1.
Belgium
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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
2.
Kortrijk
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Kortrijk is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province West Flanders. It is the capital and largest city of the arrondissement of Kortrijk, the wider municipality comprises the city of Kortrijk proper and the villages of Aalbeke, Bellegem, Bissegem, Heule, Kooigem, Marke, and Rollegem. Kortrijk is part of the cross-border Eurometropolis Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai, which had 2,155,161 residents in 2008, the city is situated on the Leie,42 km southwest of Ghent and 25 km northeast of Lille in France. In addition, Mouscron in Wallonia is located just south of Kortrijk, both Kortrijk and Lille are part of the same transnational Eurodistrict urban agglomeration with around 1,900,000 inhabitants. As the biggest city of southern West Flanders, Kortrijk has many schools, hospitals, Kortrijk originated from a Gallo-Roman town, called Cortoriacum at a crossroads near the Leie river and two Roman roads. During the Middle Ages, Kortrijk grew significantly thanks to the flax and wool industry with France and England, in 1820, the Treaty of Kortrijk was signed, which laid out the current borders between France and Belgium. Throughout the 19th and 20th century, Kortrijk became a center of the flax industry, today, Kortrijk is the largest city in southern West-Flanders with several hospitals, colleges and a university. Kortrijk was the first city in Belgium with a shopping street. Nowadays, a big part of the city center is a complete pedestrian area with lots of shops. Another shopping mall is located near the edge of the city. Cortoriacum was a typical Gallo-Roman vicus at an important crossroads near the Leie river and it was situated on the crossroads of the Roman roads linking Tongeren and Cassel and Tournai and Oudenburg. In the 9th century, Baldwin II, Count of Flanders established fortifications against the Vikings, the town gained its city charter in 1190 from Philip, Count of Flanders. The population growth required new defensive walls, part of which can still be seen today, in the 13th century, the battles between Fernando of Portugal, Count of Flanders and his first cousin, King Louis VIII of France, led to the destruction of the city. The Counts of Flanders had it rebuilt soon after, to promote industry and weaving in the town, Joan, Countess of Flanders exempted settlers in Kortrijk from property tax. From that time, Kortrijk gained great importance as a centre of linen production, in 1302, the population of Bruges started a successful uprising against the French, who had annexed Flanders a couple of years earlier. On 18 May the French population in that city was massacred and this date is now remembered as a national holiday by the whole Flemish community. Following a new uprising by the Flemish in 1323, but this time against their own Count Louis I and these Flemish acquisitions were consolidated by the French at the Battle of Cassel. Most of the 15th century was prosperous under the Dukes of Burgundy, until the death of the Burgundian heiress, Mary of Burgundy, in 1482, the 16th century was marked by the confrontations engendered by the Reformation and the uprising of the Netherlands against Spain
3.
Ghent
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Ghent is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province and it is a port and university city. With 240,191 inhabitants in the beginning of 2009, Ghent is Belgiums second largest municipality by number of inhabitants, the current mayor of Ghent, Daniël Termont, leads a coalition of the Socialistische Partij Anders, Groen and Open VLD. The ten-day-long Ghent Festival is held every year and attended by about 1–1.5 million visitors, archaeological evidence shows human presence in the region of the confluence of Scheldt and Leie going back as far as the Stone Age and the Iron Age. Most historians believe that the name for Ghent, Ganda, is derived from the Celtic word ganda which means confluence. Other sources connect its name with a deity named Gontia. There are no records of the Roman period, but archaeological research confirms that the region of Ghent was further inhabited. When the Franks invaded the Roman territories from the end of the 4th century and well into the 5th century, they brought their language with them and Celtic, around 650, Saint Amand founded two abbeys in Ghent, St. Peters and Saint Bavos Abbey. The city grew from several nuclei, the abbeys and a commercial centre, around 800, Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, appointed Einhard, the biographer of Charlemagne, as abbot of both abbeys. In 851 and 879, the city was attacked and plundered twice by the Vikings. Within the protection of the County of Flanders, the city recovered and flourished from the 11th century, by the 13th century, Ghent was the biggest city in Europe north of the Alps after Paris, it was bigger than Cologne or Moscow. Within the city walls lived up to 65,000 people, the belfry and the towers of the Saint Bavo Cathedral and Saint Nicholas Church are just a few examples of the skyline of the period. The rivers flowed in an area where land was periodically flooded. These rich grass meersen were ideally suited for herding sheep, the wool of which was used for making cloth, during the Middle Ages Ghent was the leading city for cloth. The wool industry, originally established at Bruges, created the first European industrialized zone in Ghent in the High Middle Ages, the mercantile zone was so highly developed that wool had to be imported from Scotland and England. This was one of the reasons for Flanders good relationship with Scotland and England, Ghent was the birthplace of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Trade with England suffered significantly during the Hundred Years War, the city recovered in the 15th century, when Flanders was united with neighbouring provinces under the Dukes of Burgundy. High taxes led to a rebellion and eventually the Battle of Gavere in 1453, around this time the centre of political and social importance in the Low Countries started to shift from Flanders to Brabant, although Ghent continued to play an important role
4.
