Menu
- Home
- Search▼
- List▼
- Add▼
- My Relate▼
- Admin▼
ViewsWatchers |
Leuven (Dutch, pronounced ; , pronounced , often used in English) is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium. It is located about 25 kilometres east of Brussels, close to other neighbouring towns such as Mechelen, Aarschot, Tienen, and Wavre. The township itself comprises the historical city of Leuven and the former municipalities of Heverlee, Kessel-Lo, a part of Korbeek-Lo, Wilsele and Wijgmaal. It is home to Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer group and one of the top-five largest consumer-goods companies in the world; and to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the largest and oldest university of the Low Countries and the oldest Catholic university still in existence. The Higher Institute of Philosophy is famous worldwide for the archives of the German philosopher Edmund Husserl. [edit] History
The earliest mention of Leuven ("Loven") is from 891, when a Viking army was defeated by the Frankish king Arnulf of Carinthia (see: Battle of Leuven). According to city legend, its red-white-red colours depict the blood-stained shores of the river Dijle after this battle. Situated beside this river, and near to the stronghold of the Dukes of Brabant, Leuven became, between the 11th and 14th centuries, the most important centre of trade in the duchy. A token of its former importance as a centre of cloth manufacture is reflected in the typical Leuven linen cloth, known in late-14th-century and 15th-century texts as lewyn (other spellings: Leuwyn, Levyne, Lewan(e), Lovanium, Louvain). In the 15th century, a new golden era began with the founding of the by-now largest and oldest university in the Low Countries, the Catholic University of Leuven, in 1425. In the 18th century, Leuven became even more important as a result of the flourishing of its brewery, now named AB InBev, whose flagship beer, Stella Artois, is brewed in Leuven and sold in many countries throughout the world. In the 20th century, both world wars inflicted major damage upon the city. Upon Germany's entry into World War I, the town was heavily damaged by rampaging soldiers. Some German soldiers shot the burgomaster, the university rector and all of the city's police officers. The university library was also destroyed on 25 August 1914, using petrol and incendiary pastilles. Hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable volumes and Gothic and Renaissance manuscripts were lost. 230,000 volumes were lost in the destruction, including a collection of 750 medieval manuscripts and more than 1,000 incunabula (books printed before 1501). The destruction of the library shocked the world, with the Daily Chronicle describing it as war not only against civilians but also against "posterity to the utmost generation." It was rebuilt after the war, and much of the collection was replaced. [edit] Research Tips
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
