The Lion of Flanders - Hendrik Conscience (1838)

 

The Lion of Flanders

One of the wonderful things about doing this list of books is that I get to learn about things that I knew nothing about. I have now learned that around 1300 there was an epic strife between Flanders and France that the Flemish won and which, at least for a while, earned them freedom from the rule of the French. This strife culminated in the “Battle of the Golden Spurs” at Kortrijk (or Courtrai) in 1302.

I also understand that it was this book, “The Lion of the Flanders”, by Hendrik Conscience which fuelled a renewed interest in this old conflict, exactly at a time when the state of Belgium was trying to carve out an existence on its own, squeezed in by the French and the Dutch. Whether the Walloons also take pride in the story, I have no idea.

The stage at opening is the ducal palace of Flanders. Flanders has lost a war to the French who has now come to occupy the land, led by the brother of the French king, Charles de Valois. He is a noble knight who convinces the old duke that if he and his nobles go visit the king and beg forgiveness, they will be reinstated as rulers of Flanders. Charles is convincing, but at the king’s court, the spiteful Queen Joanna of Navarra rules and she hates the Flemish. She makes the king take all the nobles hostage, including the son of the duke, Robert de Bethune, the renowned “Lion of Flanders”, a mighty hero.

The major nobility out of the way, Joanna sets out to destroy the Flemish, to begin with by imposing a rule of tyranny in the Flemish towns. The book focusses on Brugge, the most important town at the time and likely the richest in western Europe. Here the guilds holds sway, defending hard earned rights of freedom, and the leaders of the clothworkers, Deconinck, and the butchers, Breydel, set up a resistance. When Joanna’s lapdog, de Chatillon, moves in to crush the resistance, the French get their asses kicked and Flanders is in rebellion.

In Brugge we also find Robert the Bethune’s daughter Mathilda and the young knight, Adolf van Nieuwland and yes, a budding romance.

This is a very interesting story, and it has all the elements of an epic struggle. It is almost Star Wars in medieval times: The good versus the bad, the underdog against the giant and a struggle for freedom from the tyranny of an evil empire. It also holds all the right characters with the four mentioned representing the types we would like to follow. In other words, this is fundamentally a good story and was born to be made into a Hollywood movie.

Unfortunately, Conscience decided to write this in the tone of a medieval romance. This means declamatory speeches, one-dimensional characters and an emotional range that is always extreme. People are either ultra patriots (country before family) or treacherous cowards, heroic noble or base villains. Women laugh excitedly or swoon of sadness. There is no middle ground, and the characters easily get reduced to cartoonish characters. This is such a shame, and I would love to read a rewriting of this story in modern style. Or even the natural style of the 1830’ies.

This does not mean that I did not enjoy the book. For me, premise is a big thing and the premise here is awesome, but it was with increasing irritation as I got through it and I kept thinking what this could have been.

I have been to Brugge, and I would have loved to have known this story before I went. Instead, I recognize many of the landmarks as places you can still find today. Brugge is a very interesting town, and its history has gotten yet another layer for me with this book.

Nationalism can be an ugly thing and if you think about it too much, this book may go to some ugly places, I believe it should be read as a heroic epic and just leave it at that. In that light, I recommend it.