Jelle Haemers

Patterns of urban rebellion in medieval Flanders

The medieval county of Flanders experienced an extraordinary number of rebellions and revolts, opposing the count, the patricians and the urban middle classes, in various combinations. If the fluctuating balance of power inclined too sharply to one group, or if specific demands of privileged citizens were not fulfilled because they lacked access to power, political challengers rebelled. Representative organs could solve socio-political and economic problems, but a rebellion usually ended in a struggle between social groups and networks within the towns and a war between rebel regimes and prince. These two struggles continuously intermingled and created a rebellious dynamic, ending in victory or defeat and in repression and, in turn, inspiring the next rebellion. This remarkable pattern of rebellion started in the phase of ‘communal emancipation’, in the twelfth century, a period in which the counts granted privileges to the Flemish towns, as social and political contradictions developed within the city. From the 1280s until the end of the fourteenth century, craft guilds constructed alliances with other challengers, such as noblemen, and fought for political representation and control over fiscal and economic policies. As state power became more and more important after the arrival of the centralising Burgundian dynasty in Flanders, this pattern changed significantly. The urban elites gradually sided with the dukes and urban rebellions became less successful. This did not mean, however, that the Flemish rebellious tradition was exhausted. The end of the fifteenth century and the sixteenth century would witness new challenges to princely power. In this article we will consider the role of alliances and leadership, ideology, mobilisation and rebellious ‘repertoires’ in medieval Flemish towns.

“Vivre Noblement”: Material Culture and Elite Identity in Late Medieval Flanders

The example of two fifteenth-century, high-ranking officers of the Burgundian court shows how a radical transformation of the physical environment and an imitative interaction with material culture could create a powerful elite identity for those not born to nobility. A combination of evidence from archaeological, written, architectural, and art-historical sources reveals the ways in which Peter Bladelin and William Hugonet were able to parlay their newly gained social positions to achieve their ultimate goal of vivre noblement by adopting the trappings of Duke Philip the Good and other members of the Burgundian court.

Social memory and rebellion in fifteenth-century Ghent

Since the 1950 posthumous publication of an unfinished book by Maurice Halbwachs (1877– 1945), and its rediscovery in the last decades of the twentieth century, scholars have agreed with his view that collective memory is a constructive force in society. Expanding on Emile Durkheim’s writings and reacting to Henri Bergson, Halbwachs looked at memory in terms of minds working together in society, with operations structured by social arrangements. The French sociologist and philosopher wrote that memory is not a purely individual affair, but rather shaped by social frameworks and identities. Halbwachs argues that although individuals remember within their own minds, what they remember is determined by the larger social group and the setting surrounding the event. Consequently, Halbwachs and many current scholars of memory believe that the collective memory of groups shapes identities and marks social differentiation. Moreover, current scholarly work posits memory as a socio-cultural mode of action. Memory is defined as a disparate range of practices and processes which are

‘Let Each Man Carry on With his Trade and Remain Silent’: Middle-Class Ideology in the Urban Literature of the Late Medieval Low Countries

ABSTRACT The vernacular literary output of the ‘chambers of rhetoric’ in the Low Countries provides us with some insight into the ideology of the urban medieval middling classes. This literature included criticisms of social order, and it is argued here that whilst these come from an inherited religious discourse of reform, they can nonetheless be read as speaking to a political ideology particular to the urban context of the late Middle Ages. This article seeks to bring these ideological expressions into view, to contribute to our understanding of the political practices and popular uprisings of this time and place.

Urban history of the medieval Low Countries: research trends and new perspectives (2000–10)

The historiography of medieval cities in the Low Countries has long been influenced by the legacy of Henri Pirenne (1862–1935) and his pupils. The Belgian historian and his followers used new (positivist) methods to study history, such as critical source analysis and teaching in seminars, which had a great impact on contemporary scholars in Belgium and elsewhere. Furthermore, Pirennes selection of original research topics drastically changed the study of medieval history on the Continent. Influenced by research trends in France and Germany, Pirenne did ground-breaking new research, for instance, in the field of urban history. His publications on the origins of towns, on the ‘early democracies’ in the Low Countries, and on the socio-economic background of urban growth and decline inspired many colleagues and his students. His research on particular topics in the field of urban history has, until the present day, been a fruitful starting point for many Ph.D. students. Three of these topics constitute the subject of this review article: first, the origins of towns; secondly, the social history of urban politics and thirdly, the economy and finances of cities. This review of recent Ph.D. theses on the urban history of the Low Countries will demonstrate the importance of Pirennes legacy, paying close attention to the valuable refinements that have been made to his findings in the last decade. Moreover, the actual research trends and the fresh perspectives of young scholars on the Low Countries’ history can be of great use for scholars of the history of cities in other regions in late medieval Europe.

Zegels, eden, taal en liturgie: ideologie, propaganda en het symbolische gebruik van ruimte in Gent (1483)

ldeologie is noodzakelijk voor beleidsmakers. Zonder een ideologische achtergrond is een beleid niet te rechtvaardigen, mist het de nodige legitimatie en valt het ten prooi aan kritiek en contestatie. Aldus vooraanstaande onderzoekers is ideologie, ruim genomen, de denkbeeldige relatie van personen of groepen met hun bestaansvoorwaarden. 2 Ideologie heeft ook steeds te maken met macht. Machtsrelaties belnvloeden taalgebruik en ze verlenen bepaalde woorden en uitdrukkingen hun betekenis. 3 Het onderliggende systeem dat een maatschappelijk discours een bepaalde betekenis geeft, is ideologie. Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) definieert ideologie als het geheel van ideeen dat ten grondslag ligt aan een bepaald politiek stelsel. Volgens de Franse socioloog dient een ideologie om de belangen van een kleine groep voor te stellen alsof ze algemene belangen zijn van de hele gemeenschap. ldeologie wordt in dat opzicht een instrument om de maatschappelijke dominantie van bepaalde groepen in stand te houden en, in de terminologie van Pierre Bourdieu, te reproduceren.4 Ideologie is dus een ideeenkader waarnaar gezagsdragers refereren met de bedoeling hun beleidsdaden te Iaten aanvaarden door de onderdanen. Het is, naast dwang, een onmisbaar middel om onderdanen te