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96-449: There was great disappointment when the works reached the hill d'Ensérune. A few metres of digging in hard rock revealed a very brittle sandstone subject to slippage. Colbert , the prime minister, halted the works when he was made aware of the situation. The portal was blocked and the workings re-sited. Riquet's detractors took advantage of this situation to impede the project. Colbert announced that he would send royal commissioners to decide

192-442: A Jesuit college, working for a Parisian banker; as well as working for the father of Jean Chapelain . Before the age of 20, Colbert had a post in the war office, a position generally attributed to the marriage of an uncle to the sister of Secretary of War Michel Le Tellier . Colbert spent some time as an inspector of troops, eventually becoming the personal secretary of Le Tellier. In 1647, through unknown means, Colbert acquired

288-648: A coalition of his party (N-VA) with Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V) and Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten (Open VLD). The area of the Flemish Community is represented on the maps above, including the area of the Brussels-Capital Region (hatched on the relevant map). Roughly, the Flemish Community exercises competences originally oriented towards the individuals of the Community's language: culture (including audiovisual media), education , and

384-724: A devout Catholic and self-proclaimed protector of the Counter-Reformation , suppressed Calvinism in Flanders, Brabant and Holland (what is now approximately Belgian Limburg was part of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and was Catholic de facto ). In 1566, the wave of iconoclasm known as the Beeldenstorm was a prelude to religious war between Catholics and Protestants, especially the Anabaptists. The Beeldenstorm started in what

480-457: A member of the Académie française ; and proposed one very characteristic rule with the intention of expediting the great Dictionary , in which he had a great interest: no one could count as present at any meeting unless he arrived before the hour of commencement and remained till the hour for leaving. In 1673 Colbert presided over the first exhibition of the works of living painters; and he enriched

576-502: A patron, however highly ranked, but had to agree in this case for reasons of diplomacy between France and the Holy See . While in France, Bernini also sculpted a marble portrait bust of Louis XIV (Versailles palace). However the relations between the two strong-willed men, Colbert and Bernini, proved melodramatically stormy. Bernini's Louvre design was ultimately rejected. Colbert himself became

672-560: A policy focusing on the unification of French trade. His régime improved roads and canals. Pierre Paul Riquet (1604–1680) planned and constructed the Canal du Midi under Colbert's patronage. To encourage overseas trade with the Levant , Senegal , Guinea and other places, Colbert granted privileges to companies, but, like the noted French East India Company , all proved unsuccessful. Colbert took much interest in art and literature. He possessed

768-638: A remarkably fine private library, which he delighted to fill with valuable manuscripts from every part of Europe and the Near East where France had placed a consul. He employed Pierre de Carcavi and Étienne Baluze as librarians. Colbert's grandson sold the manuscript collection in 1732 to the Bibliothèque Royale . Colbert founded a number of institutions: He reorganised the Academy of Painting and Sculpture which Mazarin had established. Wishing to increase

864-496: A series of state reforms . In practice, the Flemish Community and Region together form a single body, with its own parliament and government , as the Community legally absorbed the competences of the Region. The parliament is a directly elected legislative body composed of 124 representatives. The government consists of up to 11 members and is presided by a Minister-President , currently Geert Bourgeois ( New Flemish Alliance ) leading

960-430: A wide variety of fields. The authorities established new industries, protected inventors, invited in workmen from foreign countries, and prohibited French workmen from emigrating. To maintain the character of French goods in foreign markets as well as to afford a guarantee to the domestic consumer, Colbert had the quality and quantity of each article fixed by law, punishing breaches of the regulations by public exposure of

1056-598: Is mainly flat, and incorporates the whole coast of Belgium on the North Sea . It borders the French department of Nord to the south-west near the coast, the Dutch provinces of Zeeland , North Brabant and Limburg to the north and east, and the Walloon provinces of Hainaut , Walloon Brabant and Liège to the south. Despite accounting for only 45% of Belgium's territory, more than half

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1152-604: Is now French Flanders , with open-air sermons ( Dutch : hagepreken ) that spread through the Low Countries, first to Antwerp and Ghent, and from there further east and north. Subsequently, Philip II of Spain sent the Duke of Alba to the Provinces to repress the revolt. Alba recaptured the southern part of the Provinces, who signed the Union of Atrecht , which meant that they would accept

