THE UNION OF THE BELGIAN PRINCIPALITIES UNDER THE DUKES OF BURGUNDY
At the very moment when all the Belgian principalities had won their
complete political autonomy and rejected the French, the English, and
the German influence, they were brought together under the scepter
of one dynasty, and became united in a solid monarchic federation.
As such, they constitute, between Germany and France, that buffer
state represented on the map of Europe by the kingdoms of Belgium
and Holland. The unconscious tendency of the preceding centuries was
brought to a head in the fifteenth century by the dukes of Burgundy.
They were aided in large part by the political circumstances of the
time. France was exhausted after the Hundred Years’ War and Germany had
lost the prestige and the strength of its monarchic power. In favoring
the desire for a union of the Belgian principalities, the dukes saved
Belgium from conquest or absorption by France. They continued and
completed the work of the warriors of the battle of the Golden Spurs.
The Scheldt was no longer a political barrier between the east and the
west of the country. Belgium, as a united political body, was now for
the first time a reality.
The achievements of the Burgundian dukes may be considered from two
points of view. We may consider the territorial and geographical
consolidation and the political reform.
As for the territorial consolidation, there existed, at the end of
the fourteenth century, three ruling houses in Belgium, each of them
dominating many provinces, and each hoping to bring the whole country
under its scepter. These houses were those of Luxemburg, Bavaria, and
Burgundy. The house of Luxemburg had annexed to its hereditary duchy
the duchies of Brabant and Limburg; that of Bavaria ruled Hainaut,
Holland, and Zeeland; that of Burgundy possessed the duchy of the same
name with the counties of Flanders and Artois. It was the Duchess
Jeanne of Brabant who turned the scale in favor of Burgundy. Although
she had promised the duchy of Brabant to the house of Luxemburg, she
gave it to her niece, wife of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy and
Count of Flanders. So, in 1404, according to the testamentary devises
of the late Jeanne of Brabant, Brabant and Limburg went to Antoine,
youngest son of Philip the Bold, while to John without Fear, the eldest
son, were given Flanders and Artois. There were thus a Flemish and
a Brabantine branch of Burgundy. Antoine, Duke of Brabant, married
Elizabeth of Gorlitz, heiress of the duchy of Luxemburg, and annexed
that vast territory to his two other duchies (1409). His son John
IV, by his marriage with Jacqueline of Bavaria, added to the duchies
transmitted by his father the counties of Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland,
and the seigneurie of Friesland. John IV was an insignificant prince.
History remembers him for having, in 1425, founded the University
of Louvain. His brother, Philip de Saint-Pol, died without issue,
and thereupon the states of Brabant offered the possessions of the
Brabantine branch of Burgundy to the head of the Flemish branch, Philip
the Good, Count of Flanders (1430). As Philip the Good had purchased
in 1429 the county of Namur, practically all the Belgian principalities
came under the same rule. At this moment the unity of Belgium was born.
Only the three ecclesiastical principalities of Cambrai, Liège, and
Utrecht failed to become united with the other provinces, and in these
the Burgundian dukes exerted their influence by appointing members of
their family as bishops or by supporting candidates in the episcopal
elections who were devoted to their interests.
Philip the Good, whom the historian Juste Lipse called, in the
seventeenth century, _conditor Belgii_ (“the founder of Belgium”),
was known in his own times as the Grand Duke of the West. The fame of
his power was carried to the Mediterranean, where his vessels fought
the Turkish pirates. He lacked only the title of king. He instituted
negotiations with the Emperor for restoring in his favor the former
kingdom of Lotharingia. These negotiations did not succeed because he
refused to pay to Frederick III, the German Emperor, the sum the latter
demanded, and to give the oath of allegiance and vassalage for those
parts of his possessions which were fiefs of the Empire. He boasted to
an envoy of Louis XI, King of France, that “he wanted them to know he
could have been king, if he had only willed it.”
His work was nearly destroyed by the extravagant plans and the ambition
of his son, Charles the Bold, who succeeded him in 1467. The reign of
Charles was dominated by the struggle with the shrewd King of France,
Louis XI. This king watched with anxiety the increasing power of one of
his vassals, and tried to circumvent his plans in all possible ways.
