THE POLITICS AND STRUGGLES OF THE TIME OF THE COMMUNES
A consideration of the politics of the Belgian dukes and counts during
the course of the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries leads to a
division of this epoch into two periods. During the twelfth century
a policy of maintaining a balance between their mighty neighbors,
France, England, and the Empire, was pursued. At the beginning of
the thirteenth century France gained the hegemony in Europe, and the
Belgian princes were forced to submit to the strong influence of that
country.
In the first quarter of the twelfth century the Struggle for the
Investitures had destroyed German influence in the eastern part of
Belgium. The influence of the emperors was on the wane. One of the
most loyal of the partisans of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, the Count
of Hainaut, succeeded in remaining neutral during the war between
Germany and France. The Count declared that “he was not obliged to put
his fortresses in the hands of the imperial troops and to grant them
passage through his territory, as that would bring devastation to his
country. His country being located between Germany and France, he ought
to remain neutral during this war.”
The unsympathetic attitude of the Lotharingian princes toward Germany,
however, was not dictated by anything like national hostility or racial
prejudice, for the Flemish principalities, with their inhabitants of
Germanic descent, were as unfriendly as the Walloon principalities.
It was indifference, rather, for the Lotharingian princes had no
interests in common with the Empire. They went their own way and had
little regard for the Emperor. The social and economic development of
the country between the Scheldt and the Meuse likewise prevented the
people of that region from sympathizing with Germany. The culture of
Germany, at this time a purely agricultural country, was far behind
the culture of the Belgian principalities. The Lotharingian princes
turned their eyes toward Flanders, with which they enjoyed important
commercial relations. On the other hand, the counts of Flanders had
sought, ever since the reign of Thierry of Alsace (1168), to interfere
with the countries across the Scheldt and to meddle in the politics of
Holland, Brabant, Hainaut, Namur, Gueldre, and even Liège. Henceforth
the Belgian principalities, having common political and economic
interests, will be found to have an increasingly common history. Thanks
to its relations with Flanders, Lotharingia now began to come into
contact with France and England.
Flanders, at this time, was very powerful. In 1163 Count Philip of
Alsace had occupied, in the name of his wife, the French counties of
Vermandois, Amiénois, and Valois, and had become the first vassal
of the French crown. But at that moment the throne of France was
occupied by a king of very strong personality, who himself directed the
government of France and who had decided to destroy the power of his
restless vassals. That king was Philip August. He directed his efforts
especially against Flanders. He is quoted as having once said: “France
will absorb Flanders or will be destroyed by it.”
It was in vain that Count Philip of Alsace sought to win the support of
the German Emperor. Having failed on this side, he turned to England
for help against the threatening policy of his overlord. This was a
highly important event (1187), for from that time on it became the
constant policy of Flanders to keep England as an ally against France.
When Philip of Alsace died suddenly during the siege of Saint Jean
d’Acre by the Crusaders, June 1, 1191, Philip August regarded this as
a favorable opportunity to annex the county. He was prevented from
doing so, however, by the action of the Count of Hainaut, Baldwin V,
brother-in-law of the late Flemish count, who invaded Flanders and
succeeded in bringing about the political union of the two counties.
The county of Artois, however, refused to enter the union, and returned
to Philip August. The latter hoped that, as Baldwin V (IX in Flanders)
had only two daughters as his heirs, it would be easy to dispose of a
strong political influence in the country after the death of Baldwin.
Accordingly he brought about the marriage of Jeanne of Flanders, the
eldest daughter of Baldwin,[13] to one of his creatures, Ferrand of
Portugal. Henceforth he considered that Flanders would be in his hands.
Subsequent events, however, were to prove his mistake.
When Count Ferrand arrived in Flanders he was met by the action of a
strong feudal party, secretly supported by the subsidies of Philip
August. He tried to escape the threatening French influence and,
following the policy of his predecessors, appealed to England for
help. Now began a fierce struggle between French and English gold for
influence in the country. Moderately financed by England, the partisans
of the latter became stronger every day. Finally Count Ferrand took a
decided stand, repudiated his allegiance to his overlord, and openly
accepted the English alliance. Just at this time a vast coalition had
been organized against the French king by John I of England, Emperor
Otto of Brunswick, and Henry I, Duke of Brabant, with whom Ferrand of
Flanders joined. On July 27, 1214, the battle of Bouvines was fought.
The allies were defeated by Philip August; Count Ferrand of Flanders
fell into the hands of his feudal lord, and was imprisoned at Paris.
