1.
Municipalities of Belgium
–
As such, only Antwerp, having over 500,000 inhabitants, became subdivided into nine districts. The Belgian arrondissements, a level between province and municipality, or the lowest judicial level, are in English sometimes called districts as well. The municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants were grouped in so-called canton municipalities, in 1800, these canton municipalities were abolished again and the number of autonomous municipalities became 2,776. Not much changed during the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, only a number of municipalities were merged. In 1831, Belgium was divided into 2,739 municipalities, New municipalities were created until 1928. There were 2,528 municipalities in 1850,2,572 in 1875,2,617 in 1900 and this also includes the municipalities of the East Cantons that were added to Belgium following the First World War. In 1961, the so-called Unitary Law, of which the chapter was dedicated to the territorial organisation of the municipalities, was adopted. The authority to abolish municipalities was entrusted to the branch for a period of 10 years. Municipalities could be merged on financial grounds or on grounds of a geographical, linguistic, economic, in 1964 and in 1969 and 1970, roughly 300 municipalities ceased to exist and were subsumed into other municipalities. The number of municipalities was reduced from 2,663 in 1961 to 2,586 in 1965, article 4 of the constitution states that each municipality must belong to only one of the four official language areas that were established in 1962–63. In the three officially unilingual language areas, a couple of municipalities in the vicinity of another language area must provide limited facilities for speakers of that other language. Lucien Harmegnies, Minister of the Interior in the government of Gaston Eyskens decided to continue the process of reorganization of Belgium. In 1971, the provisions of the Unity Law were extended and modified to apply to large agglomerations and it was another Minister of the Interior, Joseph Michel, who managed the process. On December 30,1975, the law regarding the merger of the municipalities was adopted, the merger became effective on January 1,1977. The merger of 1977 further reduced the number of municipalities in Belgium from 2,359 to 596, because of the specific nature of the reorganization in Antwerp, the law of December 30,1975 didnt enter into force for Antwerp until January 1,1983. The formerly independent municipalities were called districts and were given an advisory function, however, on January 1,2001 they were given an administrative function again. The Mayor is not only the head of the municipality, he or she is also the representative of the Regional, in that capacity, he or she is responsible for the execution of laws, decrees, ordinances and orders. The Mayor is also responsible for the maintenance of order in his or her municipality
2.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Belgium
–
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
4.
Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium
–
Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities, three regions, and four language areas. For each of these types, the subdivisions together make up the entire country, in other words. The language areas were established by the Second Gilson Act, which entered force on August 2,1963. The division into language areas was included in the Belgian Constitution in 1970 and this is a schematic overview of the basic federal structure of Belgium as defined by Title I of the Belgian Constitution. Each of the entities either have their own Parliament and Government or their own Council, the language areas have no offices or powers and exist de facto as geographical circumscriptions, serving only to delineate the empowered subdivisions. The institutional communities are thus equally geographically determined, Belgian Communities do not officially refer directly to groups of people but rather to specific political, linguistic and cultural competencies of the country. There is no subnationality in Belgium, the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region each comprise five provinces. The Brussels-Capital Region is not a province, nor does it contain any, the three regions are further subdivided into 589 municipalities, which in general consist of several sub-municipalities. These sub-municipalities were independent municipalities in the past, but no longer serve an official purpose, the Federal State retains a considerable common heritage. This includes justice, defence, federal police, social security, public debt and other aspects of public finances, nuclear energy, the State is responsible for the obligations of Belgium and its federalized institutions towards the European Union and NATO. It controls substantial parts of public health, home affairs and foreign affairs and they supervise the provinces, municipalities and intercommunal utility companies. In several fields, the different levels each have their own say on specificities, each level can be involved in scientific research and international relations associated with its powers. Communities were created in 1970 as cultural communities with limited power, in 1980, more power was transferred from the federal state to these entities and they became simply communities. Both the Flemish and French Community have jurisdiction over the area of the Brussels-Capital Region, consequently, they do not have a defined number of inhabitants. The German-speaking Community is the community with an area over which they have sole jurisdiction as a community. It is located within the Walloon Region, which has transferred some regional powers to the German-speaking Community with regards to its area. The Flemish Region or Flanders occupies the part of Belgium. It has an area of 13,522 km2, or 44. 29% of Belgium
5.
Flemish Community
–
The term community should then not be capitalized. State reforms in Belgium turned the country from a state into a federal one. Cultural communities were the first type of decentralisation in 1970, forming the Dutch, French, later on, in 1980, these became responsible for more cultural matters and were renamed to simply Community, the Dutch Community also being renamed to the Flemish Community. In the same state reform of 1980, the Flemish and Walloon Region were set up, in Flanders it was decided that the institutions of the Flemish Community would take up the tasks of the Flemish Region, so there is only one Flemish Parliament and one Flemish Government. Legally speaking, in the region of Brussel-Capital, the Flemish Community is responsible not for people but for Flemish institutions such as schools, theatres, libraries. The reason is no distinct sub-national status exists in Belgium. Yet, individuals living in Brussels can opt by their own choice for certain policies of the Flemish Community, Dutch is the official language of the Flemish Community. Minorities speak French, Yiddish, Turkish, Arabic, Berber, Italian, Spanish, English, though most of these groups are recent immigrants, since the Middle Ages, Jews have formed the oldest minority to retain its own identity. Compared with most areas in the Netherlands, the dialects of Flemish people still tend to be strong. In Dutch, these are often called tussentaal or, rather derogatorily, more recently, a number of local initiatives have been set up to save the traditional dialects and their diversity. In Brussels, the dialect is heavily influenced by French. Nowadays, most Flemings in Brussels do not speak the local dialect and this is due in part to the relatively large numbers of young Flemings coming to Brussels, after a long period of many more others moving out while French-speakers moved in. In certain municipalities along the border with the Walloon and the Brussels-Capital regions and these cover rights such as to receive official documentation in their own tongue. The community competencies there, are exercised by the two affected institutional communities, the Flemish Community therefore established a local elected council and executive to cater for intermediate-level decision making & public services. The VGC then recognised local, municipal institutions to care of the purely local public service in these community areas. Flanders has a radio and television broadcasting company, the Vlaamse Radio en Televisieomroep or VRT in Dutch. Since 1989, several companies for region-wide radio and television broadcasting have become established. There are also so-called regional broadcast companies of which the range is limited to smaller parts of the Flemish Region
6.
French Community of Belgium
–
In Belgium, the French Community refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. The name French Community refers to Francophone Belgians, and not to French people residing in Belgium, as such, the French Community of Belgium is sometimes rendered in English as the French-speaking Community of Belgium for clarity. The Community has its own parliament, government, and administration and its official flag is identical to the Walloon Flag, which is also the official flag of the Walloons of Wallonia. Wallonia is home to 80% of all Francophone Belgians, with the remaining 20% residing in Brussels, the French Community of Belgium includes 4.5 million people, of whom,3.6 million live in the Walloon Region,900,000 living in the Brussels-Capital Region. French speakers who live in the Flemish Region are not included in the numbers for the French-speaking Community. Their number is unknown, given the absence of sub-nationality status, estimates of the French-speaking population of Flanders vary from 120,000, around 200,000, to around 300,000. The French Community of Belgium makes up about 41% of the population of Belgium, 58% of the population belongs to the Flemish Community. For years there have been hints that the Community wanted to demonstrate the link between Wallonia and Brussels, the two main territories where the French speakers are in the majority. The independent/private media uses both the alternative and the original designation, in September 2011, the Community adopted a new logo that incorporates its new name. The French Community of Belgium is governed by the Parliament of the French Community, which selects the executive branch, the Parliament of the French Community is the legislative assembly of the French Community of Belgium based in the Quartier Royal. These members are elected for a term of five years, the current President of the Parliament of the French Community is Philippe Courard. Note, Government coalition parties are denoted with bullets The Cabinet of the French Community of Belgium is the branch of the French Community. It consists of a number of ministers chosen by the parliament and is headed by a Minister-President, following the 25 May 2014 election, the PS and CDH parties formed a coalition. A few days later, Milquet was replaced by Marie-Martine Schyns, Schyns took over the Compulsory Education portfolio, which she was already in charge of during the previous legislature. Greoli took over Culture and Child Care from Milquet and also received the Sports portfolio from René Collin, Brussels-Capital Region Commission communautaire française Communities and regions of Belgium Wallonia French Community of Belgium, official website. Parliament of the French Community of Belgium, official website
7.
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 also 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, expatriates 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
8.
Arrondissements of Belgium
–
Arrondissements of Belgium are subdivisions below the provinces of Belgium. There are administrative, judicial and electoral arrondissements and these may or may not relate to identical geographical areas. The 43 administrative arrondissements are a level between the municipalities and the provinces. Brussels-Capital forms a single arrondissement for all 19 municipalities in the region by that name, Belgium had 27 judicial arrondissements until April 1,2014. Until 1999 the electoral districts for the election of the parliaments were electoral arrondissements, the arrondissement of Brussels-Capital is not part of any province and consequently forms its own electoral district
9.
