Brabantine Gothic
Brabantine Gothic, occasionally called Brabantian Gothic, is a significant variant of Gothic architecture that is typical for the Low Countries. It surfaced in the first half of the 14th century at Saint Rumbolds Cathedral in the City of Mechelen, for churches and other major buildings, the tenor prevailed and lasted throughout the Renaissance. Mosan Gothic refers to the river Maas, mainly in the parts of the Low Countries, the modern provinces of Limburg in the Netherlands, Limburg in Flanders. Though of a origin than Scheldt Gothic, it still showed more Romanesque features. Marlstone was used, and around the capitals on limestone columns are sculptured leaves of irises, surface conditions and available materials varied. Larger churches could take centuries of building during which expertise and fashions caused successive architects to evolve further from the original plans, though few buildings are of an entirely consistent style, the ingenuity and craftsmanship of architects could realize a harmonious blend.
The ultimate concepts were drawn centuries after the earliest designs and it follows that Brabantine Gothic style is neither homogeneous, nor strictly defined. The Brabantine Gothic style originated with the advent of the Duchy of Brabant, the slender tallness of the French naves however, was never surpassed, and the size tended to be slightly more modest. It is characterized by using light-coloured sandstone or limestone, which allowed rich detailing but is erosion-prone, the churches typically have round columns with cabbage foliage sculpted capitals. From there half-pillar buttresses continue often without interruption into the vault ribs, the triforium and the windows of the clerestory generally continue into one another, with the windows taking the entire space of the pointed arch. An ambulatory with radiating chapels is part of the design, whereas the cathedrals in Brussels and Antwerp are notable exceptions, the main porch is straight under the single west tower, in French called clocher-porche.
In addition, the arches between nave and aisles are exceptionally wide, and the triforium is omitted. Instead, a transom of tracery is placed above the pier arches and this type was followed by other major churches in Antwerp city, St. Martin Church in Aalst, and St. Michaels Church in Ghent. Demer Gothic in the Hageland and Campine Gothic are regional variants of Brabantine Gothic in the part of the former duchy. Those styles can be distinguished merely by the use of local rust-brown bricks, Brabantine Gothic city halls are built in the shape of gigantic box reliquaries with corner turrets and usually a belfry. The exterior is profusely decorated. Many churches in the former Counties of Holland and of Zeeland are built in a style sometimes inaccurately separated as Hollandic and these are in fact Brabantine Gothic style buildings with concessions necessitated by local conditions. Thus, because of the ground, weight was saved by wooden barrel vaults instead of stone vaults
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the region of Flanders or Wallonia. The region has a population of 1.2 million and an area with a population of over 1.8 million. Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions, the secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are located in Brussels. Today, it is considered an Alpha global city, historically a Dutch-speaking city, Brussels has seen a language shift to French from the late 19th century onwards. Today, the majority language is French, and the Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. All road signs, street names, and many advertisements and services are shown in both languages, Brussels is increasingly becoming multilingual with increasing numbers of migrants and minority groups speaking their own languages.
The most common theory of the origin of Brussels name is that it derives from the Old Dutch Broekzele or Broeksel, meaning marsh, Saint Vindicianus, the bishop of Cambrai made the first recorded reference to the place Brosella in 695 when it was still a hamlet. The origin of the settlement that was to become Brussels lies in Saint Gaugericus construction of a chapel on an island in the river Senne around 580. The official founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, when Duke Charles of Lower Lotharingia transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint Gaugericus chapel, Charles would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, doing so on that same island. Lambert I of Leuven, Count of Leuven gained the County of Brussels around 1000 by marrying Charles daughter, as it grew to a population of around 30,000, the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. The Counts of Leuven became Dukes of Brabant at about this time, in the 13th century, the city got its first walls.