1248-654: Is now France, but in the east modern Limburg became part of the Rhine frontier province of Germania Inferior connected to what is now the Netherlands and Germany. Gallia Belgica and Germania Inferior were the two most northerly continental provinces of the Roman empire . In the future county of Flanders, the main Belgic tribe in early Roman times was the Menapii , but also on the coast were

1344-717: Is remembered by Flemish organizations during the yearly Yser pilgrimage in Diksmuide at the monument of the Yser Tower . During the interbellum and World War II , several right-wing fascist and/or national-socialistic parties emerged in Belgium. Since these parties were promised more rights for the Flemings by the German government during World War II, many of them collaborated with the Nazi regime. After

1440-684: Is said to have been Riquet's inspiration for the Malpas Tunnel. In the nineteenth century, a third tunnel was excavated, passing through the Hill d'Ensérune beneath the Malpas tunnel to house the Béziers to Narbonne railway line. 43°18′26″N 3°7′36″E  /  43.30722°N 3.12667°E  / 43.30722; 3.12667 Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert ( French: [ʒɑ̃.ba.tist kɔl.bɛʁ] ; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683)

1536-776: The Alps by 1560. Antwerp was the richest city in Europe at this time. According to Luc-Normand Tellier "It is estimated that the port of Antwerp was earning the Spanish crown seven times more revenues than the Americas ." Meanwhile, Protestantism had reached the Low Countries. Among the wealthy traders of Antwerp, the Lutheran beliefs of the German Hanseatic traders found appeal, perhaps partly for economic reasons. The spread of Protestantism in this city

1632-695: The Burgundian Netherlands , "Flanders", along with Latin "Belgium", were the first two common names to describe this regional block. With the breakaway of the northern Netherlands in the early modern period , the term Flanders continued to be associated with the whole southern part of the Low Countries —the Southern , Spanish or Austrian Netherlands , which were the successors of the Burgundian state, and also predecessors of modern Belgium. The restriction of

1728-609: The Catholic University of Leuven . As a result, several state reforms took place in the second half of the 20th century, which transformed the unitary Belgium into a federal state with communities, regions and language areas . This resulted also in the establishment of a Flemish Parliament and Government . During the 1970s, all major political parties split into a Dutch and French-speaking party. Several Flemish parties still advocate for more Flemish autonomy, some even for Flemish independence (see Partition of Belgium ), whereas

1824-622: The Duke of Burgundy , with his capital in Brussels . The titles were eventually more clearly united under his grandson Philip the Good (1396 – 1467). This large Duchy passed in 1477 to the Habsburg dynasty, and in 1556 to the kings of Spain. Western and southern districts of Flanders were confirmed under French rule under successive treaties of 1659 (Artois), 1668 and 1678 . The County of Loon, approximately

1920-648: The Dutch School . Within this Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, French has never ceased to be spoken by some citizens, and Jewish groups have been speaking Yiddish in Antwerp for centuries. Regardless of nationality or linguistic background, according to Belgian Law education in schools located in the Flemish Region must be mainly in the Dutch language. In Brussels, teaching is also done in French. When Julius Caesar conquered

2016-612: The Flemish Community (Dutch: Vlaamse Gemeenschap ). These entities were merged, although geographically the Flemish Community, which has a broader cultural mandate, covers Brussels, whereas the Flemish Region does not. The term "Flanders" has several main modern meanings: The name originally applied to the ancien régime territory called the County of Flanders , that existed from the 8th century (Latin Flandria ) until its absorption by

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2112-616: The Franc of Bruges formed the Four Members , a form of parliament that exercised considerable power in Flanders. Increasingly powerful from the 12th century, the territory's autonomous urban communes were instrumental in defeating a French attempt at annexation (1300–1302), finally defeating the French in the Battle of the Golden Spurs (11 July 1302), near Kortrijk . Two years later, the uprising

2208-631: The French East India Company had access to foreign markets, so that they could always obtain coffee , cotton , dyewoods , fur , pepper , and sugar . He acted to create a favorable balance of trade and increase colonial holdings . As there was slavery in the colonies, in 1682, Colbert commissioned the beginning of a project that would become the Code Noir in 1685, two years after his death. In addition, he founded France's merchant navy ( marine marchande ), becoming Secretary of State of

2304-513: The French First Republic . Until the 1600s, this county also extended over parts of what are now France and the Netherlands. However, the term came to be used for a bigger territory, and this is critical to the evolution of modern terminology. Once the Counts of Flanders (who were also Dukes of Burgundy) expanded their regional power to create the bigger entity, now referred to by historians as