The schemes of Charles the Bold were fantastically extensive, and the
historian Philip de Comines said of him: “He tried so many things that
he could not live long enough to carry them out, and they were indeed
almost impossible enterprises.”
As the house of Burgundy tried to dominate the principality of Liège,
Charles followed that policy by imposing upon the citizens of Liège
the candidacy of Louis of Bourbon as bishop-prince. The people of the
principality, stirred up by the French King, rose against the mighty
duke. They paid a heavy price. In 1466 the town of Dinant was sacked by
the troups of Charles the Bold, and in 1468 Liège shared the same fate.
Unspeakable atrocities were committed by the Burgundian army, and fire
and sword nearly decimated the populace. These disasters placed the
principality for at least ten years under the domination of Charles.
The states of the Burgundian dukes were composed of two sections,
separated from each other by independent principalities. In the south,
they possessed the duchy of Burgundy and the county of the same name,
also called Franche-Comté; in the north, Belgium and a large part of
the Dutch provinces were in their hands. From 1469 on, Charles tried
patiently but relentlessly to bring together both parts of his state.
He took Lorraine by force and got in _engagère_ Alsace, Brisgau, and
other minor principalities. In the north he succeeded, in 1472, in
winning, by the testament of the late Arnold of Gueldre, the duchy of
that name and the county of Zutphen.
Adopting the plan which his father had devised, but enlarging
it considerably, he began negotiations with the Emperor for the
reconstitution of the former mediaeval kingdom of Burgundy, and for
his appointment as King of the Romans and successor to the Empire. He
failed where Philip the Good had failed.
He intended next to conquer the country of his enemy, Louis XI.
After the conquest he planned to divide France between himself and
his brother-in-law, Edward of England. In order to avoid the danger,
the French King cleverly entangled his vassal in a war with the
Swiss. Charles fought the battle of Nancy under very unfavorable
circumstances. His army was severely defeated and he himself killed.
His body was discovered in the ice of a frozen pool, pierced by three
deadly wounds and half devoured by wolves.
His young daughter Mary took on her shoulders the heavy burden entailed
upon her as his successor.
The territorial federation of all the Belgian principalities by the
Burgundian dukes involved as a consequence the political unification
of these provinces. Having but one prince, they also had but one
government. It was necessary, of course, that the individual
institutions of each principality should disappear, and the political
life of the country was subjected to the centralizing tendency of a
common monarchy. Above the local institutions were established central
institutions, common to all the territories: the council of the duke,
an advisory body; the chancellor of Burgundy, a kind of prime minister;
the Grand Council, a governmental body, which Charles the Bold, more
autocratic than his father, divided into two new colleges, with
distinct functions--the Council of State, a political college, and the
Parliament of Malines, a supreme court of justice (1473).
Such a centralization of the national institutions was quite necessary
if the danger of being dominated by France was to be avoided. France
was rapidly becoming united under the leadership of its kings, who
possessed a permanent army, the right to impose a perpetual _taille_,
and the exercise of sovereign justice. In the face of this united and
powerful monarchy, the Burgundian state could not remain separated. The
Belgian provinces could no longer remain isolated from each other and
limit themselves to an individualistic and egotistic policy. It was
seen that everything ought to be concentrated in the hands of a strong
prince. That was the new idea that was introduced into the constitution
of the Belgian principalities, an idea that had never appeared prior to
the fifteenth century. Throughout the Middle Ages the antiquated idea
of the state as a collective person distinct from its members never
clearly appears. The concept of sovereignty--absolute power subject to
no control--was also lacking. The individual life dominated the life of
the community. Little by little the renascence of the study of Roman
law introduced other concepts, namely, those of state and sovereignty.
The students of Roman law, the “legists,” stood for a government that
would be one, indivisible, strong, absolute, and active. They believed
that all that tended to limit the complete exercise of public authority
should be discarded: the state was held to be impersonal and almighty.