Dutch language
–
It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after English and German. Dutch is one of the closest relatives of both German and English and is said to be roughly in between them, Dutch vocabulary is mostly Germanic and incorporates more Romance loans than German but far fewer than English. In both Belgium and the Netherlands, the official name for Dutch is Nederlands, and its dialects have their own names, e. g. Hollands, West-Vlaams. The use of the word Vlaams to describe Standard Dutch for the variations prevalent in Flanders and used there, however, is common in the Netherlands, the Dutch language has been known under a variety of names. It derived from the Old Germanic word theudisk, one of the first names used for the non-Romance languages of Western Europe. It literarily means the language of the people, that is. The term was used as opposed to Latin, the language of writing. In the first text in which it is found, dating from 784, later, theudisca appeared also in the Oaths of Strasbourg to refer to the Germanic portion of the oath. This led inevitably to confusion since similar terms referred to different languages, owing to Dutch commercial and colonial rivalry in the 16th and 17th centuries, the English term came to refer exclusively to the Dutch. A notable exception is Pennsylvania Dutch, which is a West Central German variety called Deitsch by its speakers, Jersey Dutch, on the other hand, as spoken until the 1950s in New Jersey, is a Dutch-based creole. In Dutch itself, Diets went out of common use - although Platdiets is still used for the transitional Limburgish-Ripuarian Low Dietsch dialects in northeast Belgium, Nederlands, the official Dutch word for Dutch, did not become firmly established until the 19th century. This designation had been in use as far back as the end of the 15th century, one of them was it reflected a distinction with Hoogduits, High Dutch, meaning the language spoken in Germany. The Hoog was later dropped, and thus, Duits narrowed down in meaning to refer to the German language. g, in English, too, Netherlandic is regarded as a more accurate term for the Dutch language, but is hardly ever used. Old Dutch branched off more or less around the same time Old English, Old High German, Old Frisian and Old Saxon did. During that period, it forced Old Frisian back from the western coast to the north of the Low Countries, on the other hand, Dutch has been replaced in adjacent lands in nowadays France and Germany. The division in Old, Middle and Modern Dutch is mostly conventional, one of the few moments linguists can detect somewhat of a revolution is when the Dutch standard language emerged and quickly established itself. This is assumed to have taken place in approximately the mid-first millennium BCE in the pre-Roman Northern European Iron Age, the Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups, East, West, and North Germanic. They remained mutually intelligible throughout the Migration Period, Dutch is part of the West Germanic group, which also includes English, Scots, Frisian, Low German and High German
10.
Municipalities in Belgium
–
As such, only Antwerp, having over 500,000 inhabitants, became subdivided into nine districts. The Belgian arrondissements, a level between province and municipality, or the lowest judicial level, are in English sometimes called districts as well. The municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants were grouped in so-called canton municipalities, in 1800, these canton municipalities were abolished again and the number of autonomous municipalities became 2,776. Not much changed during the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, only a number of municipalities were merged. In 1831, Belgium was divided into 2,739 municipalities, New municipalities were created until 1928. There were 2,528 municipalities in 1850,2,572 in 1875,2,617 in 1900 and this also includes the municipalities of the East Cantons that were added to Belgium following the First World War. In 1961, the so-called Unitary Law, of which the chapter was dedicated to the territorial organisation of the municipalities, was adopted. The authority to abolish municipalities was entrusted to the branch for a period of 10 years. Municipalities could be merged on financial grounds or on grounds of a geographical, linguistic, economic, in 1964 and in 1969 and 1970, roughly 300 municipalities ceased to exist and were subsumed into other municipalities. The number of municipalities was reduced from 2,663 in 1961 to 2,586 in 1965, article 4 of the constitution states that each municipality must belong to only one of the four official language areas that were established in 1962–63. In the three officially unilingual language areas, a couple of municipalities in the vicinity of another language area must provide limited facilities for speakers of that other language. Lucien Harmegnies, Minister of the Interior in the government of Gaston Eyskens decided to continue the process of reorganization of Belgium. In 1971, the provisions of the Unity Law were extended and modified to apply to large agglomerations and it was another Minister of the Interior, Joseph Michel, who managed the process. On December 30,1975, the law regarding the merger of the municipalities was adopted, the merger became effective on January 1,1977. The merger of 1977 further reduced the number of municipalities in Belgium from 2,359 to 596, because of the specific nature of the reorganization in Antwerp, the law of December 30,1975 didnt enter into force for Antwerp until January 1,1983. The formerly independent municipalities were called districts and were given an advisory function, however, on January 1,2001 they were given an administrative function again. The Mayor is not only the head of the municipality, he or she is also the representative of the Regional, in that capacity, he or she is responsible for the execution of laws, decrees, ordinances and orders. The Mayor is also responsible for the maintenance of order in his or her municipality
11.
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 also 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, Laken and Neder-Over-Heembeek in 1921. These comprise the northern bulge in the municipality, to the south-east is also a strip of land along Avenue Louise that was annexed from the Ixelles municipality
12.
Ixelles
–
Ixelles is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. In common with all the Brussels municipalities, it is legally bilingual, Ixelles is located in the suburbs towards the south of Brussels city center and is geographically bisected by the City of Brussels municipality. It is generally considered an affluent area of the city and is noted for its communities of European. Elsene/Ixelles is located in the south of Brussels and is divided into two parts by Louisalaan / Avenue Louise, which is part of the City of Brussels municipality, the smaller west part of the municipality includes Baljuwstraat/Rue du Bailli and extends roughly from Louisalaan/Avenue Louise to Brugmannlaan/Avenue Brugmann. The Ter Kamerenbos/Bois de la Cambre is located just south of Elsene/Ixelles and it was also to be the first Haussmann-esque artery of the city of Brussels. However, fierce resistance to the project was put up by the town of Elsene/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 Ter Kamerenbos/Bois de la Cambre itself in 1864. That decision accounts for the shape of todays City of Brussels. The placename was first mentioned in 1210 as Elsela, from Old Dutch Elselo meaning alder woods, the origins of the village date from the foundation of the Abbey of La Cambre by a Benedictine nun in 1196. The abbey was located near the springs of the Maelbeek in the Sonian Forest, the abbey was consecrated by the Bishop of Cambrai soon after its foundation. Boniface of Brussels and Alice of Schaerbeek were two of its most famous residents in the 13th century, around 1300, during the reign of John II, Duke of Brabant, a hostel was built near the abbey to provide meals to the wood bearers working in the forest. Soon, a hamlet and a couple of chapels were built, including the Church of the Holy Cross, the area included several ponds, still visible today, that provided fish to the abbey and to the neighbouring hamlets. At that time, part of Ixelles was a dependence of Brussels, in 1478, the wars between Louis XI of France and Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor brought devastation to the abbey and the surrounding areas. In 1585, the Spanish burnt down most of the buildings to prevent them from being used as a refuge by the Calvinists, the abbey was restored in time for the Joyous Entry of the Archdukes Albert and Isabella in 1599. Further manors and castles were built in Ixelles in the 16th century, the purity of the pond water attracted breweries to the area, some of which survived well into the 20th century. In 1795, like many of the towns surrounding Brussels. The abbey was stripped of its religious functions, becoming among others a cotton-manufacturing plant, a farm, a school. Many of the gates of Brussels that lined what is now the inner ring road were taken down
13.
Auderghem
–
Auderghem or Oudergem is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. Located to the southeast of the capital, along the Woluwe valley and at the entrance to the Sonian Forest, Auderghem is adjacent to the municipalities of Etterbeek, Ixelles - Elsene, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre - Sint-Pieters-Woluwe, and Watermael-Boitsfort - Watermaal-Bosvoorde. The municipality is governed by its 16th mayor, Didier Gosuin, three forest villages, were one for centuries. In 1794, the soldiers of the French Revolution decided to separate these three distinct municipalities. In 1811, Napoleon decided to reunite the three villages, by decree, into a single administrative entity. But Auderghem was withdrawn from this union by royal act, leaving Watermael-Boitsfort on its own, thus, Auderghem became an independent municipality in 1863, with only 1,600 inhabitants. As of 2004 the majority of Brussels Japanese expatriate population lives in Auderghem, the Priory of Val Duchesse or Hertoginnedal, a gift of the king, is unfortunately rarely open to the public. In 1963, Belgiums cabinet ministers met here, planting the seeds of a federalization of the country though at conditions fiercely criticised especially in some extremist Flemish nationalist circles. Similarly, the Chapel of Saint Anne, whose origins go back to the 12th century, is not open to the public, decommissioned in 1843, it was sold several times. Its splendid sculptures from the Middle Ages and notable period furniture are still there to admire, the municipality offers many green spaces
14.
Woluwe-Saint-Pierre
–
Woluwe-Saint-Pierre or Sint-Pieters-Woluwe is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It is mostly a residential area, which includes the wide, park-lined, Avenue de Tervueren. Of the three rivers that once crossed the municipality, only the Woluwe, a tributary of the Senne, the first appearance of the name Wolewe dates from 1117 and can be found in a charter from Forest. At that time, the hamlet and its farms were dependencies of the abbey of Park near Leuven. Safety and prosperity returned under the reigns of Archdukes Albert and Isabella at the beginning of the 17th century, the first highway linking Tervuren to Brussels, then known as the “Street of the Duke”, dates from that period. The French Revolution was also a period for Woluwe-Saint-Pierre – Sint-Pieters-Woluwe. The local administration gained its independence from Brussels, obtained its first mayor on May 26, the commercial opportunities that opened up to the new commune marked the start of a new era of wealth. The city did not expand very fast, however, until the last two decades of the 19th century. New roads, such as the Tervuren Avenue, a new track, imposing mansions, such as the “Stoclet Palace”. An important race track, now demolished, was built in 1906, the residential areas came into being right after the First World War and further urbanization took place after the Second World War. Today, agriculture and fisheries, common before 1918, have completely disappeared, the area lives nearly exclusively off the service sector of the economy. The extensive Woluwe Park includes giant sequoias, cypresses, and a variety of such as swans, gulls. The imposing modern city hall is open to visitors, the town’s main church was erected in 1755 on the site of a much older building and perpendicular to it, with funds from the abbey of Forest. Traces of the building can still be seen on the left of the current church. The Bibliotheca Wittockiana houses one of the most prestigious bookbinding collections in the world, the memorial on Avenue Jules Cesar to the Belgian United Nations Command, the force sent by Belgium to aid South Korea during the Korean War. Official site of the municipality, in French, Dutch, and English Official website of the Bibliotheca Wittockiana
15.
