Bruges

From Cunnan
Jump to navigationJump to search
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

Bruges (the City of Bridges) is a city in northwestern Belgium that is connected by a canal to the North Sea.

According to the English language guide published by Toerisme Brugge, October 2004, the short history of the city goes something like this:

  • A Gallo-Roman settlement exists on the site of the present-day city.
  • 851CE :: Bruges appears on the historical record. The name is derived from an Old Norse word bryggja meaning landing stage or jetty.
  • 862CE :: Baldwin I commences the building of the castle on the present site of the Burg.
  • 958CE :: The first recorded annual Fair in Bruges.
  • 1089CE :: Bruges becomes the capital of Flanders.
  • 1127CE :: Count Charles the Good murdered in the Church of Saint Donatian. Building of the first city rampart.
  • 1134CE :: The Zwin, an estuarial channel, is created, to maintain Bruges' link with the sea. It will silt up c.1604CE, almost exactly at the end of period.
  • 1150CE :: Dirk of Alsace brings Bruges' premier holy relic, the Blood of Christ to the city (now in the Basilica of the Holy Blood, above St.Basil's Chapel, beside the Burg).
  • 1245CE :: Foundation of the Beguinage -- the city's prinipal nunnery.
  • 1290CE :: Construction of a covered mooring area, on the Market Square, for shipping.
  • 1302CE :: Revolt of the citizens against French rule.
  • 1350CE :: After the wooden Belfry suffered an accident, it was rebuilt in stone
  • 1376-1420CE :: The City Hall is constructed.
  • 1384CE :: The city becomes part of the Duchy of Burgundy, and the Burgundian court frequent the city for over a century.
  • 1427CE :: A bear and a lion are incorporated into the city's coat of arms.
  • 1430CE :: Duke Philip the Good founds the Order of the Golden Fleece.
  • 1468CE :: Marriage of Duke Charles the Bold to Margaret of York
  • 1488CE :: Maximilan, Emperor of Austria, pays an extended visit to Bruges. He is held, as a prisoner, in the Craenenburg on the Market Square.
  • 1489CE :: Hans Memling decorates a reliquary of St.Ursula
  • c.1500CE :: The Burgundian court left Bruges, never to return.
  • 1559CE :: Bruges becomes a bishopric.
  • 1580CE :: The 'Breaking of the Images' -- an iconoclast fury -- sweeps Bruges and many works of art are lost.