1.
Joyous Entry of 1356
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The Joyous Entry of 1356 is the charter of liberties granted to the burghers of the Duchy of Brabant by the newly-ascended Duchess Joanna and her husband Duke Wenceslaus. The document is dated 3 January 1356, and it is seen as the equivalent of the Magna Carta for the Low Countries, johns death in 1355 sparked a succession crisis. In January 1356, Wenceslaus and Joanna signed the charter that had drawn up. Louis II, Count of Flanders, had married Joannas younger sister Margaret, Louis invaded Brabant and quickly seized Brussels. By August 1356, the Brabantian document was a letter in practice. During the night of 24 October 1356, a group of Brabantian patriots led by Everard t Serclaes scaled the city walls and this enabled Joanna and Wenceslaus to make their joyous entry into Brussels, giving the document its name. The charter had not been completely new, the six specific freedoms or privileges detailed powers granted to the church, the towns and some nobles, by means of which Duchess Joanna and Duke Wenceslaus could collect taxes. All members of the council were to be native-born Brabanters. Thus, it was by abrogation of the Joyous Entry of 1356 that the Habsburgs eventually inherited Brabant, what remained of the Joyous Entry charter would nevertheless be referred to for centuries. In common with Magna Carta, its significance was exaggerated by the Romantic historians of the 19th century. Annually the Dukes of Brabant pledged to adhere to the text in the document by making an entry into the main cities of Brabant. Later, the attempt of the 18th century Austrian Emperor Joseph II in his reforming zeal to abrogate the Joyous Entry caused a revolt in Brabant. This Joyous Entry charter was declared null and void when the Revolutionary French forces took possession of the Austrian Netherlands in 1794, nevertheless, it became one of the elements that formed the Belgian Constitution of 1831. Golden Bull of 1356 This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
2.
Freedom of the City
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The Freedom of the City is an honor bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. The Freedom of the City can also be granted by municipal authorities to military units which have earned the citys trust, in this context and this allows them the freedom to parade through the city, and is an affirmation of the bond between the regiment and the citizenry. The honor was sometimes accompanied by a box, a small gold box inscribed to record the occasion. In some countries, such as the United States, esteemed residents and visitors may instead be presented with the Key to the City, other cities award Honorary Citizenship, with just a certificate. Freedom of the City is an ancient honor granted to martial organisations, allowing them the privilege to march into the city with drums beating, colours flying and this honor dates back to ancient Rome which regarded the pomerium, the boundary of the city, as sacred. Promagistrates and generals were forbidden from entering it, and resigned their imperium immediately upon crossing it, an exception was made for victory celebrations, during which the victorious general would be permitted to enter for one day only. Under the Republic, soldiers also lost their status when entering, becoming citizens, weapons were also banned inside the pomerium for religious and traditional reasons. Similar laws were passed by other European cities throughout the Medieval era, to public security and civic rights. As a result, soldiers would be forced to camp outside the walls of the city during the winter months. The Freedom of the City was an honor granted only to troops which had earned the trust of the local populace, either through some valiant action or simply by being a familiar presence. Today, martial freedom of the city is an entirely ceremonial honor, usually bestowed upon a unit with historic ties to the area, as a token of appreciation for their long, the awarding of the Freedom is often accompanied by a celebratory parade through the city. A slightly more freedom of the city is connected to the medieval concept of free status. As such, freemen actually pre-date boroughs, early freedom of the boroughs ceremonies had great importance in affirming that the recipient enjoyed privileges such as the right to trade and own property, and protection within the town. Before parliamentary reform in 1832, freedom of the city or town conferred the right to vote in the boroughs for the MPs. Until the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 the freemen were the electorate for the boroughs. These two acts together curtailed the power of the freemen and extended the franchise to all householders, the private property belonging to the freemen collectively was retained. The freemen of York, Oxford and Newcastle upon Tyne still own considerable areas within their towns, the Local Government Act 1972 specifically preserved freemens rights. The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 removed any restrictions entitling only men to be freemen, today, the grant of honorary freedom in the United Kingdom is governed by the Local Government Act 1972
3.
