The Flemish Origins, History, Culture, Influence And Migrations Of The Flemings

320 Pages·2014·76.784 MB·English

by  Dean Amory

TITLE: THE FLEMISH - ORIGINS.HISTORY , CULTURE, AND
MIGRATIONS OF THE FLEMINGS
(Second Edition)
Compiled by: Dean Amory
Dean [email protected]
Publisher: Edgard Adriaens, Belgium
[email protected]
ISBN: 978-1-291-76808-4
© Copyright 2014, Edgard Adriaens, Belgium, -All Rights Reserved.
This book has been compiled based on freely available public domain information
found on the internet. It contains a number of articles containing a reference to the
original author. Whenever you cite such an article, please credit the source or check
with the IP -owner. If you are aware of a copyright ownership that I have not identified
or credited, please contact me at: [email protected]
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THE FLEMISH
ORIGINS,HISTORY, CULTURE, AND
MIGRATIONS OF THE FLEMINGS
{SECOND EDITION)
COMPILED BY DEAN AMORY
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THE FLEMISH
ORIGINS, HISTORY, CULTURE, AND
MIGRATIONS OF THE FLEMINGS
05. THE FLEMINGS
12. SHORT HISTORY OF FLANDERS
34. FLEMISH ART
38. A HISTORY OF IMMIGRATION TO BRITAIN
47. FLEMISH MIGRATIONS
54. THE RISE OF THE FLEMISH FAMILIES IN SCOTLAND
62. MEDIEVAL LINKS BETWEEN FLANDERS AND SCOTLAND
71. SCOTLAND AND THE FLEMISH PEOPLE: Y-DNA PROJECT
72. FLEMISH ORIGIN OF SCOTIISH CLANS : e.g. - THE LINDSAYS
79. FLEMISH ORIGIN OF SCOTIISH CLANS : e.g. - THE RUTHERFURDS
80. THE HOUSE OF EREMBALD
84. DAVID I
92. FLEMISH ORIGIN OF SCOTTISH CLANS : e.g. - THE GRAHAMS
101. THE FLEMISH OF SOUTH WEST WALES
106 THE FLEMISH LANGUAGE
107. INFLUENCE OF FLEMISH ON THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY
211. IN FLANDERS' FIELDS
212. GENETIC DIVERSITY IN FLEMISH Y-DNA
224. FLEMISH AMERICANS - NEW YORK AND ITS ORIGINS
230. FLEMISH-AMERICAN HEROES
245. FLEMISH IMMIGRANTS IN CANADA
269. THE FLEMISH OF MANITOBA
278. FLEMINGS IN GERMANY: DER FLAEMING
288: FLEMINGS IN POLAND
290: THE COLONIZATION OF THE AZORES ISLANDS
291: A DIFFERENT STORY: FRANCE AND FLEMISH - FRANCE
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THE FLEMINGS
The term Flemings or Flemish (Dutch: Vlamingen) is primarily used to refer to the
ethnic group native to Flanders (the northern half of Belgium, historically part of the
Southern Netherlands), which in total numbers about 7 million people in Belgium (the
majority of the 11 million Belgians).
In addition, the term also refers to ethnic Flemings in French Flanders (mainly in the
Departement du Nord of present-day France), in the southern part of the Dutch
province of Zeeland known as Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and in other Flemish communities
around the world.
The Flemings have their language in common with the Dutch, and thus remain
relatively well aware of their northern neighbours with whom they have shared
significant parts of their history.
It is generally believed, based on historical linguistics, that the Flemings mainly
descend from the invading Germanic tribes, rather than from the Gaulish tribes who
lived in the same region before Roman times. At first sight, Flemish culture is defined
by its West Germanic language, Dutch, as opposed to the language and culture of
their mostly Francophone compatriots within Belgium.
