Page 46 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

44  introducing bel gium and l uxembourg

The Habsburg Dynasty forced François I of France
Mary of Burgundy had two to surrender his claim to
children before she died, leaving Flanders. This was the result
Maximilian and the Habsburg of a series of battles – mainly
dynasty the rulers of Burgundy. for the control of Italy –
Maximilian began to raise taxes including that of Pavia in
and tried to reduce privileges that which François I was
had been granted by Mary to captured. However, Charles’s
secure the support of the cities. Maximillian of Austria with Mary and empire was costly to run,
By 1488, Flanders was in revolt. their family, painted in 1516 and in 1539, Ghent rose up
Bruges made the critical error of against heavy taxation and
hold ing Maximilian prisoner in a house in conscription. Charles brutally crushed this
the main square. Maximilian exacted his rebellion in his native city, forcing its leaders
revenge on the city by trans ferring power to parade before him in only shirts, with a
to Ghent. At this time, Antwerp also began noose around their necks. Stroppendragers
to rise as a leading commercial centre. In (noose-bearers) is still a nickname for the
1494, Maximilian passed his rule of the Low people of Ghent. Meanwhile, the
Countries to his son, Philip the Handsome. Reformation, begun by Martin Luther in
Philip married Joanna of Castile two years Germany, had started to arouse serious
later, and their first son, Charles, was born religious conflict. Its ideas took rapid hold
in Ghent in 1500. While his parents ruled in in the Low Countries and by the 1520s,
Spain, Charles was raised by his aunt, Protestant converts in the region were being
Empress Margaret of Austria, who acted as
Regent of the Low Countries and moved
the capital to Mechelen.
Spanish Rule
In 1516, Charles inherited the Spanish throne
and in 1519, he became the Holy Roman
Emperor as Charles V. He was now master
of a major empire that spanned much of
Europe, and also included new overseas
possessions in the Americas and East Asia.
Nevertheless, he considered Flanders – under
the governorship of his sister, Mary – his real
home. The Low Countries prospered with
land reclamation, canal-building and the
expansion of industries producing pottery, Tapestry depicting the Battle of Pavia in 1525 between Francis I of
glass, tapestry and linen. In 1529, Charles V France and the Hapsburg emperor Charles V

Desiderius Erasmus
1506 Margaret of Austria 1521 Erasmus helps
moves the Burgundian found the College 1539 A rebellion in Ghent is
capital from Brussels of Three Languages brutally crushed by Charles V, and
to Mechelen at Leuven its leaders publicly humiliated
1500 1520 1540
1519 Charles V, 1555 Catholic Philip II
King of Spain, 1529 France is succeeds Charles V as
becomes Holy forced to abandon Protestant fervour takes hold
Roman Emperor its claim to Flanders of the Low Countries
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Picture label
044-045_EW_Belgium.indd 44 16/10/14 3:35 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
History Portrait template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.2)
Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm