IS427:AY1314T1 Europe (G1) - Cities: Ghent

Home	Course Information	Participants	Cities	Organizations	Learnings

Ghent, Belgium	Lille, France	Munich, Germany

Political History

Century	Events
7th	St. Amandeus founded 2 abbeys at River Lys and Scheldt A city named Ganda (as Ghent was once known, meaning 'confluence' in Celtic) arose at the confluence of the two rivers around the two abbeys
11th	As part of the French Empire, Ghent flourished as one of the most powerful cities in Europe English wool and French grain were imported via the harbours at Lys and Scheldt, allowing Ghent to become the pillar of a thriving textile and grain business
12th - 13th	English wool and French grain were imported via the harbours at Lys and Scheldt. They became the pillars of what turned out to be a very thriving textile and grain business in medieval Ghent. Throughout the Middle Ages Ghent had a population of about 65,000 making it larger than London, Cologne or Antwerp. Moreover Ghent was, after Paris, the biggest and wealthiest city north of the Alps.
14th	During the Hundred Years’ War (a series of conflicts from 1337-1453) between England and France, Edward III forbade all exports of English wool to Flanders and to Ghent as it was considered part of the French crown. While the count of Flanders chose to side with the French king, Gent depended heavily on the import of English wool and could not afford to alienate England. In 1338, Jacob van Artevelde, a cloth merchant who had amassed a fortune in the weaving industry, led Ghent to set up an alliance with Bruges and Ypres and declare their neutrality. This allowed the vital wool trade with England to be safeguarded. The Count of Flanders tried to overthrow van Artevelde’s power by force of arms but was defeated and compelled at Bruges to sign a treaty (June 21, 1338) sanctioning the federation of Ghent, Bruges, and Ypres. This was followed during the year 1339–40 by more treaties that gradually brought many of the towns and provinces of the Netherlands into the federation. The policy of neutrality, however, proved impracticable, and the Flemish towns, under Van Artevelde, openly took the side of the English. On January 26, 1340, the federation proclaimed Edward III as the rightful sovereign of France. Under Van Arteveld’s administration, trade flourished and Ghent rose rapidly in wealth and importance.
15th	Ghent was passed to the Hapsburg empire as part of a marriage agreement In the events of the Revolt of Ghent (1449 – 53), Ghent rebelled and was defeated by the Duke of Burgundy, resulting in the diminishing of the city council’s power
16th	Charles the V On February 24th of the year 1500, Charles the V was born at Prinsenhof and later baptized in the St. Baaf's Cathedral. As part of the Spanish empire, Ghent was subject to his rule as the Holy Roman Emperor and Spanish King, though his sister, Mary, governed the region as his regent. In 1536, Charles V went to war with the French King Francois I for control of northern Italy (Italian War of 1536-1538). In 1937, Charles asked Mary to raise a large amount of money and conscripts from the Dutch provinces, including Ghent.   The Revolt of Ghent (1539-40) was an uprising by the citizens of Ghent in 1539 against Charles V. The city refused to pay the high taxes being imposed, feeling that these taxes were only being used to fight wars abroad. In 1940, Charles V returned to Ghent with an army of 10,000 soldiers to quell the rebellion and was met with no resistance. On February 24th, his 40th birthday, Charles ordered the most influential and rebellious citizens to walk in procession to the Prinsenhof, bare foot, dressed only in a simple white shirt, with a black and white hangman noose around their neck. They were then forced to publicly ask him for forgiveness. These events gave the people of Ghent the nickname of Stroppendragers (noose wearers). Charles imposed a heavy fine on the city and decreed a new constitution, the Caroline concession that stripped Ghent of all its medieval legal and political freedoms and weapons. He also commissioned the demolition of most of the old abbey of Saint Bavo’s and the building of a new fortress in its place, in which numerous Spanish soldiers would be stationed to make sure that the citizens of Ghent wouldn’t be in a position to rebel anymore.
17th	This was a period of economic decline, Wars took its toll on Ghent and diminished its wealth, power and importance.
18th	As part of the Austrian Netherlands, Ghent’s economy improved after deeper and wider canals were dug to facilitate bigger ships coming into Ghent’s harbours. Textile industry began to flourish again
19th	During the War of the Austrian Succession, Ghent was captured and later returned to Austria by French forces After the Battle of Waterloo, Ghent became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands Belgium separated from the Netherlands and became an independent state after the 1830 Belgian Revolution

Current Political Situation

Belgium is one of the few post-industrialised countries where more than 50% of the dependent labour force belongs to a trade union The main responsibility for welfare payments and unemployment benefits is handled by trade/labour unions rather than government agencies This is a system first implemented in Ghent and is known as the Ghent system

Socialist Elio di Rupo was appointed to lead a six-party coalition in December 2011, finally giving Belgium a government after nearly a record year-and-a-half (451 days) of no governance