his title of virtue. He was, however, in spite of his adroitness in
deception, an encourager of industry and commerce, and a protector of
the arts. He invited the brothers, John and Hubert Van Eyck, to Bruges,
and he patronised men of science and scholars. "Lord of so many opulent
cities and fruitful provinces, he felt himself equal to the kings of
Europe." Upon his marriage with Isabella of Portugal, he founded at
Bruges the celebrated order of the "Golden Fleece." This Order played a
great part in Flemish history. The symbol of the Golden Fleece was both
religious and industrial, and the Lamb of God, hung upon the breast of
the twenty-five knights, represented not only devotion, but also the
woollen trade of the country. Motley gives the number of the knights as
twenty-five, but another authority states that it numbered thirty-one,
and that the members of the Order wore a distinguishing cloak, lined
with ermine, and the cipher of the Duke of Burgundy in the form of a B,
with flints striking fire. The motto was: _Aute ferit, quam flamma
micat._
The memorials of the days of splendour are many in this city of the
past. The cathedral is not of the finest Gothic work externally, but it
is rich in monuments, and lavishly decorated within. Its earlier
portions date from the twelfth century, the fine nave is of a later
period. The pictures are not of much importance.
Notre Dame has a lofty spire, and many interesting details will be found
in its architecture of the early and the later Gothic periods. One of
the chapels contains the tombs of Charles, Duke of Burgundy, and his
daughter, Mary. The images are in copper, and recumbent on marble.
Memories of Charles the Bold crowd into the mind as we stand before his
effigy. His vast ambition led him into rash adventures, and his career,
if brilliant, was also tragic in its failures. Charles would have made
Burgundy a kingdom, but he lacked the essentials of a conqueror, in
spite of his courage. His rapacity was a drain on the resources of the
Netherlands; his love of power made him an oppressor, and caused
discontent and rebellion. Through his want of the true kingly qualities
he brought disaster upon the country, and destroyed the peace of the
small republics.
In his forty-fourth year, in 1477, he died, leaving his people
impoverished, and the industries decaying. His realm was given into the
charge of his daughter, Mary, who married the Emperor Maximilian.
The monument of Mary of Burgundy is an example of the work of De
Beckere, an eminent sculptor. A painting by Porbus of "The Crucifixion
and Last Supper" is in this church. The carved pulpit is a good specimen
of this Flemish craft.
The Town Hall and Palace of Justice contain several important pictures,
and both buildings are architecturally instinctive; the former is very
highly decorated Gothic, with a fine façade, and several statues of the
Flemish counts. There is a library in the town hall with a beautiful
roof. Here are some missals and manuscripts, and a large collection of
books.
The Palace of Justice has been restored, but parts of the older building
remain. It has a spacious hall, and an elaborate fireplace, with statues
of some of the rulers of Burgundy.
La Chapelle du Saint Sang is finely decorated, and has an ancient crypt,
containing early treasures.
We must now visit the academy of painting, and inspect the pictures,
though not without regret that there are so few works of the
illustrious artists of Bruges, the brothers Van Eyck, in the collection.
There is, however, one of J. Van Eyck's greatest pictures in the
academy. This is the famous "Portrait of his Wife," a rarely finished
piece of work, with a singular history, for it was found in one of the
markets of Bruges, thickly coated with filth. The permanent quality of
the colour used by the Flemish artists of this period is instanced in
the case of this portrait, which has been most successfully cleaned. The
tints are in splendid preservation.
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the art of Flanders
flourished, and the brothers Van Eyck were the pioneers of oil painting.
Many painters had tried oil as a medium, but none succeeded till Hubert
and Jan Van Eyck discovered a suitable oil. Working with this new
medium, they produced wonderfully durable pictures. It is supposed that
the medium was a mixture of oils and resin, which dried rapidly. The
colours of our modern artists cannot compare with those of the old
Flemish school in respect to durability, which is seen in some of the
works of the Victorian period in England.
The other paintings by Jan Van Eyck are "The Virgin and Child, with St
George and St Donatus," and "A Head of Christ," dated 1440. Of these two
pictures, the former is by far the more representative of the painter's
genius.
J. Van Eyck died, and was buried in Bruges, in a church which the French
destroyed. There is a poor statue of the painter on the ground whereon
the church stood.
