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County of Flanders Graafschap Vlaanderen (Flemish) Groafschap Vloandern (West Flemish) Comté de Flandre (French) Comitatus Flandriae (Latin) | |
|---|---|
| 862–1384/1797 | |
.svg) County of Flanders, 1350, in relation to theLow Countries and theHoly Roman Empire. The county was located where the border betweenFrance and theHoly Roman Empire met theNorth Sea. | |
| Status | French andImperialfiefdom |
| Capital | Bruges, laterGhent andLille |
| Common languages | |
| Religion | |
| Government | Feudal monarchy |
| Count of Flanders[a] | |
• 862–879 | Baldwin I |
• 1792–1797 | Francis II |
| Historical era | Middle Ages/ |
• Fief granted to CountBaldwin I | 862 |
• Annexed byFrance | 1797 |
| Today part of | |
| History of theLow Countries | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frisii | Belgae | |||||||
| Cana– nefates | Chamavi, Tubantes | Gallia Belgica(55 BC–c. 5th AD) Germania Inferior(83–c. 5th) | ||||||
| Salian Franks | Batavi | |||||||
| unpopulated (4th–c. 5th) | Saxons | Salian Franks (4th–c. 5th) | ||||||
| Frisian Kingdom (c. 6th–734) | Frankish Kingdom(481–843)—Carolingian Empire(800–843) | |||||||
| Austrasia(511–687) | ||||||||
| Middle Francia(843–855) | West Francia (843–) | |||||||
| Kingdom of Lotharingia(855– 959) Duchy of Lower Lorraine(959–) | ||||||||
| Frisia | ||||||||
.svg) Frisian Freedom (11–16th century) |  County of Holland (880–1432) |  Bishopric of Utrecht (695–1456) |  Duchy of Brabant (1183–1430)  Duchy of Guelders (1046–1543) |  County of Flanders (862–1384) |  County of Hainaut (1071–1432)  County of Namur (981–1421) |  P.-Bish. of Liège (980–1794) |  Duchy of Luxem- bourg (1059–1443) | |
 Burgundian Netherlands(1384–1482) | ||||||||
Habsburg Netherlands(1482–1795) (Seventeen Provincesafter 1543) | ||||||||
 Dutch Republic (1581–1795) | Spanish Netherlands (1556–1714) | |||||||
 Austrian Netherlands (1714–1795) | ||||||||
 United States of Belgium (1790) |  R. Liège (1789–'91) | |||||||
 Batavian Republic(1795–1806) Kingdom of Holland(1806–1810) |  associated withFrench First Republic(1795–1804) part ofFirst French Empire(1804–1815) | |||||||
 Princip. of the Netherlands(1813–1815) | ||||||||
| Kingdom of the Netherlands(1815–1830) |  Gr D. L. (1815–) | |||||||
Kingdom of the Netherlands(1839–) |  Kingdom of Belgium(1830–) | |||||||
Gr D. of Luxem- bourg (1890–) | ||||||||
TheCounty of Flanders[b] was one of the most powerful political entities in the medievalLow Countries, located on theNorth Sea coast of modern-dayBelgium and north-easternFrance. Unlike the neighbouring states ofBrabant andHainaut, it was within the territory of theKingdom of France. Thecounts of Flanders held the most northerly part of the kingdom, and were among the original twelvepeers of France. For centuries, the economic activity of the Flemish cities, such asGhent,Bruges andYpres, made Flanders one of the most affluent regions in Europe, and also gave them strong international connections to trading partners.
Up to 1477, the core area under French suzerainty was west of theScheldt and historians call this "Royal Flanders" (Dutch:Kroon-Vlaanderen, French:Flandre royale). Aside from this, the counts, from the 11th century onward, held land east of the river as a fief of theHoly Roman Empire, and this is referred to as "Imperial Flanders" (Rijks-Vlaanderen orFlandre impériale). From 1384, the county was politically united to theDuchy of Burgundy, and it formed the starting point for more acquisitions in the area, and the eventual creation of theBurgundian Netherlands. The expansion of Flemish ("Burgundian") power deep into the Holy Roman Empire further complicated the relationship between Flanders and France, but reinforced the connections with Brabant, Hainaut, Holland and other parts of theLow Countries. The link to the empire was strengthened even more when the Burgundian Netherlands came into the hands of the imperial Habsburg dynasty in 1477. Most of Flanders became part of the empire after thePeace of Madrid in 1526 and thePeace of the Ladies in 1529, although it came to be ruled under the Habsburg crown of Spain. The territories of the old county are now the only part of the late medieval French kingdom outside of modern-day France,Catalonia having been renounced in 1258.
