Ardennes - History

History

The region took its name from the ancient "Silva", a vast forest in Roman times called "Arduenna Silva". The modern Ardennes covers a much smaller area.

In The Song of Roland, Charlemagne was described as having a nightmare the night before the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. This nightmare took place in the Ardennes' forest, where his most important battles occurred.

Many of Wallonia's rivers, villages and other places are named in another song about Charlemagne: the Old French 12th-century chanson de geste "Quatre Fils Aymon". In Dinant is the rock named Bayard. This rock was named for Bayard, the magic bay horse which, according to the legend, jumped from the top of the rock to the other bank of the Meuse.

The strategic position of the Ardennes has made it a battleground for European powers for centuries. The region repeatedly changed hands during the early modern period, with parts or all of the Belgian Ardennes being incorporated into France, Germany, the Spanish Netherlands, the Austrian Netherlands and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands at various times. In the 20th century, the Ardennes was widely thought unsuitable for large-scale military operations, due to its difficult terrain and narrow lines of communications. But, in both World War I and World War II, Germany successfully gambled on making a rapid passage through the Ardennes to attack a relatively lightly defended part of France. The Ardennes was the site of three major battles during the world wars – the Battle of the Ardennes in World War I, and the Battle of France and Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Many of the towns of the region were badly damaged during the two world wars.