Memling's altarpiece is in the collection, a much restored painting of
"St Christopher and the Infant Jesus." For other works of this artist,
we must visit the Hospital of St John, which stands near to Notre Dame.
The pictures are very remarkable and marvellously preserved. "The
Adoration of the Magi," "The Virgin and Child," "The Head of Zambetha,"
"The Virgin," and other examples are in this collection.
Memling and his school used landscape, as seen through windows, in many
of their portrait works, and his architectural backgrounds were painted
from the houses in Bruges. We may still see houses that recall his
period. Hans Memling was probably born in 1425, and appears to have
lived in the town until 1495. His statue is in the Place du Vieux
Bourg.
Among the old houses of the town is the Prissenhof, though now it is
only a ruined memorial of its past grandeur. Here Charles the Bold
wedded Margaret of York, and here lived several of the counts of
Flanders.
An idea of the fortifications of the town in the Middle Ages is gained
by a walk around the ramparts which enclose Bruges. The many canals,
that intersect the city, lend beauty to Bruges. Besides the great
waterway to Ostend there are a canal to Ghent and other streams.
Lace-making is one of the industries of Bruges, and there is a trade in
linen and woollen goods and pottery. The city to-day is not a bustling,
commercial place, as in mediæval times, and to some visitors it may
savour of sadness.
Mr Harry Quilter is a traveller who finds the Gothic towns "more than
ordinarily depressing," by reason of their monotony. "Perhaps it is the
effect of the angular roofs and windows, wearying to the eye as the
diagrams in a book of Euclid. Perhaps it is the low-browed shops, the
irregularly paved streets, the dull unrelieved brown and grey of the
houses. But for whatever reason, the effect is certainly dreary."
If we do not find Bruges a town of dull aspect it is due to personal
temperament and taste. There may be greyness in these old Gothic towns,
there may be a suggestion of decay in Bruges; but there is also a strong
fascination, a charm that appeals to those whose eyes have grown weary
of modern streets with their regular outlines and monotonous
architecture. These tortuous lanes of Belgium and Holland, the gables,
and the tall irregular houses, are steeped in an old-world atmosphere,
and every corner suggests a subject for the painter's brush. Certainly,
the term "picturesque" may be used in speaking of Bruges.
It is still a large town, with a big population; but the thoroughfares
seem rarely thronged, and there is slumber in the by-lanes. There
appears to be no demand for new houses, and no indication that Bruges
will grow. Its hotels prosper through the number of strangers that visit
the city. Few tourists in Belgium neglect to visit this old town.
GHENT
From Bruges to Ghent the distance is about twenty-eight miles. The
railroad runs by the side of a placid canal, with banks planted with
rows of tall trees--such as Hobbema painted--and traverses a fertile
country, a verdant district of West Flanders, famous for its gardens and
orchards. Though an inland town, Ghent can be approached by large
vessels, by way of the Schelde and a big canal draining from the river.
From the top of the belfry tower the eye wanders over the countless
spires and towers of the city, and a vague, distant expanse of flat
country. There are few city views in Europe to be compared with this.
The prospect is vast and impressive; the town below presents a curious
scene, partly old-world, and yet bustling and modern in many aspects;
for Ghent, with over one hundred and sixty thousand inhabitants, is one
of the largest centres of Belgian commerce, and was once the capital of
Flanders. In the fourteenth century it was said that over seventy
thousand of its citizens were trained to arms, while the industrial
population was large and thriving.
Prince John, third son of Edward III. of England, was born here, and
took the name of John of Ghent. The Emperor Charles V. was also born in
Ghent, in the old palace that has disappeared. The history of this city,
which was probably founded in the days of the Nervii, is nebulous until
the tenth century, but in 1297 the town was strong enough to resist a
big English army, and the prosperity of Ghent was envied by the rest of
Europe.
Its busy looms gave employment to many thousands of weavers, and most of
the wool used was supplied by England. Edward III. invited Flemish
weavers to his country, and kept up friendly relations with Flanders.
English wool was, however, still the chief supply of Bruges and Ghent,
and the trade in one year enriched the coffers of Edward III. with
£30,000 in duties.
[Illustration: GHENT, 1832.]
