THE BOMBARDMENT OF 1695--THE GRANDE PLACE--CHURCH OF STE.
GUDULE--CHARLES OF LORRAINE
The sixteenth century closes with the cession by Philip II. of the
Spanish Netherlands to his daughter Isabella, as a dowry on her
marriage to the Archduke Albert of Austria. The King died on September
13, 1598, and a year later the Infanta and her husband entered Brabant.
When they rode through Brussels in the state procession, the Infanta's
saddle was studded with diamonds and rubies to the value of 200,000
florins. The magistrates presented them with a magnificent service of
silver plate. There were fêtes, fireworks, and illuminations, which
lasted for three days. On a medal struck to commemorate this occasion,
we see them seated in a triumphal chair, surrounded by sunbeams, and
with olive branches in their hands. The condition of the country was
deplorable, but the evils of the time seemed all forgotten in the
midst of a round of festivities. The private virtues of Isabella and
her husband made them popular, but, needless to say, Belgium was the
battlefield of Europe during most of the seventeenth century.
These almost incessant wars culminated, so far as Brussels was
concerned, in the bombardment of August, 1695. For twenty years the
city had been menaced with destruction. It is said that Antoinette
Bourignon, a noted adventuress and soothsayer, who died in 1681, had
foretold that the capital of Brabant would perish by fire, and this was
remembered when, in the summer of 1695, Villeroi, failing to relieve
Namur, which William III. was then besieging, marched on Brussels with
an army 70,000 strong.
In the first week of August it became known that an immense store of
bombs had been prepared at Mons, and that Villeroi was at Enghien.
The French left that place on the 10th, and next day encamped at
Anderlecht, close to Brussels. Preparations were made for defence. The
Guilds furnished men; the avenues between the Porte de Namur and the
Porte de Hal were fortified; and the low-lying grounds were inundated.
But the French came nearer; and on the 13th Villeroi sent in a message
saying that the Most Christian King had ordered him to bombard the town
in retaliation for the way in which the English and Dutch fleets had
treated the seaports of France; that, as vengeance was repugnant to the
goodness of his master, he had been commanded to say that if the allies
would in future refrain from such modes of warfare, he would do the
same by them, and retire from before the city if, within six hours, he
received a definite answer of such a nature that he could accept it.
On receiving this ultimatum, the magistrates asked for time to
communicate with the Elector and the King of England. An hour and
a half was granted, but as no answer had been sent when that time
expired, some bombs were thrown, and one man was killed on the Montagne
de la Cour. Presently a message arrived from the Elector asking for a
delay of twenty-four hours, so that he might send for the opinion of
King William. Villeroi's reply was to commence the bombardment at once,
and forthwith bomb-shells and red-hot shot came pouring on the town.
The cannonade began at seven in the evening, and continued all night
and during part of next morning. The whole city was in wild confusion,
the people flying for refuge, as their dwellings took fire. There was
a strong wind blowing from the west, and the flames spread from one
house to another along the narrow streets, especially in the centre
of the town, which was soon blazing like a vast furnace. It is said
that nearly 4,000 houses were burned to the ground, and many damaged
beyond repair. In the Grande Place, the Hôtel de Ville, the Brodhuis,
and other old buildings were almost totally destroyed. The Church of
St. Nicholas, the tower of which was the belfry of Brussels, sank in
ruins. Many sick persons perished in burning hospitals. Convents and
churches were shattered, and their ornaments, paintings, and archives
disappeared. The old church of the Carmelites was entirely destroyed,
and of the tomb of Jeanne, the last Duchess of Brabant, who was buried
in the choir, not a trace remained. When the work of destruction was
finished, and the French retired, it was seen that a great part of the
city was lying in ruins.
Before the bombardment, the Hôtel de Ville was nearly in its original
condition; but now the west side was demolished by the bomb-shells,
the roof had been consumed by the flames, and the whole building,
with the exception of the spire and the west front, was almost
entirely destroyed. So that the Hôtel de Ville of Brussels, as we
see it now, is, except the spire and the façade towards the Grande
Place, much changed from what it was previously to 1695.[37] So are
the guild-houses--l'Étoile, the first house next to the Hôtel de
Ville, looking from the Grande Place, in the fourteenth century the
headquarters of the Amman, or head of the trades, and once a tavern
surrounded by a garden; Le Cygne, next to l'Étoile, which had been
rebuilt in 1523 with a façade of wood; the Maison des Brasseurs, in the
seventeenth century the guild-house of the brewers, and now a café,
surmounted by a modern statue of Charles of Lorraine. These houses, and
many more, suffered from the French shot, and had to be practically
rebuilt.
