C17

Jean-Louis Van Belle
Deux livres d'expéditions de marbres d'un marchand de Beaumont-Rance en Hainaut (1769-1784), Bruxelles, Commission royale d'Histoire, 2010, LXII-275 p. (Collection grand in-8°, C 17) (ISBN 978-2-87044-004-9)
38 €
Summary

C18

Alain Lottin
"Chronique mémorial des choses mémorables par moy Pierre-Ignace Chavatte" (1657-1693), Bruxelles, Commission royale d'Histoire, 2010, XXXIII-512 p. (Collection grand in-8°, C18) (ISBN 978-2-87044-003-2)
48 €
Summary

E6

Thérèse de Hemptinne & Adriaan Verhulst (†)
De oorkonden van de graven van Vlaanderen (juli 1128 - september 1191). Deel II. Uitgave. Band III: Regering van Filips van de Elzas (Tweede deel: 1178-1192), Brussel, Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis, 2009, CXXXI+457 p. (Verzameling van de akten der Belgische vorsten, E6) (ISBN 978-2-87044-002-5)
45 €
Summary

Bulletin of the Royal Historical Commission, 175, 2009, 657 p.

This jubilee issue of the Proceedings of the Commission Royale d’Histoire (CRH/KCG) presents a review of the Commission’s activities for the past twenty-five years (Claude Bruneel, "De KCG in de laatste vijfentwintig jaar", p. 37-66; in French: “La Commission royale d’Histoire pendant les vingt-cinq dernières années”), as well as the biographical information of those members that have deceased during that period and of those who remain in office (p. 67-159). Furthermore, each member of the Commission has contributed an original study to this issue, i.e. the critical edition of an unpublished source of Belgian history.

Henri Haag, Signification du traité de garantie du 19 avril 1839, d’après Léon Arendt , p. 161-183.
Contrary to some beliefs, we do confirm that Belgium had a well-defined and structured foreign policy prior to 1914. This policy was based on the Treaties of 1831 and 1839, and on the guarantee contained in the Treaty of 19 April 1839. For a long time the Belgian government had doubts and concerns about the promises the great powers had made in 1839. This uncertainty escalated in 1904, when Great Britain and France concluded the Entente Cordiale. It stood to reason that, if a pan-European war broke out, Belgium would inevitably get drawn into it. What could be done to ensure that France and Great Britain would not treat the guaranteed they had signed up to as their own exclusive right without fully taking our own rights into account? This was, in our opinion, the main concern of the Department of Foreign Affairs on the eve of World War One.
Raoul C. Van Caenegem, De keure van Sint-Omaars van 1127: een politiek document, p. 185-202.
The borough charter of 14 April 1127 of William Clito, count of Flanders, for the town of Saint-Omer has been often studied as a source for legal history. In the present article the charter is analysed as a political document. The count and the commune of Saint-Omer had different agenda’s, which are revealed inter alia, by the provisions on the role of the aldermen and the jurati (the sworn judges of the commune), the income from the comital Mint or the supremacy of the law, to which even the count was subjected. The author finally offers some critical remarks on the French translation of 1789 and the English translation of 1982, and presents his own Dutch translation of the Latin original.

