PEEPS INTO THE PAST

Evening Star, Issue 19328, 14 August 1926, Page 23

PEEPS INTO THE PAST

No. n. BRUGES LA MORTE. [Written by M. S. Primmer, for the ‘Evening Star.’]

Curious how different towns appeal to one! Some attract' by the glamor of their past; others by reason of the vividness of the present—as witness Paris; others again, more fortunate, happily combine the two, as any lover of London will- prove. ; Bruges—the ancient town of Bridges —calls irresistibly to him of the historic imagination. Ear from being lead—as its nickname would indicate —it is crowded, but with silent spectres, shades of a glorious bygone age. Every comer of its winding cobble streets has witnessed scones of early barbarity or arrogrant and costly display; its numerous canals flow, dark and quiet, lapping with gentle ease the wealthy .abodes of nobles—aye, even of royalty—or of burgesses whose wives gave such ample ‘ evidence of riches that Queen Joanna pettily exclaimed, “I thought that I alone was Queen, but here in this place I.have 600 rivals.” '

Who now, seeing the deserted roads, the lonely and majestic stone gateways of the town, and the shallow canals could realise that at one time this was one of the most important European seaports, to which Ireland and Scotland sent hides and wool; Denmark, pigs; Russia, Hungary, and Bohemia, wax; Poland, gold and silver; Germany, wine; Liege, copper kettles; Bulgaria, furs; Asia and Africa, various commodities; and England, wood,lead, tin, coal, and cheese? In fact, so important was Bruges that the head of the Hanseatic League always hailed from that town. From 50,000 the number of its inhabitants had dwindled to less than 2,000. ENGLISH LINKS. , The friendship that so tragically culminated during the great war started as far back as the beginning of the tenth century, when Charlemagne’s empire showed signs of breaking up. Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, asked help of Baldwin Bras-de-For (how they loved to label people), tbe great Flemish chief, against the Emperor, and Baldwin, in spite of his permanent steel protection, found no armor proof against thecharms of Charles’s daughter, Judith. This lady had already espoused two Saxon kings—Ethelwulf and Ethelbald—and thou, a double-widow, she returned to her father Baldwin’s elo- ‘ quenoe, potent enough to induce Judith to elope with him, nearly ruined his power. However, a forgiving father-in-law Laid the foundations of future greatness, and all went happy as a marriage belL Our next indication of English and Flemish alliance is in the reign of Edward 111., when England sent wool and Flanders wove it. One cannot in a short article go into the political history of this period. Suffice it to say that in the bitter struggle •Philip of Valois and Edward 111. the* poor Flemish in England were arrested, with the natural retaliation of English prisoners. In June,_ 1340, Edward, sick of the whole affair, set sail for Bruges, and won against tbo French the historic naval victory of Sluys. ‘ Edward TV. must have carried on the friendship, for we find his arms over one of the stalls of the Knights of the Order of tbo Golden Fleece, a society founded in Bruges, whose Cathedral of St Sauvour is still the shrine.

The Stuart period is our next step in the long alliance. Bruges, as one of the most Catholic towns in Europe, abounds in religious foundations; many of them nowadays almshouses._ pf these sanctuaries one is of special interest to us, as being _ started by tbe English nuns of Louvain in 1629, and the still-flourishing Convent dcs Dames Anglaises, prizes its beautiful altar of marbles from Egypt, Greece, and Persia, besides its rosary that once belonged to Charles 11. ’s Consort, Catherine of Braganza. THE GAY MONARCH. But it was reserved for the picturesque Charles 11., who possessed in full all the Stuart glamor, to make his three years’ abode in the city. A great success in spite of debts and such great poverty that Hyde bewailed bis single shirt and pair of shoes Sir James Turner, a soldier of fortune attached to Charles, is supposed to bo the original of Dugald Dalgetty in Scott’s of Montrose.’ One reads of many frolics during this sojourn, so faithfully—and perhaps maliciously—reported by the Commonwealth spies who, however, failed to prove their charge of plundering a wealthy church. Fortunately the Brujeois were not over-sensitive, and viewed with equanimity the French comedies, at which actually the ladies of the Stuart Court attended—an un-heard-of forwardness