That new concept of the state was embodied in the politics of the
Burgundian dukes during the fifteenth century. Centralization and the
absolute power of the prince took the place of the former personal
and collective privileges. This idea triumphed, not only because the
Burgundian dukes were strong, but also because it was in accordance
with the needs of the time and the wishes of the majority of the people.
Of course, the dukes, when they tried to realize their political
centralization, met with some resistance on the part of the powerful
communes. But Philip the Good cleverly avoided any open fight. He
simply tried to subject the cities to his control--to prevent them from
being a state within the state. He took part in the appointment of the
magistrates, ordered their accounts to be examined by his officers,
forbade advantage to be taken of the small cities and the peasantry,
and made the judgments of their tribunals subject to review by his own
councils of justice. Flanders endeavored to evade the results of that
policy. There were serious revolts in Bruges (1436-47) and in Ghent
(1450-53), and the cities of Brabant, particularly Malines, seemed
unwilling to adapt themselves to the new situation.
All this local resistance was ruthlessly broken by Charles the Bold
when he became duke. The autonomy of the cities was completely
disregarded, the traditions were changed without consideration, the
privileges remained unrecognized. Charles kept the appointment of
all the municipal charges in his own hands. The omnipotence of the
sovereign was, according to him, the only warrant for order and
justice, such as he himself desired for his possessions.
Political centralization would, however, never have been achieved by
the dukes if they had not enjoyed the support of certain classes of the
people. They had, indeed, the help of the noblemen, who were despised
and ignored by the communes, and were therefore ready to help all the
enemies of the cities. Moreover, the dukes succeeded in destroying the
feudal character of the nobility, in softening it, and in converting it
into a body of courtiers. They attracted the noblemen by making them
royal allowances, by granting them gifts of land or money, offices
at court, etc. A golden chain soon bound all the feudalists, once so
independent; and life at court soon robbed them of their former spirit
of freedom. Before long, the favor of the prince constituted the only
chance of success in political and social life. In order to keep the
nobles loyal to his person, Philip the Good founded at Bruges, in 1480,
the famous and privileged order of the Golden Fleece.
Only the Burgundian and Picardian nobles, however, were to be found at
court, occupying the public offices, and entirely submissive to their
sovereign. The Belgian nobles could not forget that the rights of the
prince, according to national tradition, were not without limits; they
desired a guaranty against the dangers of personal government. They
desired a government in which the duke would not be able to declare
war without the consent of the states, in which he would regulate his
expenses in accordance with the income of his domain, and in which he
would act only after having taken the advice of his council.
The dukes were also supported in their efforts toward centralization
by the clergy. Philip the Good had abolished exemption from taxation
till that time enjoyed by the clergy, asserting that the common law
was opposed to such privileges. Following the example of the King of
France, the Duke limited the temporal power of the clergy, narrowed
their jurisdiction, and imposed upon the church his candidates for
bishoprics and monasteries. On the other hand, the Duke extended the
political power of the clergy, giving them the first place in the
States-General and in the councils. The States-General was a new
institution, also introduced by the Burgundian dukes. Before the
existence of the States-General, the prince was compelled, whenever
a levy of taxes was desired, to deliberate separately with the
delegates of each Belgian province and to obtain their consent. Philip
the Good thought it more expedient to gather them all together in
his presence at the same time. That meeting was called the meeting
of the States-General. As the States-General did not meet except
at the express order of the sovereign, and for his own advantage,
this institution served as an instrument for weakening provincial
individualism and strengthening the central government.
In the States-General the clergy were granted the first place; they, as
well as the nobles, therefore became supporters of the policy of the
dukes. By such methods, by persuasion, by distribution of money, and
even by violence, the Burgundian dukes succeeded in transforming the
institutions of the Belgian principalities into a monarchical rule.
