The Spell of Flanders - The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia (2024)

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

The Spell of Flanders (1915) by Edward Neville Vose (1870-1949).

[Illustration: _Cathedral of St. Sauveur, Bruges_

(_See page 47_)]

THE SPELL OF FLANDERS

An Outline of the History, Legends and Art of Belgium'sFamous Northern Provinces

Being the story of a Twentieth Century Pilgrimage in aSixteenth Century Land just before the Outbreak of the Great War

by

EDWARD NEVILLE VOSE

Illustrated

BostonThe Page CompanyMDCCCCXV

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 of the Battle of Flanders in the Great War, this book is dedicated

PUBLISHERS' NOTE

Lord Beaconsfield once said: "Flanders has been trodden by the feetand watered by the blood of countless generations of Britishsoldiers." This famous passage--which has received a new confirmationto-day--is typical of many references among English writers andstatesmen to Flanders as a general term covering all of what is nowknown as Belgium. Among the citizens of that brave little Kingdom,however, and among most Continental writers, Flanders is recognised asbeing the name of only the northern part of Belgium. Small as thatcountry is, it has for centuries been bi-lingual, the northern portionspeaking Flemish, the southern French; and for centuries the historyof the Flemish provinces was as distinct from that of the Walloonprovince to the southward as the early history of California or Texaswas from that of New England.

Although eventually united under one Government with the Walloons andwith what is now Holland, it was during the long period of theirsemi-independence that the Flemings achieved many of the artistic andarchitectural monuments that have made Flanders for all time one ofthe most interesting regions in the world.

While this book, therefore, does not attempt to describe the whole ofBelgium, it does present a pen picture of the northern part of thecountry as it existed almost at the moment when the devastatingscourge of the Great War swept across it.

FOREWORD

This book is the record of a vacation tour in the beautiful oldFlemish towns of Northern Belgium beginning in May and ending in Julyof the Summer of 1914. The assassination of the Austrian ArchdukeFerdinand and his wife at Sarajevo took place while our little partywas viewing the mediæval houses and churches of Ghent and Audenaerde,but in the many discussions of that event to which we listened therewas no whisper of the awful fate which the march of events was so soonto bring upon one of the most charming, peaceful and happy countriesin the world.

Many of the descriptions in the following pages were written in ornear the towns described, and within a day or so after the visitnarrated. Then each old Flemish "monument" was in as perfect a stateof preservation as the reverent pride and care of the Belgian populaceand the learned and skilful restorations of the Belgian governmentcould together accomplish. The fact that since these accounts werewritten many of these very towns have been swept by shot and shell,have been taken and retaken by hostile armies, have formed the stageupon which some of the direst tragedies of the world's greatest andmost terrible war have been enacted, will--it is hoped--give them apermanent interest and value. As a painting of some famous city as itappeared many years or centuries ago is of the utmost historicalinterest, even though by an inferior artist, so these halting wordpictures of towns that have since been wholly or partially destroyedmay help the reader to recall the glories that have passed away.

In accordance with the plan described in the first chapter, the tourof Flanders followed a decidedly zigzag itinerary, frequently visitingsome town more than once. The purpose of this was to follow, in afairly chronological sequence, as far as possible, the development ofFlemish history, architecture and art. The outline of the intenselyfascinating history of the old Flemish communes that has been thuspresented may prove of interest to many readers who have been thrilledby the superb bravery of the little Belgian army in its defence ofFlanders against overwhelming odds. As these glimpses into the pastclearly show, the men of Belgium have engaged in a battle againstforeign domination from the earliest ages. That it was at times alosing struggle never for a moment diminished the ardour of theirresistance, or the depth of their devotion to liberty and the right torule themselves. And when we consider how, during these centuries ofconflict, and in defiance of obstacles that would have daunted a lessstrong-hearted people, the men of Flanders found the inspiration, thepatience and the skill to erect some of the noblest examples ofmediæval architecture, to create a school of painting that ranks asone of the most priceless heritages of the ages, and to excel in ahalf a score of other lines of artistic endeavour, we surely must allagree that here is a people we would not willingly see perish from theearth.

If to be neutral is to stand by and silently acquiesce in thedestruction of Belgium as an independent nation, then the author ofthis book is not neutral. In every fibre of his being he protestsagainst such a course as a crime against liberty, against humanity.Happily, from every corner of the United States come unmistakableevidences that the American people as a whole are not, at heart,neutral on this subject. The embattled farmers who stood on thebridge at Concord and fired "the shot heard round the world" havethrilled the imagination and stimulated the patriotism of everyAmerican schoolboy, but no less heroic is the spectacle of the littleBelgian army under the personal leadership of its noble King standinglike a rock on the last tiny strip of Belgian soil and stopping theonrush of the most powerful fighting organisation in the world. AtNieuport and Dixmude and along the bloodstained Yser Canal, the men ofBelgium fought for the same cause of liberty for which our forefathersfought at Bunker Hill. Whatever our sympathies may be with respect tothe larger aspects of the great world war--and as to these we may mostproperly remain neutral--our national history and traditions, the veryprinciples of government to which we owe "all that we have and are,"cannot but confirm us in the profound conviction that no conclusion tothis war can be just and right, or permanent, that does not once morerestore the Belgian nation and guarantee that it shall remaincompletely and forever free.

On the other hand, while news of the damage done to some famousFlemish church or Hotel de Ville causes the author sensations akin tothose that he would experience on learning of the wounding of afriend, this book will contain no complaint regarding Germandestruction of these monuments of architecture. At Ypres and Malines,where the havoc wrought cannot fail to have been fearful, the damagewas done in the course of battles in which the most powerful enginesof destruction ever invented by man were used on both sides. Much aswe may deplore the results, we cannot blame the individual commanders.At Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges and many other famous Flemish cities theGermans appear to have made every effort to avoid wanton destructionand preserve the most notable historic edifices. After the war is overand we have learned exactly what structures have been destroyed, andunder what circ*mstances, we can justly place whatever blame mayattach to such a catastrophe where it belongs--but not until then. Forthe present we can only hope that the damage may be less than has beenreported, and that in many instances it will be possible for theBelgians--so skilful in the work of restoration--to reconstruct thesections of famous buildings that have been damaged.

When the war is over many thousands of Americans and English will beeager to visit the battle-fields of Flanders and see for themselvesthe scenes of conflicts that will forever hold a great place in humanhistory. The author ventures to hope that this little book may befound serviceable to such tourists as it contains much information notto be found in any guide book. If it aids any of them--or any of thefar larger host of travellers whose journeys in far-off lands must bemade by their home firesides--to understand Flanders better it willhave achieved its purpose. It is one of the many ironies of the warthat towns like Ypres and Malines, which were rarely visited byAmerican tourists when they were in their perfection, will, no doubt,be visited by thousands now that the clash of arms has brought them atthe same moment destruction and immortal fame.

 EDWARD NEVILLE VOSE.

 CONTENTS

 CHAPTER PAGE

 PUBLISHERS' NOTE vii

 FOREWORD ix

 I. INTRODUCING FLANDERS AND THE FOUR PILGRIMS 1

 II. VIEUX BRUGES AND COUNT BALDWIN OF THE IRON ARM 15

 III. BRUGES IN THE DAYS OF CHARLES THE GOOD 30

 IV. HOW BRUGES BECAME "THE VENICE OF THE NORTH" 54

 V. DIXMUDE AND FURNES 78

 VI. NIEUPORT AND THE YSER CANAL 94

 VII. WHEN YPRES WAS A GREATER CITY THAN LONDON 116

 VIII. COURTRAI AND THE BATTLE OF THE SPURS 146

 IX. GHENT IN THE DAYS OF THE FLEMISH COUNTS 169

 X. THE AGE WHEN GHENT WAS GOVERNED BY ITS GUILDS 192

 XI. PHILIP THE GOOD AND THE VAN EYCKS 218

 XII. TOURNAI, THE OLDEST CITY IN BELGIUM 242

 XIII. THREE CENTURIES OF TOURNAISIAN ART 268

 XIV. THE FALL OF CHARLES THE BOLD--MEMLING AT BRUGES 285

 XV. MALINES IN THE TIME OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA 311

 XVI. GHENT UNDER CHARLES THE FIFTH--AND SINCE 344

 XVII. AUDENAERDE AND MARGARET OF PARMA 367

 XVIII. OLD ANTWERP--ITS HISTORY AND LEGENDS 393

 XIX. THREE CENTURIES OF ANTWERP PRINTERS 411

 XX. ANTWERP FROM THE TIME OF RUBENS TILL TO-DAY 438

 XXI. WHERE MODERN FLANDERS SHINES--OSTENDE AND "LA PLAGE" 464

 XXII. THE SPELL OF FLANDERS 480

 BIBLIOGRAPHY 485

 INDEX 489

 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

 PAGE CATHEDRAL OF ST. SAUVEUR, BRUGES (_in full colour_) (_See page 47_) _Frontispiece_

 MAP OF BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS, SHOWING THE OLD FLEMISH PRINCIPALITY _facing_ 1

 BÉGUINAGE BRIDGE, BRUGES 35

 TOMB OF MARIE OF BURGUNDY, CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME, BRUGES 51

 PALAIS DU FRANC, BRUGES (_in full colour_) 59

 THE BELFRY, BRUGES 63

 THE MINNEWATER, BRUGES 71

 SHRIMP FISHERMEN, COXYDE 93

 TOWER OF THE TEMPLARS, NIEUPORT 99

 AN ANCIENT PAINTING OF THE FLEMISH KERMESSE BY TENIERS 115

 CLOTH HALL, YPRES 119

 HOTEL MERGHELYNCK, YPRES 139

 CHURCH OF ST. PETER, YPRES 141

 STATUE OF PETER DE CONINCK AND JOHN BREIDEL, BRUGES 154

 CASTLE OF THE COUNTS, GHENT 170

 RUINS OF THE ABBEY OF ST. BAVON, GHENT 184

 POST OFFICE, CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS, BELFRY AND CATHEDRAL, GHENT 195

 DE DULLE GRIETE, GHENT 208

 WORKROOM, PETIT BÉGUINAGE DE NOTRE DAME, GHENT 210

 "SINGING ANGELS," FROM "THE ADORATION OF THE LAMB"--JEAN VAN EYCK 236

 "GEORGE VAN DER PAELE, CANON OF ST. DONATIAN, WORSHIPPING THE MADONNA"--JEAN VAN EYCK (_in full colour_) 239

 GENERAL VIEW OF TOURNAI AND THE FIVE-TOWERED CATHEDRAL 256

 THE BELFRY, TOURNAI 262

 A TRIPTYCH OF THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS BY ROGIER VAN DER WEYDEN 272

 SHRINE OF ST. URSULA, HOSPITAL OF ST. JEAN, BRUGES 296

 AN ILLUMINATION BY GHEERHARDT DAVID OF BRUGES, 1498; ST. BARBARA (_in full colour_) 300

 "THE LAST SUPPER"--THIERRY BOUTS 307

 QUAI VERT, BRUGES 310

 CATHEDRAL OF ST. ROMBAUT, MALINES 312

 TOWER OF THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. ROMBAUT, FROM THE RUELLE SANS FIN 318

 _IN HET PARADIJS AND MAISON DES DIABLES_; TWO FIFTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES, MALINES 333

 PORTRAIT OF JEAN ARNOLFINI AND HIS WIFE BY JEAN VAN EYCK 340

 MAISON DE LA KEURE, HOTEL DE VILLE, GHENT 347

 PORTRAIT OF THE DUKE OF ALVA BY A. MORO 352

 "THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS"--HUGO VAN DER GOES 362

 OLD GUILD HOUSES, QUAI AUX HERBES, GHENT 365

 HOTEL DE VILLE, AUDENAERDE 370

 WOODEN DOORWAY, CARVED BY VAN DER SCHELDEN, HOTEL DE VILLE, AUDENAERDE 375

 CHURCH OF STE. WALBURGE, AUDENAERDE 383

 A FLEMISH TAPESTRY OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY 386

 THE _VIELLE BOUCHERIE_, ANTWERP 399

 "THE BANKER AND HIS WIFE"--MATSYS 403

 "WINTER"--PETER BREUGHEL 405

 "DRAGGING THE STATUE OF THE DUKE OF ALVA THROUGH THE STREETS OF ANTWERP"--C. VERLAT 418

 COURTYARD OF THE PLANTIN MUSEUM, ANTWERP 428

 ANCIENT PRINTING PRESSES AND COMPOSING CASES, PLANTIN MUSEUM, ANTWERP 436

 "THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS"--RUBENS 439

 "COUP DE LANCE"--RUBENS 442

 "_LA VIERGE AU PERROQUET_"--RUBENS 445

 PETER PAUL RUBENS 448

 "AS THE OLD BIRDS SING THE YOUNG BIRDS PIPE"--JACOB JORDAENS 453

 HOTEL DE VILLE, ANTWERP 456

 THE "SALLE DES JEUX," IN THE KURSAAL OSTENDE 476

[Illustration: MAP OF BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS, SHOWING THE OLDFLEMISH PRINCIPALITY]

THE SPELL OF FLANDERS

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCING FLANDERS AND THE FOUR PILGRIMS

"Flanders! Why, where is Flanders?"

"There! I told you she'd ask that question. You'll have to start rightat the beginning with her, and explain everything as you go along."

We were planning our next vacation tour in Europe, which we had longbefore agreed to "do" together this year. That meant a party offour--the "Professor," as I always called him, and his charming youngwife, my wife, and myself. Like the plays in which the charactersappear on the stage in the order that their names are printed on theprogramme, the arrangement I have just given is significant. TheProfessor is always first, a born leader-of-the-way. And I am usuallylast, carrying the heavy bundles.

Not that I am complaining. No doubt I was born to do it. Moreover, theProfessor and I have been chums since boyhood. We worked our waythrough "prep" school and college together, came to New York together,and--in a modest way--have prospered together. At least, we feltprosperous enough to think of going to Europe. For some years he hasbeen the head of the department of history in an important educationalinstitution within the boundaries of the greater city, while I havedevoted myself to journalism--and am therefore dubbed "the Editor,"whenever he wishes to refer to me as a personage instead of a humanbeing, which, happily, is not very often. Of the two ladies in theproposed party I do not need to speak--not because there is nothing tosay, but because they can speak for themselves. In fact, one of themhas just spoken, has asked a question, and it has not yet beenanswered.

"Flanders, my dear," said the Professor, speaking in his mostsententious manner--as if delivering a lecture in his classroom--"isthe most interesting and the least visited corner of Europe. It hasmore battle-fields and more Gothic churches per square mile than canbe found anywhere else. In other parts of Europe you can see mediævalhouses, here and there--usually in charge of a smirking caretaker,with his little guidebook for sale, and hungrily anticipating hislittle fee. In Flanders there are whole streets of them, whole townsthat date from the sixteenth century or earlier--but for the costumesof the people, you could easily imagine yourself transported by someenchantment back to the days of Charles the Bold, or even to the timeof the Crusaders."

"Yes," I added, "and there is no region in the world where the historyof the past seems more real, more instinct with the emotions thatgovern human conduct to-day, than these quaint old Flemish towns. Youstand in front of a marble skyscraper on Fifth Avenue and read abronze tablet that tells you that here the Revolutionary forces underold Colonel Putnam, or whoever it was, delayed the advancing Britishand covered General Washington's retreat. Now, does that tablet helpyou to reconstruct your history? No, you are quite aware that thefight took place when Fifth Avenue was open country, but yourimagination will not work when you try to make it picture that scenefor you right there on Fifth Avenue where the tablet says it happened.

"Now, it's different in Flanders. You read in the history about howthe burghers of Bruges, when the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good,tried to overawe the city by placing an army of archers in themarket-place, swarmed out of their houses and down the narrow, crookedstreets like so many angry bees. There are the same old houses, theidentical narrow, crooked streets--a bit of an effort and you canpicture it all--and how the Duke and his archers were driven back andback, while the burghers swarmed in ever increasing numbers, and thegreat tocsin in the belfry shrieked and clanged to tell the valiantweavers that their liberties were in danger.

"And take that other famous event, when they flung the murderers ofCount Charles the Good--who lived and died five hundred years beforethe other Prince who, like him, was surnamed "the Good"--from thetower of the very cathedral in which they had murdered him. Why, youcan climb the tower and look off across the same sea of red-roofedhouses and down upon the same square, paved with cruelly jaggedstones, as did the condemned men when, one by one, they were led tothe edge of the parapet and sent hurtling down."

"The point is well taken," interrupted the Professor, "only thatparticular church is no longer standing--it was destroyed during theFrench Revolution. But really that makes little difference--there areplenty of other towers in Bruges that have witnessed stirring scenes.And all over Flanders it is the same way--nothing is easier than tomake your history live again, for everywhere you have the originalsetting practically unchanged."

"It's all very well for you men," observed Mrs. Professor, when herhusband and I paused to get our breath, "who admire, or pretend toadmire, battles and executions and that sort of thing, but if there isnothing else to see except places with such dreadfully unpleasantassociations I, for one, don't want to go there."

"On the contrary," I hastened to reply, seeing that the Professor wasmuch disturbed at this unexpected result of all our eloquence,"Flanders has a lot of things to interest the ladies. Think of itsfamous laces and lacemakers--we can still find the latter at work inplaces like Bruges, Malines and Turnhout--of its rare old tapestriesfrom Audenaerde and Tournai, and the fine linens of Courtrai. Thenthere are wood carvings the like of which you will travel far to see,and old Flemish furniture everywhere."

"To say nothing of the pleasure of learning a little more about thegreat Flemish school of art in the very home towns of its mostcelebrated artists," added the Professor, who was much elated to seethat the frowns were leaving the fair face of his better half.

"That's much better," she announced. "I've always thought finehand-made lace the most wonderful product of feminine patience andskill, and I should certainly love to watch them make it."

"For my part," remarked the fourth member of the party, who had beenstrangely silent during all this discussion, "while I like to learn alittle about the history of the old towns I visit, and see the finethings--whether paintings, or town-halls, or lace or tapestry--forwhich they are famous, what I like the best is to study the peoplethemselves. I mean the live ones, not those who are dead and gone thatour husbands are talking about. I love to sit on the sidewalk onpleasant evenings and have dinner and black coffee while watching thepeople of the town go by. It's better than a play. And on rainy daysthere is always some quaint old-fashioned inn or café where the wholescene looks like a painting by Jordaens or Teniers. The beamed ceilingand the pictures on the walls are grimy with the smoke and steam ofcountless dinners, the buxom landlady sits in state behind an array ofbottles of all sizes and colours and labelled at all prices, herequally plump daughters wait on the tables, the very guests--includingourselves--form a part of the picture. Why, it makes me want to beback there again, just to think of it!"

"The Madame is right!" exclaimed the Professor heartily--all of ourfriends call my wife "the Madame" because she speaks French asfluently as English. "Our first object on this trip will be pleasure.A little knowledge of the history of Flanders, of tapestry andlacemaking, of architecture and art, may enhance our enjoyment of whatwe see, because we will thereby understand it better and appreciateits interest or beauty more keenly. But we are not going over ashistorical savants, or as authorities on art--or pretend that we knowany more about such subjects than we really do--"

"Which is just enough to enable us to derive sincere pleasure fromseeing them, and having them explained to us, without troubling ourheads about this, that or the other element of technique," Iinterrupted, completing the Professor's sentence for him.

"And the best part of the day will be, just as Madame says," addedMrs. Professor gaily, "the dinners on the sidewalks, where we canwatch the people as they go about and tell each other of what we haveseen since morning. And, hurray! for the Flemish inns!"

"Well, as to Flemish inns," observed the Madame, "what I said relatedto eating a dinner in one. When it comes to sleeping in them there areother things to think of besides beamed ceilings and picturesqueinteriors.

"A few years ago we had an experience at Antwerp that taught us thefolly of arriving at a great continental city late at night withouthaving hotel accommodations secured in advance. We had started ateight in the morning from Hamburg, intending to stop at Antwerp justlong enough to transfer our belongings to a train for Brussels that,according to the time-table, would leave fifteen minutes after ourtrain arrived. Now, from Hamburg to Antwerp is quite a longride--short as the distance looks on the map--and when we finallyarrived at our destination, half an hour late, it was long aftermidnight and our train for Brussels had gone.

"We were both tired out, and hastily decided that we would put up atAntwerp for the night and go on to Brussels in the morning. As weemerged from the great Gare Centrale we found despite the lateness ofthe hour, about a dozen red-capped hotel runners, each of whomclamoured for our patronage. They all looked very much alike, thenames on their caps meant nothing to us as we were not familiar withthe Antwerp hotels, and we selected one at random. To our dismay wediscovered, when it was too late, that, whereas most of them had hotelbusses in waiting--into which they leaped and were driven off--ourcicerone was not so provided. He attempted to reassure us by sayingthat the Grand Hotel de ---- was close by--a fact that produced theopposite effect from that intended, as we knew that the immediatevicinity of a large railroad station is seldom a desirableneighbourhood.

"However, the other porters were now gone and, unless we were disposedto sleep in the station, there was nothing to do but follow along. Toour further alarm our guide presently turned into a mostunprepossessing street on which several drinking places were stillopen, or were only on the point of closing. Into one of these he ledus. After a short conference with the proprietress, who was sittingbehind the bar counting the day's receipts, he took a candle and ahuge key and led us out into the court, then up a flight of stairsplaced on the outside of the house, and through several narrowpassageways. But for the flickering candle everything was completelydark, and when he finally ushered us into an immense room with amediæval four-post bed in its darkest corner we involuntarily lookedfor the trap-door down which the murderous inn-keepers of the storieswere wont to cast their victims.

"Lighting a pair of candles on the mantelpiece from his, and wishingus a civil '_Bon soir_,' our red-capped guide now left us--to ourgreat relief. Although we tried to dismiss our fears as childish, weboth felt more insecure and helpless than we cared to admit, even toeach other. None of our friends knew that we were in Antwerp. If wedisappeared they would hardly think to look for us there--and stillless on this shabby street, the very name of which we did not know.

"We barricaded the door against a sudden surprise, inspected the wallswith a candle for signs of the secret door (at the head of thewinding stairway up which the wicked innkeeper so often creeps uponhis prey, according to the chronicles) and at last, the fatigue of theday overcoming our fears, we slept. It was broad daylight when weawoke, and the street was alive with people--mostly cartmen andpeasants it seemed. With some difficulty we found our way down to theroom where we had seen the landlady the night before. She greeted uswarmly, our fears of the night had fled--and we sat down and ordered,and enjoyed, a most excellent breakfast. The hotel was quite a popularone, we learned, much frequented by people from near-by towns, and wehad never been safer in our lives. Yet, just the same, we both vowedfirmly that 'Never Again' would we take similar chances--and we neverhave."

"I have thought of that incident more than once while talking over ourFlemish tour with the Professor," I observed, "and have decided uponthis plan. When we find a hotel that suits us all, as regardscleanliness, cuisine and safety--or rather the sense of security, forI daresay we would be safe enough in many that we would hardly care topatronise--we will stay overnight in whatever town we may chance to bevisiting. If, on the other hand, we have not had time to find such aplace, we'll take a train back to Antwerp or Brussels, where there arehotels that we know all about. We'll get second-class _billetsd'abonnement_ every two weeks anyway, so the rail trip will only costus our time."

"And are Antwerp and Brussels both in Flanders?" inquired Mrs.Professor. "Between you, you have given me an idea that I should liketo visit Flanders, but you have none of you answered my question as towhere it is."

"I think I can answer you, my dear," replied her husband. "There are,as you probably know, two little provinces in the northern part ofBelgium called East and West Flanders. The boundaries of the Flandersof history and of art, however, cover a considerable wider area thanthese two provinces. Over in France a considerable part of theDepartment du Nord was for centuries subject to the Counts ofFlanders. On the other side, to the eastward, the cities of Antwerpand Malines were for many centuries independent of the Counts ofFlanders, but their people spoke Flemish, their houses, churches andtown-halls were built in the best style of Flemish architecture, andthey became famous centres of Flemish art and learning. To my mind,therefore, they both belong to Flanders. Brussels, however, while itsHotel de Ville and Grande Place are splendid examples of Flemisharchitecture, is more French than Flemish, and belongs to the Walloonor French part of Belgium.

"Now, as the Editor here has proposed a plan which seems to me a goodone as regards our hotels, I will venture to suggest one as regardsour itinerary. It will make comparatively little difference whichtowns we visit first, and as some are more closely identified with theearly history of Flanders than the others I propose that we visitthese older towns first. At the time of the Crusades Ypres, forexample, had two hundred thousand inhabitants when the population ofLondon was less than thirty-five thousand and Antwerp was an obscurelittle town. Nieuport and Furnes were, at that time, the chiefseaports of Flanders. Now they are miles from the sea. Dixmude, nearby, was another important city of those olden days. Now all theseplaces are country villages--'the dead cities of Flanders,' they arecalled, and scarcely a tourist from America ever visits them, althoughthey are fairly familiar to our English cousins.

"If we start our pilgrimage in Flanders with Bruges, which was thefirst capital of the County of Flanders, and with these oldtowns--all of which are hard by--we can plan our journeyschronologically, so to speak, visiting first the monuments that datefrom the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries, then those of thefifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and so on. In that way we not onlycan keep the little history we know straight, but we can trace withour own eyes the gradual development of Flemish architecture and art."

This plan was unanimously voted to be a capital one--in theory, at anyrate--and thus it was that in our subsequent wanderings aboutFlanders, under the guidance of the indefatigable Professor, we oftencrossed our trail, and now and then visited the same place more thanonce. In practice it did not accomplish quite all that was expected ofit by its learned originator--but what plan ever does, or ever will?That it enhanced the interest of the trip manyfold we all agreed; itoften sustained our flagging zeal, and it helped us to knowFlanders--the Flanders of the past especially--far better than wewould have done in any other way.

CHAPTER II

VIEUX BRUGES AND COUNT BALDWIN OF THE IRON ARM

It is not the purpose of this veracious chronicle to recount thedoings and sayings, the incidents or lack of incident, on the voyageacross. Suffice it to say that in due season the good ship _Lapland_turned its prow away from the white cliffs of Dover and straighttoward the low-lying shores of Flanders. As she crossed the North Seascores of fishing boats with brown sails hovered around her, whilethrongs of seagulls soared overhead, or now and then dashed madly intoher foaming wake to grasp some morsel flung from deck or porthole, orfight fiercely with each other for its possession. Presently, in thehaze ahead, a faint outline of land could be distinguished, and soonwe could see through our glasses the heaped up dunes that mark thebattle line between the North Sea and the fertile Flemish poldersbehind them. Here and there the shore was strengthened by rows ofpilings to keep the waves of Winter from washing it away. As a"sight," however, it was dreary and uninviting enough--not at all likethe picturesque headlands of Merrie England we had been looking atonly a few hours before.

Now, for a time, the ship kept its course parallel to the shore, butat a distance of a mile or more. Gradually the coast became moreinhabited, and soon we could see a row of stone and brick buildingsfacing directly on the beach which some one said was Blankenberghe. Nodoubt there were other rows of houses behind the first, but eitherthey were lower, or in the haze our glasses could not distinguishthem. Then the panorama of the Flemish coast unrolled a little furtherand we saw the long curved breakwater of Zee-Brugge, with its whitelighthouse. This is an artificial port connected with the ancientcapital of Flanders by a ship canal. Entrance to the canal from thesea is effected by a large lock which was faintly visible. Anotherbeach city, Heyst, next appeared--the ship seeming to stand stillwhile the shoreline marched slowly past. Then came a smaller place,which from our maps we concluded must be Knocke. Here the coastline ofthe present Kingdom of Belgium ends, the little River Zwyn--oncefamous as the channel up which one hundred and fifty ships a day madetheir way to Bruges in the days of its greatness--forming theboundary.

The Dutch are apparently not interested in sea bathing, for there wereno more watering places. In fact the whole coast seemed to be dead anddeserted, and we were glad when the _Lapland_ began to turn her prowinland. We were now in the broad estuary of the Scheldt, and soon thetiny city of Flushing appeared. It was over on the other side of theship and we all scampered across to take our first "near look," asMrs. Professor expressed it, of the land we had come to see--forFlushing belonged for centuries to the great overlords of Flanders,the Dukes of Burgundy and their successors. It looked very small andcompact from the towering deck of the big liner, but also very quaintand interesting, and we all agreed that as a sample of what we hadcome so far to see it was the reverse of disappointing.

Soon the propellers of the _Lapland_ began to revolve again and thelittle Dutch city slowly slipped out of sight in the fast gatheringgloom of a coming shower. As night came on the engines presently cameto rest once more and we anchored to await daylight and flood tidewhich, the officers said, would come together. At four o'clock thefollowing morning the Professor and I were on deck in order to miss aslittle as possible of the voyage up the "greyest of grey rivers," asthe Scheldt has been called. The _Lapland_ had started while we wereasleep, and we were already in Belgium. This circ*mstance disappointedthe Professor not a little as he had set his heart on seeing theremains of the Dutch forts at the boundary line that for nearly onehundred and fifty years--from the Treaty of Munster in 1648 to theFrench occupation in 1794--closed the river to ocean commerce.Meanwhile, grass grew in the streets of the all but deserted city ofAntwerp. The French tore down the hated forts and for nearly fortyyears the ships from oversea went up the river unmolested. Then camethe Revolution of 1830 and the establishment of the Kingdom ofBelgium, whereupon the Dutch proceeded to impose heavy navigationduties upon all ships passing through the lower part of the river.While this did not stifle the trade of Antwerp, it seriously crippledit, since the duties formed a handicap in the keen competition fortraffic between the Belgian port and those of Holland and Germanyfarther to the eastward. It was not until 1863 that the BelgianGovernment was able to arrange a treaty whereby all river dues wereabolished in return for the payment of a lump sum of 36,000,000francs--of which only one-third was paid by Belgium, as other powerswere interested in obtaining freedom of navigation on this importantriver and gladly contributed the remainder. The imposing monument byWinders on the Place Marnix at Antwerp, which was erected in 1883,commemorates this important event, to which the port owes its presentprosperity.

As the _Lapland_ slowly steamed up the river we could look down fromher lofty decks upon the broad and intensely cultivated plain,stretching as far as eye could penetrate in the misty distance. Hereand there we could see compact little groups of farm buildings,usually arranged around a central courtyard and with their outer wallswell-nigh windowless, as if the peasant proprietors still counted onthe possibility of a siege such as their ancestors no doubt often hadto sustain against the wandering marauders and freebooters who forcenturies infested the country. Along every road and canal, and besidenearly every cross-country path, we could see long lines of trees setout at regular intervals and cutting the landscape into sections ofvarying sizes and shapes. Now and then a little hamlet could be seen,with its red-tiled roofs nestling close together and a tiny churchsteeple rising from the centre. Often the roofs of the houses nearestto the river were below the top of the high dykes which here enclosethe Scheldt on either side. Close to the banks an occasional fortcommanded the river--outlying links in the great chain offortifications that was thought to be impregnable until the hugeGerman siege guns so quickly battered it to pieces.

Presently some one with a keener vision than the rest cries that thespire of the Cathedral of Antwerp is in sight and we all crowd forwardand peer eagerly through the mist until at last we make out vaguelythe shape of that marvel of Flemish architecture rising above the flatplain. At each turn of the river it draws nearer and we can see moreclearly its delicate tracery of lace-work carved in stone, while oneby one other spires loom up through the grey dawn.

The traffic in the river becomes more dense as we proceed slowlyonward--huge red-bottomed tramp steamers with their propellers halfout of the water and churning furiously in a smother of foam, clumsycanal boats with Flemish or German names lying at anchor close to thebanks, barges with dingy brownish sails and all manner of strangecargoes. Then, suddenly, we swing around the last turn and the entirecity lies before us, its houses with their high peaks and dormerwindows rising tier above tier, while at the left we catch glimpsesthrough the lock gates of the vast inner docks with their hundreds ofmasts and funnels. Curiously enough the view to the right is entirelydifferent--the green fields and farmsteads stretching in thisdirection from the very edge of the river as far as the eye can see.

But now we are warping up against the Red Star Line pier and all eyesare gazing down upon the motley crowd that has assembled thus early inthe morning--it is not yet seven o'clock--to welcome the new arrivalsfrom America. The customs inspection proves to be a mere formality,half of our trunks and bags are chalk-marked by the obliging inspectorwithout lifting a tray or disturbing any of their contents. Acommissionaire is waiting to bear them away to the cabs and, aftergenerously bestowing five cents on this worthy for his trouble, we areoff for the Gare Centrale--for the Madame has decreed that we must allproceed forthwith to the home of a certain Tante (Aunt) Rosa, not farfrom Brussels, where we can get our land legs safely on beforestarting on our tour under the guidance of the Professor.

Throughout the morning it has rained heavily at intervals, and as the_rapide_ for Brussels steams out of the station the grey clouds arepouring down their contents in torrents. This circ*mstance disturbs usnot at all, for we have agreed to pursue our course regardless of theweather and are prepared for anything short of a flood or blizzard.And right here it may be as well to state that any one who proposes totravel in Flanders must make up his or her mind to ignore the vagariesof the weather altogether. At Brussels the weather records show thatit rains more or less during three hundred days in each year, andwhile there are many days when the showers are brief, and some periodswhen it is clear for several days, it is better to come prepared foranything. Somewhere in the direction of the English Channel thereseems to exist a vast cloud factory, for day after day one sees thehuge cloud masses rolling slowly eastward or southward across thecountry. Usually they are high overhead, with frequent intervals ofbrilliant sunshine, and the showers few and far between. At othertimes the clouds hang low and dark and the rain falls steadily, not infurious driving showers such as occur frequently during the summertime at New York, but with a monotonous continuity that is thedespair of travellers who are equipped only for fair weather. It is noexaggeration to state that one may look out of his hotel window upon acloudless sky and find that by the time he has descended to the streetit is raining. Happily the reverse is equally possible, and frequentlywe looked out of the window while at breakfast at pouring rain anddripping roofs, only to find by the time we were ready to go out ofdoors that the shower was over, the sky clear and the sidewalks nearlydry. It is this rapid alternation of showers and sunshine that makesFlanders the land of flowers and vegetables, giving the former theirbrilliant colouring and the latter their indescribable succulence andfreshness.

Another tip for the would-be traveller in Flanders is to come wellprepared for cold weather even in June, July or August. The nights arealways cool, and the prevailing winds are from the north or thenorthwest--the former cold, the latter wet. Many Americans contractserious colds because they come clad only for hot weather. Warmunderwear, on the other hand, is best for the Flemish summer climate,with overcoats and wraps for evening wear. Raincoats, it is needlessto say, should be in every suitcase--even for a day's outing, while avery handy article indeed is a _parapluie-canne_, or umbrella cane,such as can be purchased in Brussels for ten francs and upwards.

In less than three-quarters of an hour our fleet train was rollinginto the Gare du Nord at Brussels; but Madame was in a hurry, so webecame for the time birds of passage only and in another hour werealready entrained again and speeding toward the steaming dinner thatshe assured us la Tante Bosa had awaiting us. Of the reception that wefound when we arrived at last, and of the dinner which was presentlyspread before us, there is no need to say more than that the latterproved to be all that we had been led to anticipate. Served in thetrue Belgian style--customary alike in Flanders and in the Walloonprovinces--it occupied our attention for the greater part of theafternoon, the courses following one another leisurely, with intervalsbetween during which the men folk strolled about the garden andsmoked. Two days later we started on the Professor's itinerary,completely refreshed after the fatigue of our voyage; and after a bitof shopping at Brussels, our pilgrimage into the heart of Flandersbegan.

It was a little after noon when we reached the old city of Bruges,and while we were eating our luncheon the Professor explainedbriefly the origin of the city and of the County of Flanders. Inorder to understand the kaleidoscopic history of Flanders it isnecessary to forget entirely the Europe of to-day. Throughout theMiddle Ages Europe was sub-divided into hundreds of separatesovereignties--duchies, counties, principalities large and small,whose rulers bore a score of titles. These, as a rule, acknowledgedallegiance to some higher prince, while the most powerful yieldeddeference only to some King or Emperor. But this allegiance wasusually a very shadowy affair, and the actual government restedabsolutely in the hands of the local Count, or Duke, or whatever elsehis title may have been. The history of Flanders is, therefore, in asense, the history of its Counts, for as their power waxed or wanedthe country itself grew powerful or weak. Gradually, however, thegreat cities of Flanders acquired from the earlier and better Countsrights and privileges that made them, in many respects, sovereignpowers, and the most fascinating and instructive part of the historyof Flanders is the record of the brave struggle made by its burghersto maintain their liberties in the face of a steadily advancing tideof tyranny and oppression.

The first Count of Flanders, who won his title and his domains duringthe period of storm and stress that followed the breaking up of thegreat empire of Charlemagne, was a Flemish chief, called Baldwin ofthe Iron Arm. He chanced one day to see Judith, the beautiful daughterof Charles the Bald, the son of Charlemagne, fell in love with her,and carried her off for his bride. Judith had been previously marriedto Ethelwolf, King of Wessex in England, when he was a very old man;and had taught her stepson, who afterward became Alfred the Great,much of his learning. The old King Charles, her father, for a timeopposed the marriage with Baldwin, but finally it was celebrated withmuch splendour at Auxerre in 863, and Baldwin was thereupon given thetitle of Count of Flanders. On his return, Baldwin built a greatfortress on an island formed by the intersection of the River Royawith its little tributary, the Boterbeke. This was called the Bourg,and soon contained within its strong walls the nucleus of the futurecity of Bruges.

Mrs. Professor interrupted at this point to ask if the name Bruges wasderived from Bourg, to which our learned friend replied that it wasnot, but that most historians ascribed the name to the bridge (inFlemish, brigge) from the island to the mainland; while some take itfrom the purple heather (brugge) which grows plentifully hereabout,and in August can be seen alongside the railway tracks and in greatclusters by the country roadsides.

The first afternoon's programme was to discover as much as we could ofthe old Bourg of Baldwin of the Iron Arm. Not much of it is left inthe Bruges of Albert the First. The Roya still runs where it did inthe days of the first Counts of Flanders, but only along the Dyver, aterrace of middle-class residences, can it be seen by the tourist.Since the eighteenth century it has been vaulted over for much of itscourse through the city, and the Boterbeke runs through subterraneanchannels for the entire distance from where it enters the city limitsto its junction with the Roya at the corner of the rue Breidel. Itflows close to the Cathedral, or possibly beneath it, and directlyunder the Belfry, which is built on piles. For part of its course itruns, like a subway, under the rue du Vieux Bourg. The only buildingin modern Bruges that dates from the first Baldwin's time is the cryptof St. Basil, under the Chapel of the Holy Blood. Here, or assuredlyhard by, the founder of the long line of Flemish Counts, and hisbeautiful and talented Countess, no doubt worshipped; and, in themain, the little chapel probably looks today very much as it did athousand years ago. In one corner, apparently outside of the originalouter walls of the structure, the concierge showed us a miniaturemodel of the ancient castle of the first Counts of Flanders asarcheologists have reconstructed it, with the little Chapel of St.Basil adjoining it. On the opposite side, and near the entrance, is asmaller chapel which some authorities state was the one built by oldIron-Arm, the main structure dating from the middle of the twelfthcentury. Be this as it may, here is unquestionably the very oldestrelic of the ancient Bourg and one of the oldest places of worship inall Flanders.

After our inspection of St. Basil we decided to devote the rest of theafternoon to tramping around the streets of the Vieux Bourg, or, inother words, the section of the city within the circle of picturesqueold quays that mark the approximate boundaries of the island-fortresswhere the first Counts of Flanders laid the foundations of theirpower. To be sure, none of the houses now standing date from a muchearlier period than the fifteenth century, but all were so quaint andcharming that we cared little for the archeologists with their dates,and felt ourselves transported without an effort to the days whenmight made right and the whole world was governed by the simple lawthat "he may take who has the power, and he may keep who can." Welittle dreamed, as we journeyed about amid these peacefulsurroundings, that within a single month the world was to revert tothe rule of might once more; that, to quote from Kipling's noble poem,stricken Belgium, and, indeed, all civilisation could say:

 "Our world has passed away, In wantonness o'erthrown. There's nothing left to-day But steel and fire and stone.

 "Once more we hear the word That sickened earth of old-- 'No law except the sword, Unsheathed and uncontrolled.'"

CHAPTER III

BRUGES IN THE DAYS OF CHARLES THE GOOD

To those for whom the past possesses elements of romance, of mysteryand of fascination that our more prosaic and orderly modern worldlacks, 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 littlered-backed Baedekers and evidently intent on seeing all the "sights,"than formerly. But these are evils of which all old travellerscomplain, as one compares notes with them at the hotel after the dayis over. One caretaker told us, with evident pride, that thirtythousand tourists visited Bruges in 1913. If one divides this total bythree hundred and sixty-five, and the result again by the score ormore of places that every tourist wants to see, it will be perceivedthat the number in any one place at the same time is not likely to beexcessive. In point of fact our little party was almost invariablyalone, save when we encountered a party of "personally conducted"travellers rushing at break-neck speed from place to place.

If, after seeing all the "points of interest" enumerated by thefaithful red-coated guide, philosopher and companion above mentioned,one should stray down one or another of the narrow, crooked streets inthe older parts of the town he is certain to find bits of mediævalBruges here and there so well preserved and perfect that if the fewpassers-by only wore the picturesque costumes of the olden days theillusion would be complete. Take, for example, the rue de l'AneAveugle, the Street of the Blind Donkey, with its attenuated sidewalksalong which a tight-rope walker could hardly advance without steppingoff, its roadway too narrow for two blind donkeys to pass abreast, andits charming archway from the Hotel de Ville to the Maison de l'ancienGreffe Flamand; or the rue du Poivre, with its tiny one-story houses,many of them with one room down-stairs and one overhead--the latterlighted by the quaintest of gable windows--surely we have steppedbackward half a dozen centuries, for nothing like this could havecontinued to exist until the prosaic present!

In fact these queer little one-story houses abound in all parts of thecity, and the Madame was constantly darting across the roadway to peerwithin whenever she saw a door ajar. She generally returned highlyindignant that any one could think of existing in such narrowquarters. "I'd as soon live in a tomb!" she exclaimed, nodding in thedirection of one little house which consisted of one room and onlyone, being devoid even of the attic room with its customary dormerwindow. Inside sat an old lady, gazing tranquilly out of doors anddoing nothing whatever. Indeed, as the Madame pointed out, there waslittle enough to do as far as housework was concerned. In the morningeverybody in Flanders washes the stone floors of their living-rooms,and frequently the sidewalk and out to the middle of the street aswell. This done, the housework for the day is over, except forpreparing the meals. We had hoped to see old ladies by the scoresitting at the doorways making lace, but on only one street--the ruedu Rouleau--did we catch a glimpse of any, and they went indoors as weapproached them. It was only the estaminets that we could inspectwithin. Whenever we found what appeared to be an exceptionally oldhouse that bore the legend "Hier Verkoopt men drank" the Professorand I often used to go in and order a glass of _Vieux système_, simplyto get a look at the interior. If, as sometimes happened, mijnheer andhis vroue were very accommodating and kind, we summoned theladies--despite the fact that the sign without appeared to mean "formen only"--and together we explored the old house from garret tocellar.

More than once, as we journeyed about among these delightfully old andquaint surroundings, the longing to see some one whose costume would,in a measure, suggest the period when these structures were built cameback to us. "Oh!" exclaimed Mrs. Professor, as we sat one afternoon ina particularly cosy corner of one of the oldest interiors we had yetseen, "if two or three knights in armour--or in their lovely costumesof velvet, silk and old lace--would stalk in and sit down at thattable over there it would make the picture complete." We found,however, one spot in Bruges, dating from the twelfth century, in whicheven the costumes were unchanged. This was the Béguinage, close to theMinnewater and the ancient city ramparts--a city of the past where,shut off by high brick walls from the noise and bustle of the outerworld, peaceful figures clad in sombre grey and white move noiselesslyabout as if the big figures on the calendar read 1114 instead of 1914.

Except for two institutions of the kind in Holland, Belgium is theonly country in Europe in which these Béguinages have survived--all ofthem in Flanders. No institution of the present day recalls so vividlythe conditions that existed at the time when Flanders was the name ofa wild marsh country peopled by yet wilder men. In 877 the Emperormade the title of Count of Flanders hereditary--the oldest title ofthe kind in Europe. Baldwin II, son of Baldwin of the Iron Arm and thebeautiful Judith, married Alfrida, the daughter of Alfred the Great.The second Baldwin was renowned chiefly for his work in fortifying thetowns of Bruges, Ghent, Ypres and Courtrai as a means of protectionagainst the robber chiefs who still--despite the energetic warfare ofhis father--infested this entire region. The necessity for protectionagainst robbers, and occasional incursions of savage Danes from theNorth Sea, caused population to flock speedily into these walledtowns, and thus laid the foundation for the wonderful civicdevelopment of the next four centuries. The son of Baldwin II,Arnulph--often called Arnulph the Great--continued the policy ofstrengthening the cities, and also established or restored nearly ascore of monasteries and convents for the protection of men and womenagainst the many dangers of that lawless age. The famous chapter ofSt. Donatian's at Bruges was one of these, and while the Béguinagedates from a somewhat later epoch in the town's history, it admirablyexemplifies many of the principles that made these early religiousorders the strongholds, not only of piety in a period ofsemi-barbarism, but of learning and civilisation.

[Illustration: BÉGUINAGE BRIDGE, BRUGES.]

The Béguinage at Bruges is much smaller than the famous GrandBéguinage at Ghent, which so many tourists visit, but is far moreancient--its arched gateway dating from the thirteenth century and itsgloomy and barn-like chapel from 1605. How old the houses are no oneseemed to know, but probably many of them are older than the chapel.The little bridge by which one enters its quiet precincts was firstbuilt in 1297, of wood, according to the records, but its presentpicturesque stone arches date from 1570--a respectable antiquity, evenfor Bruges. We found several of the little houses untenanted for somereason, but even the empty ones were spotlessly clean. The Béguineslive in small communities or "convents," under the superintendence ofa Lady Superior called "de Juffer"; or in "houses" where two or threelive together. In the convents there are usually about twenty inmates.Each has her little cell, but these we were not permitted to see. Wedid, however, inspect the kitchen and dining-room of one of theconvents--and the large sunny workroom, in which the Béguines wereassembled. Each was chatting aloud as she worked, but whether inFlemish or Latin we could not tell. On every face there rested thesame expression of absolute peace and quietness, nor did a single onebetray the slightest interest or curiosity at our presence.

In the early annals of Bruges no story is more dramatic than that ofthe murder of Charles the Good. It is, in fact, the theme of the greatFlemish novelist Hendrick Conscience's most famous book, _De Kerelsvan Vlaanderen_, and has been told by several contemporarychroniclers. When Charles became Count of Flanders the feudal systemwas slowly displacing the anarchy that had resulted from the breakdownof all centralised government as the Norsem*n swept over northernEurope. Charles was an ardent believer in the new order, but wasopposed in his policy of building up a strong feudal state by theKarls, a class of free landholders of Saxon descent, who stubbornlyrefused to swear allegiance to any feudal over-lord. The greatest ofthese was the house of Erembald. Desiderious Hacket, the head of thefamily, was Châtelain of Bruges, ranking next to the Count himself;while his brother Bertulph was Provost of St. Donatian, the principalecclesiastical position in the County, and chancellor of the Count.The head of the feudal lords was Tancmar, Lord of Straten. Between thepowerful houses of Erembald and Straten there was a deadly feud, whichculminated in a challenge to mortal combat delivered to Walter, anephew of Tancmar, by Richard de Raeske, a baron allied by marriage tothe house of Erembald.

To the amazement of all Flanders the challenge, delivered in thepresence of Count Charles and all his court, was refused. Walter, whomthe historians call "the Winged Lie," proclaimed that he would fightonly with a free man, and that the Lord of Raeske, by wedding a serf,had become a serf himself. This was in accordance with a law recentlypromulgated by Charles, but the house of Erembald, perceiving thatit* very existence was threatened by the charge, fiercely repelled theaccusation and was supported not only by all of the Karls, but by mostof the feudal nobility as well--the latter no doubt fearing lest oneof their own houses might be attainted in a similar manner at anymoment.

The country was plunged into what was virtually civil war, whenCharles was suddenly summoned by his feudal over-lord, the King ofFrance, to come to his aid at Clermont. On his return, assured of theKing's powerful support, Charles undoubtedly meditated the completeoverthrow of the Erembalds, whom he had steadfastly claimed as hisvassals since "the Winged Lie" had denounced them as serfs. He arrivedat Bruges late in the evening, and early the following day, March 1,1127, repaired to St. Donatian to hear mass. It was a foggy morningand the Count went almost unattended. Hardly had he knelt before thealtar when a party of followers of the attainted house of Erembaldswarmed into the church and he was struck down before he had time torise, much less to defend himself.

If, in his lifetime, the Count was a dangerous foe to the Erembalds,in his death he proved to be far more deadly. As his body lay on thestone floor of the great church, clad in the crimson robe thechroniclers so often allude to, and surrounded with flaming torches,the heads of the house hastily consulted as to what was to be donewith it. To inter the body at Bruges would be to risk an outbreak ofpopular passion at the murder, and it was decided to secretly conveyit away. This plan was rudely frustrated by a mob of citizens whoforcibly prevented the removal of the body, which was therefore laidto rest with imposing ceremonies in the very church where the Counthad been assassinated.

Meanwhile the story of the murder spread far and wide, and, in a fewdays, a huge host was marching on Bruges from every part of Flanders.For a time the burghers stood by the Châtelain and the Provost, butwhen the city was entered by stratagem and the Erembalds driven backinto the Bourg the mass of the citizens went over to the side of theavengers. After a short defence the Bourg in turn was captured--itsdefenders failing to guard one small gate by which their enemiesentered unopposed--and the remnant of the Erembalds fled into the verychurch that had been defiled by their kinsmen's crime, St. Donatian.Here, for a time, they were left in peace while the victors pillagedthe rich palaces in the ancient Bourg.

The day before the capture of the Bourg Bertulph, the Provost managedto escape and fled to a little village near Ypres. Here, afterremaining in hiding for some three weeks, he was captured. The nextmorning he was brought to Ypres, walking on foot all the way, althougha horse was offered him. That he was going to his death he well knew,and asked for a priest to whom he confessed. The old man--who had been"a soft, luxurious prelate," proud and haughty in his days ofpower--made his last journey like a martyr. As the prisoner and hiscaptors neared the gates of the city a great throng came forth to meetthem, beating the Provost with their staves and fists and pelting himwith the heads of fish. Arrived in the market-place he stood amid thehuge jeering throng, not one of whom looked with pity on him, andthere, for his greater shame, he was fastened naked to a cross like acommon thief. On his refusing in a steadfast voice to reveal the namesof any of those implicated in the Count's murder, "those who wereassembled in the market-place to sell fish tore his flesh with theiriron hooks, and beat him with rods, and thus they put an end to hisdays."

The news of this tragedy was brought to the little band still beingbesieged at St. Donatian and caused great grief and terror. Of thevery considerable army of Erembalds and their partisans who had takenrefuge in the Bourg only thirty now remained, most having been killed,while some no doubt had escaped. King Louis, with a host of Frenchknights, had joined the men of Flanders in the attack and it was seenthat further resistance was hopeless. The only terms were instantsurrender or instant death, and as they looked across the country fromthe church tower they could see no hope of succour and surrendered.After keeping them prisoners for a fortnight, Louis directed that allsave one, who was of somewhat nobler lineage than the rest, should beflung from the tower of the now thrice historic St. Donatian. Thissentence was duly carried out. The cruel soldiers told the condemnedthat they were about to receive a proof of the King's mercy and theyremained ignorant of their terrible fate until, one after another,they stood on the lofty tower overlooking the city for a brief momentand were then dashed down headlong to the jagged pavement below. Thebodies were denied Christian burial and thrown into a marsh outside ofthe city, and it is related that for many years thereafter "no manafter nightfall would willingly pass that way."

The house of Erembald was well-nigh annihilated during this short, butsanguinary, war. The sole survivor of the band captured in the churchwas beheaded by King Louis as soon as he crossed the French frontier,while most of the great names in the family were heard of in Flandersno more--some having perished in battle, others in exile. Only one,Hacket the Châtelain, returned after the cry for vengeance had dieddown, was placed on trial for the murder, proved his innocence, andeventually recovered much of his former power and wealth. The chargeof serfdom was never raised again, and his descendants for manygenerations stood high in the rolls of the Flemish nobility.

The church of St. Donatian no longer stands, having been destroyedduring the French Revolution. In the small museum of antiquities inthe Halles adjacent to the Belfry we were shown some stone railings,carved in imitation of rustic woodwork, that the concierge assured ushad come from the ruins of the famous church. From a painting made in1710 the student can obtain a fair idea of the appearance of thestructure, which can hardly be said to have been imposing externally.It stood opposite the Hotel de Ville, and the statue of Van Eyck inthe centre of the little shaded square is said to mark the spot whereCharles the Good fell at the hands of his assassins. The stones withwhich the Cathedral was built were carried away, and some of them wereused to build a château a short distance outside of the city.According to the peasants in the neighbourhood, ill-luck has alwaysfollowed those who lived there. If so, the spirit of the murderedCount would seem to have been as dangerous in the nineteenth centuryas it was in the twelfth.

Every morning here at Bruges, and elsewhere throughout our pilgrimage,the Professor and I sallied forth between five and six o'clock toexplore as many of the by-ways and quaint out-of-the-way corners as wecould before breakfast. The sun rises in Belgium long before five, infact it is light as early as three in the summer time, but we foundvery few people astir, and those who were up were usually engaged inthe morning scrubbing of floors and sidewalks--a fact that made uskeep pretty much to the middle of the road on these expeditions.Cleanliness is certainly honoured next to godliness in Belgium, forthis morning ablution of the premises is universal--the big departmentstores at Brussels observing the custom as faithfully as the tiniest_estaminet_ in the remotest hamlet. Every one, rich and poor, performsthis rite, and the tourist could safely eat his breakfast off thedoorstep of any house when it is over. Nor is the rest of the interiorneglected, for every pot and pan that we could see within the littlehouses as we passed their doors shone with a lustre that bespokeperpetual polishing. On the other hand, the good vroue herself, or hermaidservant, was not so clean, and it is in this respect that thepeople of Holland are superior, for they somehow manage to keepthemselves as immaculate as their little houses.

It was at Bruges that the Professor had his first experience with theBelgian species of barber. Instead of the massive reclining chair,with which all Americans are familiar, one finds in all parts ofBelgium, save the big tourist hotels and resorts, stiff littlearm-chairs with immovable head rests that look as if they could neverserve the purpose for which they are intended. In point of fact theydo fairly well, once one becomes accustomed to them. Razors inBelgium, however, are almost invariably dull--especially with the ladybarbers who abound in the smaller villages. Avoid these sirens if youvalue your skin, for they certainly will slice off a bit of it. OnSundays and holidays, it appears, their husbands officiate, but weekdays the better half does her best to accommodate the public--but herbest is none too good, and the experience is usually a painful one forthe unwary tourist.

The shave over, the barber says, "S'il vous plaît, monsieur," or itsequivalent in Flemish, motioning meanwhile toward a small wash basinthat is placed in front of the chair. To the uninitiated this issomewhat bewildering, but the professor desires that monsieur willkindly wash his own face. The ablution performed, he proceeds to rub apiece of alum over the face, after which he sprays it with perfumedwater, then dries and powders it much in the manner of the Americanbarber. When one becomes accustomed to this performance--which coststwo to three cents in the villages and five to ten cents in the largetowns--he is apt to prefer it to the American method. Certainly it isvastly superior to the hot towel torture so deservedly caricaturedsome years ago by Weber and Fields. In the smaller villages of theindustrial provinces we found that the first and second classdistinction that one encounters everywhere in Belgium extends even tothe barber's chair. The rough clad workman is simply shaved--a fewfierce scrapes with the razor and it is all over--and is left to wipeoff the remnants of lather as best he can, usually with a red bandannahandkerchief. For this the charge is only two cents--the alum, thespraying and the powder being reserved for first-class patrons only.

On our way back to the hotel from these early morning promenades theProfessor and I kept on the look-out for some _patisserie_ where_brioches_ or _cuches au beurre_ could be had with a pot of coffee.This formed our usual breakfast for, it may as well be admitted rightnow, we did not feel that we could afford the extravagance of athree-franc breakfast at the hotel. The ladies were ready to join usby eight o'clock--before that hour it would be useless to look for aplace open for business--and we conducted them to the _patisserie_ wehad discovered. The _brioche_, it may be remarked, is a light spongypreparation--half cake and half biscuit--while the _cuche au beurre_is apparently made from a kind of light pie-crust, rolled thin andbuilt up in several layers with butter between. When served fresh andhot from the oven the latter is most delicious, but when cold it is astough and soggy as a day-old griddle-cake. The usual charge for thesedelicacies was five centimes (one cent) each, and as three made a verysubstantial meal, and the coffee cost three or five cents per cup, ourtotal expenditure for four people was less than two francs. If, asoften happened--in addition to getting everything hot anddelicious--we were served on little tables out of doors with a view ofa cathedral or Hotel de Ville thrown in, we felt that we were gettinga very good bargain indeed.

Of the Bruges of Charles the Good the most important existing monumentis the great Cathedral of St. Sauveur, which was rebuilt by him afterhaving been partially destroyed by fire in 1116, the work beingcompleted in 1127. Probably very little of the structure as we see itto-day dates from this period, as the edifice has been enlarged andrestored many times, much of it dating from the fourteenth and partfrom the sixteenth century--the era when architecture in Flandersflourished as never before or since. The tower was begun in 1116,continued in 1358, and its upper portions added during the lastcentury, so that nearly eight hundred years elapsed before it wasfinally completed in its present form. Many writers speak of thistower as clumsy and unsightly, but to me it is one of the mostmajestic and stately structures in Flanders. At any rate, there is noother tower like it, and the way in which it lifts its castle-likemass of tawny brick high above the tiny houses that surround it isprofoundly impressive. The lower part of the tower is Romanesque,being, no doubt, the portion erected under the supervision of Charlesthe Good. The rest is Gothic, if so unecclesiastical a style can be sodenominated.

The interior of St. Sauveur dates in the main from a much later periodthan Charles the Good, and as we visited this interesting edificeseveral times an account of its later constructions and paintings willbe found in a chapter devoted more particularly to the art treasuresof Bruges. It is not the purpose of this book to weary the reader withdetailed descriptions of this and every other "monument" in Flanders.For those who are interested in architectural details there arenumerous works written by experts and discussing exhaustively--if notexhaustingly--every feature of technical importance. Our little partywas not learned and these random jottings will therefore record onlysuch facts as seemed interesting to the average American visitor. Norwould it be possible to attempt a detailed account of the pictures andsculptures, either at St. Sauveur or elsewhere. Many of the greatFlemish churches are literally museums of early Flemish art and a merecatalogue of their contents would fill many pages. For the most partthe works are of mediocre merit, but nearly every church possesses oneor more masterpieces--which the uninformed visitor can generallydistinguish by the fact that a charge is made to uncover them. Attimes this practice becomes a bit annoying, particularly when--inaddition to paying the fee--one has to hunt around for half an hour tofind the sacristan, who may live two or three blocks away; but, afterall, it is the tourist who is under obligation for the privilege ofvisiting the churches when they are closed to the general public, andall the fees in Flanders add only a trifle to the expense account ofone's tour.

In St. Sauveur on the occasion of our first visit we were especiallyinterested in a curious painting of the Crucifixion located in theBaptistry and said to be the earliest picture of the famous Brugesschool in existence. The savants assign a date prior to 1400 to thiswork, the author of which is unknown.

The name of Charles the Good is also associated with the Church ofNotre Dame, part of the present structure dating from his reign. Thebulk of the edifice was erected during the fourteenth and fifteenthcenturies. The spire was begun in 1440, torn down and rebuilt, beingfinally completed nearly a century later. There is a legend that thearchitect, in despair over the fact that it leans considerably to theeast, threw himself from its summit. At present it is one hundred andtwenty-two metres in height, which is said to be the greatestelevation ever attained by a structure of this kind built of brick. Itcan hardly be described as beautiful, the dark red of the top portionbeing out of harmony with the rich tawny grey of the lower part, butit forms a splendid feature in the sky-line of the city. Perhaps themost charming view of it is that obtained from the opposite side ofthe Lac d'Amour. Another excellent point of view is from the Dyverwith the outline of the tower, reflected in the still waters of theRoya.

The interior of this church is, like the tower, built of brick, onlythe great supporting pillars being of stone. The general effect ofthe interior is greatly marred by a wooden rood-loft that separatesthe nave from the choir. In this church there is an interesting"Adoration of the Magi" by Daniel Seghers, a painter of the laterAntwerp school, who became a Jesuit but continued to practise his artand was especially renowned for the flowers and butterflies with whichhe adorned his pictures. This work, which was finished in 1630, isthought by many to be the artist's masterpiece. Another notabletreasure is the statue of the Virgin and Child by Michael Angelo,executed in 1503.

[Illustration: TOMB OF MARIE OF BURGUNDY, CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME,BRUGES.]

The most famous of the possessions of Notre Dame, however, are thesuperb tombs of Charles the Bold and his daughter Marie of Burgundy,to be seen only by paying a small fee to enter the chapel in whichthey are placed. That of Marie is the older, and by far the finer ofthe two, and consists of a sarcophagus of black marble upon whichrests a life-sized recumbent figure of the famous princess--"thegreatest heiress in Europe"--who died at the age of twenty-five as aresult of an injury received when hunting in 1482, less than fiveyears after her marriage to Maximilian who later became Emperor. Atthe command of her son, Philip the Handsome, this masterpiece ofstone and bronze was begun by Pierre de Beckère in 1495 and completedin 1502. Around the altar-tomb are exquisitely carved statues ofsaints and angels, with twining plants and scrolls and the heraldicshields of all the provinces and not a few of the cities withinMarie's wide domains. The figure of the princess lies above all thiswith her hands folded as if in prayer, a crown upon her head and twohounds lying at her feet. The bronze has been cunningly carved torepresent the finest lace and richly gilded until it seems to be puregold. The body of Charles the Bold was brought from Nancy in 1550 atthe command of Charles the Fifth, his grandson, and eight years laterthe funeral monument was begun by order of Philip II. It was completedin 1562, and is designed in imitation of that of Marie. The figure of"the terrible Duke" is shown clad in armour, with his helmet at oneside and a lion crouching at his feet.

"Here, in this little chapel," said the Professor, "one can see thebeginning and the end of the most interesting period in the longhistory of Bruges, the alpha and omega of her greatness. At the timeof Charles the Good the little Bourg on the Roya was slowly emergingfrom obscurity and beginning to assume the aspect of a great capital.For three hundred and fifty years its power and fame grew until 'theVenice of the North' was everywhere recognised as one of the mostbeautiful and brilliant cities in the world. Then suddenly, almostwithin the span of a single generation, the fickle sea abandoned itand it became the quiet inland city that it is to-day, living largelyupon the memories of its splendid past. When the beautiful Marie wasbrought home to the Princenhof, dying from her fall at Wynandael, thedecline had already begun, and when the remains of her father wereplaced beside her here in Notre Dame the end had already come and thecity's merchants and prosperity had departed."

CHAPTER IV

HOW BRUGES BECAME "THE VENICE OF THE NORTH"

After the murder of Charles the Good had been so thoroughly avenged,the King of France sought to foist one of his own underlings upon thepeople of Flanders, but they would have none of him, and he fellfighting before the gates of one of the Flemish cities. Dierick ofAlsace was the popular hero and became Count on the death of thisrival. The King of France sought once more to interpose, but theburghers of Bruges retorted proudly: "Be it known to the King and toall princes and peoples, and to their posterity throughout all time,that the King of France hath no part in the election of a Count ofFlanders."

Of all the Counts of Flemish blood Dierick proved to be the greatestand the wisest who ever ruled over the land. During his long reign offorty years (from 1128 to 1168) and that of his son, Philip of Alsace,who ruled until 1191, the country prospered and grew rich. Bothprinces encouraged commerce, industry and the arts, and were liberalin their policy toward the cities. It was during this Golden Age ofFlemish history--the longest period of happiness the country everknew--that municipal charters were granted to the cities of Bruges,Ghent, Ypres, Furnes, Gravelines, Nieuport, Dunkerque and Damme.

While the memory of Dierick of Alsace deserves to be fondly cherishedby the people of Flanders as that of a wise and liberal ruler, hismost famous exploit was bringing back the relic of the Precious Bloodfrom Jerusalem. Like most princes of his time, Dierick joined in theCrusades, but, unlike many of them, he left his government so strongand secure that no harm came to the country during his absence. It wasthe second Crusade, and Dierick departed in 1147, and returned in1150, bringing with him this relic, a portion of the most preciouspossession of the Holy Church of Palestine, consisting of a smallcrystal vial filled with what was alleged to be the blood of Christ,preserved by Joseph of Aramathea who prepared the body for burial.Deeming himself unworthy to bear so holy a relic, the Count entrustedit to his chaplain, who never parted with it until the returningcrusaders delivered it to the chaplains of the court who placed it inthe chapel built by Baldwin of the Iron Arm, where it still remains inits original receptacle.

On the 2nd of May every year from 1303 until now--save for a briefinterruption during the stormy times of the French Revolution--thecity of Bruges has celebrated its possession of this holy relic by thegreat Procession of the Holy Blood. At first simply a religiousceremony, the procession gradually took on spectacular features suchas the Flemings love, including representations of the Apostles, theNativity, King Herod, and so on. At present _La Noble Confrerie duPrecieux Sang_, or Honourable Society of the Holy Blood, is a verywealthy and aristocratic organisation, even its affiliated members--ofwhom there are several thousands, of every nationality--esteemingtheir connection with it a great honour.

During the French Revolution mobs stripped the chapel of everythingthat could be torn down or broken, leaving it such a wreck that themunicipal authorities were considering tearing it down, but werehappily prevented from doing so by Napoleon. The lower chapel was,however, used as a jail for drunken and disorderly persons--and evenas a pound for stray dogs--until 1818. The upper chapel meanwhile wasroofless and windowless, a sad wreck of so ancient and famous astructure. Both have since been restored, the lower--or Chapel of St.Basil--being now just as it was in 1150, and, in the opinion of manycritics, "the most beautiful and perfect specimen of Romanesquearchitecture in Europe." We had already inspected the lower chapelwhile exploring the Vieux Bourg of Baldwin of the Iron Arm our firstday at Bruges, but had not spent much time in the upper one. Here themost interesting object was naturally the chasse, or casket,containing the holy relic after which the chapel is named. This is onone side of the little museum of the chapel and is of silver-gilt,standing four feet, three inches high. It was made in 1617 by asilversmith of Bruges and, while not regarded as a masterpiece of itskind, is very graceful and elegant. The chapel itself is richlydecorated and has some excellent stained glass windows, all of thiswork dating from the middle of the last century.

Adjoining the Chapelle du Saint-Sang is the Hotel de Ville. Thisstructure is a very fine example of Flemish municipal architecture,dating from the last quarter of the fourteenth century. Here theCounts of Flanders formerly took the oath to respect the rights andprivileges of the city, this formality taking place in the last windowto the right. Originally there were statues of former princes on thefaçade and six of these were coloured by Jean Van Eyck in 1435. Allwere destroyed during the Revolution. Part of the interior is stillused by various government officials, while up-stairs the touristsusually visit the ancient Salle Echinivale, or Council Chamber. Thiswas restored in 1895 and decorated with a series of twelve muralpaintings representing notable scenes in the history of the city. Ofthese eleven are by Albrecht de Vriendt, and the last by his brother,Julian, the first artist dying just before his work was completed. Asthese pictures form an interesting epitome of the history of the city,the subjects are given herewith:

 1.--Return of the Brugeois from the Battle of the Golden Spurs at Courtrai in 1302.

 2.--Foundation of the Order of the Golden Fleece by Philip of Burgundy at Bruges in 1430.

 3.--Dierick of Alsace bringing the Holy Blood to the chapel of St. Basil in 1150.

 4.--The interior of the ancient Hospital of St. Jean.

 5.--Magistrates of Bruges renewing the privileges of the Hanseatic League.

 6.--Count Philip of Alsace granting a charter to Bruges (1190).

 7.--Magistrates visiting the Studio of Jean Van Eyck (1433).