Waregem
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Waregem is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality lies in the valley of the Leie River, between Kortrijk and Ghent and it is part of the arrondissement of Kortrijk and comprises the towns of Beveren, Desselgem, Sint-Eloois-Vijve and Waregem proper. On January 1,2006, Waregem had a population of 35,852. The total area is 44.34 km² which gives a density of 809 inhabitants per km². The first inhabitants of this region settled along the Leie River well before Roman times. Bronze coins and artifacts associated with the Gallo-Roman culture show extensive activity in area in the first centuries of our era. This is not surprising given the fact that Sint-Eloois-Vijve stood at the intersection of two important Roman roads, Cassel-Tongeren and Bavai-Oudenburg, the name of the current municipality refers to a certain “Waro” clan or tribe, possibly dating from the Frankish period. In the 10th century, most of Waregem’s territory was given as a grant to the St Peter Abbey in Ghent, the local administrative center used by the Benedictines along the Leie River can still be seen today and is still known as the Munkenhof. At the end of the century, Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders, during the following centuries, the medieval feudal system allowed the land to be progressively parceled out to landowners from places as far as Dendermonde and Tournai. At that time, like in the rest of Flanders, most of the population consisted of farmers, spinners and weavers, tax documents from the 13th century attest to the strong economic activity of the time. Waregem’s attempt in 1635 at obtaining rights to hold its own market was opposed by the neighbouring towns, a Saturday market was finally approved by Joseph II of Austria in 1784. Much of the land ownership structure remained unchanged until the end of the 18th century. The construction of the roadway between Kortrijk and Ghent made possible the building of an important coaching inn on the territory of Waregem. The French Revolution brought severe religious restrictions in its wake, it gave the region a modern administrative system. During the 19th century, the old textile economy went into decline, the proximity of the Leie River, however, was a boon for Waregem, as its flax industry drove the local economy until well into the 20th century. Waregem earned its official city title on January 1,2000, the Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial is the smallest World War I American cemetery in Europe and the only one in Belgium. It is located on the southeast edge of town and is the place for 368 American military who died during the liberation of Belgium in World War I. The chapel is inscribed with the names of 43 Missing in Action whose remains were never recovered or identified, the 8-hectare park surrounding the Baron Casier castle is located in the center of the city and includes old groves, ponds and fountains
5.
Ancient Rome
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In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
6.
