# 1865 in Belgium

Events in the year 1865 in Belgium.

## Incumbents

    Monarch: Leopold I (until 10 December); Leopold II (from in 17 December)
    Head of government: Charles Rogier

## Events
### March

* 16 March – Belgian state guarantees private savings.$^{:679}$

### April

* 4 April – Opposition parties accuse government of breaching Belgian neutrality by involving the country in the Second French intervention in Mexico.$^{:678}$

### May

* 1 May – Henricus Franciscus Bracq consecrated as bishop of Ghent
* 22 May — Commercial treaty with the German Customs Union signed in Berlin.$^{:177–197}$
* 26 May – 1863–75 cholera pandemic caused 45,000 fatalities in Belgium in 1865.$^{:678}$

### July

* 16 July – Belgian Legion wins Battle of la Loma in Mexico.$^{:679}$

### August

* 21 August — Law on tariffs and customs reform published.$^{:i-v}$

### September

* 23 September – Brussels city council approves plans for the covering of the Senne.$^{:680}$

### October

* 2 October – Sint-Lievenscollege founded in Ghent

### November

* 2 November – Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation between China and Belgium, negotiated by Auguste t'Kint, signed in Beijing.
* 14 November – Jules Bara succeeds Victor Tesch as Minister of Justice.$^{:680}$

### December

* 10 December – Death of King Leopold I of Belgium.
* 16 December – Leopold I of Belgium buried in Laken, despite his wish to be buried in Windsor;$^{:681}$ Auguste t'Kint arrives in Yokohama as the first Belgian diplomat in Japan.
* 17 December – Leopold II of Belgium sworn in as King.
* 23 December — Convention between France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland forming the Latin Monetary Union signed in Paris.$^{:240-308}$

## Publications
### Periodicals

* Almanach royal officiel (Brussels, H. Tarlier and Rozez)
* Analectes pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique de la Belgique, vol. 2, edited by P. F. X. de Ram.
* Annales de la Société d'émulation pour l'étude de l'histoire et des antiquités de la Flandre, 2nd series, vol. 13 (Bruges, Vandecasteele-Werbrouck)
* Annuaire de l'Université catholique de Louvain, vol. 29 (Leuven, Vanlinthout)
* Collection de précis historiques, vol. 14, edited by Edouard Terwecoren S.J.
* La Liberté begins publication (March).$^{:679}$
* Revue Générale begins publication (January).$^{:678}$
* Rond den Heerd begins publication (December).$^{:680}$

### Scholarship

* Émile de Borchgrave, Histoire des colonies belges, qui s'établirent en Allemagne pendant le XIIe et le XIIIe siècle (Brussels)
* Joseph Jean De Smet (ed.), Recueil des chroniques de Flandre, vol. 4 (Brussels, Commission royale d'Histoire)
* Joseph Jean De Smet, Mémoire historique sur la guerre de Maximilien, roi des Romains, contre les villes de Flandre (1482-1488) (Brussels, Hayez for Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium) – a study of the Flemish revolts against Maximilian of Austria.
* Paul Henrard, Histoire de l'artillerie en Belgique depuis son origine jusqu'au règne d'Albert et d'Isabelle (Brussels, C. Muquardt)
* Alphonse O'Kelly de Galway, Dictionnaire des cris d'armes et devises des personnages célèbres et des familles nobles et autres de la Belgique ancienne et moderne (Brussels, A. Schnée)

### Literature

* Hendrik Conscience, De Burgemeester van Luik

## Art and architecture
### Buildings

* Arlon Synagogue completed.

### Paintings

* Henri Leys, Lucie Leys

## Science

* Louis Melsens receives Montyon Prize for his work on the use of potassium iodide to treat mercury poisoning and lead poisoning.$^{:678}$

## Balance of trade

In 1865 imports to Belgium were valued at 1.364 million francs, with exports of 1.204 million francs.

## Births

* Date uncertain – Joseph Middeleer, painter (died 1939)
* 19 January – Égide Rombaux, sculptor (died 1942)
* 27 January – Ferdinand Feyerick, fencer (died 1920)
* 30 January – Marie de Bièvre, painter (died 1909)
* 25 February – Flavie Van den Hende, cellist (died 1925)
* 2 March – Théo Ysaÿe, composer (died 1918)
* 7 March – Jean Massart, botanist (died 1925)
* 2 April – Louise Danse, painter (died 1948)
* 4 April – Clément Van Bogaert, engineer (died 1937)
* 1 May – Frans Mortelmans, painter (died 1936)
* 4 May – Servais Le Roy, entertainer (died 1953)
* 9 May – August de Boeck, composer (died 1937)
* 21 May – Evert Larock, painter (died 1901)
* 6 June – Antoon Jozef Witteryck, publisher (died 1934)
* 15 June – Paul Gilson, composer (died 1942)
* 14 July – Marguerite Verboeckhoven, painter (died 1949)
* 11 December – Édouard Poncelet, archivist (died 1947)

## Deaths

* 3 January – Joseph Lies, painter (born 1821)
* 5 January – Pierre Kersten, publisher (born 1789)
* 14 January – Marie-Anne Libert, botanist (born 1782)
* 19 March – Joseph Lebeau, politician (born 1794)
* 26 April – Charles-Joseph Sax musical instrument maker (born 1790)
* 14 May – Pierre François Xavier de Ram, historian (born 1804)
* 18 June – Antoine Wiertz, painter (born 1806)
* 12 July – Constant de Kerchove de Denterghem, politician (born 1790)
* 23 July – Frans Alfons Janssens, priest-scientist (died 1924)