New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-10
Il MEDIKVAL CITY.
Glimpses of Bruges and Other
Flemish To1cns.

BRUGEs AND WEST FLANDERs Painted by b,
Amedee Forester. Described by c.. w
Omond. go pp 49, The Macmillan Company
The quaint medieval towns which are shown
to us In the text and pictures Of this volume
lie seepily to-day the plains Of Flanders.
The trade which once made them rich has gone
elsewhere. and their ancient houses wear for
lorn and faded aspect. "Bruges la Morte' they
call the city which Baldwin OF the Iron Arm
founded in the ninth century. There is no
trace left Of the palace wherein he held court
with Judith, the Frankish princess with whom
he made runaway match; trees are growing
on the site OF the church he dedicated to St
JONATHAN. That is the church in which, nearly
three centuries after the reign Of this Bras-de-
Fer. Charles the Good. Count Of Flanders. was
murdered before the altar by member OF the
powerful ErembaId family. certain Burchard.
whom he had punished for rapine. The much
loved ruler was buried before the Lady Altar,
on the spot where Burchard's sword had struck
him down-a spot where stands statue
Of Van Eyck The triumph of the Erembalds
was short. says our author.
avenged by his friesds, who came to Bruges at
place at the Rue de rAne Aveugle where many
were slain. The Erembalds were driven into the
eS' 9hng
in the tower of the Church OF St JONATHAN, where,
stand Eh H. sy
aq t fsS ana Of the
other ringleaders had ned soms days before. and
f9s
dungeon: We're taken to the top OF the charc s
OF the Bourg.
The old city is full OF historical associations.
Through its streets rode Joanna, Queen of
Philip the Fair of France. frowning she
went. for. looking the robes and jewels of
the burghers' wives who lined the balconies,
she was moved by envy and jealousy. ~
thought that alone Queen" she said to
one who rode beside her, but here IN this place
I have six hundred rivals" Here. not long
after, the revolving burghers surprised and
killed two thousand Frenchmen brought by
Philips governor 10 hold the town; and hither.
after the decisive defeat OF Philips army at
Courtrai, the Flemings brought the Thousands OF
golden spurs torn from the heels of the dead
invaders.
Another King walked the streets Of Bruges
some hundreds Of years later and lived as
cheaply as might be in large house which
still survives. A tall and stately was he
with brilliant black eyes and a smile which
oftener cynical than good natured-Charles
II of England, TO wit. He and his ragged court
IN dire straits for the two years Of
had not enough to eat Charles himself was
often In debt for dinner. They had no wood
for q fire In cold weather-Hyde declared he
had neither shoes nor shirt. Lord Norwich had
to move about to get lodgings on credit,
and there rumor that the King could
not leave Bruges until he paid the debt which
forbade him to remove his goods. All the same,
Charles amused himself adopting many OF the
usages Of Flanders and being the whole.
rather popular with the burghers 1t Is said
that he was playing tennis somewhere in the
city when Sir Stephen Fox burst IN upon him.
CRYING. 1.-THE devil is deadP The news had
Just come that Cromwell had departed this
life. The pleasantest thing we have to note
about Charles and Bruges is that when his
good days he sent to its citizens -cour-
teous letter of thanks for the way in which
they had received him.
In Bruges the author reminds US, the past
is ever present, the town being no larger than it
six hundred years ago. and its ancient build
ings quite obscuring what modern ones have
risen among them. It was the gradual destruc-
ton by scheldt mud Of her channel Of conmuni-
cation with the sea, four hundred years ago. that
left her poverty stricken and helpless. The
ships bearing rich merchandise could reach her
no more, and until last year there lively
prospect of a new prosperity. Last May
English steamer moored IN a new port at
Bruges. and the ancient Belfry sounded its
bells in 10Y. It celebrated the completion Of
the great canal which now connects the city
with a harbor between Blankenberghe and
Heyst-a work ordered by the Belgian Para-
ment. 1t may be. therefore. that the trade Of
medieval days may return to the city and
energy pervade its outlying regions. Concern
ing those regions, by the way, the author has
much to say that is entertaining. Picturesque
glimpses Of the Spanish occupation stories of
the ferocious struggles OF the Flemish COM
munes reminders Of the Inquisition pervade
these pages. And in vivid contrast come details
of the gayety which wakens every summer the
whole coast Of Flanders. About twenty water
ing places have risen into existence in the
last fifteen years, and the worthless dunes of
eight hundred years ago have become highly
valuable properties
The work of turning the sand into gold, for that
is what the development of the Flemish coast
comes to- has been carried out partly by the
b aho d ad o gpon the margin Of the sea was
held by the counts of Flanders, who treated the
natural rampant against the waves, and granted
large tracts OF the fiat ground which lay behind T
luton these lands were sold as Church property at
in many cases, to fall out of cultivation by the
A large sum. amounting to several millions OF
francs. is voted year for the protection OF
the shores Of Flanders against the encroachments
ban ia9 Of briokWork and masonry which will
in few years extend in unbroken line along
grandios. VI "a which is actually being carried
the coast Of Flanders by a great boulevard. forty
yards wide. with road for carriages and pedes,
electric railway all side by side. Large portions
this his oae Roya have already been
pieted between Biankenberge and Qstend, and and
ende II will be continued 10 Newport Bains. cross