Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgie
The Graslei , with "the three towers" on the far right
In the Middle Ages, under the impulse of a flourishing wool industry, Ghent grew into one of the largest cities in Europe. The flax and linen industry and the staple right to grain that Ghent acquired also contributed considerably to its prosperity. After a short Calvinist period, the city experienced a certain decline that only reversed towards the end of the 18th century, when the cotton industry made Ghent one of the first industrial cities on the European mainland. In the Hof ten Walle , later Prinsenhof, the future Emperor Charles V was born on February 24, 1500 . The Pacification of Ghent (1576) and the Peace of Ghent (1814) were signed in the city.
Ghent is also called the Fiere Stede or the Artevelde City, and also called the Flower City. The inhabitants of Ghent are called Gentenaars and are nicknamed Stroppen ( Stroppendragers ). Gents is spoken in Ghent, a dialect that differs considerably from the other East Flemish dialects.
The patron saints of Ghent are Sint-Lieven and Pharaïldis . Saint Bavo is the patron saint of the diocese of Ghent; The former St. Bavo's Abbey and the current St. Bavo's Cathedral are named after him.
Already in Gallic (or Celtic ) times there were several settlements in the region. It is no coincidence that the name Ghent is derived from the Celtic Ganda, which means estuary, in Ghent: the Leie and the Scheldt. However , older theories, such as Tourneur's, who explained the name Ghent as " confluence ", have been proven wrong. These rivers flowed and meandered in an area where many areas were periodically flooded (the Meersen) and were therefore not ideal for agriculture but better suited for sheep farming . For centuries Ghent would have been the most important city in the Netherlands for cloth (made from wool ), flax (withthe largest flax factory in Western Europe) and cotton (the first industrialized city on the mainland).
From the seventh century on, Ghent had two large abbeys (Sint-Baafs 625-650 and Sint-Pieters, after 650) that helped shape the city. These abbeys must have been so important around 800 that Louis the Pious , son of Charlemagne, named Einhard abbot of both abbeys. Einhard was the biographer of Charlemagne .
In 851-852 and between 879-883 the Vikings destroyed both abbeys and even settled on the Scheldt for a long time. When the Vikings had withdrawn from the Scheldt area and the region was safe again, the economic activity of Saint Bavo's Abbey (Portus Ganda) shifted to a core slightly more westerly along the Scheldt, PortusGandavum. A first medieval trading settlement developed there. The oldest medieval city in Ghent was within a wall that connected to the Scheldt (along the Borreputsteeg, Kalandeberg, Mageleinstraat, Regnessestraat (disappeared - on the current Sint-Baafsplein) and Nederpolder) and formed over time on the Scheldt a small harbour, around the Sint-Janskerk (later Sint-Baafskathedraal)). In this period, at the end of the ninth century, a castrum was also founded by Boudewijn II de Kale on the site of the present Castle of the Counts .† These two centers gradually grew towards each other in the course of the 10th century, along the Hoogpoort axis. The economic center shifted to the banks of the Leie (Graslei/Korenlei and the Groentenmarkt).
From the year 1000, Ghent was the largest city of the Low Countries for several centuries (until around 1550). Ghent was larger than Cologne , the largest city of the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages, and, after Paris and London , the largest city in northwestern Europe. Charles V said of Ghent “Je mettrais Paris dans mon Gant/-d” (“I would put Paris in my glove/Ghent”). In the 12th and 13th centuries, the historic center was enclosed by a first defensive belt of natural and excavated waterways, namely the Scheldt, the Ottogracht, the Leie, the Houtlei and the Ketelvest. The whole was fortified by city gates . In the 13th century, the city had about fifty to sixty thousand inhabitants.
In the middle of the Vrijdagmarkt is a statue of Jacob van Artevelde , who received King Edward III of England on the square on 26 January 1340 . Five years later, weavers and fullers killed each other in this square as a prelude to the murder of Jacob van Artevelde, the wise man of Ghent. His son, Philip van Artevelde , who led the Gentenaars against the French army led by Louis II of Male and Charles VI of France, was killed in action in 1382 in the Battle of Westrozebeke .
Ghent has always been a rebellious city. The citizens fought against the monarchs for hundreds of years to protect their privileges or freedoms. In the sixteenth century, Ghent played an important role in the rise of Calvinism . Between 1577 and 1584 a Calvinist Ghent Republic was established in Ghent . Then the first Ghent ( theological ) university was also founded (in the Pand , today restored and owned by the University of Ghent ). After 1584, many Calvinists emigrated to the Netherlands.
Ghent would again become the largest city in Belgium in the 17th and 18th centuries and remain so until the famine of 1845-1848. At the end of the 18th century, it was the first city on the mainland to industrialise , especially with the introduction of the mechanized linen and cotton industry and, among other things, after Lieven Bauwens smuggled a spinning machine , the " Mule Jenny ", from England to Ghent. Ghent was from then on an important industrial textile city.
Ghent would thrive under the French and Dutch times (including the construction of the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal), because it could serve large markets with its textile industry .
The city did not support the Belgian Revolution in 1830, unlike Brussels , the Brabant cities, Liège and Namur. A large part of the Ghent bourgeoisie was and remained Orangist, although the majority of the Orangists preferred to speak French . After 1848, the Orangists merged into the Liberal Party .
Ghent is the city where Belgium's first modern trade unions arose, and where the Belgian socialist movement arose. Edward Anseele , the leader of the Ghent socialists, would first be elected as a member of parliament in Liège .
Ghent was the host city of the 1913 World Fair . The exhibition itself was organized in the south of the city. After the exhibition , the grounds became the Miljoenenkwartier . With a view to the exhibition, Gent-Sint-Pieters Station opened nearby - on the new Maria-Hendrikaplein .