The victory of Bouvines established the political hegemony of France in
Europe and the subjection of Flanders. The former policy of balance was
no longer possible for the Belgian princes. In face of the overwhelming
power of the French King, there remained nothing but submission. From
the date of the battle of Bouvines to the beginning of the fourteenth
century Flanders was subject to the political and intellectual
domination of its strong neighbor.
The other Belgian principalities likewise shared the ambition to win
the friendship of the French King. From now on the French monarchs
found no occasion for armed interference with the Belgian princes.
Diplomacy met all needs, and agents from Paris, often shrewd Italians,
brought to the heads of the Belgian principalities the wishes--and
orders--of their master.
Only one Belgian prince, the Duke of Brabant, resisted the French
influence. Since the former duchy of Lotharingia, at the beginning
of the twelfth century, had been broken up into many parts, Brabant
became the leading power in the central part of Belgium. The house of
the dukes of Brabant was indeed the only dynasty that could boast of
its national origin; the other Belgian principalities all fell, during
the thirteenth century, into the hands of new and foreign families. The
dynasty of Brabant was thus exceedingly popular; it won the affection
of the noblemen and of the communes, and the person of the duke was the
object of real national affection. Moreover, the policy of the dukes
was positive and practical, and, above all, paid due regard to the
interests of their subjects. One of the main principles of this policy
was the conquest of the commercial highroad between the Rhine and the
sea, upon which the economic prosperity of Brabant depended.
As the principality of Liège and the county of Limburg blocked the road
to the east, controlling all traffic between the Rhine and Bruges,
after the reign of Henry I (1190) the dukes of Brabant turned their
eyes in this direction. The war with Liège in Henry’s time was not very
successful. During the thirteenth century, therefore, the dukes sought
to overpower Liège by a resort to diplomacy. As the bishop-prince of
Liège was engaged in a continuous struggle against the communes, the
dukes of Brabant sometimes supported the bishop against the burgesses,
sometimes helped the latter against their lord, according to the needs
of the moment.
Ever since 1283, when the Countess Ermengard of Limburg died without
heirs, the dukes had cast covetous eyes on Limburg. Many pretenders,
including several princes from the left bank of the Rhine, had sprung
up. Duke John I of Brabant decided to strike the final blow against
the coalition formed against him by the lords of Fauquemont, the Count
of Luxemburg, Renaud of Gueldre, and the mighty Archbishop of Cologne.
The coming battle would decide to whom should belong the supremacy
between the Rhine and the Meuse. By skilful diplomacy, Duke John
succeeded in preventing the Count of Flanders and the Bishop of Liège
from allying themselves with his enemies. On June 5, 1288, the armies
met at Worringen, on the Rhine. The battle lasted a whole day with
terrific onslaughts. The army of Brabant, composed of the knights of
the duchy, and the communal infantry from Louvain, Brussels, Antwerp,
Tirlemont, Jodoigne, and Nivelles, although inferior in numbers to
the foe, won a complete victory by the superiority of its tactics. It
was a rout for Duke John’s enemies. Twelve hundred of them fell on
the battlefield, and both the Archbishop of Cologne and the Count of
Gueldre were made prisoners, the Count of Luxemburg and his brothers
being numbered among the slain. By sunset, the remainder of the enemy
was in full flight and the trumpets of Brabant gaily proclaimed the
victory.
The victory of Worringen had far-reaching consequences. It sealed
the political decline of the archbishops of Cologne, who thenceforth
interfered no more in Belgian affairs; Limburg was annexed by Brabant,
and the latter extended its authority over the east of Lotharingia. The
dukes now controlled the commercial road between Germany and the sea,
and commanded the course of the Meuse, and since their sway encircled
the principality of Liège, no further danger was to be feared in this
quarter. The German Emperor made no protest against the annexation of
Limburg, although it was actually territory of the Empire. It was now
perfectly clear that the influence of Germany in Eastern Belgium had
come to an end.
This fact encouraged the kings of France to seek to occupy in Belgian
affairs the place formerly occupied by Germany. But although the dukes
of Brabant maintained peaceful relations with France, they had no wish
to become simply the instruments of French politics. They resisted
every attempt at domination. Henceforth Brabant, thanks to its spirit
of independence, the strong and able diplomacy of its rulers, and the
growing spirit of patriotism that characterized its people, became more
and more the bulwark of Belgian liberty. It will be found hereafter as
the very center of resistance to every attempt at foreign domination,
and, in the sixteenth century, it was the States of Brabant which led
the struggle against the tyranny of Spain.