Gallo-Roman culture
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This article covers the culture of Romanized areas of Gaul. For the political history of the brief Gallic Empire of the third century, the term Gallo-Roman describes the Romanized culture of Gaul under the rule of the Roman Empire. This was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman morals, the well-studied meld of cultures in Gaul gives historians a model against which to compare and contrast parallel developments of Romanization in other, less-studied Roman provinces. The barbarian invasions beginning in the fifth century forced upon Gallo-Roman culture fundamental changes in politics, in the economic underpinning. The Gothic settlement of 418 offered a double loyalty, as Western Roman authority disintegrated at Rome, the plight of the highly Romanized governing class is examined by R. W. Mathisen, the struggles of bishop Hilary of Arles by M. Heinzelmann. Into the seventh century, Gallo-Roman culture would persist particularly in the areas of Gallia Narbonensis that developed into Occitania, Cisalpine Gaul and to a lesser degree, the formerly Romanized north of Gaul, once it had been occupied by the Franks, would develop into Merovingian culture instead. Based on mutual intelligibility, David Dalby counts seven languages descended from Gallo-Romance, Gallo-Wallon, French, Franco-Provençal, Romansh, Ladin, Friulian, however, other definitions are far broader, variously encompassing the Rhaeto-Romance languages, Occitano-Romance languages, and Gallo-Italic languages. Over the course of the Roman period, a proportion of Gauls gained Roman citizenship. In 212 the Constitutio Antoniniana extended citizenship to all men in the Roman Empire. During the Crisis of the Third Century, from 260 to 274, in reaction to local problems the Gallo-Romans appointed their own emperor Postumus. The capital was Trier which was used as the northern capital of the Roman Empire by many emperors. The Gallic Empire ended when Aurelian decisively defeated Tetricus I at Chalons, assimilation was eased by interpreting indigenous gods in Roman terms, such as with Lenus Mars or Apollo Grannus. Otherwise, a Roman god might be paired with a goddess, as with Mercury. In at least one case – that of the equine goddess Epona – a native Gallic goddess was also adopted by Rome, eastern mystery religions penetrated Gaul early on. These included the cults of Orpheus, Mithras, Cybele, some of the communities had origins that predated the third-century persecutions. The exhibition of Gallo-Roman silver highlighted specifically Gallo-Roman silver from the treasures found at Chaourse, Mâcon, Graincourt-lès-Havrincourt, Notre-Dame dAllençon, the two more Romanized of the three Gauls were bound together in a network of Roman roads that linked cities. Via Domitia, reached from Nîmes to the Pyrenees, where it joined the Via Augusta at the Col de Panissars, via Aquitania reached from Narbonne, where it connected to the Via Domitia, to the Atlantic Ocean through Toulouse to Bordeaux. Via Scarponensis connected Trier to Lyon through Metz, Lyon, the capital of Roman Gaul, is now the site of the Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon, associated with the remains of the theater and odeon of Roman Lugdunum
7.
Cassel, Nord
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Cassel is a commune in the Nord départment in northern France. Built on a prominent hill overlooking French Flanders, the town has existed since Roman times and it was developed by the Romans into an important urban centre and was the focus of a network of roads, which are still in use today, that converge on the hill. It was the headquarters of Marshal Ferdinand Foch during part of the First World War, in 1940, during the German invasion of France, Cassel was the scene of a fierce three-day battle between British and German forces which resulted in much of the town being destroyed. Today the town, which was following the war, is a popular destination for visitors to French Flanders. It is renowned for its views from the summit of Mont Cassel and is the location of the Nord départments principal museum of local art, history. It is also the home of the legendary giants Reuze-Papa and Reuze-Maman, the town of Cassel is situated at the top of Mont Cassel, a prominent hill located in the local Houtland region about 30 kilometres from the sea. The hill rises to a height of 176 metres above sea level and its geological composition comprises limestone capped with a very hard ferruginous layer of rock. The hill of Mont Cassel was occupied during the late Iron Age by the Menapii, a Belgic tribe, the hilltop was probably used as an oppidum or hill fort. The Menapii fought against Julius Caesar but were forced to submit to Rome in 53 BC and they rebelled along with their neighbours, the Morini, in 30 or 29 BC. The Roman governor of Gaul, Carrinas, successfully quelled the rebellion, Cassel was redeveloped as Castellum Menapiorum, the urban centre or civitas of the Menapii, the modern town takes its name from the Roman settlement. From the 1st century AD onwards, Cassel developed into a key centre for the whole region with an extensive road network converging on the hill. Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, Flanders became part of the Merovingian realm of Neustria, in the 9th century it became part of West Francia, forming a pagus within the kingdom of Charles the Bald. In 864, Cassel passed into the hands of Baldwin Ironarm, at the time, the town was on the edge of a deep bay of the North Sea, making it vulnerable to raids by the Vikings, who attacked and destroyed it in the 9th century. It was rebuilt by Baldwins grandson, Arnulf I, in the 10th century. In 1071, the sixth Count of Flanders, Arnulf III, was killed in the first Battle of Cassel by the forces of Robert the Frisian in a dispute over the succession to the title of count. The town was re-fortified, possibly by Robert, with a castle, Cassel was the capital of a chatellany during the Middle Ages, serving as the administrative centre for an area comprising about fifty towns and villages. It was the site of a battle that took place on 23 August 1328 involving Philip VI of France. The rebels had driven the ruling Count Louis I out of Flanders and sought to press their advantage by occupying Cassel, although they achieved some initial successes, the rebels were decisively defeated when William I, Count of Hainaut lent his support to the French side
8.