Reginald De Schryver, Koning Albert over zijn « Reis naar Parijs », 1-5 april 1919, ter ondersteuning van de Belgische verlangens en belangen op de vredesconferentie, p. 203-212.
At the request of Paul Hymans, Belgian Foreign Minister, King Albert went to Paris early April in order to meet allied political leaders and to discuss with them some major Belgian interests in view of the peace conference. The Belgian wishes were four on number:
1. to stimulate the Belgian economy by means of German reparations;
2. to assure Belgium’s security by establishing a separate state on the left bank of the Rhine;
3. to revise the obsolete Treaty of 1839;
4. to promote a ‘rapprochement’ between Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg.
The main conversations of King Albert were with the allied leaders Poincaré, Clemenceau, Lloyd George, Balfour and President Wilson.
Jean-Jacques Hoebanx (†), Ordonnance pour la vendicion des Bois de Nivelle pour l’an 1587, p. 213-223.
For their owners, woods and forests are a heritage that should be protected. This was the case for certain woods in Walloon Brabant that belonged to the Nivelles chapter and the dukes of Brabant.
There are several rulings concerning these woods. The one dating from 1587 deals with the timber felled there and how it was sold.
Walter Prevenier, Vorstelijke genade in de praktijk. Remissiebrief voor Matthieu Cricke en diens mede-acteurs voor vermeende vrouwenroof in oktober 1476, slechts geïnterneerd na kritische verificatie door de raadsheren van het Parlement van Mechelen, p. 225-258.
In October 1475, Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, pardoned the actor Mathieu Cricke and his co-actors, who had been imprisoned following the complaint of Jan van Musene, a burgher from Malines, for the abduction of his mistress, the actress and former prostitute Maria van der Hoeven. Cricke and his companions submitted their letter of remission to the court of the Parliament of Malines, with the intention of obtaining its ratification. However, Van Musene and his co-plaintiffs submitted an official protest. In order to check the veracity of the presumed offence and the legitimacy of the protest, the counsellors of the Parliament began an investigation, on apar with the procedure. No less than eighteen eyewitnesses of the events were traced and cross-examined in Diest, Gempe and Louvain. The court’s final verdict ordered ratification and a pardon. Cricke and the co-accused were acquitted of the charge of abduction, but were convicted for the minor complaints of physical and verbal abuse against Van Musene and his co-plaintiffs. Settlement of the fine that was part of the verdict dragged on for years, since no bailiff had the courage to collect the arrears from the members of Cricke’s group, considered to be socially dangerous. The presence, in this case, of four different types of texts (a letter of remission, a request for ratification, investigation and payment of the fine) has the methodological advantage of demonstrating in concrete terms that a pardon is always carried out in phases, and should be put into perspective. Granting pardon was indeed the exclusive privilege of the prince, acting freely and without limitation. However, the juridical and political suitability of its execution depended on the verification of the facts by one of the ducal high courts. The many contradictions regarding these facts between the statements of the concerned parties and the numerous witnesses questioned, and the contradictory viewpoints of the judges and the ducal officers, present a unique opportunity for a deeper insight into the ideological opinions, social patterns of behaviour, and the impact of networks in the 15^th century.
Ludo Milis, Getuigenverhoren als aanloop tot een proces. Elementen uit het Mechelse strafdossier tegen Jan Schuermans, pastoor van Ename, in het midden van de zeventiende eeuw, p. 259-265.
In this article, the author publishes the statements of a number of women involved in a sex scandal in 1648. During the celebrations organised for the Treaty of Munster, Jan Schuermans, the vicar of Ename (near Oudenaarde), seduced a girl who became pregnant and gave birth to a child. An inquiry revealed that he had harassed other women and the scandal led to a trial held at the ecclesiastical court of the archbishopric of Mechelen. The conviction haunted Schuermans for the rest of his life.

Claude Bruneel, Sous le souffle de Paris : les Pays-Bas autrichiens au lendemain du 14 juillet 1789, p. 267-320.
Simply judging by the press at that time, the events in France in 1789 aroused significant interest in the Austrian Netherlands. The progress towards the States-General and its consequences have aroused not only the curiosity of certain intellectuals, but also their enthusiasm. The storming of the Bastille caused less of a stir. The archives of the Secret Committee, constituted within the general Government Council, allowed the evolution of public opinion in various parts of the country to be followed almost on a daily basis. They also threw a new light on the central government’s official and unofficial information channels. In the cities, the high price of grain and the exacerbation of social differences pushed some to dream of imitating the Parisians. In more modest towns and villages, feelings fluctuated between passion and indifference, though the sense of material interests always prevailed. The border regions were naturally the most exposed. Local authorities were worried about the introduction of cockades or the arrival of a crowd of noisy Frenchmen and women, who in fact turned out to be in peaceful search of the food that was lacking in their own towns and villages. Unfounded rumours that refugees had been temporarily forced onto the roads also circulated. It was the local peasants and monks from the surrounding areas who feared the violence and pillaging of the hordes of vagabonds supposedly flooding in from Paris. However, the fever from France was quickly abated. The difficulties particular to the country came to the forefront. As a French diplomat predicted, “Revolution in the Netherlands is imminent”.
Jean-Louis Kupper, Aux origines de la cité de Liège. Sur deux chartes inédites de 1171 et 1266, p. 321-342.
Owing to a lack of documents and details, little is known about the process of development of the city of Liège, which was originally a primitive “pre-urban nucleus”. While the existence of a “new market town”, or novus vicus, has been clearly confirmed and its site located, the site of the vetus vicus, or “primitive town” remains a mystery.
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that the “old town” actually corresponds to the parish of Saint-André -sur-le-Marché, whose existence dates back to the 9^th or 10^th century.
Jean-Marie Duvosquel, Le tarif du tonlieu et du winage de Comines établi en 1354 et son renouvellement en 1542, p. 343-370.
The town of Comines, in the country of Flanders, was in a commercially strategic position in the 14^th century: this is where the Ypres road ended, which connected this cloth-making town with no port to the Scheldt basin via the Lys. It was also here that all the trade that came down (from Lille via the Deûle and leading to Ghent) or up through this region, passed through the “trou de Comines”, the precursor of today’s locks. The trade in goods was so great that the lord of Comines established a fief to collect circulation and selling rights. When a conflict occurred, a new tariff was established in 1354 in common agreement between the lord and the vassal (who was responsible for maintaining the ports) on the one hand, and the town (responsible for the roads) on the other hand, following an investigation of the practices in Lille, Menin and Warneton. Anything that concerned the draperie industry was obviously of major importance in this tariff.
Jean-Marie Cauchies, La confection d’un privilège pour le chapitre Saint-Ursmer de Binche (1458), p. 371-385.
A petition on paper from the Saint-Ursmer of Binche chapter to the Duke of Burgundy and Count of Hainault, Philip the Good, was used directly to draw up the original draft of a ducal act, known in other sources. Furthermore, annotations in the margin allow us to reconstitute how it was compiled. Crossings out, corrections and additions bear witness to the way the canons’ text was processed and adapted by those responsible for drafting it, in court or in the chancellery. The aim of the text is the supposed legal immunity of the community of Binche as regards all the ecclesiastical and lay judges. The file also includes the original draft of a letter from Philip the Good to the bishop of Cambrai concerning the respect of this privilege. Above all, the preserved documents illustrate the process as well as a concern for the vocabulary of the authorities and executants involved in accomplishing the work.