At the time that the battle of Worringen strengthened the position of
Brabant in Central and Eastern Belgium, a new king, Philip IV, called
Philip the Fair, ascended the throne of France. His policy was to
continue and complete the plans of Philip August, the strengthening
of the central power at the expense of the grand vassals, and the
subjection of Flanders to the crown.
The ruling count in Flanders at this time was Guy de Dampierre, whose
family came originally from Champagne. Guy had become one of the most
powerful princes of Belgium. Supported by the French King, he had
successfully brought to an end a struggle with the hostile dynasty of
the D’Avesnes in Hainaut, had annexed the county of Namur, and had won
real influence in Liège, Luxemburg, and Gueldre. Philip the Fair soon
began to fear the growing might of his vassal and decided to crush it.
The internal struggles in Flanders offered him an opportune pretext.
In the beginning, it was only the wealthy, the merchants and owners
of property, who exercised political power in the commune and who
controlled the offices. Later on, the laboring classes, forming
themselves into corporations, became powerful and claimed the right
to control the administration of the communal finances and a share in
the public offices. The wealthy--the patricians--resisted, endeavoring
to maintain their preponderance. The result was a violent civil war
between patricians and craftsmen, between rich and poor. Everywhere
leaders appeared in support of the poor: at Liège, Henry of Dinant;
at Louvain, Peter Coutereel; in Flanders, Yoens, Ackerman, Artevelde.
Generally speaking, after the fourteenth century the craftsmen
triumphed, but everywhere only after bloody revolts. Once victorious,
the laboring classes in many cities expelled the patricians from all
public offices and admitted them only when enlisted in some corporation
of craftsmen. In this manner the democratic régime was established in
place of the former aristocracy.
Nowhere were those democratic struggles so violent as in Flanders.
There the three powerful communes of Ghent, Bruges, and Ypres
tyrannized over the smaller cities and the country. In order to crush
the supremacy of the patricians, who were the masters in these three
cities, Count Guy de Dampierre supported the claims of the craftsmen.
In their turn, the patricians appealed for help to the King of France,
feudal lord of their count. Thus two parties sprang into existence: the
party of the poor, who, faithful to the Count, adopted his banner with
the device of the Lion of Flanders, and took the name of _Clauwaerts_
(“men of the [lion’s] claw”); and the party of the wealthy patricians,
protected by King Philip, who, owing to the presence of a fleur-de-lis
in the royal French banner, were called _Leliaerts_ (“men of the lily”).
On the cry for help by the latter, King Philip invaded Flanders,
defeated the army of the Count, took his vassal prisoner, and treated
the country as a conquered land.
But the arrogance of the French and especially of the governor, Jacques
de Chatillon, excited the anger of the craftsmen. Those of Bruges
secretly recalled the _Clauwaerts_ who had been expelled from the
city. Under the leadership of a weaver, Peter de Coninck, a revolt was
planned. On a summer day of 1302, in the early hours of the morning,
the conspirators entered Bruges, surprised the French and their
sympathizers, and killed them. This event is spoken of as _Matines
brugeoises_, “The Matins of Bruges.”
Exasperated, King Philip decided to avenge the revolt and the offense
against his authority. A mighty army again invaded the country.
Immediately the sons of the Count, John of Namur and William of Gulick,
together with Peter de Coninck, organized resistance. The struggle was
no longer a merely economic one between patricians and their French
protectors on one side and the poor, as partisans of the Count, on the
other. It was now a really national struggle, for defeat of the Flemish
communes would mean the annexation of Flanders by France.
Under the walls of Courtrai, in the meadows of Groeninghe, the
soldier-citizens of Bruges, assisted by many contingents of craftsmen
from other parts of the country, met the flower of the French
knighthood. The apparently impossible happened. The communes, fighting
for the very existence of their country, defeated the army of the most
powerful king in Christendom.
That victory is called the “battle of the Golden Spurs,” because nearly
six hundred golden spurs, belonging to the French knights, were found
on the battlefield and suspended, as a token of thanks to God, in the
vault of the basilica of Courtrai.
The consequences of the battle of the Golden Spurs cannot be
overestimated. From a political point of view it presents the same
importance as the battle of Bouvines. It liberated Flanders from French
influence and gave the first blow to the hegemony of France in Europe.
In Rome, Pope Boniface VIII, a fierce enemy of King Philip, arose in
the middle of the night in order to receive and rejoice over the news.