2400-554: The Louvre with hundreds of pictures and statues. He gave many pensions to men of letters, among whom we find Molière , Corneille , Racine , Boileau , P D Huet (1630–1721) and Antoine Varillas (1626–1696); and even foreigners, as Huygens , Carlo Roberto Dati the Dellacruscan . Evidence exists to show that by this munificence he hoped to draw out praises of his sovereign and himself; but this motive certainly does not account for all

2496-545: The Marsacii and Morini . In the central part of modern Belgium were the Nervii , whose territory corresponded to medieval Brabant as well as French-speaking Hainaut. In the east was the large district of the Tungri which covered both French- and Dutch-speaking parts of eastern Belgium. The Tungri were understood to have links to Germanic tribes east of the Rhine. Another notable group were

2592-624: The Provisional Government (Dutch: Voorlopig Bewind ) proclaimed its independence, which was later confirmed by the National Congress that issued a new Liberal Constitution and declared the new state a Constitutional Monarchy , under the House of Saxe-Coburg . Flanders now became part of the Kingdom of Belgium, which was recognized by the major European Powers on 20 January 1831. The cessation

2688-545: The Strait of Dover to the Scheldt estuary and expanded from there. This county also still corresponds roughly with the modern-day Belgian provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders, along with neighbouring parts of France and the Netherlands. In this period, cities such as Ghent and Bruges of the historic County of Flanders, and later Antwerp of the Duchy of Brabant made it one of

2784-700: The Toxandrians who appear to have lived in the Kempen region, in the northern parts of both the Nervian and Tungrian districts, probably stretching into the modern Netherlands. The Roman administrative districts ( civitates ) of the Menapii, Nervii and Tungri therefore corresponded roughly with the medieval counties of Flanders, Brabant and Loon , and the modern Flemish provinces of East and West Flanders (Menapii), Brabant and Antwerp (the northern Nervii), and Belgian Limburg (part of

2880-457: The Westerscheldt river delta, was left with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which was allowed to levy a toll on all traffic to Antwerp harbour until 1863. In 1873, Dutch became an official language in public secondary schools. In 1898, Dutch and French were declared equal languages in laws and Royal orders. In 1930, the first Flemish university was opened. The first official translation of

2976-422: The communities, regions and language areas of Belgium . However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, language, politics, and history, and sometimes involving neighbouring countries. The demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming , while the corresponding adjective is Flemish , which can also refer to the collective of Dutch dialects spoken in that area, or more generally

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3072-455: The corporation system, each industry remained in the hands of certain privileged bourgeois ; while the lower classes found opportunities of advancement closed. He did, however, wisely consult the interests of internal commerce. Unable to abolish the duties on the passage of goods from province to province , he did what he could to induce the provinces to equalize them. Currency exchange rates still remained between these provinces despite

3168-475: The economy back from the brink of bankruptcy . Nevertheless, despite his best efforts, France grew increasingly impoverished because of the King's excessive spending on wars. Having introduced a measure of order and economy into the workings of the government, Colbert called for the enrichment of the country by means of commerce. Through Colbert's dirigiste policies, France fostered manufacturing enterprises in

3264-599: The guilds . The Académie des sciences was founded in 1666 at his suggestion; he was a member of the Académie française from 1 March 1667 to his death, where he occupied the 24th seat, to which Jean de La Fontaine was later elected. His son Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay (1651–1690), succeeded him as Navy Secretary. Colbert's father and grandfather were merchants in his birthplace of Reims , France . He claimed to have Scottish ancestry. A widespread (but unconfirmed) belief exists that he spent his early youth at

3360-519: The 12th century and established the woolen industry. The County of Flanders started to take control of the neighbouring County of Brabant during the life of Louis II, Count of Flanders (1330–1384), who fought his sister-in-law Joanna, Duchess of Brabant for control of it. The entire area, straddling the ancient boundary of France and the Holy Roman Empire, later passed to Philip the Bold in 1384,

3456-564: The Belgian constitution in Dutch was not published until 1967. Flanders (and Belgium as a whole) saw some of the greatest loss of life on the Western Front of the First World War , in particular from the three battles of Ypres . The war strengthened Flemish identity and consciousness. The occupying German authorities took several Flemish-friendly measures. The resulting suffering of the war