Tongeren
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Tongeren is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the only Roman administrative capital within the countrys borders, as a Roman city, it was inhabited by the Tungri, and known as Atuatuca Tungrorum, it was the administrative centre of the Civitas Tungrorum district. The city is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network, before the Roman conquests, this area was inhabited by the group of Belgic tribes known as the Germani cisrhenani. Specifically the Eburones were the largest of these tribes and the one living around Tongeren, Caesar referred to the fort of the Eburones as Aduatuca, and this has led to a widely accepted proposal that this can be equated to Tongeren. There was also a tribe in the area known as the Aduatuci. On the other hand, it has the name and function as a local capital. If it is not Tongeren itself, the Aduatuca of the Eburones might be the ancient fortification of Caestert in nearby Riemst, during Julius Caesar’s campaigns in this part of Gaul in the first century BC, the Belgae revolted against the campaign of Caesar, led by the Eburones. They destroyed a legion that had demanded the right to winter among them in 54 BC, instead of risking Roman lives to pursue them he invited tribes from over the Rhine, such as the Sigambri to come and plunder. This back-fired when Eburones pointed out to the Sigambri that the Romans had all the booty at Aduatuca, the Tungri, not mentioned by Caesar, came to dominate this area in the Roman era, and are the reason for the name of the modern name Tongeren. Tacitus says that Tungri was a new name for the tribes who had previously been called the Germani. But many modern writers believe that the Gallo-Roman population of the area contained a significant amount of more recent Germanic immigrants from across the Rhine and it suffered from a destructive fire during the Batavian siege in 70 AD, which was part of the Batavian revolt. In the second century, it erected a wall, portions of which can still be seen today. Typical Roman buildings were built in town, while villas and mound graves dotted the surrounding area, in 358 the future emperor Julian met, in Tongeren, a delegation of Salian Franks who had recently settled in Toxandria, to the north of Tongeren. They wanted peace but spoke as if the ground they had seized were rightfully their own and they became increasingly important after this time. Zosimus reports that Julian used them as part of his forces in fights against other Germanic tribes. In the meantime, the Franks to the north and east were pagan and so many areas had to be reconverted over the course of the following centuries, with several missionaries becoming martyrs. The seat of the Tungrian bishopric however eventually moved to nearby Maastricht, much later, Liège became the seat of what would become the Roman Catholic Diocese of Liège, the church equivalent to the Civitas Tungrorum. This was the place of Saint Lambert of Maastricht, one of the last missionaries in the area
9.
Bavay
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Bavay is a French commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. The city is the capital of the canton also called Bavay, the inhabitants of the commune are known as Bavaisiens or Bavaisiennes Bavay is located some 20 km east by south-east of Valenciennes and 10 km west of Maubeuge. Main access is on the D649 highway between two towns which passes through the commune just north of the town. Many roads radiate from the town, the D305 north-west, the D84 north-east, the D932 east by north-east, the D961 south-east, the D932 south-west, the D942 west by south-west, and the D2649 west. A disused railway runs to the commune from Maubeuge and there is an abandoned railway station south-west of the town. Apart from the town the commune is entirely farmland, the Hogneau or Bavay river runs through the commune to the west joined by several streams in the commune. The Riez Raoult rises in the north of the commune and flows north while the Ruisseau du Louvion rises nearby, the Ruisseau dAviette rises in the east and flows east from the commune. The Ruisseau des Pres comes from the south-east and forms part of the border before joining the Bavay river. The Ruisseau de Mecquignies comes from the south and also flows to the Bavay river, according to Wauquelin, seven roads, dedicated to the planets Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Saturn, Mercury, the Sun, and the Moon, left from seven temples in the city. The introduction of an elective monarchy signaled the decline of the city of Belges and this episode has been considered a fable by most historians since the 19th century and even more so the bloody infighting which opposed the reign of Belges Queen Ursa by the former King Ursus. The columnist and historian of Hainaut, Jacques de Guise was simply called Belgis, the birth of Bavay after the conquest was the result of the reorganization of the territory by Augustus. The parts of Gaul conquered by Caesar were then divided into three provinces, the region between the Seine and the Rhine was Gallia Belgica and its capital was at Reims. It was divided into cities —administrative districts which were headed by a chief town, living in this district were some of the fiercest people of Northern Gaul and they occupied a vast area between the Scheldt, the Sambre, and the Meuse, the Nervii. As the centre of the junction, Bavay was an obligatory passage between Germania and the naval port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, a bridgehead to Britain. Other routes, seven in total, connected the city of the Nervii to the capital cities of neighbouring peoples. Its position was strategic, but soon these military routes were used for commercial purposes. From the Claudian period and especially under the Flavians in the late 1st century the city grew, excavations in the Roman Forum resulted in the discovery of ceramics from the 9th and 10th centuries. The history of the town during this period is unclear and reference is necessary to the lines of history of the County of Hainaut
10.