Woluwe-Saint-Lambert
–
Woluwe-Saint-Lambert or Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. Line 1 of the Brussels metro runs under these roads, the Woluwe River flows through the municipality. Several archaeological finds on the territory of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert show traces of activity during the Bronze Age. The first historical mention of the village, however, dates from the 11th century, a church was built and dedicated to Saint Lambert, the 7th-century bishop of Maastricht who was martyred in Liège. At the end of the 12th century, the rights to the parish of Saint Lambert were given to the canons of the chapter of St. Michael, various charitable organizations and hospitals then started acquiring land in this area. Throughout the Middle Ages, Woluwe was part of the Duchy of Brabant, among the Dukes vassals were some powerful local lords and landowners. Some of Woluwes territory also belonged to the powerful Forest Abbey, up until recently, the village was mostly rural, focusing mainly on agriculture. Starting in the 16th century, affluent nobles and clergymen from Brussels built châteaux in Woluwe, true urbanization, however, started only around 1900. The population of the municipality increased very quickly at this time and it rose from 1,649 inhabitants in 1880 to 8,883 inhabitants 30 years later. By 1960 there were 36,960 people in the municipality, today, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert is still mostly a residential area, attracting rich and poor inhabitants from neighbouring Brussels. The surroundings of the Woluwe River have been out as park areas. Older historical buildings, such as the Lindekemale watermill, the Hof ter Musschen farm, the Saint-Lambert church has a 12th-century Romanesque tower. The municipalitys Art Deco Town Hall, built in the 1930s, is located above the Tomberg metro station, the Wolubilis cultural village and theatre, located at Cours Paul Henri Spaak/Henri-Spaak promenade 1, were inaugurated in 2006. The neoclassic Château Malou, built in 1776, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert has many shopping streets around the Tomberg and Gribaumont metro stations. Around Roodebeek station is one of Brussels largest shopping centres, the Woluwe Shopping Centre, the shopping centre opened in 1968 and has 2 floors and a surface area of around 97000 m2. Despite not having any connections, the E40 Motorway runs through the commune as well as many bus routes. Works to extend the tram line 94 up from the Musée du Tram to Roodebeek to link up with the metro, Université catholique de Louvains Woluwe site is in the commune, integrated with the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc. The medical faculty and related areas are on campus
16.
Schaerbeek
–
Schaerbeek or Schaarbeek is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It is bordered by the City of Brussels, Etterbeek, Evere, the first mention of the name was Scarenbecca, recorded in a document from the Bishop of Cambrai in 1120. The origin of the name may come from the Franconian words schaer, Schaerbeek is nicknamed the city of donkeys. Donkeys are still kept in Josaphat Park, and sour cherry trees line the streets of the Diamant Quarter of Schaerbeek, the Square des Griottiers/Morelleboomsquare is named after these trees. The eastern part of Schaerbeek is nowadays a location selected by affluent people for its architecture, young couples are also favouring this suburb for its Notting Hill atmosphere and the still reasonable pricing of real estate, while prices are on the surge everywhere else in Brussels. The western part of Schaerbeek is home to a large Turkish immigrant community and it is also home to a large Moroccan population and other immigrant communities such as Spanish, Congolese, and Asian immigrants. The area around St. However, because of the schools like the Hogeschool Sint-Lukas Brussel, the administrations. The Schaerbeek Cemetery, despite its name, is actually in the municipality of Evere. The period at which human activity started in Schaerbeek can be inferred from the Stone-Age flint tools that were recovered in the Josaphat valley, tombs and coins dating from the reign of Hadrian were also found near the old Roman roads that crossed Schaerbeeks territory. Politically, the town was part of the Duchy of Brabant, in 1301, John II, Duke of Brabant, had the town administered by the schepen of Brussels. A new church to Saint Servatius was built around same time. At the end of the 14th century, the Schaerbeek lands that belonged to the Lords of Kraainem were sold and reconverted into a hunting ground. The official entry of the visiting Dukes of Burgundy into Brussels, their capital, was also through Schaerbeek. The game reservation and the character of the village lasted until the end of the 18th century. The areas not covered by woods were used to cultivate vegetables, in 1540, Schaerbeek counted 112 houses and 600 inhabitants. Up until then, the village had lived in relative peace and this would change in the middle of the 16th century as the Reformation set in. Spanish, French, British, and Bavarian troops all came through Schaerbeek, after the French Revolution, it was decreed that Schaerbeek would be taken away from Brussels and proclaimed an independent commune, with its own mayor, schepen, and municipal assembly. On 27 September 1830, during the Belgian Revolution, some fighting occurred in the Josaphat valley between the troops and the retreating Dutch troops
17.
Multilingualism
–
Multilingualism is the use of two or more languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the worlds population, more than half of all Europeans claim to speak at least one other language in addition to their mother tongue. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of globalization, people who speak several languages are also called polyglots. Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the first language is acquired without formal education, by mechanisms heavily disputed. Children acquiring two languages in this way are called simultaneous bilinguals, even in the case of simultaneous bilinguals, one language usually dominates the other. People who know more than one language have been reported to be adept at language learning compared to monolinguals. Multilingualism in computing can be considered part of a continuum between internationalization and localization, the definition of multilingualism is a subject of debate in the very same way as the definition of language fluency. On one end of a sort of continuum, one may define multilingualism as complete competence. The speaker would presumably have complete knowledge and control over the language so as to sound native, on the opposite end of the spectrum would be people who know enough phrases to get around as a tourist using the alternate language. Since 1992, Vivian Cook has argued that most multilingual speakers fall somewhere between minimal and maximal definitions, in addition, there is no consistent definition of what constitutes a distinct language. For instance, scholars disagree whether Scots is a language in its own right or a dialect of English. Many small independent nations schoolchildren are today compelled to learn multiple languages because of international interactions, for example, in, all children are required to learn at least two foreign languages, the other national language and one alien language. Many Finnish schoolchildren also select further languages, such as German or Russian, in some large nations with multiple languages, such as India, school children may routinely learn multiple languages based on where they reside in the country. In major metropolitan areas of Central, South and East India, thus a child of Telugu parents living in Bangalore will end up speaking his or her mother tongue at home and the state language, Hindi and English in school and his or her surroundings. Many myths and much prejudice has grown around the notions of bi- and these are all harmful convictions which have long been debunked, yet still persist among many parents. A multilingual person is someone who can communicate in more than one language, more specifically, the terms bilingual and trilingual are used to describe comparable situations in which two or three languages are involved. A multilingual person is referred to as a polyglot. Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the first language is acquired without formal education, by mechanisms heavily disputed
18.
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
–
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel listen is a Dutch-speaking university located in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses, Brussels Humanities, Science and Engineering Campus, Brussels Health Campus and Brussels Technology Campus, the universitys name is sometimes abbreviated by VUB or translated to Free University of Brussels. He wanted to establish a university independent from state and church and this is today still reflected in the universitys motto Scientia vincere tenebras, or Conquering darkness by science, and in its more recent slogan Redelijk eigenzinnig, or Reasonably opinionated. The university is organised into 8 faculties that accomplish the three missions of the university, education, research, and service to the community. The faculties cover a range of fields of knowledge including the natural sciences, classics, life sciences, social sciences, humanities. The university provides bachelor, master, and doctoral education to about 8,000 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students and it is also a strongly research-oriented institute, which has led to its top-189th position among universities worldwide. Its research articles are on average more cited than articles by any other Flemish university, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel is an independent institution. The members of all its entities are elected by the entire academic community – including faculty staff, researchers, personnel. This system guarantees the process of decision-making and the independence from state. Nevertheless, the university receives significant funding from the Flemish government, other important funding sources are grants for research projects, scholarships of academic members, revenues from cooperation with industry, and tuition fees to a lesser extent. The central administration is formed by the Governing Board, which is presided by Eddy Van Gelder. It decides the universitys vision and must approve all decisions made by the faculties. The Governing Board is supported by three advising bodies, the Research Council, the Education Council, and the Senate, the daily management of the university is the responsibility of the Rector and three Vice-Rectors. The current Rector of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel is Prof. Dr, about 12,000 students follow one of its 128 educational programmes. All programmes are taught in Dutch, but 59 are also taught in English, in agreement with the Bologna process, the university has implemented the so-called bachelor-master system. It therefore issues four types of degrees, bachelors, masters, master after masters, admission to the programmes is generally not restricted, anyone can subscribe to the programme of his/her choice. An exception to this is the exam to the bachelor in medicine. Tuition fees are low, and even decreased or eliminated for some students with financial means
19.
