Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/582

Rh 564 for the ﬂower-shows of the Botanical Society and the concerts of the choral union of St Cecilia. The so-called Government house, which is partly occupied bythe provincial administration and partly by the governor as his residence, was assigned by Charles V. to the provost of St ]’}avon, became in 1581 the property of William of Orange (the Silent), at a later date served as episcopal palace, and in the time of Napoleon was the prefecture. The present episcopal palace was built in 1845 as an appendage to the cathedral. With benevolent institutions of various kinds Ghent is abundantly supplied. A lunatic asylum, the Hospital of the Byloque, founded as early as 12:25, a maternity hos- pital dating from 1827, a blind asylum (1854) due to the beneﬁcent bequests of L. Van Caucghem, a deaf and dumb iustitution (1822), and an atelier de c/ulrité, or establish- ment for giving work to the unemployed, which has been in operation since 1817, are worthy of special mention. It would be less of a paradox than might be supposed if the great penitentiary (Rasphuis, or Maison de Force) had been included in the list; for it is remarkable, 11ot only for the sumptuous style of its buildings, but for the phil- anthropic character of its administration. It was erected between 1772 and 1825 at a cost of 2,150,000 francs, and can accommodate 2600 prisoners. The spacious university buildings were erected between 1819 and 1826, at the expense of the city, under the auspices of William 1., king of Holland. They were designed by Roelandt in the Greek style, and one of the principal features is a portico after the model of the Pan- theon at Rome. The university library, containing upwards of 100,000 volumes, and reckoned onc of the most valuable in Belgium, was formerly the property of the town. Along with the royal athenaeum or high school, it occupies the old abbey of Baudeloo, founded by Baldwin of Constantinople in 1199. The abbey gardens were transformed in 1797 into a botanical garden, which now ranks as one of the ﬁnest in Europe. A royal academy for the encouragement of art, founded in 1751 by Charles Marissal, and a musical conservatory originated by the communal council in 1835 are both ﬂourishing institutions; and the technical school with about 800 pupils is one of the very best in Belgium. The Natural History Society, dating from 1851, has cstab- ' lished a zoological garden. Though Ghent has no longer the industrial pre—eminence that it enjoyed in the 14th and 15th centuries, it is still the principal seat of the cotton and leather manufactures of Belgium. Flax-spinning, calico-printing, and sugar- reﬁning are also extensively carried on, and there are engineering works, chemical works, iron-foundries, soap- works, paper-mills, and breweries. N0 fewer than sixty considerable ﬁrms, trading with Germany, France, Italy, and Russia, are engaged in commercial floriculture; and, as a consequence, the ﬂower—shows of Ghent, as they were perhaps thc earliest, are still among the finest exhibitions of the kind in Europe. The trade of the town, which deals mainly with the products and raw materials of the indus- tries, is fostered by a good railway system and numerous canals. There is direct communication with the sea by a grand canal, which, however, unfortunately for the Belgians, enters the sea at Terneuse in Dutch territory. The harbour, completed in 1828, is capable of accommodating 400 vessels, and vessels drawing 17 feet of water can unload under the walls of the town. At Sas van Gend, 15 miles north of the city, on the frontier of Holland, there are sluices by which the district can be laid under water. In 1812 Ghent had no more than 55,161 inhabitants; 1 by 1856 they had increased to 109,668, and by 1869 to 121,169. The census of 1876 gave 127,653. Among the celebrities born in the city are Henry Gocthals, distinct- ively Henry of Ghent, a famous theologian and member of G H 1*} X T the Sorbonne (d. 1295); Philippe Mouskes, the chronicler; P. Vandcrberghe or Moutanus, the geographer; Daniel Heinsius; Jacques van Zevecote,one of the principal Flemish poets; Lauren Delvaux, a sculptor; C. L. 1)icricx, the local historian ; and J. Guislain, the lunacy physician. The investigations of local antiquarics leave it still doubtful whether Ghent had a llomau origin, as l’ctrarch supposed (umularum ('cc.s-are conditurc siqu-rbum). That there was a military fortress on the spot in the 7th century, is proved by Baudcmout's life of St Amand, the first missionary of Cluistiamity in the district (Ada Sanctormn vol. i.). f the two monasteries founded by the saint in honour of St Peter, the one near the Antwerp gate was richly endowed by St Bavon, and his name became attached, not only to