Special Sub-Topic: Belgium Before 1500 A.D. Click Here To Play: Belgium Before 1500 A.D.

The first written mention of the Belgian people is in the book "De Bello Gallico" ("On the Gallic War"). The author explains at the very beginning of his book that "Horum fortissimi sunt Belgae" which means: "the Belgians are the bravest of all the Gauls". Who was this author?

Gaius Julius Caesar. Titus Livius (Livy), Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust) and Publius Cornelius Tacitus (Tacitus) are real Roman historians. Gaius Julius Caesar (100 B.C. - 44 B.C., known to us as Caesar) is a Roman general who did write "De Bello Gallico" in order to make some propaganda - not so much as to reveal the real history. Livy (59 B.C. - 17 A.D.) wrote "Ab Urbe Condita" ("From the Founding of the City"), a history of Rome starting in 753 B.C. Sallust (86 B.C. - 35 B.C.) wrote "Historiae" ("Stories"), "De Conjuratione Catilinae" ("On the Conspiracy of Catilina") and "Bellum Jugurthinum" ("The War Against Jugurtha"). Tacitus (55 A.D. - 116 A.D.) described in his major work "Annales" ("Annals") the history starting of in 14 A.D.

One of the "brave Belgians" that fought against the Roman legions, was Ambiorix. This chieftain of a Belgian tribe persuaded 15 Roman cohortes (about 8,000 soldiers) to leave their heavily guarded garrison camp ... and then his tribe attacked and killed most of them. What tribe did Ambiorix command?

The Eburones. The Eburones lived in the region that corresponds to the 21st century Belgian provinces of Antwerp and Limburg. The Manapii inhabited the coastal area. The Nervii lived in the region to the southeast of what we now call Brussels (the city didn't exist at that time). The Atuatuci inhabited the Ardennes.

The Roman houses in Belgium were equipped with some kind of central heating during the second century A.D.

t. The exact year of the invention is not certain. But soon after Gaul was conquered, the Roman villas in Gaul were equipped with a system of central heating called the "hypocaust". This system consisted in a fireplace where wood was burned, and a series of ceramic pipes through the floor (and sometimes the walls) of the most important rooms.

From 843 A.D till about 1011 A.D., the frontier between the feudal vassal territories owing allegiance to the nascent French kingdom and the German kingdom (later the Empire) respectively was formed partly by a Belgian river. Which river divided these vassal states?

Scheldt. The Scheldt formed the frontier between the county of Flanders (subject to the French king) and the duchy of Brabant (vassal of the German emperor). However, the count of Flanders tried to expand his territory eastwards and did make some progress starting in 1011 A.D. - so the frontier did shift. The Meuse is now the eastern border between Belgium and the Netherlands. During World War II, Belgian forces hoped to maintain position near the Meuse - but in vain. The Yser was flooded in 1914 A.D. in order to stop the advance of the German troops. It formed the frontline of the western front in Belgium during World War I. The Semois has had no military use whatsoever. The city of Bouillon situated on the Semois was an independetn territory between 1794 A.D. and 1799 A.D.

Arnulf of Carinthia defeated a dreaded people near Leuven in 891 A.D. Who were they?

The Vikings. The Moors (Islamic peoples inhabiting North Africa and the Iberian peninsula) did never reach Belgium. They were defeated by Charles Martel near Poitiers in 732 A.D. The Huns (several tribes that originated in Asia) sacked Europe in the 4th and 5th century A.D. Pope Leo I negotiated with their king Attila in 452 A.D. near Mantua (northern Italy). The Ottoman kingdom was created in Turkey in 1299 A.D. It later became a powerful empire but disappeared in 1922, after a long period of decline. The Ottoman people conquered most of the Balkan peninsula and threatened Vienna till 1683 A.D.

Bishop Balderik II of Liège, count Lambrecht of Leuven and count Robert of Namur fought a battle in 1013 near a village that is very well known to lovers of Belgian beer. What village gave its name to this battle?

