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Bruges was one of the most important towns for democracy during the Middle Ages. This advanced subject will be presenting the town's economic and cultural life and will be taking a look at democracy in this medieval town. While the text on this page address economic and cultural Bruges, another page entitled How did city air set people free addresses the town's political dimensions.
Bruges: An international medieval commercial center "During the era of Jan van Eycks (...) and Hans Memlings (...) Bruges was indisputably one of the world's most beautiful towns" [Hippolyte Fierens-Gevaert, 1901]. We will be starting our stroll of Bruges from the Central Market at the center of old Bruges and where the town has its origins. The "Oude Stehen", the first Flemish overseer's office around which a trading center would form, was located on the present-day streets of Wollestraat and Oude Burg. The Count's castle was built on the other side of the Reie. The locality of Bryggia (landing place) grew up around the Salvator Church with the Count's residence attracted settlers. The Reie flowed into the town from the south in curve to van-Eyck Square before continuing north-eastwards into the Zwyn inlet - good conditions for a commercial center. The navigable canals leading off from the Reie - with ramparts and walled town fortifications - also served the transport system.
Stone-built warehouses and covered markets erected during the 13th and 14th century which surrounded a square courtyard would come to dominate the Central Market. Shops and stalls were situated in the arcades outside. The 108-meter high Belfried is characteristic of a building from a confident people, a symbol of wealth, of a claim to power and of the freedom enjoyed in medieval Bruges. The well-secured archives on the second floor kept the town's records and charters of its independence. The bells in the tower were used to give notice that the people were to gather below the balcony situated above the entrance, from where new laws and rules were announced. The Belfried is also a famous landmark representing what was once a major center of international trade alongside Ypern and Venice. Ships from the hanse and Italian commercial companies dropped anchor in Bruges. It was the place of transshipment for English wool, which was woven into cloth in Flanders and exported, for salt and fur trading as well as for the trading of spices by the Italians. The "Water Building" stood over the Reie on the east side of the marketplace until 1787 in the place where provincial administration and post buildings now stand: Ships were unloaded, goods stored and traded. Some of the patrician buildings around the marketplace already existed in the 16th century. Archduke Maximilian was held prisoner in Kranenburg castle for several days by rebellious citizens in 1488. From here citizens and nobles were also provided with a wonderful vantage point to look down on the tournaments and spectacles taking place in the marketplace.
With the growth and organization of the town, individual districts developed - these are still recognizable today by the street and canal names: Located close to the castle and marketplace were the magnificent houses of the Majores and the guilds, and around St. Gillis and St. Salvator, the more simple tradesmen's houses. To the north of the Central Market was one of the town's most important areas encompassing the commercial premises of some thirty-four nations. Close by on Vlamingstraat was the Kranplein. This is where passengers arriving by ship would disembark and bulky cargo was unloaded with a large wooden crane. Goods had to be put through customs at the place where van-Eyck-Plein now lies. The impressive customs building with its decorative entrance hall still demonstrates the wealth created by imposition of customs charges. The neighboring building, formally belonging to the manual-workers guild, is one of the narrowest buildings in the town and is a gem. The rebuilt Poorters clubhouse stands just across from here and now houses the town's archives. The poorters were wealthy businessmen. The hanse branch office (the Oosterlingenhuis 1442) was built close to the Woensdagsmarkt (Wednesday market) by German traders. Mainly Italian commercial buildings were situated between Vlamingstraat and St. Jakob. Little evidence is left of the booming international trade which once graced the town: A Genoese commercial establishment on Vlamingstraat with a ground floor salesroom and a banqueting hall behind high windows (late 14th century) still remains; opposite this is the commercial building that belonged to the republic of Florence. This square, where Venetians and Catalonians also had establishments, was already being referred to as 'Byrsa Brugensis' (the stock market of Bruges) in a town plan from the 16th century. The commercial meeting place for traders was in front of the house belonging to the van der Beurze family and was the first stock market in Bruges. In Antwerp, the trading successor to Bruges, a stock market had existed since 1531 (...). [Text taken from: Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Baden-Württemberg, Zeitschrift Deutschland und Europa, Ausgabe 1/1998 "Flandern"]
Famous artists from Bruges Flemish painter, born around 1390 in Maaseyck, buried in 1441 in Bruges (...).
[Taken from: Bertelsmann Discovery Lexikon 1997] Flemish painter born around 1433 in Seligenstadt in Germany, died 1494 in Bruges; evidence exists of his residency in Bruges from 1466. Memlings style is characterized by its gentle, sweet tranquility and is thought to have been influenced by the landscape of his childhood. Memling's work consists primarily of altarpieces and devotional diptychs and triptychs, and portraits. His compositions representing the Madonna in sumptuous backgrounds often include representations of saints, portraits of donors, or detailed landscapes. [Taken from: Bertelsmann Discovery Lexikon 1997/ Infopedia]
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Subjects: Human
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