
ordered Master Landri de Waben to translate for him from the Latin into
Romance the Song of Solomon, together with its mystic interpretation,
and often had it read aloud to him. He learned, in the same way, the
Gospels, accompanied by appropriate sermons, which had been
translated, as well as the life of St. Anthony Abbot, by a certain
Alfred. He also received from Master Godfrey a great portion of the
Physic translated from Latin into Romance. Everyone knows that the
venerable Father Simon of Bologna translated for him from the Latin
into Romance the book of Solinus on natural history and, in order to
obtain a reward for his labour, offered the book to him publicly and
read it to him aloud."
Translations play a most important part in the literature of the time,
and it is significant that Belgium, from this point of view, owing no
doubt to her duality of language, acted as a pioneer for France. Just
as the Walloon provinces were first to discard Latin in public acts and
replace it by French, it is among their writers that the first and most
notable translators may be found. The tastes of translators and their
patrons were very catholic; science, theology, history and poetry
proving equally attractive. Another characteristic of French letters in
Belgium is the importance given to history. The first historical work
written in French is a translation by Nicolas de Senlis of the
_Chronicle of Turpin_, made for Yolande, sister of Baldwin V of
Hainault. In 1225 a clerk compiled for Roger, castellan of Lille, a
series of historical stories, the _Livre des Histoires_, taken from the
most various sources, from the creation of the world down to his own
time. Soon original works, dealing with local and contemporary events,
replaced translations and compilations. Such are the _Story of
Hainault_, written for Baldwin of Avesnes, and the rhymed _Chronicle of
Tournai_ by Philippe Mousket.
[_ROMANCES_]
The bourgeoisie soon became interested in the movement. But the
citizens of the towns enjoyed neither courtiers' poetry nor epics and
warlike histories. Satire and didactic works were far more to their
taste. As early as the first part of the twelfth century a priest,
Nivardus, collected the numerous animal stories which were told in his
time and in which Renard the fox, Isengrain the wolf, Noble the lion
and many more animal heroes play a very lively part. These tales, in
spite of their Oriental or Greek origin, had found a new meaning among
the townsfolk of the twelfth century, who delighted in the tricks of
Renard, whose cunning outwitted the strength of the great barons and
the pride of their suzerain. Translations from Nivardus were the origin
of the French versions of the _Roman du Renard_ and of the Flemish poem
of _Reinaert_, written by Willem in the thirteenth century, and which
surpasses all other variations of the theme.
The _Reinaert_ is the first notable work of mediaeval Flemish
literature. Willem's predecessor, Hendrick van Veldeke, is merely a
translator. One of his most popular poems at the time, the _Eneyde_, is
a Flemish version of the French _Roman d'Eneas_. The number and the
success of these Flemish translations of French romances of chivalry,
in the thirteenth century, is however, remarkable, especially as it was
the means of introducing these stories into Germany, where they
received new and sometimes original treatment. From its very origin
Flemish literature acted thus as an intermediary between France and
Germany. Veldeke was a noble, and his works were only appreciated in
the castles. Jacob van Maerlant, who was hailed, in his time, as the
"Father of Flemish Poets," was a bourgeois scribe. Though obliged at
first to write some translations from the French Romances, he could not
but feel that this kind of literature suited neither the aspirations
nor the temperament of the people among whom he lived. Turning from
these frivolous stories, he sought in the works of Vincent de Beauvais
and Pierre Comestor a wiser and more serious inspiration. His ambition
was to place within reach of laymen the scientific, philosophic and
religious thought of his time, so that they might obtain the same
chances of acquiring knowledge as the learned clerics. This is the
spirit which pervades his principal and most popular works, _Der
Naturen Blume_, the _Rymbybel_ and the _Spiegel historiael_, in which
the author deals with natural lore and sacred and profane history.
In his impatience against "the beautiful, false French poets who rhyme
more than they know," van Maerlant declared that all French things were
false: "wat waelsch is valsch is," but one would seek vainly any
systematic hostility towards France in the poet's encyclopaedic work. On
the contrary, on several occasions, he pays a glowing tribute to the
intellectual splendour of France, specially as represented by the
University of Paris, and it is not without astonishment that we
discover from his pen, on the eve of the Battle of the Golden Spurs, a
eulogy of the French regime.
[_VAN MAERLANT_]
The reason why van Maerlant attacked the French Romances of Chivalry
was not that they were French, but that they were Romances. The
characteristic of the early Flemish writers, apart from the satiric
poetry of Willem, is the seriousness of their thought and purpose.
They feel strongly their responsibility in influencing their
contemporaries and seldom abandon the tone of the preacher or teacher.
The most eloquent verses of van Maerlant may be found in _Van den Lande
van Oversee_, in which he preaches a new crusade after the fall of St.
John of Acre.
From the very beginning Belgian Flemish literature is distinct from the
French, but has many points of contact with the intellectual movement
of the Walloon provinces. There can be no question, at this early
stage, of disagreement or rivalry, for French was only, at the time,
the second language of the aristocracy in Flanders, and, as Flemish
letters developed, they naturally penetrated into the upper classes.
There are few examples in history of a civilization combining with such
harmony the genius of two races and two languages.