3552-727: The Belgian variant of Standard Dutch. Most Flemings live within the Flemish Region , which is a federal state within Belgium with its own elected government. However, like Belgium itself, the official capital of Flanders is the City of Brussels , which lies within the Brussels-Capital Region , not the Flemish Region, and the majority of residents there are French speaking. The powers of the Flemish Government in Brussels are limited mainly to Flemish culture and education. Geographically, Flanders

3648-575: The Dutch-speaking community in the Brussels Region, grey on the map for it is not a part of the Flemish Region). Roughly, the Flemish Region is responsible for territorial issues in a broad sense, including economy, employment, agriculture, water policy, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, credit, and foreign trade. It supervises

3744-418: The French speaking majority. This ultimately gave way to a rising feeling of cultural autonomy and even a sense of a nationalism. After World War II, the differences between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking Belgians became clear in a number of conflicts, such as the Royal Question , the question whether King Leopold III should return (which most Flemings supported but Walloons did not) and the use of Dutch in

3840-461: The French-speakers would like to keep the current state as it is. Recent governments (such as Verhofstadt I Government ) have transferred certain federal competences to the regional governments. On 13 December 2006, a spoof news broadcast by the Belgian Francophone public broadcasting station RTBF announced that Flanders had decided to declare independence from Belgium. The 2007 federal elections showed more support for Flemish autonomy, marking

3936-424: The Low Countries as the Seventeen Provinces (or Spanish Netherlands in its broad sense) as an entity separate from the Holy Roman Empire and from France. In 1556 Charles V abdicated due to ill health (he suffered from crippling gout ). Spain and the Seventeen Provinces went to his son, Philip II of Spain . Over the first half of the 16th century Antwerp grew to become the second-largest European city north of

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4032-504: The Navy in 1669. His effective market reforms included the foundation of the Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs in 1665 to supplant the importation of Venetian glass , which was forbidden in 1672 as soon as the national glass manufacturing industry was on sound footing. Also encouraging the technical expertise of Flemish cloth manufacturing in France, he founded royal tapestry works at Gobelins and supported those at Beauvais . He issued more than 150 edicts to regulate

4128-440: The Navy ; he also gained appointments as minister of commerce , of the colonies , and of the palace . In short, Colbert acquired power in every department except that of war. A great financial and fiscal reform now claimed all his energies. Not only the nobility, but many others who had no legal claim to exemption, paid no taxes; the bulk of the burden fell on the rural poor. Supported by the young king Louis XIV , Colbert aimed

4224-407: The Southern Netherlands since King Philip II of Spain left them in 1559. In 1794, the French Republican Army started using Antwerp as the northernmost naval port of France. The following year, France officially annexed Flanders as the départements of Lys , Escaut , Deux-Nèthes , Meuse-Inférieure and Dyle . Obligatory (French) army service for all men aged 16–25 years was a main reason for

4320-423: The Spanish government on condition of more freedom. But the northern part of the provinces signed the Union of Utrecht and settled in 1581 the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands . Spanish troops quickly started fighting the rebels, and the Spanish armies conquered the important trading cities of Bruges and Ghent. Antwerp, which was then the most important port in the world, also had to be conquered. But before

4416-512: The Tungri). Brabant appears to have been separated from the Tungri by a relatively unpopulated forest area, the Silva Carbonaria , forming a natural boundary between northeast and southwest Belgium. Linguistically, the tribes in this area were under Celtic influence in the south, and Germanic influence in the east, but there is disagreement about what languages were spoken locally (apart from Vulgar Latin ), and there may even have been an intermediate " Nordwestblock " language related to both. By

4512-457: The United Kingdom of the Netherlands . William I started rapid industrialisation of the southern parts of the Kingdom. But the political system failed to forge a true union between the north and south. Most of the southern bourgeoisie was Roman Catholic and French-speaking, while the north was mainly Protestant and Dutch-speaking. In 1815, the Dutch Senate was reinstated (Dutch: Eerste Kamer der Staaten Generaal ). The nobility, mainly coming from

4608-449: The area he described it as the less economically developed and more warlike part of Gallia Belgica . His informants told him that especially in the east, the tribes claimed ancestral connections and kinship with the "Germanic" peoples then east of the Rhine . Under the Roman empire the whole of Gallia Belgica became an administrative province. The future counties of Flanders and Brabant remained part of this province connected to what

