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The Spell of Flanders
The Spell of Flanders
An Outline of the History, Legends and Art of BELGIUM’S Famous Northern Provinces Being the story of a Twentieth Century Pilgrimage in a Sixteenth Century Land just before the Outbreak of the Great War BY Edward Neville Vose ILLUSTRATED BOSTON THE PAGE COMPANY MDCCCCXV Copyright, 1915, By The Page Company All rights reserved First Impression, April, 1915 THE COLONIAL PRESS C. H. SIMONDS COMPANY, BOSTON, U. S. A. To ALBERT I., King of the Belgians, the guiding star of a brave nation and the hero
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PUBLISHERS’ NOTE
PUBLISHERS’ NOTE
Lord Beaconsfield once said: “Flanders has been trodden by the feet and watered by the blood of countless generations of British soldiers.” This famous passage—which has received a new confirmation to-day—is typical of many references among English writers and statesmen to Flanders as a general term covering all of what is now known as Belgium. Among the citizens of that brave little Kingdom, however, and among most Continental writers, Flanders is recognised as being the name of only the northe
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FOREWORD
FOREWORD
This book is the record of a vacation tour in the beautiful old Flemish towns of Northern Belgium beginning in May and ending in July of the Summer of 1914. The assassination of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand and his wife at Sarajevo took place while our little party was viewing the mediæval houses and churches of Ghent and Audenaerde, but in the many discussions of that event to which we listened there was no whisper of the awful fate which the march of events was so soon to bring upon one of
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCING FLANDERS AND THE FOUR PILGRIMS
CHAPTER I INTRODUCING FLANDERS AND THE FOUR PILGRIMS
“F landers! Why, where is Flanders?” “There! I told you she’d ask that question. You’ll have to start right at the beginning with her, and explain everything as you go along.” We were planning our next vacation tour in Europe, which we had long before agreed to “do” together this year. That meant a party of four—the “Professor,” as I always called him, and his charming young wife, my wife, and myself. Like the plays in which the characters appear on the stage in the order that their names are pr
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CHAPTER II VIEUX BRUGES AND COUNT BALDWIN OF THE IRON ARM
CHAPTER II VIEUX BRUGES AND COUNT BALDWIN OF THE IRON ARM
I t is not the purpose of this veracious chronicle to recount the doings and sayings, the incidents or lack of incident, on the voyage across. Suffice it to say that in due season the good ship Lapland turned its prow away from the white cliffs of Dover and straight toward the low-lying shores of Flanders. As she crossed the North Sea scores of fishing boats with brown sails hovered around her, while throngs of seagulls soared overhead, or now and then dashed madly into her foaming wake to grasp
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CHAPTER III BRUGES IN THE DAYS OF CHARLES THE GOOD
CHAPTER III BRUGES IN THE DAYS OF CHARLES THE GOOD
T o those for whom the past possesses elements of romance, of mystery and of fascination that our more prosaic and orderly modern world lacks, Bruges offers endless opportunities for enjoyment. To be sure, the streets are a bit more crowded than they were twenty years ago, and one sees more frequent groups of people, carrying little red-backed Baedekers and evidently intent on seeing all the “sights,” than formerly. But these are evils of which all old travellers complain, as one compares notes
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CHAPTER IV HOW BRUGES BECAME “THE VENICE OF THE NORTH”
CHAPTER IV HOW BRUGES BECAME “THE VENICE OF THE NORTH”
A fter the murder of Charles the Good had been so thoroughly avenged, the King of France sought to foist one of his own underlings upon the people of Flanders, but they would have none of him, and he fell fighting before the gates of one of the Flemish cities. Dierick of Alsace was the popular hero and became Count on the death of this rival. The King of France sought once more to interpose, but the burghers of Bruges retorted proudly: “Be it known to the King and to all princes and peoples, and
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CHAPTER V DIXMUDE AND FURNES
CHAPTER V DIXMUDE AND FURNES
T he tourist who desires to get away from the main thoroughfare of European travel, to explore out-of-the-way corners, and discover for himself wonders and beauties that the learned Mr. Baedeker never heard of, cannot do better than to turn away to the westward from the great Ostende-Brussels express route and visit the all but forgotten cities of Dixmude, Furnes and Nieuport. All but forgotten, that is, in June, 1914. The world has heard of them since, and it will be many hundreds of years befo
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CHAPTER VI NIEUPORT AND THE YSER CANAL
CHAPTER VI NIEUPORT AND THE YSER CANAL
W hen the war is over, and the era of commemoration begins, Belgium, if she is free, should erect at Nieuport, close to the great locks that mark the outlet of the Yser Canal—or at some point along the canal where the fighting was the fiercest—a monument higher than that at Leipzig where the Germans recall their victory over Napoleon, higher than the great lion that guards the field of Waterloo. At its summit should stand a heroic-sized figure in imperishable bronze of a Belgian infantryman, one