Gertrude of Nivelles
–
Gertrude of Nivelles, O. S. B. was a 7th-century abbess who, with her mother Itta, founded the Abbey of Nivelles located in present-day Belgium. The early history of Gertrudes family is not well documented, the anonymous author of her Vita only hints at her origins, it would be tedious to insert in this account in what line of earthly origin she was descended. For who living in Europe does not know the loftiness, the names, Gertrudes father, Pepin of Landen, a nobleman from east Francia, had been instrumental in persuading King Clothar II to crown his son, Dagobert I, as the King of Austrasia. Due to her position at the palace, Gertrudes mother, Itta of Metz, was acquainted with St. Amandus. When Dagobert succeeded his father and the moved to Neustria, Pippin became mayor of the palace. Thus, Gertrude became introduced to politics during her childhood in the royal court, Arnulf of Metz, Pippins close ally, was one of several royal counselors who received ecclesiastical posts after a secular career. McNamara argues that Arnulf retired into religion at the time of Clothars death in 628, Gertrudes biography begins with her father hosting a banquet when Gertrude was ten years old. That the king accepted Pippins invitation to the dinner at all shows Pippins power, at this feast, the King asked Gertrude if she would like to marry the son of a duke of the Austrasians. for the sake of his worldly ambition and mutual alliance. Gertrude declined and lost her temper and flatly rejected him with an oath, saying that she would have neither him nor any earthly spouse, Marriage alliances were important in this era although scholars disagree as to the extent parents or kings asserted power over spousal choice. The marriage between Gertrudes sister Begga and Ansegisel helped set the stage for a Carolingian takeover of Austrasia, beggas sons enhanced Pepins power by marrying women with political connections in the north and northwest. All agree that the girls personal feeling mattered little, Dagobert died in 639 and was succeeded by Sigebert. When Pippin died, Gertrudes brother Grimoald competed with Otto to become the new mayor of the palace, he revolted in a grab for power. After Otto died in battle a decade later, the dignity of mayor of Sigeberts palace and control of all the kingdom of Austrasia was thus decisively assured to Grimoald, the mention of Gertrudes decided rejection of her Austrasian suitor is unique for the era. At least one scholar considers it to have been included by the chronicler as expressing her character. The reference to a betrothal to Christ, becomes common in later saints lives. The suitor, while irritated, is not emotionally affected by this rejection, after Dagoberts death in 640, Pippin returned to the east, taking Gertrude with him. Soon after, Pippin himself died, giving Gertrude the freedom to take the veil, scholars debate the date of the death of Pippin. Some sources date it as late as 650, although others date it much earlier, the Vita describes how Itta, in order to prevent violent abductors from tearing her daughter away by force, shaved her daughters hair, leaving only a crown shape
20.
Pepin of Landen
–
Pepin I of Landen, also called the Elder or the Old, was the Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia under the Merovingian king Dagobert I from 623 to 629. He was also the mayor for Sigebert III from 639 until his death, pepins father is named Carloman by the Chronicle of Fredegar, the chief source for his life. His byname comes from his birthplace, Landen, modern Belgium. However, according to Godefroid Kurth, it was only in the century that the chroniclers of Brabant began to associate him with that locality. He is sometimes called Pepin I and his other nicknames come from his position at the head of the called the Pippinids after him. He was lord of a part of Brabant, and governor of Austrasia. King of that country was defeated by Theodoric II, king of Burgundy, chief among these leading men were Warnachar II, Rado, Arnulf, and Pepin. The latter two were described by Fredegar as the two most powerful barons of Austrasia and they made agreement with Chlothar at Andernach. Arnulf, his friend, was appointed adviser to the new king alongside him. Pepin was praised by his contemporaries for his government and wise counsel. Sigeberts share of the inheritance was amicably surrendered, partly because of the friendship between Pepin and the Burgundian mayor of the palace, Aega. Pepin and Arnulfs successor as chief counselor to the king, Cunibert, Bishop of Cologne, received the treasure at Compiègne and he was so popular in Austrasia that, though he was never canonized, he was listed as a saint in some martyrologies. His feast day was 21 February, the Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar with its Continuations
21.
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Otto I, traditionally known as Otto I the Great, was German king from 936 and emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda, Otto inherited the Duchy of Saxony and the kingship of the Germans upon his fathers death in 936. He continued his fathers work of unifying all German tribes into a single kingdom, through strategic marriages and personal appointments, Otto installed members of his family in the kingdoms most important duchies. This reduced the various dukes, who had previously been co-equals with the king, Otto transformed the Roman Catholic Church in Germany to strengthen royal authority and subjected its clergy to his personal control. After putting down a brief civil war among the duchies, Otto defeated the Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955. The victory against the pagan Magyars earned Otto a reputation as a savior of Christendom, by 961, Otto had conquered the Kingdom of Italy and extended his realms borders to the north, east, and south. The patronage of Otto and his immediate successors facilitated a so-called Ottonian Renaissance of arts, following the example of Charlemagnes coronation as Emperor of the Romans in 800, Otto was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 962 by Pope John XII in Rome. Ottos later years were marked by conflicts with the papacy and struggles to stabilize his rule over Italy, reigning from Rome, Otto sought to improve relations with the Byzantine Empire, which opposed his claim to emperorship and his realms further expansion to the south. To resolve this conflict, the Byzantine princess Theophanu married his son Otto II in April 972, Otto finally returned to Germany in August 972 and died at Memleben in May 973. Otto II succeeded him as Holy Roman Emperor, Otto was born on 23 November 912, the oldest son of the Duke of Saxony, Henry the Fowler and his second wife Matilda, the daughter of Dietrich of Ringelheim, a Saxon count in Westphalia. Otto had four siblings, Hedwig, Gerberga, Henry. On 23 December 918, Conrad I, King of East Francia and Duke of Franconia, although Conrad and Henry had been at odds with one another since 912, Henry had not openly opposed the king since 915. Furthermore, Conrads repeated battles with German dukes, most recently with Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria, after several months of hesitation, Eberhard and the other Frankish and Saxon nobles elected Henry as king at the Imperial Diet of Fritzlar in May 919. For the first time, a Saxon instead of a Frank reigned over the kingdom, Burchard II of Swabia soon swore fealty to the new king, but Arnulf of Bavaria did not recognize Henrys position. According to the Annales Iuvavenses, Arnulf was elected king by the Bavarians in opposition to Henry, in 921, Henry besieged Arnulfs residence at Ratisbon and forced him into submission. Arnulf had to accept Henrys sovereignty, Bavaria retained some autonomy, Otto first gained experience as a military commander when the German kingdom fought against Slavic tribes on its eastern border. While campaigning against the Slavs in 929, Ottos illegitimate son William, with Henrys dominion over the entire kingdom secured by 929, the king probably began to prepare his succession over the kingdom. No written evidence for his arrangements is extant, but during this time Otto is first called king in a document of the Abbey of Reichenau, while Henry consolidated power within Germany, he also prepared for an alliance with Anglo-Saxon England by finding a bride for Otto
22.
Celtic languages
–
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, a branch of the greater Indo-European language family. Modern Celtic languages are spoken on the north-western edge of Europe, notably in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall. There are also a number of Welsh speakers in the Patagonia area of Argentina. Some people speak Celtic languages in the other Celtic diaspora areas of the United States, Canada, Australia, in all these areas, the Celtic languages are now only spoken by minorities though there are continuing efforts at revitalisation. Welsh is the only Celtic language not classified as endangered by UNESCO, the spread to Cape Breton and Patagonia occurred in modern times. SIL Ethnologue lists six living Celtic languages, of four have retained a substantial number of native speakers. These are the Goidelic languages and the Brittonic languages, the other two, Cornish and Manx, died in modern times with their presumed last native speakers in 1777 and 1974 respectively. For both these languages, however, revitalisation movements have led to the adoption of these languages by adults and children, taken together, there were roughly one million native speakers of Celtic languages as of the 2000s. In 2010, there were more than 1.4 million speakers of Celtic languages, shelta, based largely on Irish with influence from an undocumented source. Some forms of Welsh-Romani or Kååle also combined Romany itself with Welsh language, beurla-reagaird, Highland travellers language Celtic divided into various branches, Lepontic, the oldest attested Celtic language. Anciently spoken in Switzerland and in Northern-Central Italy, from the Alps to Umbria, coins with Lepontic inscriptions have been found in Noricum and Gallia Narbonensis. Celtiberian, anciently spoken in the Iberian peninsula, in parts of modern Galicia, Asturias, La Rioja, Aragón, Cantabria, Old Castile, the relationship of Celtiberian with Gallaecian, in the northwest of the peninsula, is uncertain. Gallaecian, anciently spoken in the former Gallaecia, northwest of the peninsula, Gaulish languages, including Galatian and possibly Noric. These languages were spoken in a wide arc from Belgium to Turkey. Brittonic, including the living languages Breton, Cornish, and Welsh, before the arrival of Scotti on the Isle of Man in the 9th century, there may have been a Brittonic language in the Isle of Man. Goidelic, including the living languages Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaelic, scholarly handling of the Celtic languages has been rather argumentative owing to scarceness of primary source data. Other scholars distinguish between P-Celtic and Q-Celtic, putting most of the Gaulish and Brittonic languages in the former group, the P-Celtic languages are sometimes seen as a central innovating area as opposed to the more conservative peripheral Q-Celtic languages. In the P/Q classification schema, the first language to split off from Proto-Celtic was Gaelic and it has characteristics that some scholars see as archaic, but others see as also being in the Brittonic languages
23.
Middle Ages
–
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
24.
John II, Duke of Brabant
–
John II van Brabant, also called John the Peaceful, was Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg. He was the son of John I of Brabant and Margaretha of Flanders, John II succeeded his father in 1294 During the reign of John II, Brabant continued supporting a coalition to stop French expansion. He tried to conquer South Holland from the pro-French count John II of Holland, John, who suffered from kidney stones and wanted his duchy to be peacefully handed over to his son upon his death, in 1312 signed the famous Charter of Kortenberg. After his death in 1312 John II was buried in the St. Michael, on July 8,1290, John married Margaret Plantagenet in Westminster Abbey, London. She was a daughter of King Edward I of England and his first Queen consort Eleanor of Castile, only one child was born out of this marriage, John III, Duke of Brabant. John II had several children, Jan van Corsselaer, was later named Lord of Witthem, Wailwilre, Machelen, la Rochette. Jan Cordeken, Founder of the House of Glymes and he was legitimized by the emperor Louis IV by charter dated of 27 August 1344, lists John II as the father and Elisabeth Gortygin as his mother
25.