The University of Ghent was Flemishized by the German occupiers during the First World War. So courses were given in Dutch. After this war she became fully French again. In 1919 an anti-Flemish smear campaign took place in Ghent.
Ghent is also called the Fiere Stede or the Artevelde City, and also called the Flower City. The inhabitants of Ghent are called Gentenaars and are nicknamed Stroppen ( Stroppendragers ). Gents is spoken in Ghent, a dialect that differs considerably from the other East Flemish dialects.
The patron saints of Ghent are Sint-Lieven and Pharaïldis . Saint Bavo is the patron saint of the diocese of Ghent; The former St. Bavo's Abbey and the current St. Bavo's Cathedral are named after him.
Already in Gallic (or Celtic ) times there were several settlements in the region. It is no coincidence that the name Ghent is derived from the Celtic Ganda, which means estuary, in Ghent: the Leie and the Scheldt. However , older theories, such as Tourneur's, who explained the name Ghent as " confluence ", have been proven wrong. These rivers flowed and meandered in an area where many areas were periodically flooded (the Meersen) and were therefore not ideal for agriculture but better suited for sheep farming . For centuries Ghent would have been the most important city in the Netherlands for cloth (made from wool ), flax (withthe largest flax factory in Western Europe) and cotton (the first industrialized city on the mainland).
From the seventh century on, Ghent had two large abbeys (Sint-Baafs 625-650 and Sint-Pieters, after 650) that helped shape the city. These abbeys must have been so important around 800 that Louis the Pious , son of Charlemagne, named Einhard abbot of both abbeys. Einhard was the biographer of Charlemagne .
In 851-852 and between 879-883 the Vikings destroyed both abbeys and even settled on the Scheldt for a long time. When the Vikings had withdrawn from the Scheldt area and the region was safe again, the economic activity of Saint Bavo's Abbey (Portus Ganda) shifted to a core slightly more westerly along the Scheldt, PortusGandavum. A first medieval trading settlement developed there. The oldest medieval city in Ghent was within a wall that connected to the Scheldt (along the Borreputsteeg, Kalandeberg, Mageleinstraat, Regnessestraat (disappeared - on the current Sint-Baafsplein) and Nederpolder) and formed over time on the Scheldt a small harbour, around the Sint-Janskerk (later Sint-Baafskathedraal)). In this period, at the end of the ninth century, a castrum was also founded by Boudewijn II de Kale on the site of the present Castle of the Counts .† These two centers gradually grew towards each other in the course of the 10th century, along the Hoogpoort axis. The economic center shifted to the banks of the Leie (Graslei/Korenlei and the Groentenmarkt).
From the year 1000, Ghent was the largest city of the Low Countries for several centuries (until around 1550). Ghent was larger than Cologne , the largest city of the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages, and, after Paris and London , the largest city in northwestern Europe. Charles V said of Ghent “Je mettrais Paris dans mon Gant/-d” (“I would put Paris in my glove/Ghent”). In the 12th and 13th centuries, the historic center was enclosed by a first defensive belt of natural and excavated waterways, namely the Scheldt, the Ottogracht, the Leie, the Houtlei and the Ketelvest. The whole was fortified by city gates . In the 13th century, the city had about fifty to sixty thousand inhabitants.
In the middle of the Vrijdagmarkt is a statue of Jacob van Artevelde , who received King Edward III of England on the square on 26 January 1340 . Five years later, weavers and fullers killed each other in this square as a prelude to the murder of Jacob van Artevelde, the wise man of Ghent. His son, Philip van Artevelde , who led the Gentenaars against the French army led by Louis II of Male and Charles VI of France, was killed in action in 1382 in the Battle of Westrozebeke .
Ghent has always been a rebellious city. The citizens fought against the monarchs for hundreds of years to protect their privileges or freedoms. In the sixteenth century, Ghent played an important role in the rise of Calvinism . Between 1577 and 1584 a Calvinist Ghent Republic was established in Ghent . Then the first Ghent ( theological ) university was also founded (in the Pand , today restored and owned by the University of Ghent ). After 1584, many Calvinists emigrated to the Netherlands.
Ghent would again become the largest city in Belgium in the 17th and 18th centuries and remain so until the famine of 1845-1848. At the end of the 18th century, it was the first city on the mainland to industrialise , especially with the introduction of the mechanized linen and cotton industry and, among other things, after Lieven Bauwens smuggled a spinning machine , the " Mule Jenny ", from England to Ghent. Ghent was from then on an important industrial textile city.
Ghent would thrive under the French and Dutch times (including the construction of the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal), because it could serve large markets with its textile industry .
The city did not support the Belgian Revolution in 1830, unlike Brussels , the Brabant cities, Liège and Namur. A large part of the Ghent bourgeoisie was and remained Orangist, although the majority of the Orangists preferred to speak French . After 1848, the Orangists merged into the Liberal Party .
Ghent is the city where Belgium's first modern trade unions arose, and where the Belgian socialist movement arose. Edward Anseele , the leader of the Ghent socialists, would first be elected as a member of parliament in Liège .
Ghent was the host city of the 1913 World Fair . The exhibition itself was organized in the south of the city. After the exhibition , the grounds became the Miljoenenkwartier . With a view to the exhibition, Gent-Sint-Pieters Station opened nearby - on the new Maria-Hendrikaplein .
The University of Ghent was Flemishized by the German occupiers during the First World War. So courses were given in Dutch. After this war she became fully French again. In 1919 an anti-Flemish smear campaign took place in Ghent.
The Castle of the Counts seen from Sint-Widostraat