the building, but to the part of the city. About the year 1000 Baldwin Ironarm, first count of Flanders, took possession of Ghent, and a few years after he erected the G1‘a'cnstccn or Counts’ Castle. Trade and manufactures, especially of linen and woollen, were encouraged by Baldwin and his successors, and by the close of the 12th century the men of Ghent were able to purchase commer- cial and political privileges, and to establish a form of municipal government. They established a court of justice, elected sheriffs, joined the association of the lfanse Towns, and obtained the free navigation of the Rhine from the emperor 1"rcdcrick I. By the ch:u'tcr of 1192 they obtained the right of fortifying their city, and tl1c first circumvallation carried out between that date and 1214 had a development of 6560 feet. By the end of the 13th century tihcnt was a greater city than Paris. In the 14th, under the leadership of the famous Jacob van Artcvelde and his son Philip (1332-125.82), it raised frequent insurrcctions against the counts of Flanders, and took a promim-nt part in the political movements of the Low Coun- tries. In 1385 it was obliged to submit to the duke of llurgumly, but its rights and privileges were left uninjured. At the commence- ment of the 15th century it had upwards of 40.000 mcn employed in the woollcn manufactures alone, and was able to place in the ﬁcld from 18,000 to 20,000 men-of-arms. 'hen in 1452 the duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, imposed a tax on salt and grain, it rose in rebellion, but after a few years’ conflict the defeat at Gaveren left. it at the duke's mercy. The independence of the burghcrs was far from being crushed. They showed themselves as turbulent. as c'c1 under Mary of Burgundy, who made the city her principal residence ; aml when she made certain unpopular concessions to Louis Xl., they took the law into their hands, and on April 3, 1477, put to death in her presence the two councillors Ilugonct and llimbcr-Court, whom she had intrustcd with the mission. After her marriage at Ghent (August 17) with lIaximilian of Austria, matters were more peaceful. On 1lary’s (lcath in 1482 the discontent of the people again broke out. In 1488 they restored their ancient form of government, and held out against the emperor Frederick, who led an army against them in person, but at length i11 1492 they came to terms. In 1500 Charles V. was born in the palace at Ghent, the site of which is now occupied by the street called the (‘our dcs Princes. His reign was a critical one for the city, for though it had a popula- tion of 175,000, it was but a drop in the bucket ofhis vast dominions, and he treated it with but little consideration. When in 1536 his sister Maria, at that time in command of the I'etherlands, (1t'lllﬂlltlt'Il the extraordinary subsidy of 1,200,000 gold florins from l"l-andcrs, the citizens refused to contribute, and in 1539 they took arms in M-lf defence. Charles himself appeared on the scene in 15-10, forct-il them to submission, deprived them of their privileges, e.'ccutcd 26 of the principal leaders of thc rcvolt, confiscated the public build- ings, and erected a citadel at a total expense of -111.2513-f livres. the greatcr part of which had to be defrayed by Ghent itself. Even this did not crush the spirit. of the city. It was by the pacification of Ghent, signed in the town-hall Nov. 8, 1578, that Ilolland and Zcelaud, and the southern states of the I'cth(-rlands, formed an alliance against the Spanish supremacy, and three days after the Spanish garrison capitulatcd to the citizens. In 1584, l10wc'cr, the duke of Parma captured the town for Philip, and the citadel, which had been almost completely demolished, was restored. The at.tcmpts of the French in 1641 and 1642 to get. possession of Ghent". were frustrated by laying the country under water; but in 167*, though in the meanwhile the fortifications had been eonsidcral-ly extended, the feeble garrison under Don Francisco dc l’:u-do was, unable to defend the place against 1farshals llllll|li'l'('S, Luxem- bourg, Schomberg, and Yauban. Ghent continued in l-‘rem-h hands till the peace of ITimwegen. It played an important part in the war of the Spanish succession, being captured in 1706 by Marl- borough, reeovcred in 1708 by the I-'rench Marquis dc Grimaldi, and again captured by llarlborough in 1709. In the war of the Austrian succession, Louis XV. made his entry into t.he city on 25th July 1745, and remained in possession till the treaty of_ Aix- la-Chapclle in 1748. By order of Joseph II. in 1781, the citadel and fortifications were dismantled, and the grounds on which they were built were sold. l'nder the regime of the French Ii('‘ulllll0ll I the city was made the chief town of the department of the Schcldt.