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Mechelen - History |
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The 19th century and the industrial revolution changed the more agrarian outlook of Mechelen, with new industrial plants due to an urgent need for modern communication, such as the first railroad on the Continent between Mechelen and Brussels (1835). The 20th century saw two World Wars scarring the face of Mechelen and moving up-to-date industries towards new industrial zones on the town's periphery. |
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During
the Gallo-Roman period an embryonic form of a settlement developed on the
higher west bank of the river Dijle. Towards the end of the 3rd century,
the Gallo-Roman influence crumbled away, while under the Merovingians and
later the Carolingians, the well-wrought road network, once the pride of
the Roman Empire, vanished from the landscape and the famous trade and
communications languished. Here the local, mostly pagan- and superstitious
tribes, were converted to Christianity by St. Rombold, an Irish Missionary
and preacher.
In
time a second settlement grew on the lower East bank around the Canon's
chapter of St Rumbold.
The most favourable situation of Mechelen triggered rivalry between the
Prince Bishop of Liège, Lord of Mechelen, the Duke of Brabant and
the powerful Berthout family, trying to curtail each other's influence.
The
13th and 14th century becoming the flourishing period of the Brabantine
Cloth trade. The invasion of Brabant and the acquisition of Mechelen in
1357 by Louis de Male, Count of Flanders, will form the prologue to
Burgundian supremacy (1384). The apogee of Mechelen's fame came with
Margaret of Austria. Under her regency, Mechelen became the true political
nucleus of the Netherlands. The exaltation of that euphoria did not last
very long yet, after Margaret's death, Mechelen slipped away into a more
provincial existence. Around the 1560's,
Mechelen, struggling trough the revolt of the Netherlands and the uprising
of the North, became the seat of Archbishopric. It survived the religious
wars and the sacking of the town by the Spanish army under the
command of the Duke of Alva.
In
the 17th century, when the storm had died down, Mechelen thrived again,
renowned for its lace, drapery, tapestry, gilt leather and its skilful
Baroque woodwork. After the treaty of Utrecht signed in 1713, the Spanish
Netherlands were placed under the sovereignty of the Austrian Habsburgs.
During this period a canal was made, thus linking Louvain with Mechelen,
bypassing the Dyle and considerably improving inland navigation.