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In the 1730s, the Flemish coast became massively infested by shipworms. Not only ships, but also wooden infrastructure along the coast, like dikes, beacons, bridges, quays and locks were attacked by these small voracious marine molluscs. It was one of the main ecological disasters to hit North-Western Europe in the eighteenth century. This contribution analyses how the different social groups within the Flemish society coped with this infestation, particularly with regard to the locks of Slyckens along the Bruges-Ostend canal. These locks were of great importance for both the harbours of Bruges and Ostend, as for the water management in the low lying Flemish plain. Ultimately on 13 August 1752, the shipworm infested locks collapsed and the panic stricken population had to fight day and night to rescue its cities, villages and farmsteads from the rising sea water.

Short introduction of the making-of the Liber amicorum for Pierrick Pourchasse.

International audience

The introduction of this issue devoted to the history of coastal environments proposes to go beyond the ‘great divide’ between land and sea, which still largely shapes the field of environmental history, and to rethink their interactions within the framework of a ‘terraqueous’ environmental history. The coasts are a privileged terrain for tackling this dichotomous vision. Because they are the hybrid product of natural and social dynamics, their study allows us to historicise and contextualise the construction, both materially and symbolically, of the existing boundaries between land and sea. It furthermore allows us to show the always liminal, shifting and permeable character of the coast, which functions more as an interface than as a border. Finally, because of their position on the edge, coasts have a ‘mirroring’ power which invites us to pay more attention to the symmetry between land and sea.

The Introduction explains the main concepts of the Urban Logistic Network (the rearland-hinterland-foreland triptych, bypassing & intermodality, urban network shapes, network users, adjectivation).

International audience; This edited collection examines the formation of urban networks and role of gateways in Europe from the Middle Ages to the modern world. In the past, gateway cities were merely perceived as transport points, only relevant to maritime shipping. Today they are seen as the organic entities coordinating the allocation of resources and supporting the growth, efficiency and sustainability of logistics (including both the transport and distribution of goods and services). Using different historical case studies, the authors consider how logistics shaped urban networks and were shaped by them.

International audience

La Marine belge gives a historical account of the history of the Belgian Navy since 1946.

De Belgische Marine gives an overview of the history of the Belgian Navy since 1946.

Editorial for the Communication de l'Académie royale de Marine de Belgique 41 (2019) with regard to the 6th Sound Toll Registers Online Conference

International audience

This article claims that Belgium is a bi-maritime state, that is a state with two coastlines (Antwerp and the North Sea coast). Antwerp became an economic powerhouse thanks to its harbour, whereas the North Sea coast became known for its touristic potential. This has impacted the way the Belgians view the sea and maritime activities.

This article looks how eighteenth century rulers shift back and forth between ecclesiastical and worldly leadership to obtain their goals. The setting is the small ecclesiastical and abbatial Principality of Stavelot-Malmédy during the election of its prince-abbot in 1787. This principality became increasingly entangled in the geopolitico-ecclesiastical rivalries between the Austrian Netherlands and the Prince-bishopric of Liège. Although this election has been studied before, little attention was given to the way leadership was influenced and how it reacted to these ecclesiastic and economic constraints. The archival sources can be found in the Archives générales du Royaume in Brussels (Conseil des Finances), Archives de l’état à Liège (États du Pays de Liège et du Comté de Looz, Abbaye de Stavelot-Malmédy, Principauté de Stavelot-Malmédy) and the Österreichisches Staatsarchiv in Vienna (Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv).

The workshop 'Journées de travail 'European external trade statistics, 1700-1830', held in Lille in March 2011, tried to bring scholars from around Europe together to see whether it is possible to create a database using early statistics as a source. Most scholars gave an overview of the statistical sources in their country and the problems they encountered when applying these sources. The wrap-up pointed out the different problems historians are facing when trying to link different statistical sources together, but also tried to see where these sources converged and how we could make them fit.

Geopolitics, or géohistoire as Braudel calls it, is the science or the discipline which explores the link between geography on the one side, and the past and present political, economic, cultural, religious, etc. relations on the other. Most geopolitical studies have treated the military or international aspects of great powers. Little attention has been given to the geopolitical aspects of smaller nations. Nevertheless geopolitics of smaller countries can give us some very interesting information on how those countries perceive their role in their geographic environment. The relation of a nation, a people or a country with the sea, in other words its maritime identity, can thus be described and explained in geopolitical terms. By using geopolitical methods the odd relation of Belgium with the sea can be clarified. On the one hand Belgium offers major world ports, like Antwerp, while on the other hand a sense of maritime identity, as compared to its seafaring neighbours, is completely missing. To solvethis paradox we must go back to the partition of the Low Countries after the Dutch Revolt in the sixteenth century. As a result of this partition, a new border not only cut off the major port of Antwerp from the North Sea, it also shaped a new geopolitical configuration for the Southern Netherlands, nowadays Belgium, that is still visible today. In this configuration Belgium can be perceived as a bimaritime state, or a state with two separate coasts, in this case the North Sea coast in the west, and the Scheldt estuary near Antwerp. Great powers, like France or the United States, have always had to make choices between their two - very visible - coasts. But like these great powers, a small country like Belgium has also had to make strategic choices between these two coasts. By choosing Antwerp as their main focal point, the Belgians opted for a landlocked maritime hub and thus created a continental identity with little regard for the vast possibilities the sea has to offer. Antwerp is a place where foreign ships come to load and unload goods, it is in other words perceived as the 'economic' coast. The North Sea coast, Belgium's second coast, has largely remained devoid of important maritime activities. In the Belgians' minds the North Sea coast is the 'romantic' coast, where the natural elements rule, the traditional (as in an old-fashioned or bygone way) maritime activities as fishing still exist and where you would go on holiday. In the proposed presentation we would briefly like to show the existence of Belgium's bimaritime status, but also how this status is perceived by its population. This perception, economic coast versus romantic coast, can be seen on numerous engravings in school book manuals (geography, history, etc.), murals in for instance railway stations, statues and national monuments. These works of art are tokens indicating this rather unknown aspect of the country's geographical features. It also gives an insight into how the Belgians perceive their country's maritime identity and destiny.

The author shows how the port of Ostend was enhanced in the eighteenth century's second half and how, thanks to the new road and waterway network (transit policy), this harbour enlarged its hinterland.

International audience; Cet article s'intéresse à un produit emblématique du commerce eurasiatique de l'époque moderne, le corail de Méditerranée. Cette marchandise est présente dans plusieurs travaux d'historiens, mais reste finalement assez peu étudiée pour elle-même, surtout en ce qui concerne son exportation vers la Chine. L'exemple du commerce français avec l'empire du Milieu au cours du XVIII e siècle permet de connaître les principaux acteurs de cette singulière branche d'activités, d'examiner la diversité des modalités de transport et de commercialisation, de cerner les principales caractéristiques du marché chinois, de procéder à une estimation des bénéfices retirés des ventes et de déterminer finalement si l'attention des négociants à l'égard du corail de Méditerranée relevait d'un intérêt épisodique ou d'un attachement régulier à une marchandise apportant d'appréciables bénéfices.

In this chapter Serruys shows that transport systems are a structuring element of urban networks. As they are constantly evolving, the spatial make-up of urban networks is highly dynamic. This means that the spatial relations between urban networks (foreland-hinterland-rearland) and the periphery are changing rapidly. By analysing the development of the transport system, it is possible to draw elaborate graphs and matrices at meaningful moments in time. This allows Serruys to calculate and grasp how the ever-changing centrality values of urban centres shapes and reshapes urban networks and the relations between them. In the eighteenth century, the highly urbanised Austrian Netherlands built out the world’s densest road network. Belgium, both rich in urban and transport historiography, is therefore an ideal case-study.