After the construction of the city walls in the early 13th century, to let the city expand, a second set of walls was erected between 1356 and 1383. Today, traces of it can still be seen, mostly because the small ring, Brabant had lost its independence, but Brussels became the Princely Capital of the prosperous Low Countries, and flourished. In 1516 Charles V, who had been heir of the Low Countries since 1506, was declared King of Spain in St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. Upon the death of his grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 and it was in the Palace complex at Coudenberg that Charles V abdicated in 1555. This impressive palace, famous all over Europe, had expanded since it had first become the seat of the Dukes of Brabant. In 1695, during the Nine Years War, King Louis XIV of France sent troops to bombard Brussels with artillery, together with the resulting fire, it was the most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels
Jacob van Thienen
Jacob van Thienen was a Flemish architect of the early 15th century. He is believed to have designed the spectacular Brussels Town Hall circa 1402 and this Gothic building, which stands in the citys Grand Place, is widely regarded as a masterpiece of medieval European secular architecture. The buildings distinctive belfry was, the work of a different architect, Van Thienen may have built the southern aisle of the Saint Michael and Saint Gudula Cathedral in Brussels, around 1400. General, art, work by Jacob Van Thienen in Belgium on picture
Quadrilateral
In Euclidean plane geometry, a quadrilateral is a polygon with four edges and four vertices or corners. Sometimes, the quadrangle is used, by analogy with triangle. The origin of the quadrilateral is the two Latin words quadri, a variant of four, and latus, meaning side. Quadrilaterals are simple or complex, called crossed, simple quadrilaterals are either convex or concave. The interior angles of a simple quadrilateral ABCD add up to 360 degrees of arc and this is a special case of the n-gon interior angle sum formula × 180°. All non-self-crossing quadrilaterals tile the plane by repeated rotation around the midpoints of their edges, any quadrilateral that is not self-intersecting is a simple quadrilateral. In a convex quadrilateral, all angles are less than 180°. Irregular quadrilateral or trapezium, no sides are parallel, trapezium or trapezoid, at least one pair of opposite sides are parallel. Isosceles trapezium or isosceles trapezoid, one pair of sides are parallel. Alternative definitions are a quadrilateral with an axis of symmetry bisecting one pair of opposite sides, parallelogram, a quadrilateral with two pairs of parallel sides.
Equivalent conditions are that opposite sides are of length, that opposite angles are equal. In other words, parallelograms include all rhombi and all rhomboids, rhombus or rhomb, all four sides are of equal length. An equivalent condition is that the diagonals bisect each other. Rhomboid, a parallelogram in which adjacent sides are of unequal lengths, not all references agree, some define a rhomboid as a parallelogram which is not a rhombus. Rectangle, all four angles are right angles, an equivalent condition is that the diagonals bisect each other and are equal in length. Square, all four sides are of length, and all four angles are right angles. An equivalent condition is that opposite sides are parallel, that the diagonals bisect each other. A quadrilateral is a if and only if it is both a rhombus and a rectangle
City of Brussels
The City of Brussels is the largest municipality of the Brussels-Capital Region, and the de jure capital of Belgium. The City of Brussels covers most of the Regions centre, as well as northern outskirts where it borders municipalities in Flanders and it is the administrative centre of the European Union. On 1 January 2016, the City of Brussels had a population of 178,552. The total area is 32.61 km2 which gives a density of 5,475 inhabitants per square kilometre. As of 2007, there were approximately 50,000 registered non-Belgians in the City of Brussels, at first, the City of Brussels was simply defined, being the area within the second walls of Brussels, the modern-day small ring. As the city grew, the villages grew as well, eventually growing into a contiguous city. The construction of Avenue Louise was commissioned in 1847 as an avenue bordered by chestnut trees that would allow easy access to the popular recreational area of the Bois de la Cambre. However, fierce resistance to the project was put up by the town of Ixelles through whose land the avenue was supposed to run.
After years of negotiations, Brussels finally annexed the narrow band of land needed for the avenue plus the Bois de la Cambre itself in 1864. That decision accounts for the unusual southeastern protrusion of the City of Brussels, the Université Libre de Bruxelles Solbosch campus is part of the City of Brussels, partially accounting for the bulge in the southeast end. Unlike most of the municipalities in Belgium, the ones located in the Brussels-Capital Region were not merged with others during mergers occurring in 1964,1970, however, a few neighbouring municipalities have been merged into the City of Brussels, including Haren and Neder-Over-Heembeek in 1921. These comprise the northern bulge in the municipality, to the south-east is a strip of land along Avenue Louise that was annexed from the Ixelles municipality
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Church bell towers often incorporate clocks, and secular towers usually do, the Italian term campanile, deriving from the word campana meaning bell, is synonymous with bell tower, though in English usage Campanile tends to be used to refer to a free standing bell tower. A bell tower may in some traditions be called a belfry, though this term may refer specifically to the substructure that houses the bells. The tallest free-standing bell tower in the world, approximately 110 m high, is the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower, located at the University of Birmingham, bells are rung from a tower to enable them to be heard at a distance. Church bells can signify the time for worshippers to go to church for a communal service and they are rung on special occasions such as a wedding, or a funeral service. In some religious traditions they are used within the liturgy of the service to signify to people that a particular part of the service has been reached. A bell tower may have a bell, or a collection of bells which are tuned to a common scale.
