Flanders

Click on a fortress...

This region is often referred to as Flanders, but strictly speaking that is only one of the provinces covered by the area above. This map also covers the provinces of Artois, Hainaut, Namur, Limburg, part of Brabant and the small provinces of Cambrai and Tournai. These provinces were once among the 17 'Netherlands' that were controlled by Spain from the end of the Middle Ages. Many of the towns in this region became prosperous and powerful, but they were still unable to stand up to the Spanish during the revolt of the late 16th century, when the northern Netherlands became independant.

Unlike the northern provinces, where Protestantism flourished, the Spanish rooted out heretics in the southern states, so that many fled to the north. In turn, many Catholics fled to the south from oppression in the north, so that the southern Netherlands became staunchly Catholic. During the 17th century the Spanish Netherlands were to experience a new threat: France. Richlieu captured Arras in 1640, and a Spanish attempt to retake it soon afterwards failed. Spanish power was crumbling, but it was by no means ready to be broken at this stage. Throughout the first part of the 17th century, the Spain spent vast sums in fortifying the frontier towns to form a barrier against French attacks.

In 1667 Louis XIV began a series of wars that would eventually see him take possession of a large part of the southern Netherlands. The frontier places were taken one by one with the aid of the skilled French military engineer Vauban, who then turned his skill to strengthening their defences. Vauban formulated a plan known as the Pré Carré, whereby the Spanish barrier of fortified places was to be used in the opposite direction to defend France against attacks from the north. However, Louis lost some of his aquisitions in the disastrous War of the Spanish Succession, which ended in 1714.

The Pré Carré was to see action again in the mid-18th century and during the Revolutionary Wars, but Vauban's fortifications were becoming outdated by the 19th century. Some were modified to keep up with developments in artillery, but most declined. A large number of fortified places demolished their ramparts, which were strangling their commerce, at the end of the 19th century. Today there are only a few 'complete' places (such as Gravelines or Le Quesnoy), but many towns boast remnants of varying sizes as reminders of their stormy past.