 8.--The printing by movable type in Bruges by Jean Britto in 1446.

 9.--Count Louis of Maele laying the foundation of the Town-hall (1376).

 10.--Jacob Van Maerlant, father of Flemish poetry, born at Damme.

 11.--The Free-fair.

 12.--Opening of the new Zwyn canal in 1404.

[Illustration: _Palais du Franc, Bruges_]

One of the most interesting of the almost innumerable mediævalbuildings in Bruges is the Palais du Franc which, with its many quaintturrets and gables, overlooks the fish market on the Quai Vert. Theassociations and history of this sumptuous bit of sixteenth centuryarchitecture date from the twelfth century--1190 to be exact--whenPhilip of Alsace granted a charter to the region stretching to thenorthward from the city to the sea, and from Aardenburg (now justacross the Dutch frontier) to Dixmude. This wide tract of territorywas called the Franc or Liberty of Bruges, and comprised ninety-oneparishes and the towns of Ostende, Blankenburghe, Eccloo, Lissweghe,Aardenburg, Sluys and Dixmude. Of these only the first two are knownto the tourists of the present day, while one must needs search themap very closely to find one or two of the others at all, but in thetime of Philip all were busy centres of trade and industry. This wasthe hereditary land of the Karls, whose revolt against the attempt ofCharles the Good to force them under the feudal yoke cost that monarchhis life.

The charter was called the _Keurbrief_ and laid the foundation for theadministration of a code of justice that, rude as it was, meantliberty for those who otherwise would have been utterly at the mercyof any feudal lord or wandering knight. It was the _Magna Carta_ of alarge part of the Count's dominions and even its stern eye-for-eye andlife-for-life doctrine was tempered by equivalents in cash that mightbe paid. The life of a Karl was worth twice as much as that of a monkor priest, while for each injury there was an appropriate fine. He whobroke a dyke must lose the hand that did the damage, besidesforfeiting all his goods; for false weights the penalty was a fine ofthree livres for each offence. Fencing one's property against gameentailed branding with a red hot iron, or trial by the Count--whomight confiscate the goods of the guilty party, but his life andliberty were to be safe. This cruel game law was not repealed fornearly three centuries, and must have entailed much hardship. On thewhole, however, the charter was liberal for its day, and the countryunder it flourished exceedingly--a sure evidence of wise laws.

The Keurbrief was administered by the Magistrates of the Franc in thePalais du Franc, which was therefore a sort of special court. Thepresent edifice is not the one erected by Philip, or used by him forthe purpose, but dates from the early part of the fifteenth century.Part of it is still used as the Palais de Justice, but that part ofthe present structure is for the most part modern. The mostinteresting portion of the edifice, and the only one shown totourists, is the Court Room containing the magnificent Cheminée duFranc, or chimney-piece, erected in honour of the Ladies' Peacenegotiated by Margaret of Austria while Regent of the Netherlands in1529. The work was executed from designs by Lancelot Blondeel, apainter of Bruges, and was completed in 1530. The fireplace itself isof black marble, surmounted by a frieze in white marble containingfour bas-reliefs representing the history of the chaste Suzanne. Onecannot but wonder what was the connection of thought that suggestedthis story in conjunction with the commemoration of the Treaty ofCambrai, but at all events here it is. The reliefs are of varyingexcellence, the one showing Suzanne about to be seized by her agedadmirers being very sharp and clear, while the fourth which shows theculprits being stoned to death is rather indistinct.

The upper part of the monumental chimney is of oak and occupies almostthe entire side of the room. In the centre stands Charles V,represented as a Count of Flanders, nearly life size and finelycarved. At his right are statues of Maximilian and Marie of Burgundy,and at the left Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile--thesebeing the Emperor's ancestors on his father's and mother's sidesrespectively. On the throne behind the Emperor are the busts of Philipthe Handsome and Joanna of Spain, his father and mother, and belowthese are the portraits in small medallions of Charles de Lannoy, whowon the victory of Pavia where Francis I, the King of France, wascaptured, and Margaret of Austria, who negotiated the treaty. As thelast mentioned portrait is almost invisible in the shadow of theEmperor it hardly seems as though the chimney-piece does justice tothe loyal and talented woman whose successful diplomacy the entirework is intended to commemorate. As an example of sixteenth-centurywood-carving, however, and as a most important historical monument,this chimney-piece is by no means the least interesting of the manythings to be seen at Bruges.

[Illustration: THE BELFRY, BRUGES.]

Unlike most tourists, the Professor seemed to be in no hurry toinspect the famous Belfry, although we had passed it a score of timesduring our stay. Facing the Grande Place, and towering three hundredand fifty-three feet into the air, it could not be overlooked, whileits loud chimes--which rang every quarter of an hour, and can be heardfor many blocks around--insured that it could not be forgotten.Moreover, we more than once took our evening meal at a littlerestaurant just across the Place from it and saw its gracefuloctagonal parapet on one occasion outlined against the fast-flyinggrey clouds of a summer storm and the next day against the blue sky ofone of the few perfect June days it was our fortune to enjoy. "Toosoon," he said, in answer to our inquiring glances--"the Belfrybelongs to the period of Bruges' splendour, while the buildings wehave seen thus far date from the formative period when she was stilllittle more than a fortress on a marsh."

The original structure dates from the very early Counts ofFlanders--possibly from the time of the first Baldwin--but waspractically destroyed by a fire in the year 1280. It was then that thepresent edifice was begun, at a period when the commercial andindustrial importance of the city was already very great. The city'sseal and archives were stored in a strong room within the belfrywalls, where four wrought iron doors secured by ten locks and ten keysguarded them against abstraction by the emissaries of some Count whomight desire to curtail the privileges of the city. Eight of thesekeys were kept by the deans of the eight leading guilds--the butchers,bakers, shoemakers, tailors, weavers, brokers, carpenters andblacksmiths--who thus virtually controlled the government. This roomthe Professor desired to see above all else in the old structure. Wefound the four wrought iron doors, but the archive chamber no longercontains archives or the city's seal. It was a most interesting oldroom, nevertheless, and one that ought to particularly interest thebuilders of the elaborate burglar-proof and earthquake-proof vaultsthat extend below so many great banking houses in America. Alas!neither the four doors nor the ten locks rendered this ancientstrong-room for the protection of the city's liberties proof againstthe cunning and power of tyrants, and the precious charters it onceheld were gradually taken away, despite the stout handiwork of oneErembald, blacksmith, who received eighty-one pounds for forging thedoors in the year 1290.

To reach the bells one mounts a steep, dark staircase which is said tocontain four hundred and two steps, although we did not count them.The chimes are claimed to be the finest in Europe, and compriseforty-nine bells weighing in the aggregate fifty-six thousand, onehundred and sixty-six pounds. They were cast by George Dumery in 1743and are noted for their soft tone. The _tambour_ which operates thechimes that ring every quarter of an hour weighs nineteen thousand,nine hundred and sixty-six pounds and is pierced by thirty thousand,five hundred square holes in which are fixed the pegs that pull thestrings commanding the hammers hanging outside the bells. By alteringthe position of these pegs the tunes can be varied, but the programmeplayed while we were in the city was as follows:

At the hour: "Rondo, 15th sonata," by Mozart; at the quarter past: "LeCarillon de Dunkerque," a popular air; at the half: "The Day ofHappiness," by Mozart; at the three-quarters past: "The ThreeDrummers," a Flemish popular air. The official bell-ringer is M. ToonNauwelaerts, a native of Lierre, where his ancestors have beenbell-ringers for more than a hundred years. Although a young man, M.Nauwelaerts won an international competition of bell-ringers organisedby the city of Bruges in 1911.

The view from the summit of the Belfry is one of the most superb inFlanders, especially if the visitor is so fortunate as to have fallenon one of those days when the clouds roll in great fleecy masses ofdazzling white that form a wondrous background for the grim grey towerof St. Sauveur and the tapering red spire of the cathedral. As onelooks down upon the sea of tiny red-roofed houses far below he istransported in fancy to the time, centuries ago, when watchmen peeredoff across these very parapets day and night to sound the alarm of anapproaching foe, or announce the approach of their mighty Count orsome noble visitor. In so doing he can realise what the old Belfry hasmeant to the city on the Roya. "For six hundred years," wrote M.Gilliodts, one of the city's learned archivists, "this belfry haswatched over the city of Bruges. It has beheld her triumphs and herfailures, her glory and her shame, her prosperity and her gradualdecay, and, in spite of so many vicissitudes, it is still standing tobear witness to the genius of our forefathers, to awaken alikememories of old times and admiration for one of the most splendidmonuments of civic architecture which the Middle Ages have produced."

The best time of all in which to study and admire the external aspectof this noble structure is when the sun is sinking to rest and itsrays fall slantingly across the sombre pile of tawny brick, touchingup its projections here and there with high lights that contrastsharply with the deep shadows behind them, and listen--as did so oftenour poet Longfellow--to the wonderfully sweet chimes as they ring thequarter hours:

 "Low and loud and sweetly blended, Low at times and loud at times, And changing like a poet's rhymes Ring the beautiful wild chimes From the Belfry in the market Of the ancient town of Bruges."

The Halles themselves, of which the Belfry is the chief ornament, arenotable for their considerable size, forming a rectangle one hundredand forty-three feet broad and two hundred and seventy-six feet deep.The archeological museum in one wing--which is in course of removalto the Gruuthuise Palace--enabled us to see the interior of thestructure, the extent of which indicates the volume of business thatwas transacted there when Bruges was known as "the Venice of theNorth." The great commercial activity of Bruges during the period ofits prosperity, from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries, was dueprimarily to the fact that the Counts of Flanders decreed that itshould be the sole port of entry for the entire country. The burghersquickly perceived the priceless value of this privilege, and by theirenterprise and liberality made the city the foremost metropolis inEurope in the volume and variety of its international trade. WithLondon its relations were especially intimate and cordial, each citygranting to the merchants of the other privileges that in those dayswere almost unheard of. For example, the merchants of Bruges in timeof war were granted forty days of grace in which to dispose of theirproperty and provide for their personal safety. On one occasion, whilea war was actually going on, they were given a special truce of ninetydays in which to traffic freely with the subjects of the King ofEngland. The reason for these unusual favours was that Bruges was thegreat market where the wool of England, on which the prosperity ofthe country depended, was disposed of. Not infrequently the archivesrecord instances where the Kings of England treated with the chiefmagistrates of Bruges on terms of complete equality, as if with asovereign power.

Nor was England the only country represented in the market places ofBruges during this period. The Doges of Venice often treated directlywith the Burgomasters of the Italian city's Flemish rival, while thepowerful Hanseatic League established here their chief establishmentfor the Netherlands. The list of the "Nations," as the groups offoreign merchants were called, makes curious reading at the presentday. There were English, Scotch, French, Lusitanians, Castilians,Venetians, Genoans, Florentines; merchants from Aragon, Biscay, Lucca,Milan, Lombardy and Navarre. The German merchants from the Hanseatictowns of Lubeck, Hamburg, Cologne, Dantzig and Bremen numbered no lessthan forty houses in the year 1362, while the Italian and Spanishfirms resident in the city were still more numerous. Many of theseconcerns were among the foremost trading and banking houses of theMiddle Ages, with mercantile transactions extending into every part ofthe known world and strong enough financially to loan money toprinces. When the Duke of Pembroke was captured by Du Guesclin in theHundred Years' War between England and France it was in Bruges thathis countrymen borrowed the seventy thousand pounds demanded asransom.

As befitted the first mercantile city in the world, business methodswere more advanced at Bruges than anywhere else. It is claimed thatthe first insurance policies ever drawn up were devised and signed inBruges about the year 1300. A form of registration of land titles wasin use there as early as the fifteenth century. Its Bourse, or centralexchange for merchandise of all kinds, is claimed to have been thefirst ever established.

In a single day in the year 1456 no less than 150 foreign vesselsarrived at Bruges through its canals and the River Zwyn, and whilethese were, of course, small craft as compared to those of the presentday there was then no port in the world that could boast of an equalquantity of shipping. Industrially, the town was no less important,having some fifty thousand artisans belonging to fifty-two differentguilds.

The silting up of the Zwyn, rendering the approach and departure ofshipping difficult and uncertain, started a downward movement thatin less than a century destroyed all of this great activity andprosperity. Had it come alone it is probable that the sturdy merchantsof Bruges would have found a way to overcome this adverse factor totheir continued success, either by digging a new channel to the sea orby dredging, but misfortunes--as is their proverbial wont--did notcome singly. In 1488, as a result of a conflict between the city andMaximilian, the stores and exchanges were closed for three months andall business came to a standstill. Seven years later it was said thatnearly five thousand houses stood vacant and abandoned, no one caringeither to buy or rent them. One by one the great merchants of the cityclosed their counting-rooms and went away; one by one the artisansdeparted. The last of the "Nations" to desert the declining city wasthe Hanseatic League, which stood by it loyally until 1516, when itremoved its offices to Antwerp, by that time the acknowledgedmetropolis of the North.

[Illustration: THE MINNEWATER, BRUGES.]

The Minnewater, or Lac d'Amour, is--apart from its exquisitebeauty--of interest as another memento of the city's former commerce.This was the chief harbour for shipping, and, no doubt, was throngedwith sailing craft, while its banks must have swarmed with merchantschecking their arriving or departing cargoes, stevedores carryingbales and boxes to and fro, clumsy wagons and carts for transportingmerchandise to the warehouses of the city and all the varied noise andbustle of a great seaport. It is strangely silent and deserted now,and the grass grows tall around the round tower built in 1398 by Janvan Oudenaarde, and the white swans float slowly and majesticallybeneath the black arches of the adjoining bridge which is eight yearsolder than the tower. It is said that he, or she, who stands on thecentral arch of this bridge at midnight and expresses a desire willhave the wish fulfilled, but we did not try it. Before leaving thischarming spot, however, we went along the banks of the little lake toa point where, looking back, we had the round tower and the bridge inthe middle distance, the lake in the foreground, and the towers of thecity on the horizon. This view is, without doubt, the finest the oldtown affords.

The visitor to Bruges who is interested in the past should devote atleast half a day to a pilgrimage to Damme, distant about an hour'swalk along the canal that leads from the new port of Bruges to thesea. In 1180 this now all but forgotten town was made an independentcommune with two burgomasters, and for two centuries thereafter itenjoyed a great and increasing prosperity. It became the chiefentrepôt for the great commercial city of Bruges during its period ofsplendour, and most of the leading merchants maintained offices there.Its warehouses were crowded with merchandise from every corner ofEurope--wines from France and Spain, beer from England, wool fromScotland, silk from Italy, all manner of cloths and stuffs, spices ofall kinds, metals of every variety known to the metal workers of thosedays, rare and precious goods of every description.

To-day the very scene of all this mercantile activity has vanished.Gone are the busy warehouses, the docks and wharves, even the veryharbour in which--according to ancient chroniclers--a score of shipsof the largest size then built could anchor easily. All that remainsis a diminutive Grande Place surrounded by several ancient edifices,and the ruins of a huge church. In the centre of the Place is a modernstatue of Jacob van Maerlant, called "the Father of Flemish Poets."Fame has surely never played any more astounding trick than that outof the great host who lived in this busy commercial town in the daysof its prosperity--portly burgomasters, skilled in winning theplaudits of the populace; shrewd, far-sighted merchants grown richfrom the commerce with distant lands; skilled artisans and craftsmenin a hundred guilds--all, all are forgotten, while an obscure poet,whom very likely many of those who knew him derided as a fool, isalone remembered as the one great man of Damme.

Facing the Grande Place is the ancient Hotel de Ville, which, inaddition to being the most notable monument of the dead town, is alsoan estaminet where the living can get a little refreshment. The mainfloor of this edifice is divided into three large rooms. The first oneis the estaminet, with its array of bottles and its beer pumpcontrasting most incongruously with the remaining vestiges of itsancient grandeur.

Adjoining this is a large, irregular and unfurnished room, bare ofornamentation save for two corbels, or Gothic brackets, which supportthe main rafters of the ceiling. These are of wood, elaboratelycarved. One represents Van Maerlant in his study, seated at a desk,with what M. Havard calls a "chaste Suzanne" bathing in a tub over hishead. The other shows King David with his harp, and is embellishedwith sundry other figures.

The remaining room is by far the most interesting, for it was herethat Charles the Bold publicly betrothed Margaret of York. The room,which is officially termed the _Salle des Délibérations_, or CouncilHall, has a fine old fireplace said to have been restored during theseventeenth century. It is decorated with two female figures in hoopskirts and bears the motto "_Parcere subjectis et debellaresuperbos_." This quotation from Vergil (Æneid 6:853) sounds ratherpompous and out of place in the council chamber of this now completelyvanquished and ruined city, and must have seemed so even in theseventeenth century, but it may have been a survival of an inscriptionplaced over the original fireplace in the days when Damme dared toclose its gates even against the men from Bruges itself, and thepuissant Counts of Flanders had to use force to compel it to openthem.

It was in the year 1468 that this room in which we are now standinghad its one great day and became, for a brief space, the setting ofone of those splendid mediæval scenes that bards and novelists sofondly recall, and that--in our age of up-to-date inventions--themoving-picture men are so busily reconstructing and re-enacting. ThePrincess had landed at Sluys, near the mouth of the River Zwyn, wherethe Duke of Burgundy paid her a brief visit in secret--possibly to seewhat she looked like, for this was a marriage of state and intended tofurther his far-reaching ambitions. Probably if she had been as homelyas a witch the wedding would have taken place just the same, but asthe reverse was the case the preliminary inspection must have beenvery gratifying. The following day the royal lady and her company rodeto Damme in a fleet of barges gorgeously decorated with gold, richvelvets and rare silks. Here she was lodged in this very CouncilChamber of the Hotel de Ville, and here the Duke came in great stateto perform the public ceremony of betrothal. The wedding ring wasgiven in the presence of the English Bishop who had accompanied thePrincess, and Charles announced that he would await her presence onthe morrow at Bruges, where the wedding itself was to be celebrated inthe Cathedral.

The wedding procession as it departed for Bruges the next day musthave been another brave sight for the proud citizens of Damme. Thebride, reclining in a litter borne by four white horses, wore amagnificent gown of cloth of gold, a crown on her forehead, a jewellednecklace, and a mantle clasped with precious stones. Around herpranced her ladies of honour, mounted on white horses gaily bedeckedwith crimson satin. Immediately behind this picturesque group camefive decorated chariots bearing a score of beautiful ladies from theEnglish court, and following these came the guard of honour, orescort, provided by the Duke--a squadron of counts, barons andknights, with their faithful squires, their horses covered with goldand silver, the riders resplendent in bright coloured velvet and richlace. The good people of the Middle Ages dearly loved a pageant, andthis surely was one to rejoice the heart of every citizen of Damme,for here was the pride of the chivalry of all Europe--fair ladies andbrave men from oversea and from every corner of the great Duke's widedominions--thronging the Grande Place as the procession formed, andthen falling into their respective places as the long line passed outthrough the city gate and proceeded on the straight, tree-lined_grande route_ that led to Bruges.

CHAPTER V

DIXMUDE AND FURNES

The tourist who desires to get away from the main thoroughfare ofEuropean travel, to explore out-of-the-way corners, and discover forhimself wonders and beauties that the learned Mr. Baedeker never heardof, cannot do better than to turn away to the westward from the greatOstende-Brussels express route and visit the all but forgotten citiesof Dixmude, Furnes and Nieuport. All but forgotten, that is, in June,1914. The world has heard of them since, and it will be many hundredsof years before it forgets them again! These little places, which whenwe visited them were nothing but sleepy and quiet country towns, weregreat and prosperous cities in the period when Bruges was slowlyrising toward its zenith, and the Professor therefore decreed thatthey must come next on our itinerary. We accordingly spent an eveningstudying the _correspondences_, or connections, of the State Railwayand the _chemin de fer vicinal_, or local steam tramway, and startedat daybreak the next morning.

Right here it may be said that the Belgian State Railway did its bestto compensate us for whatever shortcomings we found in the weather orin the country generally. Perfect its service can hardly be said tohave been, but it was excellent and amazingly cheap. Our partypurchased every two weeks _billets d'abonnement_ that cost us justforty-one francs each, or about $8.00, and entitled us to ride on anyState-owned railway line in the country day or night for fifteen days.These were second-class, the third costing twenty-three francs, andfirst sixty francs. The last, by the way, is a useless luxury, as onthe local lines the first-class compartments are identical with thesecond-class except for a white tidy placed at the back of thecushions. Frequently there was not even the tidy, but the sign,"_Reservé_--_Voorbehouden_," converted an ordinary second-classcompartment into first-class--a distinction that gave the travellervery little for his money, save the privilege of riding alone.

On the main express routes that radiate outward from Brussels in everydirection there were a number of _rapides_, or fast express trains,that made very good time indeed--a speed of a kilometre per minutebeing about the average. On the international express trains, some ofwhich are first-class only, the speed was somewhat higher, but thesewe never had occasion to use. After the _rapides_ came the expresstrains, generally marked "_direct_" or "_semi-direct_," according towhether or not they made any intermediate stops before reaching theirfinal destination. These were only moderately fast, and, if they didstop anywhere, lingered so long that the time gained by their previousspeed was largely lost. Then came the type of local train called_omnibus_ or _ordinaire_, that stopped at every station. To theAmerican these trains would seem astoundingly slow, even for a landthat is never in a hurry. Each stop is dragged out, minute afterminute, until it seems certain that either a terrible accident musthave occurred ahead, or the train crew has gone on strike. Actually,more than once, we did see part of the crew returning from anestaminet hard by whither they had gone to have a friendly glass.Finally, however, the red-capped station master blows his whistle andthe train reluctantly pulls away. To make a trip of sixty kilometres(forty miles) by one of these trains took, on more than one occasion,two hours and a quarter, and the train arrived on time!

This last point is a feature of the Belgian railway trains. They arealmost invariably on time, and lateness is a matter for strictexamination on the part of the officials and severe penalties forthose responsible. However, there does not seem to be much creditattached to being on time when the schedule allows for a stop of fromtwo to fifteen minutes at each station. The man primarily responsiblefor the movement of the trains is not the conductor or engineer butthe _chef de gare_, or station-master. He, or his deputy if thestation is a large one with many trains, must be on hand when eachtrain pulls in, and give the signal for its departure. His dark-redcap, embroidered with gold braid, is therefore in evidence at everystation, and until this high functionary gives the word no trainmoves. As it is, each leaves exactly on time--but not a second before,no matter if every passenger has been in place and the doors slammedand fastened for the last five minutes!

The foregoing description of the Belgian State Railway refers, ofcourse, to the service as it existed down to the end of July. Sincethen the destruction of tracks, bridges and tunnels by one army oranother has put most of the system out of operation. One of thesaddest phases of the war is that every one of the thousands ofemployés of the Belgian State Railway--from the highest supervisingofficial to the humblest track walker--was working faithfully andefficiently, and planning the future of his frugal life, upon theassurance that promotion and an old-age pension would reward his zeal.This obligation toward its employés the Belgian Government has everfaithfully observed, and in the course of our travels we met manymiddle-aged men who told us that they were looking forward to the daywhen their terms of duty would end and they would be pensioned on halfpay to enjoy a few years of well-earned repose. Probably not one ofthese men ever seriously dreamed that an event could occur that would,in the course of a few swift weeks, blot out the record of his lifework, and deprive him of all opportunity for promotion, for pension,and even for employment. No doubt the death toll of the battles on theplains of Flanders has been heavy among these courteous, capable andindustrious men--many of whom were liable for military service in timeof war--but let us hope that peace, when it comes, will bring to eachsurvivor his old post again, with the old good service recordunforgotten, and that he will receive the pension he rightfullyexpects and that his country would gladly give--at last.

To those who enjoy rambling through the byways of history there is notown richer in associations, yet less spoiled by the visits of the allbut ubiquitous tourist, than Dixmude. At present this little city issituated fifteen miles from the sea, yet all the ancient chroniclersaver that prior to the thirteenth century it was a seaport with acommerce overseas and a not inconsiderable fishing fleet. As one looksacross the miles and miles of pleasant fields, interspersed withwaving windmills and tiny villages, this part of the ancient city'shistory seems utterly incredible, but it is too well authenticated tobe disputed. Ten times, so the histories tell us, Dixmude was besiegedand bravely defended by its citizens. More than once it was destroyedby fire and rebuilt, but at last the blight that destroyed theprosperity of its larger and more powerful neighbours, Ypres, Brugesand Ghent, struck at the heart of its industries as well and it sankby imperceptible degrees into its long sleep.

Like the abode of the Sleeping Princess, of whom Tennyson wrote, onemight almost fancy that all life had stopped centuries ago at thewave of some magic wand. The summer's sun and winter's rain and snowof half a thousand years have left but the faintest traces on its oldhouses and its great parish church of St. Nicholas. The pride and joyof this church is its altar screen, or _jubé_, said to have beendesigned by Urban Taillebert, the architect of the Church of St.Martin at Ypres and many other celebrated works of around the year1600. There is also an "Adoration of the Magi" by Jordaens, and theusual collection of minor works of art. To us, however, this oldchurch was far more interesting externally than within, its huge clocktower resembling nothing else that we had seen in Flanders orelsewhere. The Grande Place, from which one can obtain a fine view ofthe old church with a row of Lilliputian houses nestling below it, isbig enough to accommodate all the present inhabitants of the town inone corner. In its prime Dixmude is said to have had thirty thousandinhabitants, and all the room on the Place was, no doubt, needed onmarket days, but it does not have a fifteenth of that number now, andthe wide, grass-grown expanse of cobble-stones is entirely deserted.

The _jubé_, or altar screen, already mentioned, is the one great"sight" of the little town, and every one asks without fail whetheryou have yet seen it. It is assuredly well worth seeing, beingwonderfully graceful and dainty, and, perhaps, the finest thing of itskind in Northern Europe. The other famous _chef d'oeuvre_ of Dixmudeis culinary instead of artistic. This is a kind of brioche called_zieltjenskoeken_, or _gateaux d'ames_--a sort of "soul cooky," as itwere. Twice a year, on certain religious occasions, the inhabitants ofDixmude consume vast quantities of these confections, which areclaimed to possess the property--if eaten on the prescribed days--ofdelivering one's soul from purgatory and sending it straight toParadise. We were unfortunately unable to verify this, as our visitdid not come on the right day, but we found the butter ofDixmude--which has enjoyed a great reputation for centuries--to be allthat was claimed for it, although the Professor insisted on putting ashake of salt on his, to the great horror of the maid who served ourdinner.

Had some Madame Thebes told us what the near future had in store forthis sleepy and quaint old city we would have spent days instead ofhours in it, but last June its importance did not seem to justifygiving it a chapter so we planned to visit Furnes the same day.To-day the name of Dixmude has been heard to the farthest ends of theworld, its great square echoes to the tramp of armed men, its oldchurch--after standing for so many centuries--is said to have fallenbefore the withering storm of shrapnel and shells that for days raineddown upon its defenders. It has been taken and retaken by each side inthe gigantic combat more than once. It is asleep no longer, forgottenno longer; and, in years to come, reverent visitors from many nationswill visit what may remain of the ancient town. For these the chiefinterest will not lie in the walls of the ruined church or the relicsof the departed _jubé_, if any there be, but out in the open, pleasantfields where, in trenches that the kindly hand of nature willgradually obliterate, the brave men of four nations met in one of thefiercest and bloodiest death grapples of the great war.

But last July both Madame Thebes and the cannon were silent, so againtaking our faithful _omnibus_ after the dinner--which we obtained atone of the little restaurants overlooking the Grande Place--we nextjourneyed northward to Furnes, which is only a few miles distantacross the flat Flemish plain. Furnes, according to the antiquarians,dates from as early as the year 800, and its day of greatness hadcome and gone centuries ago. Its crooked streets, quaint gabledhouses, and picturesque corners seemed more mediæval than any place wehad visited--surpassing even Dixmude in this respect. It was here, bythe way, that Leopold I was welcomed to the country when he arrivedafter being chosen to be the first King of the Belgians in 1831. TheHotel of the Nobele Rose, near the Grande Place, is said to have beenthe Palace of the Countess Gertrude of Flanders in 1093, and if so,must be one of the oldest houses in Flanders. The widow of CountPhilip of Alsace is also said to have resided here in 1218. Morecelebrated, in years to come, than any of these incidents, will be thefact that Furnes was for many months of the Great War the headquartersof the brave Belgian army, and the place of residence of Belgium'sheroic King.

The great annual event at Furnes is the famous Procession, which takesplace the third Sunday in July. It dates from 1100 or thereabouts,when, according to the legend, Count Robert of Flanders was on his wayback from the Holy Land, bringing with him a piece of the true cross.His voyage across the Mediterranean, through the Straits of Gibraltarand past the stormy Bay of Biscay, was without incident, but as hewas nearing home a fearful storm in the English Channel threatened tosend his frail bark to the bottom. The waves were running mountainhigh and all the party expected each moment to be their last when theCount suddenly bethought himself of his holy relic and vowed that, ifhis life were spared, he would present it to the first church of whichhe might see the spire.

Immediately the storm ceased, the wind died down, the sea became assmooth as a mill-pond, and as the happy mariners looked toward theshore of their dear Flanders a ray of sunlight fell upon the tower ofSte. Walburge in Furnes. To this church, therefore, in fulfilment ofhis vow, Count Robert presented the relic, now doubly precious byreason of this miracle. To commemorate this event the canons of thechurch organised a procession which took place every year and wasmarked by various historical representations of the return of CountRobert. About 1650 an act of sacrilege committed by a soldier, who waspublicly executed for his crime, led to the procession taking oncertain penitential features by way of expiation on the part of thecity for this sin. From that time on the procession has includedrepresentations, for the most part by peasants dressed up for theparts, of Abraham and the Prophets, the Flight into Egypt, the Visitof the Three Wise Men to the Cradle at Bethlehem, so often painted bythe artists of the Flemish school, the Stable and the Birth of Christ,the Court of Herod, Jesus in the Midst of the Doctors, the PenitentMagdalen, the Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, the Feast at Cana, theGarden of Olives, the Betrayal of Judas, and a series of scenesrepresenting the crucifixion, burial and resurrection. Following thesetableaux come the penitents, walking masked and barefooted, clad forthe most part in brown Capuchin robes, and singing or chanting certainlines in Flemish. Many of the leading actors in the tableaux have"speaking parts," all of them in Flemish and delivered with varyingdegrees of histrionic skill to the crowd that lines the streets. Thewhole performance, apart from its great antiquity, is of interest asbeing a local and original representation of the Biblical story--asort of Flemish passion play, less refined and artistic than that ofthe Swiss peasants of Oberammergau, but none the less conscientious,earnest and sincere.

At one time Furnes ranked next to Ghent and Bruges among the cities ofFlanders in official importance, if not in population and industry,its _châtellenie_ comprising fifty-two villages. In 1297 it wasbesieged by Robert, the Count of Artois, who fell five years later atthe great battle of Courtrai. At Furnes the French arms weresuccessful and the city was captured and sacked, "more than twothousand houses being burned in two days," according to thecontemporary chronicles. Philip the Bold, the first of the BurgundianDukes to rule over Flanders, rebuilt its fortifications, and the citywas deemed worthy under Philip the Good to be designated as the placeof residence of the French Dauphin, who subsequently became Louis XI,when that remarkable young man was in exile through his father'sdispleasure. It may well have been here that the wiliest and mostunscrupulous of all the Kings of France planned that tortuous andsecretive policy that--steadily pursued year after year--brought thepowerful House of Burgundy low at last and made France one nationinstead of two or three.

The quaint old Grande Place of Furnes, while smaller than that ofDixmude, is equally picturesque. On one side is the old Meat Market,dating from the first quarter of the seventeenth century; and hard byis the _Maison des Espagnols_, or House of the Spaniards, formerlyused as a town-hall and erected in the thirteenth century. Thepresent Hotel de Ville also faces the Place and is well worth a visit,although none of its rooms are sufficiently notable to merit adetailed description. The ancient _Châtellenie_, now used as CourtHouse, was begun in 1612--the year the Hotel de Ville wasfinished--and is chiefly memorable as the meeting-place of the SpanishInquisition. This body held its sessions in the antechamber on thefirst floor and not in the main hall, which is decorated by a muralpainting by de Vriendt representing Philip the Fair swearing toobserve the rights and privileges of the city. The establishment ofthe Inquisition by his namesake and grandson, Philip II, affords aghastly commentary on the manner in which that monarch kept thesimilar pledges with which he began his reign. Another fine oldedifice on the Grande Place is the Belfry, square for half its height,then octagonal, and finally surmounted by a bulbous spire, heavy andclumsy, but none the less exceedingly quaint and picturesque. Not afew of the ancient houses around the Place and in the adjacent streetswere sufficiently mediæval to have merited a visit had our stay inthis fine old Flemish town been longer; but, so far as we couldlearn, none possessed any particular historical interest.

Besides Ste. Walburge, already mentioned--which was evidently plannedto be a cathedral, but of which only the choir was evercompleted--Furnes possesses the church of St. Nicholas, which has anoble square tower, also unfinished. Both churches are disappointingwithin, although the former is, no doubt, of great interest toarchitects as an example of the ogival style, while the latter isGothic and dates from the fourteenth century. The choir stalls in St.Walburge are notable examples of the Flemish woodcarvers' art,although far less ancient than the church itself.

If the time of your stay is midsummer, as it will be if you come toFurnes to see the Procession, do not go away without a day on thedunes at Coxyde. This beach is less well known, as yet, than those atOstende, Heyst and Blankenburghe farther to the east but it isincreasing in popularity very rapidly. A land company, with headoffices at Brussels, is engaged in erecting summer houses among thedunes which look too American in architecture and manner ofconstruction for this country where houses are generally built as ifintended to last a thousand years. A little _chemin de fer__vicinal_ runs from Furnes to Coxyde. In addition to the splendidbeach and the dunes, which have a dreary grandeur that is alwaysfascinating, the shrimp fishermen, or _pecheurs de crevettes_, willmake the short trip well worth while.

[Illustration: SHRIMP FISHERMEN, COXYDE.]

These weather-beaten men, with their rough oilskin hats and suits, arethe modern representatives of an ancient Flemish industry--shrimpfishing having been carried on along these coasts literally from timeimmemorial. They are very picturesque, both while at work on horsebackdragging in their nets, and while lounging along the shore, pipe inmouth. Jean Delvin has a fine painting representing them in the Museumat Ghent, while one of the most powerful of Meunier's statues isdevoted to the same subject.

CHAPTER VI

NIEUPORT AND THE YSER CANAL

When the war is over, and the era of commemoration begins, Belgium, ifshe is free, should erect at Nieuport, close to the great locks thatmark the outlet of the Yser Canal--or at some point along the canalwhere the fighting was the fiercest--a monument higher than that atLeipzig where the Germans recall their victory over Napoleon, higherthan the great lion that guards the field of Waterloo. At its summitshould stand a heroic-sized figure in imperishable bronze of a Belgianinfantryman, one of the round-capped "demons" whose indomitable willand unwavering courage held this last bit of Belgian soil againstoverpowering numbers for days. It was here that Germany's magnificentrush from Antwerp to the Channel ports was stopped, and it was thelast remnant of the little Belgian army that, turning on its foe likea lion at bay, hurled back every assault until the little Yser Canalran red and until, at last, the great reinforcing hosts of the alliescame.

The little straggling town of Nieuport, peaceful and sleepy as itlooked last summer, is not a stranger to battles and sieges. In thetime of William the Conqueror Lombartzyde, now a little hamlet on the_chemin de fer vicinal_ behind the dunes from Nieuport to Ostende, wasthe shipping port of this region, but great storms filled the harbourwith sand and the citizens established a "New Port" on another branchof the Yser in 1160. It was fortified three years later, and forseveral centuries was one of the strong towns defending the LowCountries on the French frontier. Its strategic importance made it thescene of many battles and sieges. It was destroyed by the English andtheir allies, the men of Ghent, in 1383. The lonely tower or Donjon ofthe Templars, standing on the edge of the town, is all that remains ofa monastery of that order which was ruined at that time.

The city itself, however, was quickly rebuilt, and among othermemorable sieges beat off a great French force in the year 1489. In1568 the Spanish, under Condé, beat a French army commanded by Turennenot far from the city. Another famous fight before the walls of theold town took place in the year 1600 during the long war between Spainand her revolted Provinces. Count Maurice of Nassau, at the head oftwelve thousand men from the United Provinces, had invaded Flanders,which still remained under the power of Spain, and marching rapidlyfrom the Scheldt past Ostende, proceeded to besiege Nieuport. TheArchduke Albert, hastily raising an army of fifteen thousandSpaniards, advanced unexpectedly on the Dutch, who were takencompletely by surprise. Perceiving that he was caught in a trap, CountMaurice--in order to give his men the courage of despair--ordered theDutch fleet to withdraw, and told his soldiers that they must eitherconquer or "be prepared to drink all the water behind them."

Meanwhile an advance guard of the Dutch army was driven back by theadvancing Spaniards who, thinking they had met the whole army, sentcouriers to Bruges and Ghent announcing the victory. Bells were rungto celebrate the Archduke's supposed success which, as the eventproved, was a strategic victory for Nassau as it delayed the enemyseveral hours. It was three o'clock in the afternoon when theadvancing Spaniards found themselves face to face with the main armyof the republic, drawn up on the very beach outside the city walls.Perceiving their sturdy ranks and unyielding front the Archdukehesitated, but the Spaniards urged him not to let them lose theirprey, whom they regarded as hateful rebels and heretics.

Thus encouraged, the Archduke gave the order to advance and the battlesoon became general. The fate of the day was decided by the artilleryof the Dutch which, by a fortunate order of their far-sightedcommander, had been lifted off from the sand and mounted on platformsmade from boughs, brush and such timber as was handy. That of theArchduke, mounted in haste directly on the beach, embedded itself inthe sand at each discharge until it became useless, while that of therepublicans became more accurate and deadly. At the same time the raysof the setting sun falling directly in the eyes of the Spanishsoldiers, who were facing westward, blinded them and caused them tofire wildly. The Archduke performed prodigies of valour, having twohorses killed under him and being himself slightly wounded, but asdarkness began to fall on the bloody beach Count Maurice ordered acharge by a force of cavalry he had held in reserve. This fresh forceproved irresistible, the Spanish lines began to give way on all sides,and the retreat quickly turned into a rout. Even the proud Archdukehad to seek safety in flight, and the day, which had begun soauspiciously, ended in one of the greatest disasters of the disastrouswar.

Nieuport and its sister cities in this, until lately, half-forgottencorner of Flanders were, in former times, renowned for other contestshappily less bloody than these famous battles. Here, during the MiddleAges, flourished a group of societies devoted to rhetoric. In place ofthe still more ancient tourneys, where armed knights fought with lanceand sword, these "Chambers of Rhetoric" held annual contests oforatory. From one end of Flanders to the other the movement spread;and these debating societies did much to cultivate a regard forlearning and dialectic skill among the mass of the population. Sternlysuppressed by Alva, implacable foe of every form of free thought,these societies were revived after the Spanish scourge was withdrawn,and some of them continue to the present day.

The visitor who wandered around the long, slightly hilly streets ofthe Nieuport of last July would have had little trouble in locatingplenty of the "monuments" of its famous past, although the beach hasnow receded two or three miles to the northward and pleasant fieldsextend along the edge of the wide marshes which then were probablypart of the sea. A curious old lighthouse with a pointed tower standsabout midway between the present town and Nieuport _Bains_, as thebeach town is called, showing where the coastline lay some threehundred and fifty years ago. Even this spot is now too far inland forthe light to be seen at sea and a new lighthouse has been built on therampart of dunes that runs, like a miniature mountain range, almost toOstende toward the east, and westward to Coxyde and beyond.

[Illustration: TOWER OF THE TEMPLARS, NIEUPORT.]

Our first visit at Nieuport was to the Tower of the Templars, a hugesquare pile of brick standing in the midst of a potato patch. Thisprosaic environment detracted not a little from the sentimentalinterest of the edifice, and we were unable to get into the structure,although one of the gens d'armes of the village was said to have a keyto the low wooden door at its base. Equally disappointing was a visitto the ancient _Halle aux Draps_, or Cloth Hall, now used on certaindays as a local butter market. Here again, the door was locked and noone seemed to know who had the key. Curiously enough, althoughsituated very close to the French frontier, we found in this littletown and its neighbours, Dixmude and Furnes, very few people whounderstood French. Flemish is the universal language hereaboutsapparently, but it was only on this little trip that we were at allinconvenienced by our inability to speak it. Elsewhere inFlanders--even at Ypres and Audenaerde, where our friends said wewould have trouble--we were able to make our French universallyunderstood.

On the Grande Place, close to the Cloth Hall, we found a little inn,called the Hotel du Pelican, where the Professor proposed that weshould get some liquid refreshment. We failed, however, to obtain anyresponse to our raps and thumps on the door, and concluding that theestablishment must be run for pelicans only we took ourselves and ourpatronage elsewhere. The Church of Notre Dame, which stands just offthe Grande Place, we found to be a most quaint and interesting oldstructure dating, it is said, from the thirteenth century. While lessimposing externally than St. Nicholas at Furnes its massive squarebaroque tower was very striking, and formed a fine picture inconjunction with the more slender tower of the Cloth Hall hard by. Theapproach to the main entrance of the church was beneath some loftytrees and we did not see a solitary human being either outside of theedifice or within it. This church has an interesting _jubé_ or roodloft, a fine wooden pulpit, and we also noticed a curious windingstairway that seemed to lead upward within one of the pillars at theintersection of the transept and the choir. As the tower is not builtat this point, but at one end of the edifice, it was quite a mysterywhere this stairway went and what its purpose might be, but as itseemed exceedingly narrow and dark we did not explore it, nor did wefind any one to whom we could apply for information about it.

It was in this church, by the way, or possibly in one of those atDixmude or Furnes, that the Madame developed a violent antipathy to acertain painting that seems to be one of the most cherishedpossessions of nearly every church in Flanders. As old Cotton andIncrease Mather delighted in scaring and harrowing their audienceswith word pictures of the tortures of the burning fiery pit, so nearlyevery old Flemish artist seems to have delighted in portraying mostvividly the sufferings and martyrdoms of the saints, and one subjectin particular appears to have caught the fancy of every one of them.This was the beheading of John the Baptist. At times the head is shownrolling in the dust or mire of the street, at times it is representedas being served on a platter--but to one and all of these works of artthe Madame objected. This circ*mstance added not a little to thehappiness of Mr. and Mrs. Professor, who were continually contrivingto lead her artfully around to inspect some new wonder, which provedto be another representation of this agreeable scene. As works of artthey were nearly all atrocities, but as jokes on the Madame they wereone and all great successes, and it was really surprising how many ofthem there were.

The Hotel de Ville, a somewhat commonplace looking structure, is saidto contain a small collection of paintings, but we were unable to makeany of the phlegmatic gens d'armes whom we found lounging close bytake enough interest in our questions to inform us where admissionmight be obtained. In fact the whole town seemed singularlyuninterested in tourists, apparently caring not a bit whether theycame or stayed away. While the war will undoubtedly change this, stillany one desiring to visit it will do well to make the trip fromOstende or Furnes, returning for the night to some point where hotelaccommodations are more adequate. In our case we went over to Ostende,where there are many good hotels. No doubt a pleasant week or monthcould be spent in this corner of Flanders, but for such a stay thebest plan would be to go to one of the many little seaside resortsbetween Coxyde and Ostende for one's hotel or pension, and explore thehinterland from there.

The ride by the little _chemin de fer vicinal_ from Nieuport toOstende is a very interesting one. At the outset the line crosses thehuge locks that join the canals to Ostende and Furnes with the tidalriver Yser. There are seven or eight bridges in all, the differentcanals and channels being separated by tiny islands. Had Madame Thebesonly suggested that we explore the Yser Canals while we were therelast July how much more interesting this part of the book would be!Unfortunately they looked then much as hundreds of other Belgiancanals had looked and we gave them only a passing glance. While thenewspapers in their accounts of the great battle of Flanders usuallyspoke of the Yser Canal as though there was but a single canal, inreality there are three canals that flow into the tiny Yser River atthis point. One of these runs parallel with the coast to Ostende, andthen onward to Bruges and beyond; the second runs behind the range ofdunes westward to Furnes, where it divides and crosses the Frenchfrontier in two branches, one going to Bergues and the other toDunkerque. It is the third branch that achieved immortality in theBattle of Flanders. This runs straight inland, at right angles to theother two, following the tortuous channel of the old river much of theway to Dixmude. A short distance beyond Dixmude the canal ceases tofollow the River Yser, which here flows eastward from a source wellacross the French boundary, and ascends the Yser's smaller tributary,the Yperlée, to Ypres. It did not seem like very much of an obstaclefrom a military standpoint, but brave hearts can make the most of asmall advantage. Below the big locks the little river runs in its ownbed to the sea. Here the tide was out the day of our visit and a fewsmall fishing boats were lying tipped over sideways in the mud, whiletwo or three English ladies were busily sketching the notover-picturesque scene. There will be a great many people sketching inthis vicinity by and by!

About two miles from Nieuport the train passes the church ofLombartzyde, within which is a statue of the Virgin known amongmariners far and wide as the _Bonne Mére de Lombartzyde_, and who isdevoutly believed able to protect the faithful seaman from perils bysea, to aid the farmer in his harvest, to cure the sick and succourthe distressed. Many are the little ships, patiently carved by fingershardened by toil and exposure, that have been reverently hung beforethe good Virgin's shrine. There are perhaps fewer now than formerly,but faith in her protection and power is still strong and willprobably always continue to be so, for the Flemings are intenselyloyal to the church.

Not a few of those who visit these little towns, rich in mementoes ofthe past, but otherwise apparently very sleepy and dull, wonder whatthe inhabitants do for amusem*nt. No one who has ever spent a Sundayin a Belgian country village need ask this question. From one end ofthe country to the other, in the Borinage or mining provinces of thesouthwest as well as in the Flemish counties of the north, the malepopulation devotes the greater part of the day to what mayunhesitatingly be termed the Belgian national sport--archery. In theearly part of the Middle Ages Flemish archers were as famous as thelongbowmen of Merrie England, and on many a hard fought field theygave a good account of themselves. Curiously enough, the archerysocieties into which they formed themselves for practice have survivedall the wars and changes of the centuries, have continued in spite ofthe invention of gunpowder and the perfection of firearms--an industryin which Liége, in southern Belgium, has led all other cities--andseem to be as vital a part of the national life of the country as everthey were. The fact that the bow and arrow is an anachronism troublesyour Belgian peasant not at all; he shoulders his long bow ascheerfully on a Sunday morning as if he were carrying the latest modelof smokeless powder repeater, with Maxim silencer and all modernimprovements, instead of a weapon that was out of date and uselessfive hundred years ago.

As practised in Belgium, archery contests are carried on in two ways.There is first what is known as the _Tir á l'oiseau_ or _Perche_. Inthe centre of the village green of the smaller towns, and in some openspace in the suburbs of the larger places, the traveller cannot failto notice what looks like a flag pole, the top of which, however,tapers to a slender point, from just beneath which four short armspoint upward diagonally, while three cross arms are placedhorizontally below them. On these are fixed the _oiseaux_, orbirds--blocks of cork covered with tinsel or gaily-coloured paper,each with a tuft of feathers stuck at the top. The archers gatherbelow the pole and shoot upward, aiming at the "birds" andendeavouring to knock them off cleanly. Each shoots in turn, and theprizes--which have been duly announced by posters for daysbeforehand--go to those capturing one of the "birds," the valuevarying according to its position. In the contests entitled "_Tir duRoi_," the archer bringing down the last bird wins the largest prizeand is called the "_Roi_," or King, and as by that time the archershave one and all consumed a goodly portion of their favouritebeverages there is general hilarity--especially if the victor is apopular favourite. Immemorial custom decrees that the King should dealliberally with his subjects and dispense in libations whatever sum hemay have gained as a prize, after which he is usually escorted, or ifnecessary carried, home in great state with a band in advance and allthe members of the contest following in a disorderly, but jolly,crowd.

The second form of contest is known as the "_Tir au berceau_," andconsists of shooting at a target. The birds, in this case, arefastened about the bull's eye. The archers stand at a distance of onehundred metres from the target, which is usually placed at the rear ofa walled court or garden. Generally a series of wooden arches placedat intervals along the line of fire serve to arrest any arrows that gowild, while the back of the target is reinforced strongly with strawsabout a foot long laid lengthwise with the line of the shooting andpacked under great pressure. There is invariably a public café orestaminet attached to the places where archery contests _au berceau_are conducted, while such places are always found close by the spotwhere a _Tir á l'oiseau_ takes place. Between shots the men consumeliberal quantities of lambic, faro, or the beer of some neighbouringbrewer, and discuss politics or the news of the day. A circ*mstancethat renders disorders comparatively rare is that each archery societyconsists of men of a single party. The Catholics have their favouriteplaces that are patronised exclusively by Catholics, while theSocialists in the southern provinces, where that party is strong, havetheir own societies and places of rendezvous. The clergy are heartilyinterested in the Catholic contests, giving liberal prizes andattending in considerable numbers to cheer the victors and console thevanquished.

During the early part of the war numerous references were made in thedespatches to the marvellous accuracy of the Belgian riflemen. To onewho has attended scores of these archery contests it is not surprisingthat the Belgians are good shots. Out of date though the bow and arrowis, yet the sport cannot fail to train the eye and hand, and constantrivalry in such a pastime has made the Belgians literally a nation ofsharpshooters. On one occasion the writer and a friend took a coupleof shots with a carbine in one of the little shooting galleries thataccompanied a village kermesse. We both missed. A young man standingby, who worked in the village sugar mill, politely asked which of thevarious pipes and other objects we were aiming at. We indicated one ofthem and, zip! his bullet had shattered it. Half a dozen shots inquick succession at different objects we pointed out proved equallyaccurate. It was an exhibition of marksmanship such as one frequentlysees on the stage in the United States, but being made by a casualbystander in a village street it was most impressive. Nor was the lad,as I took pains to inquire, noted particularly for his skill in thisdirection--having seldom won prizes in the official contests.

All ages join in this sport, the small boys erecting diminutive polesin the fields around the villages, where they imitate their elderswith toy bows and arrows, while men of seventy or eighty take theirturn with beardless youths in the prize competitions. While I wasvisiting in the Borinage two years ago the uncle of my hostessshouldered his two-metre bow and started off to a "meet" despite hiseighty-seven years. What is more, his hand had lost none of itsstrength and firmness, and his eyes none of their keenness, for twicewhile I was present he brought down one of the "birds," and I laterlearned that he had won one of the principal prizes. Only the yearbefore he had been crowned "King" at one such contest, and the firsttime he ever won that coveted honour was when he was sixteen--orseventy-one years before. I doubt whether there is any athletic gamein the world of which the devotees can point to a longer record ofsuccess.

This fine old athlete had two brothers older than himself alive at thetime, the combined ages of the three aggregating two hundred andeighty years. One of them, aged ninety-four, recently expressed someanxiety as to what would become of him in the event of the death ofthe daughter with whom he was living.

"What will I do if Amèlie should die?" he asked of one of his otherdaughters.

"Why, papa, then you would come and live with me," she replied,adding with a flash of characteristic Belgian humour, "and when I amdead you'll go to live with Fèlicienne" (a grand-daughter still in her'teens). As this provided safely for his future for at least anotherfifty years, the old gentleman was greatly relieved, feeling perhapsthat if he survived Fèlicienne her children would by that time be oldenough to take care of him.

While archery is everywhere the dominating pastime of the workingclass it is by no means the only form of popular amusem*nt. Thebicycle has not yet gone out of vogue in Belgium, and societies existin hundreds of cities and communes for the encouragement of bicycleracing. The day of our arrival in the village where Tante Rosa spreadfor us the banquet mentioned in the second chapter, we were sofortunate as to witness the final sprint of a twenty-five kilometrerace. A score of contestants had pedalled ten times over a courseconsisting for the most part of roadways paved with raggedcobble-stones, the rest being dirt roads filled with mud puddles owingto a recent rain. The riders, as they rushed by, were literallycovered with mud and had evidently struggled hard to gain one of thefive prizes which aggregated, as we afterwards learned, themunificent sum of eighty francs, sixteen dollars, of which the winnerreceived thirty--six dollars!

Another favourite form of recreation is the racing of pigeons, andsocieties for the promotion of this sport exist in every part of theKingdom. Frequently the birds fly from one end of the country to theother and many examples of remarkable speed have been reported, thewinners bringing comparatively high prices:

No better idea of the variety of popular amusem*nts can be given thanto take the programme of one little commune that I had an opportunityof copying, entitled "_Fêtes Communales de 1914_"--this announcementbeing printed in French and Flemish. While many of the events wereevidently organised by various societies the officials of the communeassumed responsibility for the proper conduct of the contests, andeither provided the prizes or contributed a substantial sum towardthem, the rest being raised by a fee exacted from each contestantwhich varied from one franc, thirty centimes for the smaller events tofive francs for the more important ones. With one hundred contestantsthis would yield one hundred and thirty francs, to which the communeusually added fifty, making one hundred and eighty francs availablein all. For the chief events the prizes aggregate 1,000 to 2,000francs--quite a respectable sum for a commune of six thousandinhabitants. The difference between archery contests _au berceau_ and_à la perche_ has already been explained. The programme, muchabbreviated, follows:

 Sun., Apr. 19.--Archery contests, both au berceau and perche.

 Sun., Apr. 26.--Archery contest, au berceau, and rifle contest (carbines).

 Fri., May 1.--Fête du Travail (Labor Day) Archery contest and popular ball on a public square in the evening--dancing in the street, rain or shine.

 Sun., May 10.--Rifle contest.

 Thurs., May 21.--Archery contest.

 Sun., May. 24.--Annual Fair with archery contests of both kinds, rifle contest and grand concert in evening with two bands.

 Sun., May 31.--Kermesse, with archery contests of both kinds and a popular out-door ball in the evening.

 Sun., June 7.--Bicycle Race--outdoor course around the village ten times, 25 kilometres.

 Sun., June 14.--Archery contest au berceau and Tir du Roi (perche).

 Sun., June 21.--Kermesse in another quarter of the commune, with rifle contest and concert in evening, followed by popular ball.

 Sun. to Tues., July 5, 6, 7,--Annual Kermesse in the centre of the commune, with archery contest (perche) on Sunday, au berceau on Monday, and Tir du Roi with public games and sports on Tuesday. Itinerant amusem*nt enterprises of all kinds make these annual kermesses a miniature Coney Island while they last.

 Sun., July 26.--Tir du Roi and Grand Fête Gymnastique, followed by concert, Fête de Nuit and a ball.

 Sun., Aug. 9.--Fête d'Enfance, distribution of prizes to school children with public exhibition of school gymnastics, etc.

 Sat. and Sun., Aug. 15 and 16.--Kermesse in a third quarter, with archery contests and concert.

 Sun. Mon. and Tues., Aug. 30 to Sept. 1.--Annual Kermesse, with archery contests of both kinds, concert and sports and games.

 Sun., Sept. 20.--Archery au berceau and rifle contest.

 Sun., Oct. 25.--Same.

 Sun., Nov. 21.--Archery, perche.

 Sun., Dec. 13.--Rifle contest.

It must be confessed that this programme is somewhat monotonous, butin the larger towns it is considerably amplified and varied. Still toone who was brought up in a small country village in New Hampshire itseems very good, both as an evidence of the popular desire forhealthy and rational out-door enjoyment, and of the disposition of theGovernment to promote and foster legitimate amusem*nts of all kinds.The kermesse is an European rather than a Belgian institution andrequires no description further than that it is a jolly good time foreverybody. It has existed in Flanders and throughout the Walloonprovinces from time immemorial, as ancient paintings and still moreancient historical references conclusively show. Its most interestingfeature to the American visitor is the night dancing out of doors onthe rough cobble-stones of the town square or on the soft grass of thevillage green. Lighted by flaring gas torches, or sometimes only bythe moon and such stray beams as fall on the dancers from the opendoors and windows of adjacent cafés, the spectacle of the gailydancing couples carries the observer back to the days when the worldwas young, and love and laughter and happiness reigned supreme.

[Illustration: AN ANCIENT PAINTING OF THE FLEMISH KERMESSE, BYTENIERS.]

CHAPTER VII

WHEN YPRES WAS A GREATER CITY THAN LONDON

As we returned from our trip to Dixmude, Furnes and Nieuport, theProfessor announced that our next destination would be Ypres. If hehad said that it would he Chingwangtao, or the Comoro Archipelago, theladies could hardly have stared at him more blankly. They had neverheard of it. Since October the whole world has heard of it, and thename of the all but forgotten old town is familiar to everyschoolboy--and will continue so for generations to come. The record ofour visit that follows was written amid the pleasant and peacefulscenes that it describes. When we were there the swans were swimmingmajestically in the waters of the moat that still surrounded theremnants of the old city walls, but we were told that for militarypurposes all this was obsolete. No doubt it was, but the brave oldtown was none the less able--with the help of its stubborn Englishdefenders--to withstand the most furious, determined and bloodyassaults in all history. To the German host the mediæval term _lamorte d'Ypres_ was revived in those awful weeks of October andNovember, 1914, for the grim, low-lying ramparts of the town meantdeath to countless thousands.

Whether anything whatever is still standing of the old structuresdescribed in this chapter it is at present impossible to say. TheBritish trenches were under a well-nigh continuous storm of shells formany weeks, and the town itself must undoubtedly have sufferedseverely. Late in November it was reported that the old Cloth Hall hadbeen destroyed by the furious German bombardment, or, at least,severely injured. The account of the various points of interest in thefamous old town as they appeared in peaceful June--together with somebrief sketches of its former greatness--may be all the moreinteresting now that its ruins lie in the lime-light of the world'sattention. As compared with the half-dozen tourists that averaged tovisit Ypres each day before the war the return of peace will see itbecome the Mecca for daily thousands. To these the remains of the townitself should vie in interest with the trenches of the famousbattle-fields of the Great War, for during a period two or threetimes as long as the entire duration of the nation known as the UnitedStates of America, Ypres was one of the greatest and richest cities inthe world.

It was hard to believe it, however, as we rumbled into the railroadstation and, stepping out upon the almost deserted platform, took ourfirst look at the place. As is usually the case in Flanders, the traindeposits the visitor some distance from the centre of the town. Thevery first view was full of delight and promise of better things instore, however, for as we emerged from the station we found ourselvesfacing a pretty little park or square on the opposite side of which wecould see a bit of the ancient city walls which stretched away towardthe right most invitingly.

Postponing the pleasure of inspecting these renowned ramparts till alater occasion, we made our way through narrow winding streets directto the Grande Place, pausing now and then to admire the quaint gabledhouses on the rue au Beurre (Butter Street). At the Grande Place theProfessor led us directly to the huge Cloth Hall, which completelyfills one side of it, for here--he said--we would find the bestintroduction to the history and romance of the city. The conciergeproved hard to find, and we wandered up-stairs and through adeserted corridor, trying several doors that proved all to be locked,before we located the familiar sign. Our fees being duly paid--fiftycentimes each, which was little enough for the privilege of inspectingthe finest monument of its kind in Flanders, or for that matter in allEurope--one of the doors was obligingly unlocked and we foundourselves immediately in the great Guild Hall.

[Illustration: CLOTH HALL, YPRES.]

The _Halle aux Draps_, or Cloth Hall, is the largest civil edifice inBelgium, and without doubt one of the largest in the world. It is fourhundred and thirty-three feet long by more than two hundred inwidth--or larger than Madison Square Garden. Its huge bulk, and thatof the former cathedral hard by, contrast strangely with the presentdimensions of the little city. Yet when they were built Ypres was thepowerful rival of Bruges and Ghent, then at the apex of their glory,and one of the foremost cities in the world. The Cloth Hall was begunin 1200 and completed in 1304, or two years after the Battle of theSpurs, a victory won by the guildsmen of Ypres and Bruges against thechivalry of France. During that period the city had two hundredthousand inhabitants, its woollen weavers operated four thousandlooms, and more than four hundred guilds responded to the calls toarms that sounded, at frequent intervals, from the belfry.

The greatest wonder of the edifice is the immense gallery, or hall,which occupies the side next to the Grande Place. This extends for theentire length of the building, broken only by the belfry in the centrewhich forms a sort of transept across it. In height it reaches clearto the roof, the huge roof beams forming its ceiling. There is averitable forest of these, massive, sturdy, and as perfect as the daythey were hewed from the fair oaks of the countryside roundabout. Theconcierge will not fail to tell you, if you pause to admire thismajestic timber-work of six hundred years ago, that from that day tothis no spider has ever spun its web there--nor is any spider everseen. Like the story of the snakes in Ireland, it would be a big pityto spoil this by finding one and pointing it out--one must needs be agood runner to do it, and be very sure which road leads to the railwaystation, for it might go hard with him--but we could not see any theday we were there. In fact, the legend has been repeated by manywriters since the sixteenth century and is now such a matter of localpride that no doubt the concierge who permitted one to get in and setup housekeeping in this spiderless Eden--for it certainly must looklike the Promised Land to a spider--would not only lose his or herjob, but be severely punished by the indignant city fathers into thebargain.

Looking at the Cloth Hall from across the Grande Place it has theaspect of being a low building, but within this gallery one gainsprecisely an opposite impression--of unusual loftiness. Just how highthe vast room is can best be estimated by noting the wooden façade ofan ancient house that has been taken down and erected against one wallin its entirety. With its three stories and high peaked top thisstructure appears to be literally lost, looking like an undersized peain an extra big pod. The great inner walls of the main gallery, facingthe windows that look out upon the Grande Place, have been decoratedby modern frescoes of great historical and artistic interest paintedby two artists of widely different methods and ideals. The portioninto which one first enters, extending to the break formed by thetower, was decorated by Ferdinand Pauwels, Director of the RoyalAcademy of Dresden. Both the art critics, and those who make nopretence to superior knowledge in such matters, agree that this workhas been magnificently done. The vastness of the wall spaces made itpossible to paint the pictures on a scale of size and with a wealth ofdetail surpassing the fine frescoes of the Hotel de Ville at Brugesand the general effect upon the beholder is impressive in the extreme.The pictures represent notable events in the town's history down tothe fourteenth century, and were begun in 1872 and completed in 1881.The subjects selected by the artist are as follows:

 1.--Visit of Count Philip of Alsace to the Hospital of Our Lady in 1187.

 2.--Count Ferdinand of Portugal orders the Magistrates to fortify the town in 1214.

 3.--Countess Jeanne of Constantinople setting prisoners free on Good Friday, 1206.

 4.--5.--The Magistrates give the Countess Margaret the ransom of her son William, who was made prisoner during the 7th Crusade.

 6.--Building the West wing of the Guild Hall in the time of Guy of Dampierre, 1285.

 7.--8.--Return of the armed forces of Ypres in 1302 after the Battle of the Spurs.

 9.--The Plague, known as la Morte d'Ypres, in 1347.

 10.--11.--Banquet offered in this very hall to Mahaut, Countess of Flanders, and Matthew, Duke of Lorraine on their marriage in 1314.

 12.--An episode of the siege of Ypres by the English and the men of Ghent in 1383.

As will be noted, the pictures are not arranged in exact chronologicalorder, but, taken together, they form a wonderful pictorial summaryof the city's history--down to the Fall of 1914, which merits aseparate gallery by itself. To us the most impressive of the serieswas the vast picture in two sections showing the triumphant returnfrom the Battle of Courtrai and the tragic representation of the BlackDeath, which swept through all the densely populated Flemish towns;but was more destructive at Ypres than elsewhere. The visitation hererepresented was by no means the only one in the city's history, andfor centuries _la morte d'Ypres_ was a name of terror throughout thecountryside.

In the section of the Great Hall beyond the belfry the mural paintingsare the work of Louis Delbeke, a painter of Ypres. His pictures werethe subject of violent criticism when they were first exhibited, andare entirely unlike those in the other portion of the chamber. Theartist endeavoured to give his work an archaic appearance, in keepingwith the antiquity of its surroundings, and it was his intention tosymbolise the various manifestations of the public life of thecity--Civic Freedom, Commerce, Industry, Charities, Literature and soon. The work was interrupted by his death and has never beencompleted.

Another room of great interest is the _Salle Echevinale_, where forfive centuries the magistrates of Ypres held their sessions. Between1322 and 1468 local artists painted on the wall above the three Gothicarches in this room a frieze comprising portraits of the early Countsand Countesses of Flanders, beginning with Louis of Nevers and endingwith Charles the Bold. When the French occupied the town in 1794 theycovered these "emblems of superstition and portraits of tyrants" witha thick coat of whitewash which was only accidentally knocked off in1844, exposing a bit of the ancient and still brilliantly colouredpainting. The discovery created quite a sensation, as the veryexistence of this work had been forgotten, and a native artist wascommissioned to remove the whitewash and restore the paintings, whichhe did in a manner that is not entirely satisfactory, but none theless gives us an opportunity to view once more this interestingwork--one of the earliest pieces of mural painting in Flanders. On thenorth wall of this room is a modern fresco by Godefroid Guffens,representing "The State Entry of Philip the Bold" in 1384, while onthe other side of the room is a monumental Flemish chimney-piececarved by Malfait of Brussels, with mural paintings on each side byJean Swerts--like Guffens, a painter of the modern Antwerp school.These represent the Magistrates of Ypres issuing an order regardingthe maintenance of the poor, in 1515; and the visit of the Magistratesto one of the Free Schools founded in 1253--thus illustrating theearly interest taken by the commune in free education and publiccharities.

Leaving this interesting building we went across a small roughly pavedsquare to the Church of St. Martin, which dates from the thirteenthcentury, and was for many centuries a cathedral. The unfinished squaretower was erected in 1433. The choir is Romano-ogival, while the naveand aisles are early Gothic, and the edifice has many other peculiarfeatures of interest to students of architecture. It contains theusual paintings, of which none are of remarkable interest, and someexcellent choir stalls. The most famous of the Bishops of St. Martin,while it was a Cathedral Church, was Jansenius, one of the leadingfigures in the Reformation, who died of the Plague in 1638. His greatwork on St. Augustine occupied twenty-two years of his life while atYpres and caused a tremendous discussion. It was finally declared tobe heretical, but its teachings had already given rise to an ardentgroup of followers of the learned Flemish churchman, who were calledJansenists. The archives of the city and church contain muchinteresting material regarding this celebrated mediæval theologian.His tomb, which still stands in the church of which he was once thehead, formerly contained a long and highly eulogistic inscription,which, by an order from the Pope in 1655, was cut down to the bareremnant that still remains.

The Grande Place of Ypres is another of the surprises that this tinycity has to offer to those unacquainted with its history, for it isone of the largest in all Flanders--a veritable Sahara of a Place on ahot summer day, albeit a Sahara bordered with many pleasant oaseswhere cooling drinks, if they do not bubble up from the ground, can atleast be had without much difficulty. During most of the week the vastpaved space is almost deserted, save for an occasional peasant's cartthat rumbles slowly and clumsily across it, but on market-days it isfull of picturesque and swarming life. Then the peasants come in fromthe countryside by the thousand, while the itinerant hucksters andpedlars who, in Belgium travel from one fair or market-place toanother, set up their canvas-covered booths in long streets from oneside of the Grande Place to the other. The country people press alongbetween these rows of tiny shops and haggle energetically with theproprietors for whatever takes their fancy. An astounding variety ofwares are offered for sale on these market days--dress goods of everydescription in the great Cloth Hall, which for a brief moment reflectsa feeble glimmer of its ancient glory; ready-made garments for man,woman and child; footwear, headwear, and every conceivable kind ofhardware, of tinware, of crockery. In short, the display is averitable department store, for the most part cheap stuff, it is true,but now and then one runs across laces for which the prices asked arequite high. Then, of course, there is the inevitable array ofeverything possible to eat--from the butchers' stalls in the basem*ntof the Cloth Hall to the huckster selling live chickens from a bag onthe corner, and the scores of stands selling fruits and vegetables ofevery seasonable variety.

