50°50N 3°37E, pop (2000e) 27 400. Town in East Flanders province, W Belgium; site of defeat of French by Marlborough and Prince Eugene (1708); railway; traditional centre for carpet-weaving and tapestries; town hall (152637), Church of Onze Lieve Vrouw Pamele (begun 1235).
| Oudenaarde | |
|---|---|
| Province: | East Flanders |
| District: | Oudenaarde |
| Area: | 68.06 km² |
| Population: | 28,517 (2006) |
| Population density: | 419 /km² |
Oudenaarde (French Audenarde, English sometimes Oudenarde) is a municipality in the province of East Flanders, Flemish Region, Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, Heurne, Leupegem, Mater, Melden, Mullem, Nederename, Volkegem, and Welden.
From the 15th to the 18th century, but especially in the 16th century, Oudenaarde was a world-known centre of tapestry production. Today, Oudenaarde is known as the pearl of the Flemish Ardennes.
History
The glory of Ename
The history of the current municipality of Oudenaarde starts in 974, when Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany, built one of its three fortifications on the Scheldt at Ename to protect his kingdom against possible attacks from France (the other two frontier posts were at Valenciennes and Antwerp). In 1033, Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders took the city as a frontier post against Germany. By that time, the former merchants and guild artisans of Ename had fled across the Scheldt to the recently founded city of Oudenaarde. Throughout the Middle Ages, the city was one of the staunchest supporters of the Counts of Flanders, defending them against insurrections from the South, and even from Ghent.
Decline
During the Reformation, the people of Oudenaarde chose Protestantism and allied themselves with Ghent against Charles V. Oudenaarde belatedly embraced the Counter-Reformation, which revived for a short while the commerce of tapestry. The French attacked and took the city three times in less than a century. In 1708, one of the key battles in the War of the Spanish Succession, known as the Battle of Oudenaarde, was fought in the vicinity of the city. Oudenaarde slumbered as a provincial town under the Austrian regime. The city hall houses a unique collection of Oudenaarde tapestries. Oudenaarde is also home to the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen, a museum dedicated to the Tour of Flanders cycle race. The celebrated Ronde van Vlaanderen, the Tour of Flanders cycle race, starts every spring in Oudenaarde. 1946) Jotie T'Hooft, poet (1956-1977)
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