Franks
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Some Franks raided Roman territory, while other Frankish tribes joined the Roman troops of Gaul. In later times, Franks became the rulers of the northern part of Roman Gaul. The Salian Franks lived on Roman-held soil between the Rhine, Scheldt, Meuse, and Somme rivers in what is now Northern France, Belgium, the kingdom was acknowledged by the Romans after 357 CE. Following the collapse of Rome in the West, the Frankish tribes were united under the Merovingians, who succeeded in conquering most of Gaul in the 6th century, which greatly increased their power. The Merovingian dynasty, descendants of the Salians, founded one of the Germanic monarchies that would absorb large parts of the Western Roman Empire, the Frankish state consolidated its hold over the majority of western Europe by the end of the 8th century, developing into the Carolingian Empire. This empire would gradually evolve into the state of France and the Holy Roman Empire, in the Middle Ages, the term Frank was used in the east as a synonym for western European, as the Franks were then rulers of most of Western Europe. The Franks in the east kept their Germanic language and became part of the Germans, Dutch, Flemings, the Franconian languages, which are called Frankisch in Dutch or Fränkisch in German, originated at least partly in the Old Frankish language of the Franks. Nowadays, the German and Dutch names for France are Frankreich and Frankrijk, respectively, the name Franci was originally socio-political. To the Romans, Celts, and Suebi, the Franks must have seemed alike, they looked the same and spoke the same language, so that Franci became the name by which the people were known. Within a few centuries it had eclipsed the names of the tribes, though the older names have survived in some place-names, such as Hesse. Following the precedents of Edward Gibbon and Jacob Grimm, the name of the Franks has been linked with the word frank in English and it has been suggested that the meaning of free was adopted because, after the conquest of Gaul, only Franks were free of taxation. It is traditionally assumed that Frank comes from the Germanic word for javelin, there is also another theory that suggests that Frank comes from the Latin word francisca meaning. Words in other Germanic languages meaning fierce, bold or insolent, eumenius addressed the Franks in the matter of the execution of Frankish prisoners in the circus at Trier by Constantine I in 306 and certain other measures, Ubi nunc est illa ferocia. Feroces was used often to describe the Franks, contemporary definitions of Frankish ethnicity vary both by period and point of view. According to their law and their custom, writing in 2009, Professor Christopher Wickham pointed out that the word Frankish quickly ceased to have an exclusive ethnic connotation. North of the River Loire everyone seems to have considered a Frank by the mid-7th century at the latest. Two early sources describe the origin of the Franks are a 7th-century work known as the Chronicle of Fredegar. Neither of these works are accepted by historians as trustworthy, compared with Gregory of Tourss Historia Francorum, the chronicle describes Priam as a Frankish king whose people migrated to Macedonia after the fall of Troy
11.