At last, however, the market comes to an end, the hucksters and marketgardeners take down their booths and drive away in their heavy Flemishcarts; the country people, after a more or less protracted visit tothe places of refreshment around the Place and in the adjacentstreets, go homeward, and the Grande Place settles down again into itssleep of centuries. While we were there the moon was at its full, andas its white light fell upon the grass-grown Place and the huge greymass of the Cloth Hall it was not hard to picture the old days comeback again and review, in fancy, some of the stirring times that theold houses around it have looked down upon. The great bell in theCloth Hall tower rings and from far and wide come hurrying throngs ofsturdy artisans, with their lances, pikes and clubs. The _Serments_,or oath-bound corporations, take their positions gravely and in goodorder--men of substance these, portly, well-fed, and prosperous. Thenthe _Métiers_, or lesser craftsmen, assemble--no doubt more noisilyand boisterously, as would be expected from their rougher class andlower breeding. Each of the four hundred guilds assembles around itsrespective banner, the Count and others of the nobility come ridingup; and with them, on terms of full equality, the commanders of thecitizen soldiery confer. Then, as the trumpets sound, or mayhap thegreat bell peals again, the hosts march off in serried ranks to thecity gates, or to take their positions along the walls. The oldstreets echo to the sound of their tramping feet, the noise of theirshouts and cries dies away, and once more the still moonlight fallsupon the deserted old Place.

As we sat in one of the cafés facing the Cloth Hall, our minds filledwith these and other fancies of the olden days--the moonlight, the oldhouses all around us, and the many quaint and ancient things we hadseen during the day all contributing to the dreamy sense ofenchantment--the Professor told us something of the legend and historyof that far-off thirteenth century when much of the Ypres we had seenthat day was built. It was an age when men firmly believed in magicand fairies and delighted in tales of mystery and enchantment. Some ofthe most famous stories told by the old Flemish chroniclers relate tothe career of Baldwin IX, who came to be known as Baldwin ofConstantinople. After the long and wise reigns of Dierick of Alsaceand his son Philip, Flanders had become one of the richest and mostprosperous countries in Europe. The French, who looked upon itsfertile plains and fair cities with covetous eyes, composed theselines, which no doubt expressed their sincere conviction:

 "La plus belle Comté est La Flandre, La plus belle Duché est La Bourgogne, La plus belle Royaume est France."

Baldwin was not only Count of Flanders, but also Count of Hainaut, ofwhich Mons was the capital--his dominions therefore extending from theNorth Sea to the River Meuse and including much of the Ardennes. Itwas in this region--the true fairy-land of Belgium--that the Count metwith an adventure, according to certain of the chroniclers, which gavehis reign a most sinister beginning. It happened in this wise. TheCount was very fond of hunting, and very neglectful of the duty hisloyal subjects felt that he owed to them--of getting married andsecuring children to insure the succession. For nothing was moredisastrous to a country than to have its line of princes die out,leaving their title to be fought for by all who felt themselves strongenough to seize it. The Count was to have married Beatrice of France,the most beautiful princess in Christendom, but to the neglect of thisimportant matter he went hunting in the Ardennes, where from timeimmemorial the wild boars have been very large and fierce.

Here, after a day of poor sport, the Count came upon a black boar ofenormous strength which killed several of his dogs and even woundedone of his companions. Pursuing the savage beast eagerly the Countlost sight of his followers and when he finally brought it to bay hewas alone. With a blow from his javelin he finally killed it, and thencut off its monstrous head. As he paused to get his breath he heard aslight rustle in the bushes and there was the most beautiful lady hehad ever seen, seated on a palfrey. Upon his inquiring who she was,and why she was there in the forest alone, she replied that she was anEastern princess and had come to find and wed the richest Count inChristendom, adding that she had learned that the Count of Flanderswas the noblest lord in all the West, and it was therefore that Countfor whom she was seeking.

To this the Count, who had already fallen deeply in love with thebeautiful stranger, whose dark eyes flashed upon him with a glance atonce mysterious and entrancing, replied that he was the Count ofFlanders and the richest Count under Heaven. He then and thereproposed to the damsel, offering to marry her at once, nor did heperceive that the wild boar he had lately slain had disappeared, andeven the blood of the battle was gone, while as for the huge head thathe had cut off with his own hands the palfrey upon which the Easternprincess was seated stood on the very spot. He then blew so loud arecall upon his horn that it was heard for miles through the greatforest, and presently the lesser counts and knights who formed histrain came riding up. To these he introduced the strange princess and,despite the prudent counsels of some that it might be well to learnmore about the lady, he forthwith repaired to Cambrai where they weremarried in great splendour. The Countess, beautiful as she was, didnot become popular, the people attributing to her the heavy taxes theyhad to pay. It was also whispered that she never attended theelevation of the Host at mass, always leaving before the bell wasrung.

Notwithstanding her unpopularity, and the gossip of the busybodies,the Count still loved his bride who bore him two children, Jeanne andMargaret, and ever remained as wonderfully beautiful as the day theyfirst met in the forest. As they were celebrating Easter one year atWynandael with a great feast a pilgrim arrived from the East with newsthat the Saracens were besieging Constantinople. He was forthwithinvited into the great hall of the castle and food placed before him,which he ate eagerly. Just then the Countess entered, with a train ofladies. At sight of her the pilgrim stopped eating and trembled, whilethe Countess turned deadly pale and whispered to her lord to sendthat stranger away as he was wicked and meant only evil by comingthere. But the Count bade the pilgrim say whereat he was alarmed,whereupon the stranger rose and in a loud voice bade the devil whofilled the body of the Countess to depart from it. At this theCountess rose and confessed she was indeed one of the devils cast outof Paradise who had inhabited the body of the most beautiful maiden ofthe East, the soul having departed from it. With this confession, atwhich all present were naturally appalled, she rose in all her beautybefore them and vanished through a window of the hall, nor was sheever seen or heard of again.

Other chroniclers and historians deny this story, pointing out thatthe Count was, in fact, happily married to Marie of Champagne and thatit was the beautiful French Countess and no princess of satanic originwho bore his two daughters, Jeanne and Margaret. This, in truth, wasthe case, but many of the superstitious Flemings believed the taleabout the devil none the less, and the Count's brilliant but tragiclater career caused the story to be repeated and handed down for manygenerations.

Only five years after coming to the throne Count Baldwin announced hisintention of going on a crusade, and in the presence of a vast throngboth he and Marie took the cross in the church of St. Donatian atBruges. This was in 1199, but the Count was not able to leave hisdominions at once and in the following year he and Marie came to Ypresto dedicate the foundation stone of the great Cloth Hall. He finallyset out in 1203, but the Venetians compelled the crusaders, in paymentfor their passage, to make a campaign which resulted in the capture ofConstantinople, the founding of the Latin Empire, and the election ofCount Baldwin as the first Emperor. Marie, meanwhile, had gone toSyria by another route and there she died of the plague, only learningin her last hour that her husband had become an Emperor and that shewas an Empress. Her death was the first of the reverses of fortune inBaldwin's meteoric career. A year later, in 1205, he fell wounded in abattle before the walls of Adrianople--or, perhaps, slain. Certain itis that he disappeared from the world of men and for a space of twentyyears was heard of no more.

Then, in the heart of the great forest that in those days stretchedfrom Tournai to Valenciennes, some wood-cutters found a long bearded,white-haired old man, his face covered with scars, living the life ofa hermit in a hut none of them remembered ever having seen before.Gradually this wonder attracted more and more of the people thereaboutto see the stranger, and men began to say that he resembled the goodCount Baldwin. Some of the nobles who had known the Count heard of it,visited the hut in the forest, and declared that this was indeed CountBaldwin and the Emperor.

If he was the Count his country needed him sorely, for the King ofFrance, Philip Augustus, had during his twenty years' absence all butmade Flanders a French province. When it became clear that Baldwin waseither dead or a prisoner of the pagans Philip had seized his twodaughters--Jeanne being then a girl of fourteen, and Margaret still inher cradle--claiming their wardship as the dead Count's suzerain. Fiveyears he kept them, nor did he permit them to return till he hadmarried Jeanne to a kinsman of his own, Ferdinand of Portugal, who hethought would be a mere puppet in his hands. Ferdinand, however,proved to be a man of determination and resisted Philip's seizure ofSt. Omer and Aire, two Flemish towns. Philip invaded Flanders with agreat army, capturing Cassel and destroying Damme and all themerchandise stored there, Lille, Courtrai and many smaller towns.Ferdinand, unable to resist the superior forces of Philipsingle-handed, brought about an alliance with King John of England.The battle of Bouvines shattered this alliance, and for twelve yearsFerdinand languished in a French prison, while King John was forced togrant the Magna Carta to his English subjects. Thus a victory fortyranny in Flanders resulted indirectly in a greater victory for thecause of freedom in England. Jeanne, while her husband was in prison,was the titular Countess of Flanders, but Philip kept her completelyunder the influence of his counsellors. Margaret, meanwhile, had beenmarried, but her husband was unable to make head against thefar-reaching power of the King of France.

It was under these circ*mstances that the hermit who men thoughtresembled Count Baldwin came on the stage. If he was an impostor his_coup_ was shrewdly planned, for Jeanne was as hated by the Flemingsas her father had been loved. If he was really the good Count and theEmperor his arrival in Flanders seemed to that distracted country likea direct interposition of Providence. A great delegation fromValenciennes went out to the forest and hailed him as their Countand then he at last admitted that he was indeed Baldwin ofConstantinople.

His tale was a strange one, but more easily believed in those wilddays than it would be now. He had, he asserted, been wounded beforeAdrianople and made a prisoner by the Bulgarians. While a captive aBulgarian princess saw him, fell in love, and contrived to effect hisescape after he had promised to marry her. Once free, however, herepented of his pledge to marry an infidel, and murdered hisbenefactress. This wicked deed was quickly followed by his recaptureby the barbarians, who made him a slave and even a beast of burden.Escaping at last, after many years, he had become a hermit in penancefor his great sin.

The men of Valenciennes believed this story, and pardoning hisself-confessed crime as of little moment, since it affected only aninfidel, proclaimed him their Count. The great towns of Flanders flungopen their gates to him wherever he went, and finally he held hiscourt in Bruges. His neighbours, the Dukes of Brabant and Limbourg,and his former ally, the King of England, acknowledged his claims,while his daughter Jeanne fled to France for protection.

The chief reason for believing that Baldwin was an impostor is thefact that at this crisis of his career he failed signally to show anyof the decision and judgment that twenty years before had made thetrue Baldwin Emperor. To be sure, twenty years of slavery, and thehaunting memory of the beautiful Marie of Champagne who had followedhim to her death, and of the Bulgarian princess whom he had so baselyslain, may have enfeebled his intellect. He was now an old man. At allevents, after a period of indecision he did the very thing he nevershould have done--he appealed to Philip for aid against his daughter.Summoned to Péronne, where the King of France was then holding court,he was subjected to a trial by the royal Council, which clearly showedits determination to convict him as an impostor. Perceiving that hehad blundered into a trap, the old man fled from the castle andescaped to Flanders. Here, however, the appeal to Philip and itsresult, together with much French gold judiciously expended in behalfof Jeanne, caused the nobility to turn cold. He determined to lay hiscause before the Pope, but while on his way to Rome was captured andsold to Jeanne who ordered him to be hanged in chains in themarket-place at Lille between two hounds. If he was the trueBaldwin, after all, few careers in history offer wider contrasts ofglory and shame.

[Illustration: HOTEL MERGHELYNCK, YPRES.]

Whether one stays at Ypres a day or a week he will not lack forobjects of interest, for the Cloth Hall and the Cathedral are but thebeginning of the list. A day is hardly too much to devote to the ruede Lille alone, for here are the Hospice Belle, with a number ofvaluable old paintings, and the Hotel-Musée Merghelynck. The latter isan institution as unique as it is admirable. Built in 1774 by FrançoisMerghelynck, a Treasurer and Grand Bailiff of Ypres, this fine mansionis filled with furniture and objets d'art of the eighteenth centurycoming from Flanders, Holland and France and collected with rare tasteand judgment. In its entirety it represents the residence of anobleman of the period, complete down to the smallest detail, withevery article in its proper place, as if the owner had just steppedout and might be expected back at any moment. The seven principalrooms are panelled with carved wood. The dining-room is decorated withbas-reliefs representing all of the principal implements of husbandry.These were carved by Antony Deledicque of Lille and have been comparedwith the work in some of the smaller rooms in the Palace ofVersailles. The music-room is similarly embellished withrepresentations of musical instruments, and all have fine panelfriezes and gilded carvings. In each room the proprietor of themansion, Arthur Merghelynck, the great-grandson of the original owner,has collected a complete equipment of eighteenth-century furniture.The dining-room has rare porcelain from Tournai, with the preciousgilt marks of the choicest make, the music-room has an old-timeharpsichord, the kitchen possesses an array of old-time pewter, copperand brassware. In the chambers the same plan has been faithfullycarried out, even to placing the owner's uniforms and gala raiment inthe wardrobes. Permission to visit these delightful rooms is freelygranted to all visitors to Ypres without charge, other than anoptional fee to the attendant. We were told that natives of the cityare not admitted, but forgot to ask the caretaker if this was true.

A little farther down this same rue de Lille is an old edifice thatfor many years has been called the House of the Templars. It has beenrestored and is now used as the Post Office--it was for a long time abrewery--but it is not now believed that this was ever the House ofthe famous mediæval order. The Templars, however, did erect atYpres their first house in Europe, and it may well be that thisstructure was copied from it. Beyond this interesting edifice weencountered a grim-looking old church, that of St. Peter, within thedoorway of which is a most curious mediæval Calvary. This church isone of the oldest in Flanders, having been built in 1073 by Robert theFrisian, one of the early Counts. On this street also stands theHospice St. Jean which was founded in 1277. It contains one finetimbered ceiling room, with panelled walls, called the nuns' workroom,and some paintings by Kerel van Yper, an obscure local artist of thesixteenth century.

[Illustration: CHURCH OF ST. PETER, YPRES.]

In this section we were so fortunate as to see the lace workers, ofwhom there are still several hundred, making _point de Valenciennes_outside the doors of their tiny houses. Mrs. Professor never tired ofwatching these women,--who are for the most part middle-aged, whilesome of them are very old--as their nimble fingers dexterously shiftedthe innumerable little bobbins to and fro, while the delicate fabricslowly took the design upon which they were working. It is said thatmore Valenciennes lace is made here at Ypres, and at Courtrai andamong the little Flemish towns between these two cities, than in theFrench city from which this fine point derives its name.

It is along the rue de Lille that the visitor will (let us hope!) findthe wooden house that is the last, or nearly the last, survival of atype of architecture that was once very common in Ypres. It isinferior to the one in the Cloth Hall, which also came from thisstreet, but is still in use--although it seemed to be closed when wepassed it. A few steps further on we came to the Porte de Lille withits three semi-circular towers, erected in 1395. The Porte isconnected with the open country beyond by a bridge across the widemoat, in which a stately white swan was swimming. The ancient walls,built by the famous military engineer Vauban, extend here for a longdistance in both directions and are in a fairly good state ofpreservation. At the Porte de Thourout, where the fortifications endon the northeastern side of the town, there is an open-air swimmingpool which, according to the local guidebook is free during certainhours for men Saturday and Sunday, for women Wednesday, for soldiersThursday and Friday, and for ladies Tuesday. The distinction betweenthe women who can come on Wednesday and the ladies who are admittedTuesday is not stated.

From the Porte de Lille we walked along the top of the ramparts towardthe railway station--a promenade full of interest and charm. The broadmoat in which a dozen snow white swans were swimming, the huge treesarching overhead, the quaint little houses to our right, with now andthen a narrow street bending back into the town as if inviting us tofollow and explore it--everything seemed to combine to make this oneof our pleasantest experiences in Flanders, and we regretted that wedid not have weeks instead of days in which to study this rare oldtown and visit some of the charming old Flemish villages by which itis surrounded.

The causes for the decline of the city from the proud position itoccupied in the Middle Ages to its comparative insignificance to-daycan be sketched in a very few words. Like the rest of Flanders, it hadflourished exceedingly in consequence of the Hundred Years' Warbetween France and England. As commerce and industry in thesetwo great neighbouring countries declined, that of the LowCountries--which were then enjoying a prolonged period of comparativepeace--augmented with abnormal rapidity. It was inevitable that whenpeace across the frontier was restored much of the trade that Francehad temporarily lost should return to it. A series of great sieges cutoff the wool traffic with England that formed the foundation of thecity's industry and prosperity. The first of these was in 1383 whenthe guildsmen of Ypres successfully beat off a powerful army fromGhent, aided by a large contingent from England. The plague, thatterror of every overcrowded industrial town in those days, swept offthousands of people in 1347 and in 1490, and a third of theinhabitants in 1552. These disasters still further crippled the clothindustry. In 1583 and 1584 an eight months' siege and the plaguetogether reduced the population so fearfully that when the town atlast surrendered to the Prince of Parma barely five thousand remained.After the religious wars were over it recovered some of its ancientprosperity, but between 1648 and 1678 it was besieged no less thanfour times, being a border town and one of the first to be attacked asthe fortunes of war swayed, first one way and then the other. Rousedby the ravages of the plague the magistrates cleaned the city, passedstringent sanitary regulations, paved the streets and built a costlysystem of sewers--Ypres being one of the first cities in Europe tohave these modern improvements. Wise as these steps were, they cametoo late to arrest the decline of the town's industries and commerce.One by one the artisans gave up the battle against the forces thatwere sapping the foundations of their prosperity and moved away--someto Ghent and Bruges, both of which were already beginning to decline;others to far-off England, where they remained to lay the foundationsof the vast textile industry that has since grown up across theChannel, but which traces its origin back to the artisans of Ypres inthe days when the fame of that until lately all but forgotten town wasknown from one end of the world to the other.

CHAPTER VIII

COURTRAI AND THE BATTLE OF THE SPURS

Our next expedition, after the delightful visit at Ypres, was toCourtrai, which is only twenty-two miles distant, although the twoplodding little _omnibus_ trains that we took, one after the other,were more than an hour getting us there. It was an hour mostpleasantly spent, however, for we were constantly on the lookout forthe fields of flax that we had read covered the valley of the RiverLys as far as eye could see. If this was ever so it certainly was notthe case in the summer of 1914, for there were more and larger fieldsof barley and other small grains than of flax. Still, we saw a greatmany plantings of the latter, and as the plant was in full bloom thesight was a very pretty one--the delicate green of each field beingfaintly tinged with the blue of the tiny flowers. It did not seem tobe very tall, but it was still early June and a very backward summer.We also passed many fields in which the flax of the previous seasonwas stacked to bleach, evidently the crop from several fields beingconcentrated into one for this purpose. The water of the River Lys,from which some authorities say the French Fleur de Lys derives itsname, is said to be superior to that of all other rivers for theretting of flax, and at all events the raising and preparation of thisimportant staple has been the leading industry in this region forcenturies, although Ghent is more important as a flax manufacturingcentre.

Presently our destination, of which the Flemish name is Kortrijk, camein sight, and we started--with the Professor leading the way, asusual--for the Grande Place. Here we found a market going on, withnumerous booths and stalls arranged in crooked little streets, andcrowds of thick-set peasant women with big baskets examining the waresdisplayed gingerly as if afraid that too great a display of interestwould cause the merchants to enhance their prices. Amid this bustleand confusion we worked our way slowly to the centre of the Placewhere stood the small ivy-covered Belfry, which dates from early inthe fourteenth century, and is one of the prettiest in Flanders. Whenthe city was sacked in 1382, after one of its many sieges, the Belfrywas one of the few edifices to escape injury. Repaired or restored in1423, in 1519, and again in 1717, this little monument of the MiddleAges has come down to us in an admirable state of preservation.Originally connected with a small public market, _les petites halles_,it gradually came to be surrounded with private houses until only itsspire was visible, but in 1899 these were torn down and the Belfryleft isolated as it is now. The clock originally placed on this toweris said by the historian Froissart to have been "_l'un des plus biauxque on seuist trouver decha ne dela la mer_"--one of the mostbeautiful here or abroad--but was removed by Philip the Bold, thefirst of the Burgundian Dukes to rule over Flanders, to Dijon, thecapital of Burgundy. This was in 1382, but in 1395 the people ofCourtrai had replaced it by another equally ingenious. We tried toenter the old tower, but found one entrance guarded by the alarmingsign, "_Haute tension--danger de la mort_," indicating that theelectric light company used the lower part of the edifice as atransforming station. There was another small doorway, but it did notappear to have been opened for a long time, and we could find no onewho knew who had the key.

When we first announced our intention to spend a Summer in Flandersmany friends protested, "But you do not speak Flemish--how do youexpect to get along?" Right here it may be stated that this bugbearproved without foundation. Even in Ypres, where our Belgianacquaintances said we surely would have trouble, we found only two orthree of those with whom we had occasion to converse who did notunderstand French at least well enough to give us the information werequired. On a few occasions, when touring the poorer quarters of someold Flemish town, we were non-plussed for a moment, but the childrenhelped us out in these emergencies by running off eagerly to find someone who spoke French. Everywhere we found the people accommodating andcourteous, never surly as one author says those he met in these verysame towns were when he visited them half a dozen years ago. To besure, our visits seldom took us into the very little towns, where, nodoubt, Flemish is often spoken exclusively--as our experience inNieuport showed.

The most curious fact about the little Kingdom of Belgium is that itis sharply bi-lingual, the line of demarcation between the French andthe Flemish speaking provinces running across the country fromsouthwest to northeast a little to the south of Brussels; that city,however, being far more French than Flemish. Most of the towns havetwo names, which usually mean the same but are often so different inform that it is a wonder the people themselves do not get mixed up nowand then. For example, the French name for the capital of the provinceof Hainaut is Mons, meaning mountain, while the Flemish name isBergen, which means the same thing but looks very different. Theimportant railroad junction of Braine-le-Comte between Mons andBrussels bears the queer Flemish name of 's Graven-Brakel. Even thepostage stamps and the paper money are printed in the two languages,while the silver money is apparently minted in equal quantities ofeach. All public employés are required by law to know both languages,so that the public has no trouble either at the railway stations orpost-offices. According to official statistics published while we werethere, 38.17 per cent. of the population of the country speak onlyFrench; 43.38 per cent. speak only Flemish; while 18.13 per cent.speak more than one language and a few speak German only. Of thebi-linguals over 60 per cent. declared that they ordinarily spokeFlemish.

Facing the Grande Place, and only a few steps from the Belfry, is theHotel de Ville, an unprepossessing structure externally, although thehistorians say that it was once much better looking. It has, at allevents, been restored, and the statues of the Counts of Flanders thatwere destroyed during the Revolution replaced by modern ones carved bya local sculptor. After finding the concierge we were shown a smallcollection of modern paintings by Belgian artists bequeathed to thecity by one of its wealthy sons. This, however, was merely _en route_,as it were, to the great show-place of this--as of all other Flemishhotels de ville--the Salle du Conseil. Here the _pièce de résistance_is the great chimney-piece, carved in 1525 by unknown sculptors, whoprobably were natives of the city as there were several of good renownresiding and working there at that period. The elaborate carvings withwhich this masterpiece is decorated comprise three tiers. At the topthe figures represent the virtues: Faith, Humility, Charity, Chastity,Generosity, Temperance, Patience and Vigilance. In the middle sectiona series of pictures carved in stone typify the vices: Idolatry,Pride, Avarice, Sensuality, Jealousy, Gluttony, Anger and Idleness.The lowest tier contains reliefs that are supposed to show thepunishment for these vices, although the idea is not always quiteeasy to follow. In niches projecting from the middle section are finestatues, carved from wood, of Charles V in the centre, with Justiceand Peace on the opposite sides. At the right and left sides of thechimney-piece are two more tiers of carvings, but of inferior interestto those on the front. The beamed ceiling of this fine room is worthyof at least a glance, for on the corbels supporting it are some of themost curious carvings to be seen in Flanders, representing theconquests of woman over man--beginning with Adam and Eve and Samsonand Delilah, and including several examples from pagan mythology.

We were next conducted down-stairs to the Salle Echevinale, wherethere is another fine chimney-piece which, however, was much lessinteresting than the one we had just seen. This room is furtherembellished with several frescoes by Guffens and Swerts, examples ofwhose work we had already seen at Ypres. The former artist painted thelarge composition entitled the "Departure of Baldwin IX forConstantinople," and the latter the more interesting picture of theConsultation of the Flemish leaders in this very room the day beforethe Battle of Courtrai. Smaller frescoes depict other notable scenesin the old town's history, while small carvings near the ceilingrepresent the chief virtues of an upright judge.

On a hot July day, in the year 1302, there took place, just outsidethe ancient walls of the city, the most famous event in the history ofCourtrai. This was the great "Battle of the Spurs." In order tounderstand the significance of this conflict--which justly ranks asone of the decisive battles of the world--it is necessary to go backthree-quarters of a century to the Baldwin of Constantinople, or theimpostor who assumed his name and came to an ignominious end on thegibbet at Lille. This was in the year 1225. The following year PhilipAugustus forced or persuaded Margaret, Baldwin's younger daughter, toleave the loyal Fleming to whom she had been married almost sincechildhood and wed one of his retainers, William of Dampierre. Then,during a period of more than fifty years, the Kings of France wereable to exert a steadily increasing influence in Flanders and reducethe country more and more completely to a French province. Finally, in1296, the exactions of the French monarch--who, at that time, wasPhilip the Fair--became so humiliating that Margaret's son, Guy ofDampierre, then the reigning Count, rebelled. A brief war followed,ending in Guy's utter defeat and imprisonment, and in 1300 allFlanders was formally annexed to the French crown.

Instead of submitting tamely to this act of aggression, the Flemishburghers were roused to fight more furiously for their fatherland thanthey had ever done for their Count. At Bruges a true leader of thepeople appeared in the person of Peter de Coninck, the dean of thethen all-powerful Guild of the Weavers, and one of the mostpicturesque figures in mediæval history. Small and ill-favoured inface and figure, with only one eye, and speaking no language butFlemish, he was able to arouse the citizens to the wildest pitch offury against their aggressors. Another popular hero of the hour wasJohn Breidel, Dean of the Butchers' Guild, and reputed to be one ofthe richest men in Bruges; while a third was William of Juliers,Provost of Maestricht--a Churchman turned soldier for the cause ofliberty. These three raised the standard of the Lion of Flanders towhich rallied the Clauwaerts, as the Nationalist partisans werecalled; while the friends of France were named--after the Lily ofFrance--the Liliaerts. The latter naturally included the magistratesand office-holders of the leading towns, and in 1301, when Philipmade a triumphal progress through the chief cities of his newdominions, he was everywhere received with much outward pomp.

[Illustration: STATUE OF PETER DE CONINCK AND JOHN BREIDEL, BRUGES.]

At Bruges the official reception was the most gorgeous of all, therich gowns of the wives and daughters of the burghers causing QueenIsabella to exclaim, "I thought I was alone Queen, but here I see sixhundred!" The mass of the people, however, were cold and sullen, andwhen the King proclaimed some public games no one would take part inthem. Hardly had the royal party left the city before an insurrectionbroke out. De Coninck was arrested, but his followers burst into theprison, and, for a time, the leaders of the Liliaerts were behind thebars. A French force soon entered the city and set them free, and DeConinck fled to Damme, where the Lion of Flanders waved unmolestedover a rapidly increasing host of Clauwaerts.

On the 17th of May, 1302, a still stronger army of French entered thecity, and it was rumoured that a general massacre of the Clauwaertswas planned for the morrow. Without waiting for the blow to be struck,the men from Damme and the surrounding towns, under the leadership ofDe Coninck and John Breidel, poured into the city before daybreak androaring "_Schilt end vriendt_"--a battle-cry and password that noFrenchman could pronounce--they overwhelmed the partisans of the Lily.So sudden and unexpected was the attack, in the darkness and amongnarrow streets with which they were not acquainted, that the twothousand French knights who had entered the city so gaily on theprevious day could offer no resistance and were slaughtered almost toa man. Barely forty escaped to tell King Philip of the massacre, whileno record was made of the number of Liliaerts among the Flemingsthemselves who were in the heaps of dead that for three daysthereafter were being buried in the fields outside of the city. Thiswas the famous Matin de Bruges, hardly a glorious day's workconsidered as a feat of arms, but bold enough when regarded as adefiance by the artisans of a single industrial town of the mostpowerful monarch of the age.

Philip, as was to be expected, was furious, and at once gathered anarmy the like of which had never before been seen in France; while allFlanders, with the exception of Ghent which the French still held,rallied to the support of De Coninck and his comrades. Scores ofFlemish nobles were at that time languishing in French prisons, butthose who were free to come enlisted under the Lion of Flanders. Thearmy of defence consisted for the most part, however, ofworkingmen--members of the great guilds of Bruges, Ypres, Audenaerdeand the other Flemish towns, with seven hundred even from Ghent. Eachguild marched under its gorgeous banner, the men armed with longpikes, iron lances, short swords, and a sort of club which theyderisively called "_goedendag_," or "good morning." On the eve of thebattle a conference was held by the leaders of the army of defence,this being the scene depicted in the fine fresco in the Hotel deVille.

About nine or ten in the morning of the following day the French army,some forty thousand strong, was seen approaching, led by the youthfulCount of Artois. After a reconnoitre two experienced officers advisedthe young Prince not to attack the Flemings at once, but to worry themwith his archers and separate them from the town where their baggageand provisions were. "These people have to eat three, or four times aday--when they start to retreat, fall on them, you will quickly win,"they counselled him.

This sage advice did not appeal to the impetuous young Count, or tohis valiant knights, who were burning with eagerness to avenge theMatin de Bruges. They confidently expected that at the very sight oftheir host, for the most part mounted knights, the cowardly townsmenwould turn and run. Nor did they pay much heed to the shrewdness andskill with which the Flemish leaders had chosen their position. In themarshy ground in front of the Flemish army were many streams andcanals, the water concealed by brushwood, while the River Lys and thefortifications of the town protected them against an attack on eitherflank or in the rear.

As the French knights rode forward the first ranks plunged into thehidden canals and streams with which the marsh--since known as theBloed Meersch, or Bloody Marsh--was intersected. Then, as fivecenturies later at Waterloo, each succeeding rank pushed in the onebefore it, the canals became choked with drowning men and strugglinghorses, and it was not until these obstacles were literally filledwith dead bodies that any part of the great French host could approachthe Flemish lines. Then the Flemish guildsmen were for a moment hardpressed, but they quickly rallied and the proud French nobles werebeaten down beneath their cruel pikes and clubs by hundreds. The Countof Artois himself led the reserves into the mêlée when the day was allbut lost and fought his way clear to the great standard of the Lion ofFlanders, at the foot of which he fell. Their leader killed, theFrench sought to flee, but the rout and slaughter lasted through thelong summer twilight and far into the night.

According to an ancient chronicle, twenty thousand Frenchmen went downto death that day, including seven thousand knights, eleven hundrednobles, seven hundred lords, and sixty-three counts, dukes or princes.As to these statistics they differ in every history, but certain it isthat the flower of French chivalry perished in unheard of numbersbefore the onslaught of the Flemish townsmen, and it is said that inall France there was no great house that did not mourn a father, abrother or a son.

To the men of Flanders, on the other hand, the victory was completebeyond their wildest dreams. They piously gave thanks to Notre Dame deGroeninghe, the Abbey overlooking the Bloody Marsh, and hung up sevenhundred golden spurs taken from the battlefield in the Church of NotreDame. For a time Philip the Fair sought to prolong the conflict, buthis losses had been too terrible in this battle for him to riskanother one against the now thoroughly aroused guildsmen, and a fewyears later a treaty was signed that completely rescinded the act ofannexation and recognised the independence of Flanders once more.

In the little Museum of Paintings we found a most interesting pictureof the famous battle by the great Belgian artist, Nicaise de Keyser.It is said that the historian Voisin suggested this subject to thepainter, then a young man of twenty-three, and he devoted eight monthsto its execution. Exhibited at the Salon at Brussels in 1836, it madea sensation through its merit, the historical importance of thesubject and the youth of the artist, and was purchased by the city ofCourtrai by means of a popular subscription. It represents thedecisive moment of the battle when the Count of Artois, unhorsed anddisarmed, is about to be killed by the leader of the butchers' guild,John Breidel. The museum contains a number of other interesting worksby Belgian painters, chiefly modern, including one by ConstantinMeunier, and a number by natives of Courtrai. This last feature ischaracteristic of all these little museums and is a most happy idea.In France the museums of fine arts in the provincial towns often formin themselves admirable memorials of the famous artists who were bornor worked there, the names of the most important being carved aboutthe frieze or brought to mind in some equally prominent way. In yearsto come it is to be hoped that these little Flemish towns can followthis example and erect suitable structures to house their arttreasures--of which such a collection as this one at Courtrai forms afine nucleus--and in so doing strive to commemorate all of those towhom the town is indebted for its artistic fame. In the case ofCourtrai the roster would be a long one, for local authorities haverecorded the names of more than two hundred painters, sculptors,architects, engravers, metal-workers, miniaturists and master-makersof tapestries.

Unlike many Flemish towns, Courtrai is less renowned for its churchesthan for its civic monuments. The great church of St. Martin, whosepicturesque Gothic tower rises high above the Grande Place, althoughthe edifice itself is some hundred yards distant from the Placeitself, dates from 1382, when an older church on the same site wasburned by the victorious troops of Charles VI when they sacked thecity after the Battle of Rosbecque. It was completed in 1439 andcontains a number of interesting paintings and carvings, several ofthem by local artists and sculptors. The more important Church ofNotre Dame, with its square unfinished tower, dates from 1211 and wasfounded by Baldwin of Constantinople. At that time the Counts ofFlanders had a castle at Courtrai and it was at the side of this thatCount Baldwin and his fair wife Marie located their great church, ofwhich the foundation stone was laid before the Count departed on thecrusade from which he was destined never to return. In the Chapel ofthe Counts, which was built in the fourteenth century, are muralpaintings of the Counts and Countesses of Flanders, the earlier onesdating from the century during which the chapel itself wasconstructed.

The artistic masterpiece of this church is the "Raising of the Cross,"by Van Dyck. This fine picture was painted for this very church andwas delivered by the artist in 1631, the church still possessing hisreceipt for the one hundred livres de gros (about two hundred andtwenty dollars) paid for it. In 1794 the picture was carried to Parisand placed in the Louvre, and on its restoration to the Netherlandswas several years in the museum at Brussels, being returned to itsproper place in Notre Dame in 1817. During the night of December6th-7th, 1907, it was mysteriously stolen, its disappearance causing agreat commotion, but January 23rd it was discovered in a field atPitthem, where it had lain exposed to the rain and sunshine since itsremoval from the church. Apparently the robbers had become frightenedand abandoned it, or possibly were prevented from returning to get itby the hue and cry that had been raised. At any rate, it did not seemto be much the worse for its little outing, and was duly hung up againwhere any tourist who has a franc to spare can see it.

It was in Notre Dame that the victors after the battle of Courtraihung up seven hundred golden spurs, more or less, picked up from thebattle-field. These were hung in a little side chapel at presentdecorated by two black lions, but the original spurs were taken awaywhen the French sacked the city after the disastrous battle ofRosbecque.

A little beyond this interesting old church the rue GuidoGezelle--named after the poet who for many years was a _vicaire_ atNotre Dame and whose bust stands in a little _bosquet_, or woodedparklet, hard by--conducts us to the famous old Broel towers whichguard an ancient bridge across the Lys. These fine specimens ofmediæval military architecture are in an admirable state ofpreservation. The Spuytorre, or Southern tower, was first built byPhilip of Alsace in the twelfth century, was pillaged, and perhapswholly destroyed, by Charles VI and restored or rebuilt by Philip theBold, Duke of Burgundy, in 1386. There was not much to see in thistower, save some dungeons below. The Inghelbrugtorre, or South tower,was built at the same time as the bridge, in 1411-1413. There wasformerly an archeological museum in this tower, but we were told thatit had been removed to the Grandes Halles, near the railroad station,which have recently been restored. We subsequently visited thecollections there, which were very interesting but too miscellaneousto be described. Returning from the towers by the rue de Groeninghe wepaid a brief visit to the fine monument of the Battle of Groeninghe,which is the Flemish name for the Battle of the Spurs. At the summit abronze Pucelle of Flanders brandishes a _goedendag_, one of thecelebrated war-clubs that did such deadly work on that famous day.This monument, by Godefroid Devreese, a native of Courtrai, waserected by popular subscription in 1905.

It is in these smaller Flemish towns that the visitor who takes thetime to journey a little away from the closely built houses and roughpaved streets of the city will find himself after a few minutes ofbrisk walking out in the green fields and winding lanes of the opencountry. The trip is well worth the small exertion, for nowhere in theworld can one see such marvellous wild flowers--_fleurs deschamps_--as in Belgium. Every wheat field is sprinkled with the mostwonderful poppies, of a rich deep red that even the choicestartificial flowers in America cannot equal; with blue corn-flowersgrowing tall and big and of an indescribably deep blue that at timesshades into purple; and along the edges is a thin fringe of smallpurple flowers, shaped like morning glories but much smaller, theEnglish name of which I do not know. In the grass of the pasture landsare innumerable tiny white marguerites, with here and there a tuft ofdaisies. Along the country lanes one can pick a score of othervarieties of wild flowers which here bloom all summer long, not tomention the exquisite purple heather that makes every hillside glowwith colour in August and throughout the fall. To us, however, thewheat fields with the poppies and corn-flowers were by far the mostcharming as we wandered up and down West Flanders in the month ofJune. Often one or the other grew so profusely as to give the wholefield a rich mass of colour, at times all red, in other places a solidblue.

As we strolled along through these flower gardens of the fields weenjoyed still another treat, for everywhere in Belgium the skylarksabound in myriads. To one who has never heard them there are fewenjoyments more exquisite than to watch and listen as these tinyminstrels of the sky go through their little performance. Suddenly,almost before the eye can locate it, one shoots upward from the wavingwheat in front of us, his rich trills fairly making the air vibratewith melody. Higher and yet higher he goes, his little wingsstruggling wildly, as if the effort of flying and singing at the sametime was too much for him. Never, for an instant, however, does themusic stop, and as his tiny form rises farther and farther into theair he gradually begins to drive forward in a wide curve--but stillrising and still fluttering madly--until he becomes a mere speckagainst the sky. Then, all at once, the fluttering wings spreadoutward and are still, and he begins to volplane slowly downward in along slow sweep, while his notes become if possible more shrill andvibrating than ever. Then, like a flash, as he nears the ground, hedarts sharply out of sight and the song is over.

All day long the pleasant, flower-bedecked fields ring with thismusic--at times a dozen are singing in the air at once. When the sunis high the birds often rise until completely out of sight, only theirfalling music telling the listener that they are still there. Towardevening the flights are shorter, but as the calm of approaching nightsettles over the broad and peaceful fields it seems as if the songsare sweeter than at any other time.

Two of the greatest English poets have given us wonderful wordpictures of this marvellous little bird, which surely sings as sweetlyin Belgium as in England. Shelley in his famous Ode, describes thesong itself; his metre imitating the breathless rush of the aerialnotes:

 "Hail to thee, blithe spirit! Bird thou never wert, That from Heaven, or near it, Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.

 "Higher still and higher From the earth thou springest, Like a cloud of fire; The deep blue thou wingest, And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest."

In Wordsworth's noble lines the thought is less upon the song, butdwells upon the mother bird and her hidden nest:

 "Ethereal minstrel! pilgrim of the sky! Dost thou despise the earth where cares abound? Or, while the wings aspire, are heart and eye Both with thy nest upon the dewy ground? Thy nest, which thou canst drop into at will, Those quivering wings composed, that music still!"

CHAPTER IX

GHENT IN THE DAYS OF THE FLEMISH COUNTS

During the Middle Ages Ghent was, for nearly five centuries, one ofthe greatest cities in the Occidental world. "If you have ever been inFlanders," wrote Jean Froissart, near the close of the fourteenthcentury, "you are aware that Ghent is the sovereign city of Flandersin power, in wisdom, in government, in the number of its houses, inposition and in all else that goes to make a great and noble city, andthat three great rivers serve to bring to it ships from every part ofthe world." After further eulogising the three rivers referred to,which were the Scheldt, the Lys and the Lieve, the chronicler ofValenciennes added that the city could put eighty thousand men in thefield, and that it would require a host of two hundred thousandwarriors to capture it. These statements, though no doubtexaggerations, do not seem to the tourist so impossible of belief ascorresponding figures regarding the former greatness of the othercities in Flanders, for Ghent is still "a great and noble city," whilesome of its once puissant rivals are now little more than countryvillages. In fact, to the visitor who approaches the centre of thetown from either of its two principal railway stations--it has five inall--the city seems to be essentially a modern one, with fine streetssimilar in every way to those to be found in Antwerp or Brussels, andit is therefore with a shock of surprise that he suddenly findshimself riding past one hoary old structure after another whosefrowning grey walls and massive architecture bespeak an antiquitystrangely at variance with their surroundings.

To the Professor, and to all students of the thrilling history of thisfamous old Flemish town, the most interesting of these reminders ofthe Ghent of five hundred or one thousand years ago is the imposingChâteau des Comtes, or Castle of the Counts, the ruins of which standin the very heart of the town with the busy life and bustle of theGhent of to-day surging about them. Hither, as soon as our belongingswere safely deposited in the hotel, we came--almost as a matter ofcourse. In part this magnificent relic of the feudal ages dates fromthe ninth century, when it was called the new castle, _NovumCastellum_, to distinguish it from a still older castle situated hardby that was destroyed about the year 1010. Two of the three storiescomposing this original structure are still intact and can be seen bythe visitor when he inspects the cellar of the keep. Here the columnsand arches are of later construction, but the walls--which are overfive and a half feet thick--are the work of builders who put thesestones in place more than a thousand years ago. It was in 1180,according to the Latin inscription that can still be read just insideof the main entrance from the Place Ste. Pharaïlde, that Philip ofAlsace--son of the Dierick of Alsace who brought the Holy Blood to thechapel of St. Basil at Bruges--erected the present structure. Itspurpose was "to check the unbounded arrogance of the inhabitants ofGhent, who had become too proud of their riches and of their fortifiedhouses, which looked like towers." The Count had been in Palestine twoyears before and had greatly admired some of the strong castleserected there by the crusaders and instructed his builders to imitatethese models, which he no doubt described to them.

[Illustration: Photograph by E. Sacré. CASTLE OF THE COUNTS, GHENT.]

After inspecting the remains of the earlier castle we mounted thestaircase at the left of the entrance tower. This leads to the top ofthe outer castle wall and can be followed entirely around the greatellipse formed by the complete structure. From every side fine viewscan be had of the surrounding city and the moat and River Lieve whichguard the castle on the opposite side from the Place. Coming to thesquare tower behind the entrance gateway we were shown a room on thefirst story formerly used as a prison and torture chamber. From thetop of this tower the banner of the Count was hoisted when the men ofGhent were called upon to follow their over-lord to war. The gatewaybelow, at the corner of the Place Ste. Pharaïlde and the rue de laMonnaie, has a tragic interest from the fact that here were placed thetwo railings, called _les bailles_, between which those sentenced todeath by the Council of Flanders were executed. Executions also oftentook place in the outer courtyard between the exterior wall and theKeep, or inner structure. In this yard, in 1445, the procession of theOrder of the Golden Fleece formed for its march to the church of St.Bavon, and one can imagine how gay with banners and fair ladies theold castle must have been on that occasion.

The inner castle, usually styled the Palace, was the actual residenceof the Counts of Flanders whenever they chanced to be stopping in thecity. Thanks to the skilful restoration of the government, the variousparts of this edifice can be seen in approximately their originalcondition, save for the rich tapestries and the scant but solidfurniture with which the rooms were formerly made habitable. Thechambers of the Count and Countess are particularly fine specimens ofthe living quarters of the mediæval nobility, quite apart from theirmany historic associations. Below the former is the entrance to theunderground prison built by Philip of Alsace. It is eighteen feetdeep, and extends ten and one-half feet below the level of thecourtyard, while one of the walls is seven and the others six feetthick. A little air filters in from a zig-zag opening in one wall, butno light. The prisoners were let down into this horrible cavern bymeans of a ladder, or a basket attached to a rope, after which eventhe opening by which they entered was closed and they were left alonein the dark. For more than six centuries this cell was in constantuse, and one cannot but wonder whether milady the Countess in hersweet chamber overhead ever had her dreams troubled by visions of thedespairing victims in their beds of slime who were here awaiting theCount's decision as to their final fate. It seems that this prison,fearful though it must have been to those incarcerated there, was notone of those _oubliettes_ of which the Bastille and many anothermediæval castle had so many. So far as known, it was only used forprisoners awaiting trial, or as a species of solitary confinement forserious crimes. In 1657 a school-teacher accused of teaching hereticaldoctrines to his pupils was confined here thirteen months, but thereis no record of any one being flung down into this pit to be"forgotten." Still, it must be said that such proceedings would not belikely to become a matter of record, and very little is known aboutwhat went on behind these grim walls when the Counts of Flanders andDukes of Burgundy held absolute and undisputed sway. Any one who askedinconvenient questions would very probably have come here himself!

The Great Hall, which is about one hundred and twenty-five feet longby from fifty to sixty feet in width, is a chapter in the history ofFlanders by itself. Here the Counts, and their successors, the Dukesof Burgundy, held many of their great banquets and state functions ofvarious kinds. Louis of Maele in 1346 and Philip the Good in 1445 gavestate banquets in this hall of which long accounts have been preservedin the contemporary chronicles. The latter, which was held on theoccasion of the seventh meeting of the Knights of the Golden Fleecealready mentioned, must have been quite a tremendous affair. At oneend of this Hall the Council of the Vieux-Bourg used to pronouncesentence upon prisoners, and half a dozen famous treaties and many ofminor importance were proclaimed in this room. No doubt, also, theGreat Hall was used as the chief living-room of the castle on lessformal occasions, when the Count and Countess perhaps dined on araised dais at one end, while the throng of courtiers and retainersfeasted noisily farther down the hall. On such occasions one canimagine how the great stone fireplace, a dozen feet wide and seven oreight feet high, must have roared, while the torches and candles usedto supplement the feeble light from the narrow windows flared and senttheir smoke up to the grimy rafters overhead. The great room, now soempty and silent, was then gay with the variegated costumes of theolden time, while its walls echoed to the songs and laughter of theboisterous throng.

There are half a score of other rooms to be seen: the kitchen with itsfireplace big enough to roast an ox whole; the residence of theCastellane or keeper of the castle; the small audience chamber nearthe bedrooms of their highnesses--which was used on ordinary occasionsinstead of the great hall--and several others. Of them all the mostinteresting is the ancient stable, which is entered from the castleyard. It seems hard to believe that this vast vaulted room, with itssplendid columns and Romanesque arches was ever designed or used as astable, but such the historians all aver was the case. In appearanceit resembles an early church or chapel. In a glass case at one side isa gruesome collection of skeletons that were uncovered here in 1904,presumably those of prisoners who were secretly executed no one knowshow many years ago. After the fourteenth century the castle ceased tobe occupied by the sovereigns as a residence, and the stable, nolonger needed for horses, became a torture chamber and continued to beused for this purpose until the close of the eighteenth century. It ishere that the beautiful and unfortunate Jacqueline, Countess ofHainaut and Holland, is said to have been confined by Philip the Goodwhen that amiable monarch was trying to persuade her to part with herpatrimony. She resisted bravely and was finally released, but herpowerful and wily antagonist subjugated her at last. The Professorread, or was told, that there is another prison cell below the watersof the moat, and also a passage, miles in length, leading out to theopen country and intended for escape in case a foe besieging thecastle seemed likely to take it, but these we were not able todiscover nor did the official guide to the castle appear to knowanything about them.

Speaking of sieges, the castle has witnessed more than one. The _NovumCastellum_, which preceded the present edifice, was besieged in 1128by Dierick of Alsace. In 1302, a few months before the Battle of theSpurs, the citizens of Ghent rose en masse against the sheriffs ofKing Philip of France, who took refuge here. The infuriated crowd,armed with pikes, axes and swords, beat upon the gates and finally setfire to the castle. At this the besieged gave up, and all within wereforced to run a fearful gauntlet. Without the castle gates the peopleformed a dense mass, bristling with pikes and spears, through which anarrow lane was kept open. As the late defenders of the castle emergedthey had to pass down this avenue of steel, and whoever had committedany crime against the burghers never reached the farther end alive,whether he was one of the lord high sheriffs or a page. In 1338 theCount himself, Louis of Maele, was here besieged by Jacques VanArtevelde, and forced to make terms with the great tribune.

The later history of the structure itself is interesting and curious.Already in 1302 hovels had been built against the castle walls on theland side. In 1350 a mint was installed within the castle, where itremained until suppressed in the sixteenth century, and from the sameyear the Court of the Count held sessions here. It was used less andless as a residence after this, but from 1407 to 1778 was the seat ofthe Council of Flanders, which succeeded the Court of the Counts. In1779 the buildings used by the court were sold and in 1797 and 1798those of the Assembly of the Vieux Bourg also passed into privatehands. The Castellany of the Vieux Bourg was for many years a publicinn, and in 1807 a factory was established in the Keep, the Great Hallbeing used as a machine-room. The Castellany then became a cottonspinning mill, was partly burned in 1829, but rebuilt and continued inuse as a mill until 1884. Meanwhile other small buildings wereerected around the old walls until they were entirely concealed, and aguidebook of this period states that of the old castle "nothing nowremains but the entrance." In 1887 some archeologists stirred themunicipal and national governments to action with a view to saving andrestoring this splendid monument of the Middle Ages, the Gatewayhaving already been acquired by the nation in 1872. The work ofdemolishing the buildings that had clustered about the old walls andof restoration lasted from 1889 till 1913, when at last the structurewas brought into the condition that the visitor beholds to-day. In itspresent form it is unquestionably one of the most interesting andimportant examples of feudal architecture in Europe. Within its sombrewalls the student has, in records of stone, an epitome of the historyof ten centuries.

The Professor informed us that, in the course of his researches, hehad run across a reference to some legend or popular traditionconcerning a siege of Ghent in the year 930, or thereabouts, by theKings of England, Scotland and Ireland. The city, according to thistale, was bravely defended by Dierick, Lord of Dixmude, and all theattacks of the besiegers were repelled for many months. Theirmajesties from across the Channel were naturally much incensed at thisunexpected resistance, and warned the burghers and their valiant chiefthat if they did not surrender within twenty-four hours, they wouldraze the city to the ground and sow corn on its ruins. Notwithstandingthis threat, to the fulfilment of which the kings aforesaid took amighty oath, the men of Ghent fought stubbornly on, and finally thebesiegers were forced to give up their enterprise. The Englishmonarch, however, in order to fulfil his vow and thereby ease hisconscience, humbly begged permission of the victors to allow him tothrow a grain of corn in the market-place. This modest request wasgranted, but to prevent any such stratagem as the one that proved sosuccessful in the famous siege of Troy, a tiny hole was made in thecity wall and the monarch required to crawl through alone, returningthe same way after the corn-throwing performance was over. From thiscirc*mstance the name of Engelande-gat was derisively given to thelittle street leading from the Bestroom-Porte to St. Michel--a namewhich Pryse L. Gordon in his book on Holland and Belgium, written in1834, stated was still retained at that time. We were unable to findit, however, in one of our early morning tramps, although we found arue d'Angleterre which runs into the Place St. Michel directly infront of the church, and may have derived its name from that of theearlier street which, quite possibly, it may have replaced. The greatplan of the city drawn by Hondius shows a vast number of streets andlanes that to-day have entirely disappeared. The legend, however, mayhave had some basis in fact, although the three kings were no doubt afanciful embellishment added by the peasants as they repeated thestory of some early attack. There were plenty of small potentates inthose days prowling about to seize whatever was not well defended, orgave promise of rich booty, without going across the Channel to lookfor them.

It was at about this period, in fact a little earlier, that another ofthe famous "monuments" of Ghent was erected. This is the Abbey of St.Bavon, which alone would justify a visit to the city if there werenothing else to see. A primitive abbey on this site is said to havebeen founded about the year 631 by St. Amand, an early missionary, whodedicated it to St. Peter. One of this prelate's converts was a richnobleman named Allowin, who took the name of Bavon on his conversionand retired into a monastery. A second abbey took the name of St.Bavon, the deceased monk having been canonized, and around these tworeligious institutions a little settlement grew up that was destinedto expand into the mighty city of Ghent. At St. Bavon, therefore, thevisitor beholds not merely the ruins of an ancient and famous abbeybut the birthplace of the city that has played so great a part in thehistory of Flanders and of Europe. When Baldwin II died his widow, thedaughter of Alfred the Great, had him buried at the monastery of St.Peter, to which she made liberal donations. Successive Counts andCountesses followed this example, the two abbeys becoming rich andpowerful, and the town soon became the home of numerous merchants whotook advantage of the protection afforded by these religiousinstitutions, and also of the strategic location of the town at thejunction of three rivers. The Quai au Blé and the Quai aux Herbes datefrom this epoch, the merchants speedily establishing a market for thesale of grain and other products. The Fish Market and the famousMarché du Vendredi, or Friday Market, soon followed and Ghent hadbegun the development that was destined to make it, for threecenturies, one of the greatest trading centres in the world.

The present buildings of the Abbey date from the eleventh and twelfthcenturies, the original structures having been destroyed during thetenth century. It was during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuriesthat the Abbey attained the zenith of its power. Here, in 1369, wassolemnised the marriage of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, withMargaret, the daughter of Louis of Maele, the last of the Counts ofFlanders to be known by that title only. This event virtually endedthe long line of Flemish Counts, for the title thereafter became oneof many similarly held by the powerful Dukes of Burgundy and theirsuccessors and was only used on state occasions, or when it servedtheir purpose. The unfortunate Michelle, the first wife of Philip theGood, was interred here. By a strange irony of fate it was Charles theFifth of all men, the valiant Protector of the Faith, head and frontof the monarchs who remained steadfastly loyal to the Catholic Church,who began the work of destroying this splendid and ancient monastery.To build the great fortress by which he held in awe the turbulentcitizens of Ghent he ordered the demolishment of a considerable partof its buildings and the erection on its site of his citadel, the_Château des Espagnols_. The Calvinists continued the work ofdestruction in 1581, the French wrecking the buildings still further,and the revolt of 1830 completing the ruin of what was in its day ofprosperity one of the finest monastic institutions in Europe.

Since 1834 the ruins have been carefully protected against furtherinjury; and, as they stand, give the observer a most imposingrealisation of their former grandeur. The Refectory, or dining-hall,is still fairly intact, and is used as a museum of sculptures savedfrom the wreck of the other buildings, and including some found inother parts of the city. One of these is a tombstone thought to bethat of Hubert Van Eyck, while another is the _Homme du Beffroi_, oneof the four stone statues erected in 1338 on the corners of theBelfry. A baptismal font found in the ruins of the Abbey contains acurious bas-relief representing Adam and Eve being expelled fromParadise. It is not, however, in these detached items that the visitorwill find the chief interest and inspiration of the ancient Abbey, butin the general views that in every direction give a conception of theformer vast extent and richness of the buildings. In their presentcondition the ruins form a series of pictures of wonderful beauty,not only in the remains of their architectural and artistic splendour,but because Nature, kinder than man, has covered the scars made by thedespoilers with her choicest tapestries of trailing vines and glowingflowers and spread her softest carpets of verdure along the silent anddeserted cloisters.

[Illustration: RUINS OF THE ABBEY OF ST. BAVON, GHENT.]

Returning to the heart of the city, another memento of the earliestperiod of the city's growth attracted our attention. This was theChâteau of Girard le Diable (Girard the Devil) the first of the"monuments" to be encountered if one arrives by the Southern railwaystation. This edifice, now completely restored and used as thedepository of the provincial archives, dates from 1216. Apart from theexterior, however, which reproduces the original appearance of thecastle, the only portion of interest to the visitor is the crypt whichis over one hundred feet long and nearly forty-five feet in width,making it one of the largest in Flanders. The vaulted roof issupported by massive round columns and forms a notable example of theogival style of architecture. We sought in vain to find what the nobleSir Girard did or did not do to receive his satanic appellation. Fromthe records he appears to have been a tolerably worthy citizen,holding, as did his father before him, the position of Châtelain ofGhent. A fortunate marriage, apparently, gave him the means to erectthis exceptionally fine castle, which has--like many of the oldbuildings in the city--had a most varied history. For two or threecenturies it remained the residence of the Châtelains of Ghent, then,for a time, was used by the city as an arsenal, was occupied by theHiéronimites, and then became in succession a school, a mad-house, anorphan asylum, a house of correction, and a fire house. Its spacioushalls now contain the precious charters of the Counts of Flanders andinnumerable historic documents of Ghent and the other cities of theprovince.

The most ancient church in Ghent is that of St. Nicholas in the Marchéaux Grains. It was founded in 912, or slightly more than a thousandyears ago. The original edifice was burned in 1120, so that thepresent structure dates from that century. A picturesque feature ofthe exterior is the row of tiny one-story houses snuggling up againstthe side of the great church on the rue Petite Turquis. The westwindow is an extremely lofty lancet of great beauty. The doorway onthis side was for many years crowded between commonplace three-storyhouses, the church builders of Flanders apparently caring very littlehow the imposing majesty of their noble churches might be marred byadjacent buildings, but these have now been removed and this front ofthe structure cleared.

Among the treasures of this church are the relics of St. Anne, said tohave been brought from Jerusalem by Godfrey of Bouillon. In thesacristy is some oil from the tomb of St. Nicholas of Myra and Bari,after whom the church was named. This saint died in 342 and is thesubject of many picturesque mediæval legends. Even in infancy he isalleged to have observed the fasts, refusing the breast of his nurse.He used to look particularly after children, young women, sailors andtravellers. On one occasion he came to an inn where the wickedinn-keeper fed his guests with the flesh of young children. St.Nicholas immediately went to the tub where the bodies of the innocentslay in brine and, reviving them, restored them all alive and wholeagain to their parents. This incident is frequently depicted byFlemish painters. After his death the bones of the Saint were buriedat Myra, but were stolen some centuries later--according to certainmonkish chronicles--and, after many adventures in which the spirit ofthe deceased prelate participated, the oil which was found in hissarcophagus was brought here. Jean Lyon, Dean of the guild of boatmen,and one of the heroes of the White Hoods in their resistance to thecruel Louis de Maele, was buried in this church.

One of the other churches of Ghent, the Cathedral of St. Bavon, datesin part from the same early period as the other monuments described inthis chapter. Originally dedicated to St. John, the name was changedto St. Bavon in 1540 and it became a cathedral nine years later. It isnot, however, the cathedral--of which the nave and transepts were notcompleted until 1533 to 1559--but the earlier church of St. Jean thatfigures in the history of Ghent under Counts of Flanders. Of thischurch the crypt, which dates from the eleventh or twelfth century,and the choir, dating from the thirteenth century, still remain. Ourexploration of the cold and gloomy crypt served to bring back theearlier period of the history of Ghent in two ways--not only is itspresent appearance undoubtedly much the same as it was eight or ninecenturies ago, when the city of the weavers was just beginning tomake its power and fame known in the land, but the historian sees herethe tombs of many of the great men of the city. For the most partthere were merchant princes, aristocrats, the leaders of the Liliaertfaction--those who sided with the King of France and took his liliesas their emblem.

Under its early Flemish Counts, the history of Ghent was, on thewhole, one of rapid and almost uninterrupted expansion. The merchantswho flocked to the little town around the Abbeys of St. Peter and St.Bavon were followed by similar throngs of artisans, and as thecommerce of the city grew apace so its industrial importance expanded.On the death of Philip of Alsace, who had erected the Château on thePlace Ste. Pharaïlde to hold the city in check, its burghers wrestedfrom the feeble hands of his widow the famous _Keure_ of 1191, a sortof local Magna Carta which confirmed all pre-existing privileges andgranted others. The same year the Treaty of Arras, by which BaldwinVIII ceded Arras and the County of Artois to Philip Augustus, the wilyand land-grasping King of France, made Ghent virtually the capital ofFlanders--a position that had hitherto been occupied by Bruges. Likeits rival on the Roya, Ghent had become an important centre for thewoollen trade with England, and also for all the branches of woollenmanufacture, the "scarlets" of Ghent being renowned far and wide. Thethirteenth century--in consequence of the folly of Baldwin ofConstantinople who, as we have seen, went off on a fanaticalenterprise to the Far East, leaving the richest county in the world atthe mercy of his enemies--saw a steady decline in the power of theCounts; and, while the Kings of France profited mightily by thissituation, the shrewd burghers of Ghent, Bruges, Ypres and the otherpowerful Flemish communes were not backward in extending and securingtheir own powers also. The result was that the successive Counts andCountesses were forced to submit to repeated encroachments on theirauthority. In 1228 Count Ferrand established a Council of thirty-ninemembers which soon became a virtual oligarchy and the actual ruler ofthe city. This body, while maintaining at first fairly friendlyrelations with the Counts, soon began to treat with other nations andthe other cities in Flanders as if it was the actual sovereign. Then,as the King of France, toward the close of the thirteenth century,began to give evidence of an intention to seize the rich county ofFlanders for himself--thus despoiling both the Counts and theburghers at the same time--Ghent joined heartily in the generalmovement toward a national resistance. In 1297 the Count Guy grantedthe city a new _Keure_, or charter, even more liberal than that of1191, and formed an alliance with England against the common foe.This, however, came to nothing, and all Flanders was over-run by thevictorious French troops. Ghent, after a brief resistance, yielded,and the French King, making liberal concessions to win the support ofthe most powerful of all the Flemish communes, the Liliaerts, orsupporters of the Lily of France, were temporarily holding the upperhand when the astounding tidings came of the Battle of the Spurs.

CHAPTER X

THE AGE WHEN GHENT WAS GOVERNED BY ITS GUILDS

It was on the 12th of July, 1302, that the guildsmen ofFlanders--chiefly, as we have seen, those from the two cities ofBruges and Ypres--humbled the chivalry of France and demonstrated thefact that the guilds of the great Flemish communes were a power to bereckoned with. Obviously, when the greatest monarch of the day hadbeen so decisively beaten there was no longer any question as to therelative importance of the guilds and the local Counts of Flanders.The latter, though still figuring prominently in the history of thetime, were unable to cope with the might of their united subjects, andonly by the help of their overlords of France, by bribery and even bydownright treachery, were they able to maintain themselves on theirtottering thrones at all. This period is the most interesting in thelong history of Flanders, for it was during the fourteenth centurythat the land of the Flemings just missed becoming a nation, and,possibly, a republic. That it failed was due to the fact that, whilethere existed a splendid and indomitable spirit of freedom in everytrue Flemish breast, the sense of loyalty was local instead ofnational. To his guild and his commune the Fleming was intenselyloyal, but his patriotism--fine as it was--was too narrow. Eachcommune acted solely for itself, uniting with the others in time ofgreat and impending peril, but often sending its armies to fight asister commune over some trifling dispute as soon as the common dangerwas over. The princes were able, by cunningly taking advantage of thisdefect in the Flemish character, to play one commune against anotherand, by dividing the hosts of the guildsmen, to establish finally atyranny too powerful to be thrown off. For one hundred and fifty yearsafter the Battle of the Spurs, however, the guilds--although now andthen temporarily defeated--were, in the main, supreme throughout thelength and breadth of Flanders, and it was still another centurybefore the last spark of civic freedom at Ghent was finallyextinguished.

Two days after the great fight at Courtrai the victors, headed by theredoubtable Peter de Coninck, William of Juliers and Guy of Namur,entered the city of Ghent and "converted" the too lukewarm magistratesto the popular side. The patrician Liliaerts were expelled from themagistracy and many were killed or driven from the city. The Countfought stubbornly on, nor did the war with France end immediately, butin almost every instance the guildsmen were able to maintain theresults of their great victory and firmly establish the foundation oftheir power. In the government of the commune of Ghent their voice wasa potent one. Naturally the wool-spinners and weavers were thedominant organisations, while the _petit*-métiers_, or minorindustries, were also represented.

The apprentice system was rigidly enforced among all the guilds, butthe policy of the organisations was liberal in this respect--forexample, an apprentice was often sent for a year's journey in othercities or countries in order to obtain a wider knowledge of his craft.The guildsmen had a hearty and honest pride in good and skilfulworkmanship, and the officers of the guilds supervised the quality ofthe goods turned out and imposed penalties for poor workmanship or theuse of inferior materials. Each guild had its own house ormeeting-place, and while the fine guild houses on the Marché auxGrains date from a somewhat later period, they were no doubt precededby earlier structures. It was one of the dreams of the Professor torummage about in these ancient edifices, poring over the archives ofthe guilds and inspecting the rooms and halls where their ofttimesstormy meetings were held. In this he was destined to be disappointed,for while the exteriors of several of these historic buildings havebeen carefully restored, the interiors are now devoted to private usesand contain little of interest to the visitor. The archives have been,for the most part, preserved in the ancient castle of Girard theDevil. Some of the old guild banners still exist, but the guild housesthemselves are only the empty shells of the powerful organisationsthat once made them their homes.

[Illustration: Photograph by E. Sacré. POST OFFICE, CHURCH OF ST.NICHOLAS, BELFRY AND CATHEDRAL, GHENT.]

The most famous structure in Flanders dates from this epoch in thetown's history. This is the Belfry that has looked down on the redroofs of Ghent for nearly six hundred years. The first Belfry wasbegun in 1183, but the present structure was built in 1313-1339, sincewhen it has been several times modified and "restored"--not alwayssuccessfully. The latest restoration was carried out by the municipalauthorities as a preparation for the International Exposition held atGhent in 1913 and was carefully and intelligently done. There arethree hundred and fifty-five steps in the staircase by which visitorsascend the tower, and the climb is one that richly repays those whomake it. On a clear day one can see beyond Bruges to the northwest, asfar as Antwerp to the east and Audenaerde to the south. So denselypeopled is the Flemish plain that these great cities lie almost closeenough together to be within sound of great Roland.

This was the renowned bell which the burghers of Ghent had cast andhung high on their Belfry as an emblem of the city's freedom fromtyranny and a tocsin to summon the sturdy guildsmen to its defencewhen danger threatened. It bore the following inscription in Flemish:

 Mynen naem is Roelant, als ick clippe dan ist brant Als icke luyde, dan ist storm in Vlaenderlandt.

Freely translated, this is what the bell gave as its autobiography:

 My name is Roland; when I speak softly there is fire at hand, But when I roar loudly it means war in Flanderland.

The original Roland was cast in 1314, or twelve years after the Battleof the Spurs. It weighed twelve thousand, five hundred pounds and wasthe pride of the city, but was destroyed by order of Charles V when heforced the burghers abjectly to submit to his despotism in 1540.

In the lower part of the tower is the "secret room" where from 1402the burghers kept, behind triple doors as at Bruges, the charters andprivileges of the city. The famous dragon at the tip of the spire wasfor centuries said to have been brought from the Orient at the time ofBaldwin of Constantinople, but recent researches in the archives ofthe city have shown that it was made at Ghent in the year 1377-78.Adjoining the Belfry is the Cloth Hall erected for the most importantof the city's four hundred guilds. The upper hall is now used as aBureau of Information for Tourists, while the lower one is aRathskeller. Here the columns and vaulted roof greatly resemble thecrypt of Girard the Devil's castle, save that the little tables andexcellent Munich and Pilsen to be had there make it decidedly morecheerful. The edifice was begun in 1425 and finished, or, at least,the work was stopped, in 1441. Behind the Cloth Hall, but nestlingclose against it, is the quaint little entrance to the communalprison, which was built in 1741 when the prisoners were confined onthe lower floor of the Cloth Hall. Over the door at the top of thefaçade is the celebrated bas-relief representing the legend of theMammelokker. The carving really tells all there is to the story; whichis, in brief, that, on one occasion, when an old man was condemned todie of starvation, his daughter--who just then had a baby whom she wasnursing--secretly gave the breast to her aged parent, thus saving hislife.

While the Belfry was being built by the burghers of Ghent, France andEngland were drifting into the Hundred Years' War. The Count ofFlanders, Louis de Nevers, was ardently loyal to France and utterlyblind to the interests of the great woollen manufacturing communesover which he ruled and to those of his own dynasty. In 1336, no doubtat the instance of the King of France, he ordered all the Englishmerchants in Flanders to be arrested and their goods confiscated. TheKing of England, Edward III, promptly retaliated by prohibiting theexportation of wool from England to Flanders and the sale of Flemishwoollens in his Kingdom. In a few months the Flemish communes ofGhent, Bruges and Ypres found themselves facing utter ruin as a resultof this economic conflict. The spinners and weavers were idle, themarkets deserted, actual starvation existed, and many of the guildsmenwere forced to wander off into the countryside to beg for food.