By 1795 the entireAustrian Netherlands, the successor of theSpanish Netherlands, was acquired by France under theFrench First Republic, and this was recognized by treaty in 1797. After theBattle of Waterloo in 1815, these territories, including most of the old county of Flanders, passed to the newly establishedUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands, which was split up between 1830 and 1839 into the modern countries of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Although the French Republic had avoided using the names of the great medieval counties for their administrative départements, the Dutch and Belgian regimes brought back such names, and as a consequence the two westernmost provinces of theFlanders region of modern Belgium are now calledWest Flanders andEast Flanders.
The termFlanders originally referred to the area aroundBruges. It is first mentioned in the biography ofSaint Eligius (c. 590–660), theVita sancti Eligii. The work was written before 684 but has been known only since 725. This work mentions only the place "in Flandris".
AGermanic etymology forFlanders andFlemish (Dutch:Vlaanderen,Vlaams) was proposed byMaurits Gysseling in 1948,[2] based upon an article by René Verdeyen in 1943.[3][4]
According to this proposal, the termsFlanders andFlemish are likely derived from words derived fromProto-Germanic *flaumaz, meaning stream, current, flood or eddy. Based on this, it is proposed that there was a proto-Germanic term*flaumdra which referred to waterlogged land. According to Toorians, the strength of this proposal is that it would describe the salt marshes and mud flats of this low-lying coastal region. It was regularly inundated, before the development of dykes which started around 1050. However, a weak point of the proposal is that the Germanic wordforms which it requires are not found in any records of Dutch or its dialects. Comparison was instead based uponOld High Germanflewen andflouwen, and Old Norseflaumr.
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The geography of the historic County of Flanders only partially overlaps with the present-day region ofFlanders in Belgium, but even there, it extends beyond the present provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders. Some of the historic county is now part of France and the Netherlands. The land covered by the county is spread out over:
Thearms of the County of Flanders were allegedly created byPhilip of Alsace, count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191; a climbing or rampant black lion on a gold field. In the story about theBattle of the Golden Spurs, the arms and its corresponding battlecryVlaendr'n den leeuw ("Flanders, the Lion") plays a crucial role in the forming of a Flemish consciousness, which was popularised in the 19th century by the bookDe Leeuw van Vlaanderen byHendrik Conscience. As a result, the arms of the county live on as arms of theFlemish community.
It is said that Philip of Alsace brought the lion flag with him from theHoly Land, where, in 1177, he supposedly acquired it in battle with a Saracen knight, but this is a myth. The simple fact that the lion appeared on his personal seal since 1163, when he had not yet taken one step in theLevant, disproves it. In reality Philip was following a West-European trend. In the same period lions also appeared in the arms ofBrabant,Luxembourg,Holland,Limburg and other territories. The lion as a heraldic symbol was mostly used in border territories and neighbouring countries of theHoly Roman Empire. It was in all likelihood a way of showing independence from the emperor, who used aneagle in his personal arms. In Europe the lion had been a well-known figure since Roman times, through works such as the fables ofAesop.
The future county of Flanders had been inhabited since prehistory. During the Iron Age theKemmelberg formed an important Celtic settlement. During the times of Julius Caesar, the inhabitants were part of theBelgae, a collective name for all Celtic and Germanic tribes in the north ofGaul. For Flanders in specific these were theMenapii, theMorini, theNervii and theAtrebates.
Julius Caesar conquered the area around 54 BC and the population was partially romanised from the 1st to the 3rd century. TheRoman road that connectedCologne withBoulogne-sur-Mer was used as a defense perimeter. In the south the Gallo-Romanic population was able to maintain itself, while the north became a no-mans land that also suffered from regular floods from theNorth Sea.