Because the victory saved the national independence of Flanders and
practically prevented the political absorption of the other Belgian
principalities by Philip the Fair, the Flemings, on July 11 of each
year, celebrate the anniversary of the battle of the Golden Spurs as a
great event in Belgian history.
The victory of Courtrai gave impetus to real national feeling: all
classes, and not least the priests, contributed with all their power to
organizing further resistance to the French armies. During the first
twenty years of the fourteenth century Flanders, by its own forces,
without foreign assistance, resisted the onslaughts of three successive
French kings. After the battle of Mons-en-Pevèle (1303), which brought
neither victory nor defeat for either side, the Flemings arrived with a
new army, and Philip the Fair is quoted as having shouted in despair:
“It rains Flemings!”
Finally peace was concluded in 1305 at Athis-sur-Orge. As a result of
the intrigues of the French agents and the treachery of the Flemish
delegates the conditions were very unfavorable for Flanders. The
new count, Robert of Béthune, wanted peace; he did not care for the
interests of the cities and the victory of the democratic party. The
country was obliged to yield and, in 1319, after a new war, caused
by the intrigues of the French King, was forced to abandon Walloon
Flanders, including the cities of Lille, Douai, and Béthune. As the
county of Artois had already been ceded to France in the time of Philip
August, Flanders possessed no more Walloon territory. It retained only
the old Germanic portions. It was a severe loss, but by that loss
Flanders escaped forever absorption by the French monarchy.
The battle of the Golden Spurs not only had far-reaching results from a
national point of view; it also confirmed the victory of the democratic
elements over the patricians in Flanders. In those Flemish cities where
the latter were masters at the time of the battle they were overthrown
by the craftsmen after the victory. Moreover, the craftsmen of Liège,
in the same year, and under the influence of the defeat of the Flemish
patricians at Courtrai, which taught them that they could win if they
were organized, inaugurated a revolt against the patricians of their
own city. After many years of bloody struggle, they succeeded in
wresting from the bishop-prince, Adolf de la Marck, the Peace of Fexhe,
that practically founded the liberties of Liège. In Brabant, some years
after the battle of Courtrai, in 1306, the craftsmen tried also to
imitate their Flemish brethren but here they were severely defeated.
The movement, however, was now everywhere in full swing. The rights of
the princes were more and more curtailed by the successful revolts of
the craftsmen, and assurances were required that the privileges of the
communes would be respected for all time. These demands resulted in
the appointment of committees, composed of members of the nobility and
members of the cities, the latter preponderating in number, in order
to guarantee the privileges granted the commune at its inception and
those won during the democratic struggles. We find such a committee in
Brabant, where it was called the Council of Cortemberg (1312), and in
the principality of Liège, under the name of Tribunal of the XXII.
One of the most famous privileges won by the people during the communal
struggles of the fourteenth century is that called the Joyeuse Entrée
of Brabant (1354-56). According to the stipulations of that charter
of liberty, the territory of the duchy was to remain undivided and
undiminished; the seven important cities of Brabant were to keep
in their common possession the documents containing the municipal
liberties; no offensive war was to be waged, no treaty concluded, no
inch of territory ceded, no coin made, without the consent of the
subjects. Commerce was to be free, and only legal taxes were to be
imposed. The Duke undertook to care for the safety of the roads, to
protect his people from arrest in foreign countries, to keep peace
between the Rhine and the Meuse, and to respect the treaties concluded
with Flanders and Liège. No native of Brabant might prosecute a
fellow-countryman before a foreign court. The Duke himself was to be
subject to the laws of the duchy.
A comparison of the political situation, as revealed by privileges like
these, with the tyranny of the princes in feudal times, brings into a
strong light all that was achieved, in point of view of freedom and
liberty, by the communes of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
The development of civic freedom and the spirit of democracy, such as
we have described, in Flanders, Brabant, and Liège, did not exist,
however, in the same measure in all the principalities of Belgium. They
were the pride only of those regions where industrial and economic
conditions had created the necessary basis for such developments. In
the more agricultural regions of the country they were less in evidence
or were introduced much later, and they did not make so deep an
impression on the life of the people.
Luxemburg, for example, was a very large province, but not thickly
populated. It was far removed from the large rivers, while the hills
and forests made communication very difficult. In the rocky lines the
manors of the robber barons were built, and those watched the passing
convoys of merchantmen and attacked them frequently. The historian
Froissart depicts very realistically the aspect of the country.