Most of the new institutions were modeled after those existing in
France, but adapted to the local situation and needs of Belgium. No
principality lost its own autonomy, its own constitution, or its
privileges. The Burgundian state was an agglomeration of states, a
juxtaposition of territories. There was no universal power; the dukes
were not “princes of Belgium” or “princes of the Netherlands”; they
ruled every principality separately and were dukes of Brabant, counts
of Flanders, dukes of Luxemburg, counts of Hainaut, Namur, etc. But
their power was as vast as their wealth. When Philip the Good died in
1467, he left a personal fortune whose annual income nearly equaled
that of the republic of Venice and was as much as four times that of
the republic of Florence, three times that of the King of Naples, twice
that of the Pope and of the Duke of Milan. No wonder that he was called
“the Grand Duke of the West.”
[Illustration: THE MASTERPIECE OF MATHIEU DE LAYENS: TOWN HALL OF
LOUVAIN (It escaped destruction during the conflagration of August 26,
1914)]
What about the Belgian civilization in the time of the Burgundian dukes?
We know that, toward the end of the fourteenth century, Flanders
suffered a decline after the bloody civil war: the German merchants
left Bruges, Ghent lost a part of its population, Ypres was half
destroyed, Ostend became a sandy waste. The “polders” were inundated;
wolves and wild boars infested the country.
Fifty years later, during the reign of the Burgundian dukes, Belgium
had again become the richest country in Europe. That revival was, of
course, not attributable to the dukes alone. It must be remembered
that the Belgians are an industrious people and that the geographical
position of the country is highly favorable. But the political union of
all the provinces, peace, and a good administration contributed largely
to the revival of the nation. The political work of the Burgundian
dukes brought about the unification of coinage, the free relations
between the different principalities, the order and safety necessary
for the development of trade and industry. From an economic point of
view, the dukes endeavored to conserve and to enlarge the resources
of the country. They took prohibitive measures against the English
cloth industry in favor of the Flemish manufacture. Charles the Bold
endeavored to dredge the sand out of the harbor of Bruges and to save
that city from disaster. In the fifteenth century Antwerp, supported
by the dukes, became the largest market of the north. In Luxemburg the
gold and silver mines began to be operated, employing the mine-workers
of the region of Liège.
Although the economic policy of the dukes may be described as still
somewhat incoherent, it may yet be said to have embraced excellent
principles. A declaration is preserved to the effect that “one of the
main points of all good policy, upon which the public welfare is based,
is to get and to keep good and lasting money, as well golden as silver
coin.”
Notwithstanding these principles and the various measures taken for the
protection of trade, a crisis in the cloth industry was soon apparent.
This was due to the transformation in the wool trade. Bruges was the
big wool market of the Continent, but, since the development of the
English cloth industry, the English producers had kept the raw material
at home, thereby diminishing the stock of wool in Flanders. The price
had greatly increased, and Flemish manufacturers were obliged to use
Spanish wool of inferior quality. This, of course, spelled the decline
of the Belgian cloth industry. The decline of Louvain’s prosperity was
somewhat mitigated by the foundation there of the University in 1425.
Nothing, however, could save Ypres. Its craftsmen, threatened with
starvation, migrated to England; houses were abandoned and fell into
ruin; in 1456 a third of the population was begging for bread along the
roads.
Other parts of the country were less affected by the crisis in the
cloth industry. Ghent had its grain staple; Brussels, where the dukes
resided, imported articles of luxury; Malines had its Parliament;
Antwerp took the place of Bruges as a seaport. Since 1442, English
merchants had settled in Antwerp, and this meant the end of Bruges and
of the part played by Flanders in the economic life of Belgium. It was
now the turn of Brabant. At the same time, a new industry was being
introduced into Flanders and Brabant, the technical features of which
were much the same as those of the cloth industry. Wool was replaced
by flax, and instead of cloth manufacture we hear next of the linen
industry. As manufacture on a large scale, mediaeval in its forms and
restrictive and exclusive in its spirit of corporation, could no longer
support itself, the new linen industry soon came to be carried on in
the homes of the operatives, mainly in the country. Driven out of
Flanders by circumstances, the cloth industry now sought to prolong its
life in a little town of the Ardennes--Verviers, near Liège (1480).
The conditions of trade likewise experienced decline and revival at the
same time. In this particular the outstanding feature is the decline of
Bruges. As is well known, credit operations on a large scale sometimes
bring about big bankruptcies. Until the death of Charles the Bold
(1477), Bruges remained the financial and banking center of Europe.