Erasmus declared that there was no other town in Christendom that could
be compared with Ghent, in "size, power, political constitution, or the
culture of its inhabitants." The city was practically a republic, ruled
by representatives, elected yearly by fifty-two guilds of
manufacturers and thirty-two corporations of weavers, and by a principal
senate selected from all classes. It appears that these legislative
authorities were often at strife, for outbreaks of factions within the
walls of the town were frequent.
When Charles V. was in need of money to conduct a war against France, he
made a very heavy claim upon Ghent. The natives rebelled at the
extortion; they even offered to fight with Francis against the emperor.
Francis I. was, however, not disposed to ally himself with the people of
Ghent, and he communicated with Charles, telling him of the defection of
the burghers.
Hurrying from Spain, through the territory of the enemy, Charles V.
advanced on Flanders, and on 14th February 1540 he appeared unexpectedly
at the walls of Ghent. Surrounded by his great army of lancers, archers,
halberd-men and musketeers, and attended by prelates and barons, with
many of the knights of the Golden Fleece, the emperor marched into the
rebellious city. The inhabitants were awed by this pomp and display. As
a punishment, the Duke of Alva proposed to destroy Ghent; but Charles
was too cultured and rational to allow such destruction of a noble city.
Calling the leaders of the revolt before him, the emperor commanded that
they should be executed, and he humiliated the chiefs of the trade
guilds by causing them to bend before him, with halters tied around
their necks, and to ask his leniency. All the privileges and charters of
the city were made null, and the rents and revenues confiscated; while
the subsidy demanded for the war was to be rendered in full. A fine was
also levied, to be paid annually.
This was how Charles V. punished Ghent for its show of independence, and
from that day the city suffered in prosperity. The republican form of
government was banished; in its stead the emperor gave the town into the
despotic control of the supreme court of Mechlin.
Nine miles of walls encompassed Ghent in this day. It was a well-armed
city, protected on all sides, and furnished with drawbridges over the
streams that flowed through it. The population in the height of its
glory was probably two hundred thousand.
In 1376 a great congress was held in Ghent, to draw up a document of
pacification, in order to end the great struggle between the adherents
of the old faith and the reformed religion. All the edicts of Alva were
withdrawn; all prisoners were to be freed, and compensation paid for
confiscated property. Saint Aldegonde, with several commissioners,
signed the treaty at Ghent on 8th November. Thus ended the Inquisition
in Flanders. The publication of the treaty was received with the utmost
joy throughout the land. Hymns of praise were sung, cannons boomed the
news, and beacon fires were lighted.
A year later there was trouble in Ghent, through the appointment of the
Duke of Aerschot as governor of Flanders. The duke was an ardent Roman
Catholic, and the city abounded with converts to Protestantism. A grand
ceremony was witnessed when the new ruler, attended by several companies
of infantry and three hundred horse soldiers, came to Ghent. Aerschot
was regarded as an emissary of Romanism by a large part of the
inhabitants, and by the rest he was distrusted.
A young noble named Ryhove vowed that he would deliver Ghent from the
duke; so he went to William of Orange with a plan for carrying out the
extinction of Aerschot's power. He stated that he was prepared to lead
a cause which would result in the expulsion of "the Duke with his
bishops, councillors, lords, and the whole nest of them." On the day
following Ryhove's interview with the prince, he was visited by Saint
Aldegonde, who informed him that the Prince of Orange did not strongly
discountenance his plan, nor did he strongly approve of it.
Meanwhile, Imbize, another young aristocrat of the city, had confronted
Aerschot, and the governor had threatened the rebellious citizens with a
rope for their necks. When Ryhove arrived, he called on the citizens to
make a fight for their old charters and rights, and to banish for ever
all vestiges of the Spanish Inquisition. Incited by the ardent Ryhove,
the burghers arose and rushed through the streets to the house of
Aerschot, demanding admission. Refused by the guards, they threatened to
burn down the residence. But the duke surrendered in time, and Ryhove
protected him from the violence of the crowd, at the same time
commanding that he should be taken prisoner. Half naked, the governor
was conveyed to the house of Ryhove.
So began an anti-Catholic campaign, which shattered the supremacy of the
older form of religion. Aerschot was released. The Prince of Orange
came to Ghent, and strove to restore peace in the city. He was received
with honour, pageants were arranged, a spectacular drama was displayed,
and the prince was entertained generously.