In the coastal andScheldt areas Saxon tribes gradually appeared. For the Romans,Saxon was a general term, and includedAngles,Saxons,Jutes and Erules. The coastal defense around Boulogne andOudenburg, theLitus Saxonicum, remained functional until about 420. These forts were manned by Saxon soldiers.
From their base landToxandria theSalian Franks further expanded into the Roman empire. The first incursion into the lands of the Atrebates was turned away in 448 at Vicus Helena. But after the murder of the Roman generalFlavius Aëtius in 454 and Roman emperorValentinianus III in 455, the Salic Franks encountered hardly any resistance. FromDuisburg, kingChlodio conqueredCambrai andTournai, and he reached theSomme. After his death two Salic kingdoms emerged.Childeric is recorded in 463 as king of Tournay and ally of the Romans against theVisigoths. He was also administrator of the province ofBelgica Secunda. His sonClovis I conquered from 486 on all of Northern France.
The abandoned coast and Scheldt region had been partially repopulated since the 4th century by Saxons and Franks from the east of theRhine that retained theirGermanic culture and language. In the 5th century Salic Franks settled in present-day Northern-France andWallonia, primarily around the cities ofCourtrai,Tournai andBavay. They adapted to the local Gallo-Romanic population. From the 6th century on the no-mans-land farther north was filled byFranks from the Rhinelands and other Germanic groups from the Netherlands and Germany.
The first wave of immigration in the present day Flemish territory was accompanied by limited Christianisation. In the wake of the immigrants, missionaries tried to convert the heathen population, but had little success. The bishoprics were reinstated, usually with the same natural borders of the Late-Roman era; theSilva Carbonaria separated theBishopric of Cambrai from theBishopric of Tongeren, while the Scheldt again became the border between the bishoprics of Cambrai andTournai.Vedast andEleutherius of Tournai were assigned to reinstate the bishoprics ofArras and Tournai. However, these bishoprics failed to survive independently. In the late 6th century the bishopric of Arras was connected to that of Cambrai, and at the start of the 7th century the same was done to the bishoprics of Tournai andNoyon.
At the end of the 6th century, the duchy ofDentelinus was created in the north of what would later constituteNeustria. The duchy presumably included the bishoprics of Boulogne, Thérouanne, Arras, Tournai, Cambrai and Noyon: thus, the northwestern region between the North Sea and the Silva Carbonaria, an area the outlines of which were very similar to the later Flanders. The duchy was primarily intended to serve as a military and strategic deterrent against Frisian and Saxon invasions, and was a cornerstone in the military defense of theMerovingian Empire. In 600,Chlothar II (584–628) was forced to temporarily cede the duchy toAustrasia, but after the restoration of the Austrasian dual-monarchy in 622–623, the duchy was returned.
At the end of the 6th and the 7th century a new inflow emerged from the westernPas-de-Calais. This area had beengermanised in the 5th century and descendants of theSaxons andFranks had settled in future Flanders and theDuchy of Brabant. New groups of germanic settlers also came in from the Netherlands and Germany. Their new settlements often received the name of their germanic leader, with-inga haim added. -Inga haim meant 'the settlement of the tribe of X'. For example:Petegem comes fromPetta-inga-haim, which meant 'the settlement of the tribe of Petta'.
The colonisation and germanisation of Flanders took place primarily in the 6th and 7th centuries. In the 7th century the population-level had risen sufficiently to start rebuilding the religious, military and administrative infrastructure. In the area of linguistics, the situation stabilised so that a large,bilingual region with a linearlanguage border could emerge in the 8th century. InPas-de-Calais, which had been densely populated a long time, a language barrier had emerged in the 6th–7th century, but in the 9th century aromanisation-movement started that has continued until the present day.
The Christianisation attempts in the 6th century by bishops likeEleutherius andVedast had largely failed. In the 7th century a new effort was made under influence from KingDagobert I. He appointed several devoted missionaries from the southern parts of his kingdom to his royal domains in the northern parts of his kingdom. The missionaries were tasked with founding monasteries and abbeys there, that were to serve as centers of Christianity in a pagan region. From these centers, the conversion of the local populace could be started.
