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Flanders
in the Middle Ages
During most of the last 1,000 years, the people of
what is now Nord/ Pas-de-Calais would not have thought of
themselves as French.
Back in the 9th century, strong local lords with castles
and knights on horseback were their only protection from
Norman raids, the only saviours of Christianity.
While Norman knights ruled England from
1066, the Count of
Flanders had castles in Lille,
Douai and several other towns - controlling an
area including not only the low-lying borders of northern
France, but also what is now Belgium and the Netherlands.
The Count was supposed to owe loyalty to the king of France,
but the king was weak and safely distant.
Like lords in other outlying areas such as Brittany in
the west and Burgundy in the east, the Count ruled Flanders
up in the north pretty much as a separate
kingdom.
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Draining
the "Low Countries"
Centuries ago, much of their realm was coastal
marshlands and tidal creeks - slowly reclaimed from the sea
by the efforts of monks. From the 7th century, monasteries
built dykes and drainage ditches enclosing land for grazing
sheep and cattle. The growth of a line sand-dunes along the
present-day coastline from Calais created a fairly sheltered
salt-water lagoon which was easier to reclaim. In the 12th
century, the Count of Flanders continued the work,
organising societies of landowners - "wateringues" - to
drain the marshes near St. Omer.
Later in the 15th century engineers fom the northern part
of Flanders called 'Holland' would develop techniques of
using windmill-driven pumps to create 'polders' to drain the
rest of the area and use it for farming.
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Prosperity
in the medieval wool trade
Flanders prospered as craftsmen in its towns built up
a Europe-wide trade and reputation in fine woollen
and linen cloth. Flax was grown around
Ypres, the centre for
weaving it into linen; the waters of the river Lys
were suitable for retting flax.
Draining coastal marshes created additional sheep
pastures, but increasing amounts of fine long fibred wool
had to be imported from England. The wool trade provided
over half the English king's tax revenues, collected at
ports like Sandwich
before it was shipped to
Antwerp,
Bruges or
St-Omer. Inland cloth
towns like Lille and
Arras were supplied by
barges sailing up river.
Flanders cloth was sold in international fairs at
Bruges,
Paris
and Cologne. The region
thrived, and towns like Arras became cultural and economic
centres for the Christian world - demanding more
independence from the lords and their taxes.
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The Count's castle at Douai
The Count 's main palace was in Lille, but in the 11th-12th
centuries he built stone castles at key points around his
realms to secure his power in troubled times. Douai castle's
keep had 4m thick walls, surrounded by ramparts.
Normans built castles around England for the same reasons.
Stone keeps still survive in Kent at Dover, Canterbury and
Rochester.
Douai castle was one of those deliberately demolished in the
16th century by Philippe-Auguste to assert the French king's
authority over provincial lords.
MAP: Feudal lords in the Nord/Pas de Calais region
c.1369
Medieval French kings had
difficulty exerting much influence over the Count of
Flanders; whereas the Count of Hainaut came under the power
of the Empire, and the Cambrai area was dominated by the
Church.
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French
kings fight for control over
Flanders
Kings of France tried to sieze direct control
over these riches on their borders.
From their stronghold in Montreiul,
they forced Flanders to give up lands in the Artois region,
and then beat an Anglo-Flemish alliance at
Bouvines (near Lille) in
1214 - a battle which symbolises the French claim to
Nord-Pas de Calais.
Fighting continued, with bloody confrontations like the
Battle of Cassel (1228
- picture R) bringing
more of Flanders under French control - but in the process
ruining the prosperity of the Artois (around Arras) and
driving the trade to the north of the area (around Lille and
what is now Belgium and Holland).
Bitter anti-French feelings lasted for centuries, and
made sure that both Flanders and Hainault allied with
England through much of the Hundred
Years' War.
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1228 Battle of Cassel: the Flemish are slaughtered after
failed attacks on the camps of the French king and his
allies.
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The luxury of the Burgundian court in Flanders: a life of
hunting, jousting, luxury clothes, banquets, music, art and
festivities.