Mere respectable was tbe harmless shooting at an artificial bird, the prize being a gold or silver bird and a gold chain round the winner’s neck. In this popular Flemish pastime both Charles and James. Duke of York, were successful, and both became members of the shooting clubs, tbe Guilds of St. George and St. Sebastian. As late as 1843 we find that Queen Victoria and tbe Prince Consort signed their names as members, and the Queen presented the Guild of St. Sebastian with silver cups in 1845 and 1893. Charles at the Restoration found himself in very different' circumstances!. One is glad to learn that in his days of prosperity ho remembered bis former hosts, and, besides sending them a letter of thanks, he forwarded to the archers 3,600 florins. One hundred and fifty years later Bruges suffered much in the Napoleonic wars’, and her Chapel of the Holy Blood (of which later) was nearly destroyed. Indeed, it was only by the intervention of the great Napoleon himself that the local magistrates were prevented from pulling it down Honor to the two English architects, William Brangwyn and Thomas Harper King, who in 1856 restored the chapel as nearly as possible to the original design. The wheel xf fortune turns now to the' twentieth sutury, when, on May 29, 1905, the nrst ship to enter the new port of Bruges, Zeebrugge, was an English one. On this momentous occasion belfry pealed a special chime, guns were fired, and a fine ceremony took place at the Hotel de Ville. The important part that the British Amy and Navy played in Belgium and at Zeebrugge is still so fresh that it needs no comment.

Thus for about 1,000 years a close, and, on the whole friendly, connection has been maintained between Bruges and England. Much is expected from the new outlet for Bruges’ thrift and enterprise, bat the future lies on the knees of the gods. THE ARTISTS’ MECCA.

For more than five centuries Bruges has sent her imperative summons to artists,, beginning with those l remarkable brothers, Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, who painted on wooden panels, and who, as far as wo know, were the first to use oils in their colors, instead of following the Italian fashion of tempera. Then came Hans Memlinc, Gerard David, and many others of renown. Nowadays artists flock there by the dozen, attracted by the quaintness of tlie town and its old-world charm. St. John’s Hospital, an unpretentions building, contains, besides many large paintings of wonderful coloring, the world-famous Shrine of St, Ursula, about 4ft long, in which is the arm of saint, ‘Xm JEboie ft? the outside

is covered with paintings of her life, and a more beautiful legend would be difficult to find. St. Ursula is the patron of young girls, especially schoolgirls, and of all women who devote, themselves to the care and education of their sex. It is probable that a massacre of women did actually take place in the neighborhood of Cologne about 600 a.d., and from that grew the story immortalised by Memliuc, which relates that there was once a beautiful maiden, Ursula, daughter of the King of Brittany, who had many suitors, one of whom was Conon, son of the King of England. Now, Urmia and her father were ardent Christians, while Conon was a heathen, and Ursula, in accepting his suit, imposed three conditions: “ He shall give for mo as my ladies ten virgins of the noblest blood in the kingdom, and to each of these 1,000 maidens, and to me, too, 1,000 maidens to wait on me: he shall permit me, for the space of three years, to honor my virginity, and, with my companions, to visit the holy shrines where repose the bodies of tho saints; and he and all his court shall receive baptism. For other than a perfect Christian, I cannot wed.” Conon agreed. Ursula then had a vision ,that she must go on a pilgrimage to Rome with all her maidens, and off they started, no sailors accompanying them, t* evidence alone - guiding their ship first to Cologne. While resting there, Ursula had another vision, which foretold their martyrdom. Continuing their journey, they arrived at Basic, where they disembarked, and once again miraculously preserved from dangers, they walked over the snowy .Alps, till at last they reached Rome. Cyriacus, the Bishop of Rome, received' them graciously. Curiously enough, Conon, impatient to see more of his beautiful bride, arrived in Romo on the same day, though by a different route.

When it was time for Ursula to depart, Cyriacus, in spite of objections from prudish priests, resolved to accompany her and her'maidens. At that time there were in Rome two Roman and heathen captains, who thought that if all these beautiful maidens wore allowed to go back to Germania they would soon Christianise that country, so they secretly wrote te a certain king of the Huns, then besieging Cologne. In due time Ursula arrived, and at once all except herself were massacred. The king was so overcome by her beauty that he offered to marry her, but she indignantly refused, and then in anger, he killed her with three arrows.

The whole of this , story is painted in a series of pictures on the longer sides of the shrine, with such marvellous detail that one accepts gratefully the loan of a large glass. One can hardly credit it—yet it is a fact that every single hair seems to he individual. and in the case of another picture the knight’s armor shows the same microscopic fidelity to truth. Modern artists we know scoff at_ this “ photographic art,” but when it is combined with rich, harmonious colors, and an atmosphere of reverence and awe, the average onlooker feels that the moderns have much to learn from their forbcfirs* (To be continued.)