Albert III, Duke of Saxony
–
Albert III was a Duke of Saxony. He was nicknamed Albert the Bold or Albert the Courageous and founded the Albertine line of the House of Wettin. Albert was born in Grimma as the third and youngest son of Frederick II the Gentle, Elector of Saxony, later, he was a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece. After escaping from the hands of Kunz von Kaufungen, who had abducted him together with his brother Ernest, he spent some time at the court of the emperor Frederick III in Vienna. In Eger on 11 November 1464 Albert married Zdenka, daughter of George of Podebrady, King of Bohemia, but failed to obtain the Bohemian Crown on the death of George in 1471. He was successful in restoring the authority of Maximilian in Holland, Flanders, and Brabant and his services were rewarded in 1498 when Maximilian bestowed upon him the title of Hereditary Governor of Friesland, but he had to make good his claim by force of arms. He had to a great extent succeeded, and was paying a visit to Saxony, the duke recaptured Groningen, but soon afterwards he died at Emden. Albert, who was a man of strength and considerable skill in feats of arms, delighted in tournaments. His loyalty to the emperor Frederick, and the expenses incurred in connection, aroused some irritation among his subjects. Frederick, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights
26.
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Maximilian I was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never crowned by the Pope, as the journey to Rome was always too risky. He was the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and he ruled jointly with his father for the last ten years of his fathers reign, from c.1483 to 1493. Charles father Philip died in 1506, so Charles succeeded Maximilian as Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, Maximilian was born at Wiener Neustadt on 22 March 1459. His father, Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, named him for an obscure saint whom Frederick believed had once warned him of imminent peril in a dream, in his infancy, he and his parents were besieged in Vienna by Albert of Austria. One source relates that, during the sieges bleakest days, the prince would wander about the castle garrison, begging the servants. The young prince was an excellent hunter, his hobby was the hunting for birds as a horse archer. The reigning duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was the political opponent of Maximilians father Frederick III. After the Siege of Neuss, he was successful, the wedding between Maximilian and Mary took place on the evening of 16 August 1477. Maximilians wife had inherited the large Burgundian domains in France and the Low Countries upon her fathers death in the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477. Already before his coronation as the King of the Romans in 1486, Maximilian decided to secure this distant and extensive Burgundian inheritance to his family, the House of Habsburg, at all costs. Maximilian undertook the defence of his wifes dominions from an attack by Louis XI and defeated the French forces at Guinegate, the wedding contract between Maximilian and Mary stipulated that only the children of bride and groom had a right to inherit from each, not the surviving parent. Mary tried to bypass this rule with a promise to transfer territories as a gift in case of her death, but her plans were confounded. After Marys death in an accident on 27 March 1482 near the Wijnendale Castle, Maximilians aim was now to secure the inheritance to one of his and Marys children. Some of the Netherlander provinces were hostile to Maximilian, and they signed a treaty with Louis XI in 1482 that forced Maximilian to give up Franche-Comté and they openly rebelled twice in the period 1482–1492, attempting to regain the autonomy they had enjoined under Mary. Flemish rebels managed to capture Philip and even Maximilian himself, Maximilian continued to govern Marys remaining inheritance in the name of Philip the Handsome. After the regency ended, Maximilian and Charles VIII of France exchanged these two territories for Burgundy and Picardy in the Treaty of Senlis, thus a large part of the Netherlands stayed in the Habsburg patrimony. Maximilian was elected King of the Romans on 16 February 1486 in Frankfurt-am-Main at his fathers initiative and he became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of his father in 1493. Much of Austria was under Hungarian rule when he took power, in 1490, Maximilian reconquered the territory and entered Vienna
27.
Iconoclasm
–
Iconoclasm is the destruction of religious icons and other images or monuments for religious or political motives. Over time, the word, usually in the form, has also come to refer to aggressive statements or actions against any well-established status quo. It is a frequent component of political or religious changes. The term does not generally encompass the destruction of images of a ruler after his death or overthrow. Conversely, one who reveres or venerates religious images is called an iconolater, in a Byzantine context, Iconoclasm may be carried out by people of a different religion, but is often the result of sectarian disputes between factions of the same religion. The Church Fathers identified Jews and Judaism with heresy and they saw deviations from orthodox Christianity and opposition to the veneration of images as heresies that were essentially Jewish in spirit. The degree of iconoclasm among Christian branches greatly varies, Islam, in general, tends to be more iconoclastic than Christianity, with Sunni Islam being more iconoclastic than Shia Islam. Akhenatens actions are described thusly, In rebellion against the old religion, public references to Akhenaten were destroyed soon after his death. Comparing the ancient Egyptians with the Israelites, Jan Assmann writes, For Egypt, in the eyes of the Israelites, the erection of images meant the destruction of divine presence, in the eyes of the Egyptians, this same effect was attained by the destruction of images. In Egypt, iconoclasm was the most terrible crime, in Israel. It is more probable that these traditions evolved under mutual influence. In this respect, Moses and Akhenaten became, after all, the period after the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian evidently saw a huge increase in the use of images, both in volume and quality, and a gathering aniconic reaction. In the Eastern Roman Empire, government-led iconoclasm began with Byzantine Emperor Leo III, the religious conflict created political and economic divisions in Byzantine society. It was generally supported by the Eastern, poorer, non-Greek peoples of the Empire who had to frequently with raids from the new Muslim Empire. On the other hand, the wealthier Greeks of Constantinople, and also the peoples of the Balkan and Italian provinces, within the Byzantine Empire the government had probably been adopting Christian images more frequently. One notable change came in 695, when Justinian IIs government added an image of Christ on the obverse of imperial gold coins. The change caused the Caliph Abd al-Malik to stop his earlier adoption of Byzantine coin types and he started a purely Islamic coinage with lettering only. As a result, individuals attacked statues and images, however, in most cases, civil authorities removed images in an orderly manner in the newly reformed Protestant cities and territories of Europe
28.
Reformation
–
The period is usually considered to have begun with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Luther in 1517 to the Thirty Years War and ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Protestant position, however, would come to incorporate doctrinal changes such as sola scriptura, the initial movement within Germany diversified, and other reform impulses arose independently of Luther. The spread of Gutenbergs printing press provided the means for the dissemination of religious materials in the vernacular. The largest groups were the Lutherans and Calvinists, Lutheran churches were founded mostly in Germany, the Baltics and Scandinavia, while the Reformed ones were founded in Switzerland, Hungary, France, the Netherlands and Scotland. The new movement influenced the Church of England decisively after 1547 under Edward VI and Elizabeth I, there were also reformation movements throughout continental Europe known as the Radical Reformation, which gave rise to the Anabaptist, Moravian and other Pietistic movements. The Roman Catholic Church responded with a Counter-Reformation initiated by the Council of Trent, much work in battling Protestantism was done by the well-organised new order of the Jesuits. In general, Northern Europe, with the exception of most of Ireland, southern Europe remained Roman Catholic, while Central Europe was a site of a fierce conflict, culminating in the Thirty Years War, which left it devastated. The oldest Protestant churches, such as the Unitas Fratrum and Moravian Church, the later Protestant Churches generally date their doctrinal separation from the Roman Catholic Church to the 16th century. The Reformation began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church, by priests who opposed what they perceived as false doctrines and ecclesiastic malpractice. They especially objected to the teaching and the sale of indulgences, and the abuses thereof, and to simony, the reformers saw these practices as evidence of the systemic corruption of the Churchs hierarchy, which included the pope. Unrest due to the Great Schism of Western Christianity excited wars between princes, uprisings among the peasants, and widespread concern over corruption in the Church, New perspectives came from John Wycliffe at Oxford University and from Jan Hus at the Charles University in Prague. Hus rejected indulgences and adopted a doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone, the Roman Catholic Church officially concluded this debate at the Council of Constance by condemning Hus, who was executed by burning despite a promise of safe-conduct. Wycliffe was posthumously condemned as a heretic and his corpse exhumed and burned in 1428, the Council of Constance confirmed and strengthened the traditional medieval conception of church and empire. The council did not address the national tensions or the theological tensions stirred up during the century and could not prevent schism. Pope Sixtus IV established the practice of selling indulgences to be applied to the dead, Pope Alexander VI was one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes. He was the father of seven children, including Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia, in response to papal corruption, particularly the sale of indulgences, Luther wrote The Ninety-Five Theses. The Reformation was born of Luthers dual declaration – first, the discovering of Jesus and salvation by faith alone, the Protestant reformers were unanimous in agreement and this understanding of prophecy furnished importance to their deeds. It was the point and the battle cry that made the Reformation nearly unassailable
29.