It was filled with Italian bankers, among them agents of the Medici,
the Portinari, and the Guidetti. A large number of foreign merchants
resided at Bruges, grouped in colonies known as “nations.” Among them
were the “nations” of Florence, of Spain, and of the Osterlings. In
1457 the shipping in the harbor was represented by three vessels
from Venice, one from Portugal, two from Spain, six from Scotland,
forty-two from Bretagne, twelve from Hamburg, four whale-boats, and
thirty-six to forty fishing smacks. The vessels came mainly from Spain
and Portugal. They brought merchandise hitherto unknown to the people
of Belgium: oranges, lemons, rose-water, candy, jam, oriental tapestry,
etc. From the Portuguese warehouses in Africa came monkeys, lions,
parrots.
In the course of the fifteenth century, however, for reasons already
indicated, the merchants of the German Hansa left Bruges. As a result
of the fall of the Flemish cloth industry and the prohibitive measures
taken against England in favor of Flanders, the shipping company of the
English Merchant Adventurers sent large numbers to settle at Antwerp
in 1442-44. They were joined by the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese
merchants. The bankers soon followed. At the end of the fifteenth
century the glorious old Flemish city showed 4,000 to 5,000 empty
houses. From then on it became known as “Bruges la morte.” Its rival,
Antwerp, had become the center of the cloth-weaving industry.
The inundations in Zeeland at the beginning of the fifteenth century
had considerably enlarged the western Scheldt and afforded a direct
route to the sea. Taking advantage of this circumstance, Antwerp,
from the very beginning, showed a highly modern and liberal spirit.
It reduced the taxes on foreign merchants, whereas Bruges, in order
to save the situation, maintained its restrictive and drastic
legislation and tried to uphold its economic privileges and its
highly protectionist measures. Moreover, Antwerp did not share the
revolutionary spirit of the Flemish communes. There were no bloody
struggles against the dukes, and there was the best of understanding
with the central power.
The new spirit of Antwerp is shown in its commercial organization.
There were two fairs yearly, held on the principle of commercial
liberty. Those visiting the fairs were protected by a special
passport. Whereas a monopoly existed in the professions of broker and
money-changer in Bruges, at Antwerp they were open to all. The right of
citizenship was easily acquired. In 1460, Antwerp established the first
exchange that existed in Europe. At the end of the fifteenth century
the city had become the great commercial center of the north. But, as
earlier in the case of Bruges, the more important commerce was in the
hands of foreigners. The people of Antwerp were but auxiliaries and
intermediaries, brokers, forwarding agents, charterers of vessels, etc.
The same phenomenon is observable in the Antwerp of today.
On the other hand, the political and economic transformations which
resulted in such crises in city life proved advantageous for the
peasantry, for the people of the countryside. The decline of the
tyranny of the big cities tended to bring to the peasant more and more
of freedom. He was now free to engage in industry at home and to become
a paid workman in the service of the capitalist. The old restrictions
of the feudal law and the law of the manor were gone.
Even in the realm of charity the changing order was manifest. It was
now taken in hand by the state. Special ordinances against beggars
were issued in 1461 for Flanders and Brabant. Heretofore, the beggar
had been abandoned to the tender mercies of the church and of private
charity. Thenceforth he was taken in hand by the government. The
state refused to encourage beggars; it controlled them and forced
them to work. A special license for begging was granted to children
under twelve years and to persons over sixty years, and to mothers
with numerous children and without work. Those found begging without
a license were imprisoned. The institutions for charity, heretofore
exclusively religious, were taken over by the local governments. Boards
of trustees were appointed by the municipalities and the finances were
controlled by the _échevins_.
