Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

THE HISTORY OF BELGIUM 43

1740

1782–4 Under

Austrian reforms,

medieval walls

in Bruges are

demolished

as the Place Royale and Parc

de Bruxelles were laid out

in a fashionable Neo-

Classical style, which

also spread to other

cities. However, this

prosperity did not filter

down to the masses.

The people lived in

crowded, unsanitary

conditions and unem-

ployment was rife.

During this time, lace

became the industry of

the downtrodden.

The Austrian

Netherlands were

essentially conservative

and Catholic. When Joseph II (r.1780–

90) succeeded Maria Theresa, he

enforced a series of liberal reforms

including freedom of religion.

Monasteries closed, education was

secularized and administration was

increasingly based in Vienna. These

measures stoked up deep resentment

in the citizens. In 1787, a conserva-

tive rebellion, led by the Brussels

lawyer Henri van der Noot, escalated

into the Brabançon Revolt (1787–

90). The French

Revolution of 1789

further inspired a

mood of insurrection.

A battle at Turnhout

put the Austrians to

flight, although the

revolt was crushed by

Austrian troops dis-

patched by Joseph’s

successor, Leopold II.

This episode offered

a brief taste of inde-

pendence, but Belgium had to endure

further decades of foreign interven-

tion before that could be achieved.

famous victories at Ramillies

(north of Namur) and

Oudenaarde, which

pushed France out of the

Spanish Netherlands.

Under the 1713 Treaty

of Utrecht, it was

ceded to Austria.

Emperor Charles VI

ruled Austria after

Leopold, but failed to

produce a male heir.

His death resulted in

another eight years of

war, the War of the

Austrian Succession, to

resolve whether his

daughter Maria Theresa

should inherit the crown. The

Austrian Netherlands (as they now

were) were also drawn into the war.

French troops took Tournai,

Oudenaarde, Bruges, Dendermonde

and Ghent in 1745, and most of the

country the following year. With the

Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen),

the French withdrew from the south-

ern Netherlands, and Maria Theresa’s

rule was finally acknowledged.

1720 1760 1780

1713 The Treaty of
Utrecht marks the
beginning of Austrian
rule in the Netherlands

1719 François Anneessens,

a guildmaster in Brussels,

leads a revolt against

Austrian taxes in Brussels

and is beheaded

1740–48 The succession of Maria Theresa to the

throne causes the War of Austrian Succession

1744 Charles of

Lorraine takes up his

post as Governor of the

Austrian Netherlands

1745 French troops led by Louis XV

invade the Austrian Netherlands

1790 The Republic of

United Belgium, formed

by the Barbançon

Revolt, is crushed

by the Austrians

A silver thaler depicting Maria Theresa

The Treaty of Utrecht that ended the

War of the Spanish Succession

Maria Theresa of

Austria (1717–80)

BOOM AND REVOLT

In 1744, Empress Maria Theresa

installed her sister Maria Anna of

Habsburg and her husband Charles of

Lorraine as joint governors of the

Austrian Netherlands. Maria Anna

died in childbirth the same year, but

Charles remained governor until his

death in 1780. His rule was a period

of revival – under the influence of

the Enlightenment, Charles’s court

attracted intellectuals and artists, and

Brussels became the most glamorous

city in Europe. Industry boomed with

the construction of new roads and

waterways. Brussels was transformed

Charles of Lorraine