In 1579 Imbize again led the inhabitants in revolt, and incited them to
attack and plunder the Catholics. William of Orange successfully stemmed
the conflict for a time, but Imbize put himself at the head of a
regiment, and actually arrested the magistrates of the city and other
dignitaries, and established a board of rulers. William the Silent again
intervened. He came to Ghent, reprimanded the riotous burghers, and had
Imbize brought before him. With his customary clemency, the prince
pardoned the young man, after chiding him for his intolerance and folly.
We read again of the fanatical Puritan, Imbize, in 1584, when he allied
himself with the Catholic party, and plotted against his country. His
scheme was, however, discovered; he was charged with treason, and
brought to the gallows.
Ghent was early a stronghold of powerful trade guilds, and one of the
meeting-places of these unions was in the Market Square. These
organisations of craftsmen were probably established first by the
Flemish weavers to protect the woollen industry. All over Europe the
guilds were instituted by artisans working in walled towns during the
Middle Ages. Chaucer mentions them in England in his day. The guilds had
their masters or wardens, who exercised an almost despotic sway over the
members, and watched their interests zealously. The election of the
wardens was made a pompous ceremony, accompanied by a religious service
which was attended by the mayor and corporation, and followed by a
banquet. No doubt the Market Square of Ghent saw many of these
ceremonies in days of old.
The power of the merchants and manufacturers of Ghent was great in the
time of the city's affluence. We gain an idea of their sumptuous houses
and their costly apparel from many paintings of the Dutch School. Often
the merchant was wealthier than the feudal baron, and kings were known
to borrow from them.
Jacques Van Artevelde, "the brewer" of Ghent, was an important burgher
in his day, though he was not, strictly speaking, a brewer, but a
patrician who joined the Brewer's Guild, and headed a riotous faction
against a rival guild. A fierce fight broke out in the square, and
several hundreds of the combatants were slain. Van Artevelde was a
staunch friend of Edward III. of England. He was killed by the populace
for plotting to make Edward ruler of Flanders.
Such, briefly, are some of the main historical events of this old town
of martial and industrial renown. Let us now inspect some of the works
of art preserved in the Cathedral of St Bavon. Perhaps the masterpiece
here is "The Adoration of the Lamb," the marvellous altar-picture
painted by Jan and Hubert Van Eyck. The colour is glowing, though the
picture was painted in 1432. The Lamb is attended by angels, and
worshipped by a company of the devout. There are hundreds of heads in
the composition, which has several compartments. The landscape is
exquisitely rendered, both in the effect of distance and in the flowers
of the foreground. Parts of the altarpiece are elsewhere, in Berlin and
Brussels, and the whole was carried away by the French, only a portion
being restored. Portraits of the brothers Van Eyck are among the Just
Judges in the picture.
Among other paintings in the cathedral are works of Roose, Jansen,
Porbus, and a Rubens, highly praised by Sir Joshua Reynolds. There are
several monuments, notably the statue of St Bavon by Verbruggen, and the
effigies of bishops of Ghent. In the crypt is the tomb of Hubert Van
Eyck.
In the Academy the pictures chiefly claiming inspection are "St
Francis," by Rubens, some works by Grayer, and Jordaen's "Woman taken in
Adultery."
St Michael's Church contains a painting by Vandyk, "The Crucifixion,"
which is in poor preservation, and several modern pictures by Flemish
artists.
The Hotel de Ville and the University of Ghent are both fine buildings;
the first has highly decorated frontages on two sides, that on the north
showing the greater wealth of detail and ornament. A more modern, but
very noble, structure is the university, containing a museum and
library.
ANTWERP
Three centuries ago the city of Antwerp had in Europe scarcely a rival
in commerce and affluence. To-day Antwerp remains one of the most
populous commercial cities of Belgium, although the period of its
greatest splendour passed with the Spanish persecution under the Duke of
Alva. Not only as a busy port and mart is the city on the Schelde
famous. It has renown as a centre of the arts, as the home of several of
the most illustrious painters of the Flemish school, and as the
birthplace of one of the first academies of painting. As a fortified
town, it has always been of first importance in the defence of Belgium.
The traveller from England, as the Harwich boat steams up Goldsmith's
"lazy Scheld" at daybreak, in summer-time, sees long grey vistas, on
either side of the estuary, of flat pastures and fertile fields of
grain, spreading away to Bruges to the south, and across the island of
Walcheren, to the north. Flushing comes into sight, its roofs and spires
lit by the rising sun, which quickly lends colour to the landscape, and
reveals a picturesque town, intersected by canals, lined with vessels.