Albert VII, Archduke of Austria
–
Albert VII was the ruling Archduke of Austria for a few months in 1619 and, jointly with his wife, Isabella Clara Eugenia, sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands between 1598 and 1621. Prior to this, he had been a cardinal, archbishop of Toledo, viceroy of Portugal and he succeeded his brother Matthias as reigning archduke of Lower and Upper Austria, but abdicated in favor of Ferdinand II the same year, making it the shortest reign in Austrian history. Archduke Albert was the son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II and Maria of Spain, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He was sent to the Spanish Court at the age of eleven, initially he was meant to pursue an ecclesiastical career. On 3 March 1577 he was appointed cardinal by Pope Gregory XIII, with a dispensation because of his age of eighteen, and was given Santa Croce in Gerusalemme as his titular church. Philip II planned to make Albert archbishop of Toledo as soon as possible, in the meantime Albert only took lower orders. He was never ordained priest or bishop, and thus he resigned the See of Toledo in 1598 and he resigned the cardinalate in 1598. His clerical upbringing did however have an influence on his lifestyle. After the dynastic union with Portugal, Albert became the first viceroy of the kingdom, at the same time he was appointed Papal Legate and Grand Inquisitor for Portugal. As viceroy of Portugal he took part in the organization of the Great Armada of 1588, in 1593 Philip II recalled him to Madrid, where he would take a leading role in the government of the Spanish Monarchy. Two years later, the rebellious Hugh ONeill, Earl of Tyrone, after the death of Archduke Ernst in 1595, Albert was sent to Brussels to succeed his elder brother as Governor General of the Habsburg Netherlands. He made his entry in Brussels on 11 February 1596 and his first priority was restoring Spains military position in the Low Countries. Spain was facing the forces of the Dutch Republic, England and France and had known nothing. During his first campaign season, Albert surprised his enemies by capturing Calais and nearby Ardres from the French and these successes were however offset by the third bankruptcy of the Spanish crown later that year. As a consequence,1597 was marked by a series of military disasters, stadholder Maurice of Orange captured the last Spanish strongholds that remained north of the great rivers, as well as the strategic town of Rheinberg in the Electorate of Cologne. Finally the Spanish Army of Flanders lost Amiens in September the same year to King Henry IV of France despite desperate efforts to relieve the place by Albert, with no more money to pay the troops, Albert was also facing a series of mutinies. While pursuing the war as well as he could, Albert made overtures for peace with Spains enemies, under the mediation of the papal legate Cardinal Alessandro deMedici — the future Pope Leo XI — Spain and France concluded the Peace of Vervins on 2 May 1598. Spain gave up its conquests, thereby restoring the situation of Cateau Cambrésis, France tacitly accepted the Spanish occupation of the prince-archbishopric of Cambray and pulled out of the war, but maintained the financial support for the Dutch Republic
30.
Isabella Clara Eugenia
–
Isabella Clara Eugenia was sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands in the Low Countries and the north of modern France, together with her husband Albert VII, Archduke of Austria. In some sources, she is referred to as Clara Isabella Eugenia, by birth, she was an infanta of Spain and Portugal. Isabella Clara Eugenia of Austria was born in the Palacio del bosque de Valsaín, Segovia on 12 August 1566, daughter of Philip II of Spain and her paternal grandparents were Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal. Her maternal grandparents were Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici and her father, Philip II, was reportedly overjoyed at her birth and declared himself to be happier on the occasion than he would have been at the birth of a son. Isabellas mother, Elisabeth of Valois, had originally been betrothed to Don Carlos, despite the significant age difference between them, Philip was very attached to Elisabeth, staying close by her side even when she was ill with smallpox. Elisabeths first pregnancy in 1564 ended in a miscarriage of twin daughters and she later gave birth to Isabella Clara Eugenia on 12 August 1566, and then to Isabellas younger sister Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain 10 October 1567. Elisabeth miscarried a daughter in 1568 and died the same day, Isabella grew up with her sister Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain, beloved by her father and her stepmother Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain, Philips fourth wife. Philip ultimately fathered five children by Anna, all of whom died in childhood except his heir. Isabella was also the person whom Philip permitted to help him with his work, sorting his papers. Since 1568, at the age of two, Isabella Clara Eugenia was promised to marry Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, Maria was a daughter of her paternal grandparents Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Isabella of Portugal. Isabella Clara Eugenia, however, had to wait for more than 20 years before the eccentric Rudolf declared that he had no intention of marrying anybody, at any rate, Isabella Clara Eugenias mother had ceded any claim to the French crown with her marriage to Philip II. However the Parlement de Paris, in power of the Catholic party and her father decided to cede the Spanish Netherlands to her on condition that she marry her cousin, Albert VII, Archduke of Austria. They were to reign over the Netherlands jointly as duke/count and duchess/countess and it was also stipulated that, should they have no children, the Netherlands would revert to the King of Spain upon the death of either spouse. On 18 April 1599, being 33 years old, she married Albert, Albert was the joint sovereign of the Seventeen Provinces and the former viceroy of Portugal. As Albert also was the Archbishop of Toledo, he had to be released from his religious commitments by Pope Clement VIII before the wedding could take place. Shortly before Philip II died on 13 September 1598, he renounced his rights to the Netherlands in favor of his daughter Isabella and her fiancé. Beginning in 1601, the couple ruled the Spanish Netherlands together, a false anecdote links Isabella, the siege of Ostend, and the horse coat colour isabelline. The reign of Albert and Isabella is considered the Golden Age of the Spanish Netherlands, the reign of the Archduke Albert of Austria and Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia is a key period in the history of the Spanish Netherlands
31.
Sint-Genesius-Rode
–
Sint-Genesius-Rode is a municipality located in Flanders, one of three regions of Belgium, in the province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the town of Sint-Genesius-Rode only, and lies between Brussels and Waterloo in Wallonia, on January 1,2008, the town had a total population of 18,021. The total area is 22.77 square kilometres, which gives a density of 791 per square kilometre. The Dutch language, previously the majority language spoken by the inhabitants is the language in the area. However, Sint-Genesius-Rode is in severe linguistic flux, as it is one of the most evenly divided between the two languages, there is no linguistic census in Belgium, but based on the support Francophone parties receive, the French-speaking population of Sint-Genesius-Rode is estimated at 64%. As in several other municipalities on the periphery of Brussels, in the 1960s linguistic facilities were given to local French-speaking residents and these mostly stemmed from Francophone workers employed in the neighbouring Brussels migrating to the area. Nonetheless, the law states clearly that the facilities are not temporary, today, this particular municipality remains a controversial topic of local and national politics. On May 31,2010, its city council voted a motion asking that it be reassigned from the Flemish Region to the Brussels Capital Region, a considerable number of Belgian French-speakers would like this to happen, thus creating a geographical link between Wallonia and Brussels. Francophone politicians propose this in exchange of the Flemish demand for the splitting of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde and they also view this tendency as the extension of an already prevalent Francophone influence on the capital region. Regarding the last point, it is relevant to add that the current system of facilities was settled by the Flemish politicians in 1963, the interior ministry, although Francophone, had no other choice than to vote for the new regulation. A large majority of French speakers did not agree with this evolution, the previous system, also proposed by the Flemish politicians but accepted by the French speakers, relied on decennial census programs to adapt the limits of the linguistic regions. Sint-Genesius-Rode is the hometown to the former President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics Media related to Sint-Genesius-Rode at Wikimedia Commons official website
32.
Charles II of Spain
–
Charles II of Spain was the last Habsburg ruler of Spain. His realm included Southern Netherlands, Italian territories, several cities in north Africa and Spains overseas empire, known as the Bewitched, he is noted for his extensive physical, intellectual, and emotional disabilities and his consequent ineffectual rule. He died in 1700, childless and heirless, with all potential Habsburg successors having predeceased him, in his will, Charles named as his successor the almost 17-year-old Philip, Duke of Anjou, grandson of Charles half-sister Maria Theresa of Spain, the first wife of Louis XIV. Charles was born in the Spanish capital, Madrid, the son of Philip IV of Spain and his second wife, Mariana of Austria. As the only surviving heir of his fathers two marriages, Charles was named Prince of Asturias, the title given to the person first in line to the Spanish throne. The Spanish branch of the Habsburg royal family was noted for extreme consanguinity, well aware that they owed their power to fortunate marriages, they married between themselves to protect their gains. Philip and Mariana were actually uncle and niece, therefore, Charles was not only their son, Charles was physically and mentally disabled and infertile, possibly due to this massive inbreeding. Due to the deaths of his brothers, he was the last member of the male Spanish Habsburg line. Charles did not learn to speak until the age of four nor to walk until eight and his jaw was so badly deformed that he could barely speak or chew. Fearing the frail child would be overtaxed, his caretakers did not force Charles to attend school, the indolence of the young Charles was indulged to such an extent that at times he was not expected to be clean. The only vigorous activity in which Charles is known to have participated was shooting and he occasionally indulged in the sport in the preserves of El Escorial. The years of Charless reign were difficult for Spain, the economy was stagnant, there was hunger in the land, and the power of the monarchy over the various Spanish provinces was extremely weak. Spain’s finances were perpetually in crisis, Charles unfitness for rule meant he was often ignored, and power during his reign became the subject of court intrigues and foreign influence, particularly French and Austrian. Charles was three years old when his father, Philip IV, died on 17 September 1665, the Council of Castile appointed Philips second wife and Charles mother, Mariana of Austria, regent for the minor king. Charles inherited the Portuguese Restoration War and soon after his accession Spain was plunged into the War of Devolution with France in Spanish Netherlands, as regent, Mariana managed the countrys affairs through a series of favourites, whose merits usually amounted to no more than meeting her fancy. From then on he was the de facto prime minister or valido of Spain, the sheer size of the kingdom at that time made this kind of government increasingly damaging to the realms affairs. The treaty ceded the North African enclave of Ceuta to Spain, but marked the loss of Portugal, to end the War of Devolution, Nithard signed the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. However, the members of the Councils and in particular Charles illegitimate half-brother, in February 1669, a military revolt in Aragon and Catalonia led by Juan José, who then proceeded to march toward Madrid, brought about Nithards dismissal
33.