In 649Audomar founded an abbey atSithiu (theAbbey of Saint Bertin) and in 680Aubertus founded theAbbey of St. Vaast nearArras. The Christianisation of the population was mainly the work of missionaries likeAmandus (St. Bavo's Abbey andSt. Peter's Abbey in Ghent) andEligius (coastal region andAntwerp). In hisvita, Eligius makes the first mention of the wordFlanders, when he toured the area around 650.
During the 7th century the firstgaue orpagi were created in the Flemish territories.Gaue were administrative subdivisions of thecivitates. Thegaue from the 7th and 8th centuries would form the basis of the county of Flanders. Thepagus Tornacensis dates fromc. 580, and from the 7th century we know of thepagus Cambracinsis in 663, thepagus Taroanensis from 649 and thepagus Bracbatensis at the end of the century. From the 8th century we know of thepagus Rodaninsis from 707, thepagus Gandao from the first quarter of the 8th century, thepagus Mempiscus from 723 and thepagus Flandrensis from around 745. Lastly, thepagus Austrebatensis and thepagus Curtracensis are also counted as Merovingiangaue.
In 751 theCarolingianMayors of the Palace succeeded in removing the Merovingians from power and obtaining the throne for themselves. The last Merovingian king,Childeric III, was placed in captivity at the laterAbbey of Saint Bertinus in St. Omer, and his long hair, a symbol of royal power, was cut off.
Charlemagne succeeded his fatherPepin the Short in Neustria and Austrasia, and after the death of his brother Karloman he was able to reunite the entire Frankish Empire. Though he resided inAachen, he spent much time travelling through his territories. In 811 he inspected the fleet that he had ordered built in Boulogne and Ghent, to protect againstViking invasions.
The region comprising future Flanders was, from an economic point of view, a flourishing region, with a series of ports along theScheldt river:Ghent,Tournai,Valenciennes,Cambrai andLambres atDouai on theScarpe and a number of seaports:Quentovic,Boulogne and Isère portus, a port at the mouth of theYser. Moreover, the region included a number of rich abbeys, such asAbbey of Saint Bertin,Saint Bavo's Abbey,Saint-Amand Abbey and theAbbey of St. Vaast.
Charlemagne was succeeded by his sonLouis the Pious. Even during Louis' life his three sons started fighting over his heritage. They eventually concluded multiple treaties, of which theTreaty of Verdun, signed in 843, would be the definitive treaty. These treaties createdEast Francia,Middle Francia andWest Francia. West Francia, inherited byCharles the Bald, included the original county of Flanders, that spanned roughly betweenOudenburg,Aardenburg andTorhout.
After the Middle-Frankish kings died out, the rulers of the West and East-Frankish Kingdoms divided the Middle-Frankish kingdom amongst themselves in thetreaty of Meerssen in 870. Now Western Europe had been divided into two sides: the solidWest Francia (the later France) and the loose confederation of principalities ofEast Francia, that would become theHoly Roman Empire.
In the north these two powers were separated by the Scheldt river, which had previously separated West Francia fromMiddle Francia. This separation remained unchanged until the times ofCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
Militarily, economically and politically, Europe went through a deep crisis. TheVikings invaded from the north, theMagyar from the east and theSaracens from the south. All left trails of destruction. The central authorities of the two Frankish kingdoms were unable to organise an effective defensive, causing the population to lose faith and trust in their far-removed rulers. In the wake of this power vacuum, local powerful individuals saw their chance. Often these individuals were the descendants of people associated withCharlemagne.
The county of Flanders originated from theGau orPagus Flandrensis (Dutch:Vlaanderengouw [nl]), led by the Forestiers dynasty, who had been appointed by Charlemagne, who had made a small contribution by uniting small feudal territories in the higher parts of theFlemish Valley. The Forestiers dynasty also strengthened the hold of the church on the relatively desolate area.
The firstMargrave (Count) of Flanders wasBaldwin I,[5] who became count in 862, and a romantic anecdote is connected to this: Baldwin eloped with the daughter of the Frankish kingCharles the Bald,Judith of West Francia. Judith, who had previously been married to two English kings, refused her father's command to return to him. After mediation by the pope, the Frankish king reconciled with his son-in-law, and gave him the title of margrave, and the corresponding feudal territories as dowry. Margrave was primarily a military appointment and some versions of the story theorize that King Charles made Baldwin Margrave in the hope that he would be killed by the Vikings.