Order of Saint Benedict
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Each community within the order maintains its own autonomy, while the order itself represents their mutual interests. Internationally, the order is governed by the Benedictine Confederation, a body, established in 1883 by Pope Leo XIIIs Brief Summum semper, individuals whose communities are members of the order generally add the initials OSB after their names. The monastery at Subiaco in Italy, established by Saint Benedict of Nursia circa 529, was the first of the monasteries he founded. He later founded the Abbey of Monte Cassino, there is no evidence, however, that he intended to found an order and the Rule of Saint Benedict presupposes the autonomy of each community. It was from the monastery of St. Andrew in Rome that Augustine, the prior, at various stopping places during the journey, the monks left behind them traditions concerning their rule and form of life, and probably also some copies of the Rule. Lérins Abbey, for instance, founded by Honoratus in 375, probably received its first knowledge of the Benedictine Rule from the visit of St. Augustine, in Gaul and Switzerland, it supplemented the much stricter Irish or Celtic Rule introduced by Columbanus and others. In many monasteries it eventually displaced the earlier codes. Largely through the work of Benedict of Aniane, it became the rule of choice for monasteries throughout the Carolingian empire, Monastic scriptoria flourished from the ninth through the twelfth centuries. Sacred Scripture was always at the heart of every monastic scriptorium, as a general rule those of the monks who possessed skill as writers made this their chief, if not their sole active work. In the Middle Ages monasteries were founded by the nobility. Cluny Abbey was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910, the abbey was noted for its strict adherence to the Rule of St. Benedict. The abbot of Cluny was the superior of all the daughter houses, one of the earliest reforms of Benedictine practice was that initiated in 980 by Romuald, who founded the Camaldolese community. The English Benedictine Congregation is the oldest of the nineteen Benedictine congregations, Augustine of Canterbury and his monks established the first English Benedictine monastery at Canterbury soon after their arrival in 597. Many of the sees of England were founded and governed by the Benedictines. Monasteries served as hospitals and places of refuge for the weak, the monks studied the healing properties of plants and minerals to alleviate the sufferings of the sick. Germany was evangelized by English Benedictines, willibrord and Boniface preached there in the seventh and eighth centuries and founded several abbeys. In the English Reformation, all monasteries were dissolved and their lands confiscated by the Crown, during the 19th century they were able to return to England, including to Selby Abbey in Yorkshire, one of the few great monastic churches to survive the Dissolution. St. Mildreds Priory, on the Isle of Thanet, Kent, was built in 1027 on the site of an abbey founded in 670 by the daughter of the first Christian King of Kent, currently the priory is home to a community of Benedictine nuns
12.
Dendermonde
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Dendermonde is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde proper and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, Mespelare, Oudegem, Schoonaarde, Dendermonde is located at the mouth of the river Dender, where it flows into the Scheldt. The town has a feud with Aalst, which dates back from the Middle Ages. The city is an administrative, commercial, educational, and medical centre for the surrounding region, the current Mayor of Dendermonde is Piet Buyse. Some interesting La-Tène artifacts were found in Appels, proof that this region of the Scheldt was inhabited in prehistory, grave sites from the 2nd and 6th century also attest to dense settlement in Gallo-Roman and Merovingian times. In 843, the Treaty of Verdun placed Dendermonde in Lotharingia, after the Norman invasions of 883, however, Baldwin II took over the region and incorporated it into the German part of the newly founded County of Flanders. Otto II built a fort here in the 10th century, encouraging further settlements in the area, the town received its city charter in 1233 and grew quickly after that thanks to a thriving cloth industry. Several cloisters, chapels and churches, and a defensive wall were built as well. A cloth hall and belfry were erected on the square in the mid 14th century. The town’s prosperity, however, gave rise to competition with cities such as Ghent and to occasional attacks. In 1384, the area came under the control of the Valois dukes of Burgundy. The 16th century saw a decline in Dendermonde’s fortunes, in 1572 Dendermonde was conquered by William the Silent. The same year however Spanish troops under Duke Alexander Farnese of Parma, took over the city, looted, a decade later, the Spaniards built their own fortress between the Dender and the Scheldt. In 1667, it was France’s turn to advance on the city, the city was then fortified by the Austrians against further French ambitions. After a last siege by Louis XV, the city could finally breathe to the point that the fortifications were dismantled a few decades later, the second half of the 18th century was generally prosperous, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution and a local cotton industry. After 1800, the facilities were modernized and the first railways were laid down. The onset of World War I in September 1914 was disastrous for the city as more than half of its housing, on August 19,2006,28 prisoners managed to escape Dendermonde prison. Seven of them were captured within hours, a few have been found in Italy and Russia
Waregem