They may be stationary and chimed, rung randomly by swinging through a small arc and they may house a carillon or chimes, in which the bells are sounded by hammers connected via cables to a keyboard. These can be found in churches and secular buildings in Europe and America including college. A variety of electronic devices exist to simulate the sound of bells, some churches have an exconjuratory in the bell tower, a space where ceremonies were conducted to ward off weather-related calamities, like storms and excessive rain. The main bell tower of the Cathedral of Murcia has four, in addition, most Christian denominations ring church bells to call the faithful to worship, signalling the start of a mass or service of worship. The Christian tradition of the ringing of bells from a belltower is analogous to Islamic tradition of the adhan from a minaret. In AD400, Paulinus of Nola introduced church bells into the Christian Church, by the 11th century, bells housed in belltowers became commonplace.
Historic bell towers exist throughout Europe, the Irish round towers are thought to have functioned in part as bell towers. Famous medieval European examples include Bruges, Ghent, perhaps the most famous European free-standing bell tower, however, is the so-called Leaning Tower of Pisa, which is the campanile of the Duomo di Pisa in Pisa, Italy. In 1999 thirty-two Belgian belfries were added to the UNESCOs list of World Heritage Sites, in 2005 this list was extended with one Belgian and twenty-three Northern French belfries and is since known as Belfries of Belgium and France. In the Middle Ages, cities sometimes kept their important documents in belfries, not all are on a large scale, the bell tower of Katúň, in Slovakia, is typical of the many more modest structures that were once common in country areas. Archaic wooden bell towers survive adjoining churches in Lithuania and as well as in parts of Poland
Coudenberg
Coudenberg or Koudenberg is a small hill in Brussels where the Palace of Coudenberg was built. After several years of recent excavations, the vestiges of the palace. In about 1100, the counts of Leuven and Brussels left the bottom of the valley of the Zenne and built their castle on the heights of Coudenberg from where they could dominate the small city. With the creation of the Duchy of Brabant in 1183 by the German Emperor Frederik Barbarossa, the hunting park of the dukes led down the hill to the north, a remnant of which is now Brussels Park. The first regular meetings of the States-General, composed of delegates from the class, clergy. It was in this room that in 1515 Margaret of Austria formally relinquished her regency over the Low Countries to Charles von Habsburg, and it was in this same room that 40 years Charles V abdicated in favour of his son, King Philip II of Spain. In the 17th century, under their reign as the sovereigns of the Spanish Netherlands, the archdukes restored the façade of the palace, transformed the buildings and refitted the apartments and gardens.
As art lovers, the archdukes brought to their court the best artists of the time, Jan Brueghel and Rubens among them, on the night of February 3,1731, fire broke out in the kitchens and quickly engulfed the entire palace. The freezing conditions made it difficult to deliver any water and the means of firefighting were very insufficient, in the morning, the palace was in ruins with many of the works of art destroyed along with the governmental archives. Unfortunately money was not available for rebuilding, so for more than 40 years and it was only in 1774 that Charles Alexander of Lorraine proposed replacing the ruins with a Royal Square. Because of the clash between the Gothic chapel and the surrounding buildings, the chapel was pulled down. Just off the southwest corner of Brussels Park, lies the Royal Square which was atop the ruins of the old Palace. Originally a statue of Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, the governor of Austrian Netherlands. The statue was not equestrian, but showed Charles-Alexander standing, attending to the affairs of government, following the French Revolution and during the occupation of Brussels by the French, it was melted down for the value of the metal.
The current equestrian statue is of a young Godfrey of Bouillon, a new statue of Charles-Alexander of Lorraine was eventually placed nearby in the Museum Square. The Royal Square on the Coudenberg is faced by the church of St. Jacob-on-the-Coudenberg and it was built by two French architects and Guimard, in classic style from 1776 to 1780. In the 19th century the dome and two wings were added. The remains of the ancient palace and adjacent building have been excavated below present ground level
Grand Place
The Grand Place or Grote Markt is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by opulent guildhalls and two edifices, the citys Town Hall, and the Breadhouse building containing the Museum of the City of Brussels. The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels and it measures 68 by 110 metres, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the 10th century, Duke of Lower Lorraine constructed a fort on Saint-Géry Island and this was the seed of what would become Brussels. By the end of the 11th century, a marketplace was set up on a dried-up marsh near the fort that was surrounded by sandbanks. The market was called the Nedermerckt, or Lower Market, the market likely developed around the same time as the commercial development of Brussels. A document from 1174 mentions a lower market not far from the port on the Senne river, the market was well situated along the Causeway, an important commercial road which connected the prosperous regions of the Rhineland and the County of Flanders.