Initially the French kings meant to secure the safety of the northern French border from Viking invasions with this act. The counts, however, made good use of the crisis situation by incorporating the surrounding plundered territories into the county. The counts expanded the influence of the original Flemishpagus over the years over all territories south and west of theScheldt river, including the lordship of the Four Amts,Zeelandic Flanders, theBurgraviate of Aalst [nl] to the east and theCounty of Artois to the southwest, which remained part of Flanders until it became a separate county in 1237. After that date, the county of Artois at various times still came under the dominion of the count of Flanders as a separate title, until it was absorbed by the French crown.
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In 1071,Robert I became count of Flanders after his successful rebellion against his nephewArnulf III who died in thebattle of Cassel.[6] Flemishknights in the 11th and 12th centuries were some of the most effective and well-respected knights of Europe even before theCrusades.[7] They were known to be chivalrous but lax on enforcing religious norms.[8] Nevertheless,count Robert II and his wifeClementia of Burgundy were supporters of theCluniac reform movement and on October 1096Robert left with an army for theFirst Crusade.[9] Though the majority of Flemish nobles was absent for four years, law and order was kept thanks to the steady leadership of countess Clementia and the advocacy of bishopLambert of Arras.[10] For this, the local clergy promoted thePeace and Truce of God movement.[11]
TheHouse of Flanders remained in power until 1119, whenBaldwin VII of Flanders died heirless, and the county was inherited byCharles the Good, of theHouse of Denmark. He abandoned the title "Marquis of Flanders", which had been used alongside the comital style since the 10th century. The counts of Flanders were the last French lords using the title marquis, which would not be used again in France until 1504.[12] After a short interlude underWilliam Clito of Normandy (1127–1128), the county went toThierry of Alsace of theHouse of Alsace. Under Thierry (1128–1168) and his successorPhilip of Alsace, Flanders' importance and power increased.
In the second half of the 12th century, the county went through a period of great prosperity when Philip of Alsace managed to incorporate theCounty of Vermandois into Flanders through the inheritance of his wife. The territories he controlled now came to within 25 kilometers of Paris, and were larger than the territories his feudal lord, the French king, directly controlled.
During the rule of the House of Alsace, cities developed and new institutions were formed. The ports ofGravelines,Nieuwpoort,Damme,Biervliet,Dunkirk, andMardijk were founded, as well asCalais by Philip's brotherMatthew of Alsace. Aside from colonisation, the ports also functioned to reduce the silting of the riversAa,Yser andZwin, which were endangering the accessibility ofSaint-Omer,Ypres andBruges. Biervliet also served as a counter to Hollandic influence.
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Trade partners included England, theBaltic countries and France over sea, and theRhineland and Italy over land. The wool trade with England was of special importance to the risingcloth industry in Flanders. The wealth of many Flemish cities (as theirBelltowers andcloth halls testify) came from the drapery industry. Aside from this, thegrain trade with England and through Holland with Hamburg were also important.Saint-Omer became the most important transit-port for French wine in the 12th century. These were the centuries of the breakthrough of the Flemish merchants, with their trade with England, the Baltic area and South-West France, as well as the land routes to theRhineland and Italy though later only the yearly fairs of Champagne. Flanders's flourishing trading towns made it one of the most urbanised parts of Europe.
In 1194,Baldwin I of Constantinople of theHouse of Hainaut, succeeded the House of Alsace.
In 1278Guy of Dampierre, of theHouse of Dampierre, became count of Flanders. The king of France wanted to definitively conquer Flanders, and started theFranco-Flemish War (1297–1305). Increasingly powerful in the 12th century, the territory's autonomous urban centres were instrumental in defeating the French invasion attempt, defeating the French at theBattle of the Golden Spurs in 1302. But finally the French prevailed at thebattle of Mons-en-Pévèle and with the subsequenttreaty of Athis-sur-Orge (1305) Flanders lost Lille, Douai, and Orchies to France and had to pay exorbitant fines but retained their independence as a fief of the French kingdom. During this period, Flanders experienced a period of relative prosperity with its strong cloth industry and diverse artwork. Trade in Flanders was so extensive that statues of the Madonna and Child were made in Flanders with ivory, which was accessible only by the Indian Ocean trade networks.[13]
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Flemish prosperity waned in the following century, however, owing to widespread European population decline following theBlack Death of 1348, the disruption of trade during the Anglo-FrenchHundred Years' War (1338–1453), and increased English cloth production. Flemish weavers had gone over toWorstead andNorth Walsham inNorfolk in the 12th century and established the wool industry.
