The Spell of Flanders

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Edward Neville Vose. The Spell of Flanders

PUBLISHERS’ NOTE

FOREWORD

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCING FLANDERS AND THE FOUR PILGRIMS

CHAPTER II. VIEUX BRUGES AND COUNT BALDWIN OF THE IRON ARM

CHAPTER III. BRUGES IN THE DAYS OF CHARLES THE GOOD

CHAPTER IV. HOW BRUGES BECAME “THE VENICE OF THE NORTH”

CHAPTER V. DIXMUDE AND FURNES

CHAPTER VI. NIEUPORT AND THE YSER CANAL

CHAPTER VII. WHEN YPRES WAS A GREATER CITY THAN LONDON

CHAPTER VIII. COURTRAI AND THE BATTLE OF THE SPURS

CHAPTER IX. GHENT IN THE DAYS OF THE FLEMISH COUNTS

CHAPTER X. THE AGE WHEN GHENT WAS GOVERNED BY ITS GUILDS

CHAPTER XI. PHILIP THE GOOD AND THE VAN EYCKS

CHAPTER XII. TOURNAI, THE OLDEST CITY IN BELGIUM

CHAPTER XIII. SEVEN CENTURIES OF TOURNAISIAN ART

CHAPTER XIV. THE FALL OF CHARLES THE BOLD—MEMLING AT BRUGES

CHAPTER XV. MALINES IN THE TIME OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA

CHAPTER XVI. GHENT UNDER CHARLES THE FIFTH—AND SINCE

CHAPTER XVII. AUDENAERDE AND MARGARET OF PARMA

CHAPTER XVIII. OLD ANTWERP—ITS HISTORY AND LEGENDS

CHAPTER XIX. THREE CENTURIES OF ANTWERP PRINTERS

CHAPTER XX. ANTWERP FROM THE TIME OF RUBENS TILL TO-DAY

CHAPTER XXI. WHERE MODERN FLANDERS SHINES—OSTENDE AND “LA PLAGE”

CHAPTER XXII. THE SPELL OF FLANDERS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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This book is the record of a vacation tour in the beautiful old Flemish towns of Northern Belgium beginning in May and ending in July of the Summer of 1914. The assassination of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand and his wife at Sarajevo took place while our little party was viewing the mediæval houses and churches of Ghent and Audenaerde, but in the many discussions of that event to which we listened there was no whisper of the awful fate which the march of events was so soon to bring upon one of the most charming, peaceful and happy countries in the world.

Many of the descriptions in the following pages were written in or near the towns described, and within a day or so after the visit narrated. Then each old Flemish “monument” was in as perfect a state of preservation as the reverent pride and care of the Belgian populace and the learned and skilful restorations of the Belgian government could together accomplish. The fact that since these accounts were written many of these very towns have been swept by shot and shell, have been taken and retaken by hostile armies, have formed the stage upon which some of the direst tragedies of the world’s greatest and most terrible war have been enacted, will—it is hoped—give them a permanent interest and value. As a painting of some famous city as it appeared many years or centuries ago is of the utmost historical interest, even though by an inferior artist, so these halting word pictures of towns that have since been wholly or partially destroyed may help the reader to recall the glories that have passed away.

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“The Madame is right!” exclaimed the Professor heartily—all of our friends call my wife “the Madame” because she speaks French as fluently as English. “Our first object on this trip will be pleasure. A little knowledge of the history of Flanders, of tapestry and lacemaking, of architecture and art, may enhance our enjoyment of what we see, because we will thereby understand it better and appreciate its interest or beauty more keenly. But we are not going over as historical savants, or as authorities on art—or pretend that we know any more about such subjects than we really do—”

“Which is just enough to enable us to derive sincere pleasure from seeing them, and having them explained to us, without troubling our heads about this, that or the other element of technique,” I interrupted, completing the Professor’s sentence for him.

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