CULTURE AND IDENTITY
The native Flemings descend from
Germanic tribes, predominantly Franks,
and mixed Celtic-Germanic "Gaulish"
tribes who had lived in the same region
even before Roman times.
In the first instance, Flemish culture is
defined by its West Germanic
language, Dutch, shared with most
people in the Netherlands, as opposed
to the Francophone compatriots within
Belgium.
The name appeared as early as the 8th
century and is believed to mean
"Lowland," or "Flooded Land."
The origins of Flanders lay in the pagus
Flandrensis, an area composed of
Brugge (Bruges) and its immediate
environs under the administration of
the Frankish empire. At first Flandrensis was an inconspicuous district, but beginning
in the 9th century, a remarkable line of Flemish counts succeeded in erecting a quasi
independent state on the borders between the French and German kingdoms.
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When Charlemagne's empire had been divided up under the Treaty of Verdun (843),
the Scheide River had been made the dividing line between the Western and Eastern
Frankish kingdoms. The rise of Flanders began when the official administrator of the
pagus, Baldwin I Iron-Arm, married the Western Frankish king Charles II the Bald's
daughter in 862 and was appointed count of Flanders. His successors as count,
among them Baldwin II (ruled 879-918), Arnulf I the Great (918-965), Baldwin IV the
Bearded (988-1035), and Baldwin V (1035-67), gradually expanded their domain
southward to the towns of Douai and Arras and eastward across the Scheide River to
Ghent and Antwerp. These counts were vassals of the French king for what they held
west of the Scheide (Crown Flanders, or Kroonvlaanderen, the most important part of
the kingdom), and vassals of the German king for what they held east of it (called
Imperial Flanders, or Rijksvlaanderen, as part of the Holy Roman Empire). The
Flemish counts enjoyed virtual independence from weak French kings during this time.
The first dynasty of counts died out in 1119, but Flanders rose to the height of its
power and wealth under a later line of counts whose principal members were Thierry
of Alsace (1128-68) and his son Philip (1168-91).
The population of Flanders, though politically united under the rule of their counts, was
far from homogeneous. In the southernmost area it was mainly Romance-speaking;
farther north the Frankish settlement had been denser, so that the language was
Germanic; and the coastal areas had been settled with people of Saxon and Frisian
origin. The counts of Flanders effectively united these peoples into one nation. From
the 12th century onward, they substituted for the old feudal structure an orderly
administration and fiscal organization, set up a centralized judicial system (using
Roman law), and began extensive legislation. Thierry and Philip granted charters to a
number of wealthy towns, and the commune movement developed independently
during this same period. This led to the establishment in many towns of municipal
governments that had a considerable measure of independence.
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At the outset the Flemish economy had been agricultural, but about the 12th century
Flemish trade and industry became of real international importance. A crisis in the old
manorial organization of agriculture and an expansion of the money economy
coincided with the rise of towns as centres of trade and industry. The cloth industry,
which was soon working mainly with English wool and producing high-quality textiles,
had its largest centres at Ghent and at Ypres. Until the 13th century Flemish
merchants conducted their trade abroad, especially at the fairs of Champagne, but
later merchants of all nations came to Flanders, and the seaport of Brugge became a
centre of world commerce. Flanders profited from its geographic situation, being an
intermediary between the Mediterranean and the Scandinavian and Baltic countries
and also between England and the Rhineland (especially Cologne).
Alexander Agricola Arnulf I Augier Ghislain de Busbecq Baldwin I Baldwin II Baldwin II
Baldwin IV Charles Guido Bentivoglio Guido Bentivoglio Guy Jacob van Artevelde
Jean de Ockeghem Louis I Louis II Louis II Nicolas Gombert Robert I Robert II Thierry
William Clito
Flanders had a tumultuous history in the 13th and 14th centuries. Philip's successor,
Baldwin VIII (1191-95), lost Artois and other southern domains to France, and
Flanders was fatally weakened by the departure of his successor, Baldwin IX, to
become Latin emperor of Constantinople (as Baldwin I) in 1205. The French king
Philip II Augustus seized the chance to influence the succession in Flanders, and
when the Flemings resisted and formed an anti-French alliance with John of England
and the Holy Roman emperor Otto IV, Philip defeated the coalition at the Battle of
Bouvines (1214).
