Flemish People - History

History

The sense of 'Flemish' being a national identity increased significantly after the Belgian Revolution. Prior to this, the term 'Flemings' in the Dutch language was in first place used for the inhabitants of the former County of Flanders. Flemish however had been used since the 14th century to describe the language of both the peoples of Flanders and the Duchy of Brabant. Italians started in 15th century to describe both peoples as 'Fiamingi', the English and the French followed in the 16th. The sentiments of having somehow a common identity, despite belonging to different states (most notably the share of a common language, the deeply felt need to 'act as one' against any foreign state) existed already in the Middle Ages. An example is the 'Flemish-Brabant Co-operation Treaty' (Vlaams-Brabants samenwerkingsverdag) from 3/12/1339 imposed by the main cities of both states upon their rulers. It must noted that the modern Belgian province of Limburg -nowadays Flemish- was not part of this.

In 1830 the southern provinces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands seceded. The French-speaking administration and elites feared the loss of their privileged status in the newly formed United Kingdom. Under French rule (1794–1815) the exclusive use of French was harshly imposed in public life, resulting in a Frenchification of the elites and, to a lesser extent, some of the middle classes. The Dutch King allowed the use of both Dutch and French as administrative languages in the Flemish (Dutch speaking) provinces. He also enacted laws to (re)enable Dutch in schools. Since these elites rejected even the idea of learning Dutch, they feared being replaced by bilingual people. The language policy was not the only cause of the secession. The Roman Catholic majority viewed the sovereign, the Protestant William I, with suspicion and were heavily stirred by the Roman Catholic Church which suspected William falsely of wanting to push for Protestantism. Lastly, the Liberals were dissatisfied with William for his rather autocratic behaviour. )

Following the revolt, the language reforms of 1823 were the first (4 June 1830) Dutch laws to be abolished and the subsequent years would see a number of laws restricting the use of Dutch and Dutch culture. This cultural oppression by the Belgian government responded in the 1840s with the emergence of the Flemish movement, that was built on earlier anti-French Flemish feelings of injustice, as expressed in writings (for example by the late 18th century writer, Jan Verlooy) which criticized the Southern Francophile elites. The efforts of this movement during the following 150 years, have to no small extent helped the formation of a Flemish nation, now consisting of the Dutch-speaking regions of Belgium with a shared number of social, political and linguistic aims.