Baron
–
Baron is a title of honour, often hereditary. The word baron comes from the Old French baron, from a Late Latin baro man, servant, soldier, cornutus in the first century already reports a word barones which he took to be of Gaulish origin. During the Ancien Régime, French baronies were very much like Scottish ones, feudal landholders were entitled to style themselves baron if they were nobles, a roturier could only be a seigneur de la baronnie. These baronies could be sold freely until 1789 when feudal law was abolished. The title of baron was assumed as a titre de courtoisie by many nobles, emperor Napoléon created a new empire nobility, in which baron was the second lowest title. The titles followed a line of descent and could not be purchased. In 1815, King Louis XVIII created a new system based on the British model. Baron-peer was the lowest title, but the heirs to pre-1789 barons could remain barons, as could the elder sons of viscount-peers and this peerage system was abolished in 1848. The wife of a Freiherr is called a Freifrau or sometimes Baronin, families which had always held this status were called Uradel, and were heraldically entitled to a three pointed coronet. Families which had been ennobled at a point in time had seven points on their coronet. These families held their fief in vassalage from a suzerain, the holder of an allodial barony was thus called a Free Lord, or Freiherr. Subsequently, sovereigns in Germany conferred the title of Freiherr as a rank in the nobility, today, as of 1919 on, there is no legal privilege associated with hereditary titles in Germany. In modern, republican Germany, Freiherr and Baron remain heritable only as part of the legal surname, as opposed to this, hereditary titles have been banned completely in Austria. Still, in countries, honorary styles like His/her Highness, Serenity, etc. persists in social use as a form of utmost courtesy. As a result, German barons have been more numerous than those of countries where primogeniture with respect to title inheritance prevails as France. In Italy, barone was the lowest rank of feudal nobility except for that of signore or vassallo, the title of baron was most generally introduced into southern Italy by the Normans during the 11th century. Whereas originally a barony might consist of two or more manors, by 1700 we see what were formerly single manors erected into baronies, counties or even marquisates. Since the early 1800s, when feudalism was abolished in the various Italian states, the untitled younger son of a baron is a nobile dei baroni and in informal usage might be called a baron, while certain baronies devolve to heirs male general
34.
Netherlands
–
The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
35.
Communes of France
–
The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to civil townships incorporated municipalities in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany, the United Kingdom has no exact equivalent, as communes resemble districts in urban areas, but are closer to parishes in rural areas where districts are much larger. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and have received significant powers of governance to manage the populations, the communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. A French commune may be a city of 2.2 million inhabitants like Paris, communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes, a commune is a town, city, or municipality. Use of commune in English is a habit, and one that might be corrected. There is nothing in commune in French that is different from town in English. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, as of January 2015, there were 36,681 communes in France,36,552 of them in metropolitan France and 129 of them overseas. This is a higher total than that of any other European country. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes and this is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions, COM of Saint-Martin and it was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe région. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007, COM of Wallis and Futuna, which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region, the commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.88 square kilometres. The median area of metropolitan Frances communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, the median area is a better measure of the area of a typical French commune. This median area is smaller than that of most European countries. In Italy, the area of communes is 22 km2, in Belgium it is 40 km2, in Spain it is 35 km2, and in Germany. Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of Frances overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards and they usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them
36.
Belgian Revolution
–
The Belgian Revolution was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium. The people of the south were mainly Dutch-speaking Flemings and French-speaking Walloons, both peoples were traditionally Roman Catholic as contrasted with Dutch Protestants in the north. Many outspoken liberals regarded King William Is rule as despotic, there were high levels of unemployment and industrial unrest among the working classes. On 25 August 1830 riots erupted in Brussels and shops were looted, theatre goers who had just watched a nationalistic romanticist opera joined the mob. Uprisings followed elsewhere in the country, factories were occupied and machinery destroyed. Order was restored briefly after William committed troops to the Southern Provinces but rioting continued and leadership was taken up by radicals, Dutch units saw the mass desertion of recruits from the southern provinces, and pulled out. The States-General in Brussels voted in favour of secession and declared independence, in the aftermath, a National Congress was assembled. King William refrained from future military action and appealed to the Great Powers, the resulting 1830 London Conference of major European powers recognized Belgian independence. Following the installation of Leopold I as King of the Belgians in 1831, King William made a military attempt to reconquer Belgium. This Ten Days Campaign failed because of French military intervention, not until 1839 did the Dutch accept the decision of the London conference and Belgian independence by signing the Treaty of London. The Dutch overthrew Napoleonic rule in 1813 and, after the British-Dutch Treaty of 1814, symptomatic of the tenor of diplomatic bargaining at Vienna was the early proposal to reward Prussia for its staunch fight against Napoleon with the former Habsburg territory. When the British insisted on retaining the former Dutch Ceylon and the Cape Colony the new kingdom of the Netherlands was compensated with these southern provinces. The union of two areas reverted to the original cultural area of the Netherlands before the 16th century and were called the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Belgian Revolution had many causes and consequences, the causes were the domination of the Dutch over the economic, political. Catholic bishops in the south viewed the Protestant-majority north with suspicion and this rule, originated in 1815 by Maurice-Jean de Broglie, the French nobleman who was bishop of Ghent, caused an under-representation of Southerners in government apparatus and the army. The traditional economy of trade and an incipient Industrial Revolution were also centred in the present day Netherlands, furthermore, although 62% of the population lived in the South, they were assigned the same number of representatives in the States General. At the most basic level, the North was for free trade, King William I was from the North, lived in the present day Netherlands, and largely ignored the demands for greater autonomy. A linguistic reform in 1823 was intended to make Dutch the official language in the Flemish provinces and this reform met with strong opposition from the upper and middle classes who at the time were mostly French-speaking
37.
Leopold II of Belgium
–
Leopold II was the second King of the Belgians, known for the founding and exploitation of the Congo Free State as a private venture. Born in Brussels as the son of Leopold I and Louise of Orléans, he succeeded his father to the Belgian throne in 1865. His was the longest reign of any Belgian monarch and he died without surviving male issue, the current Belgian king descends from his nephew and successor, Albert I. Leopold was the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State and he used explorer Henry Morton Stanley to help him lay claim to the Congo, an area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, the nations of Europe authorized his claim by committing the Congo Free State to improving the lives of the native inhabitants. From the beginning, however, Leopold essentially ignored these conditions and he ran the Congo using the mercenary Force Publique for his personal enrichment. He used great sums of the money from this exploitation for public and he donated the private buildings to the state before his death, to preserve them for Belgium. Under his regime millions of the Congolese people died, modern estimates range from 1 to 15 million, human rights abuses under his regime contributed significantly to these deaths. Leopold was born in Brussels on 9 April 1835 and he was the second child of the reigning Belgian monarch, Leopold I, and his second wife, Louise, the daughter of King Louis Philippe of France. The French Revolution of 1848, which spared Belgium, had forced Louis Philippe to flee to the United Kingdom, the royal families of Belgium and the United Kingdom were linked by numerous marriages, and were additionally both descended from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Louis Philippe died two years later, in 1850, Leopolds fragile mother was deeply affected by the death of her father, and her health deteriorated. She died that year, when Leopold was 15 years old. Three years later, in 1853 at the age of 18, Marie Henriette was a cousin of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, and granddaughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor through her father, Austrian archduke Joseph. Marie Henriette was lively and energetic, and endeared herself to the people by her character and benevolence and she was also an accomplished artist and musician. She was passionate about horseback riding to the point that she would care for her horses personally, some joked about this marriage of a stableman and a nun, the shy and withdrawn Leopold referred to as the nun. Four children were born of marriage, three daughters and one son, also named Leopold. The younger Leopold died in 1869 at the age of nine from pneumonia after falling into a pond and his death was a source of great sorrow for King Leopold, who lost his only heir. The marriage had become unhappy, and the couple separated completely after a last attempt to have another son, in 1895 Marie Henriette retreated to Spa
38.
Roman Catholic
–
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Universal Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.28 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history, headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, the churchs doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. Its central administration is located in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, the Catholic Church is notable within Western Christianity for its sacred tradition and seven sacraments. It teaches that it is the one church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christs apostles. The Catholic Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as such as mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders. Among the sacraments, the one is the Eucharist, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest the sacrificial bread and wine become the body, the Catholic Church practises closed communion, with only baptised members in a state of grace ordinarily permitted to receive the Eucharist. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Queen of Heaven and is honoured in numerous Marian devotions. The Catholic Church has influenced Western philosophy, science, art and culture, Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world, from the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its doctrines on sexuality, its refusal to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases. Catholic was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in the letter from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, written about 110 AD. In the Catechetical Discourses of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name Catholic Church was used to distinguish it from other groups that call themselves the church. The use of the adjective Roman to describe the Church as governed especially by the Bishop of Rome became more widespread after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages. Catholic Church is the name used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the pope, in parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both, additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services
39.
Art Nouveau
–
Art Nouveau is an international style of art, architecture and applied art, especially the decorative arts, that was most popular between 1890 and 1910. A reaction to the art of the 19th century, it was inspired by natural forms and structures, particularly the curved lines of plants. English uses the French name Art Nouveau, according to the philosophy of the style, art should be a way of life. For many well-off Europeans, it was possible to live in an art nouveau-inspired house with art nouveau furniture, silverware, fabrics, ceramics including tableware, jewellery, cigarette cases, artists desired to combine the fine arts and applied arts, even for utilitarian objects. By 1910, Art Nouveau was already out of style and it was replaced as the dominant European architectural and decorative style first by Art Deco and then by Modernism. Art Nouveau took its name from the Maison de lArt Nouveau, in France, Art Nouveau was also sometimes called by the British term Modern Style due to its roots in the Arts and Crafts Movement, Style moderne, or Style 1900. It was also sometimes called Style Jules Verne, Le Style Métro, Art Belle Époque, in Belgium, where the architectural movement began, it was sometimes termed Style nouille or Style coup de fouet. In Britain, it was known as the Modern Style, or, because of the arts and crafts movement led by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow, as the Glasgow style. In Italy, because of the popularity in Italy of designs from Londons Liberty & Co department store, in the United States, due to its association with Louis Comfort Tiffany, it was often called the Tiffany style. In Germany and Scandinavia, a style emerged at about the same time, it was called Jugendstil. In Catalonia the related style was known as Modernisme, in Spain as Modernismo, Arte joven, in Russia, it was called Modern, and Jugendstil, and Nieuwe Kunst in the Netherlands. Some names refer specifically to the forms that were popular with the Art Nouveau artists, Stile Floreal in France, Paling Stijl in the Netherlands. The new art movement had its roots in Britain, in the designs of William Morris. Early prototypes of the include the Red House of Morris. In France, the style combined several different tendencies, in architecture, it was influenced by the architectural theorist and historian Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, a declared enemy of the historical Beaux-Arts architectural style. For each function its material, for each material its form and this book influenced a generation of architects, including Louis Sullivan, Victor Horta, Hector Guimard, and Antoni Gaudí. The French painters Maurice Denis, Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard played an important part in integrating fine arts painting with decoration, I believe that before everything a painting must decorate, Denis wrote in 1891. The choice of subjects or scenes is nothing and it is by the value of tones, the colored surface and the harmony of lines that I can reach the spirit and wake up the emotions
40.