It was at this critical moment that the great figure of Jacques VanArtevelde appears upon the stage of Flemish history. Son of a richwool and cloth merchant who had been long prominent among theClauwaerts, or foes of French domination, Jacques Van Artevelde was aman of wealth and position who by ancestry and calling was inclined tothe popular rather than the aristocratic side. On December 28, 1337,he harangued the men of Bruges in behalf of peace with England, inspite of the obstinate and fatuous policy of the Count. As a result ofhis eloquence, abundantly enforced by the ruin and misery thenprevailing on every side, the people decided unanimously to establisha revolutionary government, which was accomplished peacefully on thethird of the following month. Van Artevelde was recognised as theforemost of the five captains then chosen to administer the governmentof the city, and was given a larger guard than his colleagues. Thehelpless Count of Flanders, unable to resist, was obliged to ratifythe new policy of the burghers, and by the middle of the year 1338the embargo was formally raised on both sides, the woollen industrystarted up once more, and Flanders was declared to be neutral asregarded the contest between its two powerful neighbours. In short,the wise policy of Van Artevelde was completely triumphant and thecountry again placed on the road to renewed prosperity.

Under the direction of the great tribune the weavers were now thedominant factor in the government of Ghent, and soon the influence ofVan Artevelde made itself felt in Bruges, Ypres and all the otherFlemish communes, where the guild leaders became likewise the heads ofthe magistracy. The Count strove to reassert his power, but VanArtevelde stormed the Castle and the prince was forced to accompanythe men of Ghent to the annual procession at Tournai wearing theircolours. The "White Hoods," as the warriors of the popular party werecalled, destroyed the castles of several of the lesser nobility whodared to resist their authority and throughout all the land VanArtevelde reigned supreme. Edward III, after vainly endeavouring towin the Count of Flanders to his side by flattering matrimonialoffers, ended by treating directly with Van Artevelde as if with asovereign prince.

It was the genius of the great Ghent captain that conceived thebrilliant idea of overcoming the reluctance of the Flemish communes totake sides with England against their feudal suzerain, the King ofFrance, by having Edward claim the crown of France, and it was inconsequence of his arguments that the English monarch finally tookthis bold but adroit step. On the 26th of January, 1340, the communesformally recognised Edward as their suzerain on the Marché du Vendrediat Ghent--one of the many great events that have taken place on thathistoric spot. The King made Ghent his headquarters, and it was in theold Castle of the Counts that his third son, known in English historyas John of Gaunt (Ghent), was born. In the same year occurred thegreat Battle of Sluys, in which Edward III led the English ships ofwar into the harbour of that town where the French King Philip hadassembled a vast fleet. The defeated Frenchmen leaped overboard inhundreds only to be slain by the Flemings as they swam ashore. No mandared tell the King of France of this great disaster until the royaljester broke the news by exclaiming, "The English cowards! Oh, theEnglish cowards!" On the King's inquiring what he meant by this, thejester replied, "They were afraid to jump into the sea as our braveFrenchmen did at Sluys!"

This brilliant year, however, saw the climax of the power of VanArtevelde. Already the other Flemish communes were beginning togrumble at his rule, outbreaks occurring at Audenaerde, Dendermondeand Ypres. King Edward began to besiege Tournai with the aid of VanArtevelde, but on the French King agreeing to a truce he returned toEngland, leaving his faithful ally to take care of himself as best hecould. To make matters more difficult, he failed to pay the subsidieshe had promised, and the tribune was violently accused of havingplayed the people false. Meanwhile the guildsmen began to disputebetween themselves, and on Monday, May 2, 1345, in spite of theentreaties of Van Artevelde, the fullers and weavers engaged in abloody battle on the Marché du Vendredi in which the former with their_Doyen_, or leader, were massacred. This sad day was called the _KwadeMaendag_, or Bad Monday.

Early in July Van Artevelde had a last interview with Edward at Sluys.On his return to Ghent a mob of malcontents, led by men in the pay ofCount Louis of Nevers, besieged the great tribune in his house, cryingthat he had betrayed the country. After vainly trying to argue withthem, he reluctantly permitted himself to be drawn away from thewindow by his followers, who sought to persuade him to seek safety inflight. It was too late, however, as the mob had already burst intothe house and one of them struck Van Artevelde dead on his ownthreshold. For nearly nine years he had been virtually a king inFlanders, his policy bringing unexampled prosperity to the country andto his native city.

Although often called a demagogue and a tyrant, Jacques Van Artevelderanks as one of the foremost statesmen of his time. He died the"victim of a faction" and of treachery rather than a popular revoltagainst his policies, for the English alliance was steadfastlycontinued after his death. To-day his statue stands on the Marché duVendredi, where, in 1340, he burned the papal interdict againstFlanders. It represents him in the act of delivering the famous speechby which he won the allegiance of his fellow citizens to the Englishalliance. Count Louis profited little by his treachery, for a littleover a year later, August 26, 1346, he fell in the great battle ofCrécy where the English archers, fighting by the side of many Flemishguildsmen, gave the death blow to mediæval chivalry and utterlycrushed the power of France.

The weavers, who under Van Artevelde had become the dominant power inall of the Flemish communes, soon had good reason to regret his fall,for the new Count, Louis of Maele--named like most of the Counts ofFlanders from the place where he was born, the great castle ofMaele--was able by liberal promises and the restoration of ancientcharters and privileges to win the support of most of the cities. AtGhent the butchers, fish merchants, and boatmen's guilds submitted,followed by the fullers and minor industries. The weavers, althoughtheir numbers had been greatly reduced by the plague, held outstubbornly, but were massacred on the Marché du Vendredi, Tuesday,January 13, 1349, their captain and their _Doyen_, Gérard Denys--theman who had slain Van Artevelde--being flung into the Lys. The victorscalled this bloody day _De Goede Disendach_, or Good Tuesday, and itcertainly amply revenged the Bad Monday four years before when theweavers were the aggressors. The members of the unfortunate guild werenow hunted down like dogs throughout all Flanders, great numbersfleeing to England where they established the weaving industry--KingEdward wisely welcoming the exiles and giving them every aid in hispower to settle in his Kingdom. Later the competition of thesefugitives and their descendants gave Flanders good cause to rue thefolly of the internal strife that thus drove away some of the bestworkmen in the country.

The numerical superiority of this guild, however, and the fact thatit* members were necessarily more skilled than the fullers, led to itsgradual recovery, and by 1359 the weavers were again admitted to ashare in the government of the communes and the fullers were relegatedto the inferior position to which their smaller numbers and lessskilled work entitled them. Louis of Maele made Bruges virtually hiscapital, but during the greater part of his reign of forty years wasable to continue on fairly peaceful terms with the turbulent city ofGhent by means of a careful and detailed adjustment of the order ofprecedence between the various guilds which was devised about the year1352 and continued in effect for nearly two centuries. In 1369 thedaughter of the Count married Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy andbrother of the King of France--an event full of dire significance forthe guildsmen as it led to their having, in after years, the powerfulDukes of Burgundy as their over-lords instead of the comparativelyfeeble Counts of Flanders. In 1377 Count Louis held a great tournamentin the Marché du Vendredi. Despite the long conflict between theguilds the city was at this period very prosperous.

The Count, however, who was always short of money, sold to thecitizens of Bruges the right to construct a canal from their port tothe River Lys. At this Ghent, headed by the Boatmen's Guild, flew toarms and a civil war broke out in 1379, the men of Ghent fearing thatthey might lose their monopoly of the grain traffic. After varioussuccesses and reverses the Count besieged the city and had very nearlyreduced it by starvation when Philip Van Artevelde, son of the famoustribune, came forward and was made Captain-General of the city, in1382. The new leader, and a motley crowd of five thousand half-starvedfollowers, marched on Bruges, where the Count, at the head of a hostof over forty thousand, attacked them under the walls of the city. Thelarger army, however, was a mere rabble--over-confident and halfintoxicated--and Van Artevelde won a complete victory. The Count ofFlanders was compelled to hide for the night under a heap of straw ina poor woman's hovel, and later escaped to Lille and so to France.Van Artevelde treated the captured city with generosity and was sooncaptain of all Flanders. His next battle was with the King of France,but this time he was less fortunate, and at Rosbecque, November 27,1382, the Flemish host was cut to pieces and its leader slain. Louisof Maele himself died two years later, leaving the reputation of beingthe worst and weakest of the line of Flemish Counts, as well as thelast. It was at his request that the French had invaded the country,which they swept with fire and sword after the defeat of the Flemishguildsmen, but the victory was of no benefit to the broken-down oldman who no longer dared to show himself in Flanders and died at Parisin poverty and neglect.

As an offset to these remarks regarding the weakness of Louis of Maeleit is only fair to that worthy to relate a little legend generallyattributed to his reign. It is said that on a certain occasion themagistrates of Ghent--which was at the time renowned as the mostopulent city in Europe--were invited to a great feast given in honourof some foreign king. Those in charge of the arrangements forgot,however, to put cushions on the chairs and the men of Ghentaccordingly threw their richly embroidered cloaks upon them, andretired when the feast was over without putting them on again. Whenreminded of this the Chief Magistrate replied, "The Flemings are notaccustomed to carry their cushions with them." Not only the grandeesbut the bourgeois citizens at this period were said to wear purple andfine linen. The baths, "stooven," frequented by both sexes, became thescenes of great vice and disorder and one ancient chronicler reportsan incredible number of murders as occurring during a single year atgaming tables and drinking places. All this would seem to show thatLouis of Maele was not so bad a sovereign--for at least the countryprospered under his rule--but in reality he had, as we have seen, verylittle to do either with the actual government or public policy duringhis long reign.

No visitor to Ghent fails to take a look at De Dulle Griete, or "MadMargery," Philip Van Artevelde's big cannon that stands in theMannekens Aert. According to Froissart, Van Artevelde took with him tothe siege of Audenaerde "a bombard which was fifty feet in length, andshot stones of immense weight. When they fired off this bombard itmight be heard five leagues off in the daytime, and ten at night.The report of it was so loud, that it seemed as if all the devils inhell had broken loose." Mad Margery seems to have shrunk considerablysince Froissart's time, for she is now nineteen feet long and threefeet in diameter at the mouth. The gun was made of wrought iron andweighs thirty-four thousand, one hundred and sixty-six pounds, and wascapable of throwing a stone weighing seven hundred and eight pounds.

[Illustration: DE DULLE GRIETE, GHENT.]

Another interesting monument dating from the same period in the city'shistory as the Belfry is the Hospital of the Biloque or Biloke. Someof the buildings are of much more recent construction, but the Gothicchapel was built early in the thirteenth century, apparently about1228, with a double gable and immense timber roof. The formerRefectory offers an example of early brick work at one of its ends,_le beau pignon_, that is a joy to architects, and has often beendescribed and illustrated in the technical books. The timber roof ofthis structure is also noteworthy. It is now used as a hospital forold men. This edifice is a century later than the chapel, while someof the other buildings date from the seventeenth and eighteenthcenturies.

Ghent contains two Béguinages, a circ*mstance that gives not a littletrouble to visitors who in trying to visit one are about always--atleast that was our experience on two occasions--directed to the other.Both are large, but one is more notable for its antiquity and theother for its size and the perfection of its appointments. The firstBéguinage in Ghent was founded by Jeanne of Constantinople in 1233 asa place of refuge for women disciples of the church who in those evildays felt the need of protection, but did not desire to enter theconventual life. Little houses sprang up and the institution proved sopopular that a second Béguinage was soon established which came to becalled the Petit Béguinage. Protected by the successive Counts, andparticularly by the patronage of the Countesses of Flanders, bothinstitutions flourished and expanded steadily. The present PetitBéguinage de Notre Dame dates largely from the seventeenth century,and the Chapel and streets of tiny houses inhabited by the Béguinesare most picturesque. It has accommodations for three hundred sisters.The Grand Béguinage de Ste. Elisabeth was confiscated during theFrench Revolution and the property presented to the almshouses of thecity of Ghent. The Committee in charge of the almshouses sufferedthe Béguines to remain undisturbed, however, until 1872 whenstrained relations resulting from this arrangement led to the Béguinesgiving up their establishment, which was modernized by the authoritiesand many of its interesting features destroyed. The church remains,having become a parish church, and the rue des Prébendières retainsits original appearance. Meanwhile, the Duke of Arenberg purchasedground for a new Grande Béguinage at Mont St. Amand, and here a littlecity of small houses, designed in fifteenth-century Flemish style, anda new chapel were erected, the work being completed in 1874.

[Illustration: WORKROOM, PETIT BÉGUINAGE DE NOTRE DAME, GHENT.]

We spent a very charming afternoon visiting the Grande Béguinage.Passing through the lofty gateway we were greeted by thepleasant-faced Béguine who receives all visitors and who directed ushow to reach the buildings we were permitted to see. As at Bruges, thecells were not shown to visitors. Altogether at St. Amand there arefourteen "convents" and eighty houses, the former accommodating twentyor thirty inmates and the latter two or three, with occasionally somelady from the outer world who is taken as a lodger. Each little houseis numbered and also has a name, usually that of some saint. Arrivingat the convent we had been permitted to visit we were first conducteddown a long, clean corridor, painted a glaring white, to a parlour orreception room, of which there appear to be several. Then, after theLady Superior had been notified of our presence and had come towelcome us, we were taken to the _refter_, or dining-room. Theinventor of the kitchen cabinet could have taken points from thiscurious apartment. Along the walls and between the windows are a dozenor more cupboards, of which one belongs to each Béguine. Here shekeeps her napkins, dishes and cooking utensils, and even her bread andprovisions. A board can be pulled out near the middle, which serves asa table. These cupboards are so constructed that no Béguine can seeinto that of her neighbour, and apparently they take their meals oneat a time, as one was eating her frugal repast when we entered, andwhen we passed through the room again a little later her littleprivate refectory was closed and another one was seated at her littleshelf or table. Adjoining this queer dining-room was a large kitchen,with an extremely big cook stove, on which a half-dozen little potswere simmering gently. One Béguine, we were told, has the duty ofattending to the kitchen for three weeks, then another, each takingturns. The Béguines prepare their own meals to suit themselves, theone in charge of the kitchen merely looking after the actual processof cooking.

We next visited the workroom, where a group of Béguines were busilyengaged in making lace. The bright sunshine streaming through thelarge windows on the silent group of workers, each clad in her sombregarb of black and white, made a pretty picture. All seemed to becare-free and contented, though the expression on their faces couldhardly be described as one of happiness. As in all conventualinstitutions, the inmates are required to go through quite a series ofdevotional exercises from morning mass to the Benediction NightPrayers. The scene in the little chapel attached to each convent, orin the large chapel of the entire Béguinage, when the sisters areassembled for service is a very picturesque one and gives the visitoran impression likely long to be remembered.

Speaking of the peculiar dining customs of the Béguines reminds methat in Flanders the judicious should not overlook the importance ofdoing justice to the culinary treats that are provided by even thelittle hotels. For those travellers who look upon eating as one of thedisagreeable necessities of existence, to be shirked or evaded as faras possible, and, in any event, to be hurried through with quicklylest something be overlooked that the immortal Mr. Baedeker said mustbe seen, this is one feature of Flemish life that will make no appeal.On the other hand, for those who are neither mentally nor bodilydyspeptic; who agree with the French aphorism that "the animals feed,while man eats"; and who are still able to enjoy a good meal wellplanned, well cooked, and well served, a trip through Flanders willbring a new pleasure every day. A peep into any Flemish kitchen willconvince the most sceptical that here, at all events, one's stomach isnot likely to be forgotten. Pots and kettles, casseroles and pans,pitchers and jugs, large and small, hang around the walls or rest uponlong shelves--all of brightly polished copper and ready for instantservice.

The great meal of the day in all parts of Flanders is the dinner, andit cuts the day in two--coming between noon and two o'clock andusually lasting an hour or more. The evening meal, or supper, is muchless important, save in a few hotels catering largely to tourists. Toget up a real Flemish dinner, cooked and served in the best style ofwhich the Flemish cooks are capable, the housewife first ascertainswhen the local butcher has fresh-killed meat and plans accordingly.Vegetables in Flanders are always good, in their respective seasons,but to get the finest quality of meats one must buy just after thebutcher has made a killing. To Americans, who have been accustomed alltheir lives to eat meat that has been kept on ice, it almost seems asthough one has never tasted a roast of beef or a shoulder of muttonbefore--so deliciously sweet, tender and juicy are they when cookedand eaten before the ice has robbed them of their richness andflavour.

It was while we were browsing around Ghent that the ladies discovereda bit of handicraft that seems worth mentioning. We subsequently sawthe same thing at Brussels and Antwerp, so that it appears to bedistinctly a Belgian industry. In a large window they noticed twowomen engaged in what from over the way might have been taken forlace-making. Mrs. Professor hurried across at once to investigate andshe and the Madame spent half an hour watching the operation. Each ofthe two women was engaged in repairing, the one a pair of trousers andthe other an overcoat. In each case the repair consisted of literallyweaving a new segment of cloth in place of the damaged portion. Firstcutting out all of the latter they frayed out an edge of the goods atsome point where there was sufficient material turned under for theirpurpose. This done they took short strands of each of the variouscoloured yarns and, with infinite patience and skill, wove themtogether in an exact reproduction of the design of the originaltextile. So cleverly was the work done that when completed thereparation could not be detected. It is possible that repairing ofthis kind is done in America but none of us had ever seen or heard ofit. In Belgium it seemed to be fairly common, being styled _Reparationinvisible_, and the price varying from one to three or four francs foreach hole repaired, according to the nature of the goods and thedesign. We also saw rugs being repaired in the same manner, as well asladies' dress goods of every description.

It is one of the most deplorable features of the war that its mostfearful destructiveness should have been wreaked upon a little countrywhere every small economy and patient utilisation of trifles had beenpractised for centuries. All Belgium is pre-eminently a land ofthrift, of painstaking husbanding of small resources, and to beggarhalf the population of such a country means a calamity to each familygroup and individual far more poignant than would be the case wherefrugality was less deeply ingrained as a national characteristic.

CHAPTER XI

PHILIP THE GOOD AND THE VAN EYCKS

As the sunset is often the most beautiful hour of the day, so thesplendour of the old Flemish communes reached its zenith at the momentwhen many of them were about to sink into their long sleep. This wasthe period of Burgundian rule. Upon the death of Louis of Maele theCounty of Flanders ceased to be a separate sovereignty, as it had beensince Baldwin of the Iron Arm, for the husband of Margaret, the oldCount's daughter, was Duke of Burgundy and brother of the King ofFrance--a foreign prince whose interests in France far out-weighed inhis mind his interests in Flanders. The new ruler, Philip the Bold,was acknowledged as Count of Flanders in 1384, but was only able toenter Audenaerde by stratagem after a siege, and was defied openly bythe sturdy burghers of Ghent. The following year, however, Philipeffected a family union by which he virtually controlled the twoimportant States of Brabant and Hainaut. His eldest son was marriedto Margaret, daughter of the Regent of Hainaut, while the latter's sonmarried Philip's daughter. These marriages were celebrated at Cambrai,in April, 1385, and at the same time the duch*ess of Brabant recognisedPhilip's second son as heir to the Duchy. Brabant at that time wasless rich and powerful than Flanders, but its chief cities, Brusselsand Louvain, were growing rapidly. Hainaut, on the other hand, hadbeen termed by one of its leaders "a poor country of proud men"--itschief cities, Mons and Valenciennes, being places of third-rateimportance, and its present vast mineral wealth then undreamed of. Themarriages of Cambrai are worth remembering, however, as explaining therapidity with which the House of Burgundy extended its sway overnearly all of what is now Belgium.

Ghent still resisted its new Count, but an army of one hundredthousand French and Burgundians--gathered primarily to invadeEngland--destroyed the seaport of Damme, which had been rebuilt sinceits previous destruction by the French, and plundered "the FourTrades," as the fertile region thereabout was called. Ghent, however,had suffered enough to make it sue for peace and acknowledge Philip'ssovereignty. The invasion of England project came to nothing--as haveso many others before and since--but it had at least enabled Philip toestablish his power in Flanders.

On Philip's death in 1404, he was succeeded by his son, John theFearless (as the old chroniclers call him). The life of this princebelongs to the history of France rather than Flanders, as he hadlittle use for his Flemish towns except to extort money from theirburghers--who granted him such sums as he required on his renewingacknowledgment of their liberties and privileges. In 1407 John causedthe murder of his great rival in the government of France, the Duke ofOrleans. Then came the battle of Agincourt, where the power of Francewas ruined by Henry the Fifth, and in 1419 the son of the Duke ofOrleans avenged the murder of his father twelve years previously bymurdering John the Fearless at Montereau.

The son of John the Fearless was Philip, called by the chroniclers"the Good." A better term would have been "the Magnificent," forgoodness was hardly his chief characteristic. The murder of his fathercaused Philip to take the side of England in the long conflict betweenthat country and France that was still raging--a policy that pleasedhis Flemish communes, which depended for their prosperity on the wooltrade. Meanwhile Philip took advantage of the matrimonial difficultiesof Jacqueline of Bavaria, Countess of Hainaut and Holland, to compelthat beautiful but unfortunate princess to abdicate in his favour. Thedungeon in the Castle of the Counts at Ghent, where the fairJacqueline was for a time confined, has already been mentioned. Healso succeeded in making himself Duke of Brabant, thus uniting in hisown person the government of these rich provinces with that ofFlanders and Burgundy and his other possessions in France.

In 1430 Philip married the Princess Isabel of Portugal, agreat-granddaughter of John, Duke of Lancaster. This marriage cementedthe English alliance, and the English made Philip Regent of France,over which they still claimed sovereignty. It was Philip who capturedand indirectly caused the execution of Jeanne d'Arc at the darkestperiod of French history.

The now all-powerful Duke of Burgundy signalized his marriage byestablishing at Bruges the famous Order of the Golden Fleece. Thisconsisted of himself, as founder and sovereign prince, and twenty-fourknights--naturally the highest in the land--and in renown and lustrethe new order quickly took rank as the very pinnacle of mediævalchivalry. Membership was an honour than which there was none higher,while members also enjoyed a personal security against the tyranny ofprinces in being amenable only to their comrades of the order. Thehead of such an institution naturally exerted powers equal, and, insome respects, superior, to those of any crowned monarch. The fêteswith which Philip celebrated the establishment of the order werewithout precedent in the history of Europe for magnificence, and theold city of Bruges was for days thronged with the bravest knights andthe fairest ladies to be found in the Duke's widespread dominions.

Up to this date the policy of Philip had coincided with the interestsof his great communes in Flanders and his popularity throughout thecounty was unbounded. Not only did friendship with England protect andstimulate trade between the two countries, but the misery and ruin ofFrance also contributed to extend the commerce of the great towns justover the frontier whose trade and industries were unmolested. In 1435Philip concluded the treaty of Arras with Charles VII, King of France,by which, for the sake of peace, the French King ceded to him anumber of counties in France and made him, during his lifetime atleast, an independent prince owing no homage to the French Crown. Thistreaty naturally enraged the English, who at once declared war onBurgundy, destroying many Burgundian vessels and raiding its coasttowns. In revenge Duke Philip marched on Calais with an army of thirtythousand Flemings whom he induced to join in the war against theirancient ally chiefly through their confidence in his good intentionsand against their own better judgment. The siege proved to be a longone, and the Flemings becoming discontented finally set fire to theircamp and crying, "_Go, go, wy zyn all vermanden!_" ("Go, go, we areall betrayed!") marched back to Flanders, leaving their Duke raging athis discomfiture.

This fiasco determined Philip to adopt a new policy toward thecommunes and compel them to obey his orders. On May 22, 1437, hecamped outside of the city of Bruges with a considerable force ofknights and Picard footmen, informing the burghers that he was on hisway to Holland. The next day, telling his men "That is the Holland wehave come to conquer!" as he pointed to the city, Philip led hisforces to the market-place. The tocsin in the old belfry instantlysounded the alarm, and angry guildsmen and burghers came pouring downthe narrow streets in thousands. Philip's small force, taken at adisadvantage, was forced to retreat to one of the gates. It was shut,its heavy bolts securely drawn. Already some of the French force hadbeen killed, and in a few moments the Duke himself would have perishedbut for Burgomaster Van de Walle, who brought a smith and broke thelock. The Duke escaped with most of his followers, but many who werecaught in the rear lost their lives. This was the Bruges Vespers--todistinguish it from Bruges Matin, the year of the Battle of the Spurs.

Philip now set about humbling the proud city in grim earnest, cuttingoff the commerce upon which its prosperity depended, and even its foodsupplies. To add to the horrors of the siege the plague broke outwithin the city, while leprosy was also prevalent. No less thantwenty-four thousand died of pestilence and famine before the braveburghers at last gave in. Philip's terms were hard. The city officialswere required to meet him bareheaded and barefooted the next time hedeigned to visit the defeated commune, and on their knees give him thekeys of the city. A heavy fine was imposed and forty-two leadingburghers were excluded from amnesty and beheaded--including Van deWalle, who had saved his life at the Bouverie gate. This was the"Great Humiliation," as it is sometimes called, but--finding thatcontinued hostility to the chief trading centre in his dominions wasdriving foreign traders away--the Duke now took Bruges again into hisfavour and never again molested it during his long reign.

The proud city of Ghent was the next to feel the weight of thepowerful Duke's displeasure. Rebelling in 1448 against the impositionof a tax on salt, called the gabelle, the city defied the Duke'sauthority for five years. Meanwhile Philip gradually cut off itssupplies, as he had done with Bruges. Ghent was more populous,however, and its burgher armies took the field and carried open war asfar as Audenaerde, which they besieged. Several small battles werefought, the advantage resting mainly with the Duke, until on July 23,1453, the decisive conflict took place. The Duke's forces wereencamped at Gavre, a few miles from the city. Spies within the gatestold the burghers that it would be easy to surprise the camp anddestroy Philip's army. The tocsin therefore was sounded and the hostsof guildsmen and burghers marched out to attack the enemy. The Duke'sforces, aware of the manner in which the Flemings were to be betrayed,were placed where the open ground favoured the Burgundian horsem*n. Inspite of this advantage, the contest was a stubborn one, both the Dukeand his son Charles narrowly escaping death on one occasion. At lastthe Flemings began to give way, and the battle became a slaughter,more than twenty thousand of the guildsmen being slain on the field,while all prisoners were hanged. This struggle was called "the red seaof Gavre." As the men of Ghent were fleeing toward their city Philipsought to pursue them by the shortest way and intercept their flight.He accordingly called for a guide. A peasant of the neighbourhoodvolunteered, and, after leading the Burgundian army across fields andby-paths for several hours, conducted the victors--not to the gates ofGhent, but back to their own camp again! This nameless hero wasincontinently hanged to the nearest tree, but he no doubt saved thecity from pillage and rapine that night.

Philip by this victory completely crushed the spirit of the communes,for none dared resist when Ghent the all-powerful had failed. He seemsto have had at least a fleeting realisation, however, that victoriesof this sort were not matters for unmitigated satisfaction. The dayafter the battle the women of Ghent were searching the ghastly heapsof dead for the bodies of their husbands, their brothers and theirlovers when Philip exclaimed--possibly touched by the sad sight--"I donot know who is the gainer by this victory. As for me, see what I havelost--for these were my subjects!"

The privileges of Ghent were somewhat curtailed, and the dearly lovedguild banners carried away by the conqueror, but Philip, on the whole,was very moderate. The obnoxious gabelle, the cause of the war, wasremoved, and all citizens guaranteed their individual liberties. Thefollowing year, Philip, possibly to celebrate his now undisputedsupremacy, gave a series of fêtes at Lille that surpassed even thoseheld on the occasion of his marriage at the foundation of the Order ofthe Golden Fleece. Upon one dining table stood a cathedral, with achoir singing within; another held a huge pie, inside of which anorchestra of twenty-eight musicians played; a third contained apantomime representing Jason in search of the golden fleece. Thesefêtes and tournaments lasted for days, and were the wonder of Europe.

During the remainder of his reign of fifty years Philip never againhad occasion to make war on his Flemish subjects, and while heseriously curtailed the power and importance of the communes, his rulewas, on the whole, a period of great prosperity for Flanders. Bothmerchants and artisans were waxing rich, while the chief cities werebeing beautified on every hand. It was under Philip the Good that thecathedral at Antwerp was begun, and the town halls of Mons, Louvainand Brussels erected. It was also during his reign that William Caxtonlearned the art of printing at the house of Colard Manson at Bruges,but the prejudice of the burghers led to his banishment as aforeigner--thus depriving Bruges of the lustre of his achievements.The greatest event of Philip's reign, however, was one of which theglory is shared by both Bruges and Ghent--the establishment inFlanders of the school of painters in oils whose masterpieces loom solarge in the history of art.

Like most men whose commanding personality dominates the age in whichthey live, Philip the Good was many sided. The Professor admires himbecause he was, in his judgment, one of the greatest constructivestatesmen of the Middle Ages--aiming steadily throughout his longreign to weld together, by fair means or foul, a compact Burgundiannation. On the other hand, I look upon him as a foe rather than afriend of true progress, because he crushed the self-governingcommunes and guilds, the bulwarks of personal liberty in feudalEurope. Mrs. Professor cares nothing for either of these aspects ofhis career, but looks upon him as great for all time because he was anardent friend and patron of the fine arts.

In this she is undoubtedly right, for no greater glory belongs to anyof the long line of princes who ruled over Flanders than that which isassociated with his reign--the birth at Bruges of the art of paintingwith oils and of the wonderful school of painting represented by theearly Flemish masters. In his _History of Flemish Painting_ Prof. A.J. Wauters recounts the names and some faint traces of the work of afew Flemish painters who lived prior to the period of Philip the Good.At Ghent there are two interesting frescoes dating from about the endof the thirteenth century. At that city in 1337 the first guild ofsculptors was organised, under the patronage of St. Luke, and similarcorporations were instituted at Tournai in 1341, in Bruges in 1351,at Louvain by 1360 and Antwerp by 1382. To this guild from the veryearliest period the painters belonged, sometimes the goldsmiths andgoldbeaters being also associated with them. In the same way theilluminators of Bruges and Ghent, and the tapestry workers of Arras,Tournai, Valenciennes and Brussels were organised into guilds, andthese associations of men whose work was in a high degree artisticsoon resulted in the transformation of the artisan into the artist.

Philip the Good was not the first of his line to give encouragement toart and artists. One Jehan de Hasselt was court painter to Count Louisof Maele, while at the same period the better known Jehan de Brugeswas _peintre et varlet de chambre_ for the King of France. By the endof the fourteenth century not only the great Dukes of Burgundy and theKings of France but many minor princes had their chosen painters,imagers, illuminators and tapestry workers. Philip the Bold, the firstof the Dukes of Burgundy to rule over Flanders, retained hisfather-in-law's painter, Jehan de Hasselt, on his pay-roll for sometime, and later employed a resident of Ypres, Melchior Broederlam,whose masterpiece was an altar-piece for the Carthusian monastery atDijon founded by his patron. Part of this has been preserved and isnow in the museum of Dijon. It is of interest as the first greatpainting of the early Flemish school and represents the Annunciationand Visitation, the Presentation in the Temple, and the Flight intoEgypt. John the Fearless, the next Duke of Burgundy, likewise had hisofficial painter, but it was not until the reign of Philip the Goodthat any of these Ducal artists, with the exception of Broederlam,achieved more than mediocre results.

The reason for this may have been the medium with which all paintersin those days were accustomed to work. This was called tempera, thecolours being mixed with water, the white of an egg or some otherglutinous substance, then dried in the sun and varnished over. Thecolours, however, soon became dull and pale--often fading awayaltogether, especially in course of restoration--and the process ofdrying was slow and unsatisfactory. To Flanders belongs the honour ofthe great discovery of the art of painting with oils thatrevolutionised this branch of the fine arts and made the master-worksof the artists of the brush imperishable for all time.

This epoch-making discovery, which is justly looked upon as the birthof modern painting, was made by the two brothers Van Eyck about theyear 1410. The early accounts attribute the invention wholly to Jean,the younger of the two brothers, relating that on a certain occasionhe had placed a painting on wood, which had cost him much time andlabour, in the sun to dry when the heat of the sun caused it to crack.Seeing his work thus ruined at a blow Jean sought to find somesubstance that would obviate the necessity of drying his paintings inthe sun and, after many experiments, discovered that linseed oil andnut oil were by far the most rapid in drying. He further found thatthe colours mixed better in oil than with the white of an egg or glue.They also had more body, a far richer lustre, were impermeable towater and--what was best of all--dried just as well in the shade as inthe sun. Later scholarship is not inclined to give the entire creditfor this discovery to Jean alone, however, and his elder brotherHubert is looked upon by some as the one to whom the glory is due.Probably it was the joint result of innumerable experiments made byboth, each profiting by the mistakes and successes of the other--justas was the case with the Wright brothers in perfecting the greatestinvention of our own times. There were, of course, other pioneers whocontributed to the great discovery.

The brothers were born at Maeseyck (Eyck-sur-Meuse) near Maestricht,and took the name of the village as their own in a way that was thenvery common. Literally they called themselves Hubert and Jean of Eyck.They first obtained service under the prince-bishop of Liége, and wereilluminators of manuscripts and statues as well as painters. Theincreasing wealth and luxury of Flanders under the Dukes of Burgundydrew the two brothers to that country and they appear to have been inthe employ of the Count of Charolais, afterwards the Duke Philip theGood, at about the date assigned by the early historians as that whenthe art of painting with oils was discovered. The Count was residingat that time in the Château des Comtes at Ghent with his young wifeMichelle, sister of the Duke of Orleans. In 1419, when the news of themurder of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, by the Duke of Orleanson the bridge of Montereau arrived at Ghent, Philip rushed into hiswife's room crying, "Michelle, Michelle! Your brother has killed myfather!" The shock of this terrible intelligence, and the subsequentsuspicion of her husband that she knew of the plot, caused the poorlittle French princess to pine away and die two years later. As atribute to her memory the guild of St. Luke was asked by the Duke togrant the freedom of the guild to her favourite painters, the two VanEycks, which was done.

Jean, however, did not remain at Ghent, but took service for a timeunder John of Bavaria, whose capital was at The Hague. In 1425 hebecame painter and varlet de chambre of Philip the Good, a position heretained until his death. For a time he seems to have travelled aboutwith his ducal master, but he eventually settled at Bruges, where mostof his best work was done. Hubert, meanwhile, remained at Ghent,painting for the rich burghers of that prosperous city. Here hepresently received an order from Jodocus Vydts for an altar-piece fora chapel he had founded in the Cathedral of St. Bavon in his nativecity of Ghent. Hubert began work immediately, planned the great workand lived to partially complete it when overtaken by death in 1426.Hubert was recognised as a great painter in his day, the magistratesof Ghent on one occasion going in state to his studio to inspect apicture he was painting--which was no doubt the altar-piece for St.Bavon. He was, however, wholly forgotten by early historians of artin Flanders, and it is only recently that he has been given his properplace as one of the first of the great masters of the Flemish school.

The subject chosen by Hubert for the proposed altar-piece was theAdoration of the Lamb, and the artist, while true to the conventionsof the age in which he lived, achieved a work that is still full ofinterest and charm. Like Shakespeare's plays this, the first greatmasterpiece of the Flemish school, belongs not to an age but to alltime. In its entirety the work consists of twenty panels and comprisesmore than three hundred separate figures. How far it had beencompleted at Hubert's death there is no way to tell, although it iscustomary to attribute to him the architectural frame, the centralpanel showing the lamb, and the large upper panels. Other criticsbelieve that Jean practically painted the whole picture when he wascommissioned by the donor to complete it. The books on Flemish artdevote many pages to an analytical description of this picture,[1]which was finally completed by Jean in 1432. The Duke Philip, hispatron, and the magistrates of Bruges visited his studio in state toinspect the finished picture, which was afterwards publicly exhibitedat Ghent. When it is considered that this is the very first paintingin oil that has come down to us it is in every respect a mostmarvellous performance. The three large central panels in the upperportion are especially noble and impressive, that of "God the Father,"in the centre, being finely expressive of majesty and repose. In thepanel to the left of the Virgin Mary is a group of youthful angelssinging, who are so skilfully painted that "one can readily tell fromlooking at them which is singing the dominant, which thecounter-tenor, and which the tenor and the bass," according to anearly critic. We were told by a Belgian curé with whom we talked aboutthis wonderful picture shortly before our visit to Ghent that the workis so fine in its details that in the case of the figures in theforeground who are holding open in their hands copies of theScriptures the very passage at which each book is opened can bedistinguished! We verified this remarkable assertion by the aid of aglass loaned us by an attendant.

[Footnote 1: See "The Early Flemish Painters," by J. A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, pp. 49-63; and "Belgium, Its Cities," by Grant Allen,pp. 164-175.]

The subsequent history of the painting is interesting. Philip II, whocarried many Flemish masterpieces away to Spain, admired this one,but contented himself with a copy by Michel Coxcie, for which he paidfour thousand ducats--which was quite likely more than the Van Eyckbrothers received for the original. About 1578 the Calvinists of Ghentwished to present the painting to Queen Elizabeth in return for hersupport of their sect. For a time it was placed in the Hotel de Villeat Ghent, but was finally restored to the cathedral. After severalother escapes from destruction or shipment abroad the work was finallydismembered out of deference to the views of Joseph II of Austria,during the period of Austrian rule in Flanders. He objected to thenude figures of Adam and Eve as unsuited to a church, and these wereaccordingly removed. The entire work was carried away during theFrench Revolution, but was returned some years later. The wings,however, were not restored to their original position, and werefinally sold to a London dealer for four thousand pounds sterling. He,in turn, sold them to the King of Prussia, and they are now in theMuseum of Berlin. The wings now at St. Bavon are the copies made byCoxcie. The original panels of Adam and Eve were stored for many yearsin the cellars of St. Bavon, and then were exchanged with the BelgianGovernment for the Coxcie wings just mentioned. They are now in theBrussels Museum. The Adam and Eve at St. Bavon are not even copies ofthe originals.

[Illustration: "SINGING ANGELS" FROM "THE ADORATION OF THELAMB."--JEAN VAN EYCK.]

Jean Van Eyck enjoyed the confidence and affection of Philip the Gooduntil his death, and was often sent on diplomatic missions of greatimportance. On one occasion he was sent to Portugal with an embassyappointed to propose a marriage between his ducal patron and thePrincess Isabel. Jean was also commissioned to paint the portrait ofthe fair Isabel so that his master could judge for himself whether hercharms were as great as he had fancied them to be. This portrait wasduly painted and in the inventory of the possessions of Margaret ofAustria there was a painting by Jean Van Eyck called _La bellePortugalaise_, which was, no doubt, the very one painted for DukePhilip. It must have been pleasing, for he married the lady. As lateas 1516 _La belle Portugalaise_ was still in existence at Malines. Itrepresented a lady in a red habit with sable trimmings, attended bySt. Nicholas. It has since disappeared--one of the many thousands thatwere lost or destroyed during the wars of the sixteenth to theeighteenth centuries, but both historically and artistically oneof the most interesting of them all. There are a considerable numberof authenticated paintings by Jean Van Eyck still in existence.Several of these are in the original frames with the artist's famousmotto, "_Als ik kan_" (As I can), more or less legible. It is by nomeans unlikely that in time to come one or more of those now lost willbe discovered, thus adding to the priceless heritage that the worldowes to his immortal brush.

[Illustration: _"George Van der Paele, Canon of St. Donatianworshipping the Madonna" Jean Van Eyck_]

Two of the most celebrated of Jean Van Eyck's paintings can be seen atBruges. One of these is in the Museum and shows George Van der Paele,Canon of St. Donatian, worshipping the Madonna. Of the portrait of theworthy donor Max Rooses, the Director of the Plantin-Moretus Museum atAntwerp, says: "The Canon's face is so astoundingly true to life thatit is perhaps the most marvellous piece of painting that ever aspiredto reproduce a human physiognomy. This firm, fat painting renders atonce the cracks of the epidermis and the softness of the flesh. Besidethis head with its lovingly wrought furrows and wrinkles gleam thedazzling white of the surplice with its greenish shimmer, the intensered of Mary's mantle, St. Donatian's flowing cape, and the metallicreflections of St. George's breastplate." Equally fine as an exampleof faithful portrait painting is the picture of the artist's wifewhich also hangs in this interesting little gallery of old masters.

Four years after Jean Van Eyck's death, which occurred in 1440,another Flemish painter of note acquired citizen's rights at Bruges.This was Petrus Christus. The most celebrated of his paintings depictsthe Legend of Ste. Godeberte. The story was that this young lady'sparents had planned a rich marriage for her, whereas she preferred toenter a convent. The prospective bride and her groom visited ajeweller's to select the wedding ring and there encountered St. Eloi,or Elisius, who was both a goldsmith and a bishop. The Saint, knowingthe wishes of the maiden, placed the ring upon her finger himself,thereby dedicating her to the service of the Lord. This picture waspainted for the Goldsmiths' Guild of Antwerp, passed into thecollection of Baron Oppenheim, of Cologne, and is now in a privategallery.

Besides the "Adoration of the Lamb," the Cathedral of St. Bavonpossesses enough other notable works of art to equip a small museum.One of these is the wooden pulpit, carved by P. H. Verbruggen, andrepresenting the glorification of St. Bavon. Another is the famoustomb of Bishop Triest carved by Jerome Duquesnoy in 1654. Thisrepresents the Bishop reclining on a couch, and has been termed "themost beautiful piece of statuary in the country." Still a thirdmasterpiece is "St. Bavon withdrawing from the World," by Rubens.There are a score of other paintings and pieces of sculpture ofinterest and importance, but all are so over-shadowed by the famouspolyptych that the average tourist scarcely notices them unless hegoes back to this remarkable church several times. In front of theChâteau of Girard, and close to the cathedral, stands the impressivemonument to the two Van Eycks erected by the city in 1913. It is bythe sculptor Georges Verbanck and represents the brothers receivingthe homage of the nations.

CHAPTER XII

TOURNAI, THE OLDEST CITY IN BELGIUM

As the ladies were somewhat fatigued by our rambles around Flanders itwas decided that they would spend two or three quiet days with latante Rosa while the Professor and I made daily excursions intowonderland, returning to the home of our hostess every night. Thenearest point of interest was the city of Tournai, the oldest city inall Belgium. There was no direct railway line, however, and--as onmany other occasions during our pilgrimage--we had no little troublestudying out a _correspondence_, or set of connections, that wouldtake us there and back without loss of time. We started each morningbefore six o'clock and found the trains at that time of day made upmostly of fourth-class coaches filled with working people. The BelgianState Railway sells _billets d'abonnement_ for these trains atincredibly low rates--a few sous a month for short trips from one townto the next, and a few francs a month for rides half way across theKingdom. I have known clerks residing in the extreme southern end ofthe Department of Hainaut, close to the French frontier, who rideevery day to Mons, ten or fifteen miles distant, and there take atrain for Brussels. The object of this low rate of fare is thepaternal desire of the Government that labourers should be able toobtain work wherever it may be found and still retain their homes inthe villages in which they were born and raised. Home ties are verystrong in Belgium, and the people cheerfully travel considerabledistances under this plan rather than move away from their relativesand friends. Economically it is a very good thing for the country as awhole, since it enables the labourer out of work to look for a placein a hundred different towns and the employer to draw his help from anequally wide area. Thus in times that are not abnormally bad there arevery few industrial plants without their full quota of hands, and veryfew hands out of work.

The fourth-class coaches are built like the third-class, with crossdivisions making several compartments, but the division walls do notextend to the roof so the passengers can toss things to one anotherover them. Separate cars are provided for men and women, manyscandals having resulted from the promiscuous herding of both sexeswhich prevailed some twenty years ago. The occupants of the men's carsare of all ages, from tiny lads who seem to be hardly more than eightor nine--but are no doubt older, as the Belgian laws no longer permitminors of that age to work--to grandsires of eighty. All are roughlyclad, ready to take up their respective tasks the moment theyarrive--no one thinks of having a separate suit for travelling as mostof the workmen who commute to and from an American city would do. Inthe women's car the occupants are mostly young girls from fifteen totwenty, with a sprinkling of little girls and some women up to thirty,but very few who appear to be older than that. They always seem to behappy, singing and "carrying-on" with the utmost abandon. They areready to start a flirtation at a moment's notice and occasionally,when their car halts in a station next to some other train in whichthere are young men near the windows, the whole bevy of charmersdevotes itself to making conquests--opening the windows and shouting avolley of good-natured raillery to which, if they are natives and usedto it, the youngsters retort in kind. Then, as the trains start, thelaughing crowd throws kisses by handfuls and the flirtation is over.

As our train jolted along, with frequent stops to take on and let offfourth-class passengers, the Professor explained to me that to beconsistent to his plan we really should have visited Tournai first.However, it was far out of the way as a starting point, and itshistory did not dominate that of all Flanders in the way that theearly history of Bruges did. In fact, while in early times subject tothe Counts of Flanders, it was often subject to the French Crown forgenerations at a time, and is usually regarded as a Walloon ratherthan a Flemish city. Its influence on Flemish art and architecture,however, led us to include this Ville d'Art in our itinerary.

According to the scholars Tournai is the _Turris Nerviorum_ of Cæsar,the capital of the Nervii, and one of the oldest towns north of theAlps. In 299 it was the scene of the martyrdom of St. Piat, whofounded a church on the site of the cathedral. As the visitor gazes atthat magnificent structure he can reflect that the ground on which itstands has been consecrated to divine worship for more than sixteenhundred years. During the fourth and fifth centuries Tournai was thecapital of the branch of the Franks that ruled over the greater partof what is now Belgium, but the history of these early days when theRoman Empire was tottering to its fall is very meagre, and more thanhalf legend at best. The first kings of the Merovingian line areshadowy, mythical personages who stalk across the pages of historylike the ghost in Hamlet--far off, dim, but awe-inspiring.

Childeric is one of the most picturesque of these early kings.Expelled from the tribe owing to his youthful gallantries, he fled tothe court of Basinus, King of the Thuringians. The queen, Basina,welcomed him even more warmly than her husband, and hardly hadChilderic returned home, on being recalled by the tribe some yearslater to rule over them, than she followed him. Arrived at his court,she announced that she had come to marry him because he was thebravest, strongest and handsomest man she had heard of. She added,naïvely, that if she knew of another who surpassed him in theseparticulars not even the sea could keep her from such a rival. Basina,who from all accounts should be the patron saint of the suffragettes,won her suit and they were married. On the night before the ceremonymony, according to an ancient chronicle, she bade Childeric go intothe courtyard of the palace at Tournai to see what he might see. Hewent at her bidding three times. On the first occasion he beheld along procession of lions, unicorns and leopards, struggling andsnapping at one another, but all without a sound, nor did the beastscast any shadow. The second time he saw huge bears shambling acrossthe courtyard which vanished even while he was gazing at them. Thencame packs of wolves which ran in circles and leaped, but silently. Onhis last visit he saw dogs of huge size and many colours, andinnumerable cats which always looked behind them. From these portentsBasina explained to him the qualities of the race of kings of which hewas to be the ancestor. Clovis, one of the greatest of the earlyFrankish kings, was the child of Childeric and Basina.

In the sixth century Tournai figured prominently in the narrative ofthe furious wars between Fredegonda and Brunehault, one of the greatepics of the early Middle Ages. Fredegonda, who was the daughter of abondsman, became by virtue of her beauty and imperious will the wifeof Chilperic, King of the Franks. Brunehault, equally beautiful, buta king's daughter as well as the wife of a king--Sigebert, brother ofChilperic--began the contest to avenge the death of her sisterGaleswintha, whom Fredegonda had caused to be slain. Chilperic andFredegonda were besieged at Tournai in 575, but the latter caused themurder of Sigebert, upon whose death the besieging army dispersed.Incidents in this siege are depicted in the stained-glass windows ofthe cathedral. The contest between the two fierce queens lasted morethan half a century, Brunehault at the last being torn to pieces bywild horses, when more than eighty years old, by the son of herlife-long rival.

In 880 the Norsem*n fell upon the city and its inhabitants fled toNoyon, where they remained for thirty-one years. In its subsequenthistory the old town sustained more than its share of sieges, thecommon lot of all frontier places, and changed hands oftener than anyother European city. For many generations it was subject to the earlyCounts of Flanders. Philip Augustus then annexed it to France, towhich it belonged until the reign of Francis I. In 1340 occurred themost famous of all its sieges. It belonged at that time to France andwas attacked by the English under Edward III, a huge army of Flemingsunder Jacques Van Artevelde, the Duke of Brabant and the Count ofHainaut with their followers and many others--a host estimated byFroissart at one hundred and twenty thousand men. That delightfulhistorian devotes more than a dozen chapters to a gossipy account ofthe siege, which lasted more than eleven weeks and was only raised bythe approach of a French army when the supply of provisions wasreduced to three days' rations. In 1513 Tournai was captured by HenryVIII, who gave the see to Cardinal Wolsey, but soon sold it back tothe French. The huge round tower a little distance to the right as oneenters the city from the railway station was erected by the EnglishKing during his short rule. In 1521 the city was captured by Charlesthe Fifth, becoming a part of his domains, and in 1581 it sustainedanother famous siege. In common with the rest of Flanders and the LowCountries, the city had revolted against the atrocities of Philip II.It was besieged by the Prince of Parma and heroically defended byChristine, Princess of Epinoy, whose statue stands in the GrandePlace. She was herself wounded and had lost more than three-fourths ofthe garrison before she surrendered.

Tournai once more passed into the hands of the French in 1668, whenit was captured by Louis XIV and afterwards elaborately fortified byVauban, was retaken by Marlborough in 1709, returned to Austria fiveyears later, and captured once more by the French after the battle ofFontenoy in 1745. Four years later it was again restored to Austria,but was twice taken by the armies of the first French republic,remaining French territory till the battle of Waterloo. It would be adifficult matter to say how often its fortifications have been built,demolished, rebuilt and again destroyed.

The most noteworthy of these later sieges was that of 1745, during theWar of the Austrian Succession, which brought the English and Frenchinto conflict even along the frontiers of their far-off Americancolonies. Austrian Flanders became the arena of the decisive campaignin this war--in which its inhabitants had absolutely no interest orconcern whatever--and Tournai was the prize for which the armiesfought. It was during this and the preceding century that Flandersbecame "the co*ckpit of Europe"--foreign armies sweeping over itsfertile plains in wars the very purpose of which was unknown to thepeasants who helplessly saw their cattle and crops swept away andtheir farmsteads and villages destroyed. It is curious to remark howfrequently the English were engaged in these conflicts, particularlyin the vicinity of Tournai. In the words of Lord Beaconsfield,"Flanders has been trodden by the feet and watered with the blood ofsuccessive generations of British soldiers."

An English force formed the nucleus and the backbone of the alliedarmy, which was commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, brother of KingGeorge II. The French forces were led by Maurice de Saxe, the greatestmilitary leader of that generation, as Marlborough had been of the onebefore it. King Louis XV--for almost the only time in his longreign--played the part of a man throughout this campaign. When Saxeexplained his plan of campaign, which involved a scheme of fieldfortifications, the "carpet generals" protested loudly that Frenchmenwere well able to meet their foes on open ground. Louis silenced thesearm-chair critics and replied to his great field-marshal, "Inconfiding to you the command of my army I intend that every one shallobey you, and I will be the first to set an example of obedience."

For a time the allies, which consisted of English, Hanoverian, Dutchand Austrian troops--very few Flemings taking part in this campaignon either side--were in doubt whether Saxe intended to attack Mons,St. Ghislain or Tournai. With his usual rapidity of action, the Frenchleader, when his forces suddenly appeared before Tournai, had thatcity completely invested before the allies knew where he was. It wasearly in the month of May, and very rainy, when the allied armystarted from Brussels and marched through the mud toward thebeleaguered city. On the evening of May tenth, eleven days after thesiege had begun, they arrived within sight of the quintuple towers ofthe cathedral and the adjacent belfry. Their position was southeast ofthe city, on the route to St. Ghislain and Mons, and the towers weretherefore sharply outlined against the sunset as the army, standing onrising ground, gazed across the rolling country that was to be themorrow's battlefield.

Saxe had made the most of the slowness of the allies' advance bychoosing the ground where he would give battle, and strengthening hisposition with field redoubts, using the little village of Fontenoy asa base. The allies attacked from the direction of the little villageof Vezon, while Louis XV watched the battle from a hill near theintersection of the Mons road with that leading from Ramecroix toAntoing. The attack began at two o'clock in the morning, the Englishadvancing in a hollow square, and it was not until after two in theafternoon that Saxe, after bringing every man in his forces intoaction, had the satisfaction of seeing the great square falter andturn slowly back--halting every hundred yards to beat off its foes.The fiercest unit in the French army was a brigade of Irish volunteerswho fought like tigers, the men flinging themselves against thestubborn English square again and again. A learned historian, who hasdevoted more than eighty pages to a description of the battle, failsto give so clear an idea of its decisive moment as does the poetThomas Osborne Davis in half as many lines:

 "Thrice at the huts of Fontenoy the English column failed, And twice the lines of Saint Antoine the Dutch in vain assailed; For town and slope were filled with fort and flanking battery, And well they swept the English ranks and Dutch auxiliary. As vainly through De Barri's wood the British soldiers burst, The French artillery drove them back, diminished and dispersed. The bloody Duke of Cumberland beheld with anxious eye, And ordered up his last reserves, his latest chance to try. On Fontenoy, on Fontenoy, how fast his generals ride! And mustering came his chosen troops, like clouds at eventide.

 "Six thousand English veterans in stately column tread; Their cannon blaze in front and flank, Lord Hay is at their head. Steady they step a-down the slope, steady they climb the hill, Steady they load, steady they fire, moving right onward still, Betwixt the wood and Fontenoy, as through a furnace blast, Through rampart, trench and palisade, and bullets showering fast; And on the open plain above they rose and kept their course, With ready fire and grim resolve that mocked at hostile force; Past Fontenoy, past Fontenoy, while thinner grew their ranks, They broke, as broke the Zuyder Zee through Holland's ocean banks.

 * * * * *

 "'Push on my household cavalry!' King Louis madly cried. To death they rush, but rude their shock; not unavenged they died. On through the camp the column trod--King Louis turns his rein. 'Not yet, my liege,' Saxe interposed; 'the Irish troops remain.' 'Lord Claire,' he said, 'you have your wish; there are your Saxon foes!' The Marshal almost smiles to see, so furiously he goes, How fierce the looks these exiles wear, who're wont to be so gay! The treasured wrongs of fifty years are in their hearts to-day. On Fontenoy, on Fontenoy, nor ever yet elsewhere, Rushed on to fight a nobler band than these proud exiles were.

 * * * * *

 "Like lions leaping at a fold, when mad with hunger's pang, Right up against the English line the Irish exiles sprang; Bright was their steel, 'tis bloody now, their guns are filled with gore; Through shattered ranks and severed files and trampled flags they tore. The English strove with desperate strength; paused, rallied, staggered, fled; The green hillside is matted close with dying and with dead. Across the plain and far away passed on that hideous wrack While cavalier and Fantassin rush in upon their track. On Fontenoy, on Fontenoy, like eagles in the sun, With bloody plumes the Irish stand--the field is fought and won!"

On our first day's visit the Professor devoted most of the time to thecathedral and the remains that still exist of the earliest period ofTournai's long and varied history. As we approached the city, past thevast excavations around Antoing connected with the lime pits and kilnsand cement works that there abound, we could see the five spires ofthe cathedral in the distance. Antoing is only a mile and a half fromFontenoy, and the battlefield--marked by a monument erected in1907--is happily free from the pits that scar so much of thecountryside thereabouts, and no doubt looks to-day very much as it didon the day of the great fight.

The cathedral of Tournai is the oldest, the most vast, and decidedlythe most imposing religious edifice in Belgium. Its five great towersdominate the entire city and are visible for miles across thesurrounding plains. The oldest portions of the present structure datefrom about 880, when the inhabitants of Tournai returned after theinvasion of the Norsem*n. The side porches of the naves belong to thisearliest period. In 1054 a fire destroyed the upper part of thecathedral and it was shortly after this that the towers were built.There were originally seven of these, the one in the centre being agigantic square structure rising above all the others. The group as itthen stood was without a rival in Europe, but the two towers to theeast of the central one were removed with the ancient choir and theheight of the central tower reduced. In their present form, however,the towers compose a magnificent assemblage.

[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF TOURNAI AND THE FIVE-TOWEREDCATHEDRAL.]

The four outer towers, which surround the now much shorter centralone, are two hundred and seventy-two feet high, and, althoughapparently alike at the first glance, are not entirely so--acirc*mstance that enhances rather than detracts from thepicturesqueness of the group. Placed at the crossing of the nave andthe transept these towers, from without, suggest the fantastic ideathat instead of one there are two cathedrals, each facing the other,and with the central tower uniting them.

In reality, the edifice is large enough to make two cathedrals andmore, the interior being four hundred and twenty-six feet in lengthand two hundred and twenty feet in width across the transept. Built atdifferent epochs, this imposing edifice constitutes a veritablehistory in stone of the development of mediæval architecture. The navewas completed in 1070 and the transept in the eleventh andtwelfth centuries. Both are in the Romanesque style, while thechoir--originally Romanesque--was rebuilt in 1242-1325 in the earlyGothic style. It is both longer and almost fifty feet higher than theolder nave--a fact that leads the observer looking at the structurefrom without to mistake it for the nave itself. In addition to themain edifice there is a small parish chapel built against the northside of the cathedral, a Gothic edifice dating from 1516-1518, whileattached to it by a passage over a picturesque arch called _Lefausseporte_ is the Bishop's palace. Here there is another chapel, theChapel of the Bishops, dating from the twelfth century.

Like most religious structures in Belgium, the cathedral was for manyyears surrounded, and almost entirely obscured, by small privatehouses of all kinds built up against it. These have now been removed,although there are still a few more that we were told were destined tocome down in order to give a better view of the structure from oneside. There are three entrances, of which two are noteworthy. One ofthese, called the Porte Mantille, is on the north side facing thePlace des Acacias, and dates from the twelfth century. It is theoldest part of the exterior, and looks it, the round arch of thedoorway being surrounded by quaint Romanesque sculptures. The winds ofseven hundred winters have worn these bas-reliefs down considerably,but they are still surprisingly clear, the faces, armour and costumesof the figures being quite distinct. They are among the oldest stonecarvings in Europe and show that the art of sculpture was practisedat Tournai within a century or two after the retirement of theNorsem*n.

Even more interesting is the fine façade just behind the groined porchthat faces the Place de l'Evêché. From a distance this end of thecathedral is hardly pleasing, the sixteenth-century porch concealingthe early Romanesque façade and being out of harmony with it. Afterpassing within the arches, however, the visitor forgets all this andis lost in wonder and admiration at the wealth of stone carving thatdecorates the walls on both sides of the main entrance. There is nosuch decoration in stone to be seen in all Flanders, for the churchesof Tournai escaped the fury of the iconoclasts--Tournai, at that time,belonging to France. Here the sculptors of Tournai have achieved averitable masterpiece. The work is in three tiers and belongs to threedifferent periods. The lowest tier, carved in blue stone quarried inTournai itself or near by, is the most remarkable, and is regarded bythe critics as the finest in artistic merit. It dates from thethirteenth century and represents Adam and Eve and various prophetsand fathers of the church. The second zone is in white stone, now greywith age, and was the work of the sixteenth century. It comprises aseries of small panels carved in bas-relief, those at the leftdepicting--so the authorities at Tournai tell us--a religiousprocession, and those at the right various incidents in the history ofKing Childeric. The highest tier comprises a series of large statuesin high relief of the apostles, the Virgin Mary, St. Piat and St.Eleuthereus. Although the figures are boldly conceived and wellexecuted, and, in the main, fairly well preserved, they areartistically less important than the others. In its entirety, however,this entrance--"_le portail_," "_the_ entrance," as the people ofTournai style it--is a place of wonderful interest, a place to bevisited again and again under different lights and in different moods.

Passing into the interior of the cathedral the visitor is again giventhe impression that here he is not in one church but at least two andpossibly more. The ancient nave, with its vaulted roof supported bythree series of Romanesque arches placed one above another, seemssomehow to be complete by itself and to have no relation to thefar-off choir which is partially cut off from it by an elaboratelycarved rood loft, which--in its flamboyant Renaissance style--seemsout of place and tends to mar the general effect of the vastinterior. The pillars in the nave are not uniform, but have a widediversity of capitals--some decorated with the lotus or conventionalfoliage, others with beasts or birds or quaint, fantastic heads. Atthe intersection of the nave and transept the great pillars supportingthe central tower are of tremendous proportions and the view lookingupward from this point is one of extraordinary grandeur. Here, too,the rood loft, or _jubé_, can be studied to best advantage. The workof Corneille Floris of Antwerp and executed in 1572, it is undoubtedlyone of the masterpieces of sculpture of its period. The Doric columnsare of red marble, the architectural outlines of the structure inblack marble, and the medallions and other bas-reliefs in white.Passing through one of the three arches of this portal we come to thenoble choir. This is the most beautiful portion of the cathedral, itsvast height and the richly coloured light that streams downward fromits fine stained-glass windows creating a very atmosphere of majestyand inspiration.

While we were inspecting the choir and the ambulatory, which containsseveral paintings and carvings of no little interest, the Professordiscovered that the hours had been slipping by faster than we hadimagined and as there were several relics of the earliest period ofthe city's history that we wished to visit on our first day we decidedto betake ourselves to the Grande Place and postpone our visit to thefar-famed treasury of the cathedral to another day. We found a littleplace to dine directly facing the Belfry, and with the Princess ofEpinoy, in her coat of mail and brandishing her battle-axe, standingon her monument hard by. The Place is a very large one, but most ofthe houses facing it have been so modernized as to lose much of theirmediæval aspect, although the ancient Cloth Hall--which has recentlybeen restored--no doubt looks much as it did when in its prime.

The Belfry was naturally our first stopping place after we had donejustice to the excellent dinner in half a dozen courses that twofrancs had secured for us. This edifice dates from 1187, and standsslightly back from the apex of the triangle formed by the GrandePlace. According to some authorities the peculiar shape of the Placeis due to the intersection of two Roman roads at the point where theBelfry now stands. Externally the tower, which is two hundred andthirty-six feet high, strikingly resembles the Belfry of Ghent.Within, after climbing a winding stairway for some distance, wewere shown several large rooms with heavy timber ceilings that wereonce used as prison cells. They looked fairly comfortable, as comparedwith the dungeons in the Château des Comtes, and one of them was thenin use by the small son of the concierge as a play-room and waslittered with toys--mostly of his own manufacture, apparently. Thedoors to these "cells" were of massive construction and locked by keysnearly a foot long, or at least it seemed so, though we did notmeasure them. The view from the top of the edifice is picturesque andwell worth the climb. A melodious set of chimes is installed near thetop, which ring every half hour. The big bell, _la Bancloque_, whichcalled the people to arms, was cast in 1392, and must have been rungquite frequently during the stirring days when Tournai was beingfought for by armies from half the countries in Europe.

[Illustration: THE BELFRY, TOURNAI.]

From the Belfry we visited the ancient Church of St. Brice whichstands in one of the very oldest quarters of the city. Almost facingthe church are two buildings known as the Roman houses. Althoughhardly dating from the time of the Romans they are undoubtedly veryancient. Only the outer walls, however, remain of the originalconstruction, the interiors dating from a much later period. One ofthese houses was untenanted when we were there, and the other was anestaminet. We entered it and ordered drinks, and asked if we could seethe up-stairs rooms, but apparently they were not very tidy as thelandlady declined to show them, assuring us that there was nothing tosee. At No. 18 on the same street, rue Barre-Saint-Brice, is anotherestaminet in a house of very ancient construction. After quite asearch we found the caretaker of the church. As old as the oldest partof the cathedral this structure is a remarkable example of Romanesquearchitecture. Externally it looks from the rear like three stone barnsbuilt close together, but its square tower is lofty and imposing,although much injured by a silly sort of hat which was stuck on earlyin the last century. The most interesting object within was a quaintTournai tapestry representing a variety of Biblical subjects.

In the year 1653 archeologists and historians throughout Europe weregreatly excited over one of the most interesting finds of ancientrelics ever recorded. In the house now No. 8 on the TerraceSaint-Brice, on one side of the church, was dug up at a depth of eightfeet a veritable museum of arms and jewels since known as theTreasure of Childeric I, whose marriage with Basina was preceded by somany portents. More than a hundred gold coins of the ByzantineEmperors were found, several hundred golden bees, a quantity of silvermoney of great antiquity, divers clasps and buckles--all mingled withthe remains of human bones, which may have been those of theMerovingian King and his imperious spouse. One ring bore a bust of aman with long hair holding a lance, with the inscription _ChildericiRegis_. After passing through various hands the collection came intothe possession of Louis XIV, and eventually into the BibliothequeRoyale at Paris. Here, in 1831, it was stolen. The thieves werepursued and threw their booty into the Seine, where a few pieces wereafterwards recovered and are now in the numismatic collection of theBibliotheque Nationale at Paris.

Not far from this interesting old quarter are some picturesque remainsof the ancient city walls, two ivy covered towers facing a moat inwhich there is still some water. These are called the Marvis Towers,and were erected during the thirteenth century. On our way back to thestation we made a little detour in order to see the curious _Pont desTrous_--literally "the Bridge of the Holes," meaning loopholes--themost ancient specimen of mediæval military architecture in Belgium.The tower on the side farthest from the centre of the city was builtprior to 1259, the other in 1304, and the bridge with its three ogivalarches in 1330. Across the bridge at short intervals are narrowloopholes to enable the defenders to fire at foes approaching by wayof the River Scheldt. One of the towers is said to contain a finevaulted room, but as we were unable to find any one who knew who hadthe key to the little door at its foot we did not see this room or thepassage-way across the bridge. Between this bridge and the railwayline we noticed a high stone wall of ancient construction which, fromits location, may also have been a fragment of the city walls. Furtheron is the Henry VIII tower, which was built by the English monarchafter he captured the city in 1513, as part of a citadel intended tohold the citizens in check. The tower is slightly over seventy-fivefeet in diameter and the walls at the base are said to be twenty feetthick. The rest of the citadel has long since disappeared and thisvestige of it is now the centre of a pleasant little park muchfrequented on sunny days by nursemaids and children. Amid thesepeaceful surroundings it was, when we saw it, hard to picture the oldtower as having ever been the scene of fierce conflicts with furiousfoes striving to batter a breach in its massive walls or scale it withlong ladders, while its defenders fired volley after volley throughits tiny windows and flung down big stones or boiling tar from itsparapet.

The strategy of the early part of the present war did not call for aprotracted defence of Tournai, with the result that, as this is beingwritten, the old city is reported to have suffered little or nodamage. In view of the frequency with which it had been contended forin former wars it is to be hoped that this one--which has so far beenmore destructive than all previous wars put together--will pass quaintold Tournai by and that the great cathedral with its five towers andmarvellous stone carvings may be spared for generations yet to come.

CHAPTER XIII

SEVEN CENTURIES OF TOURNAISIAN ART

The citizens of Tournai of to-day have given to their beautiful citythe name of "Ville d'Art." To be sure, the same title is claimed forBruges and Ghent, for Antwerp and Malines. The first two are justlyproud of their many beautiful monuments of the past and theirassociations with the work of the early Flemish painters, Antwerp ofits connection with the later development of painting in Flanders andthe most artistic of the early printers, Malines of its lace and itssplendid examples of religious architecture and art. Tournai, however,has a broader title to the phrase than any of them in that theartistic activities of its gifted sons have not been confined to onemedium or two, but have been independently developed along half ascore of different lines and during a period covering more than sevencenturies. Not only is the city a rich repository of the artisticproductions of past ages, but it is still more notable in having beenone of the most prolific producers of beautiful and artistic things.To the true connoisseur a stay of several weeks in this fine oldborder town would be none too long to afford opportunity to study allof its collections and rummage in out-of-the-way corners for strayspecimens that the dealers and bargain hunters have overlooked.Unfortunately, neither the Professor nor I can lay claim to more thana rudimentary knowledge of such matters and in the chronicle of ourrambles in the City of Art there may be much to make the judiciousgrieve. It is not, however, so much in order to give an account ofwhat we saw that this chapter is written as in the hope that it maysuggest how much there is to see for those whose eyes are bettertrained and more discriminating than ours.