4704-411: The artistic production in this area before about 1580, after which it refers specifically to the southern Netherlands. For example, the term "Flemish Primitives", now outdated in English but used in French, Dutch and other languages, is a synonym for " Early Netherlandish painting ", and it is not uncommon to see Mosan art categorized as Flemish art. In music the Franco-Flemish School is also known as

4800-432: The canal's future. The advice of the Chevalier de Clerville , architect to Louis XIV , was to cross the river Aude rather than tunnel through the hill. Riquet, however, maintained his preference for a tunnel because of the extra problems that crossing the Aude would create. Riquet's response was to ask his master mason, Pascal de Nissan, to continue tunneling in secret despite the risk of collapse. In less than eight days

4896-430: The clear winners in Flanders, and N-VA became even the largest party in Flanders and Belgium during the 2010 federal elections , followed by the longest-ever government formation after which the Di Rupo I Government was formed excluding N-VA. Eight parties agreed on a sixth state reform which aim to solve the disputes between Flemings and French-speakers. However, the 2012 provincial and municipal elections continued

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4992-430: The comital family, Baldwin I of Flanders , is first reported in a document of 862, when he eloped with a daughter of his king Charles the Bald . The region developed as a medieval economic power with a large degree of political autonomy. While its trading cities remained strong, it was weakened and divided when districts fell under direct French royal rule in the late 12th century. The remaining parts of Flanders came under

5088-407: The confiscated goods of an uncle, Pussort. In 1648, he and his wife Marie Charron, received 40,000 crowns from an unknown source; and in 1649 Colbert became the councilor of state, i.e. a political minister. In 1657, he purchased the Barony of Seignelay . Colbert was recommended to King Louis XIV by Mazarin. While Cardinal Mazarin was in exile, Louis's trust in Colbert grew. In 1652 Colbert

5184-411: The delinquent and destruction of the goods concerned, and, on the third offense, by the pillory . Colbert prohibited the production of certain products that might have suited consumers, and the time-consuming supervision he imposed on commercial enterprises may have acted as a hindrance to improvement. Other parts of Colbert's schemes have met with less equivocal condemnation. By his firm maintenance of

5280-410: The effects of industrial stagnation and Spanish-Dutch and Franco-Austrian conflict. The Southern Netherlands suffered severely under the Franco-Dutch War , Nine Years' War and War of the Spanish Succession . But under the reign of Empress Maria-Theresia, these lands again flourished economically. Influenced by the Enlightenment , the Austrian Emperor Joseph II was the first sovereign who had been in

5376-411: The first blow at the man accused of being the greatest of the royal embezzlers, the superintendent Nicolas Fouquet . Fouquet's fall secured Colbert's own advancement. After the abolition of the office of superintendent and of many other offices dependent upon it, control of France's finances fell to a royal council. The sovereign functioned as its president, but Colbert, though only an intendant for

5472-413: The first century AD, Germanic languages appear to have become prevalent in the area of the Tungri. As Roman influence waned, Frankish populations settled in the Tungiran area east of the Silva Carbonaria, and eventually pushed through it under Chlodio . They had kings in each Roman district ( civitas ). In the meantime, the Franks contributed to the Roman military. The first Merovingian king Childeric I

5568-503: The first four years, operated as its ruling spirit, enjoying as he did king's favor and confidence. His ruthlessness in the execution of his functions may have set a dangerous precedent, but it probably struck him necessary in that the council could not defer to individual interests. This way of administering his policies was particularly in evidence in his preparation and enforcement of his forestry ordinance of 1669 . When he had severely punished guilty officials, he turned his attention to

5664-429: The government's fraudulent creditors. Here he had a simple way of operating. He repudiated some of the public loans and reduced the interest rate on others. The amount of the reduction was initially his own decision but ultimately that of a council he established to examine all claims against the state. Much more serious difficulties met his attempts to introduce equality in taxation among the various classes. Cutting back

5760-425: The merchant classes. When the king resolved to make all France Roman Catholic and revoked the Edict of Nantes , he followed him and urged his subordinates to do all they could to promote conversions . Colbert had nine children, including : His policies inspired those of Alexander Hamilton , the first treasury secretary of the United States. Six ships of the French Navy bore his name: In literature,

5856-450: The modern Flemish province of Limburg, remained independent of France, forming a part of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège until the French Revolution, but surrounded by the Burgundians, and under their influence. In 1500, Charles V was born in Ghent . He inherited the Seventeen Provinces (1506), Spain (1516) with its colonies and in 1519 was elected Holy Roman Emperor . Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 , which established

