History. GHENT. 6. Route. 5?

of Regent of Flanders, and established himself at Ghent in a style
great magnificence. His career, however, was brief. At the end
352 war again broke out, chiefly owing to the impolitic and
arrogant conduct of Philip himself, and Charles VI. of France marched
against Flanders. Philip was defeated and slain at the disastrous
Battle of Westrozebeke (Noy. 27th, 1382), where 20,000 Flemings are
said to have perished. The city was obliged to submit to the Count,
and after his death in 1384, by the marriage of his daughter to Duke
Philip the Bold, which for a time it refused to acknowledge, came
into the possession of Burgundy. The traveller need scarcely be
reminded of Sir Henry Taylor’s drama of ‘Philip van Artevelde’
(1834).

The turbulent spirit of the Ghenters ultimately proved their
ruin. In 1448, when Philippe le Bon of Burgundy, grandson of
Philip the Bold, imposed a heayy tax on salt and grain, they openly
declared war against him; and the best proof of the vastness of their
resources is that they succeeded in carrying on the war for a period
of five years (1448-53). On 23rd July, 1453, the burghers were
defeated at Gavere (p. 79) on the Scheldt, and lost no fewer than
16,000 men. Philip now levied enormous contributions on the city;
the corporation and principal citizens were compelled to march out
at the gate with halters round their necks, and to kiss the dust at
the feet of their conqueror; and the most valuable privileges of the
city were suspended or cancelled.

In 1477 the nuptials of the Archduke Maximilian were celebrated
at Ghent with Mary of Burgundy, heiress of Charles the Bold, who
by her marriage brought the wealthy Netherlands into the power of
Austria (see p. 37). On the same occasion the first general consti-
tution of the Netherlands (Het Groot Privilegie), granted by Mary,
was promulgated here. Here, too, on 24th Feb., 1500, the Emperor
Charles V. was born in the Cour du Prince (see p. 68). During his
reign Ghent was one of the largest and wealthiest cities in Europe,
and consisted of 35,000 houses with a corresponding population.
Charles V. is said to have boasted jestingly to Francis I. of France:
‘Je mettrais Paris dans mon Gant’ (glove). The turbulent spirit of
the citizens having again manifested itself in various ebullitions,
the emperor caused a Citadel (Het Spanjaards Kasteel) to be erected
near the Antwerp Gate in 1540, for the purpose of keeping them in
(1576-68; p. 103) were among

  
 

 

  

 

 

 

check. Counts Egmont and Hoorn (
those imprisoned in this fortress. In 1576, however, it was captured
and destroyed by William, Prince of Orange, and in the same year
the representatives of the united provinces of the Netherlands as-
sembled in the town-hall of Ghent to sign the ‘Pacification of Ghent,
which aimed at securing religious liberty and expelling the Span-
iards. Ghent eagerly espoused the cause of independence in the
Netherlands, but was compelled to open its gates to Duke Alexander
Farnese in 1584, a blow from which its prosperity suffered for many