Allegory
–
As a literary device, an allegory is a metaphor whose vehicle may be a character, place or event, representing real-world issues and occurrences. Many ancient religions are based on astrological allegories, that is, allegories of the movement of the sun, in classical literature two of the best-known allegories are the Cave in Platos Republic and the story of the stomach and its members in the speech of Menenius Agrippa. One of the examples of allegory, Platos Allegory of the Cave. In this allegory, Plato describes a group of people who have lived chained in an all of their lives. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows, using language to identify their world. He tries to tell the people in the cave of his discovery, also allegorical is Ezekiel 16 and 17, wherein the capture of that same vine by the mighty Eagle represents Israels exile to Rome. Allegory has an ability to freeze the temporality of a story, Mediaeval thinking accepted allegory as having a reality underlying any rhetorical or fictional uses. The allegory was as true as the facts of surface appearances, if, then, the Greeks or others say that they were not committed to the care of Peter and his successors, they necessarily confess that they are not of the sheep of Christ. This text also demonstrates the frequent use of allegory in religious texts during the Mediaeval Period, following the tradition, since meaningful stories are nearly always applicable to larger issues, allegories may be read into many stories which the author may not have recognised. This is allegoresis, or the act of reading a story as an allegory. S, lewis and A Kingdom Far and Clear, The Complete Swan Lake Trilogy by Mark Helprin. The story of the apple falling onto Isaac Newtons head is another famous allegory and it simplified the idea of gravity by depicting a simple way it was supposedly discovered. It also made the scientific revelation well known by condensing the theory into a short tale. According to Henry Littlefields 1964 article, L. Yet, George MacDonald emphasised in 1893 that, A fairy tale is not an allegory, I much prefer history – true or feigned– with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and this further reinforces the idea of forced allegoresis, as allegory is often a matter of interpretation and only sometimes of original artistic intention. Like allegorical stories, allegorical poetry has two meanings – a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning, some unique specimens of allegory can be found in the following works, Edmund Spenser – The Faerie Queene, The several knights in the poem actually stand for several virtues. Nathaniel Hawthorne – Young Goodman Brown, The Devils Staff symbolises defiance of God, the characters names, such as Goodman and Faith, ironically serve as paradox in the conclusion of the story. Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter, The scarlet letter symbolises many things, the characters, while developed with interiority, are allegorical in that they represent ways of seeing the world. George Orwell – Animal Farm, The pigs stand for political figures of the Russian Revolution, lászló Krasznahorkai - The Melancholy of Resistance and the film Werckmeister Harmonies, It uses a circus to describe an occupying dysfunctional government
41.
Sgraffito
–
The Italian past participle sgraffiato is also used, especially of pottery. Sgraffito and sgraffiti come from the Italian word graffiare, ultimately from the Greek γράφειν, related terms include graffito and graffiti. Sgraffito on walls has been used in Europe since classical times, it was popularized in Italy in the 15th and 16th centuries, in combination with ornamental decoration these techniques formed an alternative to the prevailing painting of walls. Of late there has been a growing interest in this old technique. The technical procedure is simple, and the procedures are similar to the painting of frescoes. Most of their work has now weathered away, during the 16th century, the technique was brought to Germany by the master builders of the Renaissance and taken up with enthusiasm. As a simple art, old examples of sgraffito can be found in the wide surroundings of Wetterau. In Germany, the technique is most predominant in Bavaria, the use of sgraffito was common in the creation of housing façades for the purposes of advertising. The technique was used in Thuringia, the Engadin, Austria and Transylvania. In Catalonia, sgraffito was implemented in the early 20th century by the Noucentista neo-classical architects, another use of sgraffito is seen in its simplified painting technique. One coat of paint is left to dry on a canvas or sheet of paper, another coat of a different color is painted on top of the first layer. The artist then uses a knife or oil stick to scratch out a design. This can also be achieved by using oil pastels for the first layer, sometimes a first coat of paint is not needed, and the wet coat scraped back reveals the canvas. This cannot be achieved by using the oil pastel method and this technique is often used in art classes to teach the sgraffito technique to novice art students. The English artist Heywood Sumner has been identified as this eras pioneer of the technique, for example his work at the 1892 St Marys Church, Sunbury, Surrey. Sumners work is sgraffito per se, scratched plaster, but the term has come to encompass a variety of techniques for producing exterior graphic decoration, St. Benets Chaplaincy at Queen Mary, University of London
42.
Le Chat
–
Le Chat was a Belgian daily comic strip, published in the newspaper Le Soir from March 22,1983 until March 23,2013. During its run it became one of the bestselling Franco-Belgian comics series. While virtually an icon in Wallonia hes far less known in Flanders. Le Chat is an adult, human-sized obese, anthropomorphic cat who wears a suit. He always has the physical expression. He often comes up with elaborate reasonings which lead to absurd conclusions e. g. by taking metaphors literally or by adding increasingly unlikely what-ifs to ordinary situations. One page in length, it appeared weekly in the Victor supplement of Belgian newspaper Le Soir, for Le Chats 20th anniversary in 2003, Le Soir allowed Geluck to illustrate that days entire newspaper. An exhibition of Le Chats history, Le Chat sexpose, was first held at the Autoworld Motor Museum in Brussels in Spring 2004, in March–October 2006 it even appeared at Les Champs Libres in Rennes. As part of the Brussels Comic Book Route a wall in the Zuidlaan/Boulevard du Midi in Brussels was dedicated to Le Chat in August 1993, on October 11,2008 Le Chat received his own market place in Hotton in the Belgian province Luxembourg. A statue of him, sculpted by François Deboucq, was placed in the center, on July 3,2015 it was announced that Le Chat would receive his own museum
43.
Philippe Geluck
–
Philippe Geluck is a comedian, humorist and cartoonist. His best-known work is the comic strip Le Chat, which is one of the ten bestselling Franco-Belgian comics series and he also appeared in the French talk show presented by Laurent Ruquier, On a tout essayé on the France 2 TV channel. These drawings are published in the magazine VSD, in 2009, King Albert II of Belgium made him a Commander of the Order of the Crown. Official website Philippe Geluck at the Internet Movie Database On a TOUT essayé
44.
Cinquantenaire
–
Parc du Cinquantenaire or Jubelpark is a large public, urban park in the easternmost part of the European Quarter in Brussels, Belgium. During successive exhibitions in the area, more structures were added. The centrepiece triumphal arch was erected in 1905 replacing a temporary version of the arcade by Gédéon Bordiau. The structures were built in iron, glass and stone, symbolising the economic, the surrounding 30-hectare park esplanade was full of picturesque gardens, ponds and waterfalls. It housed several trade fairs, exhibitions and festivals at the beginning of the century, in 1930 the government decided to reserve Cinquantenaire for use as a leisure park. The Royal Military Museum has been the tenant of the northern half of the complex since 1880. The southern half is occupied by the Jubelpark museum and the AutoWorld Museum, the Temple of Human Passions, a remainder from 1886, and the Great Mosque of Brussels from 1978 are located in the north-western corner of the park. Line 1 of the Brussels Metro and the Belliard Tunnel from wetstraat pass underneath the park, the nearest metro stations are Schuman to the west of the park, and Mérode immediately to the east. Originally this area was part of the exercise ground outside of the center of the city. For the world exhibition of 1880, the plain was developed as an exhibition center, the original pavilions of the 1880 exhibition, designed by Gédéon Bordiau, were largely replaced with the triumphal arcade designed by Charles Girault in 1904 and the large halls on both sides. Only the glass-constructed Bordiau halls remain from the 1880 structures, the Arch was planned for the world exhibition of 1880 and was meant to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the independence of Belgium. In 1880, only the bases of the columns were completed and, during the exhibition, the park was also the site of the Brussels International, for which the building wings were extended, although the arch was still incomplete. The original architect was the Belgian Gideon Bordiau, who spent close to 20 years on the project and his successor, chosen by Leopold, was the French architect Charles Girault. Girault changed the design from an arch to a tri-parte arch. Today the various buildings of the Jubelpark host three musea and one mosque, the surrounding park esplanade is used for several purposes in the summer, such as military parades and drive-in movies. It is also the point for the 20 km of Brussels. At the exhibition of 1910, a section of military history was presented to the public, given the enthusiasm of the population, the authorities established a museum of the army. This was in a period of tension which leads to the Great War
45.
Etterbeek railway station
–
Etterbeek railway station is a railway station in Brussels, Belgium operated by SNCB. The station is named after the municipality of Etterbeek though it is located in the municipality of Ixelles. It first opened in 1880, and was as of 2007 the 29th most used station in Belgium,5,565 passengers per day. In 2014 the station was used by 4,766 passengers on weekdays, the Etterbeek railway station is located on the line 161 Brussels - Namur, between the stations Mouterij and Watermael. Some trains from line 26 also call at this station between Delta and Boondael
listen)) is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It neighbours the municipalities of the City of Brussels, Ixelles, Auderghem, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and Schaerbeek. In common with all the Brussels municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch).
,_naar_Hans_Bol,_Jacob_Grimmer,_1530_-_1580.jpg)
Etterbeek