At the beginning of the 13th century, three indoor markets were built on the edge of the Grand Place, a meat market, a bread market. Other buildings, made of wood or stone, enclosed the Grand Place, improvements to the Grand Place from the 14th century onwards would mark the rise in importance of local merchants and tradesmen relative to the nobility. Short on money, the Duke transferred control of mills and commerce to the local authorities, the city of Brussels, as with the neighbouring cities of Mechelen and Leuven constructed a large indoor cloth market to the south of the square. At this point, the square was still laid out. The city expropriated and demolished a number of buildings that clogged the Grand Place, the Brussels City Hall was built on the south side of the square in stages between 1401 and 1455, and made the Grand Place the seat of municipal power. It towers 96 metres high, and is capped by a 4-metre statue of Saint Michael slaying a demon or devil. To counter this symbol of power, from 1504 to 1536 the Duke of Brabant built a large building across from the city hall as symbol of ducal power.
It was built on the site of the first cloth and bread markets, which were no longer in use and it is currently known as the Maison du roi in French, though in Dutch it continues to be called the Broodhuis, after the market whose place it took. Wealthy merchants and the increasingly powerful guilds of Brussels built houses around the edge of the square, the French launched a massive bombardment of the mostly defenseless city centre with cannons and mortars, setting it on fire and flattening the majority of the Grand Place and the surrounding city. Only the stone shell of the hall and a few fragments of other buildings remained standing. That the town hall survived at all is ironic, as it was the target of the artillery fire
Patron saint
Catholics believe that patron saints, having already transcended to the metaphysical, are able to intercede effectively for the needs of their special charges. Historically, a practice has occurred in many Islamic lands. With regard to the omnipresence of this belief, the late Martin Lings wrote. Traditionally, it has been understood that the saint of a particular place prays for that places wellbeing and for the health. Saints often become the patrons of places where they were born or had been active, professions sometimes have a patron saint owing to that individual being involved somewhat with it, although some of the connections were tenuous. Lacking such a saint, an occupation would have a patron whose acts or miracles in some way recall the profession and it is, generally discouraged in some Protestant branches such as Calvinism, where the practice is considered a form of idolatry. In Islam, the veneration or commemoration and recognition of saints is found in many branches of traditional Sunnism
Bombardment of Brussels
The bombardment of Brussels by French troops of Louis XIV on August 13,14, and 15,1695, and the resulting fire were together the most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels. The Grand Place was destroyed, along with a third of the buildings in the city, the reconstruction of the city centre, effected during subsequent years, profoundly changed the appearance of the city and left numerous traces still visible today. The bombardment was part of the Nine Years War, the French forces hoped that by bombarding, or threatening to bombard Brussels, they would be able to divert Allied troops from the Siege of Namur. The strategy was unsuccessful, and no military gain came of the bombardment, the 17th century, called the Great Century by the French, was anything but great for the inhabitants of the Southern Netherlands. During this period, this went through a succession of wars and destruction. In 1695, nearly forty years after the Battle of the Dunes of 1658 and this expansion resulted in the gradual annexation of Spanish possessions to Frances north.
Wars were fought and alliances made and broken, and fortresses continuously changed hands, the Nine Years War had been raging since 1688. Opposing France was a large European coalition, the Grand Alliance, with its head as William III of Orange, leader of the Netherlands, and soon to be king of England. Alongside William stood Spain, the Holy Roman Empire as well several electors, among them Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, governor of the Spanish Netherlands. In July 1695, the city of Namur, occupied for three years by the French, was besieged by William III of England, at the head of an allied army. After the death of the Duke of Luxembourg, the French army was led by the Duke of Villeroi, the king, irritated at the recent turn of events, urged Villeroi to destroy Bruges or Ghent in a surprise attack. Villeroi, eager to please the king, instead suggested that bombarding Brussels would have more of an effect in drawing the enemy to a place in which the French could attack them strategically.