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5952-409: The north consists of 22 exclaves surrounded by the Netherlands. Not including Brussels, there are five present-day Flemish provinces : Antwerp , East Flanders , Flemish Brabant , Limburg and West Flanders . The official language is Dutch. The area of today's Flanders has figured prominently in European history since the Middle Ages . The original County of Flanders stretched around AD 900 from

6048-418: The northern part of Belgium, including not only the Dutch-speaking Belgian parts of the medieval Duchy of Brabant , which was united with Flanders since the Middle Ages, but also Belgian Limburg , which corresponds closely to the medieval County of Loon , and was never under Burgundian control. The ambiguity between this wider cultural area and that of the county or province still remains in discussions about

6144-446: The number of the privileged proved impossible, but Colbert firmly resisted false claims for exemption and lightened direct taxation by increasing indirect taxes, from which the privileged could not escape. At the same time, he undertook improvements to the way taxes were collected. Colbert's relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for improving the state of French manufacturing and bringing

6240-410: The population lives there – 6,821,770 (or 58%) out of 11,763,650 Belgian inhabitants, as of January 2024. Much of Flanders is agriculturally fertile and densely populated at 501/km (1,300/sq mi). The Brussels Region is an officially bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. Flanders also has exclaves of its own: Voeren in the east is between Wallonia and the Netherlands and Baarle-Hertog in

6336-428: The power struggle between Colbert and Fouquet is one of the main plotlines of Alexandre Dumas, père 's novel The Vicomte of Bragelonne , the second sequel to The Three Musketeers . Dumas paints Colbert as an uncouth and ruthless schemer who stops at little, in contrast to the more refined Fouquet, counselled by Aramis , but also as a visionary patriot. Colbert's statue stands outside the Assemblée nationale . It

6432-439: The prestige of the image of France and the French royal family, Colbert played an active role in bringing the great Italian architect-sculptor, Gian Lorenzo Bernini , to Paris (June–October 1665), in order to design the new East Facade of the Louvre. This was a striking coup and caused a sensation because Bernini, the most famous artist in all of Europe, had never before (or after) consented to travel any significant distance to meet

6528-467: The proposal that suggested seizing part of the wealth of the clergy . In his hatred of idleness, he ventured to suppress no less than seventeen fêtes , and he had a project for reducing the number of persons devoted to clerical and monastic life by increasing the age for taking vows . He showed himself initially unwilling to interfere with heresy , for he realised the commercial value of the Huguenots (French Protestants), who were well represented among

6624-534: The provinces, municipalities, and intercommunal utility companies. The number of Dutch-speaking Flemish people in the Capital Region is estimated to be between 11% and 15% (official figures do not exist as there is no language census and no official subnationality). According to a survey conducted by the University of Louvain (UCLouvain) in Louvain-la-Neuve and published in June 2006, 51% of respondents from Brussels claimed to be bilingual, even if they do not have Dutch as their first language. They are governed by

6720-452: The region. In most present-day contexts however, the term Flanders is taken to refer to either the political, social, cultural, and linguistic community (and the corresponding official institution, the Flemish Community ), or the geographical area, one of the three institutional regions in Belgium, namely the Flemish Region . In the history of art and other fields, the adjectives Flemish and Netherlandish are commonly used to designate all

6816-413: The revolt was defeated, a war between Spain and England broke out, forcing Spanish troops to halt their advance. On 17 August 1585, Antwerp fell. This ended the Eighty Years' War for the (from now on) Southern Netherlands . The United Provinces (the Northern Netherlands) fought on until 1648 – the Peace of Westphalia . During the war with England, the rebels from the north, strengthened by refugees from

6912-501: The richest and most urbanised parts of Europe, trading, and weaving the wool of neighbouring lands into cloth for both domestic use and export. As a consequence, a very sophisticated culture developed, with impressive achievements in the arts and architecture, rivaling those of northern Italy . Belgium was one of the centres of the 19th-century Industrial Revolution , but this occurred mainly in French-speaking Wallonia. In

7008-544: The river Scheldt , effectively cutting Antwerp off from its trade routes. The fall of Antwerp to the Spanish and the closing of the Scheldt caused considerable emigration. Many Calvinist merchants of Antwerp and other Flemish cities left Flanders and migrated north. Many of them settled in Amsterdam , which was a smaller port, important only in the Baltic trade . The Flemish exiles helped to rapidly transform Amsterdam into one of