The most interesting building in the Grande Place, with the exception
of the Hôtel de Ville, is that in the north-east corner, opposite the
Hôtel de Ville. It is now called the 'Maison du Roi,' but is known to
history as the 'Brodhuis,' because a list of the current prices for
bread used to be put up there, when it was a _dépendance_ of the Hôtel
de Ville. It was so much damaged by the bombardment that it had to be
entirely pulled down, but was rebuilt exactly on the original place in
every detail. It was in the original Brodhuis that Egmont and Horn were
imprisoned, and led forth to execution in the Grande Place on June 5,
1568. The large chamber on the third story, now the Communal Museum, is
on the site of the room in which Egmont passed his last night, and is
exactly the same, except that the present roof is higher. So well was
the restoration of this beautiful building done, that no great effort
of imagination is needed to picture the last scenes of that dismal
tragedy.
[Illustration: BRUSSELS
THE Cathedral of Ste. Gudule.]
Nothing remains of the first Church of Ste. Gudule, which is said to
have stood on the spot now occupied by the nave, and to have been
erected there early in the eleventh century, on the site of a still
older church. The present building dates from the thirteenth century.
It suffered at the hands of the Reformers during the religious
troubles of the sixteenth century, having been sacked and pillaged
on June 6, 1579. The clergy had the foresight to carry away most of
their treasures before the storm burst; but many tombs and monuments
were ruthlessly destroyed. The vault of the Dukes of Brabant was
violated; but in 1585, after the return of the Spaniards, the remains
which had been torn from their coffins and scattered about were
collected and placed in a large wooden chest. In May, 1834, when the
vault was opened for the burial of the Prince Royal, son of Leopold
I., and brother of the present King of the Belgians, a number of bones
were found lying on the ground--the bones of the Dukes and Princes of
the lordly House of Brabant, the chest which contained them having
mouldered away.
During the French occupation, Ste. Gudule, which had passed uninjured
through Villeroi's bombardment, was closed for two years, from 1798
to 1800, and there was a proposal to pull it down to make way for a
theatre.
By that time, however, Brussels had several theatres; and of these the
best known was the Théâtre de la Monnaie. Until the works of the great
French dramatists were introduced, the only spectacles of the nature
of stage-plays known in Brussels were long, dull pieces in the form
generally of mystery plays. For instance, in the sixteenth century they
acted, at the Convent of the Carmelites, the 'Tragedy of the Passion.'
In this piece, which was in three acts, there was a chorus of children
dressed as angels. News was brought to the wife of Malchus that St.
Peter had cut off her husband's ear, on which the angels sang:
'Quand Pierrot coupit
À Malchus l'oreille
Le Seigneur lui dit,
Turelututu renguaine, renguaine,
Turelututu renguaine, renguaine ton coutiau,
Dans son fouriau.'
It was a great change from monkish doggerel like this to the French
dramas, which, after being first played privately at the houses of
some of the nobility, soon reached the general public, and created the
demand for a theatre. In 1698 the old Mint House, which stood in the
Place de la Monnaie, at that time a narrow thoroughfare blocked up by
wooden buildings, was bought by an architect, Jean Paul Bombarda. He
obtained leave to erect a 'Hôtel des Spectacles,' and was granted a
monopoly of playing operas and comedies, and giving balls, for thirty
years from January, 1705. But one manager after another failed, and
it seemed as if the theatre must close its doors, when the actors
themselves formed in 1766 a company on the model of the Comédie
Française, which afterwards received a subsidy from the city. From
that time the fortunes of the Théâtre de la Monnaie, now so well known,
began to mend. The present building dates from 1817.
It was during the peaceable reign of Maria Theresa--peaceable, at
least, so far as the soil of Belgium was concerned--that the theatre
became so popular in Brussels. Brabant was then free from the troubles
which had so often interfered with progress in more important things
than the stage; and the people of the capital were kept in good-humour
by the popularity of Duke Charles of Lorraine, who became Governor of
the Austrian Netherlands in 1741.
In March, 1744, he came to live permanently in Brussels, accompanied by
his wife, the Archduchess Marie, sister of Maria Theresa. They entered
by the Allée Verte, then and for a long time after the fashionable
promenade of Brussels. A battalion of the English Horse Guards was
drawn up on the meadows at the side of the avenue. The Duke reviewed
these troops; and then the cavalcade started along that green way from
the Palace of Laeken, which so many joyful bands have trodden. The
Horse Guards led the procession. Then came Charles of Lorraine in a
carriage, followed by Ministers of State, and the lords and gentlemen
of the Court, attended by some squadrons of English cavalry. At the
Porte de Laeken, the burgomaster, kneeling reverently, presented
the keys of the city in a silver basin. Thence they went through
the streets to the Hôtel de Ville, and up the Rue de la Montagne to
the Church of Ste. Gudule, where they were received by the Cardinal
Archbishop of Malines and his clergy, who said mass. In the evening
every street and square in Brussels blazed with illuminations.
That day was the beginning of a long period of gaiety for the
pleasure-loving city. No ruler could have suited the people of
Brussels better than Charles of Lorraine. The annals of his time are
full of merrymaking, the accounts of which enable us, perhaps better
than graver histories do, to understand the Court of the Austrian
Netherlands in the long reign of Maria Theresa.