Antoon van den Heuvel
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Antoon van den Heuvel, Antoine van den Heuvel or Anton van den Heuvel was a Flemish history painter and draughtsman. After training and working in Antwerp and Rome, he returned to his native Ghent where he was one of the important creators of altarpieces for the churches in the region, little is known about his early life and training. In the declaration he made when he was admitted as a master in the Guild of Saint Luke of Ghent in 1628, he stated that in the previous 10 years he had been working in Antwerp and he was given the nickname don Antonio because of his stay in Italy. Antoon van den Heuvel remained active for the rest of his life in Ghent, in 1662 he was responsible for the cleaning of the Ghent Altarpiece painted by the van Eyck brothers. Antoon van den Heuvel painted mainly religious scenes and portraits and he is usually regarded as a representative of the international Caravaggesque movement. His Lamentation in the Church of Borsbeke relies upon a painting by the Dutch Carravagist Gerard van Honthorst of the subject for its composition. His style is, however, not that easily reduced to the Caravaggesque movement and his early work showed a preference for contrasting colours and strong lighting, with little use of transitional tones. But compared to his contemporary Jan Janssens, one of the foremost representatives of the Ghent Caravaggisti, Antoon van den Heuvel rarely showed Caravaggesque elements. Only in one work, Mary with the Christ Child and the Rosary of 1634 (Church of Nazareth, Belgium, he adopted one of the motifs of Caravaggio and he must have seen their work during his residence in Rome. Van den Heuvel also borrowed motifs and compositions of contemporary Flemish painters such as Rubens and his later work between 1640 and 1650 is less colourful and therefore appears less expressive. Van den Heuvel also made designs for engravings, the publication was entitled Serenissimi principis Ferdinandi Hispaniarum infantis S. R. E. Cardinalis triumphalis introitus in Flandriae metropolim Gandavum and was published by Johannes Meursius in Antwerp in 1636, leading Antwerp engravers Jacob Neefs, Pieter de Jode II and Antony van der Does made the engravings for the publication. A portrait painting made by van den Heuvel was used by the prominent engraver Paulus Pontius as the basis for his engraving of a portrait of the Flemish poet Jeremias Pierssene. Guillaume Duvivier, an engraver who was active in Ghent in the 17th century and this genre subject is atypical for van den Heuvel who mainly painted religious scenes and portraits. Media related to Antoon van den Heuvel at Wikimedia Commons
4.
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria
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Born at the Escorial near Madrid, Spain in 16091, he was the son of the King of Spain and Portugal, Philip III and II and Margaret of Austria, sister of Emperor Ferdinand II. His older siblings were King Philip IV and III and the French queen Anne of Austria, as his father wished that he pursue an ecclesiastical career, Ferdinand was elevated to the Primacy of Spain in 1619, becoming Archbishop of Toledo. Shortly afterwards he was created Cardinal, the style Cardinal-Infante was a combination of his dignity as Cardinal and his station as a royal Prince of Spain. Ferdinand was never ordained a priest, In 1630 the Cardinal Infantes aunt Isabella Clara Eugenia planned to make him her successor as governor of the Spanish Netherlands. To move to the Netherlands in a style befitting a governor and he met with an army from Milan for a planned march through the famous Spanish Way across Lombardy, Tyrol, and Swabia, and then following the Rhine to the Netherlands. Since disease delayed his travels, he sent half of his army ahead under the command of the Duke of Feria, however, this army was severely depleted during fighting with the Swedish army of Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar and Gustaf Horn. The Spanish requested 4000 cavalry from the Imperial general Albrecht von Wallenstein, but this being denied, the Cardinal-Infante was able to continue his travels in 1634, collecting in Bavaria the remains of the army of Gómez Suárez, who had died in January 1634. Meanwhile, Ferdinand of Hungary was able to defeat the Swedish army at Regensburg in July 1634 and this Ferdinand and his cousin the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand then raced to merge their armies. The Swedish forces of Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar and Gustaf Horn desperately tried to prevent this merger, the Cardinal-Infante crossed the Danube in August 1634. In September both armies were able to merge, and camped south of Nördlingen in Swabia, at that time Nördlingen was protected by a small Swedish garrison. Shortly thereafter, the armies of Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar and Gustaf Horn also reached Nördlingen, Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand and his nephew Ferdinand then prepared for battle, ignoring the advice of the more experienced generals, such as the Imperial general Matthias Gallas. Bernhard and Horn also prepared for battle, but they were by now rivals, Gustaf Horn was captured, the Swedish army was destroyed, and the remainder that fled to Heilbronn was only a shadow of the former glorious army. At the end of 1634 he entered Brussels with all the glory befitting a Governor-General, due to the unpopularity of the clergy in Brussels, he downplayed his religious status and instead emphasized his worldly ranks. Ferdinand was a politician and diplomat, and quickly reformed the government. He especially managed to win the support of the Flemings against France, however, his powers were secretly limited, and the leader of his army was instructed to follow Spanish orders instead of Ferdinands orders if necessary. In 1635 the French attacked Namur, planning to merge with the Dutch near Maastricht, however, the Dutch hesitated, and the French retreated. Ferdinand subsequently was able to capture Diest, Goch, Gennep, Limbourg, on October 10,1637, Breda was recaptured again after a 10-month siege by the Prince of Orange after being under Spanish control for 12 years. In the southern front Ferdinand lost the towns of La Capelle, Landrecies, and Damvillers to the French, in 1638 Ferdinands army successfully defended Antwerp, Saint-Omer and Geldern from the Dutch and French armies
5.