As for literary and artistic conditions in the Burgundian period, it
is to be noted that French influence gradually disappeared after the
battle of the Golden Spurs. French of course remained the language of
the court, of the nobility, of the wealthy citizens. French, together
with Latin, also remained as the language of diplomacy. But it made
no more gains. At this time Flemish began to take its place in civic
life. As a result of the victory of democracy in most of the cities,
Flemish became the language of the administration and was used for
the registration of real estate and for accounts. Through existing
relations with the merchants of the Hansa it became also the language
of commercial affairs. Primary schools were established in all the
cities, and instruction was given in the language of the people. The
literary works of Van Maerlandt, whose influence has already been
described, came freely into the possession of, and were read by, the
humblest craftsmen.
When Charles the Bold tried to impose French as the only official
language, vigorous discontent was the result, and in 1477 the so-called
“Grand Privilege” of Mary of Burgundy resulted in the re-establishment
of Flemish. The knowledge of Flemish also spread through the Walloon
country. Walloon merchants settled in Antwerp and Flemish merchants
went to Namur and Dinant.
Under these favorable conditions, Flemish literature developed rapidly;
but the development mainly affected Brabant. Brabant now took the place
formerly occupied by Flanders. The Brabantine dialect, instead of
the Flemish one, soon became dominant in literature. One of the best
writers of this time was Jan Boendale (†1365), the famous author of the
_Brabantsche Yeesten_ (“Deeds of Brabant”). Boendale was serious and
practical, and had no sympathy for France, like Van Maerlandt. He was
an enemy both of the democracy and of the nobility; the merchants and
the peasants were the classes with which he showed the most sympathy.
Another Flemish author of great fame was Jan Van Ruysbroeck (†1381),
also a native of Brabant. He was the herald of mysticism and of divine
love, and occupies the first rank among all the religious writers of
the Middle Ages. He wrote in a wonderful prose and surpassed everyone
in inspiration of thought. The Flemish literature owes also much to
another mystic, Gerard de Groote (†1384), of Deventer, founder of the
“Brethren of Common Life.” The members of that community issued a
large number of religious tracts, all of them written in Flemish. They
founded excellent schools, where instruction was given by teachers
from the University of Paris, and they were the first to introduce
the art of printing into the Netherlands. The most famous printer of
the Netherlands, Thierry Martens, of Alost, was one of their pupils.
Wherever they founded communities and schools they introduced the
art of printing, e.g., in Alost, Bruges, Brussels, Deventer, Gouda,
Louvain, and Utrecht.
As for French literature in Belgium during the Burgundian period, its
output was mainly devoted to the aristocracy, and consisted chiefly
of historical material. The names of the historians Jean le Bel, Jean
Froissart, Monstrelet, and Chastelain are well known. Froissart was a
cosmopolitan writer, and most of the historians of this school showed
only a dynastic learning. There was no question of patriotism. They
praised the Burgundian dukes because these dukes were their protectors
and benefactors.
Artistic life, on the other hand, was not divided into two separate
currents, as was the literary life. In matters of art, Flemish and
Walloon collaborated during the fifteenth century and together produced
a real Belgian art. The masters of this period were the Flemings Jan
and Hubert Van Eyck and the Walloon Roger de la Pasture or Van der
Weyden.
Since the end of the thirteenth century Belgian art had become
completely original. It was the wealth of city life that rendered that
phenomenon possible. The wealth of the burgesses served to found many
art industries. Sculpture, painting, and the goldsmith’s art were
no longer exclusively religious; they became more and more secular.
The erection of large churches ceased. Painters were busy decorating
guild halls and city halls, banners and tents, and painting for craft
guilds and for dramatic societies. The oldest products of Belgian
art are to be found in sculpture, especially monuments in stone or
yellow copper. The cleverness of technique and the realism of outline
compel admiration. The artists copied with exactness what they noted
in their surroundings. For the stiff meagerness of the Gothic style
they substituted a more rounded form, and produced a truer art as a
result. One of the most famous sculptors of this period was Claus
Sluter, native of Zeeland, creator of the celebrated sculptures of
Dijon. Those masterpieces, made when Ghiberti and Donatello flourished
in Italy, enable the Netherlands to share with that country the first
place in art of this period.