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CHAPTER VII WHEN YPRES WAS A GREATER CITY THAN LONDON
CHAPTER VII WHEN YPRES WAS A GREATER CITY THAN LONDON
A s we returned from our trip to Dixmude, Furnes and Nieuport, the Professor announced that our next destination would be Ypres. If he had said that it would he Chingwangtao, or the Comoro Archipelago, the ladies could hardly have stared at him more blankly. They had never heard of it. Since October the whole world has heard of it, and the name of the all but forgotten old town is familiar to every schoolboy—and will continue so for generations to come. The record of our visit that follows was w
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CHAPTER VIII COURTRAI AND THE BATTLE OF THE SPURS
CHAPTER VIII COURTRAI AND THE BATTLE OF THE SPURS
O ur next expedition, after the delightful visit at Ypres, was to Courtrai, which is only twenty-two miles distant, although the two plodding little omnibus trains that we took, one after the other, were more than an hour getting us there. It was an hour most pleasantly spent, however, for we were constantly on the lookout for the fields of flax that we had read covered the valley of the River Lys as far as eye could see. If this was ever so it certainly was not the case in the summer of 1914, f
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CHAPTER IX GHENT IN THE DAYS OF THE FLEMISH COUNTS
CHAPTER IX GHENT IN THE DAYS OF THE FLEMISH COUNTS
D uring the Middle Ages Ghent was, for nearly five centuries, one of the greatest cities in the Occidental world. “If you have ever been in Flanders,” wrote Jean Froissart, near the close of the fourteenth century, “you are aware that Ghent is the sovereign city of Flanders in power, in wisdom, in government, in the number of its houses, in position and in all else that goes to make a great and noble city, and that three great rivers serve to bring to it ships from every part of the world.” Afte
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CHAPTER X THE AGE WHEN GHENT WAS GOVERNED BY ITS GUILDS
CHAPTER X THE AGE WHEN GHENT WAS GOVERNED BY ITS GUILDS
I t was on the 12th of July, 1302, that the guildsmen of Flanders—chiefly, as we have seen, those from the two cities of Bruges and Ypres—humbled the chivalry of France and demonstrated the fact that the guilds of the great Flemish communes were a power to be reckoned with. Obviously, when the greatest monarch of the day had been so decisively beaten there was no longer any question as to the relative importance of the guilds and the local Counts of Flanders. The latter, though still figuring pr
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CHAPTER XI PHILIP THE GOOD AND THE VAN EYCKS
CHAPTER XI PHILIP THE GOOD AND THE VAN EYCKS
A s the sunset is often the most beautiful hour of the day, so the splendour of the old Flemish communes reached its zenith at the moment when many of them were about to sink into their long sleep. This was the period of Burgundian rule. Upon the death of Louis of Maele the County of Flanders ceased to be a separate sovereignty, as it had been since Baldwin of the Iron Arm, for the husband of Margaret, the old Count’s daughter, was Duke of Burgundy and brother of the King of France—a foreign pri
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CHAPTER XII TOURNAI, THE OLDEST CITY IN BELGIUM
CHAPTER XII TOURNAI, THE OLDEST CITY IN BELGIUM
A s the ladies were somewhat fatigued by our rambles around Flanders it was decided that they would spend two or three quiet days with la tante Rosa while the Professor and I made daily excursions into wonderland, returning to the home of our hostess every night. The nearest point of interest was the city of Tournai, the oldest city in all Belgium. There was no direct railway line, however, and—as on many other occasions during our pilgrimage—we had no little trouble studying out a correspondenc
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CHAPTER XIII SEVEN CENTURIES OF TOURNAISIAN ART
CHAPTER XIII SEVEN CENTURIES OF TOURNAISIAN ART
T he citizens of Tournai of to-day have given to their beautiful city the name of “Ville d’Art.” To be sure, the same title is claimed for Bruges and Ghent, for Antwerp and Malines. The first two are justly proud of their many beautiful monuments of the past and their associations with the work of the early Flemish painters, Antwerp of its connection with the later development of painting in Flanders and the most artistic of the early printers, Malines of its lace and its splendid examples of re
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CHAPTER XIV THE FALL OF CHARLES THE BOLD—MEMLING AT BRUGES
CHAPTER XIV THE FALL OF CHARLES THE BOLD—MEMLING AT BRUGES
T here are few careers in history more fascinating, more spectacular, more dramatic, than that of the last Duke of Burgundy who ruled over Flanders—Charles the Bold. Heir to dominions that included all of what is now Belgium and Holland, nearly a third of France, and portions of what is now Germany, Charles was by far the most powerful of the feudal lords of his day, surpassing the King of France, and even the Emperor in the splendour and wealth of his court and in the number of feudal princes a
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CHAPTER XV MALINES IN THE TIME OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA
CHAPTER XV MALINES IN THE TIME OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA
