Bibliography
The best work to be consulted on the history of Belgium is that by H. Pirenne, professor in the University of Ghent, entitled Histoire de Belgique, Vols. I-IV, Brussels, 1900-1911. The work is not yet complete: the fourth volume carries us down to 1648. Those wishing to study more in detail the various problems of Belgian history will find the enumeration of original sources and modern books in H. Pirenne, Bibliographie de l’histoire de Belgiques, 2d ed., Brussels, 1902. For a list of books published since 1902 see the Belgian periodical Archives belges, where the important books and articles on Belgian history are reviewed and discussed.
Works written in English are the following: Demetrius C. Boulger, A History of Belgium, 2 vols., London, 1902-9; J. de C. MacDonnell, Belgium, Her Kings, Kingdom and People, London, 1914; R. C. K. Ensor, Belgium, New York and London [1915]. The work by Boulger is mainly based on the old work of Théodore Juste, Histoire de Belgique (new edition in 3 vols., Brussels, 1895), which is not up to date and cannot be compared with Pirenne’s Histoire. The works by MacDonnell and Ensor deal especially with the contemporary history of Belgium, the former treating Belgian politics from the Catholic point of view, the latter being frequently ill informed and unjust toward the Catholic party. Both have their merits in dealing with the history of Belgium in the nineteenth century. Modern Belgium has also been studied by H. Charriaut, la Belgique moderne, Paris, 1910. This book offers much information, but contains many mis-statements. For social problems, see B. Seebohm Rowntree, Land and Labour: Lessons from Belgium, London, 1910. In French there exists an excellent survey of the most important periods of Belgian history, written by G. Kurth, la nationalité belge, Brussels, 1913.
A very readable book, well written and well illustrated, based on accurate historical information, and dealing with the history of Flanders in the largest sense of the word, is the work of Edward Neville Vose, The Spell of Flanders, Boston, Page Co., 1915. The author, describing the visit he made to various Flemish towns, gives a good account of the most striking facts of their history.
Footnotes
1 See G. Kurth, Notre nom national.
2 H. Colenbrander, De Belgische Omwenteling.
3 I am much indebted for the drawing of the maps in the book to Mr. Isidore Versluys, librarian of the Historical Seminary in the University of Louvain.
4 A wide expanse of sandy soil extends from east to west almost uninterruptedly across Belgium; the eastern section of this, covering the northeastern portions of the provinces of Antwerp and Limburg, is called the Campine. Cf. R. C. K. Ensor, Belgium, p. 24.
5 The term “Walloon” comes from Wala, “foreigner,” the name that was given by the Teutonic invaders to the Gallo-Romans dwelling behind the Sylva Carbonaria. The name Wala is to be connected with the terms “Welsh,” “Wales,” apparently of the same origin and given to the Britons and their country by the Anglo-Saxon invaders.
6 R. C. K. Ensor, Belgium, pp. 37-38.
7 By Walloon-Flanders is to be understood the southern part of the county, including the cities of Lille, Douai, and Béthune.
8 During the reign of Count Robert (1093), William the Conqueror, then King of England, adopted a hostile attitude toward Flanders. As a result Robert gave his daughter in marriage to the King of Denmark and, in agreement with him, planned an invasion of England. The hostile attitude of the English kings of the Norman dynasty turned the counts of Flanders to seek again the protection of France.
9 The outlet to the sea for the city of Bruges was by means of the river Zwyn.
10 Inferno, XV, 4-6.
11 The priests and monks, as subject to the canon or ecclesiastical law, were not citizens. They were judged by their special tribunals, not by the échevinage.
12 E.g., Rixensart, Baesrode, Middelkerke.
13 Count Baldwin became Emperor of Constantinople and was killed by the Bulgarians after the battle of Adrianople (1205).
14 According to the unpublished correspondence of Alexander Farnese which I have studied in the state archives of Naples and Parma. See the Introduction to the book by A. Cauchie and L. Van der Essen, Inventaire des archives farnésiennes de Naples (published by the Royal Commission of History), Brussels, 1910. See also L. Van der Essen, Les Archives farnésiennes de Parme au point de vue de l’histoire des Pays-Bas catholiques Brussels, 1913 (Royal Commission of History).
15 According to the same sources.
16 Attention has been called to the fact that the present King and Queen of the Belgians bear the same names: Albert and Elisabeth (Isabella).
17 This information is given by Ensor, Belgium, pp. 103-4. At about the same time, the Nuncio Bentivoglio, in his famous Della Guerra di Fiandra, calls Belgium the arena militare of Europe.
18 Mentioned by G. Kurth, Manuel d’histoire de Belgique, 2d ed.
19 See R. Dollot, Les Origines de la neutralité de la Belgique et le système de la Barrière (1609-1830), Paris, 1902.
20 The history of the establishment of Belgian independence is well described by Ensor, Belgium, pp. 123 ff., whom we largely follow in the narration of the revolution.
21 As is well known, the “Brabançonne” became the national anthem.
22 See Em. Waxweiler, La Belgique neutre et loyale, pp. 45 ff., Paris, Lausanne, 1915; Ch. de Visscher, “The Neutrality of Belgium,” Political Quarterly (1915), pp. 17-40.
23 Article 10 of the Hague Convention, October 18, 1907.
24 Article 5 of the Hague Convention.
25 Despagnée and De Boeck, Descamps, Hagerup, and Blüntschli.
26 “At the expiration of this term [one year after the War of 1870] the independence and the neutrality of Belgium will continue to be based as before upon Article I of the quintuple Treaty of April 19, 1839.”