Guy Vanthemsche, Britse diplomaten en Belgische hofintriges (oktober 1939). Enkele documenten over de aanloop naar de Koningskwestie, p. 387-412.
Belgium’s internal and external political situation was very troubled in September and October 1939. A number of hitherto unknown documents from the British Foreign Office archives, kept at the National Archives in London, throw new light on certain episodes during this crucial period. Mention is made, on the one hand, of a supposed plan, put together in Court circles, in order to distance the incumbent Pierlot government from power. On the other hand, these documents give an account of the influence (considered to be detrimental by some) exercised by General van Overstraeten, military advisor to King Leopold III, within these Court circles. Former Prime Minister, Charles de Broqueville, endeavoured to encourage the British authorities to exert pressure to incite the Belgian sovereign to get rid of his advisor.
Claude de Moreau de Gerbehaye, Une dépêche cryptée adressée au gouverneur luxembourgeois de la forteresse de Montmédy (1637), p. 413-446.
At the beginning of the 17^th century, the southernmost part of the Spanish Netherlands was dotted with small fortresses along the border of the Duchy of Bar and a series of neutral estates and undivided enclaves. Richelieu’s government - a transition between the Wars of Religion and Louis XIV’s expansionism - wanted to pacify the fragile border of the Champagne region which overlapped the Meuse, neutralise the scheming neighbouring princes (Lorraine-Bar, Bouillon-Sedan, Verdun, etc.) and, if necessary, annex any neighbouring areas that would put them in a vulnerable position.
It is within this context that the south of the Duchy of Luxembourg slid into such a state of insecurity that the citadel commanders used coded messages. Constructed in a rather crude manner, the edited text completes and confirms the key points of the information provided by the narrative and accounting sources on the Maréchal de Châtillon’s campaign in 1637. In addition, the fear of interception also comes through in the text.
Gustaaf Janssens, Het “politiek testament” van de hertog van Alva: aanbevelingen voor don Luis de Requeséns over het te voeren beleid in de Nederlanden (Brussel, 2 december 1573), p. 447-474.
December 2^nd, 1573, a few days before leaving the Netherlands, the Duke of Alba wrote a memorandum for his successor, Luis de Requeséns. In this document, published as an annex to this contribution, the Duke explains his view on the way the Netherlands should be governed. The text helps us to understand the governor-general’s action in the Netherlands.
Jozef Van Loon, De Vita Landoaldi (anno 980) als prosopografische en historische bron, p. 475-507.
Since Oswald Holder-Egger’s article on the Vita Sancti Landoaldi in 1888, all historians have abided by his scathing judgment of the historiographical value of the document. However, according to a new analysis of the original, the facts reported therein are apparently far more authentic than was originally thought, and reveal many details on the mediaeval history of the village of Wintershoven and the bishopric of Liège. Upon close reading of the text, it is furthermore revealed that Heriger and Notker were only reluctantly persuaded to write the Vita, presumably under pressure from higher political interests.