John of Austria
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He became a military leader in the service of his half-brother, King Philip II of Spain and is best known for his role as the admiral of the Holy Alliance fleet at the Battle of Lepanto. The date of his birth is unknown, with sources indicating that he was born in the year 1545 and others, like G. Parker or P. Pierson. Pierson makes mention that some contemporaries affirmed that he was born in 1545, but that the oldest evidence found in France with regards to public ceremonies, supports the date of 1547. It is likely that John of Austria was conceived in May 1546, when Emperor Charles V was then in Regensburg and it is possible that John had deliberately chosen the 24th of February as his birthday, which was the month and day of his father Charles Vs birth. Shortly after giving birth, Barbara Blomberg was quickly married to Hieronymus Kegel, John of Austrias original name as a child, Geronimo or Jeromín, was an allusion to his stepfather. Charles V then decided that his son should be raised in Spain away from his mother and his Majordomo, Luis de Quijada, had reached an agreement with Francisco Massy, a violist of the imperial court, and married to a Spanish woman, Ana de Medina. In exchange for an income of 50 ducats, the couple had agreed to raise the child. In mid-1551 they together had arrived in Leganés, where Ana de Medina had property, in the summer of 1554, the boy was taken to the castle of Luis de Quijada in Villagarcía de Campos, Valladolid. His wife, Magdalena de Ulloa, took charge of his education, assisted by the Latin teacher Guillén Prieto, the chaplain García de Morales and the squire Juan Galarza. Charles V wrote a codicil, dated 6 June 1554, in which he recognized, For since I was in Germany, after being widowed, I had a child of one unmarried woman. In the summer of 1558, Charles V had ordered Luis de Quijada, his wife Magdalena de Ulloa, the Emperor was already residing nearby at the Monastery of Yuste. From that time forward, and until his own death in September of that year, Charles Vs only surviving legitimate son and heir, now King Philip II after his fathers abdication, was then outside of Spain. Rumors had spread about the paternity of the child, which de Quijada had denied, Charles V replied with a note written by his personal secretary Eraso, in whose erasures and amendments were expressed, the Emperors thoughts about how best to deal with such a delicate matter. It was recommended to wait for Philip IIs return to Spain, Philip II returned from Brussels in 1559, aware of his fathers will. Once he had settled in Valladolid, he had summoned de Quijada to bring along Jeromín to a hunt, the first meeting between the two of them took place on 28 September in the Monastery of Santa María de La Santa Espina. When the King appeared, Luis de Quijada told Jeromín to dismount, when Jeromín did so, Philip II asked him if he knew the identity of his father. When the boy did not know, the King embraced him and explained that they had the same father, in formal style he was your excellency, the address used for a Spanish grandee, and known as Don Juan de Austria. John did not live in a palace, but rather maintained a separate household with Luis de Quijada as the head
6.
Brussels
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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
7.
Willem Baudartius
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Willem Baudaert or Baudartius, born Willem Baudart, was a Dutch theologian. Baudartius College, a Christian secondary school in Zutphen, is named after him, born to Protestant parents in Flanders and a fervent counter-remonstrant, Baudartius left the Netherlands on the Duke of Alvas arrival, and landed in England at Sandwich. He studied at Canterbury as well as on the continent at Ghent, Leiden, Franeker and he served as a preacher at Kampen, Lisse, and Zutphen. Highly knowledgeable in Hebrew, he was asked to part in the Statenvertaling translation of the Bible. He also produced a series of illustrations of events during the first phase of the Eighty Years War. Works by Willem Baudartius at Post-Reformation Digital Library
8.
Amsterdam
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Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper,1,351,587 in the urban area, the city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe. Amsterdams name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the citys origin around a dam in the river Amstel, during that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned, the 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered a world city by the Globalization. The city is also the capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the worlds 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment, the city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist Anne Frank, artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river, the earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27,1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying bridge tolls to Count Floris V. This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, locks, the certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam, Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean there was already a settlement then, since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat. Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306, from the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League
9.
Dutch language
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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.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