Tournai looms large in the history of early Flemish painting, for itwas here that the next important group of masters after the Van Eycksappeared. As early as the first half of the fourteenth centurypaintings on cloth were executed at Tournai, followed by what wastermed "flat painting" for panels. About 1406 the first of the greatartists whose names have come down to us settled at Tournai. This wasRobert Campin. He acquired the right of citizenship in 1410 and diedin 1444, being thus a contemporary of the Van Eycks. He is known tohave painted many works, but until recently none of these had beendefinitely identified. Now, thanks to the earnest and patient study ofBelgian scholars, he seems likely to be given his rightful place asone of the greatest of the early Flemish masters--after having beencompletely forgotten for nearly five hundred years! His most importantwork is an altarpiece in the possession of the Mérode family atBrussels, while the Frankfort Museum and the Prado at Madrid containsome fine examples of his skill.

It is known that Robert Campin was the master of two other Tournaiartists, Rogier Van der Weyden and Jacques Daret, of whom the formersoon far surpassed his teacher in renown. Daret entered the atelier ofRobert Campin in 1418, when a lad of fourteen, obtained the title ofapprentice in 1427, and became a member of the Guild of St. Luke in1432. One of his pictures, a panel showing the Nativity, was in thecollection of the late Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan. Van der Weyden, whoseWalloon name was Roger de la Pasture, became one of Campin'sapprentices in 1427--the same date as Daret--and was admitted to theguild of the painters at Tournai in 1432. He spent much of his time atBrussels, however, and is sometimes considered as belonging to thatcity rather than Tournai. A "Descent from the Cross" now at theEscorial is his most famous picture. It was painted for the Archers'Company at Louvain and a copy of it, made by the master himself, washung in the Church of St. Pierre in that city. About 1430 Van derWeyden was commissioned to paint four large panels for the Hall ofJustice in the new Hotel de Ville at Brussels. Two of these showedTrajan, the Just Emperor, and the other two depicted the Justice ofHerkenbald, and for more than two centuries the series was regarded asthe finest group of paintings in the Low Countries. They weredestroyed at the bombardment of Brussels in 1695, but tapestriescopied from the originals still exist in the Museum at Berne, havingbeen captured by the Swiss when Charles the Bold was defeated atGranson.

In 1443 the artist began what in the judgment of the art critics washis most important work, an altarpiece representing "The LastJudgment" for the chapel of a hospital at Beaune, near Dijon inBurgundy, where it still remains. The museum at Antwerp contains atriptych of the Seven Sacraments by this master, showing the interiorof a cathedral suggestive of that of Tournai--and, in fact, it was forthe Bishop of Tournai that it was originally painted. Nearly everyimportant art gallery in Europe contains one or more works by Van derWeyden, who not only was very industrious, receiving numerous ordersfrom the great men of his day, but fortunate in having most of hismasterpieces preserved from the destruction that overtook so much ofthe work of the early Flemish artists.

The former Cloth Hall of Tournai, erected in 1610, was completely andvery successfully restored in 1884, and is now used to house anadmirable little collection of paintings and a museum of antiquities.The paintings are, for the most part, the work of Tournai artists, andmost of its three hundred and eighty titles are of local rather thaninternational interest. There are several works, however, of thehighest rank, and the museum as a whole serves admirably to illustratethe fact that the traditions and inspiration of the first greatmasters of Flemish painting, whose work has made the name of Tournaiillustrious for all time, have never been wholly forgotten in theirnative city. To be sure, there is nothing to represent RobertCampin or Jacques Daret, nor had the caretaker ever heard of either ofthem--a fact hardly to be wondered at, since the works of the formerhave not yet been fully identified by the critics. Van der Weyden iscredited with a "Descent from the Cross" in the museum catalogue, butmany critics hold this to be a copy of a lost work by Hugo Van derGoes. Those in charge of the museum have wisely included someexcellent photographs of the more famous works by Van der Weyden inthe leading European galleries--a plan that might well be followedwith respect to the other notable works by Tournaisian artists. Themasterpiece of the collection is the well known "Last Honours toCounts Egmont and Horn," by Louis Gallait, the greatest of Tournai'smodern artists, whose statue stands in the little park before therailway station. A replica of this fine but gruesome work was paintedby the artist for the Antwerp museum. The Tournai museum containsnearly a dozen other works bequeathed to the city by this painter,including several admirable portraits--a branch in which he wasespecially skilful. The powerful "Abdication of Charles V" by thismaster hangs in the Brussels museum, and his notable "Last Moments ofthe Comte d'Egmont" in the museum of Berlin.

[Illustration: A TRIPTYCH OF THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS BY ROGIER VAN DERWEYDEN.]

Equally fine in a very different way, but less widely known, is aspirited painting by a comparatively unknown artist, Van Severdonck,representing the Princess of Epinoy valiantly defending a breach inthe walls during the siege of Tournai in 1581. We were unable toobtain a photograph of this admirable work as it is so hung that it isdifficult to get a good light upon it. A fine portrait of St. Donatianis attributed in the catalogue to Jan Gossaert or Mabuse (fromMaubeuge where he was born). By some critics it is assigned toBellegambe, who was born at Douai in French Flanders and was acontemporary of Gossaert. The museum also contains works by Hennebicq,who painted the historical picture of Philip Augustus granting acharter to the city of Tournai in the Hotel de Ville; Hennequin, theteacher of Gallait; Stallaert, whose "Death of Dido" is in the museumof Brussels, and several other natives of Tournai who are less wellknown. From Robert Campin, who settled at Tournai about 1406 and diedin 1444, to Louis Gallait, whose three great masterpieces were paintedbetween 1840 and 1850, and to Stallaert and Hennebicq, who laid asidetheir brushes in the first decade of the present century, thereextends a period of five hundred years during which the noble art ofpainting has been practised and taught at Tournai by men of commandinggenius--a record in the history of art that no town in the world ofsimilar size has ever equalled.

It is worthy of remark, in passing, that the art of sculpture whichwas practised at Tournai with such notable success as early as thethirteenth century, and steadily thereafter for several hundred years,has not survived to the present day. There are no modern sculptors inthe list of Tournaisian artists, but the cathedral is a veritablemuseum of the stone carvings of the past. The men of the chisel,moreover, must be credited with giving some of the inspiration thatmade the work of the early artists of the brush so notable. Van derWeyden, particularly, shows the influence of sculpture and a markedappreciation of its effects in the framework and backgrounds of manyof his pictures. Moreover, for several centuries the sculptors ofTournai enjoyed a renown that extended throughout Flanders andnorthern France. In the churches of Tournai and of many other citiesexamples of their work can be seen that show a continuous record ofachievement from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries.

Closely allied to the carvers of stone were those who worked in metalsand of these Tournai had its full share. A street of the Goldsmiths(rue des Orfévres) near the Grande Place indicates the importance ofthat industry in ancient times. The best example of this branch ofTournaisian art is to be found in the treasury of the cathedral. Thisis the superb Chasse, or Reliquary of St. Eleuthereus, which isconsidered to be one of the finest products of the goldsmith's artduring the Middle Ages. While the name of the maker of thismasterpiece is unknown, it is unquestionably of Tournaisian origin andwas completed in 1247. Built in the form of a sarcophagus, and made ofsilver, heavily gilded, it is almost bewildering in the richness andintricacy of its decorations and filigrees. At one end is a largeseated figure of Christ, at the other of St. Eleuthereus, while thesides contain figures of the Virgin and the Apostles. Around, aboveand below these chief figures the artist has placed a labyrinth ofminor ones, of churches and landscapes, of columns, arches andarchitectural embellishments, all carved with a richness of designthat cannot be adequately described. Still older, for it dates from1205, is the Chasse de Notre Dame, another treasure of the cathedral.This was made by Nicolas de Verdun, a citizen of Tournai, and is ofwood, painted and adorned with curious bas-reliefs representingincidents from the New Testament. A third chasse, which on account ofits great value is kept under lock and key in the treasury, like thatof St. Eleuthereus, is called the Chasse des Damoiseaux. It is made ofsilver and bears in relief, and enamelled, the arms of some of thepatrician families of the city in the thirteenth and fourteenthcenturies, when the Confrerie des Damoiseaux held many brillianttournaments in Tournai and other cities. This chasse, the keeper toldus, was not made at Tournai, but at Bruges. Although very beautiful,it is not considered so notable a work of art as its companion.

During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Tournai rivalled Dinantas a producer of fine copper and brassware, and in this industry theartistic instincts of its citizens soon led them to produce pieces ofremarkable distinction. One of the finest of these is the baptismalfont in the church of Notre Dame at Hal, made in 1446. The artisans ofTournai turned out a prodigious number of fine products of thecopper-smith's art during the two centuries mentioned--lamps,candlesticks, chandeliers, funeral monuments, crucifixes and otherreligious articles; and, in fact, it was not until the eighteenthcentury that this industry declined, only to give place to themanufacture of gilded bronze ware.

The cathedral and the museum of antiquities contain some choiceexamples of another great Tournaisian art industry of the MiddleAges--the manufacture of rich tapestries. During the fourteenthcentury the renown of the products of Tournai in this field wasalready considerable, and between 1440 and 1480 its artisans surpassedeven those of Arras. In richness of colouring, diversity andsprightliness of subjects, beauty of design and workmanship, thetapestries of Tournai rank among the finest art productions of theMiddle Ages. In 1477, when Louis XI seized Arras and dispersed itsworkmen, many of them fled to Tournai, Audenaerde and Brussels,establishing the industry in those cities. Tournai, where it hadalready made great progress, was the first to benefit by thisemigration and for a time became the leading tapestry-making centre inEurope. It was the school of Tournai that was the true forerunner ofthe still more famous tapestry weavers of Brussels in depictinghistorical and mythological scenes of the utmost vivacity andrichness, while the ateliers of Audenaerde specialised more largely inquieter pastoral scenes and landscapes. Philip the Good, the mostfastidious connoisseur of his age, ordered several tapestries atTournai, including the history of Gideon in eight panels to decoratethe Hall of the Order of the Golden Fleece. In the cathedral the mostnotable of the Tournai tapestries illustrates vividly the story ofJoseph, while one of the best in the museum depicts the history ofAbraham--the angels announcing the birth of Isaac. The border of aTournai tapestry usually bears the mark of the ateliers of that city,a castle tower, which is plainly to be seen on the one last mentioned.The cathedral also possesses a remarkable tapestry of Arras, made byPierrot Féré in 1402, and depicting incidents connected with the livesof St. Piat and St. Eleuthereus and the plague at Tournai. Thismasterpiece originally hung above the stalls in the choir, and morethan half of it has been destroyed at one time or another. Theremainder has been placed in a continuous panel, like a panorama,around a semi-circular chapel back of the treasury, and constitutesone of the most curious relics of the mediæval art to be seen inEurope. According to some authorities the designs for this work weredrawn by one of the artists of the Tournai school of painters fromwhich Van der Weyden subsequently received his instruction. At allevents the scenes are extremely naïve, and the artist has insertedsundry little devils who are giving expression to their contempt ofthe various religious ceremonies depicted in some of the sections in amanner that, to say the least, is most unconventional.

The wars and troubles of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries verynearly extinguished the art industries of Tournai, the number ofmaster-weavers of tapestries declining from two hundred and fourteenbetween 1538 and 1553 to forty in 1693, and twenty-nine in 1738. Itwas only a few years after the last date, however, when a new artindustry became established in the city. In 1751 a native of Lille,named François Péterink, began the manufacture at Tournai of fineporcelains. Dinner sets elaborately decorated and daintily formed,vases, statues and statuettes of "biscuit" equal to the finestproducts of Sèvres, Saxony or England, were turned out in considerablequantities for more than a century, and the porcelains of Tournaibecame so renowned that princes vied with one another to secure theseworks of art. It is still possible for the collector to secure some ofthese fine products, the trademarks being a rude castle tower or twocrossed swords with tiny crosses at their intersecting angles. In thefinest tableware these are usually in gold, but red or some othercolour should not be despised, as the genuine Tournai ware is becomingrare and already brings high prices. These marks, it should be added,have been imitated, and the amateur will do well to consult expertadvice before purchasing.

Still another noteworthy art industry of Tournai merits at least aword in passing. From the very earliest period after the art of makingstained or painted glass was invented the ateliers of the "Villed'Art" have excelled in this fine branch of handicraft. During thefifteenth century Tournaisian artists made the seven stained glasswindows in the transept of the cathedral that depict in glowingcolours the history of the contest between Childeric and Sigebert andthe donations and privileges granted to the bishop and the cathedralby Chilperic. Not only are these scenes of the utmost interesthistorically, but the student of costumes and customs during theMiddle Ages and the student of early Flemish art will both find inthem abundant material for study. It has already been said that thecathedral of Tournai is in itself a history of Flemish architecturecovering a period of well-nigh a thousand years. It is also averitable museum of Flemish art, and especially of Tournaisian art, inalmost all of its many branches.

In the eighteenth century the apparently inextinguishable artisticspirit of Tournai found expression in the production of carpets thatrecalled the best period of its tapestry weavers. The carpet in thecabinet of Napoleon at Fontainebleau and the celebrated carpet of theLegion of Honour, which was shown in the French pavilion at the recentexposition at Turin, were made at Tournai during this period. At thesame epoch the goldsmiths and coppersmiths, whose activities had neverentirely ceased during the centuries of trouble, began once more toturn out their artistic products in considerable quantities, nor havethese ateliers entirely ceased operations at Tournai to this day.Truly the name "Ville d'Art" has been fairly won and kept by thislittle city, if seven centuries of almost uninterrupted artisticendeavour and achievement count for anything!

It is a somewhat remarkable feature of modern Belgium, however, thatwhile its cities abound in beautiful and artistic things, the commonpeople--both the working classes and the _bourgeoisie_, or fairlyprosperous middle-class of small merchants and manufacturers--seem tohave very little interest in pictures or works of art, and little orno desire to acquire them. The average Belgian home is utterly bare ofornament, save perhaps a crucifix or a religious image or chromo--ifthese can be termed ornamental. Reproductions of the fine masterpiecesof painting and statuary in which this little country is so rich areincredibly scarce and difficult to procure--save only the very famouspictures, of which copies have been made to sell to tourists in thelarger cities. Even these the native Belgian apparently never buys,and the art stores carry very few coloured prints of moderate pricesuch as are to be seen everywhere in the United States. In fact, ofthose we saw a considerable proportion were of American manufacture.Of course these remarks do not allude to the stores handling originalpaintings by ancient and modern masters, costly water-colours andetchings. These are purchased in Belgium, as everywhere else, by thewealthy class, whose homes are as rich and artistic as any in theworld. It is the absence of interest by the two classes firstmentioned that seems to me so remarkable in a country that forcenturies has been passionately devoted to art in all itsmanifestations, and, for its population and area, is without doubt theworld's largest producer of beautiful things.

On the other hand, the Belgian of even the humblest social standing isinvariably fond of flowers. In the cities every woman on her way to orfrom market buys a bouquet for the table, while in the country thereis no garden without its little flower-bed, or flower-bordered paths,or rambling rosebushes climbing up the high brick garden wall orarching over the entrance. This shows an intense and inborn love ofthe beautiful. Why is it, then, that men and women whose daily livesare spent in creating beautiful things--rare lace, fine wood-carvings,rich brass or copper ware--are content with homes that are as bare ofornament as any prison cell?

CHAPTER XIV

THE FALL OF CHARLES THE BOLD--MEMLING AT BRUGES

There are few careers in history more fascinating, more spectacular,more dramatic, than that of the last Duke of Burgundy who ruled overFlanders--Charles the Bold. Heir to dominions that included all ofwhat is now Belgium and Holland, nearly a third of France, andportions of what is now Germany, Charles was by far the most powerfulof the feudal lords of his day, surpassing the King of France, andeven the Emperor in the splendour and wealth of his court and in thenumber of feudal princes and knights whom he could summon to hisstandard. He not only had dreams of becoming a king himself, but was,on one occasion, offered a crown--the Emperor Frederick III proposingto make him King of Brabant. This he refused--a serious error, for hecould easily have extended his royal title, once legally acquired,over the rest of his dominions.

In "all the pomp and pageantry of power," however, Charles was everyinch a king--magnificent in his hospitality, exceedingly ceremoniousand punctilious in court etiquette, and fond of showing his vast poweron every occasion. On the other hand, he was profoundly ignorant ofthe fact that the real source of his wealth and strength was in thegreat industrial communes of Flanders, Brabant and Liége, and thecruelty with which he destroyed the cities of Liége and Dinant costhim the affection and good will of all his people. His greatantagonist was Louis XI of France--also one of the most picturesquefigures in history--but the exact antithesis of Charles in almostevery respect. While Charles never received a delegation unless seatedon a throne, the loftiness and grandeur of which filled every eye,Louis dressed plainly--often wearing the grey cloak of a pilgrim, andalmost invariably a pilgrim's hat, with a leaden image of some saintin the hat-band. On one occasion, when he paid a visit to his subjectsin Normandy, riding in company with the gorgeous Duke of Burgundy, thepeasants exclaimed, "Is that a King of France? Why, the whole outfit,man and horse, is not worth twenty francs!"

Charles, like his father, held his ducal court wherever he mighthappen to be--both princes often carrying a lengthy train of baggage,including even furniture and tapestries, from one castle to another.Bruges, however, is identified with some of the most important eventsof his career, and he held his court there much oftener than at theancestral capital of Burgundy, Dijon. During the last years of thereign of his father, Philip the Good, Charles acted as Regent, and itwas during this period of his rule that he astonished and terrifiedEurope by the ferocity with which he avenged an insult to his parents'honour by utterly destroying the prosperous city of Dinant andslaughtering most of its male inhabitants. On his accession to theducal throne, however, the great communes of Ghent, Bruges, Malinesand Brussels were able to extort from their new Duke all of theprivileges that his father had taken away during his long reign.Charles granted these with fury in his heart, vowing openly thatbefore long he would humble these presumptuous burghers. Fortunatelyfor the liberties of the Flemish towns, their Duke's attentions werespeedily called elsewhere and he found no opportunity to carry out histhreats.

Fomented by the emissaries of Louis XI, the turbulent citizens ofLiége--already a large and prosperous manufacturing town, as advancedin the metallurgical arts as the Flemish cities were in the textileindustries--rose in insurrection against their Bishop-Prince, an allyof Charles. With an army of one hundred thousand feudal levies Charlesquickly suppressed this revolt. The following year Louis ventured toplace himself in Charles' power by paying him a visit at his powerfulcastle of Péronne. This famous historical incident is brilliantlydescribed by Sir Walter Scott in _Quentin Durward_. To the king'salarm and very extreme personal danger, the people of Liége took themoment of this visit to rise again. Charles was furious, and, notunjustly considering Louis to be the author of this attack on hisauthority, had that monarch locked up in a room in the castle. Nor washe placated until Louis signed a treaty still further extending thepower of the Dukes of Burgundy in France, and agreed to join Charlesin the expedition to punish his unruly subjects. This time the cityafter being captured was given over to the half-savage Burgundiansoldiery to be sacked, some forty thousand of its inhabitantsperishing.

Returning to Flanders, Charles bitterly denounced the cautious policyof the burghers in refusing to pay tax levies for his armies unlessthey knew how the money was to be spent. "Heavy and hard Flemish headsthat you are," he cried to a delegation from Ghent, "you always remainfixed in your bad opinions, but know that others are as wise as you.You Flemings, with your hard heads, have always either despised orhated your princes. I prefer being hated to being despised. Take careto attempt nothing against my highness and lordship, for I am powerfulenough to resist you. It would be the story of the iron and theearthen pots."

Presently Louis, repudiating the recent treaty as being extorted byforce, invaded Charles' dominions and captured several cities on theSomme. Charles sought to retake them and was repulsed both at Amiensand Beauvais, the defenders at the latter place being urged tostronger resistance by Jeanne Hachette, one of the heroic figures ofFrench history. Charles now turned his attention to the German side ofhis dominions, and here also the implacable enmity of Louis stirred upenemies for him in every direction. In Alsace the people rose inrevolt and slew the cruel governor Charles had set over them, whilethe Swiss defeated the Marshal of Burgundy. Charles set forth tore-establish his authority with an army of thirty thousand men, theflower of his feudal levies. The Swiss, alarmed, sued for peace,assuring the powerful Duke that there was more gold in the spurs andbridles of his horsem*n than could be found in all of Switzerland.

Charles, however, was bent on punishing these impudent mountaineersand ordered the invasion of their country. The defenders of the littlefortress of Granson surrendered on the approach of his army, but inflagrant violation of the terms he had just granted the Duke ofBurgundy ordered the entire garrison to be hanged. This act wasspeedily avenged, for the Swiss a few days later utterly routed theBurgundian forces just outside of Granson. The mountaineers in thisbattle advanced in a solid phalanx against which Charles' horsem*n andarchers could make no impression. The blow to the pride and prestigeof the Duke was far more serious than the loss of the engagement andthe scattering of his army. With great difficulty he raised freshlevies, the Flemish communes granting aid only on condition that nofurther subsidies should be demanded for six years to come. The battleof Granson took place March 2, 1476. By June he had raised anotherand a larger army, and on the 22nd met the Swiss again at Morat. Onreviewing his host before the battle, Charles is said to haveexclaimed, "By St. George, we shall now have vengeance!" but thevengeance was not to be always on one side, for the Swiss, makingtheir battle-cry "Granson! Granson!" in remembrance of theircountrymen, whom Charles had treacherously slain, almost annihilatedhis army. The Swiss showed no mercy and took no prisoners, while thenumber of killed on the Burgundian side amounted to eighteen thousand.Charles escaped with his life, accompanied by a small body of hisknights.

For a time it seemed as if his rage and despair at these two defeatswould cause the proud Duke to lose his reason, nor could his threatsor entreaties secure more assistance from Flanders. He managed,however, to keep the field, and with a small force sat down to besiegeNancy--which had been lost to him again after Morat. The town held outstubbornly, as all towns did, now that Charles' cruelty and treacheryto those who surrendered were known, and the Burgundian forcessuffered much hardship from the cold, for it was now mid-winter. OnJanuary 5th Charles gave battle to an advancing force of Swiss, wasagain crushed and the greater part of his little army killed. Afterthe battle the Duke could not be found, and no man knew what hadbecome of him. The following day a page reported that he had seen hismaster fall, and could find the place. He led the searchers to alittle pond called the Etang de St. Jean. Here, by the border of alittle stream, they found a dozen despoiled bodies, naked and frozenin the mud and ice. One by one they turned these over. "Alas," saidthe little page presently, "here is my good master!" Disfigured, withtwo fearful death wounds, and with part of his face eaten by wolves,it was indeed the body of the great Duke.

Even his enemies did honour to the dead prince. Clothed in a robe ofwhite satin, with a crimson satin mantle, his body was borne in stateinto the town he had vainly sought to conquer, and placed in a velvetbed under a canopy of black satin. His remains were interred in thechurch of St. George at Nancy, where they remained for more than fiftyyears. The Emperor, Charles V, then had them brought to Bruges andplaced in the church of St. Donatian. His son, Philip II, removedthem, five years later, to the wonderful shrine in the Church ofNotre Dame where they remained until the French Revolution, when theywere scattered to the winds as the bones of a tyrant. The sarcophagus,however, of the Duke and his gentle daughter, Marie, still remain, aswe have seen, and are among the finest in existence.

The death of the powerful Duke of Burgundy made a profound impressionthroughout Europe, and still remains, as Mr. Boulger in his admirable_History of Belgium_ says, "one of the tragedies of all history." Hisdownfall was mainly due to the implacable hostility of Louis XI, whomhe had once publicly humiliated at Péronne and affected at all timesto despise. Many of the Swiss and Germans who fought against him inhis last fatal campaign were hired mercenaries in the pay of the Kingof France, while some of his most trusted followers and advisers weretraitors in constant correspondence with his wily and unscrupulousantagonist. Had Charles sought to conciliate his great Flemishcommunes instead of intimidate them his reign might have beenprolonged by their powerful aid, and his dream of establishing akingdom of Burgundy have been realised. As it was, he failed signallyin most of his undertakings, and with all his fury and vainglory andcruelty lost in ten years the huge power that his father had takenfifty years to accumulate.

Marie, Charles' only daughter, was left by his sudden and unexpecteddeath "the greatest heiress in Christendom," but also well-nighhelpless to rule over or even hold her widespread dominions. Toprevent the King of France from taking advantage of this situation herFlemish counsellors advised her to accept an offer of marriage fromMaximilian, son of the Emperor Frederick III, and in August of thesame year that saw the battle of Granson they were quietly married atBruges. This event made Flanders a still smaller unit than before in avast aggregation of states that in the course of events was beingcombined under the rule of the House of Hapsburg, nor did Marie'suntimely death, less than five years later, in any wise delay theprocess of consolidation.

Bruges, during the stormy reign of Charles the Bold and the quarter ofa century of anxiety and troubles for its burghers that followed afterthe battle of Nancy, was steadily losing its population and materialprosperity, and, at the same time, acquiring its greatest claim tofame--for it was between the year 1462 and 1491 that Memling, theforemost of the early Flemish painters, executed the wonderful seriesof masterpieces that have come down to us. And it is to Bruges thatthe student of art must come to see the famous Fleming at his best,for there are more of his important works here than in all the rest ofthe world put together.

In common with many others in the early Gothic school very little isknown of the early life of Hans Memling, but the recent discovery inan old manuscript of a note stating that he was born at or nearMayence gives a most interesting clue both as to his birthplace andthe origin of his name. In the Rhineland district near Mayence thereis a small tributary to the great river called Memling, and a villagenamed Memlingen. It is probable, therefore, that--just as the brothersVan Eyck called themselves Hubert and Jean of Eyck--so their mostfamous successor called himself Hans of Memling. For lack of authenticdetails regarding his early career legend has supplied a mostinteresting history--that he was wild and dissolute in his youngerdays, was wounded while fighting with Charles the Bold at Nancy,dragged himself to the door of the hospital of St. Jean at Bruges, andwas there tenderly nursed back to health and strength, in gratitudefor which he painted for the kind sisters the little gallery of fineworks that are still preserved in the original chapter house of theinstitution. All of this romance, and that of his love for one of thesisters, makes a charming background for many of the accounts of hislife and work, but the painstaking scholarship of modern days hasshown that at the time when he was supposed to be lying wounded anddestitute at the hospital he was in fact very prosperous, havinglately bought the house in which he lived and his name appearing asone of the leading citizens of whom the commune had borrowed money. Itis perhaps pleasanter on the whole to think of the artist as rich andhonoured instead of at the other extreme of the social scale--but thelegend is, after all, so much more romantic that we cannot give it upwithout regret.

At Bruges the first spot for the admirer of Memling to visit is, ofcourse, the hospital of St. Jean, and at the hospital the first thingto see is the world-famous shrine of St. Ursula. Little it is, yetbeyond price in value. It was constructed as a casket to contain therelics of the Saint and was completed in 1489. In design it is aminiature Gothic chapel two feet ten inches high and three feetlong, with three little panels on each side which contain Memling'sfamous pictures setting forth the life and martyrdom of the Saint andthe eleven thousand other virgins who shared her fate. The story ofthe famous pilgrimage to Rome and its melancholy ending at Cologne hasbeen told so often that it need not be repeated here. Ask one of thesisters to tell it to you in her charming broken French--for they areFlemish, these sweet-faced sisters, and, as a rule, understand neitherFrench nor English.

[Illustration: SHRINE OF ST. URSULA, HOSPITAL OF ST. JEAN, BRUGES.]

This fact is said to have served them in good stead on the terribleday when the bandit-soldiery of the French Republic clamoured at thedoors of the hospital in 1494. "The shrine! the shrine!" they cried,"give us the shrine!" ("_La châsse, la châsse, donnez nous lachâsse!_") The nuns, who had never heard it called by that name, butknew it only by its Flemish name of _Ryve_, replied that they did notpossess such a thing as a _châsse_, and their voices and expressionsso clearly showed their truthfulness and innocence of any deceit thatthe rabble of soldiers went away and the shrine was saved. Early inthe nineteenth century the Mother Superior refused a most temptingoffer to purchase the shrine, replying, "We are poor, but thegreatest riches in the world would not tempt us to part with it."

While the paintings on the shrine are the most famous of Memling'sworks, they are not regarded by the critics as being his best. As Mr.Rooses expresses it, "The artist seems to have been less intent onperfection of detail for each figure than on the marvellous polychromyof the whole." The hospital of St. Jean possesses three of themaster's greatest works--two triptychs entitled "The Marriage of St.Catherine" and "The Adoration of the Magi," and the diptychrepresenting the Madonna and Martin Van Nieuwenhove. The museum atBruges contains still another masterpiece, a picture showing in thecentre St. Christopher, St. Maurus and St. Giles--the first bearingthe Infant Christ upon his shoulders--while the two shutters containthe usual portraits of the donors. One of Memling's most importantworks was a picture of "The Last Judgment" which was painted for anItalian, Jacopo Tani, and placed on board ship to be sent to Florenceby sea. The ship was captured by privateers in the English Channel,and as its owners were citizens of Dantzig it was presented by them tothe Church of Our Lady in that city, where it still remains. Thereare several admirable works by this master at the museums of Brusselsand Antwerp, while others are scattered throughout Europe, and oneparticularly fine example of his art was brought to America by thelate Benjamin Altman and now hangs in the Altman collection at theMetropolitan Museum at New York.

While the chief interest to the visitor at the hospital of St. Jean isthe remarkable collection of works by Memling, the old buildingsthemselves merit more than a casual glance. Some of them date from thetwelfth century, and the view looking back at the ancient waterfrontfrom the bridge by which the rue St. Catherine here crosses the riveris particularly picturesque. The old brick structures go down to thevery water's edge, and sometimes below it, and the entire pile fromthis side must look much as it did in Memling's day.

Another artist whose work sheds lustre on the old town of Bruges wasGheerhardt David. For nearly four centuries his name and even his veryexistence were forgotten, his paintings being attributed toMemling--in itself a high evidence of their merit. Recent studies byJames Weale and other scholars have given us quite a complete life ofthis artist, who lived between 1460 and 1523, and a number of hisworks have been identified. All of these seem to have been painted atBruges, and some of the more notable ones still remain there. Themunicipal authorities commissioned him to paint two great picturesrepresenting notable examples of justice such as Van der Weyden haddone for the Hotel de Ville at Brussels. These depict the flayingalive of the unjust Judge Sisamnes by Cambyses, King of Persia, andare still preserved in the museum at Bruges. The museum also possessesanother masterpiece by this artist, "The Baptism of Christ." Othersthat have been identified through painstaking study of the oldarchives of the city and contemporary sources are located in theNational Gallery at London and in the museum of Rouen.

The prosperity of Bruges was declining very fast while David waspainting the last of his religious pictures and the merchants weresteadily leaving the city for Antwerp, which was now rising intoimportance. The artists, whose prosperity depended upon the wealth ofthe burghers were also drifting to the new commercial metropolis onthe Scheldt and the famous school of Bruges was near its end by themiddle of the sixteenth century. The last artists who worked atBruges were of minor interest. Adriaen Ysenbrant, Albert Cornelis andJean Prévost belong to this period, and their most important works arestill preserved in the city where they were executed. "The Virgin ofthe Seven Sorrows," in the church of Notre Dame, is attributed to thefirst, a triptych in the church of St. Jacques to the second, whilethe museum has several pictures by Prévost, including an interesting"Last Judgment," and another striking representation of the samesubject by Pieter Pourbus, of which there is a copy in the Palais duFranc. The masterpieces by Jean Van Eyck in this museum have alreadybeen mentioned, and the small but exceedingly rich collection alsoincludes a fine production entitled "The Death of the Virgin," whichis now generally attributed to Hugo Van der Goes--one of thecomparatively few works by that master that have come down to us.There are also several other works by P. Pourbus, and a powerfulallegorical picture by Jean Prévost representing Avarice and Death.There is undoubtedly no collection of paintings in the world of whichthe average value is so great as that of the little group in thehospital of St. Jean, and the one in the Bruges museum--while it hasquite a few of minor interest and value--would also bring a very highaverage if subjected to the bidding of the world's millionaire artlovers.

[Illustration: _An Illumination by Gheerhardt David of Bruges, 1498;St. Barbara_]

Bruges possesses another museum of great interest which dates from thedays of the last Dukes of Burgundy. This is the Gruuthuise mansion, ofwhich the oldest wing was built in 1420, and much of the finer portionabout 1470 by Louis, or Lodewyk, Van der Gruuthuise, who hereentertained Charles the Bold and his pretty daughter--becoming one ofthe latter's chief advisers on the death of her father and one of thetwo Flemish noblemen who witnessed her marriage. The stately oldpalace is therefore rich with historic associations. As we entered itsbroad courtyard, however, we were most unfavourably impressed by itsrough-paved surface with the grass growing thick between the stones.Surely this must have looked very different in the days when knightsand fair ladies swarmed here like bees, and the city, which has socarefully restored everything else, would do well to at least parkthis otherwise very pretty little enclosure. The interior is bothpleasing and disappointing. The edifice itself is superb as a survivalof a nobleman's palace of the fifteenth century, and as an example ofFlemish interior architecture. The grand stone staircase, the massivefireplaces, also in white stone, and one or two of the rooms in theirentirety give a fine impression of the splendour of the establishmentmaintained by the great Lord of Gruuthuise in the days when he countedKing Edward IV of England and Richard Crookback among his guests, andwas engaged in collecting the marvellous library now in Paris.Everywhere, over the fireplaces, and in various stone carvings, onereads the proud motto of the powerful builders of this palace, _Plusest en nous_.

When the palace was in course of restoration some years ago theworkmen uncovered a secret chamber behind the great stone fireplace inthe kitchen, concealed within the masonry of the huge chimney, andwithin it the skeleton of a man. A secret staircase was alsodiscovered here which led to two underground passages branching off inopposite directions. Strangely enough neither of them has ever beenexplored, but one is supposed to lead to the vaults beneath theadjoining church of Notre Dame, and the other to some point outsidethe city walls. Some have conjectured that it leads to the Château ofMaele, some four miles distant, but probably it went to the manor ofthe Lords of Gruuthuise at Oostcamp. Within this mansion a modern SirWalter Scott could easily conjure forth a new series of Waverleynovels treating of the stirring days when Bruges was virtually thecapital of Flanders and Flanders was the brightest jewel in theBurgundian crown.

All this is most fascinating, and, as far as it goes, helps us toreconstruct in fancy the great days of the past. The disappointingfeature about the palace is the museum itself, which, althoughinteresting and valuable, utterly spoils many of the fine rooms byconverting them into mere exhibition places. In a measure theauthorities have followed the admirable plan of the owners of theHotel Merghelynck at Ypres, and the immense kitchen, for example,contains only kitchen utensils of the Middle Ages--a most complete andinteresting collection. The same is also true of the large dining-roomon the same floor, but as one proceeds farther the atmosphere ofantiquity becomes lost and it is all nothing but museum. The palacecontains a splendid collection of old lace, the gift of the BaronessLiedts, but it seemed to us that it would have been much better tohave housed this and the various collections of antiquities in someless famous and historic structure and endeavoured to restore all ofthese rooms to approximately their condition when Charles the Boldstalked through them.

The period of Philip the Good and his terrible son was the one inwhich mediæval Bruges took on substantially its present form. Inaddition to the Gruuthuise Palace scores of important edifices, publicand private, were built or rebuilt at this time, while hundreds ofsmaller houses were constructed--of which many remain in existenceto-day. The greatest and most famous edifice dating in large part fromthis epoch is the cathedral of St. Sauveur whose grim, castle-liketower dominates the entire city. The lowest part of the tower datesfrom 1116-1127--as already related in the chapter on Bruges underCharles the Good--when the church was rebuilt after a fire thatdestroyed the primitive structure erected on the site a century ormore earlier. Between 1250 and 1346, or for almost a century, the menof Bruges were slowly piling up a noble church in the early Gothicstyle, but another fire in 1358 necessitated rebuilding the nave andtransept--a task which occupied the next ten or fifteen years. In 1480work was begun upon the five chapels of the choir and nine years laterthe Pope, Innocent VIII, granted a special Bull of Indulgence infavour of benefactors of this work, which appears to have been delayedfor lack of funds. Work of various kinds was continued until themiddle of the sixteenth century, but, in the main, the great churchwas nearly as we see it now by the year 1511. The upper part of thetower is comparatively modern, dating from 1846, and the spire from1871. While it has been criticised by some as ungainly and cumbrous,the effect of this tower, from whatever angle it may be viewed, isvery pleasing. The high lights and shadows on a sunny morning, or latein the afternoon, make it far more beautiful than its sister of NotreDame, while against the grey cloud masses of a typical Flemish sky itshuge tawny mass stands out sharp and clear, the embodiment of majestyand strength.

The interior of the church is very large, measuring three hundred andthirty-one feet by one hundred and twenty-five feet, with an extremewidth of one hundred and seventy-four feet across the transepts. Itspolychrome decorations and stained glass windows are modern. Inanother place the wealth of art treasures in this church would merit achapter, but in Bruges they are so overshadowed by the manymasterpieces to be seen elsewhere that we felt somewhat satiatedafter such a feast and spent very little time looking at the pictureshere. The most famous one is a "Martyrdom of St. Hippolytus," byDierick Bouts, which is interesting because so few examples of thisprimitive master are in existence. It is a triptych, the central panelshowing the saint about to be torn to pieces by wild horses, on theleft an incident in the life of the saint, and on the right thedonors. The last picture has been attributed by many critics to HugoVan der Goes, and for many years the entire picture was thought to bethe work of Memling. Bouts delighted in unpleasant subjects, which hedepicted with great realism.

[Illustration: "THE LAST SUPPER."--THIERRY BOUTS.]

Dierick, or Thierry, Bouts settled at Louvain about the middle of thefifteenth century. Beyond the fact that he came from Haarlem nothingis known of his early life and training, but as Van der Weyden ofTournai had done some important work at Louvain it is likely thatBouts may have derived some of his inspiration from studying themethods of that master. He was a contemporary of Memling. Two of hispaintings, "The Last Supper" and the gruesome "Martyrdom of St.Erasmus," were executed for the wealthy brotherhood of the HolySacrament and were hung in the church of St. Peter.[2] Bouts becamethe official painter for the city of Louvain and produced a "LastJudgment" for the hall of the échevins which has since been lost, andtwo panels for the council-room of the Hotel de Ville representing"The Judgment of Otho." These are now in the museum at Brussels. TheQueen having accused an earl of offending her honour, the latter isdecapitated. The head is then given to his Countess, together with aglowing bar of iron. In the second panel she is shown triumphantlyholding both, the hot iron refusing to burn her and therebyvindicating her husband's innocence. The result of the ordeal is shownin the distance where the false Queen is being executed at the stake.These pictures were ordered, in imitation of those painted by Van derWeyden for the Hotel de Ville at Brussels, as part of a series ofpanels designed to instill the love of virtue and justice into theminds of the magistrates and people. The artist's death prevented hiscompleting two other panels that the archives of Louvain show had beenordered. Besides this "Martyrdom of St. Hippolytus" a comparativelysmall number of other works from his brush are listed in thecatalogues of various European museums.

[Footnote 2: They were probably destroyed during the burning ofLouvain by the Germans.]

Of the other structures in Bruges of to-day there are a score thatmerit a visit from those who are interested in the city's splendidpast, and that date for the most part from the last years of theBurgundian period. In the rue des Aiguilles there still exists afragment of the Hotel Bladelin, the town house of Peter Bladelin, whowas for many years Controller-General of Finance, Treasurer of theOrder of the Golden Fleece, and the trusted agent of the Dukes in allmanner of business and private affairs. Peter subsequently built thetown of Middleburg, for the church in which Van der Weyden painted oneof his most famous pictures. The Ghistelhof in the same street alsodates from this epoch, and was built by the Lords of Ghistelle. Thenthere is the Hotel d'Adornes and the church of Jerusalem, which wasformerly the private chapel of the rich brothers Anselm and JohnAdornes. There is still a fine mediæval atmosphere lingering aboutthis group of buildings, although much altered from what they were intheir prime. The church itself is most curious, and beneath the choiris a crypt that leads to a reproduction of the Holy Sepulchre, said tobe a facsimile of the one in the garden of Joseph of Arimathea. Itwould take a volume to cite all of the fine old structures of whichtraces still exist in this, the most picturesque of all the Flemishcities. The reader who desires to find them all cannot do better thanto take Ernest Gilliat-Smith's brilliant _Story of Bruges_ with himand look for them, one by one. For those who cannot devote a week ormore to this delightful task a quicker way to see the Bruges ofCharles the Bold is to stroll slowly along the Quai Vert, the Quai desMarbriers and the Quai du Rosaire and let the beautiful vistas of theVieux Bourg with its quaint red roofs and noble towers become engravedupon the memory, for here, more completely than anywhere else, one cansee the Bruges of the past much as it looked in the day of itsgreatest splendour when it was about to sink into its long sleep.

Thus far Bruges has not suffered seriously from the war, and it isprofoundly to be hoped that no bombardment such as crumbled its fairneighbour Termonde into utter ruin will create similar havoc amidthese indescribably beautiful scenes. A few hours would suffice todestroy artistic and architectural treasures of a value that wouldmake the destruction of Louvain seem of little consequence incomparison.

[Illustration: QUAI VERT, BRUGES.]

CHAPTER XV

MALINES IN THE TIME OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA

Since this chapter was written the ill-fated city of Malines has beenswept with shot and shell for many days together, its once happy andprosperous inhabitants driven far and wide--many of them into foreignlands--and it is doubtful if a single one of the various ancientedifices which we visited last June has escaped injury.Notwithstanding these sad facts it has seemed best to retain thechapter substantially as it was written, inasmuch as it affords a penpicture of the old town as it looked on the very eve of itsdestruction. Let us hope that when the war is over it will be foundthat most, if not all, of its famous old structures can be restoredagain. As the scene of some of the most stubborn conflicts of thegreat war, it is likely that the city will be more generally visitedby tourists than was the case when its architectural and artistictreasures were uninjured, save by the gentle hand of time. To thosewho thus visit it the following account of the Malines that was mayprove interesting.

Situated midway between Antwerp and Brussels, on a route formerlytraversed by scores of _rapides_ every day, the ancient city ofMalines--which is the French spelling, the Flemish being Mechelen--wasexceptionally easy to visit, yet during the three days that we spentwandering along its entrancing old quays and streets and inspectingits many "monuments" we saw not a single tourist. This was the moreremarkable because Malines is not only one of the very oldest citiesin Northern Europe, but was for centuries among the most famous. For aconsiderable period it was the capital of all the Netherlands, and itis still the religious capital of Belgium--the archbishop of itscathedral church exercising authority over the bishops of Bruges,Ghent, Liége, Namur and Tournai.

No matter from which side one approaches the city the first object tobe seen is the vast square tower of the Cathedral of St. Rombaut, andas this huge structure--the eighth wonder of the world, according toVauban--dominates the town, so the church itself has dominated thehistory of the city on the River Dyle for more than elevencenturies. According to tradition St. Rombaut, or Rombold, to use theEnglish spelling, sought to convert the savage tribes inhabiting themarshes that extended along the river about the middle of the eighthcentury, the date of his martyrdom being placed at 775. A Benedictineabbey was shortly afterwards established near his tomb, which steadilygrew in importance and power until by the twelfth century it hadbecome one of the most important religious institutions in the region.During the thirteenth century the prince-bishops of Malines became thevirtual sovereigns of the city, one of them--Gauthier Berthout,sometimes called the Great--defeating the Duke of Gueldre, whoattempted in 1267 to assert his authority over that of the prelate. Atthis period many of the religious institutions of Malines wereestablished under the patronage of Gauthier Berthout and hissuccessors.

[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF ST. ROMBAUT. MALINES.]

Meanwhile the comparative immunity of the city from the ravages of thewars that so often raged at that period between the various feudallords of the region caused great numbers of artisans to settle there,particularly weavers, while the cloth merchants' guild came to berecognised as entitled to a voice in the civil affairs of thecommune. Ships, according to the chronicles, came up the River Dyle insuch numbers as to make the commercial activity of the town rival thatof Antwerp--a statement that is hard to believe when one gazes at thetiny River Dyle of to-day. However, the ships in those days were verysmall, and the river, like so many others in Belgium, was no doubtbroader then than it is now that the marshes have all been drained.The weavers and other artisans were a turbulent lot, and it soonbecame evident that the bishops lacked the power to hold them incheck.

This led to a series of alienations of the temporal power over thecommune to neighbouring princes whose armies were strong enough tokeep the unruly burghers in restraint. The first of these was effectedin the year 1300 between the prince-bishop, Jean Berthout, and JeanII, Duke of Brabant. In 1303 the news of the great victory gained overthe nobility by the Flemish communes at Courtrai caused the citizensto revolt against their new master, the Duke, who besieged the cityand finally reduced it by starvation. Until this time the Dyle hadnever been bridged, its waters flowing over a broad marshy bed. Thismade the siege the more difficult as the attacking forces wereseparated by the river, and it was five months before the sturdyburghers yielded. To this day an annual procession, called the_peysprocessie_, perpetuates the memory of this famous siege.

During the next half century the civil authority over the city becamea veritable shuttleco*ck of politics and war, shifting back and forthbetween the Dukes of Brabant and the Counts of Flanders. It was boughtand sold like a parcel of real estate, but eventually rested with theCounts of Flanders, who had first acquired it by purchase in 1333, andwere finally left in undisputed possession by a treaty signed in 1357.Four years later a violent insurrection of the weavers and otherartisans broke out that was only mastered after the city had been intheir possession fifteen days, but with the advent of the Dukes ofBurgundy to the supreme power over all of Flanders, Brabant, Hainautand Holland, the unruly workmen were no longer strong enough to resistthese redoubtable princes. Great numbers of them emigrated to othercities, and the cloth industry, after languishing for a time, finallydisappeared.

Like most Flemish towns, Malines has its principal railway stationlocated on its very outskirts, and as far as possible from the GrandePlace. A tram car was standing in front of the station on the morningof our first visit, but it seemed that it did not start for tenminutes. A score of roomy two-seated carriages invited our patronage,but we valiantly decided to walk. We soon regretted our decision asthe walk proved to be long and hot, with very little of interest tosee, as the houses in this part of the town are comparatively modern.At the bridge across the Dyle we paused for a few moments to admirethe fine views that can here be had of the old Church Notre Dame audelà de la Dyle to the westward and the equally picturesque Notre Damed'Hanswyck to the eastward. Just beyond the river is the entrance tothe Botanical Gardens, and as our first visit chanced to be on aFriday we walked in unmolested and enjoyed the welcome shade and thebeautiful landscape effects of this charming little park. Later on welearned that Friday is the only week-day on which admission is free, afee of ten cents being exacted on other days.

As is the case in most Belgian cities, the street from the station tothe heart of the town, although continuous and straight, changes itsname more than once. At the outset it is the rue Conscience, then therue d'Egmont, and from the bridge across the Dyle to the Grande Placeit is named Bruul. Entering the Place from this side we paused toadmire the tremendous tower of the cathedral which here burst upon usin all its majestic grandeur, although the edifice is situated alittle to the west of the Place itself. In front of us, on the right,was a singularly dilapidated ruin, which we learned was the old ClothHall. Part of it is used as a police station, part is vacant with itswindow openings devoid of sashes or glass staring blankly at the sky,while part is devoted to housing a small museum of municipalantiquities. The first Cloth Hall at Malines was destroyed by fire in1342, and the new one that was begun to replace it was never finished,owing to the ruin of the cloth industry during the struggles betweenthe artisans and their overlords, and a belfry which it was proposedto erect similar to that at Bruges was never begun. The museumcontains a number of pictures by Malines artists, of historical ratherthan artistic interest, a "Christ on the Cross," by Rubens, and avariety of relics of the city's famous past. Curiously enough, thereis not a single piece of lace in the collection, nor anything torepresent the great cloth weaving industry--the two branches ofmanufacture to which the city owes so much of its former wealth andfame.

Adjoining the _Halle aux Draps_ to the north is a fine modernpost-office built from designs drawn by the great Malines architect ofthe sixteenth century, Rombaut Keldermans, for a new Hotel de Ville,which was never built. Unfortunately its principal façade overlooksthe narrow rue de Beffer instead of the Grande Place, and itsbeautiful details cannot be seen as effectively as could be desired.In the Vieux Palais, the ancient "Schepenhuis," or house of thebailiffs, situated a little south of the Place, we were shown theoriginal design by Keldermans. It is kept in a sliding panel on thewall and, although somewhat dim with age, can still be studied indetail. The modern architects of the post-office have reverentlyfollowed the plans of the great master so that at least this one ofhis many brilliant architectural dreams has come true, and now standscarved in imperishable stone just as his genius conceived it nearlyfour centuries ago.

To the ancestor of this architect, Jean Keldermans, is generallyattributed the honour of designing the tower of St. Rombaut, thearchitectural glory of Malines and one of the most magnificentstructures of the kind in the world. There are a thousand placesthroughout the city where the photographer or painter can obtainattractive views of this masterpiece, but perhaps the best of all isfrom a point some distance down the Ruelle sans Fin (Little Streetwithout End) where a quaint mediæval house forms an arch across thenarrow street, while behind and far above it rises the majestic tower.From whatever standpoint one regards the great tower, whether gazingup at its vast bulk from directly beneath--a point of view that thecamera cannot reproduce--or from any of the little streets thatradiate away from it, its grandeur and beauty are equally impressive.

[Illustration: TOWER OF THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. ROMBAUT FROM THE RUELLESANS FIN.]

Begun in 1452, work on the great tower advanced slowly. In 1468,according to a memorial tablet near the southern side of the tower,Gauthier Coolman was buried there. It was the custom in the MiddleAges to thus recognise the _magister operis_, or creator of the work,but it is generally acknowledged that Jean Keldermans is entitled toshare in the credit for this achievement. Jean was the first in afamily of famous architects, his brothers André, Mathieu and AntoineI, following the same profession, and their skill being handed downto later generations, of whom the most famous were Antoine II, Rombautand Laurent. At the beginning of the sixteenth century work on thegreat tower was stopped, owing to lack of funds, after attaining aheight of three hundred and eighteen feet. The plans, of whichsketches are still preserved at Brussels, called for carrying thespire upward to a total height of five hundred and fifty feet, and inthe ambulatory of the cathedral we found a plaster cast showing thespire as it was proposed to erect it. The stones to complete the workwere already cut and brought to Malines, but were carried away between1582 and 1584 by the Prince of Orange to build the town ofWillemstadt. Apart from its height, this tower is remarkable for itsgreat bulk, measuring no less than twenty-five metres in diameter atthe base.

On each side for most of its height the architect designed a series oflofty Gothic windows. Of these the lowest are filled in with masonry,except for a tiny window in the centre. In the higher ones stoneblinds fill in the openings, while the topmost pair are wide open tothe sky. The well-known legend about the over-excitable citizen ofMalines who cried "Fire!" one night after seeing the full moonthrough these windows gave the people of the town for many years thenickname of _Maanblusschers_, or moon extinguishers, and also gaverise to the slur in the last three words of the following Latindistich in which an old monkish poet compares the six chief cities ofBelgium:

 _Nobilibus Bruxella viris, Antwerpia Nummis, Gandavum laqueis, formosis Bruga puellis, Lovanium doctis, gaudet Mechlinia stultis._

 Brussels is renowned for its noble men, Antwerp for its money, Ghent for its halters, Bruges for its pretty girls, Louvain for its scholars, Malines (Mechelen) for its fools.

This seems rather hard on Malines, and also on Ghent, the allusion tothat city referring to numerous occasions when its sovereigns humbledthe burghers by forcing them to plead for mercy with halters aroundtheir necks.

On the outside of the tower, close to its present summit, is a clockthe face of which is claimed to be the largest in the world. As thesame claim is made for the great clock on an industrial establishmentin Jersey City I will simply give the dimensions of the one at Malinesand let those interested make the comparison for themselves: Diameterof face, 13.5 metres; circumference, 41 metres; length of hour hand,3.62 metres; height of figures, 1.96 metres. The minute hands wereoriginally 4.25 metres long, but are missing on all four sides. Thisrenders the time-piece hardly one to be consulted if one is catching atrain, as the exact minute can only be estimated from the position ofthe hour hand. Furthermore, the gilding on the hour hands and on mostof the figures has become so dim that only the strongest eyes candistinguish the former, and some of the latter can only be made outfrom their position. As the city appeared to be exceedingly proud ofthe size of this clock it seemed strange that the authorities did notauthorise the expenditure of the small sum necessary to re-gild it.

It is a hard climb to the top of the tower, but one well worth making,not only for the fine panorama of the city that unfolds itself widerand wider as one mounts higher, but for the opportunity thus affordedof seeing the fine _carillon_, or set of chimes, and the curiousmechanism operating the clappers that strike the hours. Just beforereaching the floor upon which these are placed the guide conducts thevisitor to a trap door from which one can look down into the interiorof the cathedral--a thrilling experience to be enjoyed only by thosewho are not inclined to be dizzy. The massive timber work supportingthe huge bells was constructed in 1662, but the oldest of the bellsdates from 1498, or six years after the discovery of America. The twobiggest bells are named Salvator and Charles, of which the larger oneweighs 8,884 kilos, or more than nine tons, and requires twelve men toring it. There are four other big bells and forty-five for the entire_carillon_, most of which were cast by Pierre Hémony of Amsterdam, theStradivarius of bell founders, in 1674. Altogether they form fouroctaves, the giants chiming in with the others as the music demands.The keyboard which operates the little hammers is operated by bothhand and foot power, and the _carillonneur_ who operates it is worthyof the splendid instrument at his command, being Josef Denyn, the sonof an equally famous _carillonneur_, and reputed to be the finest inEurope. M. Denyn not only gives frequent concerts at Malines, but alsoat Antwerp and Bruges, as well as in many European cities outside ofBelgium.

We made a special trip to Malines one Monday afternoon in June solelyto listen to one of these concerts, which takes place on that daybetween eight and nine in the evening, during the months of June,August and September. The sleepy old town was thronged withautomobiles, for the renown of these famous concerts has spread farand wide, and some of the cars, we were told, had come from points asfar away as Ostende, Blankenburghe and Heyst, while scores were fromAntwerp and Brussels. The crowd gathered quietly in the streetssurrounding the great tower and a great silence seemed to pervade theentire city as the hour of eight approached. Then, faint and far atfirst, came the first dulcet tones from this great organ of the sky,until--as the music swelled and more of the larger bells began toblend their notes in the harmony--the very air seemed vibrant withcelestial sounds. The selection, as we afterwards learned, was one ofthe _Volksliederen_, or pieces of folk music for the rendition ofwhich M. Denyn is famous. As we listened we realised as never beforethe part the ancient _carillon_ was meant to take in the daily life ofthe people. It is, in truth, as a French author has beautifullyexpressed it, the orchestra of the poor, giving expression through itswondrous notes to their joys and their sorrows. On the occasion ofgreat fêtes its music is light and gay, in attune with the popularrejoicing; in times of public grief the _carillon_ gives utterance tonotes of lamentation; when a famous citizen is being borne to his lastresting-place through the streets lined with silent mourners the_carillon_ sends the deep notes of its funeral dirges across the city;in time of war or sudden danger the great bells roar the wild tocsinof alarm; in time of peace their softest notes breathe a sweet prayerof peace and benediction at eventide.

While we were visiting the tower we were shown the _tambour_ cast incopper by means of which the clock strikes the hours, the half hoursand the quarters. This was cast in 1783, and two years were requiredto make the sixteen thousand, two hundred square holes into which dropthe teeth that actuate the striking hammers.

The interior of St. Rombaut, while majestic and imposing, is hardly asmasterly as the tower. On the occasion of our first visit a high masswas being celebrated and we reverently joined the throng ofworshippers. In addition to the choir there was a body of some twohundred young men in the centre of the cathedral who participated inthe singing, a curé beating time for them. Their strong manly voicesblended finely with the higher notes of the distant choir boys andthe deep tones of the organ. From the top of the choir long crimsonstreamers were suspended, terminating at the back of the high altarand giving a rich note of colour to the interior, while the light fromthe stained glass windows overhead poured downward in many-colouredrays upon the throng of black-robed priests, with a sprinkling ofhigher dignitaries clad in purple. Truly a picture that filled the eyewith the pageantry of religion, even as the rolling notes of thesonorous chants filled the ear!

After the service was over, and the great cathedral, but now socrowded, was deserted, we started on our tour of inspection. It wouldbe a tedious task to chronicle all of the objects of interest. Thecarved stalls of the Gothic choir are far less elaborate inworkmanship than those at Amiens. The altar by Faid'herbe, a native ofMalines, is imposing, but not of remarkable merit. The carved pulpitin the nave, however, is a veritable masterpiece of wood carving byMichel Van der Voort of Antwerp, and dates from 1723. Below, St.Norbert is shown flung from his horse by a thunderbolt, above is theCrucifixion at the left, with the Virgin and St. John standing belowthe cross, while at the right is shown a charming representation ofthe Fall, with Eve offering the apple to Adam, both figures emboweredin a mass of foliage that twines up the stairway to the pulpit andlifts its branches far overhead. The masterpiece of the paintings isan altarpiece by Van Dyck representing the Crucifixion, a notablerepresentation of the gradations of grief in the faces of the Virginand Mary Magdalen. The attendant requires a franc to uncover thispicture. "The Adoration of the Shepherds," by Erasmus Quellen, in theopposite arm of the transept, while less famous, is a noble piece ofwork.

As would be expected from its great religious importance, Malines hasnumerous minor churches that contain much of interest to the visitor.The largest of these is Notre Dame au delà de la Dyle, situated acrossthe River Dyle from the oldest part of the city, but dating from thefifteenth century. Here the tourist usually asks to see "TheMiraculous Draught of Fishes," by Rubens, a highly coloured triptychthat is only uncovered when one pays a franc to the attendant. As thismaster produced some seventeen hundred known works it would cost asmall fortune to see them all at a franc apiece, but this one datesfrom the artist's best period and is fully worth the price charged tosee it. It is vigorous in treatment, and the Fishmongers' Guild, whichpurchased it from the artist in 1618 for sixteen hundred florins,certainly got very good value for their money. The wings are paintedon both sides. This church also contains the curious Virgin with theBroken Back. According to the popular legend her sharp leaning to theright is due to the fact that one day, when the sacristan of thechurch failed to wake up in time to ring the angelus the ladyobligingly did it for him, but wrenched her spine in the effort. Hersmug smirk of satisfaction, as if over a duty well performed, no doubtalso dates from the same incident.

Hardly less interesting is the ancient church of Notre Damed'Hanswyck, situated on the same side of the Dyle as the other NotreDame just described. A chapel was erected on the site of this churchsoon after the country was converted from paganism by St. Rombaut, anda large church was built near the end of the thirteenth century. This,however, was pillaged by the iconoclasts in 1566, riddled by shot fromthe cannon of the Prince of Orange in 1572, and finally completelydemolished eight or nine years later by the Gueux. It was not until1663 that the present edifice was begun. It was designed by LukeFaid'herbe, the famous sculptor of Malines and a pupil of Rubens, andwas built under his personal supervision. The church itself is averitable museum of the works of this master. The finest and mostfamous of these are the two bas-reliefs in the dome, one showing "TheNativity," and the other "The Saviour Falling Under the Burden of theCross." The pulpit, by Theodore Verhaegen, is a fine example ofFlemish wood carving. In this church the chief treasure, from thestandpoint of its priests and parishioners, is the miraculous statueof the Virgin, which dates from 988, or earlier, according to someauthorities. It is made of wood, painted and gilded, and is life size.Not the least miraculous feat of this interesting relic of the MiddleAges is its escape from destruction, at the hands of the iconoclasts,the Gueux, and the French revolutionists. At the period when thechurch itself was destroyed the statue was hidden in a secretsubterranean passage for nearly a century; during the FrenchRevolution it was successively lodged in various houses in the rued'Hanswyck--each time being replaced in the church, after the dangerwas over, amid great popular rejoicing.

Another church that is a small art gallery is that of St. Jean, notfar from the cathedral. Here is the fine "Adoration of the Magi," byRubens, which many critics consider one of the four best of hisceremonial works. It was painted in 1617, the year before "TheMiraculous Draught of Fishes," at Notre Dame de la Dyle, when theartist was fresh from his studies in Italy, and before his success hadcaused him to employ a throng of students to assist in the productionof his works. Furthermore, it was executed for this very church, whichstill possesses his receipt for the final payment, written in Flemish,dated March 24, 1624, and signed by the artist, "Pietro Paulo Rubens."The price was eighteen hundred florins, but for good measure thechurch obtained three small paintings by the great master to be hungbelow the triptych. In 1794 these pictures were taken to Paris and the"Adoration of the Magi" was not restored to its original positionuntil after the fall of Napoleon. Two of the small pictures, "TheAdoration of the Shepherds" and "The Resurrection," are now in themuseum of Marseilles--having never been returned--while the third,"Christ on the Cross," after changing hands several times, was at lastpurchased by an amateur who recognised its authorship and history andrestored it to the church of St. Jean. The two little pictures oneither side of it, often attributed to Rubens, are by Luc Franchoysthe younger. This church also boasts some marvellous Flemish woodcarvings. Around the two pillars of the transept where it intersectsthe nave are some bas-reliefs, six altogether, by Theodore Verhaegenand his pupils, that if there was nothing else to see would alonejustify a visit to St. Jean, while the pulpit by the same master,representing "The Good Shepherd Preaching to His People," is one ofthe most noteworthy of the numerous examples of pulpit carving to beseen in Flanders. Below the organ are two more admirable bas-reliefscarved in Flemish oak by Pierre Valckx, a pupil of Verhaegen.

Of the many other churches in the old town it would be tedious tospeak. Nowhere in all Flanders did we see so many black-robed priestswalking solemnly about--although they do not lack in any part of thecountry. All Belgium, in fact, is full of priests, monks and nuns,owing to the expulsion of the religious orders from France some yearsago. We frequently engaged them in conversation to ascertain moreabout the monuments we were visiting and invariably found themcourteous and well-informed, and not infrequently we were indebted tothem for suggestions or information of much value. At the same time,it must be said that it seems to a layman as though there are far toomany for so small a country, but their fine spirit of devotion duringthe war--when thousands of them shared cheerfully the hardships of thesoldiers--will never be forgotten.

Of the civil edifices in Malines the most important is the Hotel deVille. Architecturally it is disappointing, save for the olderportion, which was called Beyaerd, and was purchased by the commune in1383. The greater part of the edifice was reconstructed during theeighteenth century. The many rooms in the interior are pleasing buthardly notable, nor are the paintings and sculptures important save tothe historian. In the Vieux Palais, the room in which the GreatCouncil of the Netherlands held its sessions from 1474 to 1618, isstill preserved in its original state, while one of the ancientpaintings on the wall shows the Council in session. In this buildingalso is the curious statuette of the Vuyle Bruydegom called"Op-Signorken," whose grinning face and quaint mediæval costume arereproduced on many postcards. The history of this worthy is besttold in French--and in whispers!

[Illustration: _IN HET PARADIJS_ AND _MAISON DES DIABLES_: TWOFIFTEENTH CENTURY HOUSES, MALINES.]

In our tramps around the narrow, crooked streets of the old town, andalong its picturesque quays, we found many fine examples of fifteenthand sixteenth century architecture. On the Quai au Sel is the House ofthe Salmon, the ancient guildhouse of the fishmongers, which datesfrom 1530, and on the Quai aux Avoines we visited the little estaminetentitled _In het Paradijs_, with its two painted reliefs of the Falland Expulsion from Eden, and the _Maison des Diables_--so called fromthe carved devils that decorate its wooden façade of the sixteenthcentury. The Grand Pont across the Dyle to these old quays itselfdates from the thirteenth century, as its grimy arches testify.

After the defeat and death of Charles the Bold at Nancy his widow,Margaret of York, transferred her residence to Malines, and here sheraised and educated the two children of her daughter, Marie ofBurgundy, Philip the Handsome and Margaret of Austria. Their father,the Emperor Maximilian, was so occupied with affairs of state over hiswidely scattered realm that he seldom came to the city, but from 1480onward the States General of the Netherlands often met here, and in1491 Philip the Handsome presided at a chapter of the Order of theGolden Fleece at the cathedral of St. Rombaut. On his premature death,in 1506, Maximilian again became Regent, as Philip's eldest sonCharles was barely six years old. The following year Maximilian madehis daughter Margaret of Austria Governess-General of the Netherlandsand guardian of Philip's children. Margaret at once chose Malines,where she had herself been educated, as her seat of government andthere she reigned as Regent until her death twenty-three years later.This period was the golden age in the history of the city on the Dyle,its brief day of splendour.

In her infancy Margaret had been betrothed to the son of the King ofFrance, Louis XI--the cunning enemy of her house whose plots hadbrought about the ruin of her grandfather, Charles the Bold. She wasonly three, and the Prince Dauphin, afterwards Charles the Eighth, wasonly twelve. Nine years later a more advantageous alliance caused himto renounce this betrothal, and Margaret was subsequently married byproxy to the son of the King of Spain. On her voyage from Flushing toSpain a storm arose which nearly wrecked her ship, and after it hadsomewhat subsided she and her companions amused themselves by eachwriting her own epitaph. That composed by Margaret, then a sprightlygirl of eighteen, is well known:

 _Cy gist Margot la gentil' Damoiselle, Qu' ha deux marys et encor est pucelle._

Eventually, however, she arrived safely at Burgos, but her younghusband, Prince John of Asturias, died suddenly seven months later ofa malignant fever. At the age of nineteen, therefore, Margaret hadalready missed being Queen of France and Queen of Spain. After twoyears at the Spanish court, where she was very popular, she returnedto Flanders, arriving in 1500, just in time to be one of thegodmothers at the christening of her nephew, Charles, at the church ofSt. Jean in Ghent. The following year Margaret married Philibert II,Duke of Savoy, surnamed the Handsome, who was the same age as herself.This time her married life proved to be only a little longer than theother, for her husband died in 1504. Left twice a widow while still inthe bloom of youth, the duch*ess devoted herself to poetry and theerection of a church at Brou in her second husband's duchy of Savoy.

There, on the walls, woodwork, stained glass windows and tombs sherepeated her last motto:

 FORTUNE . INFORTUNE . FORT . UNE

which has generally been interpreted to mean that Fortune andMisfortune have tried sorely (fort) one lone woman (une).

The palace of Margaret of York stood on the rue de l'Empereur, wheresome vestiges of it still remain, but Margaret of Savoy and of Austriafound this edifice inadequate to the requirements of a Regent andacquired the Hotel de Savoy opposite. This has been restored and isnow used as the Palais de Justice, but--apart from its prettycourtyard and one fine fireplace--we found very little to recall theglories of the period when the great men of all the Netherlandsgathered here. The edifice was largely reconstructed by RombautKeldermans, and it was here that the boyhood of the future EmperorCharles the Fifth was passed, watched over by his Aunt Margaret. Atthe time of her accession as Regent Margaret was twenty-seven yearsold--"a fair young woman with golden hair, rounded cheeks, a gravemouth, and beautiful clear eyes," according to one observer. Herfather, the Emperor Maximilian, was very fond and proud of her, andthe greatest treasure in the library in the Vieux Palais is a"graduale," or hymnbook, which he presented to her in recognition ofher services in educating his grandchildren. On one of the pages inthis book is an illuminated picture showing Maximilian himself seatedon a throne surmounted by the arms of Austria, with Margaret and theyouthful Charles and his sister forming part of the group gathered infront of him. The other illustrations in this priceless volume, all ofwhich we were permitted to examine, consist of religious subjects.

The events connected with the regency of Margaret of Austria belong tothe history of Europe. More than once she aided her father in solvingthe great problems of government and diplomacy with which he wasconfronted, notably in the prominent part she took in the negotiationsresulting in the League of Cambrai, which was directed againstFrance--the nation to which she always showed an unrelenting hostilityfor the slight put upon her in childhood. In 1516 Charles became ofa*ge, and two years later--while the new King of Spain was visiting hisSpanish subjects--Margaret was again proclaimed Regent of theNetherlands. In 1519 Maximilian died, and five months later Charleswas elected King of the Romans, and was chosen Emperor the followingyear, succeeding to the widest dominions ever ruled over by one man inthe history of Europe. In fact it is doubtful if any sovereign sincehas exercised so vast a power, as the Kings and Emperors of lateryears have had their authority more restricted, while that of Charleswas absolute.