Speaking of the passing of the French troops through Luxemburg in 1388,
he says:
Two thousand workmen were sent ahead through the forests of Chimay
and Neufchateau, in order to clear the way for the troops and to
construct a road for the passage of the 1,200 carts of the army. When
it had passed the picturesque convent of Orval, the army encountered
severe difficulties: it advanced only two miles a day toward
Bastogne, through the passes of the Ardennes, infested by savage
animals and inhabited only by some colliers. The passage became even
more difficult in October, when the rivers overflowed from the rain,
when the rocks were slippery and the roads impassable. The barons
of the Ardennes took advantage of it for attacking the convoys and
pillaging the train.
In such a country there could be no question of democratic movements,
of freedom and the privileges of cities. During the fourteenth century
Luxemburg was famous, not for its communes, but for its princes. A most
sympathetic figure among them is Duke John, who married Elizabeth of
Bohemia and became king of that country. He was the perfect type of
mediaeval chivalry. He went through Italy, Poland, France, and Germany
as a knight errant, fighting for all good causes. Although he became
blind he assisted at the battle of Crécy (1346) and was killed in the
ranks of the French army.
The county of Namur was far more receptive of the ideas of liberty and
democracy than was Luxemburg. The Meuse and the Sambre flowed through
its hills and fields; it possessed commercial roads and copper and
iron mines. Here then we find commerce and industry. The craftsmen of
Namur won, little by little and but very slowly, a certain share in the
government of the cities, and after some serious troubles in 1351 the
deans of the craft-guilds were admitted to public office together with
the appointees of the Count and the patricians. In the circumstances
which attended this struggle and in the acquisition of office by the
guilds we have indications of the lines of cleavage between the classes
and of current political tendencies.
There remains the county of Hainaut to be considered. From 1299
Hainaut and Holland, although situated far apart, were united under
one dynasty, the family of the D’Avesnes. Holland was mainly inhabited
by burgesses and farmers; Hainaut was the last refuge of feudalism.
The hills of the Ardennes, extending into the country, permitted small
opportunity for agriculture: the rocks were crowned by castles, and
the forests offered splendid hunting. There was no trade; the existing
mines were abandoned. Of course there was the cloth industry at Mons,
Ath, Binche, and Chièvres. But the weavers did not possess the same
spirit of freedom as their Flemish comrades. A timid attempt at revolt
at Valenciennes was quickly repressed. Feudalism continued to prevail.
The knights of Hainaut spent their time in fighting, especially during
the reign of Count William (1337-45), who organized expeditions against
the Prussians and the Moors. At length the noblemen of Hainaut were
nearly all exterminated on the various battlefields of Europe, and the
cities began to add to their importance. Count Albert of Bavaria, in
the middle of the fourteenth century, favored manufactures, and granted
control over the affairs of the cities to the craftsmen.
On the whole, it was Flanders which played the largest part in the
history of Belgium in the fourteenth century. The burgesses of
Flanders had saved the country from French domination. But with the
foe once defeated, they began to fight each other, and the main events
in Flemish history at this time are bloody internal struggles and
continuous revolts against the national princes. Ghent and Bruges,
the two most powerful cities of the county, were continuously in
disagreement, and eventually took up arms against each other. Since the
battle of the Golden Spurs Bruges had retained its democratic spirit
and Ghent remained, as in the time of Philip the Fair, the bulwark and
the refuge of the patricians. The craftsmen of Ghent did not succeed
in overthrowing their enemies because they were themselves divided. The
tyranny of the weavers was often opposed by the other guilds.
It was a question of foreign policy, however, which finally subjected
Flanders to a severe trial. In France the dynasty of the Capetians was
extinct, and a new family, the Valois, ascended the throne. Edward III,
King of England, claimed to have rights to the French crown and decided
to inaugurate a war in order to enforce his demands. He sought allies
on the Continent and succeeded in obtaining the support of Emperor
Louis of Bavaria (1337), to whom he paid a large sum of English gold.
What was to be the attitude of Flanders in the forthcoming conflict?
Count Louis of Flanders was a French sympathizer and took the side of
King Philip of Valois. The Flemish cities, however, did not desire a
rupture with England; their economic interest depended entirely on
friendly relations with that country, owing to the fact that they
needed English wool for their cloth industry.
At this juncture appeared Jacques Van Artevelde, a man great in Belgian
history. He was a member of one of the patrician families, wealthy,
and much respected. In 1338 he became captain of the municipal army of
Flanders and soon found himself even more powerful than the Count. When
the English delegates, sent by Edward III to win Flanders to his cause,
arrived in the country, they visited Artevelde as the real leader of
public opinion.