7104-492: The rule of the counts of neighbouring imperial Hainaut under Baldwin V of Hainaut in 1191. During the late Middle Ages , Flanders's trading towns (notably Ghent , Bruges and Ypres ) made it one of the richest and most urbanized parts of Europe, weaving the wool of neighbouring lands into cloth for both domestic use and export. As a consequence, a sophisticated culture developed, with impressive art and architecture, rivaling those of northern Italy. Ghent, Bruges, Ypres and

7200-424: The second half of the 20th century, and due to massive national investments in port infrastructure, Flanders' economy modernised rapidly, and today Flanders and Brussels are much wealthier than Wallonia, being among the wealthiest regions in Europe and the world. In accordance with late 20th century Belgian state reforms , Flanders was made into two political entities: the Flemish Region (Dutch: Vlaams Gewest ) and

7296-666: The south, became more and more estranged from their northern colleagues. Resentment grew between the Roman Catholics from the south and the Protestants from the north, and also between the powerful liberal bourgeoisie from the south and their more moderate colleagues from the north. On 25 August 1830 (after the showing of the opera ' La Muette de Portici ' of Daniel Auber in Brussels) the Belgian Revolution sparked. On 4 October 1830,

7392-616: The south, started a campaign to reclaim areas lost to Philip II 's Spanish troops. They conquered a considerable part of Brabant (the later North Brabant of the Netherlands), and the south bank of the Scheldt estuary ( Zeelandic Flanders ), before being stopped by Spanish troops. The front at the end of this war stabilized and became the border between present-day Belgium and the Netherlands. The Dutch (as they later became known) had managed to reclaim enough of Spanish-controlled Flanders to close off

7488-446: The splendid, if in some cases specious, services that he rendered to literature, science and art. Colbert worked incessantly hard until his final hours. Work was his religion; he once pondered whether it was better to rise early and work or retire very late and work. He concluded that rising early and retiring late would be the ideal combination. Towards the end of his life he suffered from stomach aches, which caused him much distress. He

7584-496: The start of the 2007–2011 Belgian political crisis . All the political parties that advocated a significant increase of Flemish autonomy gained votes as well as seats in the Belgian federal parliament . This was especially the case for Christian Democratic and Flemish and New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) (who had participated on a shared electoral list ). The trend continued during the 2009 regional elections , where CD&V and N-VA were

7680-572: The taxes paid by the people reached the King. The paper also contained an attack on Nicolas Fouquet . The postmaster of Paris, a spy of Fouquet's, read the letter, leading to a dispute which Mazarin attempted to suppress. In 1661, Mazarin died and Colbert "made sure of the King's favor" by revealing the location of some of Mazarin's hidden wealth. In January 1664 Colbert became the Superintendent of buildings ; in 1665 he became Controller-General of Finances ; in 1669, he became Secretary of State of

7776-465: The term Flanders to the Germanic speaking part of the population occurred later. The term "Flemish" came to be a term for the language Dutch, and during the 19th and 20th centuries, it became increasingly common to refer exclusively to the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium as "Flanders". Belgium divided itself into official French- and Dutch-speaking parts starting in the early '60s. Today Flanders extends over

7872-481: The trend of N-VA becoming the biggest party in Flanders. However, sociological studies show no parallel between the rise of nationalist parties and popular support for their agenda. Instead, a recent study revealed a majority in favour of returning regional competences to the federal level. Both the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region are constitutional institutions of the Kingdom of Belgium, exercising certain powers within their jurisdiction, granted following

7968-453: The tunnel was complete with a concrete ceiling throughout. The tunnel is 165m long with an arch 8m above the canal's surface, and removed the necessity for an extra lock . By the time the Malpas Tunnel was excavated in the seventeenth century, the hill had already for several centuries been the site of a tunnel, dug in the Middle Ages, to drain the Étang de Montady . This pre-existing tunnel

8064-863: The uprising against the French in 1798, known as the Boerenkrijg ( Peasants' War ), with the heaviest fighting in the Campine area. After the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the 1815 Battle of Waterloo in Brabant , the Congress of Vienna (1815) gave sovereignty over the Austrian Netherlands – Belgium minus the East Cantons and Luxembourg – to the United Netherlands (Dutch: Verenigde Nederlanden ) under Prince William I of Orange Nassau, making him William I of