In 1529 Margaret brought about the negotiations that resulted in thefamous Ladies' Peace between the Pope, the Emperor Charles, and theKings of France, England and Bohemia. Margaret represented Spain, andLouise of Savoy, her sister-in-law and the mother of Francis, the Kingof France, represented that monarch. The result of the conferences wasa treaty that was highly advantageous to Spain, and a great diplomaticvictory for Margaret; but as all Europe was tired of war the termswere accepted and peace proclaimed amid great popular rejoicings, thefountains at Cambrai flowing wine instead of water. The splendidmantelpiece in the Hotel de Franc at Bruges was erected to commemoratethis treaty, although it hardly does justice to the prominent parttaken by Margaret in negotiating it. The conclusion of the Treaty ofCambrai marks the climax of Margaret's career and also that of theHouse of Austria. In addition to the vast empire ruled over byCharles, his brother Ferdinand was King of Bohemia, and his sistersEleanor, Isabel, Marie and Katherine, Queens of France, Denmark,Hungary and Portugal respectively. All owed their brilliant positionsto the patience and skill of their Aunt Margaret who, as hercorrespondence shows, was looking forward to the time when she couldhand over the government of the Netherlands to the Emperor and spendher remaining days in quiet seclusion.

Under her wise rule the Netherlands had attained the greatestprosperity ever known. Industry and commerce flourished, peace andsafety reigned throughout her broad dominions. At her court in MalinesMargaret gathered a brilliant group of artists, poets and men ofletters. Mabuse (Jan Gossaert), Bernard Van Orley and Michel Coxciewere among the famous Flemish artists patronised by the duch*ess.Rombaut Keldermans received many commissions as architect from thegreat Lady of Savoy and her Imperial nephew for important edifices notonly at Malines but at Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent and throughout theLow Countries. In 1451 the Pope, Nicholas V, had proclaimed a HolyYear at Malines and enormous numbers of pilgrims visited the city inconsequence. Their lavish gifts made possible the rapid erection ofmost of the splendid religious edifices with which the city is soamply provided, and it was during the reign of Margaret that thesestructures were completed and decorated. Among the beautiful buildingsexecuted during this period may be mentioned the Belfry at Bruges, thetower of St. Rombaut, the Hotel de Ville at Ghent, the spire of thecathedral at Antwerp, the cathedral of Ste. Gudule at Brussels, andmany minor churches throughout the Low Countries.

Margaret displayed rare taste for works of art, and her palace was averitable treasure house of masterpieces, as an inventory prepared ather direction shows. One of the most famous of these was the portraitof Jean Arnolfini and his wife by Jean Van Eyck, which--after manyvicissitudes--has now found a permanent resting place in the NationalGallery at London, unless some militant suffragette adds anotherchapter to its chequered history. Another treasure has been lessfortunate, namely the portrait of _La belle Portugalaise_, wife ofPhilip the Good, which was painted by Jean Van Eyck undercirc*mstances already described in another chapter. This famouspicture disappeared during the religious wars and has never beendiscovered. The inventory lists a great many other paintings, of whichsome are still in existence and some have been lost. The descriptionsare often quaint and charming, and may have been dictated by theduch*ess herself, as for example: "_Une petite Nostre-Dame disant sesheures, faicte de la main de Michel (Coxcie) que Madame appelle samignonne et le petit dieu dort_," and "_Ung petit paradis ou sonttouxs les apôtres._" Other artists of note in the collection wereBernard Van Orley, Hans Memling, Roger Van der Weyden, Dierick Bouts,Jerome Bosch and Gerard Horembout.

[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF JEAN ARNOLFINI AND HIS WIFE BY JEAN VANEYCK.]

Among the men of letters whom Margaret gathered around her were JeanMolinet, her librarian and a poet who often celebrated her charms;Jean Lemaire de Belges, who became her historian; Erasmus, NicolasEverard, Adrian of Utrecht, Cornelius Agrippa, Massé, Rénacle deFlorennes, Louis Vivés, and many others. Her library was as choice asher collection of paintings and included a Book of Hours and severalother illuminated manuscripts now in the Bibliotheque Royale atBrussels, and many of the mediæval classics. History records few greatpersonages whose personality, considered from every aspect, is morepleasing than that of this gracious lady, whose very pets are known tous through the frequent references made to them by her literarycourtiers. Her career, though shaded by sadness and disappointment,was a great and noble one, and, while she lived, the land over whichshe ruled remained in almost uninterrupted peace and prosperity--thewars of the Emperor being for the most part waged far away on theplains of Italy or in France.

On the last day of November, 1530, the Regent Margaret passed away ather palace at Malines in the fiftieth year of her age and thetwenty-third of her regency. For forty-five days the bells of thechurches throughout the city tolled at morning, noon and night inexpression of the profound grief of the people at their great loss.The dirges may well have been for the departure of the city'sgreatness as well, for the death of its great patroness proved thebeginning of its decline. The new Regent, Marie of Hungary, removedher court to Brussels, and although Malines, by way of compensation,was made the seat of an arch-bishopric it never recovered its formersplendour and sank rapidly into the quiet town that it was when thegreat war added a new and tragic chapter to its history.

CHAPTER XVI

GHENT UNDER CHARLES THE FIFTH--AND SINCE

But for the great disaster at Nancy, it is altogether probable thatCharles the Bold would, before very long, have sought to chastise theburghers 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 periodof respite from the tyranny that had been pressing more and moreheavily upon them since the "bloody sea of Gavre." His daughter,Marie, was only nineteen when her father's fall placed her at themercy of the turbulent communes, and at Ghent as well as Bruges shewas forced to grant a charter restoring the many privileges thatCharles and Philip the Good had taken away. She was even helpless tosave the lives of two of her most trusted counsellors, who wereaccused by the men of Ghent of treacherous correspondence with theirwily enemy, Louis XI, and--in spite of her entreaties and tears intheir behalf in the Marché de Vendredi--were publicly beheaded in thefirst year of her brief reign.

Shortly after the untimely death of this princess whose popularitymight have held the communes in check, her husband, Maximilian, beganthe long war that finally resulted in establishing his authority overall of Flanders. This accomplished, he established his daughter,Margaret of Austria, as Regent and during the twenty-three years ofher wise and gentle reign the country remained for the most part atpeace and its commerce and prosperity returned.

It was during the struggle with Maximilian that the Rabot wasconstructed at Ghent, in 1489. The previous year the Emperor FrederickIII, father of Maximilian, had threatened the city at this point,where its fortifications were weakest, and the two famous pointedtowers were built as part of the protective works designed to render asimilar attack impossible. Although somewhat mutilated in 1860, thetwin towers still stand, and with the curious intervening structureconstitute one of the finest bits of military architecture of thefifteenth century that has come down to us. Historically, they form amonument of the victory gained by the commune over Frederick and hisson in their first attempt to curtail its liberties and privileges.

On the 24th of February of the year 1500 the city of Ghent learnedthat a baby boy had been born at the Cour de Princes, to itssovereigns, Philip the Handsome and Joanna of Spain, who was destinedto become the most powerful monarch in the world. On the day when thisfortunate baby was baptised with the name of Charles, the city gaveitself up to rejoicings that might well have been tempered had itknown the fate that was in store for it at the hands of itsillustrious son forty years later. As it was, joy reigned, and atnight ten thousand flaming torches flared, the great dragon in thebelfry spouted Greek fire, and on a rope suspended from the top of thebelfry to the spire of St. Nicholas a tight-rope dancer performedprodigies of skill for the cheering crowds that thronged the streetsbelow.

Fifteen years later, when Charles was declared of age, it was at Ghentthat he was proclaimed Count of Flanders. The following year he becameKing of Spain, and in 1520 Emperor; thus at the age of twenty rulingover all the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Northern Italy, Spain andthe vast empire in the new world--then in course of conquest byPizzaro, Cortés and the other Spanish conquistadores. While thecity's most famous son was advancing to the zenith of human power andwealth, its own fortunes were steadily declining. The long contestwith Maximilian and the competition of England had struck a death blowto the cloth industry, which languished for a time and then graduallydecayed and disappeared. The Cloth Hall was therefore left unfinished,which accounts for its insignificance as compared with similarstructures in other Flemish towns where the textile trade was far lessimportant than that of Ghent in the days of its greatest prosperity.The city continued, however, to be the centre of the grain trade asbefore, and the fine façade of the Maison des Bateliers (House of theBoatmen's Guild), on the Quai au Blé, was built at this epoch, in1534.

[Illustration: Photograph by E. Sacré. MAISON DE LA KEURE, HOTEL DEVILLE, GHENT.]

A still more notable structure, the Hotel de Ville, dates in part fromthe time of Charles. This edifice in reality comprises a group ofbuildings erected at different epochs and for diverse purposes.Architecturally the most beautiful of these is the Maison de la Keure,which forms the corner of the Marché au Beurre and the rue Haut Port,extending for most of its length on the latter somewhat narrow street.This was designed and built by Dominique de Waghenakere of Antwerpand the famous Rombaut Keldermans of Malines, and was erected between1518 and 1534. The actual edifice represents only a quarter of thefine design of the architects and lacks an entire story with variousdecorative features which would have greatly improved its appearanceand made it one of the finest Hotels de Ville in Flanders. As it is,this part is by far the best of the entire structure. The Maison desParchons facing the Marché au Beurre was built in 1600 to 1620 and isin the Italian Renaissance style and vastly inferior to the fineGothic structure of a century earlier. The other portion of thebuilding comprises a Hall for the States of Flanders, in the ruelle deHotel de Ville, built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; thegrande conciergerie joining this to the earlier Gothic Maison de laKeure and built in 1700; and a Chambre des Pauvres built by order ofCharles V in 1531, of which the present façade dates from 1750.

The inner rooms of this collection of buildings, of different ages anddifferent architectural styles, are of relatively minor interest. TheGrande Salle de Justice de la Keure is somewhat imposing with itslarge fireplace, but its lack of other decorations makes it rathercold and gloomy and we were glad to leave it. Much more beautiful isthe Salle de l'Arsenal, built half a century later. In the Chapel ofSt. John the Baptist, which adjoins the Salle de Justice in the mostancient part of the edifice, and is now used as a Salle des Mariages,is a fine picture representing Marie of Burgundy begging her people toforgive Hugonet and Humbercourt, her two ministers who--despite hertearful pleas--were executed in the Place Ste. Pharaïlde hard by.

On the death of Margaret of Austria the Emperor appointed his sister,Marie of Hungary, Regent of the Netherlands. The steady decline of itstrade and the increasing poverty of the people caused the city ofGhent to seethe with discontent, and in 1539 an outbreak occurred thatgave the Regent great alarm. Under the leadership of a group ofdemagogues the _Métiers_ or lower associations of artisans, overawedthe magistrates and seized Liévin Pyn, an aged and honourable memberof the Council and Dean of the _Métiers_ who was unjustly accused ofgiving the Queen Regent a false report on the situation and of havingstolen the great banner of the city. This unfortunate old man wassubjected to fearful tortures in the Château des Comtes, butresolutely refused to confess to any of the acts charged against him.Nevertheless, he was finally executed on the Place Ste. Pharaïlde--oneof the most pitiful and unjust of the many cruel tragedies enactedthere. Broken and weakened from the tortures to which he had beensubjected, he had to be carried to the place of execution, where hisindomitable spirit was such that before bowing before the axe of theexecutioner he sternly reproached his judges with their cowardice, andpredicted that the people would soon have occasion to regret thefatuous course they were pursuing.

The dying old man spoke the truth. The Emperor was then in Spain andmatters connected with the government of his world-encircling realmdemanded for the moment his attention, but he was none the less keptwell informed as to what was going on in his native city, whereaffairs meanwhile progressed from bad to worse, until a veritablestate of anarchy prevailed. When Charles learned of the virtualinsurrection against his authority that prevailed, and of the death ofLiévin Pyn, he was furious and vowed to inflict upon the rebelliouscity a vengeance that would deter all other cities in the empire fromever following its example. Slowly, but with a deliberateness thatboded ill for the foolhardy rabble who for the moment guided thedestinies of the commune, the Emperor made his preparations for a tripto the Low Countries. Two months after the execution of Pyn it becameknown in the city that their puissant sovereign was on his way. Thenews filled the mutineers with terror. No longer was Ghent in theproud position she had occupied under the Counts of Flanders and thefirst Dukes of Burgundy--the premier city of the realm and a foe to berespected and even feared. The power of Charles V was too vast foreven the most ignorant to think of armed resistance to his authority,now that he was about to assert it in person. Many of thoseresponsible for the period of anarchy fled, others went into hiding.

Early in the year 1540 the Emperor arrived at Cambrai, proceeding nextto Valenciennes and Brussels. Meanwhile a strong force of Germansoldiers entered the city--meeting with no resistance from its nowthoroughly terrified inhabitants, many of whom no doubt wished theycould restore the dead Doyen des Métiers, whom they had so cruellysacrificed, to life again that he might plead their cause with thedreaded Emperor. They had good reason to tremble, for in a few daysthe ring-leaders of the late troubles began to be arrested and all menwere forbidden, under penalty of death, to harbour them or aid them toescape their sovereign's wrath. A few days later nine of the mutineerswere executed on the Place Ste. Pharaïlde where Liévin Pyn hadperished at their hands six months before. The magistrates were nowfilled with terror and abjectly pleaded for mercy. The Emperorhaughtily replied that he knew how to be merciful and also how to dojustice, and that he would presently give judgment on the city "insuch a manner that it would never be forgotten and others would taketherefrom an example."

This disquieting response was followed by the Emperor's famous visitto the top of the cathedral tower in company with the Duke of Alva. Itwas on this occasion that the latter, with the ferocity thatafterwards made his name a by-word for cruelty for future ages,counselled his sovereign to utterly destroy the rebellious city. Tothis the Emperor responded with the _bon mot_ that showed at once hissense of humour and his moderation. Pointing to the wide-spreading redroofs of the populous city he asked, "How many Spanish skins do youthink it would take to make a glove (_Gand_, the French spelling ofGhent, also means glove) as large as this?"

[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF THE DUKE OF ALVA BY A. MORO.]

Meanwhile, under the direct supervision of the Emperor, a huge citadelbegan to be erected on the site of the ancient little town surroundingthe Abbey of St. Bavon--a choice that involved the destruction of manyof the Abbey buildings. The Emperor, while this work was going on,remained at the Princenhof where he held his court, but gave no signas to what the fate of the city was to be. It was not until April29th, 1540, that he finally--in the presence of a great throng ofprinces, nobles and the members of his Grand Council, with the citymagistrates on their knees at his feet--gave his long delayeddecision. In a loud voice the Imperial herald first read a list ofthirty-five crimes committed by the people of the city, declaring themguilty of _dèsléalté_, _désobéyssance_, _infraction de traictés_,_sedition_, _rébellion et de léze-magesté_. In consequence of thesecrimes the sentence deprived them forever of their privileges, rights,and franchises. It directed that the charters, together with the redand black books in which they were registered, should be turned overto the Emperor to do with them as he pleased, and it was forbiddenever again to invoke or appeal to them. It pronounced theconfiscation of all the goods, rents, revenues, houses, artillery andwar material belonging to the city or to the _Métiers_. It confiscatedthe great bell Roland and decreed that it must be taken down. Itfurther directed that three days later the magistrates, thirty membersof the bourgeois or middle class, the Doyen of the weavers, six menfrom each _Métier_ and fifty "creesers" should beg pardon of theEmperor and Queen. The suppliants on this occasion were dressed inblack, with heads and feet bare, and cords about their necks, and werecompelled to beg the pardon of the Emperor on their knees in themarket-place. Besides this public degradation the magistrates wererequired to wear the cords about their necks thereafter during theexercise of their functions. It is said, however, that before verylong the hemp was converted into a rich cord of gold and silk, whichthey wore as a scarf--as if it were a badge of honour instead of oneof disgrace.

The walls of the city were to be still further demolished, and thesovereign reserved the right to specify later which towers, gates andwalls should be torn down to erect the citadel. Finally, a heavy moneyindemnity was exacted, and the following day a new code of laws insixty-five articles was promulgated--the famous ConcessionCaroline--which served as the basis of government until the end of theold régime during the French Revolution. The city, no doubt, breatheda sigh of relief that the Emperor exacted no further toll of humanlife, but the conditions were none the less heavy enough. In brief,these terms ended, once and for all, every vestige of self-government,and swept away all of the privileges for which the burghers had foughtfor so many centuries. The year 1540 marks the end, therefore, of thelong and brilliant history of the Flemish communes--for no other citydared resist the Emperor's authority after this--and thereafterFlanders became a mere province in the wide dominions of sovereignswho seldom visited its cities and frequently did not even speak thelanguage of its people.

Among the tombstones in the Cathedral of St. Bavon one that deservesmore than a passing glance is that of Bishop Triest. Designed by thecelebrated sculptor, Jerome Duquesnoy, it is a notable example ofFlemish sculpture, besides possessing an added interest by reason ofthe fact that the artist sought to destroy it when complete. Moreimportant, however, than the monument and its story is the fact thatBishop Triest was the father of the art of horticulture for whichGhent is so renowned today. It was in his gardens--which were famousthroughout the seventeenth century--that rare and exotic plants werefor the first time planted out of doors in Flanders and trained togrow in the form of pyramids, arches, summer-houses, and a hundredfantastic shapes. The "Belvedere Gardens" of the worthy prelate becamethe model for other gardeners, and the seed, planted in fertile soil,from which sprang a great industry.

Not content with cultivating his own gardens the Bishop sought toencourage in every way the humble gardeners of the city, giving themhis august protection, his friendly counsel, making loans to theneedy, and uniting them into a society under the patronage of St.Amand and Ste. Dorothy. This noble example was speedily followed bythe city, which also encouraged the horticulturists. In 1640 Williamde Blasère, an alderman of the city, constructed the first hothouseever seen in Europe. It was a hundred feet long, made of wood andglass, heated with huge stoves, and sufficiently high to accommodatethe exotic plants that, in summertime, were set outdoors. This noveltymade a great stir and brought many visitors to Ghent. Soon afterward asociety of horticulturists was founded, and by the end of the centurya botanical garden was established.

In the opening years of the nineteenth century this institution verynearly came to an end. It was costly to keep up, produced little or norevenue, and Napoleon, who was then First Consul and included Ghent inhis rapidly widening dominions, decided that it should be suppressed.A friend of the garden skilfully took advantage of a visit ofJosephine to Ghent to enlist her aid in persuading her husband tospare it. Inviting the future empress to visit the establishment, hecontrived that the plants and flowers should plead their own cause.Between two palms at the entrance he had a huge placard suspendedbearing the words: "_Ave, Cæsar, morituri te salutamus_." Then, alongthe different walks, each flower and plant bore a card proportionateto its size and containing a verse alluding to its approachingdestruction. Naturally surprised at this outburst of poetry on thepart of the "nymphs" of the garden, as the flowers styled themselvesin their effusions, Josephine inquired the reason for it. This gaveher conductor his opportunity, and he pleaded for the preservation ofthe garden with such ardour and eloquence that he won her assurancethat if her wishes had any weight his beautiful garden should bepreserved and its "nymphs" should not perish in exile. The eventproved that he had secured a powerful ally, for the edict of the FirstConsul was rescinded and the garden was saved.

To-day Ghent boasts of her title of "the City of Flowers." TheBotanical Garden is protected by a Royal Society, there are manyprivate collections that are worth going far to see, and more thanfive hundred establishments, large and small, are engaged inhorticulture as an industry, the annual exports amounting to millionsof dollars. Bishop Triest can therefore be thanked for giving Flandersone of its great industries.

Speaking of Napoleon, it is not generally remembered that Ghent was,for the brief space of one hundred days, the capital of France. WhenNapoleon returned from Elba, and was received with open arms by thevery troops sent to attack him, Louis XVIII fled incontinently toGhent where he set up a feeble court at his residence on the rue desChamps. Here Guizot, Chateaubriand, and his other ministers metformally every morning to discuss with His Majesty the chances of hisever getting back to Paris again--Paris where, by the way, the mob wassinging mockingly:

 "Rendez nous notre père de Gand Rendez nous notre père!"

It would take a satirist like Dickens or Thackeray to describe thescene when the fat monarch sat down to his mid-day meal, in thepresence of whoever might wish to watch the curious spectacle. Heconquered enormous quantities of food, but depended on Wellington andBlücher to conquer the army of Napoleon. The forms of sovereignty werenone the less carefully observed, as the little court waited day byday for the great event that all men could see was drawing steadilynearer. At last, as the thunder of Napoleon's guns startled the alliesfrom their dance at Brussels, and the tramp of his advancing squadronsshook the fields of Waterloo, this fat little fly on the chariot wheelof European politics prepared once more for flight. Coaches were madeready to carry the entire court to Ostende, where an English vesselawaited them if the battle went against the allies. All day long thehorses stood in the courtyard, the drivers whip in hand. History doesnot record what gastronomic feats His Majesty performed that day, butlate at night the tidings came that the Grande Armée was in retreat,and that King Louis could return to his kingdom.

Ghent shares with Bruges the glory of being the birthplace of Flemishpainting. The famous "Adoration of the Lamb," by the brothers VanEyck, was ordered by a wealthy burgher of Ghent for the cathedral ofSt. Bavon--where the greater part of the original work still rests. Itwas at Ghent that Hubert, the elder brother, planned the masterpieceand completed his share of it. But Ghent also had masters belonging tothe early Flemish school whose fame she does not have to share withany other city. One of these was Josse or Justus, usually calledJustus of Ghent, who visited Italy in 1468 and there painted severalpictures. Another was Hugo Van der Goes who gave promise of becomingas great a master as Jean Van Eyck when he suddenly gave up his chosenprofession and entered the Monastery of Rouge-Cloitre, near Bruges. Hewas admitted to the Guild of Painters at Ghent in 1467, and left theworld of action in 1476--eventually becoming insane and dying sixyears later. There is a story to the effect that he once painted apicture of Abigail meeting David for a burgher of Ghent who lived in ahouse near the bridge called the Muyderbrugge, and while engaged onthis work--which was painted on the wall above a fireplace--fell inlove with his patron's daughter. The painting proved a great success,but the stern parents frowned on the suit of the young artist, and thedaughter, in despair, entered the convent of the White Ladies known asthe Porta Coeli, near Brussels. The house, which was said to have beenentirely surrounded by water, has long since disappeared, togetherwith the painting, but the story may be the explanation for theabandonment by the artist of a promising career when he was still inthe prime of life. One of the finest pictures in the Modern Gallery atBrussels is that by E. Wauters representing the madness of Van derGoes. The painter is shown seated and staring eagerly at some phantasmbefore him--perhaps a vision of the fair Abigail--while a group oflittle choir boys are striving, under the leadership of a monk, toexorcise the evil demon that possesses their famous brother by meansof sacred songs and chants. It is said that this method of cure wasindeed attempted while he was at Rouge-Cloitre, but without success.

The best work of both of these artists is, unfortunately, far fromFlanders--being found in Italy, where Flemish painters were in theirday very highly regarded. "The Last Supper," which was the greatestmasterpiece of Justus, was painted as an altarpiece for thebrotherhood of Corpus Christi at Urbino and still hangs in the churchof Sant' Agatha in that Italian town. "The Adoration of theShepherds," which was the greatest work of Van der Goes, is in theUffizi Gallery at Florence. At Bruges there are two paintingsattributed to this master, "The Death of the Virgin," in the museum,and the panel representing the donors in "The Martyrdom of St.Hippolytus" in the church of St. Sauveur. The greater part of thepaintings by Van der Goes in Belgium were destroyed by the iconoclastsin the sixteenth century, including several of which hiscontemporaries and other early writers spoke in the highest terms.Frequent mention is made of his skill as a portrait painter, and Prof.A. J. Wauters, after a careful study of his known works throughoutEurope, ascribes to him the famous portrait of Charles the Bold in themuseum at Brussels. The early writers state that private houses atBruges and Ghent, as well as churches, were filled with his works. Letus hope that some of these--hidden away during the religious wars orat the time of the iconoclasts--may yet be discovered and identified.

Ghent, during the fifteenth century, was the artistic centre ofFlanders, and the names, but not the works, of many of its paintershave come down to us. One of the most celebrated of these incontemporary annals was Gerard Van der Meire, to whom tradition hasassigned the triptych of "The Crucifixion" in the cathedral of St.Bavon. This artist rose to high rank in the Guild of St. Luke, towhich he was admitted in 1452, and a considerable number of paintingsin various European galleries are attributed to him. An Italian writerascribes to him one hundred and twenty-five of the exquisiteminiatures in the famous Grimani Breviary, now in the library of St.Mark's at Venice. If this were true, Van der Meire was indeed a greatartist, but this book was illustrated after his death.

[Illustration: "THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS."--HUGO VAN DER GOES.]

According to the Royal Commission of Art and Archeology of Belgium,Ghent contains more noteworthy antiquities than any other town in theKingdom. The Commission, it appears, divides the "antiquities" intothree classes, according to their relative importance, and creditsGhent with thirteen of the first class, ten of the second and six ofthe third--or twenty-nine in all. The figures for the other Flemishcities are: Antwerp, seven first, five second, six third, totaleighteen; Bruges, four first, six second, six third, total sixteen;Tournai, three first, six second, six third, total fifteen; Malines,four first, eight second, two third, total fourteen. Many places arecredited with two or three each. We tried to get a copy of the Reportof the Commission giving the names of the antiquities in each class,and the reasons for ranking them, but were unable to do so during ourstay in Belgium. It would have been a learned check on the list ofplaces we had found most interesting. Quite likely we would have foundthat the Commission gave the first rank to some "antiquity" we did notsee at all, and maybe never heard of! However, we saw enough to occupyevery minute of our brief vacation, and the majority of those wemissed--wilfully at least--were churches, of which Flanders has enoughto fill three books like this were one to faithfully report them all.

In Ghent there are, as at Bruges, many interesting private housesscattered throughout the city. The Professor and I on our morningwalks looked up many of these, but the list would be tedious toenumerate. One of the most famous is the "Arriére-Faucille," formerlythe home of a rich seigneur, but since 1901 used as a RoyalConservatory of Music. Its castle-like tower is very picturesque, butwe saw nothing of interest in the interior. Near by are two very oldhouses with typically Flemish gables, called the Zwarte Moor andthe Groot Moor. Built in 1481, or thereabouts, the Confrerie of St.George had its headquarters here for many years.

[Illustration: OLD GUILD HOUSES, QUAI AUX HERBES, GHENT.]

The guilds have already been mentioned, and the façades of all of themore famous of the guild houses have been carefully restored. Theseinclude the Maison des Mesureurs de Blé and the Maison des FrancsBateliers on the Quai aux Herbes, the Maison des Maçons and the Maisondes Bateliers non francs. The ancient Grand Boucherie, recentlyrestored, is another interesting "monument." It seems that theButchers' Guild at Ghent owed its prosperity to the fact that CharlesV chanced one day to fall in love with the pretty daughter of a Ghentbutcher. This young lady obtained for her son and his descendants animperial monopoly of the slaughtering and meat-selling business whichsurvived all the various dynastic changes till the French Revolution.The butchers were called _Prinse Kinderen_, or Prince's Children, andseem to have made a very good thing out of the blot on their familyescutcheon. Another old edifice is the Maison de l'Etape, or StapleHouse, a granary dating from the thirteenth century, which standsbeside the guild houses on the Quai aux Herbes. In short, the touristcan easily find enough of interest in this rare old Flemish city tooccupy many days of leisurely sight-seeing. Ghent, like Bruges, hasthus far been spared the destruction that has overtaken so many of thesmaller Flemish towns during the war and, as far as is at presentknown, all of its twenty-nine monuments are still intact.

CHAPTER XVII

AUDENAERDE AND MARGARET OF PARMA

It was on a pleasant morning in June that the Professor and I setforth on a little expedition to the famous town of the tapestryweavers, leaving the ladies to rest and shop at Brussels. Thepoplar-trees that line the country roads and canals in all parts ofBelgium were in full bloom and their light cotton-clad seeds weredrifting like snow in every direction. Moreover, contrary to ourexperience for some time past, the sun seemed likely to shine all dayand our old friend J. Pluvius was in complete retreat. Our route layfor a considerable distance through a charming hop country, the plotsbeing much smaller than one sees in Kent or in Central New York State,but very numerous, and, no doubt, aggregating a considerable acreage.Farther along we passed through a superb stretch of hilly countrywhere many of the houses and barns had thatched roofs and were sopicturesque, both in themselves and in their surroundings, that wewould fain have descended at one of the little stations and spent theday exploring and photographing this charming corner of Flanders. Themost beautiful spot of all bore the pretty name of Louise-Marie--thethatch-roofed houses nestling cosily together upon a hillside. Thislittle station, by the way, is on the line from Blaton to Audenaerde(in Flemish Oudenaarde), as we were approaching our destination fromthe south instead of directly from Brussels. Presently the great towerof Ste. Walburge loomed up ahead on our right, and we could even catcha glimpse of the famous Hotel de Ville. Instead of stopping, however,our train went on past the church, past the town, past everything,until we began to fear that our faithful "_omnibus_" had suddenly gonecrazy and fancied itself a "_rapide_" bound for goodness knows where.At last, however, the station came in sight, but we even sped pastthat, coming to rest finally some distance down the railroad yard. Aswe walked back toward the "_Sortie-Ausgang_" gateway we debatedwhether we would drive back to the town in a cab or take a tram.Emerging on the street we promptly decided to walk, since neither cabnor tram-car could be seen.

There was no danger of losing our way, for there, straight down thelong street before us, we could see the huge mass of Ste. Walburgetowering far above the little houses around it. After a leisurely walkof five or six minutes we arrived at a large bleak-looking square,called the Place de Tacambaro, at the centre of which stood a monumentthat--had we been in a carriage or on a tram-car--we would have passedwithout more than a passing glance. As it was, we paused to read theinscriptions and found that, for Americans, they told a story of nolittle interest. It appears that this is a memorial erected in honourof the volunteers from Audenaerde who died in Mexico in the service ofthe unfortunate Emperor Maximilian. The south side of the monument,which represents a reclining female figure by the sculptor, W. Geefs,bears the following inscription:

 "Ordre de Jour

 Officiers et Soldats! Vous avez pris votre part des travaux et des luttes dans la guerre du Mexique, votre valeur dans les combats, votre discipline dans les fatigues des longues marches ont honoré le nom Belge.

 Au moment de vous rembarquer pour aller revoir votre patrie recevez les adieux de vos frères d'armes du corps expeditionaire français.

 Dans quelques semaines vous aurez revu les rivages de votre patrie y conservez, je l'espère, bon souvenir de leux qui ont soufert et combattu à vos cotes, ainsi que du Maréchal de France qui a eu l'honneur de vous commander.

 Le Maréchal de France, Commandant en Chef.

 BAZAINE."

Proceeding along the street, which still led straight toward the greatchurch, we discussed the strange fate that had led these valiantFlemings to give their lives in a war of conquest so many thousands ofmiles away--a futile sacrifice as the event proved, with this littlemonument as their sole reward.

Almost before we were aware of it we found ourselves at the GrandePlace with the Hotel de Ville right in front of us. We were on thewest side of the little structure, which on the rue Haute adjoins theancient Halle aux Draps. An old doorway gives on the rue Haute, but isno longer used, the entrance being now through the Hotel de Ville.

While the two principal churches of the town have suffered severelyfrom the fanatical ravages of the iconoclasts, or image breakers, theHotel de Ville can be seen in almost its pristine magnificence.Architecturally this monument is generally considered as one of thefinest, not only in Flanders, but in the whole of Europe. Little itundeniably is, although it towers up bravely above the low two-storybuildings surrounding it, but its very smallness gives its marvellousfaçade the richness and delicacy of the finest lace. Begun in 1525, itwas completed twelve years later at a cost of "65,754 livres parisis,16 sols, 2 deniers." Those who are curious can ascertain the modernequivalent of the "Paris pound" of 1537, but even when we add the 16sols, 2 deniers, it seems as though the burghers got very good valuefor their money.

[Illustration: HOTEL DE VILLE, AUDENAERDE. Photograph by E. Sacré.]

Late Gothic is the period to which this gem in the galaxy of splendidFlemish town halls belongs. It is considered the masterpiece of itsarchitect, Henri Van Péde, who also designed the superb Hotel de Villeat Brussels and that at Louvain. The many little niches on the frontonce contained statues of the noble lords and dames of Flanders,including no doubt several of the great house of Lalaing, the CountPhilippe de Lalaing having laid the corner stone. Unfortunately thesewere all destroyed during the religious wars and the French Revolutionand have never been replaced. This seems a great pity, as Flandersstill possesses many stone-carvers of great skill, and the kindlyhand of time would soon mellow the new work to harmonise with the old.As it is, every niche contains the iron projection that formerly heldits statue in place, so that the work of restoration would consist ofsimply carving each of the little statues in the sculptor's ownatelier, wherever it might be, and afterwards placing them inposition.

One of the original statues still remains in place, however, and isentitled to the honour of being styled the oldest citizen ofAudenaerde. This is none other than Hanske 't Krijgerke, Petit Jean leGuerrier, or Little John the Warrior, who, with his diminutivestandard bearing the arms of the city, stands on the topmost pinnacleof the tower. His gaze is ever toward the South, with a far-away lookin his eyes, across the Grande Place and toward the distant hills.During the three hundred and seventy-eight years that he has beenstanding there, braving the winter rains and the summer sunshine, howmany changes have taken place in the great outside world while littleAudenaerde has stood still!

Even without its statues the principal façade of the Hotel de Villemerits more than a passing glance. In the admirable harmony of itsproportions, the delicate beauty of its details, in the excellence ofthe stone carvings--almost perfectly preserved--that form wreaths andfestoons of stone about its Gothic windows, there is nothing finer tobe seen in all Flanders. The high pointed roof, with its tiny dormerwindows, is exactly as the architect intended it, and the charminglittle tower seems as perfect as the day the last of thesixteenth-century masons left it.

The interior is worthy of the exterior. On the first floor a largehall, called the Salle du Peuple--Hall of the People--extends from oneside of the building to the other. This contains a fine stonefireplace surmounted by a splendidly carved Gothic mantelpiece withstatues of Ste. Walburge in the centre and Justice and Power on eitherside. Below are the arms of Austria, Flanders, and of Audenaerde. Thismasterpiece was carved by Paul Van der Schelden. The walls on eachside of the fireplace are decorated with modern mural paintingsdepicting Liederick de Buck, the first Forester of Flanders, Dierickof Alsace, Baldwin of Constantinople, and Charles the Fifth. Betweenthe windows overlooking the Grande Place are the Arms of Castile andAragon, while at the ends of each of the great beams that support theceiling are carved the arms of the various kingdoms andprincipalities belonging to Charles V.

Already we perceive that the shadow of the great Emperor rests heavilyon this little city of Audenaerde, and as we proceed further in ourexplorations the more dominating and omnipresent does his personalitybecome. Even the very arms of the city bear a mute evidence to hisgenerosity and sense of humour. It is related that on a certainoccasion the Emperor and his stately train approached the city withoutbeing perceived by the sentinel stationed in the tower of this veryHotel de Ville to announce his arrival. On reaching the gates,therefore, the Imperial cortège found no one to welcome the greatmonarch. The Burgomaster and the members of the Council, who shouldhave been there in their robes of state, were conspicuous by theirabsence. Had this happened to his ancestor Charles the Bold, whosefiery temper brooked no discourtesy, even when unintended, it mightwell have gone hard with the unfortunate officials. As it was, theEmperor overlooked the slight, but not long afterwards he maliciouslyinserted a pair of spectacles in the arms of the city, remarking thatin future they would thus be able to see more clearly the approach oftheir sovereign.

[Illustration: WOODEN DOORWAY, CARVED BY VAN DER SCHELDEN, HOTEL DEVILLE, AUDENAERDE.]

Adjoining the Salle du Peuple is a smaller chamber, the Salle desÉchevins, or the Council Chamber of the ancient commune. Here there isanother stone fireplace slightly inferior to the one in the largerhall, but resembling it in general design. The statues here representthe Virgin Mary in the centre, with Justice and Hope on either side.The chief masterpiece in this room, however, is the wooden doorwaycarved by Van der Schelden, who was instructed by the burghers to makeit as beautiful as possible. How faithfully the artist performed histask the result shows. Around its top stand wooden cupids surmountinga richly carved entablature containing the arms of Charles V in thecentre with those of Flanders and of Audenaerde on either side. Thefirst is supported by two griffins, the second by two lions and thelast by two savages. The panels of the door itself and of thesidewalls forming the complete portal are richly carved, each designbeing different from all the others. For this bit of wood-carving thefrugal burghers paid the sum of one thousand, eighteen livres parisis,or nine hundred and twenty-three francs--something over $175--and theartist furnished the wood!

Formerly the walls of this room were decorated with tapestries ofAudenaerde, but at the time of Louis XIV these were all removed andtaken to Paris. Most of the tapestries in the town overlooked by leGrande Monarque were subsequently taken away by Napoleon, so that theHotel de Ville of the city that gave these treasures to the world, andthat should possess the finest collection of them, has been strippedcompletely bare. In their stead the Council Chamber at presentcontains a collection of paintings of no special artistic merit but ofgreat historical interest. There is, of course, a portrait of CharlesV, wearing the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece. A portraitof Louis XIV on horseback and bearing a marshal's baton, by Philippede Champaigne, forms a poor substitute for the tapestries filched byHis Majesty. This collection also comprises several portraits ofpersonages famous in later Flemish history. Of these the mostnoteworthy is that of Margaret of Parma, which hangs close to that ofher father, the Emperor.

Just across the Grande Place from the Hotel de Ville stands the Towerof Baldwin, undoubtedly the oldest structure in the city, and erectedby Baldwin V, a Count of Flanders who died in 1067, making it datefrom the Norman Conquest. The concierge of the Hotel de Villeinformed us that this little tower, which adjoins another ancientedifice now used as a brewery, was the birthplace of Margaret, butthis does not appear to be altogether certain. Some authorities statethat the honour belongs to a little two-story house with a high,steep-sloping roof that also faces the Place. If the walls of theseold houses had the ears that proverbially belong to all walls, andwere still further provided with lips to whisper the secrets theyoverheard, they could no doubt settle this question; and at the sametime throw some additional light upon a famous bit of mediæval romanceand scandal.

Of all the natives of the ancient town of Audenaerde the most famouswas Margaret, afterwards the duch*ess of Parma, and for many yearsRegent of the Low Countries, over which she ruled with an almostimperial sway. Her father was the great Emperor, Charles V, whodallied here for several weeks as guest of the Countess de Lalaing,wife of the Governor of Audenaerde, while his soldiers were besiegingTournai in the year 1521. The attraction that kept him so far from hisarmy was a pretty Flemish maiden named Jehanne or Jeanne Van derGheynst. According to the none too trustworthy Strada, this younglady was a member of the Flemish nobility, but according to the cityarchives it appears that she belonged to a family of humble tapestryworkers residing at Nukerke, a suburb of Audenaerde. At all events,her pretty face attracted the attention of the youthfulEmperor--whether at a ball, as Strada says, or while she was servingas maid of the Countess de Lalaing, as many writers assume, or perhapsat a village Kermesse which Charles might well have attendedincognito. After the little Margaret was born the mother received anannual income of twenty-four livres parisis from the Emperor. In 1525she married the Maître de Chambre extraordinaire of the Counts ofBrabant, and died in 1541. Charles took his little daughter and hadher brought up as a princess. In 1537, when she was only fifteen yearsold, she was married by the Emperor to Alexander, the Duke of Urbin, acruel and dissolute Italian prince who, however, died the same year.The following year she was married to Octavio Farnese, a grandson ofPope Pius III, who was then only fourteen. She was herself stronglyopposed to this marriage, but the Emperor was obdurate and she finallyyielded. Her son, Alexander Farnese, was the famous Duke of Parma whobecame the foremost military leader on the Spanish side during thesanguinary war between Philip II and the Netherlands. On the death ofher father, Margaret was made Regent of the Low Countries by herhalf-brother Philip II. She arrived at Ghent, July 25th, 1559, and onAugust 7th the King presented her to the States General, saying thathe had chosen her as his representative because she was so close tohim by birth and "because of the singular affection she has alwaysborne toward the Low Countries where she was born and raised and ofwhich she knew all the languages." She retired from the Regency in1567, but was called back once more in 1580 at the personal request ofthe King. As her son Alexander was then at the zenith of his power,and opposed to her resuming the regency, she finally declined thehonour which was reluctantly given to him. She died in 1586 at the ageof sixty-six.

It was her fortune, or rather misfortune, to rule over the Netherlandsat a period when the seething forces of religious unrest and protestwere becoming too violent to be restrained. Had Philip II, herhalf-brother, been less bigoted, less cruel, and less blind to thebest interests of the country and of his own dynasty, it is possiblethat the great popularity of the duch*ess--who was sincerely loved bythe majority of her subjects and respected by all--might have enabledthe Government to restrain the rising passions of the people. If,instead of a policy of savage repression, the King of Spain hadauthorised Margaret to pursue a policy of moderation and conciliation,the fearful history of the next eighty years--the blackest page inhuman history--might never have been written. Unfortunately,moderation and conciliation were as foreign to the nature of thatsombre monarch as to Torquemada himself, and fanaticism foughtfanaticism with a fury that was as devoid of intelligence as it was ofmercy.

The first act in the drama of blood was the sudden outbreak of thefrenzy of the iconoclasts, or image-breakers, which swept over thegreater part of the Spanish Netherlands in the month of August, 1566.Scarcely a church, a chapel, a convent or a monastery, escaped thedevastation that resulted from these fanatical attacks. Paintings,statuary, altars and chapels, even the tablets and monuments of thedead--the accumulated art treasures of centuries--were torn to piecesor carried bodily away. In some places the work of destruction wascompleted in a few hours, in others organised bands of pillagersworked systematically for days before the local authorities--takencompletely by surprise--recovered their wits and put a stop to thework of desecration. The loss to art and civilisation effected by theiconoclasts in Flanders is beyond computation. The Regent acted withenergy and decision, her spirited appeals to the magistrates finallybringing them to their senses and resulting in a speedy restoration oforder. Philip, who had just cause for resentment, meditated vengeance,however, and in 1568 replaced the too gentle Margaret by the Duke ofAlva.

For the Professor the Hotel de Ville contained still another room ofinexhaustible interest. This was the museum of the commune whichoccupies the entire second floor. For some reason--certainly not fromfear of the suffragette, which is a non-existent species inBelgium--this is closed to the public, but we were admitted bycourtesy of the Secretary of the Commune. The collection is of theutmost value to the historian and archeologist, but is rather badlykept. Among the most interesting objects were four chairs once used byCharles V; the ancient keyboard of the _carillon_ which formerly hungin the belfry of the town hall but is now installed in the tower ofSte. Walburge, and some water-colour designs for tapestries. A largepainting of the Last Judgment covered a considerable part of one wall.This is attributed to Heuvick, and originally hung in the Salle desÉchevins. It was the ancient custom to have a painting of thissubject, covered by curtains, in the olden justice halls. When awitness was about to be sworn the curtains were suddenly drawn backand the sight of the picture, which represented with great vividnessthe destruction of the damned, was intended to prevent falsetestimony. The collection also included a variety of ancient arms andcoins, several curious mediæval strong boxes, and two huge snakeswhich hung from the rafters overhead. There are no snakes in Belgiumto-day, but our guide assured us that a crocodile had once been takenin the River Scheldt near Audenaerde, so the snakes may have beennatives after all--assuming, of course, that the crocodile story iscorrect.

Back of the Hotel de Ville proper is the still more ancient ClothHall, dating from the beginning of the thirteenth century. Its small,high windows were built slantingly, to prevent archers from sendingarrows directly into the interior. At some comparatively recentperiod two large windows were cut through, the walls on each side,but a goodly number of the earlier windows still remain, and the beamsthat support the high, pointed roof are still as sound as the day theywere laid in position.

[Illustration: CHURCH OF STE. WALBURGE, AUDENAERDE.]

To the west of the Grande Place, and scarcely a stone's throw fromBaldwin's Tower, rises the vast grey mass of Ste. Walburge, with tenor twelve tiny fifteenth or sixteenth century houses nestling snuglyup against it. This splendid church dates from the very foundation ofthe city, an early chapel erected on this site having been sacked andburned by the Norsem*n in 880. Twice after this the church wasdestroyed in the wars between Flanders and France, but in 1150 wasbegun an edifice of which some portions still remain. When John theFearless, Duke of Burgundy, chose Audenaerde as his Flemish place ofresidence the burghers determined to enlarge and beautify their churchand erected the semi-circular portion of the choir in 1406 to 1408.Soon afterwards the great nave was begun, but was not completed forfully a century, in 1515. The tower, one of the finest in the world,advanced still more slowly and was not entirely finished until 1624.Its original height was three hundred and seventy-three feet, but in1804 the wooden spire was struck by lightning and burned. It hasnever been rebuilt, and the present height of the tower is two hundredand ninety-five feet. As it is, it dominates the little city andcommands a wide view across the broad valley of the Scheldt in everydirection. It was a stiff climb, up a perpetually winding stonestairway, to the top, but the view well repaid us for the exertion.

The interior of the edifice suggests a great metropolitan cathedralrather than the chief church of a small provincial town. The choir,which suffered severely from the ravages of the iconoclasts, hasrecently been restored with great skill, and is now one of the mostbeautiful in Europe. This church contains several paintings by Simonde Pape, a native of Audenaerde, whose father was the architect of thespire burned in 1804, also an "Assumption of the Virgin Mary" byGaspard de Crayer, a follower of Rubens, who painted more than twohundred religious pictures. This, like all the others, is of mediocremerit. To the student of history and of ancient art one of the mostinteresting treasures of the church is its collection of tapestries ofAudenaerde. Three of the more important ones represent landscapes--infact the majority of Audenaerde tapestries that I have seen may bethus described--with castles, churches, and farmhouses in the centreand roses, tulips and other flowers in the foreground. Like mostAudenaerde tapestries also they are crowded with wingedcreatures--birds flying or singing in the trees and hens, turkeys andpheasants strolling in the grass. A tapestry of a different genre isone belonging to the Confrerie de la Ste. Croix, which shows anOriental landscape with Jerusalem in the distance, and at the fourcorners the figures of Herod, Pilate, Anna and Caiphas.

Tapestry weaving was introduced into Flanders during the time of theCrusades, the reports of the returning crusaders regarding thesplendid carpets and rugs of the Orient arousing a desire on the partof the Flemish weavers to imitate them. Castle walls, however thickand strongly built, were apt to be damp and cold and a great demandspeedily sprang up for the new productions for wall coverings.Starting at Arras and Tournai, the manufacture of tapestries spread toall the cities in the valley of the Scheldt and received aparticularly important development at Audenaerde, which soon becamethe leading tapestry centre of Flanders. The weavers adopted SaintBarbara as their patron, and in 1441 were organised into acorporation. In their original charter it was stipulated that eachapprentice must work three years for his first employer. Despite theseverity of this regulation the manufacture of tapestries expandedwith such rapidity that in 1539 no less than twenty thousandpersons--including men, women and children--were employed as tapestryweavers at Audenaerde and its environs.

Among the famous Flemish artists who painted designs for the tapestryweavers of Audenaerde may be mentioned Floris, Coxcie, Rubens, DavidTeniers, Gaspar de Witte, Victor Janssens, Peter Spierinckx, Adolphusde Gryeff, and Alexander Van Bredael, while there were a host ofothers. Gradually, however, the artisans began to be discontented withtheir rate of pay, which the master tapestry makers kept at a lowfigure, and the advent of the religious wars found them eager to joinany movement of revolt. After the outburst of the iconoclasts and thearrival of the Duke of Alva many fled to the Dutch provinces and toEngland, never to return. This emigration continued well into theseventeenth century, as various decrees passed by the magistratesbetween 1604 and 1621, confiscating the possessions of such emigrants,testify.

[Illustration: A FLEMISH TAPESTRY OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.]

Another cause that contributed to the ruin of the tapestry industry atAudenaerde was the active effort made by the Kings of France, LouisXIII and Louis XIV, to induce the best weavers and master-workmen toemigrate to Paris. Philippe Robbins, one of the most celebratedmaster-weavers of Audenaerde, was invited to come to France in 1622and was afterwards proclaimed at Beavais to be the _Chef de tous lestapitsers du Roy_. Many of the weavers who went to Paris and Brusselson their own account established ateliers where they manufactured whatthey proclaimed to be _veritables tapis d'Audenaerde_, and thiscompetition still further injured the industry which soon afterwarddisappeared entirely from the city that gave its name to this type oftapestry and has never since been re-established there. With thedeparture of its weavers the little city on the Scheldt rapidlydeclined in importance, and for the past two centuries has been thesleepy little market-town that it is to-day.

On the other side of the River Scheldt, which flows through the townand is crossed by several bridges, is the interesting Church of NotreDame de Pamela, which dates from the thirteenth century, having beenconstructed in the remarkably short space of four years and completedin 1239. It thus belongs to the transitional period between theRomanesque style and the pure Gothic and is of interest to the studentof architecture as one of the most perfect examples of this period inFlanders. The general effect of the interior, especially when viewedfrom the foot of the organ loft, is noble and imposing in the highestdegree. Our visit was during a sunny afternoon, and the effect of thelong beams of light falling from the lofty windows of the nave acrossthe stately pillars below was indescribably beautiful. Truly thismasterpiece of stone expresses in its every line the truth ofMontalembert's beautiful remark that in such a church every column,every soaring arch, is a prayer to the Most High.

One of the most curious of the paintings in Notre Dame de Pamela is atriptych by Jean Snellinck, a painter of Antwerp and a forerunner ofRubens who was greatly in vogue among the tapestry weavers ofAudenaerde. This work represents the "Creation of Eve" in the centralpanel, the "Temptation" at the left and the "Expulsion from Eden" atthe right. The figures are all finely painted, especially those in theleft wing, and the entire work is an admirable example of earlyFlemish art. The church also possesses an interesting work by Simonde Pape representing the invention of the cross. Beneath the organloft were three tapestries of Audenaerde workmanship which thecaretaker obligingly spread out on the church floor for ourinspection. All were in a poor state of preservation. One representeda woodland scene with three peasants on their way to market in theforeground. The second had a curious group of fowls in the foreground,while the third showed a sylvan scene with a mother and threedaughters, each of the girls bearing a basket of flowers.

Both Ste. Walburge and Notre Dame de Pamela suffered severely from thefury of the iconoclasts, although the storm broke in Audenaerde at alater period than in the larger cities farther to the eastward. Thecuré of Ste. Walburge and four priests of Notre Dame de Pamela werethrown by the rioters into the Scheldt and drowned October 4th, 1572,while both churches were sacked.

On our way back from visiting the smaller church we paused on the quaynamed Smallendam to admire the superb view of Ste. Walburge across theriver. A bit further on we entered a quaint little estaminet bearingthe inviting name of _In der Groote Pinte_ which we freely translatedas "the big pint." Apparently our Flemish was inexact, for thebeverage with which we were served was not notable for quantity. Itproved, moreover, to be exceedingly sour and unpleasant, and we leftour glasses unfinished. In the course of a tour around the town weinspected what remains of the ancient Château de Bourgogne, the earlyresidence of the Dukes of Burgundy. The principal building is now usedby a Justice of the Peace, and we found little of interest save someold walls and a massive inner courtyard. At the hospital of NotreDame, opposite the great tower of Ste. Walburge, we found two moreAudenaerde tapestries in an admirable state of preservation, while adozen fine mediæval doorways in different parts of the town attractedour attention. For so small a place there are a great many religiousinstitutions, many of them of great antiquity. Among these may bementioned the Convents of the Black Sisters (Couvents desSoeurs-Noires), the Abbey of Maegdendale, the Convent of Notre Dame deSion, and the Béguinage--the last an especially charming little spotwith a delightful street entrance dating from the middle of theseventeenth century.

It is hard to believe, as one wanders about the half-deserted streetsof this sleepy old Flemish town, that in its day of greatness it was acity of no mean power, holding its own sturdily against the greatestprinces in the world. Of its ancient walls and towers not a singletrace remains, yet those vanished ramparts four times in less than twocenturies defied the armies of the neighbouring--but, alas, not alwaysneighbourly--city of Ghent, even the redoubtable Philip Van Artevelderetiring from in front of them discomfited in 1382. Three centurieslater, in 1684, Louis XIV was beaten off from an assault on these samewalls, but in revenge he ordered the bombardment of the city. Thisresulted in a conflagration from which it had not fully recovered halfa century later. In 1708 the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene ofSavoy won a great victory over the French under the walls ofAudenaerde. To this day along the frontier between France and Flandersthe peasant women lull their babies to sleep with a crooning balladwhich begins:

 Malbrook s'en va't en guerre, Mirlonton, mirlonton, mirlontaine; Malbrook s'en va't en guerre, Dieu sait quand il reviendra. Il reviendra à Pâques, Mirlonton, mirlonton, mirlontaine, _Il reviendra à Pâques, Ou à la Trinité. (bis)_

Small wonder that even the nursery songs tell of war and chant thename of the great Duke two hundred years after the Battle ofAudenaerde, for during three centuries the Flemish plains were thebattlefield of Europe. Happily the present war has not as yet smittenAudenaerde with any serious damage, although Le Petit Guerrier, fromhis perch on the belfry of the Hotel de Ville, has no doubt lookeddown upon long lines of marching men and gleaming bayonets.

CHAPTER XVIII

OLD ANTWERP--ITS HISTORY AND LEGENDS

While Bruges and Ghent were in their prime as centres of Flemishcommerce and industry a rival that was destined ultimately to supplantand eclipse them both was slowly growing up along the banks of theRiver Scheldt at a point where that important stream, which flowsentirely across Flanders, becomes a tidal estuary. From the mostancient times the prosperity of Antwerp--which in French is calledAnvers, in Flemish Antwerpen--has been closely connected with theriver. According to the legends a giant named Antigonus once had acastle where the city now stands and exacted a toll of all who passedup or down the river. Evasion of this primitive high tariff waspunished by cutting off both the culprit's hands. Of course this giantjust had to be killed by the hero, whose name was Brabo, and who wassaid to have been a lieutenant of Cæsar. Brabo cut off the deadgiant's right hand and flung it into the river in token thatthenceforth it should be free from similar extortions. The visitorwill find this legend recalled in the city's arms--which has two handssurmounting a castle--and in many works of art. Brabo is said to havebecome the first Margrave of Antwerp, and to have founded a line ofseventeen Margraves, all bearing the same name, but the deeds and eventhe existence of these princes is as mythical as those of theirancestor--or the famous legend of Lohengrin, which belongs to thisperiod of Antwerp's history.

Like London, Antwerp is situated sixty miles from the sea. In oldendays commerce was rather inclined to seek the more inland ports, asbeing safer from storms and less exposed to sudden attacks. The sizeof ocean-going ships was, moreover, slowly but steadily increasingfrom generation to generation, and this increase favoured Antwerp,which had a deep, sure channel to the sea, as against its early rivalBruges, whose outlet, the little River Zwyn, was gradually silting up.The fact that the town was situated just outside of the dominions ofthe Counts of Flanders probably helped its early growth, for thejealous men of Bruges might otherwise have obtained from the Countsdecrees restricting, and perhaps prohibiting, its expansion. As itwas, the great Counts ruled all of the left bank of the Scheldt fromAntwerp to the sea, and also the waters of the river as far as onecould ride into it on horseback and then reach with extended sword.

The Tête de Flandre, opposite the centre of the older part of thecity, marks the end of Flanders proper in this direction. As alreadyexplained by the Professor, however, Antwerp is none the lessessentially a Flemish city in its art and architecture, its languageand literature, and for many centuries of its brilliant history, andfor these reasons deserves a place in this book.

Like the County of Flanders, the region surrounding Antwerp was anoutlying "march" or frontier district of the Empire, and its rulerstherefore derived their feudal title from the Emperor. About the year1100 the Emperor bestowed the march on Godfrey of the Beard, Count ofLouvain and first Duke of Brabant. To the Dukes of Brabant itthereafter always belonged until that title, with so many others,became merged in those acquired by the Dukes of Burgundy and united intheir illustrious descendant, Charles V. On the whole, the Dukes,being absentees, were easy rulers--the shrewd burghers seizing upontheir moments of weakness to wrest new privileges from them, andrelying upon their strength for protection in times of danger. Fromtime immemorial the burghers claimed a monopoly right to trade infish, salt and oats. Other trading privileges followed, and by thetime of the first Duke of Brabant the town was already an importantone, with a powerful Burg, or fortress, surrounding five acres of landand buildings. Among the latter was the Steen, or feudal prison, apart of which still stands close to the river and is used as a museumof antiquities.

The early Dukes greatly extended the commercial rights and privilegesof the town, Henry III granting a charter that allowed its citizens tohold bread and meat markets and trade in corn and cloth. Duke John Igranted rights in his famous Core van Antwerpen, dated nearly fivehundred years before the Declaration of Independence, that wereremarkable for wisdom and liberality. "Within the town of Antwerp,"the charter read, "all men are free and there are no slaves. Noinhabitant may be deprived of his natural judges, nor arrested in hishouse on civil suit." In 1349 Duke John III granted a charter that notonly confirmed all of its ancient privileges, but gave exceptionalrights and liberties to foreigners--causing many of them to come andsettle there. Among these was the right granted to any dweller withinthe city to sue: citizens according to local customs, foreignersaccording to the laws of their own lands. As at Bruges and Ghent allthese precious charters were kept in a box having many locks, of whichthe keys were kept by delegates of the Broad Council of the city."This box," said Mr. Wilfred Robinson, in his valuable historicalsketch of Antwerp, "might only be opened in the presence of all thecivic authorities, while they stood around it bareheaded and holdinglighted tapers in their hands. Truly it must have been a quaint andsolemn scene!"

Some fifty years prior to the charter last mentioned Duke John IImarried one of the daughters of Edward I, King of England, and gavethat monarch the city of Antwerp as a fief. Edward III used the cityas a naval base, and in 1339 signed there with Jacques Van Artevelde atreaty of alliance with the communes of Brabant and Flanders. TheKings of England did not, however, retain their suzerainty overAntwerp very long, for it next passed--once more by marriage--to thedaughter of Louis of Maele, Count of Flanders. The city sought toresist, and Count Louis was obliged to besiege it and punished theburghers severely for their disobedience. On his death it passed toPhilip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, along with the entire County ofFlanders of which it was then a part, and thereafter remained underthe Burgundian Dukes and their successors.

In 1446 Philip the Good--whose policy had proved so disastrous toBruges and Ghent--laid the foundation for the commercial greatness ofAntwerp by a liberal charter which he granted to the MerchantAdventurers of England. The English merchants had already left Bruges,where the River Zwyn was fast silting up, and now came to Antwerp andestablished there a most extensive trade. They were followed by themerchants of the other nations, and in less than seventy-five yearsafter the granting of the charter the population of the city haddoubled twice--from less than seventeen thousand to over forty--fourthousand inhabitants.

It was during this period that many of the most interesting structuresof "old Antwerp"--the portion of the city between the Steen and thecathedral and north of the Hotel de Ville--were built. We spentseveral interesting mornings tramping these quaint old windingstreets, some of which are still as mediæval in aspect as any to beseen in Europe. The _Vielle Boucherie_, recently restored, dates fromthe reign of Louis of Maele. In its time it contained stalls forfifty-three butchers. The streets surrounding this quaint structure ofragged brick are well nigh as ancient and interesting as the"monuments" which one encounters here and there while exploring them.The Steen itself dates, as we have seen, from the very earliest periodof the city's history, but is only a remnant of what it was. In thedays of the Spanish Inquisition this grim old structure became a placeof dread, and its gloomy dungeons--which the cheerful and smilingguide showed us by candlelight, for two cents a head--were in constantuse for the entertainment of guests of the Margraves and theirsuccessors, the Burgundian Dukes, for nigh on to eight centuries.

[Illustration: THE _VIELLE BOUCHERIE_, ANTWERP.]

In 1485 the rivalry between Antwerp and Bruges reached the point ofopen war. The men of Bruges built a fort commanding the River Scheldtat a point near Calloo, mounting on it no less than sixty cannon. TheAntwerp burghers met this challenge by building a similar fort atAustruwel, and then attacked and captured the Flemish fort on April23--St. George's Day. A yearly procession still commemorates thisvictory in the long contest to maintain the freedom of the river. Afleet of forty-nine merchant vessels that the Flemings had detainedcame triumphantly up the river, and the conflict for supremacy betweenthe old sea gateway of the Netherlands and the new was settled oncefor all--as far as poor Bruges was concerned--in favour of Antwerp,the new maritime queen of the North.

The river itself seemed to favour the prosperity of Antwerp, as ifproud and eager to become the handmaiden of so valiant and beautiful acity, for the western entrance of the Scheldt gradually deepened atabout this period--from causes that in those days no one tried tounderstand. This gave the port a deep channel to the sea toaccommodate the growing draught of ocean-going ships. The discoveriesof Columbus and Vasco da Gama helped the port also. Until then Venicehad enjoyed a monopoly of the sugar trade of the East. Now it camesea-borne to Antwerp, and the formerly profitable overland sugar tradebetween Venice and Germany was ruined. This caused the Portuguese toestablish a factory at Antwerp. The Spaniards followed, while theEnglish and Italians enlarged their warehouses. Several great Germantrading houses opened premises in the city, although the HanseaticLeague did not abandon Bruges for Antwerp until 1545--being the verylast to go.

While the decline of Bruges led the painters of that city to desert itfor its fast-growing rival on the Scheldt, Quentin Matsys, thegreatest of the early Antwerp artists, does not seem to have derivedmuch of his inspiration from the masterpieces of the Bruges school.The early chronicles give a most romantic account of the life of thispainter, who was born at Louvain about 1466. According to these moreor less legendary stories he was at first a blacksmith, and changed toa painter through love for a damsel whose father was a great patronand admirer of that art. Another account has it that he took uppainting owing to illness, first colouring images of the saints suchas were then given to children during the carnival. Blacksmith hecertainly was, as his father had been before him, and the wonderfulcover for the well in front of the cathedral is his handiwork. Itseems probable, however, that he first learned the art of painting atLouvain, probably as an apprentice to the son of Dierick Bouts. AtAntwerp he soon fell in love with a beautiful girl, who may have beenthe model for some of his charming Madonnas. The story is told by oneold chronicler that the maiden's father opposed the match because theyoung suitor was not a sufficiently skilful artist. On a certainoccasion Matsys, finding his intended father-in-law out, painted a flyon one of the figures in a painting belonging to him. On his returnthe owner of the painting started to brush the fly off and, seeing hismistake, heartily admitted that the young artist who had painted itmerited all praise and gave his consent to the nuptials.

The museum at Antwerp is rich in masterpieces by Matsys, including hisgreatest work, "The Entombment." This is a triptych, the panelsshowing Herod's banquet with the head of John the Baptist lying on thetable, and St. John in the boiling oil. The "Madonna," in the samemuseum, is one of the sweetest faces ever painted among the hundredsof Madonnas that abound in mediæval art, and one cannot but feel thatit is the very face that won the heart of the artist and caused him toadopt painting as his profession. Its resemblance to the face of theMadonna now in the Berlin museum strengthens this theory. At Antwerpalso there are to be seen "The Holy Face," a companion painting to the"Madonna" just mentioned, and the gruesome yet appealing "Veil ofVeronica," showing the livid face of the Saviour with drops of bloodfrom the cruel crown of thorns trickling down across it. The museum atBrussels possesses another masterpiece, and the oldest dated pictureby this artist, "The Legend of St. Anne," which was completed in 1509for the brotherhood of St. Anne at Louvain. He also painted severalstrong and striking portraits, of which the best is that of Erasmus atthe Städel Institute at Frankfort. Matsys was one of the first Flemishartists to present subjects of every-day life as well as religiousepisodes and characters. "The Banker and his Wife," at the Louvre inParis, is the finest example of this kind. There are authenticatedworks by this master in a number of European museums, while aconsiderable number of his pictures have become lost or have not asyet been identified.

[Illustration: "THE BANKER AND HIS WIFE."--MATSYS.]

Matsys is the greatest name in the history of Flemish art between themasters of Bruges and the school of Rubens. It was his success thatmade Antwerp the Florence of the North. Among Matsys' successors Fransde Vriendt, better known as Frans Floris, was one of the most notable.He was a member of the Antwerp guild of St. Luke at the age oftwenty-three, and produced a vast number of works, many of which canstill be seen scattered among the churches and art collections ofFlanders. He had over one hundred pupils, of whom Martin de Vosachieved the greatest fame. As this painter worked after thedestruction of the image-breakers many of his religious subjectssurvive to this day. The Antwerp museum contains no less thantwenty-three of his works, as against only four by his master. Both ofthese artists, however, were profound admirers of the Italian school,and the work of Floris especially--though vastly admired in hisday--is now looked upon as more Italian than Flemish, more imitativethan original.

This cannot be said of the next really great painter to appear inFlanders, Peter Breughel the Elder. Born at the little village ofBreughel, near Breda in Brabant, about 1526, this artist studied for atime in Italy--as did all of his contemporaries--and then settled atAntwerp. Here he obtained the themes of many of his most famouscompositions. "In the port, in the tavern, in the fairs ofneighbouring villages," says Prof. A. J. Wauters, "meeting now a youngcouple in the giddy dance, or a drunkard stumbling in his path, hesought the humble spectacle of homely things, the noisy mirth ofrustic festivities, and was always in quest of every-day subjects,which earned for him, at the hands of posterity, the surname of'Breughel of Peasants.'" He later removed to Brussels, where hereceived many commissions, particularly from the Emperor Rudolph II,who greatly admired his work. Several of his chief masterpieces aretherefore in the Imperial Museum at Vienna, but the Royal Museum atAntwerp contains four of his works, while several others are scatteredabout Europe.

[Illustration: "WINTER."--PETER BREUGHEL.]

To the lover of Flemish paintings Breughel is one of the mostcharacteristic and charming of them all. His art is distinctivelyFlemish, in subject, treatment and inspiration. Somewhat influencedperhaps by Jerome Bosch, a Brabant painter of the previous centuryrenowned for his weird and eccentric conceptions, Breughel is neverconventional. His work is that of a humourist, a satirist who sees thefollies of the world but laughs at them. His pictures are admirable intheir colouring, execution and the grouping of the figures, and theyare especially interesting in their vivid portrayal of the every-dayFlemish life of the times in which he lived.

The visitor to Antwerp cannot fail to observe the images of theVirgin placed at the corners of nearly every street in the olderquarter of the city. These are said to be due to the Long Wapper, asomewhat humorous but none the less grim and terrifying fiend who waswont, many centuries ago, to play weird pranks upon the good people ofAntwerp after nightfall. He used to lie in wait for wayfarers upondeserted by-streets in the uncanny hours between midnight and dawn.Pouncing upon his terrified victims, he would carry them off,sometimes never to return. Now and then he assumed the form of a lostbaby, to which, being found by some charitable mother, the breast wasgiven. Presently the good woman discovered to her horror that thefoundling was swelling and becoming heavy, and when she put it downthe Wapper assumed his own shape and ran off shrieking. At times hepeered into church windows and howled and gibbered at the worshippers,and afterwards frightened them terribly as they went homeward, or,stretching his body to an incredible length, he peered into the upperwindows of people's houses. Men feared to speak evil of the LongWapper, for something terrible was certain to happen to those who did.At last it was found that he would never pass an image of the Virgin,and that is why so many were erected that finally the evil fiend hadno more streets left in which to play his mad pranks and left Antwerpfor the lonely moors and dunes along the seacoast where he is stillsaid to be seen.

The place most frequented by the Long Wapper was a little stream whichcame to be called the Wappersrui in consequence, and a bridge acrossit the Wappersbrucke. Here he often strode out of the water with hislong thin legs extending far down into its dark depths like two blackstilts. Once he had reached the embankment he shrank instantly to adiminutive size--usually taking the form of a schoolboy. These firstappearances were generally between daylight and dark, when thetwilight made it difficult to distinguish faces clearly, and he alwaystook the place of some boy who happened to be absent. A favourite gameof the boys, who were then returning from school, was calledshove-hat. In this game one boy tossed his hat on the ground and theothers shoved and kicked it about with their feet while its ownersought to regain it. When it came the turn of the Long Wapper to throwdown his hat the first one to give it a kick broke his wooden shoe topieces and fractured his toes, for the hat proved to be a heavy ironpot. Then the street echoed with a jeering "Ha, ha, ha!" but theWapper had disappeared.

