De Leeuw van Vlaanderen (book)
Encyclopedia
De Leeuw van Vlaanderen (originally: De Leeuw van Vlaenderen or De Slag der Gulden Sporen; English: The Lion of Flanders) is a historical book written by the Flemish
writer Hendrik Conscience
in 1838. The book tells the story of the Battle of the Golden Spurs
in 1302. Conscience was probably inspired to write the book after seeing the painting De Groeningeslag by Nicaise De Keyser
.
In De Leeuw van Vlaanderen Conscience describes the Battle of the Golden Spurs which he uses as a background for the love adventures of Machteld, the daughter of Robrecht III van Béthune with knight Adolf van Nieuwlandt. Conscience was sometimes accused that his book contained historical inaccuracies. E.g. because Robrecht III van Béthune is depicted as the saviour of the Flemish army on the battlefield, whilst in reality he was in French
custody at the time. However Conscience did consult about twenty historical sources, scouted the site of the battle and asked for the advice of experts in medieval history although he did use some dated inaccurate information from medieval chronicles.
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
writer Hendrik Conscience
Hendrik Conscience
Henri "Hendrik" Conscience was a Belgian writer. He was a pioneer in writing in Dutch after the secession from the Netherlands in 1830 left Belgium a mostly French speaking country....
in 1838. The book tells the story of the Battle of the Golden Spurs
Battle of the Golden Spurs
The Battle of the Golden Spurs, known also as the Battle of Courtrai was fought on July 11, 1302, near Kortrijk in Flanders...
in 1302. Conscience was probably inspired to write the book after seeing the painting De Groeningeslag by Nicaise De Keyser
Nicaise de Keyser
Nicaise de Keyser , was a Belgian painter of portraits and historical tableaux.He received his painting tuition at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts under Joseph Jacobs and Bree, before leaving for Italy in 1839...
.
In De Leeuw van Vlaanderen Conscience describes the Battle of the Golden Spurs which he uses as a background for the love adventures of Machteld, the daughter of Robrecht III van Béthune with knight Adolf van Nieuwlandt. Conscience was sometimes accused that his book contained historical inaccuracies. E.g. because Robrecht III van Béthune is depicted as the saviour of the Flemish army on the battlefield, whilst in reality he was in French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
custody at the time. However Conscience did consult about twenty historical sources, scouted the site of the battle and asked for the advice of experts in medieval history although he did use some dated inaccurate information from medieval chronicles.
Status
With the immense success of the De Leeuw van Vlaanderen Conscience was credited as "the man who taught his people to read". Apart from that the book contributed to the increased awareness of the Flemish national consciousness in the 19th century and the rapid growth of the Flemish national movement in the 20th century and beyond.External links
De Leeuw van Vlaanderen as Podcast (Librivox-project) Online edition of De Leeuw van Vlaanderen by the Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren (: Digital library for Dutch literature) Online edition of De Leeuw van Vlaanderen on Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...