Hoegaarden. All these villages and cities have given their name to a Belgian beer: Hoegaarden white beer, Affligem ale, Westmalle trappist ale and Brugge tripel (a blond Belgian ale). Only Hoegaarden is situated roughly between Leuven and Liège. Affligem is to the west of Brussels and Leuven, Westmalle is to the north of Leuven and Bruges is near the North Sea.

The First Crusade resulted in the capture of Jerusalem. The new "king" of Jerusalem was a Belgian nobleman. I have added quotation marks, because he didn't want to bear the title king: he chose the title "Protector of the Holy Sepulchre". Who was this Belgian nobleman?

Geoffrey of Bouillon. Odon de Lagery (1035 - 1099) is better known as Pope Urban II, who propagated the Crusades in 1095. Peter of Amiens (1050-1115) assembled some peasants and started an unofficial crusade. Because of the lack of military experience, this group of people was decimated in Hungary. Peter of Amiens escaped from the battlefield and joined the official First Crusade. Louis IX Capet, king of France (1214-1276) participated in the Seventh Crusade and died on route in the Eighth Crusade. Geoffrey of Bouillon (1061-1100) was one of the leaders of the First Crusade. He was chosen to govern Jerusalem because of his modesty.

The Flemish authorities and most of the major Flemish employers celebrate July 11th, in rememberance of the Battle of the Golden Spurs. In this battle, near Kortrijk, the army of the French king (about 6,500 soldiers, including cavalry and archery) fought a group of about 9,000 Flemish rebel infanteryman. Because the battlefield was quite marshy, the French heavy cavalry was hampered in its movements. Hence the Flemish infantryman were able to kill most of the French cavalry, and the rest of the French army fled. In what year did the Battle of the Golden Spurs take place?

1302. The Battle of the Golden Spurs took place on July 11th, 1302. The other years are the dates of foundation fo different Norbertine abbeys: Floreffe 1122, Grimbergen 1128 and Tongerlo 1133. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org) the Battle of the Golden Spurs would be one of the main reasons that the Flemish people nowadays speek Dutch. I don't agree with this point of view: only a few years after the Battle of the Golden Spurs, the county of Flanders was submitted to the French king.

One of the main squares in Ghent is dominated by the statue of the dean of the guild of cloth weavers (1290-1345), who opposed the French king and tried to start a revolt, with the aid of the English king Edward III. Who was this dean?

Jacob van Artevelde. Hendrik van Veldeke died about 1190 A.D. He is considered the first Flemish poet, who wrote (among other things) a hagiography on Saint Servaes and a Dutch version of the Aeneid. Jacob van Maerlant (1235-1300) was a Flemish historian. His most famous work is the "Spieghel Historiael" ("Historical Mirror") that covers history of Belgium since the creation of the world. Philip the Bold (1342-1404) became Duke of Burgundy in 1364. He started the centralisation movement of Belgium. Jacob van Artevelde (1290-1345) did not only ally with Edward III - he even persuaded the Flemish cities to crown Edward III as king of France. The ceremony was held in Ghent on January 26th, 1340.

Two brothers were born in the Belgian city of Maaseik. The younger brother was an innovative portrait-painter, but experimented with some new techniques in landscape painting also. The eldest brother started the painting of "The Worship of the Lamb", that was completed by the younger brother. Who was this younger brother, who worked mainly in Ghent and Bruges?

Jan van Eyck. Hans Memlinc was born in the German town of Seligenstadt in 1433. He lived and worked in Bruges, where a museum is wholly dedicated to his works. His masterpieces include the "Saint Ursula's Shrine". Van der Goes (1440-1482) lived in Ghent. His masterpiece is the "Portinari Triptych", commissioned by the Bruges representative of the De Medici family. Rogier van der Weyden, also known as Roger de la Pasture, was born in 1400. He died in 1464. He worked in Brussels. One of his famous masterpieces is a "Last Judgment" that one can visit in the French city of Beaune. Jan van Eyck (1390-1441) is the younger brother of Hubert (1370 - 1426). Jan is known not only for the completion of the "Worship of the Lamb" (to visit in Ghent), but also for his portraits including the "Arnolfini Portrait".