The painters forsook more slowly than did the sculptors the traditions
of the preceding period, but during the period of the Burgundian
dukes they made rapid strides. The painters are to be found among the
Flemings and the Walloons; they were not influenced by the foreign
schools, and they dwelt in the cities of Flanders and Brabant, where
the presence of wealthy merchants and the residence of the court
afforded them the opportunities for the exercise of their art. Hubert
Van Eyck, of Limburg, came to Ghent about 1430; his brother Jan settled
in Bruges in 1425; Roger Van der Weyden left Tournai and located in
Brussels in 1435. Other famous names are those of Peter Christus, of
Brabant; Simon Marmion, of Valenciennes; Juste Van Wassenhove, of
Ghent; Hugo Van der Goes, of Ghent; Thierry Bouts, of Haerlem; and
the anonymous “Master of Flémalle.” This is a period in which art and
craftsmanship meant quite different things; the personality of the
painter was now in free course of development.
Music also now began to be recognized as the expression of the genius
of both Belgian races, although musicians were chiefly found among
the Walloons, whereas the painters were mainly Flemings. The names
of the musicians Jan Ockeghem (1494-96), a Fleming, and Josquin des
Prés (1450), a Walloon, may be mentioned as having substituted the
choir with many voices for the choir with one voice, and as having
introduced counterpoint in musical composition. Architecture now came
to be regarded as of less importance than sculpture. Its tendency was
to a profusion of ornaments; the simplicity of lines and the severe
majesty of the Gothic style of the thirteenth century disappeared.
The prominence of sculptural decoration was especially noticeable
in the city halls of Brussels and Louvain (1444-48), the latter the
masterpiece of Mathieu de Layens and one of the richest examples of
sculpture in the fifteenth century. Louvain was fortunate also in
possessing its no less famous university (1425). That seat of learning
was founded at the request of Duke John IV of Brabant by Pope Martin
V. The faculty of theology was added to the three other faculties
(arts, law, and medicine) by Pope Eugen IV in 1432. During the first
quarter of the sixteenth century the University of Louvain played an
unparalleled part in the intellectual life of Belgium.
Such was the splendid achievement of Belgian culture in the times of
the Burgundian dukes. The untimely death of Charles the Bold on the
battlefield of Nancy threatened ruin to the marvelous results of their
policy. The news of his death was scarcely made public when the strong
Burgundian state he dreamed of collapsed. Lorraine, Alsace, and the
neighboring countries regained their independence, Liège threw off the
yoke, and the shrewd Louis XI, notwithstanding the treaties, annexed
the cities of the Somme and of Picardy to France, conquered Artois, and
took possession of the duchy of Burgundy and of the Franche-Comté.
This was a disastrous beginning for the young daughter of Charles the
Bold, Mary of Burgundy. It was necessary that she be married and so
obtain a protector as promptly as possible. The States-General accepted
the candidacy of Maximilian of Hapsburg, son of the Emperor Frederick
III of Germany. That marriage laid the foundation for the European
supremacy of the house of Hapsburg, and gave to Belgium a dynasty which
remained in power until the French Revolution.
Prior to the marriage of Mary, the States-General had taken advantage
of the disastrous situation in which the young princess found herself,
and wrested from her the so-called “Grand Privilege” (February
11, 1477), whereby the Parliament of Malines was abolished and a
“Grand Council” was established, with limited power and including
representatives of all the Belgian provinces. At the same time,
each principality succeeded in obtaining collective provincial
privileges. Thus most of the new institutions and rules introduced
by the Burgundian dukes were abolished, and the former privileges of
the communes were again recognized. After the death of Princess Mary
(1482), the reaction of the communes became even more violent. A son
named Philip had been born to Mary and Maximilian; history knows him
as Philip the Fair. The Belgians immediately recognized the infant
archduke, but they continued the fight against his father Maximilian.
After a bloody struggle in which both France (assisting Flanders) and
Germany (assisting Maximilian) interfered, victory remained in the
hands of the Hapsburgs (1492).
The resistance of the Flemish communes to autocracy and centralization
was henceforth shattered. Broken and impoverished, they no longer
questioned the authority of the prince. Philip the Fair and Charles V
continued at peace and achieved the work of monarchic centralization
initiated by the Burgundian dukes.