Ghent (gĕnt), Du. Gent, Fr. Gand, city (1991 pop. 230,246), capital of East Flanders prov., W Belgium, at the confluence of the Scheldt and Leie rivers. Connected with the North Sea by the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal and by a network of other canals, Ghent is a major port and the chief textile and banking center of Belgium. Other products of the city include metals, chemicals, paper, processed food, and motor vehicles. It is also the trade center of a flower- and bulb-producing region. Ghent is an episcopal seat and has a university (founded 1816) as well as numerous museums.

Points of Interest

Ghent is noted for its many beautiful medieval and Renaissance structures, among which are the ruins of the Abbey of St. Bavo (founded 631) and of the imposing castle (begun 867) of the counts of Flanders, the Cathedral of St. Bavon (10th–16th cent.), the cloth weavers' hall (16th cent.), an unfinished 14th-century belfry (c.300 ft/91 m high) with a celebrated carillon, and the churches of St. Nicholas (13th cent.) and St. James (13th–16th cent.). Flemish painting flourished in Ghent under the Burgundian dynasty (15th cent.); Hugo van der Goes Goes, Hugo van der (h`gō vän dĕr g
..... Click the link for more information. worked there most of his life, and the world-famous masterpiece of the Van Eyck Hubert van Eyck, c.1370–1426, and

Jan van Eyck, c.1390–1441.

Their Lives

Very little is known of Hubert, the older of the two brothers.
..... Click the link for more information. brothers, The Adoration of the Lamb, is the altarpiece of the Cathedral of St. Bavo. The cathedral also contains a noted Rubens Rubens, Peter Paul, 1577–1640, foremost Flemish painter of the 17th cent., b. Siegen, Westphalia, where his family had gone into exile because of his father's Calvinist beliefs.
..... Click the link for more information. painting. The poet and dramatist Maurice Maeterlinck Maeterlinck, Maurice (môrēs` mätĕrlăNk`), 1862–1949, Belgian author who wrote in French.
..... Click the link for more information. was born in the city.

History

One of Belgium's oldest cities (first mentioned in the 7th cent.) and the historic capital of Flanders Flanders (flăn`dərz), former county in the Low Countries, extending along the North Sea and W of the Scheldt (Escaut) River.
..... Click the link for more information. , Ghent developed around a fortress built (early 10th cent.) by the first count of Flanders on a small island. The town soon spread to nearby islets, still connected by numerous bridges. By the 13th cent. the city had become a major wool-producing center, rivaled only by Bruges Bruges (brzh, Fr.
..... Click the link for more information. and Ypres Ypres (ē`prə), Du. Ieper, commune (1991 pop. 35,235), West Flanders prov., SW Belgium, near the French border.
..... Click the link for more information. . Medieval Ghent was an industrial city in the modern sense. Its four chief guilds—weavers, fullers, shearers, and dyers—comprised the majority of the working population. Social conflict emerged between the workers and the rich bourgeoisie; strikes and insurrections were frequent.

After the Battle of the Spurs Battle of the Spurs.

1 Fought in 1302 near Courtrai, Belgium, between the rebellious Flemish towns, led by Bruges, and an army sent by Philip IV of France, who had annexed Flanders in 1301. The French were totally defeated.
..... Click the link for more information. (1302), at Kortrijk Kortrijk (kôrt`rīk), Fr. Courtrai, city (1991 pop. 76,141), West Flanders prov., SW Belgium, on the Leie River.
..... Click the link for more information. , the guilds' role in communal government increased rapidly, although not without opposition. A turbulent period of oligarchic rule followed, but the guilds regained power at the beginning (1337) of the Hundred Years War under Jacob van Artevelde Artevelde, Jacob van (yä`kôp vän är`təvĕldə), c.
..... Click the link for more information. and, later, Philip van Artevelde Artevelde, Philip van, 1340–82, Flemish popular leader, captain general of Ghent; son of Jacob van Artevelde . In the struggle between the so-called Goods (the propertied classes supported by the count of Flanders) and the Bads (the workers, led by the
..... Click the link for more information. . The guilds continued to rule even after the French defeated and killed (1382) Philip van Artevelde at the battle of Roosebeke Roosebeke, battle of (rō`zəbā'kə), 1382, in the modern-day village of Westrozebeke, Staden commune, West Flanders prov.
..... Click the link for more information. , and in 1385 the weavers made a favorable peace with Philip the Bold of Burgundy, who had inherited Flanders the previous year. Ghent retained its liberties and privileges until 1453, when, as a result of an unsuccessful rebellion, they were drastically curtailed by Philip the Good of Burgundy.

Rights were restored by the Great Privilege, promulgated (1477) by Mary of Burgundy Mary of Burgundy, 1457–82, wife of Maximilian of Austria (later Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I ), daughter and heiress of Charles the Bold of Burgundy.
..... Click the link for more information. . Mary's marriage (1477) to Archduke Maximilian (later Emperor Maximilian I) was at Ghent; their children were kept virtual prisoners by the burghers after Mary's death (1482). It was only in 1485 that Maximilian was able to overcome the rebellious city and obtain the release of his son Philip (later Philip I of Castile). Philip's son, later Emperor Charles V, was born (1500) and raised in Ghent. In 1539 the city rose against Charles, who hastened to Flanders, suppressed (1540) the rebellion, abrogated Ghent's liberties, and established a garrison to prevent further outbreaks.

Ghent later joined (1576) William the Silent in the revolt of the Netherlands Netherlands (nĕth`ərləndz), Du.
..... Click the link for more information. and Flanders against Spain. The Pacification of Ghent, signed in November of the same year, was an alliance of the provinces of the Netherlands for the purpose of driving the Spanish from the country. For a time Ghent was a city-republic under Calvinist domination, but its capture (1584) by the Spanish under Alessandro Farnese Farnese, Alessandro (älĕs-sän`drō färnā`zā)
..... Click the link for more information. restored it to Hapsburg rule, under which it remained until the French Revolution. The modern industrialization of the city began in the early 19th cent. with the development of its port and the establishment of textile factories. The city was occupied by the Germans in World Wars I and II.

Ghent

Flemish Gent French Gand

City (pop., 2000 est.: 224,180), capital of East Flanders province, northwestern Belgium. One of the chief towns of the medieval county of Flanders, Ghent was one of the largest towns in northern Europe by the 13th century. Its prosperity was based on its manufacture of luxury cloths, which were famous throughout Europe. It began to decline in the late 16th century, when its cloth was unable to compete with England's. Its economy revived with the introduction of cotton-spinning machinery (in particular, a power loom smuggled out of England), and it subsequently became the centre of the Belgian textile industry. Ghent has many fine museums, notably the Museum of Fine Arts, which contains a treasury of paintings by Flemish masters who lived and worked in Ghent during the 16th and 17th centuries. Belgium's second largest port, it is also a horticultural centre.