In February, 1752, we find the Duke giving a 'Venetian Fête' in the
palace of the Duc d'Arenberg, at which all the gay people in Brussels
were present. There were four quadrilles, the first consisting of eight
ladies and gentlemen dressed as gardeners, the second of pilgrims, the
third and fourth of peasants and sailors. A masked supper followed
the dancing, and at midnight all the company, still in their masks,
drove in open carriages through the streets. The coachmen were masked,
as were the grooms who rode beside each carriage with torches, and so
were the musicians who played before and after them on their way to the
Théâtre de la Monnaie, where they danced and feasted and gambled till
morning.
Charles of Lorraine lived generally at the château of Tervueren,
where he spent large sums on stocking the woods and lakes with game
and fish. 'What I must put in my park at Tervueren,' he notes in his
private diary--'8 roe bucks, 150 hares, 100 pheasants, 4 wood cocks, 6
grey hens, 10 Guinea fowls, 50 partridges, 20 red partridges, 100 wild
ducks. Of fish--600 tortoises, 300 crabs, 200 trout, 100 sturgeons.'
Every day he jotted down in his diary all his doings, all his petty
cash payments, what the members of his Court did, and even the names
of their mistresses. The Duc d'Arenberg gives jewels to La Nogentelle,
a danseuse at the Monnaie. The Dutch Minister is ruining himself for
La Cintray, another dancer; and the English Minister has lost his head
over Mademoiselle Durancy. The Prince de Ligne and M. Androuins spent
much time and money in company with the sisters Eugénie and Angélique
d'Hannetaire. M. d'Hannetaire, the father of these young women, had
begun life as a comedian in Brussels, and was now manager of the
Monnaie. He had three daughters, who went in the _demi-monde_ by the
name of the Three Graces, and used their father's house as a place of
assignation for gentlemen of quality. D'Hannetaire is said to have been
luckier than most managers, and to have made a large fortune, much of
it by the faro-table in the foyer of his theatre, where at that time
heavy gambling went on every night.
Duke Charles was a great gourmet, and gave famous dinners, and, of
course, makes a note of the wines. Burgundy was evidently his own
favourite tipple. He drank at least a bottle at every meal; but there
was Rhine wine, Champagne, Bordeaux, and Tokay for his guests, not to
speak of cognac, maraschino, and other liqueurs, all of the very best.
He had red partridges sent from the Tyrol; and his cash-book records
'114 livres paid to an express from Venice with a barrel of tunny-fish
in oil, and for another express from Hamburg with a barrel of English
oysters and black mussels.' In the official calendar of this jovial
Prince the names of all who worked in his kitchen are given, from
the head chef down to the turnspits. The name of the Chef Rôtisseur,
curiously enough, was Rognon. The Comte de Sart held the important
office of Grand Maître des Cuisines.
He was the darling of Brussels, and so much loved that in the year
1766, when he was very ill, the churches were never empty all day long,
so many pious people went to pray for his recovery. When his health was
restored there were all sorts of festivities: the fountains spouted
wine; half the town got drunk; the Prince de Ligne had an ox roasted
whole on the street in front of his mansion and given to the poor;
and the first time the Duke appeared at the theatre there was so much
applause that the performance was stopped, and his doctor, who was seen
in a box, was cheered again and again for having cured his patient.
Three years later, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his coming to
Brabant, there were fêtes which continued for days. The Hôtel de Ville,
the Brodhuis, and all the Grande Place glittered with coloured lights.
The Comte de Sart illuminated his house with 1,000 red and yellow
lanterns. There was a great banquet in the Hôtel de Ville, where 1,400
guests, the ladies seated and the gentlemen standing, were waited on
by 200 grenadiers, and a free performance at the theatre, where two
glasses of punch were given to each spectator. Medals were struck to
commemorate the event. The town of Brussels presented the Duke with
25,000 florins, and the States of Brabant voted him a statue and 40,000
florins.
There never was a Prince so popular or so respected in Brussels before
or after him, and he had thirty-six long years of it. But the revels
came to an end in July, 1780, when he died at his château at Tervueren,
and was buried in the Church of Ste. Gudule, in the vault of Albert and
Isabella.
Five months later the news reached Brussels that the Empress Maria
Theresa had died at Vienna; and on the evening of December 23 a funeral
service was held in Ste. Gudule. Mass being ended, the heralds,
standing at the high altar, proclaimed the titles of the late Empress.
Then one of them said in solemn tones: 'She is dead; may God have mercy
on her soul.' And as the clergy intoned the _De Profundis_, sobs were
heard in every corner of the dark, vast building, amidst which Toison
d'Or, King-at-Arms, took up the sword of State, and, holding it high
above his head, cried with a loud voice: 'Long live Joseph the Second,
our Sovereign!'
FOOTNOTES.
[Footnote 37: There is an engraving showing the ruins of the Grande
Place in 1695 in Wauters' _Histoire de la Ville de Bruxelles_, vol.
ii., p. 132.]