Flemish resentment of French influence continued, however, and in 1297 the count of
Flanders, Guy of Dampierre (1278-1305), entered an alliance with Edward I of
England against Philip IV of France. Philip was nevertheless able to invade Flanders
in 1300 and take Guy prisoner. In 1302 the Flemings of Brugge massacred the town's
French garrison (an event known as the Matins of Brugge), and Philip sent a powerful
French army into Flanders to take revenge. The Flemings, however, inflicted a
disastrous defeat on this army at the Battle of the Golden Spurs (July 11, 1302). This
victory saved Flanders from French occupation, and France formally recognized
Flemish independence in 1305.
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In the 14th century a new political problem arose: the large towns, especially Ghent,
began trying to establish communal autonomy against the counts in the manner of
independent city-states. In consequence, the counts looked for support to the French
kings. When the Hundred Years' War between England and France broke out, the
count of Flanders, Louis I (1322-46), sided with the French while the weavers of the
Flemish towns, under the leadership of Jacob van Artevelde, sided with England,
knowing as they did that the continued supply of English wool was indispensable to
their prosperity. Artevelde and Louis I died within one year of each other (1345-46),
and the next count of Flanders, Louis II, established peace in the country and pursued
a course midway between France and England. The weavers of Ghent briefly rose
against him under the leadership of Philip van Artevelde but were defeated by a
French royal army at the Battle of Rozebeke (1382).
Louis II died in 1384, leaving Flanders to his daughter Margaret, whose second
husband, Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, thereby succeeded to the county of
Flanders. This event was the starting point for the eventual political unification of the
Low Countries under the dukes of Burgundy (and later under the Habsburgs). The
Flemish economy had begun to decline by the late 15th century, but Flanders
remained a rich country that was important to the revenues of the Burgundian dukes.
In 1477 Mary of Burgundy married Maximilian of Austria (later Emperor Maximilian I),
thus bringing Flanders under the Habsburgs. Protestantism won many adherents in
Flanders during the Reformation, but the military occupation of the country by the
Spaniards reversed this development. Flanders remained with the other southern
provinces of the Netherlands under Spanish rule in the 17th century and then (from
1714) under Austrian rule until it disappeared as a political entity during the French
Revolutionary Wars. The title count of Flanders remains in use, however, for princes
of the Belgian royal family.
For students, the intellectual norm in Flanders means learning two, three or even more
foreign languages to a higher standard than required in most countries. Generally,
French and English are obligatory in most secondary school programs; in addition,
German and/or another language from a supplemental list may be required or strongly
encouraged. Cosmopolitanism has long been a historical constant in Flanders' very
open economy, while the mainly Anglo-Saxon orientation is a rather recent
phenomenon. Until the 1960s --as long enforced by the Belgian state-- Flanders was
heavily dominated by French culture, which now only is an honorable second.
Proficiency in English has greatly increased during the last half century, while
proficiency in French and German has decreased somewhat. Proficiency in other
languages has widened and improved, while some companies complain about a
seemingly eternal lack of sufficient German-speakers.
RELATED ETHNO-LINGUISTIC GROUPS
The Flemish once formed a single ethnic group with what are currently the Dutch.
When the split occurred is a matter of debate; in fact, there are people who dispute
whether the Flemish form a distinct ethnic group at all.
From the 13th to the 15th centuries, Prussia invited several waves of Flemings along
with Netherlands Dutch and Frisians to settle throughout the country (mainly along the
Baltic Sea coast). In the 12th century, Flaming, a region in Germany southwest of
Berlin in the historic state of Brandenburg was subsequently named for them as they
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