History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 17

HISTORY
EARLY HISTORY
Main article: Origins of the Belgae
The area roughly encompassing the later geographical meanings of Flanders, had
been inhabited by Celts till a Germanic people had been immigrating by crossing the
Rhine either gradually driving them south- or westwards, or rather merging with them.
By the first century BCE Germanic languages had become prevalent, and the
inhabitants were called Belgæ while the area was the coastal district of Gallia Belgica,
the most northeastern province of the Roman Empire at its height. The boundaries
were the Marne and Seine in the West, with Brittany, and the Rhine in the East, with
Frisia. This changed upon the Count of Rouen's settlement with the King of France,
which made a cession of western Flanders and eastern Brittany to the Normans.
HISTORICAL FLANDERS: COUNTY OF FLANDERS
Main article: County of Flanders
Created in the year 862 as a feudal fief in West Francia, the County of Flanders was
divided when its western districts fell under French rule in the late 12th century. The
remaining parts of Flanders came under the rule of the counts of neighbouring Hainaut
in 1191. The entire area passed in 1384 to the dukes of Burgundy, in 1477 to the
Habsburg dynasty, and in 1556 to the kings of Spain. The western districts of Flanders
came finally under French rule under successive treaties of 1659 (Artois), 1668, and
1678.
During the late Middle Ages Flanders' trading towns (notably Ghent, Bruges and
Ypres) made it one of the richest and most urbanised parts of Europe, weaving the
wool of neighbouring lands into cloth for both domestic use and export. As a
consequence, a very sophisticated culture developed, with impressive achievements
in the arts and architecture, rivalling those of Northern Italy.
Increasingly powerful from the 12th century, the territory's autonomous urban
communes were instrumental in defeating a French attempt at annexation (1300–
1302), finally defeating the French in the Battle of the Golden Spurs (July 11, 1302),
near Kortrijk. Two years later, the uprising was defeated and Flanders remained part
of the French Crown. Flemish prosperity waned in the following century, however,
owing to widespread European population decline following the Black Death of 1348,
the disruption of trade during the Anglo-French Hundred Years' War (1338–1453), and
increased English cloth production. Flemish weavers had gone over to Worstead and
North Walsham in Norfolk in the 12th century and established the woollen industry.

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