His pranks upon grown-up people were apt to be far more serious intheir consequences than those just described. Often he paused at sometavern door and joined the party seated there in a game of cards,which invariably resulted in a violent quarrel in the course of whichone or more of the players was usually killed. On another occasion heappeared in broad daylight selling mussels. Encountering four womensitting outside their door at work he opened a mussel and offered itto one of them. She tasted it, but it turned into dirt in her mouth.Apologising, he opened another, which all could see was a sound, finemussel, and offered it to another of the women. No sooner was it inher mouth than it turned into a huge spider. The women thereupon setupon him, but he defended himself so rudely that two of them werenearly killed, when he suddenly vanished, leaving only an echo of wildlaughter.

In the country to the east of Antwerp there are many quaint legendsstill told at the peasants' firesides on stormy winter nights aboutthe Kaboutermannekens who in ancient times frequented thatneighbourhood. Near the village of Gelrode there is a small hill onthe sides of which are many little caves which were formerly theabode of these fairies, the hill being called the Kabouterbergto this day in consequence. There is a similar hill, calledKaboutermannekensberg, between Turnhout and Casterle. They were alsocalled Red Caps or Klabbers, and were usually clad in red from head tofoot, and often had green hands and faces, according to those who wereso fortunate as to see them. These little gnomes or elves seem to haveresembled their kind as reported in the folk-lore of other northerncountries, being the willing and loyal slaves of those who treatedthem kindly, and the bitter, and sometimes dangerous, enemies of thosewho misused them.

Still another local sprite--this time a spirit of evil resembling insome respects the Long Wapper--was known as Kludde. This fiend wasoften met with after dark in many parts of Flanders, and even inBrabant. At times Kludde would appear to the peasants as the dusk oftwilight was deepening into the intense darkness of night on theFlemish plains, in the guise of an old, half-starved horse. If afarmer or stable-boy mistook him for one of his own horses and mountedon Kludde he instantly rushed off at an incredible speed until hecame to some water into which he pitched his terrified rider headlong.This accomplished to his satisfaction he vanished, crying "Kludde,Kludde!" as he went away, whence came his name.

CHAPTER XIX

THREE CENTURIES OF ANTWERP PRINTERS

The joyous entry of the boy prince who was afterward to become CharlesV 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 prosperedmightily under the rule of the great Emperor, who favoured it on manynotable occasions. The bankers and merchant princes of Antwerp becamerenowned the world over for their wealth and magnificence. AnthonyFugger, who was the banker of Maximilian and Charles V, left a fortuneof six million golden crowns, and it is said that his name survives tothis day as a synonym for wealth--the common people calling any onewho is extremely rich a _rykke Fokker_, a rich Fugger. It is relatedthat another rich Antwerp merchant, Gasparo Dozzo, on being privilegedto entertain the Emperor in his house, cast into the fire a promissorynote for a large loan he had formerly made to his sovereign.

This period of wealth and prosperity continued till the very end ofthe reign of the Emperor, but under his successor, Philip II, the citywas plunged into misfortunes and miseries as swift and as appalling asthose that befell in the terrible Fall of 1914. In 1556 Philip openeda chapter of the Knights of the Golden Fleece at St. Mary's, afterwardthe cathedral, in Antwerp--thereby recognising the supremacy of thistown over the others in his Flemish dominions. Among the new knightsto whom he gave the accolade were William the Silent and the Count ofHorn. Little men thought on that day of festivity and good will whatthe future held in store for them all!

On August 18, 1566, the miraculous statue of the Blessed Virgin wastaken from its place in St. Mary's church and carried through thestreets of the city in a solemn procession--as it had been for nearlytwo hundred years. This time there were murmurs of disapproval fromthe crowds that lined the streets, some stones were thrown, and theprocession hastily returned to the church. The next day a small mob,composed for the most part of boys and men of the lowest class,entered the church and destroyed the statue and the entire contents ofthe sacred edifice, including some seventy altars, and paintings andstatues almost without number. The organ, then the wonder of Europe,was ruined, and the rabble dressed itself in the costly vestments ofthe clergy and carried away the treasures of the church and even thecontents of the poor boxes. This was the beginning of the work of theimage-breakers, as they came to be called, which spread throughoutFlanders until scarcely a religious edifice had escaped thedestruction of its movable contents, while a few here and there wereburned. As noted in the chapter on Audenaerde, Margaret of Parma wasRegent at this time and acted resolutely to suppress thedisorders--which were largely due to the supine attitude of the localmagistrates at the beginning.

She had all but succeeded in restoring peace and quiet throughoutFlanders when Philip suddenly decided to send an army there, andselected the Duke of Alva to command it. The story of the eightyyears' war that followed is familiar to every American throughMotley's account of it, although that brilliant writer is moreconcerned with the details relating to the Dutch provinces than thoseregarding the portion of the Netherlands that remained subject toSpain. Two events, however, in the long war were so directlyconcerned with Antwerp, and loom so large in its history, that theycannot be passed over here. Both have a renewed interest in view ofthe history of Antwerp's latest siege in 1914. These are the SpanishFury, and the great siege of the city by the Duke of Parma.

Alva, who superseded the gentle Margaret of Parma as Regent of theNetherlands, quickly took stern measures for the repression of furtherdisorders at Antwerp, which he regarded as a hot-bed of heresy. A hugecitadel was built at the southern end of the town, near the Scheldt,in 1572, in the centre of which Alva erected a bronze statue ofhimself. On the marble pedestal the inscription related how "the mostfaithful minister of the best of Kings had stamped out sedition,repelled the rebels, set up religion, and restored justice and peaceto the country." So far were these boasts from being true that onlythe following year, in 1573, Alva stole away to Spain secretly, hisgovernment a failure, his army mutinous, and half of the country hehad been sent to rule in open and successful revolt. War with Englandhad ruined the commerce of Antwerp, Alva's fiscal policy and incessanttaxes had half beggared the people of the entire country, whilethousands of the noblest and bravest in the land had met death on thescaffold or in the torture chambers of the Inquisition.

Requesens, the next Regent, was unable either to stem the rising tideof revolt or to pay his soldiers--King Philip failing to send fundsuntil the pay of the Spanish veterans was at one time twenty-twomonths in arrears. The sudden death of Requesens in 1576 left mattersin a nearly chaotic condition. The veterans who had been fighting inZeeland against the Dutch mutinied and returning to Flanders capturedthe town of Alost, where they forced the citizens to give them foodand shelter. On November 4th, 1576, the mutineers marched to Antwerp,some two thousand strong, where they joined the Spaniards andmercenaries in the citadel. They were under the command of an_Eletto_, or elected leader. Jerome Roda, a Spaniard, had proclaimedhimself the commandant of the fortress until the new Regent, Don Johnof Austria, should arrive in Flanders. Under these two worthies thecombined forces in the citadel, some five thousand men in all,proceeded to attack the city. The citizens, on their side, had forsome time feared such an attack and should have been able to repelit. There were fourteen thousand armed burghers, four thousandWalloons and an equal number of German troops--twenty-two thousand inall. It may have been that they felt unduly secure against an attackon that day because it was Sunday. It is certain that they were badlycommanded.

Shortly after noon the Spaniards rushed from the citadel and acrossthe broad open esplanade cleared a few years before by Alva, shoutingtheir war cry, _Sant Jago y cierra España_. The _Eletto_ was the firstto fall, but the rush of furious soldiers was not to be stopped by asingle volley. The Walloons put up a brave fight but part of theGermans treacherously lowered their pikes and let the Spaniards passdown the rue St. Georges. On the Place de Meir the defenders madeanother stand, but were swiftly swept back in a confused anddisorganised mass by the Spanish cavalry. At the Hotel de Ville theburghers fought fiercely until the mutineers set fire to the edifice.In the conflagration that followed not only this noble structure, oneof the finest in Europe, but the adjoining guild houses and someeighty other buildings were consumed. Of the Hotel de Ville only theblackened walls remained. By nightfall the Spaniards and the Germanmercenaries, most of whom had joined the victors in order to share inthe spoils, were masters of the doomed city.

That night the scenes of pillage and rapine as the savage and halfdrunken soldiers swept through the streets and ransacked the houses ofall who did not instantly pay a stiff ransom, exceed the descriptivepowers of the contemporary historians. One of the burgomasters wasstabbed to end a quarrel as to his ransom. Many burghers were killednear the town hall, or were burned within it like rats. For three daysthe city was given up to be sacked. The number who were killed,including women and children, has been variously estimated at fromseven thousand to seventeen thousand of the citizens and defenders ofthe city, and from two hundred and fifty to six hundred of theSpaniards. The loss in property amounted to many millions, but noaccurate estimate could be made of it, as many who suffered most inthis respect lost their lives as well. Cartloads of plunder were sentout of the city, while much of it was actually sold by those who didnot care or dare to keep it in a temporary market-place at the Bourse.Some were said to have concealed their wealth by having sword hiltsand breastplates made of solid gold. Like the ill-gotten gains of theSpaniards in America, however, none of this booty--the reward oftreachery, of assassination, of cruelty and the sudden setting free ofall the basest elements in human nature--profited its captors verygreatly. In a few days after the arrival of Don John, the new Regent,the mutinous soldiers were paid off and marched away to Maestricht andpresently to other battlefields, from Flanders to Lombardy, where, nodoubt, most of the golden breastplates and sword hilts fell--in duetime--to other conquerors. Such was the Spanish Fury--until 1914 theworst blot on civilisation that history records.

Soon after the Spaniards left the city permission was given to thepeople to destroy the citadel that the tyrant Alva had built tooverawe the town. The entire population flocked to this welcometask--men, women and children, each taking a shovel, a basket or abarrow. It is related that even the great ladies of the city took partin the work of demolition--so hated had the grim fortress become. Thestatue of the cruel Duke that he had so vaingloriously erected in thecentre of the citadel only five years before was torn down and draggedthrough the streets by a cheering throng. Charles Verlat has given theworld a vivid picture of this incident which hangs in the Antwerpmuseum.

[Illustration: "DRAGGING THE STATUE OF THE DUKE OF ALVA THROUGH THESTREETS OF ANTWERP."--C. VERLAT.]

Six years later the Duke d'Alençon, who had been made nominalsovereign over the Low Countries by William the Silent, planned totreacherously attack and sack the city with his French soldiers, somethree thousand, five hundred strong. This time, however, the citizenswere not caught napping and when the tocsin in the cathedral calledthe alarm the burghers rushed out in thousands. The Frenchswashbucklers proved to be less stubborn fighters than the Spanishveterans and soon were driven back in a confused mass to the citygates, most of them being killed and the cowardly Duke only savinghimself by flight. This episode has been derisively called the FrenchFury. It happened January 17, 1583.

The following year Alexander Farnese, the Duke of Parma--and the sonof the duch*ess of Parma, whose career as Regent of the Netherlandswas briefly described in the chapter on Audenaerde, herbirthplace--determined to besiege Antwerp, which, since the SpanishFury, had fallen into the hands of the revolted Provinces.Unfortunately for its defenders, William the Silent had just died atthe hands of an assassin and his plans for the protection of the cityby flooding all of the marshes surrounding it were not followed. Thebutchers opposed flooding all of their pasture lands and the importantKowenstein Dyke was not cut. The Prince of Parma, who was the greatestmilitary leader of his age, swiftly captured the forts on the Flemishside of the river, seized the Kowenstein Dyke--which extended on theBrabant side from a point opposite Calloo to Starbroeck--and began tobuild a bridge across the river itself. This daring project, ifsuccessful, would completely isolate Antwerp from the sea and itsDutch allies and render certain its ultimate subjection by starvation.

The bridge was built partly on piles, as far out as the water wassufficiently shallow, then the intervening gap was spanned by means ofthirty-two large vessels anchored at both ends and lashed together bychains and heavy cables. The structure was completed in February,1585, to the amazement of the besieged burghers and the great joy ofthe Prince's army. It would seem a small affair to the pontoon bridgebuilders of to-day, being two thousand, four hundred feet long andtwelve feet wide, but at that time it was deemed one of the mostnotable achievements ever known. The defenders of the city sent hugefireships down the river to destroy the bridge. One of these actuallyexploded against the structure and another off Calloo, destroying morethan eight hundred Spanish soldiers and endangering their intrepidleader himself. The bridge was wrecked, but Farnese repaired it beforethe people at Antwerp learned of the success of their attempt.

A tremendous attack was next made on the Kowenstein Dyke, with a viewto cutting it--a feat that could have been done without any trouble ifthe Prince of Orange's counsels had been followed a few monthsearlier. A fleet of one hundred and fifty Dutch ships joined in thebattle from the sea side, while a strong force of Flemings, Englishand Dutch from Antwerp attacked the dyke from the land side. After afierce struggle it was cut, the waters rushed through and one vesselloaded with provisions for the beleaguered city made its way past.That night Antwerp rejoiced, but in the darkness the Prince of Parmamade another furious assault and finally drove back the allies,capturing twenty-eight ships of the Dutch fleet and filling in thedyke once more. This victory--which as a feat of arms was one of themost brilliant of the war--sealed the fate of the city, which finallycapitulated August 17th. So important was this success to theSpanish, cause that Isabella, the daughter of King Philip, wasawakened by her father during the night by the tidings, "Antwerp isours!" Its fall settled approximately the extent of the region thatwas left to the Spanish Crown out of the wreck of its former empire inthe Low Countries. Thenceforth all of the provinces to the west andsouth of Antwerp--the region now comprised in the Kingdom ofBelgium--remained subject to the King of Spain and his Austriansuccessors until the great French Revolution. The remaining provincesbecame the Dutch Republic and now form the Kingdom of Holland.

The Spanish Fury and the great siege had together well-nigh destroyedthe commerce of the port, and the heavy fine imposed by the conquerorsupon the city for its rebellion completed its ruin. Packs of wild dogsare said to have roamed unmolested through the outlying villages,which stood deserted, while even wolves were seen. Grass grew in theonce crowded streets of the city, and famine added to the miseries ofits fast declining population. It would hardly be conceivable that aquarter of a century of hideous misrule could have so utterlyobliterated the prosperity of this once opulent city, but for thefearful object lesson afforded in 1914 that war is still as potent abreeder of destruction and despair as it was in that dark age.

Enough, however, of wars and sieges and the sack of cities. Antwerp'spast includes many pleasanter stories as well--stories of progress andachievement. To those who are interested in the noble art of printing,and the various branches of the fine arts that serve as handmaids tothe printer, Antwerp possesses one of the rarest treasure-houses inthe world. This is the Museum Plantin-Moretus, for three centuries thehead office and workshop of the great printing-house whose name itbears.

Christopher Plantin, the founder of this famous establishment, was bybirth a Frenchman--having first seen the light of day in the vicinityof Tours in the year 1514. Fleeing from the plague with his father toLyons, he went from there to Orleans, to Paris, and finally to Caen inNormandy, where he learned the art of printing from Robert Mace. Herealso he met Jeanne Rivière, who became his wife in 1545 or 1546. Thecouple soon went to Paris, where Plantin learned the art ofbookbinding and of making caskets and other articles of elegance fromleather. In 1549 he came to Antwerp and the following year wasenrolled as a citizen and also as a member of the famous guild of St.Luke with the title of printer. He does not appear to have followedthis profession, however, but speedily gained much renown for hisexquisite workmanship as a bookbinder and casket maker, findingseveral wealthy patrons and protectors-among them Gabriel de Çayas,Secretary of Philip II, then the most powerful monarch in Christendom.

In the year 1555, while on his way to deliver in person a jewel-casehe had just made for this client, he met with an adventure thatchanged the course of his career. It was quite dark before he hadcompleted his errand, and as he made his way along the narrow, ill-litstreets of the old city he was set upon by a party of drunkenrevellers who mistook him, with the casket under his arm, for a guitarplayer against whom they had some grievance. One of the party ran theunfortunate casket-maker through the body with his sword, and he hadbarely strength enough to drag himself home, more nearly dead thanalive. Skilful medical and surgical aid finally saved his life, butleft him unable to do any manual work. He therefore gave up hiscasket-making and resumed the trade of printer, which he had learnedat Caen. Instead of a misfortune, as it no doubt seemed at the time,this sword thrust proved the turning point in his career, for in hisnew profession he was destined to achieve undying fame.

There were at this time no less than sixty-six printing establishmentsin the Low Countries, of which thirteen were at Antwerp, some of thelatter rivalling the best printers of Paris, Basel and Venice in thebeauty of their productions. Plantin's first book was issued the yearof his accident, in 1555, and was entitled "_La Institutione di unafanciulla nata nobilmente_." During the next seven years his pressesturned out a limited number of works, but in 1562 his office wasraided by order of the Regent, Margaret, the duch*ess of Parma, andthree of his workmen seized and condemned to the galleys for aheretical book they had printed unknown to him, entitled "_Briefveinstruction pour prier_." Plantin fled to France, and to avoidconfiscation he had some of his friends, acting as creditors, sell andbuy in his printing plant. The following year--having convinced theGovernment of his orthodoxy--he returned to Antwerp and organised acompany consisting of himself and four partners, including some of hispretended creditors. While this arrangement lasted, from 1563 to1567, more than two hundred books were printed, and forty workmen keptconstantly employed. His work was already considered notable for thebeauty of its type and excellence of the paper used.

Soon after the partnership was dissolved Plantin undertook what wasdestined to be the greatest work of his career, and one of the mostnotable in the history of printing, the famous _Biblia Regia_. Thiswas an edition of the Bible in four ancient languages, Latin, Hebrew,Greek and Chaldean. The Hebrew type was purchased from a Venetianprinter, while the last two were cast expressly for this book. Hisfriend Çayas interested Philip II in the project and that monarch sentthe great scholar Arias Montanus from Alcala to supervise the work. Atthe suggestion of Cardinal Granville, Syriac was added to the othertexts, so that, including French, there were six languages in all. Thefirst volume of this "Polyglot Bible," as it came to be called,appeared in 1569 and the eighth and last in 1573. The work proved tobe exceedingly costly, and to help meet the expense the King of Spainadvanced 21,200 florins, and granted Plantin a monopoly for its salethroughout the Spanish dominions for the period of twenty years. Asimilar monopoly was granted by the Pope, the Emperor, the King ofFrance and the Republic of Venice. In spite of all this, the bookbrought its printer no profits, but kept him in debt for the rest ofhis life. Pensions promised by Philip II to himself and hisson-in-law, Raphelingen, were never paid.

Between the editor of the great Bible and its printer a strongfriendship sprang up. "This man," wrote Arias on one occasion, "is allmind and no matter. He neither eats, drinks, nor sleeps." And again,"Never did I know so capable and so kindhearted a man. Every day Ifind something fresh to admire in him, but what I admire the most ishis humble patience towards envious colleagues, whom he insists onwishing well, though he might do them much harm."

Besides the _Biblia Regia_ Plantin, now at the height of his fame,managed to turn out a vast quantity of printed matter. High in royalfavour by reason of this worthy work, he had no difficulty inobtaining for himself and his heirs a profitable monopoly for printingand selling missals and breviaries throughout Spain's wide dominions.While the largest printers at Paris rarely employed more than sixpresses, Plantin kept twenty-two constantly at work, had agents atParis and Leyden, and sent a member of his family every year to attendthe fairs at Leipzig and Frankfort. In 1575 his office is said to havehad seventy-three kinds of type, weighing over seventeen tons.

In 1570 he was appointed by Philip to the newly created office ofPrototypographer in the Netherlands. Masters and men in the printingtrade had to apply to him for certificates as to their fitness, whilehe was also required to draw up a list of forbidden books. In this,curiously enough, one of the earlier products of his own press found aplace--a rhyming version of the Psalms in French by Clement Marot.This office does not seem to have paid much salary, if any, or to havegiven its first possessor anything but a lot of worry.

The Plantin Press was located at various places about the city until1576, when it was established on the rue Haute near the Porte de St.Jean. Three years later Plantin purchased from the owner of thisproperty the premises occupied by the present museum and extendingfrom the rue Haute through to the Friday Market, with a large gatewayopening into the latter. Plantin had been only eight months in thisnew location when the Spanish Fury broke out. He was away on ajourney himself, but his son-in-law, Moretus, had to pay a heavyfine to save the printing-office from pillage. The next few years werefull of trouble and anxiety. For a time Plantin had to leave Antwerp,going to Leyden, where he met Justus Lipsius and was made printer tothe University. During the great siege of Antwerp he fled, with manyother Catholics, to Cologne, where he thought for a time ofestablishing his chief printing-office. After the siege he hurriedhome, but a short time later his health began to fail.

[Illustration: COURTYARD OF THE PLANTIN MUSEUM, ANTWERP.]

It was in the house on the Friday Market that the dying printergathered his family about him. His only son had died in infancy, buthis five daughters had all lived to be married, three of them to menassociated with him in the printing office. The eldest, Margaret,married Francis Raphelingen, the chief proof-reader and an ablelinguist; while the second, Martina, married Jean Moretus, the fatherof a long line, of which the eldest sons bore the same name so thatthey came to be distinguished by numbers, the first being Jean MoretusI--like a line of kings. This son-in-law was Plantin's businessmanager. The third daughter aided the mother, who ran a linen businessin the frugal way that many Flemish housewives have of helping theirhusbands. A fourth, Magdalen, when only a child, corrected proofs onthe _Biblia Regia_ in five languages, and later married her father'sParis agent. The fifth married a brother of Jean Moretus I, who becamea diamond-cutter.

Plantin had from a very early date adopted the motto "_Labori etConstantia_," together with the emblem of a hand holding a pair ofopen compasses, which may be seen over the Friday Market gateway tothe museum. This emblem, with the motto entwining it in the form of ascroll, or appearing above, below or across it in a hundredvariations, is the mark by which connoisseurs can distinguish theproducts of the Plantin Press. It must have been constantly in themind of the great printer himself, for on his deathbed he composed thefollowing French couplet, which expresses and describes his owncharacter better than any epitaph could do:

 "Un Labeur courageux muni d'humble Constance Resiste à tous assauts par douce Patience."

On July 1, 1589, this "giant among printers" breathed his last, andwas buried in the ambulatory of the cathedral, his friend JustusLipsius writing the inscription for his tombstone. While his name isnot associated with the earliest beginnings of the art of printing,and the products of his press do not therefore command the almostfabulous prices paid for the rarest productions of some of the firstprinters, Christopher Plantin was not only the greatest printer of hisage, but one of the greatest in the history of the art. Almost fromthe first he knew how to gather about him the foremost scholars andartists of his time, making his establishment not merely aprinting-office but an institution of learning, a home of the finearts. Arias Montanus, editor of the _Biblia Regia_, aided by a host ofthe most learned churchmen of Europe; Justus Lipsius, lecturer beforePrinces at the Universities of Leyden and Louvain; Mercator andOrtelius, the geographers, from whom the world learned the right wayto make maps and atlases; Crispin, Van den Broeck, Martin de Vos, anda score of the foremost Flemish artists, who were employed by Plantinto illustrate his books; these and many more no doubt were frequentvisitors at the printing-house during the lifetime of its founder.

These noble traditions were fully maintained under his successors.Jean Moretus I ruled over the destinies of the house until his death,in 1610, leaving it to his two sons, Jean II and Balthazar I. Thelatter was the greatest of the dynasty of printers after Plantin andJean Moretus I. He was a warm friend of Rubens, who illustrated manyof the publications of the house during this period. In the fourthgeneration, represented by Balthazar III, who ruled for half acentury, from 1646 to 1696, the family was ennobled, but after thisperiod the house confined its output and commerce to missals andbreviaries, under the monopoly granted by Philip II for the countriesunder the rule of Spain. This business was completely destroyed by anedict prohibiting the importation of foreign books into the Spanishdominions, and in 1800 the printing office ceased operations. Itresumed activity on a small scale once or twice during the nineteenthcentury, but finally closed in 1867, after an existence of threehundred and twelve years, and in 1876 the last representative of thehouse, Edouard Moretus, sold the entire establishment, with all itspriceless collections and furnishings, to the City of Antwerp for thesum of 1,200,000 francs, to be maintained as a museum.

During the splendid period of activity in the first half of theseventeenth century, the throng of famous men in the libraries and thecorrector's room of the old establishment surpassed that of the daysof Plantin and Jean Moretus I. Rubens, Van Dyck, Erasmus Quellin and ahost of other artists; Lævinius Torrentius, bishop and poet, Kiliaen,the lexicographer, and scores of other learned men; Princes and Dukesinnumerable, the patrons and protectors of the house--all these andmany more were constant visitors. To the student the museum of to-dayrecalls these great names with a freshness and vividness that theordinary museum fatally lacks, for here are countless mementoes oftheir presence in the very proofs and prints they handled andcorrected, in the letters they wrote, in the sketches drawn by thegreatest artists of Flanders and engraved by the foremost engravers ofthe time.

As a detailed description of the Plantin Museum can be found in allthe guidebooks, while an excellent handbook regarding its treasures byMax Rooses, its renowned curator, can be purchased for a franc, itwould be unnecessary as well as tedious to recount them here. To thosewho have but a little time at their disposal a liberal honorarium tothe attendant in each room--all of whom are garbed in brown with aquaint cap of the same colour, as the printers of the house were wontto be dressed in the great olden days--will bring forth a wealth ofcurious and interesting information not to be found in any book,anecdotes of distinguished visitors, bits of lore about this or theother treasure, that will make the trifling investment well worthwhile. In our case we made our first visit in this way, roaming aboutthe splendid old rooms and dipping into this case or that atrandom--like butterflies amid a bower of roses. Visitors were few thatday and we had each attendant to ourselves. Later on we made anothervisit, armed with letters of introduction to M. Denucé, the learnedassistant curator, and through his courtesy revisited each room oncemore. A single book--one of the marvellous collections of earlyBibles--was, according to the attendant in that room, made the objectof an offer of a million francs, or maybe it was a million dollars, bya well-known American millionaire. The collection in its entirety, ifdispersed by auction, would doubtless fetch many millions--but itbelongs exactly where it is. Like the collection of Van Eycks andMemlings in Bruges, it would be a world calamity to despoil it ordisperse it. Even the very furnishings of the chambers up-stairs areassociated with the house of Plantin, were used by the family formany years; the paintings that crowd the walls like an art gallery arefor the most part by Rubens--portraits of leading members of thefamily. Then there are numberless drawings, prints and engravings thatrepresent the work of half of the greatest artists of the Flemishschool during the century of its greatest splendour--an inimitable,indescribable collection!

Among other pictorial treasures we saw a collection of views of oldAntwerp that the Professor said he would gladly have spent a month in,if only his vacation were a little longer. Then there were thebooks--and again words fail to convey an adequate idea of the richnessand interest of the collection. There are nearly a score of earlyGerman Bibles, including a fine copy of Gutenberg's _Bible latine_ of1450; rare German and Italian incunabula, choice examples of the workof the early Flemish printers, including _Les dicts moraulx desphilosophes_, printed by Colard Manson at Bruges in 1477. There areexamples of early French, Dutch and Italian printing; there areAldines, Estiennes, Elzevirs; books from the first printing presses ofSwitzerland, Spain and Portugal. Truly the historian of the early artof printing might come here and complete his work within these charmedwalls--he would need no other materials! Naturally the collection ofbooks printed by the house itself is large, though not complete, andthere are a great many products of other Antwerp presses. Mostvaluable of all is the collection of manuscripts, which includes ahuge Latin Bible completed in 1402 and ornamented with the mostmarvellous miniatures. Here are also several superb Books of Hours andmany other books with choice miniatures.

The printing-rooms also deserve all the time the tourist can spare.The proofreaders' room is a gem, architecturally, artistically, andfrom its historic associations with one of the world's finest arts. Afew old proof sheets are still lying on the high desks, near thestained glass windows with their tiny panes. The typeroom has stillsome of the old fonts of type and original matrices, while thecomposing and pressroom has two presses of the sixteenth century, andmany quaint and curious devices then in use. All these rooms, togetherwith the large state rooms, which contain the manuscripts and choicestexamples of early printing, surround a charming courtyard which isstill kept bright with flowers as it was in the days of thefounders of the great house. The City of Antwerp is justly proud ofthis noble monument to its great family of great printers, whichserves to keep green the memory of their achievements and of theirfine artistic taste and skill as no other form of memorial could do.

[Illustration: ANCIENT PRINTING PRESSES AND COMPOSING CASES, PLANTINMUSEUM, ANTWERP.]

CHAPTER XX

ANTWERP FROM THE TIME OF RUBENS TILL TO-DAY

If there is one name more honoured in Flanders than any other--moreoften employed as the name of hotels, restaurants or cafés; morefrequently on the lips of guides, caretakers and sacristans; moreconstantly in the mind of every tourist, be he or she American,English or Continental--it is the name of the greatest of Flemishpainters, Peter Paul Rubens. No book on Flanders, and most assuredlyno work touching on Antwerp, would be complete without some referenceto the life and work of this prince among painters, yet no task can bemore superfluous, since nothing can be said that will add in theslightest degree to his fame. He ranks in the history of art with thegreatest masters in the world--with Michael Angelo, Leonardo,Rembrandt, Raphael, Titian and Velasquez--and it is probable that morebooks have been written about him than about Antwerp itself.

Occasional references have been made in previous chapters tonotable paintings by Rubens to be seen in various churches throughoutFlanders--particularly to "The Miraculous Draught of Fishes" atMalines, which is said to have been saved from the destruction of thatcity, having been carried away before the first of its manybombardments. It is at Antwerp, however, that the tourist who desiresto study the work of Rubens will find him at his best and in greatestprofusion. And the most famous spot enriched by his unrivalled art isthe cathedral. Here hang his two greatest devotional works, "TheElevation of the Cross" and "The Descent from the Cross." The formerwas painted in 1610 and gave the young artist--he was then onlythirty-three--instant and enduring fame. The companion work wascompleted the following year. Neither was originally painted for thecathedral. "The Elevation of the Cross," the earlier and inferior ofthe two, was intended to be the altarpiece for the church of Ste.Walburge, while the other was painted for the Society of Arquebusiers,to adjust a difficulty that had arisen over apportioning the cost of awall separating Rubens' house from that of the guild. Both, however,are in an ideal location where they now are, and form an admirablestarting point from which to see, first the cathedral, and then thework of Rubens as a whole.

[Illustration: "THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS."--RUBENS.]

The Cathedral of Notre Dame is without doubt the most beautiful Gothicchurch in Belgium, and has thus far happily escaped the ravages of thepresent war--passing unscathed through the furious German bombardmentof the city. Begun in 1352 it was, like other churches of its size,centuries in reaching completion. The exquisite lace-work in stone ofthe north tower was completed during the sixteenth century, but wasnot wholly finished when the iconoclasts ravaged the interior of theedifice. Originally the church of St. Mary, it became the Cathedral ofNotre Dame in 1560. The nave and transepts were not vaulted until1611-16, or the very period when Rubens was painting the famouspictures that now hang in the south transept. Work on the south towerwas discontinued in 1474, which seems a pity, as its completion wouldhave made the cathedral one of the most perfect specimens of Gothicarchitecture in the world. As it is, the single tower dominates theold part of the city and is a familiar feature of its sky line. Thechimes of the cathedral are famous, and are often played by Jef Denynof Malines. There are forty bells of various sizes, of which thegreatest was named Charles V, and requires the strength of nineteenmen to swing it. This bell was founded some eight years before theyoung Duke Charles made his joyous entry into Antwerp, and no doubtrang lustily on that occasion.

The interior of the cathedral is very vast, comprising six aisles, butis too well known to require description. Among the numerous paintingswith which the chapels are adorned is one, a "Descent from the Cross,"by Adam Van Noort, the teacher of Jordaens, and said to be the firstwho taught Rubens how to handle a brush. In the second chapel on thesouth is an interesting "Resurrection" by Rubens, which was painted in1612 for the tomb of his friend Moretus, of the famous printing-houseof Plantin. The fourth chapel on the same side contains the tomb ofChristopher Plantin, with an inscription by his colleague and friend,Justus Lipsius, and several family portraits. The visitor will findmany other points of interest in this vast church, which is averitable museum of art, architecture, history and human progress. Thehigh altarpiece is another famous Rubens, an "Assumption"--a subjectwhich he painted no less than ten times. There are half a dozen othernotable paintings by other artists, but the majority are of minorartistic importance. The rich Gothic choir stalls, however, are worthmore than a passing glance, for the wood-carvings here are very fine,although modern--having been begun in 1840, and completed forty yearslater. The elaborately carved pulpit was made in the eighteenthcentury by the sculptor Michel Vervoort, and was intended for theAbbey of St. Bernard.

After the completion of the two great masterpieces now in thecathedral Rubens was by universal acclaim acknowledged to be theforemost painter in Flanders and of his time. His studio was besiegedby artists desirous of becoming the pupils of the brilliant master. Asearly as 1611 he wrote that he had already refused more than a hundredapplicants. In 1614 he painted "The Conversion of St. Bavon," now inthe cathedral of St. Bavon at Ghent; in 1617 "The Adoration of theMagi" in the church of St. John at Malines, and "The Last Judgment,"now in the Pinacothek of Munich; in 1618 "The Miraculous Draught ofFishes" at Malines; in 1619 "The Last Communion of St. Francis," nowin the museum at Antwerp, and, according to Fromentin, his greatestmasterpiece; in 1620 the "Coup de Lance," now at the museum ofAntwerp, and his finest work according to some other authorities. In1622-23 he produced the twenty-four superb paintings of the Galeriedes Medicis. The "Lion Hunt," and the "Battle of the Amazons," now inthe Pinacothek at Munich, belong to this decade, together with the sixpaintings of the history of Decius in the Liechtenstein Gallery, andthirty-nine pictures for the church of the Jesuits, of which all butthree were destroyed at the burning of the church in 1718. The threeare in the museum of Vienna.

[Illustration: "COUP DE LANCE."--RUBENS.]

Here, in the space of a little over ten years, were nearly a hundredmasterpieces--works of such magnitude that two or three would havesufficed to immortalise any other painter. Yet in addition to theselabours he designed for the tapestry-workers of Brussels the life ofAchilles in eight parts, the history of Constantine in twelve, andmany other cartoons of extraordinary merit. His friend, Moretus, inaccordance with the high traditions of the house of Plantin, came tohim for designs for many books, and he drew borders, designs,title-pages and vignettes, and illustrated himself a book on cameos.He even painted triumphal arches and cars for ceremonial processions,and these works in his hands acquired a permanence of artistic valuethat is in itself one of the highest tributes to his genius. The fineportraits of Albert and Isabella, now in the museum at Brussels, werepainted for a triumphal arch in the Place de Meir--yet they aremasterpieces of portraiture, perfect and splendid down to the minutestdetail!

According to a report made in 1879, by the _Commission Anversoisechargée de réunir l'ouevre de Rubens, en gravures ou enphotographies_, there are altogether no less than two thousand, twohundred and thirty-five pictures and sketches by this amazinglyprolific artist, and four hundred and eighty-four designs--a total oftwo thousand, seven hundred and nineteen known works. At Antwerp alonethere are upwards of one hundred pictures, of which more than a scoreare masterpieces of world-wide renown and incalculable value. Besidesthe great trio at the cathedral, and the family portraits in thePlantin Museum, the museum catalogues more than thirty subjects ofwhich the "Spear Thrust" (_Coup de Lance_), "Adoration of the Magi orWise Men," the "Last Communion of Saint Francis," the "Christ on theStraw" (_à la Paille_), "The Prodigal Son," and "Virgin Instructedby Saint Anne" are among the more notable. Both here and at thePlantin Museum the student of Rubens can find many interesting prints,sketches and minor examples of the great master's work. At the museumalso is the interesting Holy Family known as "_La Vierge auPerroquet_" (Virgin with the Parrot) which was presented by Rubens tothe Guild of St. Luke when he was elected President of that famousorganisation in 1631. Near the Place de Meir is the house of Rubens,largely a replica of the original built in the eighteenth century--fewvestiges of the building in which the great painter held his almostroyal court remaining. It is worth a visit, but is far inferior to thePlantin Museum as a memorial and in the interest and importance of itscontents.

[Illustration: "_LA VIERGE AU PERROQUET._"--RUBENS.]

On his death in 1640--"twenty years too early"--the artist was buriedin the church of St. Jacques, an edifice rivalling the cathedral insize and interest. It was the burial-place of many of the wealthiestfamilies in Antwerp. The Rubens chapel is in the ambulatory, behindthe high altar, and contains a picture of the "Holy Family" which,according to the critics, is one of the worst of the artist'spictures. Several of the faces are those of his own family, whichprobably was the reason why his widow placed it here.

Besides the paintings in various churches and museums in Flandersthere are twenty-three by Rubens in the museum at Brussels,seventy-seven in the Pinacothek at Munich, ninety at Vienna, sixty-sixat Madrid, fifty-four in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg and the samenumber in the Louvre at Paris, sixteen at Dresden, thirty-one atLondon, while a considerable number can be seen in various public andprivate art collections in the United States. "He is everywhere,"writes Prof. Wauters with justifiable enthusiasm, "and everywheretriumphant. No matter what pictures surround him, the effect isinvariable; those which resemble his own are eclipsed, those thatwould oppose him are silenced; wherever he is he makes you feel hispresence, he stands alone, and at all times occupies the firstplace.... He has painted everything--fable, mythology, history,allegory, portraits, animals, flowers, landscapes--and always in amasterly way.... Is he perfect? No one is. Has he faults? Assuredly.He is sometimes reproached with having neither the outline of Raphael,the depth of Leonardo da Vinci, the largeness of Titian, thenaturalness of Velasquez, nor the chiaroscuro of Rembrandt. But hehas the outline, the depth, the largeness, the naturalness and thechiaroscuro of Rubens; is not that enough?"

To appreciate fully the magnitude of this greatest of all Flemings itis necessary to recall, for a moment, the times in which he lived.Fourteen years after the capture of Antwerp by the Prince of Parma,Philip II determined--when on his deathbed--to give the SpanishNetherlands partial independence by transferring the sovereignty overthe loyal provinces possessed by the Crown of Spain to his daughterIsabella and her husband, the Archduke Albert. The arrival of theArchdukes, as they were called, in 1599, was made the occasion of ajoyous entry that, on the whole, was justified by theirGovernment--which was a great improvement over anything that hadpreceded it since the days of the unspeakable Alva. To be sure, thewar with the States of Holland still dragged on, and the Scheldt wasclosed. But the burghers wisely sought to replace the loss of theirsea trade by encouraging industries. Silk and satin manufacturesduring the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries gave employment toupwards of twelve thousand hands, and diamond-cutting became anindustry of growing importance. While the commercial stagnation wasseverely felt, the city did not decline like Bruges, but held much ofits population and recovered some of its former wealth.

The Archdukes, who were relieved of the paralysing necessity ofreferring every important act to Madrid, did their best to heal theterrible wounds of the early years of the war and restore some degreeof tranquillity and prosperity to their dominions. Religiouspersecutions ceased. Eager to win the love of their subjects, theArchdukes welcomed Rubens to Antwerp when he returned to his nativecity on the death of his mother in 1608, and in order to keep him fromreturning to Italy made him their court painter in 1609. During theremainder of his lifetime their favour never ceased, and on manyoccasions Rubens was sent as a special ambassador of the Government onimportant diplomatic missions. His courtly manners and statelyappearance favoured him, as well as his now tremendous artisticreputation. He was knighted by Charles I, while on a visit to England,and created a Master of Arts by the University of Cambridge. Among hisfriends he numbered--besides his royal patrons, Moretus, the printer,and Rockox, the burgomaster--many of the most famous scholars andstatesmen of his time. He was interested in literature and science aswell as art in all its branches and wrote a vast number of letters onan astounding variety of subjects--one calculation places the totalnumber at eight thousand!

[Illustration: PETER PAUL RUBENS.]

As if his own achievements were not enough, the genius of Rubens wasthe torch that set aflame a renaissance of Flemish painting that madethe later Flemish school, which justly bears his name, the peer of anyin the long history of art. Of his many pupils the greatest is AnthonyVan Dyck, who was born at Antwerp in 1599 and entered the studio ofthe master at the age of fifteen. In the little church of Saventhem,not far from Brussels, is the most famous of Van Dyck's earlypaintings which shows his precocious talent. Rubens had urged hispromising pupil to visit Italy, and not only gave him a letter ofintroduction but provided funds for the long journey. The youth setforth, but in a little village on the way there happened to be akermesse into the merriment of which he entered heartily. Among otherswith whom he danced was a beautiful country girl with whom the artistfell so deeply in love that he was unable to proceed any further, butdevoted himself for days to courting her. Meanwhile his funds ranout, and he bethought himself with horror, when it was too late, thatthis meant the abandonment of the trip to Italy. In his extremity heapplied to the parish priest and offered to paint an altarpiece forthe village church on very moderate terms. It is related that thepriest smiled indulgently at the youth's pretensions that he was ahistorical painter and put him off, saying that there were no funds.Van Dyck, however, persisted, and offered to paint the picture ifprovided only with the canvas, and leave the matter of the price tothe curé's liberality.

These terms could hardly be refused, and the young artist set to workwith such energy that in a few weeks the picture was finished. Thepriest admired the work greatly, particularly the beautiful figure ofthe Saint--the subject selected having been Saint Martin dividing hisCloak among the Beggars--and sent for a connoisseur from Brussels todecide if he should keep the picture. The verdict was favourable, andthe price paid to the artist enabled him to proceed on his journey toItaly. It is not reported whether the future painter of kings andcourtiers ever returned to visit his fair inamorata of the kermesse,but this pretty story, which is told in a rare little book, "Sketchesof Flemish Painters," published at The Hague in 1642, was written by acontemporary, and may quite possibly have been true. At any rate,there is the painting itself to prove it.

On his return to Antwerp in 1625 Van Dyck left behind him in Italymore than a hundred paintings, in itself a prodigious achievement. Henow began to work in his native city with a rapidity and perfectionresembling his master's and produced the altarpieces that are amongthe master works of Flemish churches. Here also he painted amarvellous galaxy of portraits of the great artists of his time and ofthe Flemish, French and Spanish nobility. His marvellous etchings alsobelong to this period, so that Antwerp is associated with much of hisfinest work in two great branches of art. In 1632 the artist went toLondon, which he had visited on one or two previous occasions, andbecame painter to the court of Charles I. Here he remained for therest of his lifetime, painting more than three hundred and fiftypictures portraying the royal family and nobility of England. He diedin 1641, or only a year after his master, leaving a record of variedachievement comprising more than one thousand, five hundred works. Themuseum at Antwerp possesses twelve of his paintings, of which one ofthe most interesting is the "Christ on the Cross" painted for theDominican nuns in recognition of the care and tenderness with whichthey had nursed his father during the old man's last illness. Thecatalogue of the museum somewhat conceals the artist's name under theFlemish form, Antoon Van Dijck, which hardly suggests the brilliantand debonnaire Sir Anthony of Whitehall and the beauties of Englandunder Charles the First. There are sixty-seven works by this master inVienna, forty-one at Munich, thirty-eight at St. Petersburg,twenty-four at the Louvre, twenty-one in Madrid and nineteen inDresden, but England possesses the largest collections of hisproductions, most of those he painted at London still remaining in thepublic and private galleries of that country.

It would be a tedious task to recount the names and works of thethrong of lesser artists who studied at the feet of Rubens and VanDyck during the fruitful years when those masters were giving theirtalents to the world with such amazing prodigality. Erasmus Quellin I,the Elder, was one of the first--a sculptor who founded a family ofnotable sculptors and painters who lived and gained renown atAntwerp for more than a century. Faid'herbe, whose work abounds atMalines, was another sculptor of the highest rank who was a directpupil of Rubens; Dusquesnoy, Grupello and Verbrugghen were renownedsculptors who owed much to his influence.

[Illustration: "AS THE OLD BIRDS SING THE YOUNG BIRDS PIPE."--JACOBJORDAENS.]

After Rubens and Van Dyck the greatest name in the Flemish school ofthis brilliant period was that of Jacob Jordaens, who learned his artunder Rubens' old master, Adam Van Noort, and married his teacher'sbeautiful daughter Catherine, who posed for many of his pictures. Thenumerous family gatherings depicted by this master are famous, one ofthe most characteristic of them all being the well-known "As the OldBirds Sing the Young Birds Pipe" in the Antwerp museum. His satyrs andpeasants and rural scenes are among the finest products of the Flemishschool. The religious pictures of Gaspard de Crayer and GerardZeghers, the portraits of Cornelius de Vos, and the animal pictures ofFrancis Snyders and John Fyts all belong to this epoch when Antwerp,although sinking in commercial and political importance, was makingherself for all time one of the art capitals of the world.

In pictures of homely Flemish life David Teniers, who belongs to thenext generation of Antwerp artists, achieved a fame that places him ina sense in a class by himself, for none of the earlier masterssurpassed him in his particular field. He, too, was prolific--onecatalogue enumerating no less than six hundred and eighty-five of hisworks. Of the same genre is the work of Adrian Brauwer, whose earlydeath prevented him from leaving so great a legacy to posterity.Besides these masters of the first rank, Antwerp boasts an almostinnumerable throng of minor artists--pupils of Rubens, Van Dyck andtheir successors--much of whose work is of excellent merit. Anyhalf-dozen of these would have rendered another city notable in thehistory of art, but here their achievements are lost as are the heroicdeeds of the private soldiers in a great army. The mind cannot retainso many names, cannot appraise and classify so bewildering a mass ofproductions.

For this reason the tourist who is a philosopher will not regard tooseriously the dicta of the learned as to which of these lesserpaintings is or is not of the first rank in the order of merit. Whatof it if the guidebook does not indicate by its little stars that thisis a picture for one to go into raptures over, if the sacristan orguide passes it coldly by? If it appeals to us by all means let uspause and admire it, let us study it, find out about it, learnsomething of its history and that of the unknown artist who paintedit. Indeed, if on such closer inspection it still appeals to us, letus buy it if we can--but at all events let us enjoy it to the utmost,for of such joys Flanders is full. In out of the way cornerseverywhere one can find genre pictures like those of Tenier,brilliantly coloured groups suggestive of Rubens, scenes of bucolicfeasting in imitation of Jordaens. And here and there, who knows,perhaps one may yet discover an original by one of these greaterartists or their rare predecessors, and retire on the proceeds! Whoknows?

The visitor to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts at Antwerp should notleave without devoting at least a day to the modern paintings. To anAmerican, accustomed to museums where long walls filled with drearymediocrities are illuminated only at rare intervals with somethingaltogether fine and satisfactory, these modern galleries are a treat.Picture after picture, room after room--all are beautiful and worthy,many are splendid. The collection of modern paintings is not large asEuropean galleries go, some five hundred and fifty altogether, butthe general average of quality is exceptionally high--much superior inthis respect it seemed to us than the far larger collection atBrussels, though it is not so regarded by the critics. The interiorsof Henri de Braekeleer, and his charming Nursery Garden, for example,what could be finer? The "Ancient Fishmarket" at Antwerp by FransBossuet, a native of Ypres; the "Lull before the Storm," by P. J.Clays, of Bruges, one of whose paintings is in the Metropolitan Museumat New York--all these are notable. So are the historical pictures ofBaron Leys, Guffens, Louis Gallait and Charles Verlat--but the list istoo long. These pictures are not to be described, they must be seen.Individually the savants may quarrel as to their merits, but, takingthem all together, these paintings--for the most part by Flemishartists--prove that the great traditions of Rubens and Van Dyck,Jordaens and Teniers, have not been forgotten in their native land andthat modern Flemish art is a worthy successor to the greatness of thepast.

The lover of the beautiful has yet another treat in store for him whenhe visits the famous old Hotel de Ville. It had hardly beencompleted, in 1565, by Cornelis de Vriendt when it was partiallydestroyed during the Spanish Fury. Rebuilt a few years later in itspresent form, it contains some of the most beautiful rooms to be seenin all Europe. The vestibule and grand staircase are richly decoratedwith coloured marble, while imposing frescoes depict the zenith ofAntwerp's commercial and artistic splendour. The great reception-roomis decorated with four superb historical frescoes by Baron Leys, whilethe exquisite Salle des Mariages is completely surrounded withallegorical paintings portraying the history of the marriage ceremonyby Lagye, a pupil of Leys. In the rooms of this edifice the history ofthe famous old city lives again, while in its splendid fireplaces andminor decorations one can see examples of every branch of Flemish art.

[Illustration: HOTEL DE VILLE, ANTWERP.]

While the Hotel de Ville is most gratifying to the eye and theimagination, it is not, however, intimately associated with manyimportant events in the history of the city. Albert and Isabella,while they ruled, were virtually independent sovereigns, but on thedeath of Albert without issue, in 1621, the country reverted to Spain.Thereafter, for more than two centuries, the city, together withFlanders, Brabant and the other loyal provinces of the Netherlands,became the football of European politics, and Belgium received itssinister name of "the co*ckpit of Europe." The people, as a whole, tooklittle interest in the great wars of the Spanish and of the AustrianSuccessions that were fought largely to decide who should rule overthem, since there seemed no likelihood of their in any event everbeing able again to rule over themselves. Marlborough, after his greatvictory at Ramillies, occupied the city with English troops in 1706,and in 1715 the Hotel de Ville was the scene of the signing of thetreaty that ended the war. By this treaty the Spanish Netherlands wereceded to Austria, becoming subject to the Emperor Charles VI. Thirtyyears later the French victory at Fontenoy made them masters of thecity, and Louis XV had a joyous entry the following year. Two yearslater, in 1748, the country was handed back to Austria and Charlesmade a joyous entry in turn, the people apparently welcoming anychange of government with complete impartiality. The Empress MariaTheresa was popular in her Netherlands dominions, but her son JosephII made Austrian rule so odious that there was a revolt, and in 1790Antwerp was taken by the patriot army, to the immense joy of itscitizens. The Austrians soon crushed the revolution and reoccupied thecity, but the great victory of the French republicans, underDumouriez, at Jemappes destroyed the power of Austria in theNetherlands, and in 1792 the army of the _sans-culottes_ enteredAntwerp. The defeat of Dumouriez at Neerwinden resulted in theImperial forces again occupying the city in 1793, but the Frenchvictory at Fleurus the following year turned the tables again andAntwerp once more became subject to the republic.

All these years the Scheldt had been firmly closed, Joseph II havingmade a feeble attempt to free the river, which had collapsed at thefirst shot from the Dutch forts. In 1795 the free navigation of theriver was decreed by the French, and a ship came up and was receivedin state by the delighted burghers. It is stated that the value ofreal estate in the city increased tenfold in consequence of thisdecree. On the other hand, the _sans-culottes_ very nearly rivalledthe image-breakers in the vigour with which they destroyed the city'sreligious monuments. The cathedral and churches were despoiled, and itwas even proposed to tear down the cathedral, because (they said), "itcannot be reckoned a monument of any value except for the lead, iron,copper and timber it contains." Fortunately Napoleon seized the reinsof power at Paris at about this time, and put an end to such nonsense.In 1803 the First Consul visited Antwerp, which--as he afterwardssaid--was "like a loaded pistol pointed at the heart of England."Filled with this idea, he systematically sought to revive the commerceof the port and erected great docks there for his war vessels,portions of which still remain. In 1814, after the Emperor's defeatand abdication, Antwerp, under Gen. Carnot, was the last Frenchstronghold in the Netherlands to yield.

After the second defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo Antwerp succeeded inrecovering most of the paintings that had been carried away to Franceby the republicans in 1794. The treaty that followed the lastNapoleonic war gave all of what is at present Belgium to the King ofHolland, William I, who favoured Antwerp in many ways. As the Scheldtstill remained free the commerce of the port was considerable andprosperity seemed to be returning. In 1830 began the revolution thatresulted in the independence of Belgium. One of its first events wasthe bombardment of the city of Antwerp by the Dutch troops holdingthe citadel. The following year Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gothawas elected by the National Congress as King of the Belgians under thetitle of Leopold I. The war with Holland was not yet over, however,and in 1832 the English, French and Belgian troops began a siege ofthe citadel at Antwerp, which was still in the hands of the Dutch. Thefortress had one hundred and forty-three guns, and the besiegers twohundred and twenty-three, and it is stated that sixty-three thousandprojectiles were fired against it. The fortress was a mass of ruinsbefore its sturdy defenders capitulated.

From 1832 until 1914 Antwerp and the liberty-loving Flemings ofancient Flanders remained free, happy and increasingly prosperousunder the wise and moderate rule of their chosen Kings. Leopold Ireigned until his death in 1865, and proved to be one of the wisestmonarchs in history. For Antwerp his greatest achievement was thefinal freeing of the River Scheldt in 1863, after more than ten yearsof diplomatic negotiations, from the tolls which the Dutch hadinsisted in levying since 1839. Under his successor, Leopold II, oneof the most efficient chief executives it was possible for a nation tohave, the fine Belgian public service system was developed and theprosperity of its cities and citizens promoted in every practical way.In the two decades following the freeing of the Scheldt the commerceof the port of Antwerp increased six-fold, while that of its rivals,London and Liverpool, doubled and that of Hamburg and Rotterdamtripled. Since then the business of the port has advanced even faster,and the imposing modern business buildings that now line the Place deMeir, one of the handsomest commercial streets in the world, affordabundant testimony to its prosperity and wealth--as do the fineresidences of its merchants to be seen in drives through the outskirtsof the city. Under Albert I the wise policies of his predecessors werecontinued, and the little country was enjoying peace and contentmentsuch as never came to it during the centuries of foreign oppressionand tyranny that began with the acquisition of Flanders and Brabant bythe Dukes of Burgundy. It is the greatest moral issue in this warwhether Belgium, after being free for less than eighty-five years,shall once more pass into the hands of a foreign power. Its peoplehave demonstrated conclusively that under the limited monarchy theyhave chosen they are capable of governing themselves far better thanthe best of their self-appointed masters ever did in the bad old daysthat, they had hoped, had forever passed away.

CHAPTER XXI

WHERE MODERN FLANDERS SHINES--OSTENDE AND "LA PLAGE"

Our last stopping place in Flanders was the one that many touristsvisit first, the gay watering place of Ostende. Here a little fleet offast Channel steamers convey the traveller to Dover in four or fivehours, while an excellent service of through express trains connectthe Dover end of the water route with London, and the Ostende end withBrussels, Berlin and half the capitals of Europe. Our stay inFlanders, however, was drawing to a close, and we were headed forLiverpool, where the new _Aquitania_ was waiting to bear us home.

The tourist who expects in Ostende to find much that is reminiscent ofthe Flanders of the sixteenth century, of which so much has been saidin the other chapters of this book, will be disappointed. To be sure,it is not a young city, being mentioned in the chronicles of Flandersas far back as the eleventh century. In the Eighty Years' War betweenSpain and her revolted Dutch colonies Ostende was for a long time heldby the Dutch, who beat off two severe attacks by the Spaniards in 1583and 1586, the former led by the all but invincible Farnese, Prince ofParma. In the year 1600 the Battle of the Dunes took place atNieuport, in which the troops of the Archduke Albert were defeated bya Dutch army under Maurice, Prince of Nassau. This victory, while itgave great encouragement to the enemies of Spain by demonstrating thatthe renowned Spanish soldiers were not invincible, was otherwisebarren of results, and in 1601 the Archdukes determined to besiegeOstende, which was the last stronghold of the Dutch in Flanders.

Prior to the war with Philip II Ostende had been little more than anobscure fishing-village, but since it had been fortified by the Dutch,and had so successfully maintained itself against all assaults, theplace was fast becoming a "thorn in the foot" to the government of theArchdukes. Queen Elizabeth, whose defeats of Philip's armadas had madeEngland mistress of the seas, was determined that Spain should notregain so important a strategic base, and had kept an English garrisonthere under an English commander. Since Albert's accession the townhad been greatly strengthened by new ramparts, bastions andfortifications of every type, then known in the engineering art ofwarfare. To protect Flanders against this hostile fortress in its verymidst the Archdukes were obliged to erect eighteen forts aroundOstende and keep them constantly garrisoned and supplied. This costninety thousand crowns a month and kept the rich province in a stateof perpetual war. Towns in the vicinity were compelled to pay tributein order to escape pillage, and commerce--then, as always, dependentupon peace--languished.

The Estates of Flanders under these direful conditions offered theArchdukes three hundred thousand florins a month as long as the siegeto rid them of this menacing stronghold might last, and three hundredthousand florins additional as a bonus to be paid in instalments--athird when the city was invested, a third when a breach was made inthe fortifications, and the balance when the place was taken. Theseterms are curiously similar to those employed in drawing buildingloans at the present day and show that the Flemings had lost none oftheir ancient caution.

On July 5th, 1601, the Archduke Albert arrived before Ostende andformally began its investment. The Infanta Isabella came with him,and often shared camp life with her husband during the weary monthsthat followed. The siege from the very first developed into a contestof engineers and military strategists on the taking and the defence offortified places the like of which had never before been known inEurope. In fact nearly all Europe was directly engaged in theconflict. On the Archdukes' side were Spaniards, Italians andWalloons; on the ramparts of the defenders were lined up side by sideEnglish, Dutch, French, German and Scotch forces. The fortress wascommanded by Sir Francis Vere. The operations of the siege consistedof mining and counter-mining, the erection and destruction ofbatteries, storming of outlying works--all the devices of attack anddefence known to the military science of the day. Never before had theworld seen such cannons and engines of destruction. The siege becameHomeric, epic, a seventeenth-century Siege of Troy.

The great difficulty of the besiegers was their inability to cut offthe town from receiving new provisions and supplies, and a constantstream of reinforcements, by sea. The Dutch, English and French shipscame and went almost at will. All the summer and fall of 1601 thesiege dragged on, and through the cold winter that followed. In 1602Sir Francis Vere and a large part of the garrison were relieved and anew commander and garrison installed without the Archdukes being ableto prevent the manoeuvre. In 1603 Ambrose, the Marquis Spinola, ayoung scion of a rich Genoese family, offered to take charge of thesiege of Ostende and to capture the city. As the Archduke Albert hadmade a complete failure of the job, and was unpopular besides amonghis troops, whom he had not been able to pay with any regularity, hewelcomed this offer and Spinola assumed the command. His wealthenabled him to pay and feed his soldiers, while his youth and ambitionmade him a wary and energetic commander. Day and night he took part inperson in supervising the mines, assaults, trenches and erection ofnew positions. Gradually, under his vigorous leadership, the besiegersbegan to burrow their way into the town. Maurice of Nassau, unable topierce Spinola's network of entrenchments around the town created adiversion by besieging and capturing Sluys. In spite of this, however,Spinola clung doggedly to his prey and on September 13th, 1603, SandHill, after a resistance of three years, was captured. Seven dayslater the Governor, who now controlled nothing but the heart of thetown, capitulated and on September 22nd, the garrison marched out withall the honours of war. Hardly a soul of the former population ofOstende remained at the time of its capture, and it is said that theArchduch*ess Isabella "wept at the sight of the mound of earth, allthat remained of the city which she had been so anxious to capture."It was estimated that the place, which had been little more than avillage, cost the besiegers one hundred thousand lives and thedefenders sixty thousand. The siege had lasted three years, two monthsand seventeen days, but the "thorn" had at last been extracted.

For several years after this Ostende remained a city withoutinhabitants, the Archdukes rebuilding the place but population comingto it but slowly. In 1722 The East and West India Company of theAustrian Netherlands was founded at Ostende, chiefly by Antwerpcapitalists and merchants, who were deeply interested in theenterprise. Factories were established in India, but the EmperorCharles VI dissolved the company in 1731 in order to secure Englishand Dutch support for his Pragmatic Sanction. The next century was oneof stagnation, the town reverting to a fishing-place, but almost atthe moment of Belgian independence--or from about 1830--it began to berenowned as a watering-place. It owes much of its present prosperityto Leopold II, who made it a place of royal residence during thesummer, and whose royal palace still looks down upon the _Digue_ notfar from the racetrack. The coming of the cross-channel steamers stillfurther stimulated its growth, and at present it is one of the mostbeautiful and picturesque of all the Flemish cities.

Our visit was unfortunate--as we regretfully told one another at thetime--in that it came in July, before the season had really opened.August is the time to come, the waiters and hotel porters all assuredus, for then the Grand Dukes come from Russia, the long special trainsfrom Germany roll in one after another loaded to capacity, the Channelsteamers arrive three times a day with decks black with Englishtourists, and Ostende's many kinds of gaiety are in full swing.However, the opening of the August season in 1914 was conducted undercirc*mstances that made us rather glad we were there in July. TheGermans came, to be sure, but the gaiety departed.

No one in Ostende foresaw a bit of the terrible future when we werethere in July. The long curving beach was crowded with people,little people for the most part, and most of the queer littlebeach-houses--summer cottages on wheels--were gradually gettingrented. The beach is splendidly broad and smooth, but the slopeseaward is so slight that at low tide one must needs go very far outto get into the water at all. This did not seem to trouble anybodyvery much, for we saw few who ever went near the water, most of thepleasure-seekers staying on the warm, dry sand up near the big slopingsea wall of the _Digue_. For families with small children the littlesummer-houses seemed rather attractive, as papa and mamma could sitwithin, sheltered from sun or rain, while the youngsters rollicked allday long in the deep sand.

The _Digue_ just mentioned is a high artificial seawall or embankment,faced with sloping stone on the sea side and surmounted by a broadboulevard--the Esplanade. It slopes gradually on the landward side,one row of stately hotels and lodging-houses facing directly on theEsplanade, while on the side streets the buildings drop each below theother until they reach the level of the town, which is some forty orfifty feet lower than the summit of the embankment. Here thefashionable crowds promenade at the proper times, while theunfashionable promenade all day long and far into the night. Even inJuly the sight is a most fascinating one, and the Bohemianism of thecrowd and its diversity of national types most interesting. Here, aseverywhere in Belgium, the cafés and hotels place their tables andchairs far out into the roadway, so that we can sit outdoors in themanner that the Madame so much enjoys and eat our dinner, or sip ourcoffee and cognac, while watching the ever-changing crowds go by.

At Ostende the scale of expenses for everything, rooms, meals,service, pleasure, cigars, tips, and even for the English newspapers,increases or falls according to the proximity or remoteness of the_Digue_. If you are on top of it--look out! To Americans thecharges, even in the finer big hotels, do not seem particularlyexcessive--though in August they are usually much higher than inJuly--but there is a constant succession of incidental expenses thatmake the voyager as a rule hurry more than once to the banker wherehis letter of credit can have another illegible notation made on it.Externally the hotels are very imposing and stately--making a braveshow as one looks down the long line that extends for several milesfrom the harbour entrance westward to Westende and beyond half way toNieuport. Within they are pretty much like all Belgian hotels of thebetter class. For the novelty of the thing we thought of renting oneof the tiny _apartements meublés_, that, each with a charming broadwindow--usually open all day long like a piazza--look out directlyupon the sea. The price was a thousand francs a month, which seemedtoo much for what was after all little more than one big room with analcove. The landlady informed us that she attended to all the detailsof the _ménage_, cooking and serving the meals and providing maidservice, but that messieurs must provide the provisions, both solidand liquid.

The great show place of Ostende is, of course, the Kursaal, a hugestructure of glass, iron and stone belonging to no particular schoolof architecture, but in the main making a pleasing impression andserving very well indeed for the somewhat diversified uses for whichit is intended. In the daytime the Kursaal is a place of relativelylittle interest, although well-dressed people flock through it at allhours. At night it is the scene of much animation, and is, as it wasmeant to be, the centre of the gay life of the town. A largeorchestra gives a concert every evening in a very pretty concert hall,which, when we were there, contained numerous little tables forrefreshments, although I have seen pictures in which the room wasfilled with seats in solid rows, like a theatre. It was much morecomfortable the way we found it, and the concert was very enjoyable.At the intermission, however, we observed that nearly everybody roseand flocked off into an anteroom leading out of the concert hall. TheProfessor and I decided that there appeared to be "something doing" inthat direction and followed the crowd, leaving the ladies to lookafter our wraps, and promising to return and get them if we foundanything worth while.

I fear that the narrative of our experience may sound a bit like anextract from _Innocents Abroad_, but I will relate the thing as ithappened and make no pretence that we were a bit more sophisticatedthan we really were. The crowd seemed to be headed through a long andhandsome corridor toward a distant room. We followed along, passing onthe way what looked more or less like the office of a hotel, with aregister book and two or three clerks, to which we paid no attention.Arrived at the end of the corridor we found ourselves in a largecircular room around which were a number of small tables on whichvisitors were rolling balls down toward a group of pockets--some sucha game as one sees at Coney Island or any popular American amusem*ntresort. The price was two francs for three shots, and barkers wereshouting lustily to all comers to try their luck. On one side adoorway was heavily curtained with velvet draperies and hereoccasional groups of the guests were silently disappearing. Weapproached this mysterious passageway and sought to pass like theothers when two tiny lads in brilliant livery demanded our cards. Onour replying that we had none, a large man, also in livery, appearedfrom somewhere behind the draperies and courteously informed us thatspecial membership or admission cards were required from all whowished to proceed further.

We thereupon returned to the ladies and reported what we had seen, andtook our turn at looking after the wraps while they visited thecircular room. They likewise returned, reporting that admission beyondthe curtains had been refused. After the concert was over we decidedto make another attempt--as both the Professor and I surmised whatattraction lay beyond the mysterious portal. Pausing at the hoteloffice we had previously noticed, we asked bluntly how admission tothe hidden room could be secured, and were told that a card would begiven each of us on the sole formality of registering. This weaccordingly did, giving our names, hotel address, home address and onereference. This done, we each received a card admitting two anddeparted to find the Madame and Mrs. Professor.

Arriving at the doorway armed with the cards we had received, we wereushered at once into a very handsome room where perhaps three hundredpeople were gathered about half a dozen roulette tables. No one paidthe slightest attention to us, nor did any employé appear to carewhether we played or contented ourselves with merely looking on.Practically every one in the room, however, was playing--with all thetense earnestness that this game of chance seems to impress upon itsdevotees. White chips, we observed, cost five francs, reds twenty,round blues a hundred--or twenty dollars. There were, in addition, alarge ovalshaped blue, marked five hundred and an oblong one markedone thousand. In less than three minutes one player lost eight of thethousand franc chips, and then, this being apparently enough forthe evening, lit a cigar and started for home. While he was playing weobserved an over-painted young woman who had just lost her last stakesolicit a loan from him. He tossed the girl a hundred-franc chip andleft without pausing to see whether she won or lost with it. We weremore curious. She lost.

[Illustration: THE "SALLE DES JEUX" IN THE KURSAAL, OSTENDE.]

At about this period of the evening the Madame raised a commotion bydiscovering that her reticule was open and a piece of money had fallenout onto the thick carpet. The Professor and I instantly got down tolook for it, and even the croupiers at the adjoining gaming tablepaused to take in the incident. Two or three attendants and waitershurried up to help when the Madame spied her lost coin andtriumphantly seized it. It was a one centime piece--worth a fifth of acent! I have never seen a more disgusted-looking group of attendants,and doubt if so small a coin had ever been seen before in thisnorthern Monte Carlo. The Madame, however, was serenely indifferent totheir opinion. This was the nearest, I may add, that we came to losingany money there.

At the end of the Esplanade is the Estacade, a pier that extends wellout to sea. Pleasure steamers start here for short trips along thecoast, and turning to the right at this end of the town one comes tothe harbour and the broad basin where hundreds of little brown-sailedshrimp fishing-boats congregate. Several of these came in while wewere there and sold their cargoes, almost as soon as they were tiedup, to groups of eager market-women with big baskets. Several girlssat along the quay wall mending huge nets also used in the shrimpfishery. The little back streets in this vicinity, and around thequaint fish-market, are the oldest in the town--and the most crooked.

The principal business street of the little city is the rue de Flandreand its continuation, the rue de la Chapelle, which together take onefrom the Digue de Mer straight to the railway and boat stations. Onone side of this street is the Place d'Armes, where a military bandplayed every evening, and facing which is the Hotel de Ville. Our lastday was spent poking about this part of the town in a pouring rain,with an occasional peep into huge cafés designed to accommodate athousand guests, but which were then almost deserted. The rain ceasedsuddenly toward nightfall and we returned to the Digue for a farewelllook at the crowds and the long beach. It was night before we hadseen enough, and then, after ordering and enjoying to the utmost ourlast Flemish dinner, we made our way to the Gare Maritime to take thenight boat for Dover. As we steamed out past the long Estacade andlooked back upon the gleaming lights along the Digue we saw the moonrising redly above the masts in the little harbour. This was our lastview of Flanders, and, as we regretfully saw the lights of the citysink out of sight behind the tossing waves that gleamed brightly underthe moonbeams, we knew that our pilgrimage was over.