At the end of July, Villeroi sent the king a request for supplies, compiled by his master of artillery. He evaluated that 12 cannons,25 mortars,4000 cannonballs,5000 explosive shells, an amount of gunpowder, lead shot and fuses. In addition, there would need to be a train capable of supplying arms. The supplies and troops were taken out of French garrisons and strongholds in the region. These maneuvers did not pass unnoticed, as Villeroi let his intentions be known with the goal of worrying the allied armies besieging Namur, on August 3, a truce was declared in the siege in order to treat the wounded and restock the citadel. After six days, the siege resumed, with both William III and Maximilian II Emanuel standing their ground, only the small army of the Prince of Vaudemont, near the city of Ghent, was able to achieve anything, by controlling roads leading to Brussels
17th-century French art
In the early part of the 17th century, late mannerist and early Baroque tendencies continued to flourish in the court of Marie de Medici and Louis XIII. Art from this period shows influences from both the north of Europe and from Roman painters of the Counter-Reformation, artists in France frequently debated the merits between Peter Paul Rubens and Nicolas Poussin. There was a strong Caravaggio school represented in the period by the paintings of Georges de La Tour. The wretched and the poor were featured in an almost Dutch manner in the paintings by the three Le Nain brothers. In the paintings of Philippe de Champaigne there are both propagandistic portraits of Louis XIII s minister Cardinal Richelieu and other more contemplative portraits of people in the Jansenist sect. The Palace of Versailles, initially a hunting lodge built by his father, was transformed by Louis XIV into a marvelous palace for fêtes and parties. Architect Louis Le Vau and designer Charles Le Brun, the initial impetus for this transformation of Versailles is generally linked to the private château Vaux-le-Vicomte built for Louis XIVs minister of Finance Nicolas Fouquet.
Having offered a festival for the king in the newly finished residence in 1661. The architects and artists under his patronage were all put to work on Versailles, in his youth, Louis XIV had suffered during the civil and parliamentary insurrection known as the Fronde. Versailles became a gilded cage, To leave spelled disaster for a noble, for all official charges, a word or glance from the king could make or destroy a career. The king himself followed a strict daily program, and there was little privacy, yet the difficult wars at the end of his long reign and the religious problems created by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes made his last years dark ones. French artists of the seventeenth century Baroque painting Classicism Perrault’s Colonnade Anthony Blunt, french Art Vol III, The Ancient Régime ISBN 2-08-013617-8
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished in Europe during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture and its characteristics include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress. Gothic architecture is most familiar as the architecture of many of the cathedrals, abbeys. It is the architecture of many castles, town halls, guild halls, universities and to a less prominent extent, private dwellings, for this reason a study of Gothic architecture is largely a study of cathedrals and churches. A series of Gothic revivals began in mid-18th-century England, spread through 19th-century Europe and continued, largely for ecclesiastical and university structures, the term Gothic architecture originated as a pejorative description. Hence, François Rabelais, of the 16th century, imagines an inscription over the door of his utopian Abbey of Thélème, Here enter no hypocrites, slipping in a slighting reference to Gotz and Ostrogotz.
Authorities such as Christopher Wren lent their aid in deprecating the old medieval style, the Company disapproved of several of these new manners, which are defective and which belong for the most part to the Gothic. Gothic architecture is the architecture of the medieval period, characterised by use of the pointed arch. As an architectural style, Gothic developed primarily in ecclesiastical architecture, the greatest number of surviving Gothic buildings are churches. The Gothic style is most particularly associated with the cathedrals of Northern France. At the end of the 12th century, Europe was divided into a multitude of city states, norway came under the influence of England, while the other Scandinavian countries and Poland were influenced by trading contacts with the Hanseatic League. Angevin kings brought the Gothic tradition from France to Southern Italy, throughout Europe at this time there was a rapid growth in trade and an associated growth in towns. Germany and the Lowlands had large flourishing towns that grew in comparative peace, in trade and competition with other, or united for mutual weal.
Civic building was of importance to these towns as a sign of wealth. England and France remained largely feudal and produced grand domestic architecture for their kings and bishops, the Catholic Church prevailed across Europe at this time, influencing not only faith but wealth and power. Bishops were appointed by the lords and they often ruled as virtual princes over large estates. The early Medieval periods had seen a growth in monasticism, with several different orders being prevalent. Foremost were the Benedictines whose great abbey churches vastly outnumbered any others in France, a part of their influence was that towns developed around them and they became centers of culture and commerce
Stadhuis (help·info)) of the City of Brussels is a Gothic building from the Middle Ages. It is located on the famous Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, opposite the Museum of the City of Brussels.
Media related to Brussels town hall at Wikimedia Commons