S ince this chapter was written the ill-fated city of Malines has been swept with shot and shell for many days together, its once happy and prosperous inhabitants driven far and wide—many of them into foreign lands—and it is doubtful if a single one of the various ancient edifices which we visited last June has escaped injury. Notwithstanding these sad facts it has seemed best to retain the chapter substantially as it was written, inasmuch as it affords a pen picture of the old town as it looked
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CHAPTER XVI GHENT UNDER CHARLES THE FIFTH—AND SINCE
CHAPTER XVI GHENT UNDER CHARLES THE FIFTH—AND SINCE
B ut for the great disaster at Nancy, it is altogether probable that Charles the Bold would, before very long, have sought to chastise the burghers of Ghent as he did those of Liége, but his unexpected death, and the ruin of his plans, gave the citizens at least a brief period of respite from the tyranny that had been pressing more and more heavily upon them since the “bloody sea of Gavre.” His daughter, Marie, was only nineteen when her father’s fall placed her at the mercy of the turbulent com
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CHAPTER XVII AUDENAERDE AND MARGARET OF PARMA
CHAPTER XVII AUDENAERDE AND MARGARET OF PARMA
I t was on a pleasant morning in June that the Professor and I set forth on a little expedition to the famous town of the tapestry weavers, leaving the ladies to rest and shop at Brussels. The poplar-trees that line the country roads and canals in all parts of Belgium were in full bloom and their light cotton-clad seeds were drifting like snow in every direction. Moreover, contrary to our experience for some time past, the sun seemed likely to shine all day and our old friend J. Pluvius was in c
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CHAPTER XVIII OLD ANTWERP—ITS HISTORY AND LEGENDS
CHAPTER XVIII OLD ANTWERP—ITS HISTORY AND LEGENDS
W hile Bruges and Ghent were in their prime as centres of Flemish commerce and industry a rival that was destined ultimately to supplant and eclipse them both was slowly growing up along the banks of the River Scheldt at a point where that important stream, which flows entirely across Flanders, becomes a tidal estuary. From the most ancient times the prosperity of Antwerp—which in French is called Anvers, in Flemish Antwerpen—has been closely connected with the river. According to the legends a
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CHAPTER XIX THREE CENTURIES OF ANTWERP PRINTERS
CHAPTER XIX THREE CENTURIES OF ANTWERP PRINTERS
T he joyous entry of the boy prince who was afterward to become Charles V was the signal for ten days of rejoicing by the citizens of Antwerp. This was early in the year 1515; and, in truth, the city prospered mightily under the rule of the great Emperor, who favoured it on many notable occasions. The bankers and merchant princes of Antwerp became renowned the world over for their wealth and magnificence. Anthony Fugger, who was the banker of Maximilian and Charles V, left a fortune of six milli
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CHAPTER XX ANTWERP FROM THE TIME OF RUBENS TILL TO-DAY
CHAPTER XX ANTWERP FROM THE TIME OF RUBENS TILL TO-DAY
I f there is one name more honoured in Flanders than any other—more often employed as the name of hotels, restaurants or cafés; more frequently on the lips of guides, caretakers and sacristans; more constantly in the mind of every tourist, be he or she American, English or Continental—it is the name of the greatest of Flemish painters, Peter Paul Rubens. No book on Flanders, and most assuredly no work touching on Antwerp, would be complete without some reference to the life and work of this prin
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CHAPTER XXI WHERE MODERN FLANDERS SHINES—OSTENDE AND “LA PLAGE”
CHAPTER XXI WHERE MODERN FLANDERS SHINES—OSTENDE AND “LA PLAGE”
O ur last stopping place in Flanders was the one that many tourists visit first, the gay watering place of Ostende. Here a little fleet of fast Channel steamers convey the traveller to Dover in four or five hours, while an excellent service of through express trains connect the Dover end of the water route with London, and the Ostende end with Brussels, Berlin and half the capitals of Europe. Our stay in Flanders, however, was drawing to a close, and we were headed for Liverpool, where the new A
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CHAPTER XXII THE SPELL OF FLANDERS
CHAPTER XXII THE SPELL OF FLANDERS
I n this little book the author has endeavoured to portray as clearly as his limited powers of expression permitted, some of the many elements that make the spell that Flanders lays upon the minds and hearts of those who know it and love it well. It is a complex influence, composed of many and widely diverse factors. If in the narrative a thread of history has been permitted to obtrude itself, sometimes perhaps at undue length, it is because before all else Flanders is a land whose interest lies
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Allen, Grant : Belgium: Its Cities. Altmeyer : Des Causes de la Décadence du Comptoir hanséatique de Bruges. Armstrong, Edward : Emperor Charles V. Balau, S. : Soixante-dix Ans d’Histoire contemporaine de Belgique. Boulger, Demetrius C. : Belgian Life in Town and Country. — Belgium of the Belgians. — The History of Belgium. Bumpus, T. F. : Cathedrals and Churches of Belgium. Charriant, H. : La Belgique Moderne. Christyn, J. B. : Les Délices des Pays-Bas. Conscience, Henri (or Hendryk ): De Kerel
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