CHAPTER XXII

THE SPELL OF FLANDERS

In this little book the author has endeavoured to portray as clearlyas his limited powers of expression permitted, some of the manyelements that make the spell that Flanders lays upon the minds andhearts of those who know it and love it well. It is a complexinfluence, composed of many and widely diverse factors. If in thenarrative a thread of history has been permitted to obtrude itself,sometimes perhaps at undue length, it is because before all elseFlanders is a land whose interest lies in its long and romantichistory, and in the marvellous manner in which its artists andsculptors have portrayed its famous past. As Mr. Griffis in "Belgium,the Land of Art," has well expressed it, "No other land is richer inhistory or more affluent in art than is Belgium. In none have devout,industrious, patriotic and gifted sons told their country's story moreattractively. By pen and in print, on canvas, in mural decoration, insculpture, in monuments of bronze and marble, in fireplaces and inwood-carving, the story may be read as in an illuminated missal.Belfries, town halls, churches, guild houses, have each and all acharm of their own." If these pages have caught ever so little of thatcharm they have served their purpose.

To the student of history, of art and architecture, of tapestry andlace-making, of the origin of the great woollen and linen industries,of guilds and the organisation of labour, of the commune or municipalrepublic in its earliest and finest development, and--before allelse--of liberty in its age-long conflict with tyranny and oppression,Flanders is a land of endless interest and inspiration. Nowhere elsein the world can there be found within so small a compass so manymonuments of the past, so many of the milestones of human progress.That some of these relate to a past so remote as to be all butforgotten, while others are hidden away in spots where few touristsever penetrate, only enhances the pleasure of those who are sopersevering or so fortunate as to find them.

Like rare wine, Flanders has mellowed with age, the storms andsunshine of succeeding centuries touching its fine old houses, itsnoble churches and splendid town halls and guild houses butlightly--imparting the majesty of antiquity without the sadness ofdecay. Its dramatic and tragic history--some of which was so terriblein the making--lives again, without the old-time rancour and hatred,as the foundation upon which artists with chisel, brush or pen havecreated some of the finest of the world's masterpieces.

That to-day Flanders has once more, as so often in the past, becomethe battleground of warring Europe gives an element of inexpressiblesadness to these feeble attempts to sketch its glories as they wereonly a few short months ago. Already some of the splendid monumentsdescribed in these pages have been shattered by engines of war moredestructive than all those of all former wars taken together. Thenoble Hotel de Ville at Ypres, the fine old church of St. Nicholas atDixmude, the incomparable cathedral of Malines--we know that these atleast have suffered fearfully, that they may have been injured beyondany hope of restoration.

In this last sad chapter of Flemish history, it is a pleasure to beable to record the fact that the people of the United States have forthe first time entered its pages--and in a work of mercy. To theAmerican people have been given the opportunity, the means and thedisposition to play a noble part in this later history of muchtroubled Flanders--to feed the starving, care for the widowed andorphaned non-combatants of the great war, to help bind up the nation'swounds and restore hope and courage to its fearfully afflicted people.This is our part in the history of Flanders--our duty to the people ofthe brave nation of which Flanders forms so important and so famous apart. May all of those on whom the spell of Flanders falls do theirshare, however small, to help in this great work so long as the needlasts!

And when the great war is over let no American tourist omit Flandersfrom his or her European itinerary. Its churches and town halls, itsquaint crooked streets and sixteenth-century houses, have received anew and greater baptism of fire that has made them, one and all,shrines to which every lover of liberty should make a pilgrimage. Eventhe pleasant Belgian fields, with their bright poppies and cornflowers, have a more profound interest now that so many of them havebeen stained with a deeper red than the poppies ever gave.

THE END

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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 CROWE, SIR J. A. and CAVALCASELLE, C. B.: The Early Flemish Painters, Notices of their lives and work.

 DE FLOU, CHARLES: Promenades dans Bruges.

 DELEPIERRE, OCTAVE: Annales de Bruges. -- Chasse de Ste. Ursule. -- Histoire de Charles le Bon. -- Histoire de Marie de Bourgogne. -- Galerie des Artistes Brugeois. -- Old Flanders, or Popular Traditions and Legends of Belgium. -- Sketch of the History of Flemish Literature.

 DESTRÉE, J. and VAN DEN VEN, P.: Tapisseries des Musées Royaux du Cinquantenaire à Bruxelles.

 DESTRÉE, OLIVER GEORGES: The Renaissance of Sculpture in Belgium.

 DUCLOS, AD.: Bruges, Histoire et Souvenirs.

 EDWARDS, GEORGE WHARTON: Some Old Flemish Towns.

 FRIS, VICTOR: Histoire de Gand.

 FROISSART, SIR JOHN: Chronicles of England, France, Spain and the Adjoining Countries.

 FROMENTIN, EUGÈNE: The Old Masters of Belgium and Holland (Les maîtres d'autrefois).

 GÉNARD, P.: Anvers à travers les Ages. -- La Furie Espagnole, in Annales de l'Académie d'Archéologie d' Anvers.

 GEFFROY, GUSTAVE: Les Musées d'Europe: La Belgique.

 GILLIAT-SMITH, ERNEST: The Story of Bruges.

 GORDON, PRYSE L.: Belgium and Holland.

 GRIFFIS, W. E.: Belgium the Land of Art.

 HAGGARD, A. C. P.: Louis XI and Charles the Bold. -- Two Great Rivals (François I and Charles V).

 HAVARD, HENRY: La Flandre a vol d'oiseau.

 HOLLAND, CLIVE: Belgians at Home.

 HYMANS, HENRI: Anvers, in Les Villes d'Art célèbres. -- Bruges et Ypres, in same series. -- Gand et Tournai, in same series.

 JAMESON, MRS. ANNA BROWNELL: Sacred and Legendary Art. -- Legends of the Madonnas. -- Legends of the Monastic Orders.

 KERVYN DE LETTENHOVE: Huguenots et Gueux. -- La Flandre pendant les trois derniers Siècles.

 KINTSCHOTS, L.: Anvers et ses Faubourgs.

 KIRK, J. F.: History of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.

 KLINGENSTEIN, L.: The Great Infanta Isabel.

 MAC DONNELL, JOHN DE COURCY: Belgium, her Kings, Kingdom and People.

 MICHIELS, A.: Rubens et l'École d'Anvers.

 MOTLEY, JOHN LOTHROP: The Rise of the Dutch Republic. -- History of the United Netherlands.

 NAMÉCHE: Histoire Nationale de la Belgique.

 OMOND, GEORGE W. T.: Brabant and East Flanders. -- Belgium.

 PIRENNE, H.: Histoire de la Belgique.

 REIFFENBURG: Mémoire sur le Commerce des Pays-Bas au XVe et au XVIe Siècle. -- Histoire de l'Ordre de la Toison d'Or.

 ROBERTSON, WILLIAM: History of the Reign of the Emperor, Charles the Fifth.

 ROBINSON, WILFRID C.: Antwerp, an Historical Sketch.

 ROOSES, MAX: Art in Flanders. -- Christophe Plantin, Imprimeur anversois. -- Catalogue du Musée Plantin-Moretus. -- Geschiedenis de Antwerpsche schilderschool.

 ROYAL ACADEMY OF BELGIUM: Biographie Nationale.

 SCHAYES, A. G. B.: Histoire de Architecture en Belgique.

 SCOTT, SIR WALTER: Quentin Durward.

 SCUDAMORE, CYRIL: Belgium and the Belgians.

 SINGLETON, ESTHER: Art of the Belgian Galleries.

 SKRINE, FRANCIS HENRY: Fontenoy and the War of the Austrian Succession.

 SMYTHE, C.: The Story of Belgium.

 STEPHENS, F. G.: Flemish Relics.

 STRADA, FAMIANO: De Bello Belgico (in French, Histoire de la Guerre de Flandre).

 THORPE, BENJAMIN: Netherlandish Traditions, in his Northern Mythology.

 TREMAYNE, ELEANOR E.: The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria.

 VAN DE VYVERE, PAUL: Audenaerde et ses Monuments.

 VILBORT, JOSEPH: Renaissance de la Littérature flamande, les Romans non traduits de Henri Conscience.

 WAAGEN: Handbook of Painting in the German, Flemish and Dutch Schools.

 WAUTERS, PROFESSOR A. J.: The Flemish School of Painting.

 ZIMMERN, H.: The Hansa Towns.

INDEX

 A

 Aardenburg, 59.

 Adornes, Anselm and John, of Bruges, 309.

 Adrian of Utrecht, 341.

 Agincourt, Battle of, 220.

 Agrippa, Cornelius, 341.

 Aire, seized by Philip Augustus, 135.

 Albert, Archduke, and Regent of Spanish Netherlands, defeated in Battle of the Dunes, 96-98; portrait by Rubens, 441; arrival at Antwerp, 447; welcomes Rubens, 448; 457; siege of Ostende, 465-469.

 Albert I, King of the Belgians, makes headquarters at Furnes in the Great War, 87; continues wise policies of predecessors, 462; peace and contentment under reign of, 462-463.

 Alençon, Duke of, 419.

 Alfred the Great, taught by Judith, afterwards Countess of Flanders, 26; daughter Alfrida marries Baldwin II, 24; 182.

 Alfrida, daughter of Alfred the Great, 34; 182.

 Allen, Grant, "Belgium, its Cities," cited, 235.

 Allowin, afterwards St. Bavon, 181-182.

 Alost, seized by Spanish mutineers, 415.

 Alsace, revolts against tyranny of Charles the Bold, 289.

 Alva, Duke of, recommends destruction of Ghent, 352; made Regent of Spanish Netherlands, 381; 386; policy a failure, 414-415; 416; citadel and statue demolished, 418-419; 447.

 Amiens, repulses Charles the Bold, 289; 326.

 Angelo, Michael, Virgin and Child at Bruges, 51; compared with Rubens, 438.

 Antigonus, legend of, 393-394.

 Antoing, village near Fontenoy, 253; 255-256.

 Antwerp, an experience in, 8-11; crippled by closing of the Scheldt, 18-19; first view of, 20-21; 71; 170; 228; "_Ville d'Art_," 268; painting by Van der Weyden at, 272; works by Memling at, 299; merchants leave Bruges for, 300; 312; "renowned for its money," 320; 323; 324; Cathedral spire completed, 339-340; "monuments" classified, 363; legend of Antigonus and Brabo, 393-394; Scheldt displaces the Zwyn as a highway of commerce, 394-395; under Dukes of Brabant, 395-397; under Dukes of Burgundy, 397-398; _Vielle Boucherie_ and Steen, 399; new trade routes favour city, 399-401; Quentin Matsys, 401-403; other early Antwerp painters, 403-405; legends of the Long Wapper, Kludde, etc., 405-410; prosperity under Charles V, 411; outbreak of the iconoclasts, 412-413; failure of the Duke of Alva, 414-415; the "Spanish Fury," 415-418; citadel and statue of Alva demolished, 418-419; the "French Fury," 419; the great siege, 419-422; ruin resulting from the Fury and the siege, 422-423; the great printing house of Plantin-Moretus, 423-437; home of Rubens, 438-439; Cathedral, description of, 439-442; life and achievements of Rubens, 442-447; mild government of Archdukes, 447-448; Van Dyck, 449-452; Quellin, Jordaens, David Teniers and lesser Antwerp artists, 452-455; Royal Museum of Fine Arts, 455-456; Hotel de Ville, 456-457; later history from the Archdukes to the Great War, 457-463.

 Archery contests in Belgium, 105-110.

 Ardennes, 130.

 Arenburg, Duke of, 211.

 Arnolfini, Jean, and wife, portraits of, by Jean Van Eyck, 340.

 Arnulph the Great, strengthens Flemish cities, 35; founds St. Donatian's at Bruges, 35.

 Arras, Treaty of 1191, 189; Treaty of 1435, 222-223; tapestry workers organised, 230; tapestries of, 278-279; starting point otapestry weaving, 385.

 Artois, Count of, besieges Furnes, 90; leads French at Battle of the Spurs, 157; death, 159; 160; County of Artois ceded to France, 189.

 Audenaerde, tapestries, 5; guildsmen from at Battle of the Spurs, 157; 202; siege of by Philip Van Artevelde, 208; besieged bPhilip the Bold, 218; besieged by men from Ghent, 225; Louis XI drives tapestry weavers from Arras to, 278; tapestry ateliers specialise in pastoral scenes, 279; country around, described, 367-368; monument to volunteers who died in Mexico, 369-370; description of Hotel de Ville, 370-376; birthplace of Margaret of Parma, 377; communal museum in Hotel de Ville, 381-382; Cloth Hall, 382-383; church of Ste. Walburge, 383-385; tapestry weaving at, 385-387; church of Notre Dame de Pamela, 387-389; Château de Bourgogne, 390; many religious institutions of, 390; sieges and battles of the past, 391-392; 413.

 Austria, War of the Austrian Succession, 250; Austrian troops at Fontenoy, 251; arms of, at Audenaerde, 373; Flanders during Warof the Austrian Succession, 458; under Austrian Empire, 458-459.

 Auxerre, marriage of Baldwin I and Judith in 863, 26.

 B

 Baldwin of Constantinople, Count of Flanders, 129-139; painting of, at Courtrai, 152; 153; 162; 189; 197; portrait of, 373.

 Baldwin of the Iron Arm, first Count of Flanders, 26; remains of old Bourg, 27; traces of chapel, 28; 55-56; 57; 218.

 Baldwin II, marries Alfrida, 34; fortifies Flemish towns, 34-35; 182.

 Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, tower of, at Audenaerde, 376.

 Baldwin VIII, signs Treaty of Arras, 189.

 Basina, marriage to Childeric at Tournai, 246-247; 265.

 Basinus, King of the Thuringians, 246.

 Battle of the Spurs, 58; 119; account of, 156-160; 177; 191; effects of, 192-193; 196; 224; 314.

 Bazaine, Marshal of France, 370.

 Beaconsfield, Lord, quoted, 251.

 Beaune, painting by Van der Weyden at, 271.

 Beauvais, repulses Charles the Bold, 289; 387.

 Béguinage, at Bruges, 33-36; origin of institution, 34-35; Grand Béguinage at Ghent, 35; description of, 209-213; Petit Béguinage at Ghent, 210; at Audenaerde, 390.

 Belfry, at Bruges, built above the Boterbeke, 27; history and description of, 63-67; at Courtrai, 147-148; at Ghent, 184; description of, 195-198; at Tournai, description of, 262-263; at Bruges, completed under Margaret of Austria, 340.

 Belgian coast, 16; Belgian barbers, 44-46; Belgian State Railway train service, 79-83; Belgian popular sports, 105-115; Belgian thrift, 216-217; Belgian State Railway, working peoples' trains, 242-245.

 Bellegambe, 274.

 Bergues, canal from Nieuport to, 104.

 Berthout, Gauthier, Bishop of Malines, 312.

 Berthout, Jean, Bishop of Malines, 314.

 Bertulph, Provost of St. Donatian, 37; executed at Ypres, 40-41.

 Bicycle racing in Belgium, 111-112.

 _Billets d'abonnement_, 3; 79; for working-people, 242-243.

 Biloque (or Biloke) Hospital at Ghent, 209.

 Bladelin, Peter, town house at Bruges, 309; founder of Middleburg, 309.

 Blankenberghe, from the sea, 16; part of the Franc of Bruges, 59; 324.

 Blasère, William de, constructs first hothouse at Ghent, 356.

 Blaton, 368.

 Blondeel, Lancelot, 61.

 Blücher, 359.

 Bosch, Jerome, 341; 405.

 Botanical Garden at Malines, 316; at Ghent, 356-358.

 Boterbeke River, intersection with the Roya, 26; subterranean channel of, 27.

 Boulger, "History of Belgium," quoted, 293.

 Bouts, Dierick, life and principal works, 307-309; 341; 401.

 Bouvines, Battle of, 136.

 Brabant, Duchy of, 137; united to Flanders by marriages of Cambrai, 218-219; Philip the Good becomes Duke of, 221; Duke of, at siege of Tournai, 249; 286; Dukes of, contend with Counts of Flanders for Malines, 315; Dukes of, rule over Antwerp, 395-397.

 Brabo, legend of, 393-394.

 Braekeleer, Henri de, "Nursery Garden" in Antwerp Museum, 456.

 Braine-le-Comte, Flemish name for, 150.

 Brauwer, Adrian, 454.

 Breidel, John, Dean of Butchers' Guild at Bruges, 154; at the Matin de Bruges 155-156; at the Battle of Courtrai, 157-160.

 Breughel, Peter the Elder, principal works and characteristics, 404-405.

 _Brioches_, 46.

 Britto, Jean, printer at Bruges, 58.

 Broederlam, Melchior, early painter of Ypres, 230-231.

 Broel Towers at Courtrai, 164.

 Brou, in Savoy, 335-336.

 Bruges, repels Philip the Good in 1437, 4; murder of Charles the Good, 4-5 and 36-42; lace makers at, 5; the first capital of Flanders, 13; first visit to, 24; founding of, 26; derivation of name, 26-27; _Vieux Bruges_ (old Bruges), 27-28; more tourists than formerly, 30; some quaint old streets, 31; lacemakers on rue du Rouleau, 32; fortified by Baldwin II, 34; from Charles the Good to Marie of Burgundy, 52-53; charter granted by Philip of Alsace, 55; description of Hotel de Ville, 57-59; Belfry and chimes, 65-67; _Halles_, description of, 67-68; period of greatest commercial activity, 68-70; silting up of the Zwyn, 70-71; Baldwin of Constantinople holds court at, 137; artisans from Ypres move to, 145; revolt against the French, 154; visit of King of France, 155; the Matin de Bruges, 155-156; guildsmen from Bruges at Battle of the Spurs, 157; 171; superseded by Ghent as capital of Flanders, 189; 190; 192; 197; influence of Jacques Van Artevelde in, 200; capital of Louis of Maele, 205; 210; Philip the Good establishes Order of the Golden Fleece, 221-222; the Bruges Vespers, 223-224; the "Great Humiliation," 224-225; Guild of St. Luke organised, 229-230; Jehan de Bruges, 230; "_Ville d'Art_," 268; 277; principal capital of Charlesthe Bold, 287; marriage of Maximilian and Marie of Burgundy, 294; Memling at Bruges, 294-299; Gheerhardt David, 299-300; other early Flemish painters, 300-302; the Gruuthuise Palace, 302-305; Cathedral of St. Sauveur, 305-307; other fine old mediæval buildings, 309-310; 312; "renowned for its pretty girls," 321; 323; Treaty of Cambrai, 338-339; Belfry completed under Margaret of Austria, 340; 344; paintings by Van der Goes, 362; "monuments" classified, 363; 366; 393; 394; 397; 398; attempt to close the Scheldt, 399-400; 401; 434; 448; 456.

 Brunehault, rival of Fredegonda, 247-248.

 Brussels, 9; relation to Flanders, 12-13; more French than Flemish, 13; weather at, 22-23; passage through, 24; 150; 170; 219; Hotel de Ville built by Philip the Good, 228; tapestry workers organised, 230; part of the "Adoration of the Lamb" in Museum, 238; 243; work of Van der Weyden at, 271; "Abdication of Charles V," by Gallait at, 273; Stallaert's "Death of Dido" at, 274; tapestry weavers of Arras driven to, 278; extorts privileges from Charles the Bold, 287; works by Memling at, 299; works by Dierick Bouts at, 308; "renowned for its noble men," 321; 324; 339; Cathedral of Ste. Gudule erected, 340; manuscripts of Margaret of Austria in Bibliotheque Royale, 342; Marie of Hungary removes capital to, 342; 351; 359; "Madness of Hugo Van der Goes" in the Modern Gallery, 361; portrait of Charles the Bold by Van der Goes, 362; 367; 368; Henri Van Péde architect of Hotel de Ville, 371; "Legend of St. Anne," by Quentin Matsys, 403; 443; 444; Modern Gallery compared with Royal Museum at Antwerp, 456; 464.

 Burgundy, Dukes of, 4; 17; 174; the marriages of Cambrai, 218-219; power extended by Treaty of Arras, 222-223; further extended at Péronne, 288; defeated by Swiss at Granson, Morat and Nancy, 290-292; Kingdom of Burgundy almost established, 293; 315; 351; early château at Audenaerde, 390; 395; acquire Antwerp, 398; tyranny of, 462.

 Byzantine Emperors, coins of, found at Tournai, 265.

 C

 Caen, Normandy, Plantin learns art of printing in, 423; 424.

 Cæsar, Julius, 245; 393.

 Calais, siege of by Philip the Good, 223.

 Calloo, 399; 420; 421.

 Calvinists, partially destroy Abbey of St. Bavon, 184; propose to present "Adoration of the Lamb" to Queen Elizabeth, 237.

 Cambrai, 61; Marriages of, 218-219; League of, 337; Treaty of, 338-339; 351.

 Campin, Robert, early painter of Tournai, 270; 273; 274.

 Carnot, Gen., defence of Antwerp, 460.

 Cassel, captured by Philip Augustus, 135.

 Castle of the Counts (Château des Comtes), at Ghent, 170-179; stormed by Jacques Van Artevelde, 200; birthplace of John of Gaunt, 201; 233; 262; Liévin Pyn tortured at, 349.

 Caxton, William, learns printing at Bruges, 228.

 Çayas, Gabriel de, patron of Christopher Plantin, 424; interests Philip II in _Biblia Regia_, 426.

 Chapel of the Holy Blood at Bruges, crypt of St. Basil, 27-28; receives relic from Dierick of Alsace, 55-56; Procession and _Confrerie_, 56; ruined during French Revolution, 56-57; restoration, 57; 58.

 Charlemagne, breaking up of empire of, 26.

 Charles the Bald, creates title of Count of Flanders, 26.

 Charles the Bold, 3; tomb at Bruges, 51-53; betrothal at Damme, 75-77; 124; 271; meteoric career and death, 285-294; 295; 302; 305; 310; 333; 344; portrait of, 362.

 Charles I, King of England, knights Rubens, 448; employs Van Dyck as court painter, 451-452.

 Charles V, the Emperor, 52; 62; statue at Courtrai, 152; destroys Abbey of St. Bavon, 183-184; orders bell Roland removed, 197; captures Tournai, 249; "Abdication of," painting by Louis Gallait, 273; 292; christened, 335; educated by Margaret of Austria, 336; becomes King of Spain, 337; elected King of the Romans, 338; chosen Emperor, 338; rejoicings at Ghent over birth of, 346; vast extent of dominions at age of twenty, 346-347; 348; revolt of Ghent in 1539, 349-350; withdraws all the city's ancient privileges, 350-355; origin of Butchers' Guild of Ghent, 365; portrait of, at Audenaerde, 373; many reminders of, at Audenaerde, 374; inserts spectacles in arms of Audenaerde, 373; statue of, 375; portrait of, 376; father of Margaret of Parma, 377-378; 381; 395; aids prosperity of Antwerp, 411; 412; great bell at Antwerp named for, 441.

 Charles the Good, murder of, 4-5 and 36-42; rebuilds Cathedral of St. Sauveur, 47; erects part of church of Notre Dame, 50; Bruges in the days of, 52-53; 54; 305.

 Charles VI, Emperor of Austria, 458; 469.

 Charles VI, King of France, sacks Courtrai, 161-162; wins battle of Rosbecque, 207; 218.

 Charles VII, King of France, concludes Treaty of Arras, 222-223.

 Charles VIII, King of France, 334.

 Charolais, Count of, 233.

 Chateaubriand, minister of Louis XVIII, 358.

 Childeric, marriage with Basina at Tournai, 246-247; incidents in life of, carved on portal of the Cathedral, 260; relics of, discovered, 264-265; 281.

 Chilperic, King of the Franks, 247; besieged at Tournai, 248; 281.

 Chimes, at Bruges, 65-67; at Malines, 322-325; at Audenaerde, 381; at Antwerp, 440.

 Christus, Petrus, early painter of Bruges, 240.

 Claire, Lord, at Battle of Fontenoy, 254.

 Clauwaerts, partisans of Flemish independence, 154; Jacques Van Artevelde, leader of, 199.

 Clays, P. J., 456.

 Clovis, King of the Franks, 247.

 _Concession Caroline_, promulgated by Charles V in 1540, 355.

 Columbus, discovery of America helps Antwerp, 400.

 Condé, defeats French under Turenne, 95.

 Conscience, Hendryk, Flemish novelist, 36.

 Conynck, Peter de, Dean of Weavers at Bruges, 154; leader at the Matin de Bruges, 155-156; at Battle of Courtrai, 157-160; 193.

 Coolman, Gauthier, 319.

 Cornelis, Albert, early painter of Bruges, 301.

 Cortés, 347.

 Counts of Flanders, rule over part of France, 12; origin of County, 25; the first Count, Baldwin of the Iron Arm, 26; model of first castle, 28; Emperor makes title hereditary, 34; 54; 151; castle of, at Ghent, 170-179; foster Abbey of St. Bavon, 182; make Ghent their capital, 189; decline in power of, 190; weakness after Battle of the Spurs, 192-193; obtain temporal power over Malines, 315; 351; Scheldt their frontier, 394-395.

 Courtrai, linens, 5; fortified by Baldwin II, 34; 58; destroyed by Philip Augustus, 136; lace makers at, 141; 146; Belfry, 147-148; Hotel de Ville, 151-153; Battle of Courtrai, 152-160; churches of, 161-163; Broel towers at, 164; 193; 314.

 Coxcie, Michel, 237; 238; 339; 341; 386.

 Coxyde, dunes at, 92-93; _pêcheurs de crevettes_, 93.

 Crayer, Gaspard de, 384; religious pictures of, 453.

 Crécy, Battle of, 203.

 Crispin, 431.

 Crowe and Cavalcaselle, "The Early Flemish Painters," cited, 235.

 _Cuches au beurre_, 46-47.

 Cumberland, Duke of, defeated at Fontenoy, 251-255.

 D

 Damme, receives charter from Philip of Alsace, 55; birth of Van Maerlant (mural painting), 59; period of prosperity and present aspect, 72-75; betrothal of Margaret of York by Charles the Bold, 76-77; destroyed by Philip Augustus, 135; rallying place for Clauwaerts before the Matin de Bruges, 155; destroyed by Philip the Bold, 219.

 Danes, invasions of, 34.

 Daret, Jacques, early painter of Tournai; 270; 273.

 David, Gheerhardt, life and principal works, 299-300.

 Davis, Thomas Osborne, poet, "Battle of Fontenoy" quoted, 253-255.

 Delbeke, Louis, 123.

 Deledicque, Antony, 139.

 Delvin, Jean, 93.

 Dendermonde (Termonde), 202; 310.

 Denucé, assistant curator of Plantin Museum, 434.

 Denyn, Josef, official bell ringer at Malines, 323-324; 440.

 Denys, Gérard, Dean of Weavers at Ghent, 204.

 Devreese, Godefroid, sculptor of Courtrai, 165.

 Dierick of Alsace, Count of Flanders, 54; wise rule, 54-55; brings Holy Blood from Jerusalem, 55-56; 59; 129; 171; besieges ancient castle at Ghent, 177; portrait of, 373.

 Dierick, Lord of Dixmude, legendary hero, 179.

 Dijon, capital of Burgundy, 148; paintings by Melchior Broederlam at, 230-231; "The Last Judgment" by Van der Weyden, at Beaune, 271; 287.

 Dinant, 277; 286.

 Dixmude, at time of the Crusades, 13; part of the Franc of Bruges, 59; history of, 83; church of St. Nicholas, 84-85; _gâteaux d'ames_, 85; ravages of the war, 86; Yser River and canal, 103-104; church of St. Nicholas destroyed by the Germans, 482.

 Dozzo, Gasparo, rich Antwerp merchant, 411.

 Dumery, George, 65.

 Du Guesclin, 70.

 Dumuriez, general of first French Republic, 459.

 Dunes, viewed from the sea, 15; at Coxyde, 92-93; Battle of the Dunes, 96-98; 465.

 Dunkerque, receives charter from Philip of Alsace, 55; canal from Nieuport to, 104.

 Duquesnoy, Jerome, 241; 355; influenced by Rubens, 453.

 Dyle, river, at Malines, 312; 314; views from, 316; 317; _grand pont_ across, 333; 334.

 Dyver, at Bruges, 27; view of Notre Dame from, 50.

 E

 Eccloo, part of the Franc of Bruges, 59.

 Edward I, King of England, obtains Antwerp as a fief, 397.

 Edward III, King of England, 198; treats with Jacques Van Artevelde, 200; wins Battle of Sluys, 201; welcomes Flemish weavers, 204-205; besieges Tournai, 248-249; at Antwerp, 397.

 Edward IV, King of England, guest of the Lord of Gruuthuise, 303.

 Egmont, Count of, "Last Honours to" and "Last Moments of" by Louis Gallait, 273-274.

 Eleanor, Queen of France, 339.

 Elizabeth, Queen of England, 237; sends English garrison to Ostende, 465-466.

 Epinoy, Christine, Princess of, heroic defence of Tournai, 249; statue of, 262; painting of, 274.

 Erasmus, 341.

 Erembald, house of, 37; murder of Charles the Good, 38; besieged in church of St. Donatian, 39; flung from church tower, 41; house nearly annihilated, 42.

 Erembald, blacksmith at Bruges, 65.

 Ethelwolf, King of Wessex, 26.

 Eugene, Prince of Savoy, 391.

 Everard, Nicholas, 341.

 F

 Faid'herbe, Luke, sculptor of Malines, 326; designs church of Notre Dame d'Hanswyck, 329; pupil of Rubens, 453.

 Farnese, Octavio, Duke of Parma, 378.

 Ferdinand of Aragon, 62.

 Ferdinand, King of Bohemia, 339.

 Ferdinand of Portugal, Count of Flanders, 122; 135-136.

 Féré, Pierrot, tapestry maker of Arras, 279.

 Ferrand, Count of Flanders, 190.

 Flanders, location of, 1 and 12-13; historical interest of, 3-5; Bruges first capital of, 13; plan of chronological tour of, 14; climate, 22-24; travel hints, 23; origin of the County, 25; just misses becoming independent, 192-193; "the co*ck-pit of Europe," 250-251; 286; end of independence in 1540, 355; arms of, at Audenaerde, 373; the Scheldt its Eastern boundary, 394-395.

 Flemish architecture, 3; art, 6; inns, 7-11; language, 12-13; coast, 15-16; cleanliness, 43-44; language in West Flanders, 99-100; Belgium bi-lingual, 149-150; Flemish dinners, 213-215.

 Fleurus, Battle of, 459.

 Floris, Corneille, 261.

 Floris, Frans, 386; life and chief works, 403-404.

 Flowers in Belgium, 165-166; fondness of people for, 284; Bishop Triest encourages horticulture at Ghent, 355-356; first hothouse, 356; Botanical Gardens at Ghent, 357-358.

 Flushing, 17; 334.

 Fontenoy, Battle of, 250-255; battlefield and monument, 256; 458.

 Franchoys, Luc, 331.

 Francis I, King of France, 62; loses Tournai, 248; concludes Treaty of Cambrai, 338-339.

 Fredegonda, Queen of the Franks, 247-248.

 Frederick II, Emperor, offers crown to Charles the Bold, 285; 294; defeated by burghers of Ghent, 345.

 Froissart, 148; eulogy of Ghent, 169; description of "Mad Margery," 208-209; describes siege of Tournai, 249.

 Fugger, Anthony, fame of his wealth, 411.

 Furnes, at time of the Crusades, 13; receives charter from Philip of Alsace, 55; history, 86-87; 90; the Procession of, 87-89; principal buildings, 90-92.

 Fyts, John, animal pictures of, 453.

 G

 Galeswintha, sister of Brunehault, 248.

 Gallait, Louis, "Last Honours to Counts Egmont and Horn," 273; other notable works, 273-274; in Antwerp Museum, 456.

 Gavre, Battle of, 225-227; 344.

 Geefs, W., sculptor, 369.

 George II, King of England, 251.

 Gertrude, Countess of Flanders, 87.

 Ghent, fortified by Baldwin II, 34; receives charter from Philip of Alsace, 55; attack on Nieuport in 1383, 95; repulsed at Ypres, 144; artisans from Ypres move to, 145; loyal to French in 1302, 156; greatness in the Middle Ages, 169-170; Château des Comtes, 170-179; Abbey of St. Bavon, 181-185; château of Girard the Devil, 185-186; church of St. Nicholas, 186-188; cathedral of St. Bavon, 188; rapid growth in power, 189-191; takes popular side after Battle of the Spurs, 194; guilds, 194-195; Belfry, 195-198; Cloth Hall (Halles), 197; the Mammelokker, 198; Jacques Van Artevelde, 199-204; expulsion of weavers, 204-205; Philip Van Artevelde, 206-207; resists Philip the Bold, 218; rebels against Philip the Good, 225; crushed at Gavre, 226-227; 228; Guild of St. Luke organised, 229; 230; 233; "the Adoration of the Lamb," 234-238; 262; "_Ville d'Art_," 268; extorts concessions from Charles the Bold, 287; denounced by Charles, 289; 312; "renowned for its halters," 321; Hotel de Ville completed, 340; 344; the Rabot, 345-346; rejoicings over birth of Charles V, 346; decline of cloth industry, 347; Hotel de Ville, description of, 347-349; outbreak of 1539, 349; execution of Liévin Pyn, 350; Emperor withdraws liberties and privileges, 350-355; Bishop Triest and beginnings of horticulture, 355-357; Botanical Garden, 357-359; Louis XVIII at, 358-359; Justus of Ghent and Hugo Van der Goes, 360-362; Gerard Van der Meire, 363; ranks first in "monuments," 363; some of its minor monuments, 363-366; Margaret of Parma presented as Regent at, 379; 391; 394; 397; 442.

 Ghistelle, Lords of, 309.

 Gilliat-Smith, Ernest, "Story of Bruges," cited, 310.

 Gilliodts, archevist of Bruges, quoted, 66-67.

 Girard the Devil (Girard le Diable), château of, 185-186; 195; 197; 241.

 Godfrey of the Beard, Duke of Brabant, 395.

 Godfrey of Bouillon, 187.

 Gordon, Pryse L., cited, 180.

 Gossaert, Jan (or Mabuse), painting by, at Tournai, 274; at court of Margaret of Austria, 339.

 Granson, Battle of, 271; 290; 291; 294.

 Granville, Cardinal, 426.

 Gravelines, 55.

 Griffis, "Belgium, the Land of Art," quoted, 480.

 Groeninghe, Abbey of, 159; Flemish name for Battle of the Spurs, 164.

 Grupello, sculptor of Rubens school, 453.

 Gruuthuise, Louis (or Lodewyk) Van der, 302; 303.

 Gruuthuise Palace, 68; 302-305.

 Gryeff, Adolphus de, 386.

 Gueldre, Duke of, 313.

 Gueux, 328; 329.

 Guffens, Godefroid, fresco at Ypres, 124; at Courtrai, 152.

 Guido Gezelle, poet, 163.

 Guilds, at Bruges, 64 and 70; the 400 guilds of Ypres, 128; guild leaders in 1302, 154; at Battle of Courtrai, 157; power of, 192-193; guild houses in 14th century, 194-195; slaughter of the fullers, 202; slaughter of the weavers, 204; expulsion of weavers, 204-205; at Malines, 313-315; house of Boatmen's Guild at Ghent, 347; fine guild houses of Ghent, 365; origin of Butchers' Guild, 365.

 Guizot, minister of Louis XVIII, 358.

 Guy of Dampierre, Count of Flanders, 122; 153-154; grants Ghent a new _Keure_, 191.

 Guy of Namur, 193.

 H

 Hachette, Jeanne, heroine of Beauvais, 289.

 Hacket, Châtelain of Bruges, 37; 42.

 Hainaut, County of, 130; united to Flanders by marriages of Cambrai, 218-219; Philip the Good becomes Count of, 221; 243; Count of, at siege of Tournai, 249.

 Hal, baptismal font at, 277.

 Hanseatic League, 58; at Bruges, 69; abandons Bruges for Antwerp, 71; 401.

 Hay, Lord, at Battle of Fontenoy, 254.

 Hémony, Pierre, 323.

 Hennebicq, painter of Tournai, 274.

 Hennequin, painter of Tournai, 274.

 Henry III, Duke of Brabant, grants privileges to Antwerp, 396.

 Henry V, King of England, wins Battle of Agincourt, 220.

 Henry VIII, captures Tournai, 249; tower of, 266-267.

 Herkenbald, "Justice of," painting by Van der Weyden, 271.

 Heuvick, early painter of Audenaerde, 382.

 Heyst, 16; 324.

 Hiéronimites, 186.

 Horembout, Gerard, 341.

 Horn, Count of, "Last Honors to," 273; 412.

 Hugonet, minister of Marie of Burgundy, 349.

 Humbercourt, minister of Marie of Burgundy, 349.

 Hundred Years' War, 70; 143; 198.

 I

 Iconoclasts (or "Image Breakers"), at Malines, 328; 329; 370; outbreak of, 380-381; at Audenaerde, 389; at Antwerp, 412-413; 440.

 Innocent VIII, 305-306.

 Inquisition, meeting-place at Furnes, 91; 415.

 Isabella of Castile, 62.

 Isabel, Queen of Denmark, 339.

 Isabella, Queen of France, 155.

 Isabella, Regent of the Netherlands, 422; portrait by Rubens, 444; arrival at Antwerp, 447; encourages Rubens, 448; 457; at siege of Ostende, 467; weeps at ruin of the town, 469.

 Isabel of Portugal, marries Philip the Good, 221; portrait of, 238; picture of, in collection of Margaret of Austria, 340-341.

 J

 Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut and Holland, 176-177; forced to abdicate, 221.

 Jansenius, Bishop of St. Martin at Ypres, 125-126.

 Janssens, Victor, 386.

 Jean II, Duke of Brabant, 314.

 Jeanne d'Arc, 221.

 Jeanne of Constantinople, Countess of Flanders, 122; 132; 135; 136-139; founds first Béguinage at Ghent, 210.

 Jehan de Bruges, early painter, 230.

 Jehan de Hasselt, early painter, 230.

 Jemappes, Battle of, 459.

 Joanna of Spain (Jeanne de Castile), 62; 346.

 John, Prince of Asturias, 334-335; sudden death, 335.

 John, Don, of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands, 415; 418.

 John of Bavaria, 234.

 John I, Duke of Brabant, grants the _Core van Antwerpen_, 396.

 John II, Duke of Brabant, gives Antwerp to Edward I, 397.

 John III, Duke of Brabant, extends rights of foreigners at Antwerp, 396-397.

 John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, 220; court painter of, 231; 233; 383.

 John of Gaunt (Ghent), Duke of Lancaster, birth of, 201; 221.

 John, King of England, alliance with Ferdinand of Portugal, 136.

 Jordaens, Jacob, "Adoration of the Magi" at Dixmude, 84; characteristics, 453; 455; 456.

 Joseph II, Emperor of Austria, 237; revolt against, 458-459.

 Josephine, Empress of France, saves Botanical Garden at Ghent, 357-358.

 Judith, first Countess of Flanders, 26; traces of her chapel, 28; 34.

 Justus of Ghent, early Flemish painter, 360-362.

 Justus Lipsius, meets Christopher Plantin, 429; writes his epitaph, 430; 431; 441.

 K

 Kaboutermannekens, legends of, 408-409.

 Karls, refuse allegiance to feudal overlords, 37; support the Erembalds, 38; receive _Keurbrief_ from Philip of Alsace, 60-61.

 Katherine, Queen of Portugal, 339.

 Keldermans, André, Antoine I, Antoine II, Jean, Laurent and Mathieu, all architects of Malines, 319-320.

 Keldermans, Rombaut, architect of Malines, 318; 320; rebuilds Hotel de Savoy, 336; receives many commissions from Margaret of Austria, 339-340; designs _Maison de la Keure_ at Ghent, 348.

 Kerel van Yper, painter of Ypres, 141.

 Kermesse, its antiquity, 115; 378; 449.

 Keyser, Nicaise de, 160.

 Kiliaen, the Flemish lexicographer, 433.

 Kipling, quoted, 29.

 Kludde, legends of, 409-410.

 Knocke, 16.

 L

 _Lac d'Amour_, Bruges, see Minnewater.

 Laevinius Torrentius, 433.

 Lagye, Victor, 457.

 Lalaing, Countess of, 377; 378.

 Lalaing, Philippe, Count of, 371.

 Lannoy, Charles de, 62.

 Larks in Belgium, 166-168.

 Legend of Baldwin of Constantinople, 130-133; of siege of Ghent in 930, 179-180; of St. Nicholas, 187; of the Mammelokker, 198; concerning the wealth of the Flemish burghers, 207-208; of the marriage of Childeric and Basina, 246-247; of Memling's wound at Nancy, 295-296; of the "Vuyle Bruydegom" at Malines, 332-333; of Antigonus and Brabo at Antwerp, 393-394; of Lohengrin, 394; of Quentin Matsys, 401-402; of the Long Wapper of Antwerp, 405-408; of the Kaboutermannekens, 408-409; of Kludde, 409-410; of Van Dyck at Saventhem, 449-451.

 Lemaire des Belges, Jean, 341.

 Leopold I, King of the Belgians, first welcomed to Belgium at Furnes, 87; elected King, 461; frees the Scheldt in 1863, 461.

 Leopold II, King of the Belgians, an efficient chief executive, 461-462; Palace at Ostende, 470.

 Leys, Baron Henri, 456; paintings in Hotel de Ville at Antwerp, 457.

 Liederick de Buck, portrait of, 373.

 Liedts, Baroness, lace collection at Bruges, 304.

 Liége, 106; 286; insurrections at, 287-288; city sacked, 288; 312; 344.

 Lieve, river, at Ghent, 169; 172.

 Liliaerts, partisans of France, 154; 189; 191; 194.

 Lille, destroyed by Philip Augustus, 136; Baldwin of Constantinople executed at, 138-139; 207; fêtes held by Philip the Good at, 227; 280.

 Lissweghe, 59.

 Lombartzyde, 95; statue of the Virgin, 104-105.

 Longfellow, quoted, 67.

 Long Wapper of Antwerp, legends of, 405-408.

 Louis of Maele, Count of Flanders, 59; 175; besieged at Ghent, 178; 183; 204; marriage of daughter, 205-206; defeated by Philip Van Artevelde, 206; death, 207; wealth of Ghent during reign of, 207-208; 218; court painter of, 230; 397.

 Louis of Nevers, Count of Flanders, 124; 194; 198; vainly resists popular party, 199-200; hires assassination of Jacques Van Artevelde, 202-203; death at Crécy, 203.

 Louis the Fat, King of France, 41-42.

 Louis XI, King of France, lives at Furnes while Dauphin, 90; drives tapestry weavers from Arras, 278; implacable foe of Charles the Bold, 286; foments insurrection at Liége, 287-288; stirs up German resistance to Charles, 289; causes downfall of Charles, 293; 294; 334; 344.

 Louis XIII, King of France, 387.

 Louis XIV, captures Tournai, 250; 265; removes tapestries from Audenaerde, 376; portrait of, 376; 387; bombards Audenaerde, 391.

 Louis XV, King of France, at Battle of Fontenoy, 251-255; Joyous Entry at Antwerp, 458.

 Louis XVIII, King of France, at Ghent, 358-359.

 Louise of Savoy, 338.

 Louvain, 219; Hotel de Ville, 228; Guild of St. Luke organised, 230; work of Van der Weyden at, 271; Dierick Bouts at, 307-308; 310; "renowned for its scholars," 321; 371; 395; birth-place of Quentin Matsys, 401; 403.

 Lyon, Jean, Dean of Boatmen's Guild, 188.

 Lys, river, 146; superior for retting flax, 147; 158; 164; 169; 204; 206.

 M

 Mabuse, see Jan Gossaert.

 Mace, Robert, teaches art of printing to Christopher Plantin, 423.

 Maele, Château of, near Bruges, 303.

 Mahaut, Countess of Flanders, 122.

 Malfait of Brussels, 124.

 Malines, lace makers at, 5; centre of Flemish architecture, art and learning, 12; "_Ville d'Art_," 268; extorts privileges from Charles the Bold, 287; terrible destruction in the Great War, 311; situation and importance, 312; early history, 312-315; Cloth Hall and museum, 317; 318; Cathedral of St. Rombaut, 318-323; chimes, 323-325; interior of Cathedral, 325-327; "renowned for its fools," 321; Notre Dame au delà de la Dyle, 327-328; Notre Dame d'Hanswyck, 328-329; church of St. Jean, 330-331; Hotel de Ville, 332; Vieux Palais, 332-333; some fine old houses, 333; Margaret of Austria, early life, 333-336; her court at Malines, 336; 342; death,342-343; "monuments" classified, 363; 439; 442; Cathedral sadly injured, 482.

 Mammelokker, bas relief and legend of, 198.

 Manson, Collard, printer at Bruges, 228; 435.

 Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands, 61-62; childhood and early life, 333-336; Palace at Malines, 336; Regent of the Netherlands, 337; negotiates the "Ladies' Peace," 338-339; brilliant court, 339; taste for art and literature, 340-342; untimely death, 342-343; 345; 349.

 Margaret, Countess of Flanders, 122; 132; 135; 136; 153.

 Margaret, daughter of Louis of Maele, 183; 205-206; 218.

 Margaret of Parma, portrait at Audenaerde, 376; birth and marriages, 377-378; Regent of the Netherlands, 379; popularity, 379-380; suppresses outbreak of the Iconoclasts, 380-381; superseded by Duke of Alva, 381; 413; 419; 425.

 Margaret of York, betrothal to Charles the Bold at Damme, 75-77; resides at Malines, 333; 336.

 Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria, 458.

 Marie of Burgundy, tomb at Bruges, 51-53; statue, 62; 293; marries Maximilian, 294; children of, 333; 344; 345; 349.

 Marie of Champagne, Countess of Flanders, 133; dedicates Cloth Hall at Ypres, 134; death in Syria, 134; 162.

 Marie, Queen of Hungary, 339; Regent of the Netherlands, 342-343; insurrection at Ghent during reign of, 349-350; 354.

 Marlborough, Duke of, captures Tournai, 250; wins Battle of Audenaerde, 391; recalled in peasant nursery song, 391-392; takes Antwerp after Battle of Ramillies, 458.

 Marot, Clement, 428.

 Marvis Towers at Tournai, 265.

 Massé, 341.

 Matsys, Quentin, life and principal works, 401-403.

 Matthew, Duke of Lorraine, 122.

 Maurice, Count of Nassau, wins Battle of the Dunes, 96-98; 465; captures Sluys, 468.

 Maximilian, Emperor, 51; statue of, 62; conflict with Bruges, 71; marriage to Marie of Burgundy, 294; 333; Regent of Flanders, 334; fondness for daughter, Margaret of Austria, 337; death, 338; 345; 347; 411.

 Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, 369.

 Memling, Hans, at Bruges, 295-296; works of, in Hospital of St. Jean, 296-298; other notable paintings, 298-299; 307; in collection of Margaret of Austria, 341.

 Mercator, 431.

 Merghelynck Museum at Ypres, 139-140; 304.

 Meunier, Constantin, statue of _pecheur des crevettes_, 93; painting at Courtrai, 160.

 Michelle, first wife of Philip the Good, 183; death of, 233-234.

 Middleburg, paintings by Van der Weyden at, 309.

 Minnewater, 33; view of Notre Dame from, 50; formerly chief harbour of Bruges, 71-72.

 Molinet, Jean, 341.

 Mons, capital of Hainaut, 130; Flemish name for, 150; 219; Hotel de Ville, 228; 243; 252.

 Montalembert, quoted, 388.

 Montanus, Arias, supervises _Biblia Regia_, 426; opinion of Christopher Plantin, 427; 431.

 Morat, Battle of, 291.

 Moretus, Balthazar I, 432.

 Moretus, Edouard, sells Plantin-Moretus museum to city of Antwerp, 432.

 Moretus, Jean I, marries Martina, daughter of Christopher Plantin, 429; 431; 432; tomb in the Cathedral, 441; employs Rubens, 443; friend of Rubens, 448.

 Moretus, Jean II, 431-432.

 Montereau, murder of John the Fearless at, 220.

 _Morte d'Ypres, la_ (the Death of Ypres), 117; 122; 123; 144.

 Motley, cited, 413.

 N

 Nancy, siege of, 291; death of Charles the Bold before, 292; 295; 333.

 Namur, 312.

 Napoleon, saves Chapel of the Holy Blood, 56; 94; 282; 330; 358; 358-359; removes tapestries from Audenaerde, 376; at Antwerp, 460.

 Nauwelaerts, official bell ringer of Bruges, 66.

 Neerwinden, Battle of, 459.

 Nicholas V, Pope, 340.

 Nicholas de Verdun, 277.

 Nieuport, at time of the Crusades, 13; receives charter from Philip of Alsace, 55; some famous sieges of, 95; Battle of the Dunes, 96-98; Chambers of Rhetoric, 99; Tower of the Templars, Cloth Hall and church of Notre Dame, 99-101; the Yser River, locks and canals, 103-104; 465; 473.

 Norsem*n, anarchy resulting from invasions of, 36; capture Tournai, 248; 256; 259; burn church at Audenaerde, 383.

 Notre Dame, Cathedral of, at Antwerp, 20; 228; well cover made by Quentin Matsys, 401; description of, 440-442.

 Notre Dame de Pamela, church of, at Audenaerde, 387-389.

 Notre Dame, church of, at Bruges, 50-53; remains of Charles the Bold placed in, 292; 303; 306.

 Notre Dame, church of, at Courtrai, 162-163.

 Notre Dame au delà de la Dyle, church of, at Malines, 316; description, 327-328.

 Notre Dame d'Hanswyck, church of, at Malines, 316; description, 328-329.

 Notre Dame, Cathedral of, at Tournai, 245; description, 255-262.

 O

 Order of the Golden Fleece, 58; 172; 175; established by Philip the Good, 221-222; fêtes at Lille, 227; Tournai tapestries ordered for, 279; chapter at Malines, 334; at Antwerp, 412; portrait of Charles V wearing insignia of, 376.

 Ostende, part of the Franc of Bruges, 59; 102; canal from Nieuport to, 103; 324; 359; on main tourist routes, 464; great siege of 1601-1603, 465-469; renown as a watering place since 1830, 470; description of the _Digue_, the Esplanade and the beach, 471-472; summer prices at, 472-473; the Kursaal, 473-477; the Estacade, 477-478; last glimpses of, 478-479.

 Orleans, Duke of, 220; 233.

 Ortelius, 431.

 Oudenaarde, Jan van, 72.

 P

 Pape, Simon de, early painter of Audenaerde, 384; 389.

 Parma, Duke of, captures Ypres, 144; besieges Tournai, 249; son of Margaret of Parma, 378; Regent of the Netherlands, 379; 414; siege of Antwerp, 419-422; 447; siege of Ostende, 465.

 Pauwels, Ferdinand, 121-122.

 Pavia, Battle of, 62.

 Pembroke, Duke of, 70.

 Péronne, 138; Louis XI visits Charles the Bold at, 288; 293.

 Péterinck, François, maker of fine porcelains at Tournai, 280.

 Philibert II, Duke of Savoy, 335.

 Philip of Alsace, Count of Flanders, grants charters to many Flemish cities, 55; 59; grants the _Keurbrief_, 59-61; 87; 129; builds Spuytorre at Courtrai, 164; erects Château des Comtes at Ghent, 171; 173; 189.

 Philip Augustus, King of France, 135-136; 138; 153; Treaty of Arras, 189; annexes Tournai, 248; painting of, at Tournai, 274.

 Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, 90; 124; removes clock at Courtrai, 148; rebuilds Spuytorre at Courtrai, 164; marries Margaret of Maele, 183; significance of this event, 205-206; acknowledged as Count of Flanders, 218; arranges the marriages of Cambrai, 218-219; death, 220; court painter of, 230-231; 397.

 Philippe de Champaigne, 376.

 Philip the Fair (Philippe le Bel), King of France, 153; annexes Flanders, 154; at Bruges, 155; rage over the Matin de Bruges, 156; defeated at Courtrai, 157-160; sheriffs of, besieged at Ghent, 177.

 Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, 4; 58; 90; 175; 176; becomes Count of Flanders, Hainaut and Holland, and Duke of Brabant, 220-221; founds Order of the Golden Fleece, 221-222; siege of Calais, 222-223; repulsed at Bruges (Bruges vespers), 223-224; humbles Bruges, 224-225; crushes Ghent at Gavre, 225-227; holds fêtes at Lille, 227; divergent estimates of character, 228-229; 231; visits studio of Jean Van Eyck, 235-236; orders portrait of Isabel of Portugal, 238; orders tapestries at Tournai, 279; 287; 305; 340; 344; grants liberal charter to Antwerp, 398.

 Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy, 51; 62; 91; education, 333; premature death, 334; 346.

 Philip II, King of Spain, 91; 236-237; 249; 292-293; unwise policy provokes revolt, 379-380; sends Duke of Alva to punish iconoclasts, 381; 412; 413-415; rejoices at fall of Antwerp, 422; 424; aids Plantin to publish _Biblia Regia_, 426; 427; 432; 447; 465.

 Philip of Valois, King of France, 201-202.

 Pierre de Beckère, 52.

 Pius II, 378.

 Pizarro, 346.

 Plantin, Christopher, early life, 423-424; establishes printing house at Antwerp, 425; issues the _Biblia Regia_, 426-427; extent of business, 427-428; moves to Friday Market, 428-429; death, 429-430; extent of achievements, 431; tomb in the Cathedral, 441.

 Plantin-Moretus Museum, at Antwerp, 423; 432-437; portraits by Rubens, 444; sketches by Rubens, 445.

 Pourbus, Pieter, 301.

 Prévost, Jean, 301.

 Procession of the Holy Blood at Bruges, 56; Procession at Furnes, 87-89; _Peysprocessie_ at Malines, 315.

 Pyn, Liévin, execution of, 349-350; 351; 352.

 Q

 Quellin, Erasmus, "The Adoration of the Shepherds" at Malines, 327; 433; founds family of sculptors and painters, 452-543.

 "Quentin Durward" by Sir Walter Scott, cited, 288.

 R

 Rabot at Ghent, 345-346.

 Raeske, Richard de, 37.

 Ramillies, Battle of, 458.

 Raphelingen, Francis, chief proof-reader of Christopher Plantin, 427; marries Margaret, eldest daughter, 429.

 Rénacle de Florennes, 341.

 _Reparation invisible_, 215-216.

 Requesens, Regent of the Netherlands, 415.

 Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III, King of England, 303.

 Rivière, Jeanne, wife of Christopher Plantin, 423; aids husband with a linen business, 429.

 Robbins, Philippe, master tapestry weaver of Audenaerde, 387.

 Robert the Frisian, Count of Flanders, 141.

 Robert II, Count of Flanders, 87-88.

 Robinson, Wilfrid, "Antwerp, an Historical Sketch," quoted, 397.

 Rockox, burgomaster of Antwerp, 448.

 Roda, Jerome, 415.

 Roland, the great bell at Ghent, 196-197; inscription on, 196; taken down by Charles V, 354.

 Rooses, Max, Director of Plantin-Moretus Museum, quoted, 239-240; 298; description of Plantin Museum, cited, 433.

 Rosbecque, Battle of, 162; 163; 207.

 Roya, at Bruges, 26; 27; 52.

 Rubens, Peter Paul, "St. Bavon withdrawing from the World" at Ghent, 241; "Christ on the Cross" at Malines, 317; "Miraculous Draught of Fishes" at Malines, 327-328; "Adoration of the Magi" at Malines, 330; 386; 433; rank among the masters, 438; two masterpieces in Cathedral at Antwerp, 339-440; "Resurrection" in the Cathedral, 441; at height of fame, 442-444; enormous productivity, 444-445; death, 445; Prof. Wauters' estimate of, 446-447; patronised by the "Archdukes," 448; diplomatic missions, 448; letters, 449; 455; 456.

 Rudolph II, Emperor of Austria, 405.

 S

 St. Amand, early missionary, 181.

 St. Basil, crypt of, at Bruges, 27-28; restoration, 57; 171.

 St. Bavon, Abbey of, at Ghent, 181-185; 189; destruction of, by Charles V, 353.

 St. Bavon, Cathedral of, at Ghent, 172; crypt, 188-189; altar-piece by the Van Eycks, 234-238; other works of art in, 240-241; 355; 360.

 St. Brice, church of, at Tournai, 263-264.

 St. Donatian, church of, at Bruges, 35; scene of murder of Charles the Good, 38; besieged by foes of the Erembalds, 39-41; Erembalds flung from tower, 41; destroyed in French Revolution, 42; relics and approximate site, 42-43; 292.

 St. Eleuthereus, statue of, on portal of Cathedral, 260; _Chasse_ of, 276-277; life of, depicted on tapestry in Cathedral, 279.

 St. George, church of, at Nancy, 292.

 St. Ghislain, 252.

 Ste. Gudule, Cathedral of, at Brussels, 340.

 St. Jacques, church of, at Antwerp, 445-446.

 St. Jean, Hospital of, at Bruges, legend of nursing Memling, 295-296; Shrine of St. Ursula, 296-298; other works by Memling at, 298; description of, 299; 301.

 St. Jean, church of, at Ghent, name changed to St. Bavon in 1540, 188.

 St. Jean, church of, at Malines, 330-331.

 St. Luke, Guild of, first organised in Flemish towns, 229-230; admits brothers Van Eyck at Bruges, 234; at Tournai, 270-271; at Ghent admits Van der Meire, 363; admits Frans Floris at Antwerp, 403; admits Christopher Plantin at Antwerp, 423; elects Rubens President, 445.

 St. Martin, church of, at Courtrai, 161-162.

 St. Martin, church of, at Ypres, 125-126.

 St. Mary, church of, at Antwerp, 412; becomes Cathedral of Notre Dame in 1560, 440.

 St. Michel, church of, at Ghent, 181.

 St. Nicholas, church of, at Dixmude, 84-85; 482.

 St. Nicholas, church of, at Ghent, 186-188.

 St. Omer, seized by Philip Augustus, 135.

 St. Peter, monastery of, at Ghent, 181-182; 189.

 St. Peter, church of, at Louvain, 307-308.

 St. Piat, martyrdom at Tournai, 245; statue of, on portal of Cathedral, 260; life of, depicted on tapestry in Cathedral, 279.

 St. Rombaut, Cathedral of, at Malines, 312; 313; first view of, 317; the tower and its builders, 318-323; the chimes, 323-325; interior and art treasures, 325-327; 328; tower completed, 340.

 St. Sauveur, Cathedral of, at Bruges, 47-50; 305-307; 362.

 Ste. Ursula, Shrine of, 296-298.

 Ste. Walburge, church of, at Audenaerde, 368; 369; 382; description of, 383-385; 389.

 Ste. Walburge, church of, at Furnes, 88 and 92.

 Saventhem, 449-451.

 Savoy, duch*ess of, see Margaret of Austria.

 Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Leopold, Prince of, elected King of the Belgians, 461.

 Saxe, Maurice, victor at Fontenoy, 251-255.

 Scheldt, estuary, 17; "the greyest of grey rivers," 18; history of navigation on, 18-19; view from, 19-20; river traffic on, 20; Antwerp from, 21; monument on Place Marnix, 19; 169; at Tournai, 266; 300; snakes in, 382; at Audenaerde, 387; 389; legend of Brabo, 393-394; displaces the Zwyn as highway of commerce, 394-395; fight for mastery of, 399-400; deepens as commerce grows, 400; 401; 414; closed during reign of the Archdukes, 447; opened to navigation in 1795, 459; docks erected by Napoleon, 460; free under the Dutch, 460; freed permanently by Leopold I in 1863, 461; growth of commerce since, 462.

 Scott, Sir Walter, "Quentin Durward," cited, 288; 304.

 Seghers, Daniel, 51.

 Shelley, "Ode to the Skylark," quoted, 167-168.

 Sigebert, brother of Chilperic, 248; 281.

 Sluys, part of the Franc of Bruges, 59; landing place of Margaret of York in 1468, 76; Battle of, 201; captured by Maurice of Nassau, 468.

 Snellinck, Jean, "Creation of Eve" at Audenaerde, 388-389.

 Snyders, Francis, animal pictures of, 453.

 Spanish Fury, the, 415-418.

 Spierinckx, Peter, 386.

 Spinola, Ambrose, Marquis of, captures Ostende, 468-469.

 Stallaert, "Death of Dido," 274.

 Steen, 396; 398; description of, 399.

 Strada, the historian, cited, 378.

 Swerts, Jean, mural paintings at Ypres, 125; at Courtrai, 152.

 T

 Taillebert, Urban, 84.

 Tancmar, Lord of Straten, 37.

 Tani, Jacopo, 298.

 Tapestry, 5; workers organised into a guild, 230; in church of St. Brice at Tournai, 264; weaving at Tournai, 278-280; 376; at Audenaerde, 384-390.

 Templars, Tower of, at Nieuport, 95; 99; House of, at Ypres, 140-141.

 Teniers, David, 7; 386; master of scenes of homely Flemish life, 453-454; 455; 456.

 Tournai, tapestries, 5; forest of, 134; besieged by Edward III, 202; Guild of St. Luke organised, 229; tapestry workers organised, 230; oldest city in Belgium, 242; _Turris Nerviorum_ of Cæsar, 245; capital of Merovingian Kings, 245-248; many sieges, 248-250; Battle of Fontenoy, 250-255; Belfry, 262-263; Roman houses and church of St. Brice, 263-264; relics of King Childeric, 264-265; Marvis Towers, _Pont des Trous_, and tower of Henry VIII, 265-267; _Ville d'Art_, 268-269 and 281-282; Robert Campin, Jacques Daret and Van der Weyden, 269-272; Cloth Hall and Museum of Fine Arts, 272-275; later artists, 274-275; sculptors at, 275-276; gold and silversmiths at, 276-277; coppersmiths at, 277-278; tapestry weavers, 278-280; porcelains of, 280-281; manufactures of stained glass, 281-282; manufacture of fine carpets, 282; 312; "monuments" classified, 363; 377; tapestry weaving at, 383.

 Trajan, "the Just Emperor," painting by Van der Weyden, 271.

 Triest, Bishop, tomb in Cathedral of St. Bavon at Ghent, 241; encourages horticulture at Ghent, 355-356; 358.

 Turenne, defeated by Condé near Nieuport, 95.

 Turin, Exposition of, Tournai carpet shown at, 282.

 Turnhout, lace makers at, 5; fairy hill near, 409.

 U

 Urbin, Duke of, 378.

 V

 Valckx, Pierre, sculptor, 381.

 Valenciennes, 134; 137; lace made at Ypres, 141; 219; tapestry workers organised, 230; 351.

 Van Artevelde, Jacques (or Jacob), besieges Louis of Maele at Ghent, 178; rise to power, 199-200; alliance with Edward III, 201; Battle of Sluys, 201-202; assassination, 202-204; 248-249; 397.

 Van Artevelde, Philip, brief career, 206-207; big cannon of, 208; at siege of Audenaerde, 391.

 Van Bredael, Alexander, 386.

 Van den Broeck, 431.

 Van Dyck, Anthony, "The Raising of the Cross" at Courtrai, 162-163; "The Crucifixion" at Malines, 327; 433; pupil of Rubens, 499; "Saint Martin dividing Cloak among the Beggars," 499-451; at Antwerp, 451; court painter of Charles I, 451; chief works, 451-452; 456.

 Van Eyck, Hubert, tombstone at Abbey of St. Bavon, 184; discovery of art of painting with oils, 231-233; in service of Philip the Good, 233-234; plans and begins "The Adoration of the Lamb," 234-235; death, 234; monument, 241; 269; 270; 295; 360.

 Van Eyck, Jean, colours statues for Hotel de Ville at Bruges, 58; 59; discovery of art of painting with oils, 231-233; enters service of Philip the Good, 233-234; completes "The Adoration of the Lamb," 235; later paintings, 238-239; death, 240; monument, 241; 269; 270; 295; 301; "_La Belle Portugalaise_" at Malines, 341-342; 360.

 Van der Gheynst, Jehanne (or Jeanne), 377-378.

 Van der Goes, Hugo, 273; 301; 307; life and principal works, 360-362.

 Van Maerlant, Jacob, Flemish poet, 59; statue at Damme, 73-74.

 Van der Meire, Gerard, painter of Ghent, 363.

 Van Nieuwenhove, Martin, painting of, by Memling, 298.

 Van Noort, Adam, teacher of Rubens, 441.

 Van Orley, Bernard, 339; 341.

 Van der Paele, George, painting of, by Jean Van Eyck, 239-240.

 Van Péde, Henri, 371.

 Van der Schelden, Paul, sculptor, 373; wooden doorway at Audenaerde, 375.

 Van Severdonck, 274.

 Van de Walle, burgomaster of Bruges, 224; 225.

 Van der Voort, Michel, sculptor of Antwerp, 326.

 Van der Weyden, Rogier (Roger de la Pasture), 270-272; 273; influence of sculpture on, 275; 280; 300; 307; 308; 309; 341.

 Vauban, military engineer, constructs walls of Ypres, 142; fortifies Tournai, 250; 312.

 Verbanck, Georges, 241.

 Verbruggen, P. H., sculptor, 241; 453.

 Vere, Sir Francis, English commander at Ostende, 467-468.

 Verhaegen, Theodore, sculptor, 329; fine carvings at Malines, 331.

 Verlat, Charles, 418-419.

 Vervoort, Michel, 442.

 Vivés, Louis, 341.

 Voisin, Belgian historian, 160.

 Vos, Martin de, many works of, at Antwerp, 404; 431.

 Vriendt, Albrecht and Julian de, frescoes at Bruges, 58-59; at Furnes, 91.

 Vriendt, Cornelius de, 456-457.

 Vos, Cornelius de, portraits of, 453.

 Vydts, Jodocus, 234.

 W

 Waghenakere, Dominique de, architect, 348.

 Walloon provinces, 13; 24.

 Walter of Straten, 37.

 Waterloo, Battle of, 94; 158; 250; 359; 460.

 Wauters, Prof. A. J., "History of Flemish Painting," cited, 229; attributes portrait of Charles the Bold to Van der Goes, 362; on Peter Breughel the Elder, quoted, 404-405; eulogy of Rubens, quoted, 446-447.

 Wauters, Emile, painting of the madness of Hugo Van der Goes, 361.

 Weale, James, cited, 299.

 Westende, 473.

 White Hoods, 188; destroy castles of Liliaert nobles, 200.

 William of Dampierre, Count of Flanders, 153.

 William I, King of Holland, 460.

 William of Juliers, Provost of Maestricht, 154; 193.

 William the Silent, Prince of Orange, 320; 328; 412; 419; death, 419; plans for defence of Antwerp disregarded, 420-421.

 Winders, sculptor, 19.

 Witte, Gaspar de, 386.

 Wolsey, Cardinal, 249.

 Wordsworth, quoted, 168.

 Wynandael, 53; 132.

 Y

 Yperlée, tributary to the Yser, 104.

 Ypres, at the time of the Crusades, 13; fortified by Baldwin II, 34; execution of Provost of St. Donatian at, 40-41; receives charter from Philip of Alsace, 55; stubborn defence in the Great War, 116-118; _Halle aux Draps_, or Cloth Hall, 118-125; church of St. Martin, 125-126; Grande Place, 126-129; Musée Merghelynck, 139-140; rue de Lille and ancient city walls, 141-143; causes of decline, 143-145; language spoken at, 159; guildsmen of, at Battle of the Spurs, 157; 190; 192; 198-199; influence of Jacques Van Artevelde in, 200; 202; Melchior Broederlam, early painter of, 230-231; 304; Hotel de Ville destroyed by the Germans, 482.

 Ysenbrant, Adriaen, early painter of Bruges, 301.

 Yser Canal, limit of the German advance, 94; the locks, the river and the three canals, 103-104.

 Z

 Zee-Brugge, from the sea, 16.

 Zeghers, Gerard, religious pictures of, 453.

 Zwyn, ancient channel to Bruges, 16-17; 59; silting up of, 70-71; replaced by the Scheldt, as channel of commerce, 394-395; 398.