Ghent (Gent) -  History

Archaeological research has proved that there was human settlement in Gent during prehistoric times. Only later, in the Roman period, the nucleus of a city began to grow near the confluence of the two rivers Scheldt and Leie. (The name 'Gent' is probably derived from the Celtic 'Ganda', which meant confluence). It was around the year 630 that Gent continued to grow when the Abbey of Saint Peter (later Abbey of Saint Bavo) was founded. Later, a second abbey was founded on the so-called 'Blandijnberg'. It was around these two religious centres that a residential nucleus came into existence. This early city was important enough to create a 'portus' with commercial activity. Charlemagne gave it a fleet for protection against the Vikings. In both 851 and 879 the Vikings attacked and plundered the city. Shortly afterwards a first wooden fortification was built for better protection. It stood on the spot where now the impressive 'Castle of the Count' can be visited.

From the 11th until the 12th century Gent rose to become an important trade centre, especially because of the production of cloth based on the import of English wool. In 1178 Count Philip of Alsace granted Gent its first privileges. The same Count also transformed the wooden fortification into the impressive stone Castle of the Counts.
In the 13th century the city was governed by an oligarchy of patricians who, continuously, defended their own (mercantile) interests against the Count and the corporations. During the Hundred Years' War the count of Flanders chose the side of the French king. Gent, however, depended heavily on the import of English wool. Therefore, the people of Gent asked Jacob van Artevelde, a corporation frontman, to try and preserve the trade-relations with England. Through diplomatic actions he succeeded and managed to avoid an open conflict with the French King.  Jacob was killed by his own people in 1345 but his son Fillip van Artevelde continued the opposition against the Count of Flanders Lodewijk van Male.

In the 15th century, Gent was under stricter rule of the Dukes of Burgundy (who had obtained the County of Flanders through marriage policy). The city managed to regain its important privileges under the young Duchess of Burgundy, Mary. Her marriage with Maximilian of Austria moved the Low Countries into the House of Habsburg. The grandchild of Mary and Maximillian was born in Gent in the year 1500 : CHARLES V. Although a native of the city of Gent, CHARLES V punished his hometown severely when the citizens refused to pay more war-taxes.

Under the rule of Philip II of Spain (son of Charles V) Gent suffered like most other cities of Flanders and the low countries under the continuous religious troubles between Protestants and Catholics. Lots of people left the impoverished Flanders and settled in England and Germany. It was only under the Archdukes Albert and Isabella that Gent could flourish once more. Later, the economic situation improved thanks to the construction of the canal between the Gent harbour and the city of Ostende. War, however, was never far away, especially when Louis XIV of France repeatedly tried to conquer Flanders. The Austrian period of the 18th century again brought peace and prosperity. New industries were developed (sugar refineries and cotton mills).

In 1795 the former Austrian Netherlands were annexed to France. As from 1800 the cotton industry started to flourish. A citizen of Gent, Lieven Bauwens, had smuggled the plans for a cotton mill out of England. Gent turned into one of the most important industrial centres of the French Empire.  After the battle of Waterloo and the defeat of Napoleon, the French Netherlands were united with Holland into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. King William I  founded the Gent University in 1817 and had the canal Gent-Terneuzen constructed.  Gent continued to grow as an industrial centre.

The number of inhabitants tripled in the 19th century.  The miserable working and housing conditions of the working-class resulted in the creation of the first Belgian trade union in Gent. Gent also played an important part in the Flemish movement in Belgium. In 1886 the Royal Academy of Language and Literature was founded. In 1930 the Gent University became a Dutch-language university. Now, Gent has a population of about 250.000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Belgian province of East-Flanders.

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