Past islets and sandbanks, upon which sea-birds congregate, the steamer
follows the line of buoys and beacons, until the river, though still
tidal, becomes narrower, and in sixty odd miles from its mouth, washes
the quays of Antwerp.
During this approach to the city by the Schelde an impression is formed
in the mind of the voyager of the ingenious methods of dyke-making,
canal construction, and damming which have so greatly aided in the
prosperity of Holland and Belgium. Antwerp owes its wealth as much to
the toil of the engineer and the agriculturist as to the merchant and
craftsman. Rural Belgium is well populated, except in some parts of the
Ardennes; the farms are tilled with science, the towns and villages of
the Schelde-side are bright and clean, and inhabited by industrious,
thrifty people.
[Illustration: ANTWERP, 1832.
THE CATHEDRAL.]
Antwerp probably derives its name from "an t' werf," "on the wharf." Its
position on a deep navigable river was one of the principal causes of
the early commercial supremacy of the city. When Venice, Nuremberg, and
Bruges were declining, the port on the Schelde was in the height of
its repute, and second to Paris in the number of its inhabitants, among
whom but few were poor. In education Antwerp excelled in these fortunate
days, for the schools were admirable, and every burgher's child could
benefit by the teaching provided by the senate.
Philip II. of Spain, who despised the Flemings and Walloons, and
disliked their loquacity, was received joyously in Antwerp, as
hereditary sovereign of the seventeen Netherlands. The city was gay with
triumphant arches and splendid banners; a gorgeous assemblage of
dignitaries and their servants, with a great troop of soldiers, met the
Spanish sovereign without the gates. His coldness and reserve disturbed
the minds of the citizens. After Philip came the Duke of Alva with his
reign of tyranny, the setting up of the Inquisition in Antwerp, the ruin
of the silk trade, and the vast emigration of the oppressed workers to
other countries, especially to England.
In 1566, William of Orange was in Antwerp, and two years later, as soon
as the prince had left the city, the natives bent to the rule of the
oppressor. The Spaniards, defeated at Brussels, prepared some years
after for an attack upon Antwerp, then the richest city of Belgium. On
a grey wintry morning, the enemy encompassed the walls of the city, the
besieged having been reinforced by an army of Walloons. The fight was
one of the most desperate ever recorded in history. Gaining entrance,
the Spaniards swept up the chief thoroughfares; "the confused mob of
fugitives and conquerors, Spaniards, Walloons, Germans, burghers,"
writes Motley, "struggling, shouting, striking, cursing, dying, swayed
hither and thither like a stormy sea."
A frightful massacre followed upon the conquest of Antwerp, no less than
eight thousand men, women, and children were put to death by the
ferocious victors.
Merchants were tortured in order to extort from them the hiding-places
of their gold; the poor were killed because they had no store for the
plunderer; and a young bride was torn from the arms of the bridegroom,
and conveyed to a dungeon, where she tried to strangle herself with her
long gold chain. She was stripped of her jewels and dress, beaten, and
flung into the streets, to meet death at the hands of a rabble of
soldiers. Such were the horrors of the capture of Antwerp, to be
followed by the "Spanish Fury," in which more persons were slain than in
the terrible massacre of St Bartholomew.
The siege of 1830, on 27th October, was one of the most sanguinary
conflicts in modern warfare. Attacked by the implacable General Chassé,
the inhabitants had to face a terrible cannonade. The cathedral was
damaged, the arsenal fired, and the townsfolk crouched in terror in
vaults and cellars, while many of them fled into the open country.
Again in the revolution of 1830, and in 1832, Antwerp was the scene of
battle.
From such records of carnage and cruelty, it is a relief to turn the
pages of history till we read of the arts that flourished for so long in
Antwerp. Not only were the wealthy classes of the city cultivated beyond
the standard of many countries of Europe, but the artisans also shared
in the general culture, and cherished respect for art.
Quentin Matsys, whose pictures may be studied in the museum, was one of
the early painters of Antwerp. Rubens and Teniers were both associated
with the city, and their statues stand in the streets. Vandyk is another
famous artist upon the roll of honour of Antwerp, and his image in
marble is in the Rue des Fagots.