Although sympathetic to the English cause, Artevelde, partly fearing
the resentment of the French King and partly wishing to prevent his
country from becoming the battlefield of the hostile armies, first
tried the policy of neutrality. He confined himself to assuring England
of his friendship, thinking that this would suffice to win for Flanders
the commercial advantages it needed.
Unfortunately, the conception of neutrality was premature at this
moment of Belgian history. The increasing pressure of Edward III on the
one hand and the persistent distrust of France on the other convinced
Artevelde that he had to choose between the belligerents. That was a
delicate and dangerous task, for the Flemings faced a conflict between
their commercial interest and their duty toward their feudal lord, the
King of France. Artevelde, “the wise man of Ghent,” acted cleverly.
On his suggestion, Edward III declared himself to be the true king of
France, for he was the grandson of Philip the Fair through his mother,
whereas Philip of Valois was only the nephew of the former ruler. The
Flemings, easily convinced by these claims, put their scruples aside,
and accepted the idea of the Anglo-Flemish alliance. The French fleet
was destroyed by the English at L’Ecluse (1340), but Tournai was vainly
besieged by the Anglo-Flemish forces. Artevelde became more and more
the confidant of the English King, who called him “his fellow” and
highly appreciated his shrewd diplomacy.
The power of the “wise man of Ghent” soon aroused the jealousy of
many, and was greatly endangered when the English King, annoyed by
the reluctance of the Flemings to conclude with him a complete treaty
of alliance, suddenly abandoned his claims and left his allies in the
lurch. A sudden outburst of hostility put an end to Artevelde’s career.
His enemies informed the people that he had favored England too much,
that he had given the treasure of Flanders to the English King, and
that he intended to offer the crown to the Prince of Wales. Only the
last charge was true. But the people, stirred up by demagogues who
had planned the fall of the “wise man,” believed what they were told.
A furious mob attacked the house of Artevelde. While he was trying
to persuade them that he was falsely accused, he was overpowered
and ignominiously slain (1345). “The poor exalted him, the wicked
killed him,” that is the epitaph written by Froissart, his political
adversary, in honor of the greatest Fleming of all times.
The assassination of Artevelde was followed a short time after by the
death of his enemy, the Count of Flanders himself. Louis of Nevers
fell among the French knights on the battlefield of Crécy, where the
English King won a decisive victory. The new count, Louis of Male, was
an enemy of democracy. He had to meet a serious revolt of the craftsmen
of Ghent, under the leadership of Philip, the son of Artevelde. The son
of the “wise man” had no particular military or political talents; his
extraction alone had commended him to the restless people of Ghent. He
tried to renew the alliance with England, but failed. A French army was
sent to Flanders in order to assist the Count against his subjects.
In the battle of Roosebeke, near Courtrai (1382), the Flemings were
defeated and Philip Van Artevelde was killed. The whole of Flanders
fell into the hands of the victors, except the commune of Ghent. That
mighty city, thanks to the courage of Peter Vanden Bossche and his
troops, resisted the kingdom of France for two years.
Finally, Louis of Male, the last of the family of the Dampierre, died
in 1384. His death opens the rule of the Burgundian dukes in the
history of Flanders.
The many years of internal struggle had seriously injured the
prosperity of Flemish trade and industry. The finances of the communes
were ruined; poverty was on the increase; the income from licenses had
diminished; foreign merchants complained of the insecurity of their
goods. Edward III invited many Flemish to emigrate to England, which
they did, and the Flemish counts, by punishing the rebellious cities,
had themselves cut off many sources of production and wealth. From 1350
on, the German Hansa, whose members resided at Bruges, complained of
the heavy taxes, and of the complete lack of peace and safety. In 1380
the Count banished the merchants, charging them with having plotted
against his authority and with having assisted the Flemish rebels. This
was a serious blow to the prosperity of the country. The Hansa left
Bruges for Antwerp. Here began the decline and fall of the once famous
seaport.
If we look back at this stage of the political development of the
Belgian principalities during the time of the communes we note a
growing tendency to consolidation on the part of most of the duchies
and counties. At the end of the fourteenth century, Flanders,
Brabant, and Limburg were united under one dynasty; the same thing
occurred in the case of Hainaut and Holland. Little by little the
separation resulting from the treaty of Verdun in the ninth century
had disappeared, and all parts of Belgium had gradually experienced
the imperceptible drawing together which time had effected. They were
ultimately to be united, as a political body, by the dukes of Burgundy.
To explain that result is the task of the next chapter.