Through his marriage withMargaret of Dampierre in 1369,Philip the Bold, duke ofBurgundy, made an end to the independence of Flanders. Flanders became the possession of theHouse of Valois-Burgundy, that ruled over theBurgundian State. In 1449 the city ofGhent revolted against dukePhilip the Good. In 1453 Philip crushed the rebels at thebattle of Gavere, ending the revolt.
The cities of Ghent and Bruges had previously operated virtually as city-states,[15]: 49 and upon the death of dukeCharles the Bold attempted to re-assert this position by means of theGreat Privilege that they wrested fromMary of Burgundy, Charles' daughter and successor. In 1482 this last Burgundian ruler died, making her young sonPhilip I of Castile of theHouse of Habsburg the new count, and her husbandMaximilian I of Austria the regent. The Flemish cities stagedtwo more revolts, but these were ultimately subdued by the armies of theHoly Roman Empire.
The 1493Treaty of Senlis established peace between France and the Habsburgs; per the terms of the treaty, Flanders would henceforth be a territory of the Holy Roman Empire.
UnderCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor (born in the Flemish cityGhent), Flanders became a member of theBurgundian Circle. The county was later involved in theGuelders Wars.
Through thePragmatic Sanction of 1549, the County of Flanders was officially detached from France. It became an independent territory of theHoly Roman Empire. This constitutional act made Flanders part of theSeventeen Provinces, that constituted theLow Countries and from then on would be inherited as a whole.
The Low Countries held an important place in the Empire. For Charles personally, they were the region where he spent his childhood. Because of trade and industry and the rich cities, they were also important for the treasury. Lordship transferred to the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg withPhilip II of Spain, and after 1556 belonged to the Kings of Spain.
It was inSteenvoorde (InFrench Flanders) in 1566 that theBeeldenstorm broke loose. The Beeldenstorm spread through all of theLow Countries and eventually led to the outbreak of theEighty Years' War and the secession of theRepublic of the Seven United Netherlands. Originally Flanders cooperated with the northern provinces as a member of theUnion of Utrecht, and also signed theAct of Abjuration in 1581, but from 1579 to 1585, in the period known as the "Calvinist Republic of Ghent", it was reconquered by the Spanish army.
Flanders stayed under Spanish control. Through the efforts of the French kingLouis XIV, the entire southern part of Flanders was annexed by France, and became known as South-Flanders orFrench Flanders. This situation was formalised in 1678 at theTreaty of Nijmegen.
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After the extinction of the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs, the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs became counts of Flanders. UnderMaria Theresa of Austria, theAustrian Netherlands flourished.
In 1789 a revolution broke out against emperorJoseph II. In 1790 the county of Flanders and a separate province calledWest Flanders, which constituted the territories given back by France to the Emperor, were two of the founding members of theUnited States of Belgium. Just like the other parts of the Austrian Netherlands, the county of Flanders declared its independence. This took place on the Friday-market at Ghent on 4 January 1790. The "Manifest van Vlaenderen" was drawn up byCharles-Joseph de Graeve andJean-Joseph Raepsaet.
The county of Flanders officially ceased to exist in 1795, when it was annexed by France, and divided into twodepartments:Lys (present dayWest Flanders) andEscaut (present dayEast Flanders andZeelandic Flanders). Austria confirmed its loss in the 1797Treaty of Campo Formio.
After theFrench Revolution the county was not restored, and instead the two departments continued their existence as the provinces of East and West Flanders in theUnitarianUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands and later, after theBelgian Revolution, in Belgium.
From 1840 onwards, the title "Count of Flanders" has been appropriated by the monarchy of Belgium. As a rule it was given to the second in line of succession to the Belgian throne. The title of count of Flanders was abolished by royal decision on 16 October 2001.
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