8160-405: The use of the language. Extensions to personal matters less directly associated with language comprise sports, health policy (curative and preventive medicine), and assistance to individuals (protection of youth, social welfare, aid to families, immigrant assistance services, etc.) The area of the Flemish Region is represented on the maps above. It has a population of more than 6 million (excluding

8256-430: The war, collaborators (or people who were Zwart , "Black" during the war) were prosecuted and punished, among them many Flemish nationalists whose main political goal had been the emancipation of Flanders. As a result, until today Flemish nationalism is often associated with right-wing. Flemish nationalism is however a direct consequence of the events of the years prior to the first World War, in which many were oppressed by

8352-821: The world's most important ports. This is why the exodus is sometimes described as " creating a new Antwerp ". Flanders and Brabant, went into a period of relative decline from the time of the Thirty Years' War . In the Northern Netherlands, the mass emigration from Flanders and Brabant became an important driving force behind the Dutch Golden Age . Although arts remained relatively impressive for another century with Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) and Anthony van Dyck , Flanders lost its former economic and intellectual power under Spanish, Austrian, and French rule. Heavy taxation and rigid imperial political control compounded

8448-477: Was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV . His lasting impact on the organization of the country's politics and markets, known as Colbertism , a doctrine often characterized as a variant of mercantilism , earned him the nickname le Grand Colbert ( [lə ɡʁɑ̃ kɔl.bɛʁ] ; "the Great Colbert"). A native of Reims , he

8544-537: Was aided by the presence of an Augustinian cloister (founded 1514) in the St. Andries quarter. Luther, an Augustinian himself, had taught some of the monks, and his works were in print by 1518. The first Lutheran martyrs came from Antwerp. The Reformation resulted in consecutive but overlapping waves of reform: a Lutheran, followed by a militant Anabaptist , then a Mennonite , and finally a Calvinistic movement. These movements existed independently of each other. Philip II ,

8640-425: Was appointed Intendant of Finances on 4 May 1661. Colbert took over as Controller-General of Finances , a newly created position, in the aftermath of the arrest of Nicolas Fouquet for embezzlement, an event that led to the abolishment of the office of Superintendent of Finances . He worked to develop the domestic economy by raising tariffs and encouraging major public works projects, as well as to ensure that

8736-478: Was asked to manage the affairs of the Cardinal while he was away. This new responsibility would detach Colbert from his other responsibility as commissaire des guerres . Although Colbert was not a supporter of Mazarin in principle, he would defend the cardinal's interests with unflagging devotion. Colbert's earliest recorded attempt at tax reform came in the form of a mémoire to Mazarin, showing that less than half of

8832-633: Was defeated and Flanders indirectly remained part of the French Crown. Flemish prosperity waned in the following century, due to widespread European population decline following the Black Death of 1348, the disruption of trade during the Anglo-French Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), and increased English cloth production. Flemish weavers had gone over to Worstead and North Walsham in Norfolk in

8928-682: Was king of the Franks within the military of Gaul. He became leader of the administration of Belgica Secunda , which included the civitas of the Menapii (the future county of Flanders). From there, his son Clovis I managed to conquer both the Roman populations of northern France and the Frankish populations beyond the forest areas. The County of Flanders was a feudal fief in West Francia . The first certain Count in

9024-631: Was recognized by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands on 19 April 1839. In 1830, the Belgian Revolution led to the splitting up of the two countries. Belgium was confirmed as an independent state by the Treaty of London of 1839, but deprived of the eastern half of Limburg (now Dutch Limburg), and the Eastern half of Luxembourg (now the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg). Sovereignty over Zeelandic Flanders , south of

9120-479: Was reduced to eating moist bread dipped in chicken broth for his meals. By 64 he was bedridden and died seven days after his birthday. The surgeons who examined him found that he had been suffering from kidney stones . A huge stone was found in his urinary tract , which would explain his pain. Colbert played a subordinate role in the struggle between the king and the papacy over royal rights concerning vacant bishoprics , and he seems to have sympathised with

9216-603: Was vandalized in 2020 due to Colbert's part in drafting the Code noir . The main building of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance building , completed in 1989, is named after him. Flanders Flanders ( / ˈ f l ɑː n d ər z / FLAHN -dərz or / ˈ f l æ n d ər z / FLAN -dərz ; Dutch : Vlaanderen [ˈvlaːndərə(n)] ) is the Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of

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