Herman Van Goethem, In de spiegel van politieverslagen. De Antwerpse Jodenrazzia van 15-16 augustus 1942, p. 509-540.
In autumn 1940, the secretary-generals of Belgium agreed in principle to the collaboration of the country’s authorities in the anti-Jewish measures organised by the Nazis. As a result, the Antwerp police participated in a massive roundup of Jews in August and September 1942, obeying the formal orders of their own chief superintendent, De Potter. The first roundup of 15-16^th August is analysed in this text. Apparently, some officers were extremely indolent while others showed great zeal.
The analysis of the assistant police commissioner’s report from the 6th district reveals that few facts are noted in the report. It would seem that he wanted to deny all responsibility, nothing more. On the other hand, a number of officers also wrote reports during these roundups. Overall, these documents show that this was an event of unprecedented violence. It is therefore clear that the burgomaster, Delwaide, and the Crown prosecutor, Baers, had indeed been informed of what had happened on the night of 15^th to 16^th August.
Bruno Demoulin, La France et les Pays-Bas autrichiens à l’aube du XVIII^e siècle, p. 541-553.
The instructions (1728) for Sr. Chaillon de Jonville, the first official French representative in Brussels in the 18^th century, sheds new light on the policy of Versailles concerning the Austrian Netherlands. The remarkable continuity of French diplomacy from the 18^th century to the present day in relation to its northern neighbour - except, of course, for the period between 1795 and 1815 - deserves to be emphasised.
Valérie Piette, Vivre la guerre 14-18. Vivre l’exil. Le journal de Marguerite de Villers Grand Champs, p. 555-594.
The diary of Baroness Marguerite de Crombrugghe de Loorin-ghe, the wife of Villers Grand Champs, offers a rare perspective on the First World War. This diary, written between July and December 1914, plunges us into the daily life of an aristocratic family, soon to be disrupted by war and all its horrors. Birth and life rub shoulders with death, fear and anxiety. With the advance of the German troops, the Crombrugghe family left for the sea, hoping to escape to England. They were prevented from doing so and were forced to stay on the coast. Then followed strategies to find accommodation, food, receive news from friends and family, find money, etc. Marguerite, accompanied by her young children, left to join her husband Henry de Villers in England, sharing with us the history of Belgian exiles.
Jo Tollebeek, Een schooljongen op straf. Brieven van Karel van de Woestijne aan Gustave van de Woestijne, p. 595-634.
This edition comprises five letters which poet Karel van de Woestijne wrote in 1918-1919 to his brother, painter Gustave van de Woestijne, who was staying in England. They are from the Gustave van de Woestijne Archive which is kept at the University archive of the K.U.Leuven. The letters show two worried brothers: how are we going to get over the war? At the same time light is shed on the two brothers’ artistic preoccupations: Karel van de Woestijne reflects on his isolation in Belgium and evaluates his own literary work, the oeuvre his brother made while in exile in England, and the creations of other artists, his own old Latem group or the younger generation. Besides these five letters, this edition also contains a letter dating from 1915 from younger brother Maurice van de Woestijne to Gustave van de Woestijne, in which Karel van de Woestijne’s political position during the war is discussed (among other things).
Jean-Marie Yante, Draps brabançons et conduit des foires de Champagne. À propos d’un acte de 1340, p. 635-654.
In 1340, the guardsmen and the chancellor of fairs in Champagne and Brie organised compensation for tradesmen from Dijon and Milan whose cloth from Brabant had been seized by the lords of Apremont at Marbotte, in the Haute Meuse region. The Count of Bar, holder of the high conduct, was jointly responsible for a repayment spread over seven years. The act sheds a welcome light on the conduct of the fairs - which were the cornerstone of these meetings in Champagne -, on the Brabant textiles’ market as these meetings dwindled, as well as on the activity of the Dijon-Milan trading duo, remarkable for its duration and multifaceted character.

L 8

Patricia Van den Eeckhout & Guy Vanthemsche, eds.
Bronnen voor de studie van het hedendaagse België 19^e - 21^e eeuw. Tweede herziene en uitgebreide uitgave. Brussel, Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis / Commission royale d’Histoire, 2009, 1630 p.
50 €
Summary

C16

Guy Vanthemsche, ed.
Le Congo belge pendant la Première Guerre mondiale. Les rapports du ministre des Colonies Jules Renkin au roi Albert I^er (1914-1918). Edités par Guy Vanthemsche. Bruxelles, Commission royale d’Histoire, 2009, 241 p.
25 €
Summary

Royal historical Commission

C17

C18

E6

Bulletin of the Royal Historical Commission, 175, 2009, 657 p.

L 8

C16