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MONS (Flemish Bergen)

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 739 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MONS (Flemish See also:Bergen) , a See also:town of See also:Belgium situated on a small See also:river called the Trouille in the See also:province of See also:Hainaut of which it is the See also:capital. Pop. (1904), 27,072. Mons was the capital of the See also:ancient countdom of Hainaut, well known in See also:English See also:history from the See also:marriage of See also:Edward III. with its Countess Philippa. The town was founded by the Countess Waudru in the 8th See also:century, whereupon See also:Charlemagne recognized it as the capital of Hainaut, and it has retained the position ever since. It was only in the 1th century, however, that it became the fixed See also:residence of the See also:counts, who had previously occupied the See also:castle of Hornu, leaving Mons to the See also:abbey and the See also:church of St Waudru. See also:Regnier V. moved to Mons at the beginning of that century, and his only See also:child—a daughter—Richilde, married See also:Baldwin VI. of See also:Flanders. The junction of the two countdoms was only temporary, and they again separated in the See also:person of Richilde's sons. In this See also:age Hainaut was known as " the poor See also:land of a proud See also:people," and it was not until the beginning of the 14th century that Mons was converted into a trading town by the See also:establishment of a See also:cloth See also:market. At the same See also:time the See also:count transferred his See also:principal fortress from See also:Valenciennes to Mons. When the Hainaut See also:title became merged in the duchy of See also:Burgundy, Mons was a See also:place of considerable importance on See also:account of its being a stronghold near the See also:French frontier. Its See also:capture, See also:defence and surrender by See also:Louis of See also:Nassau in 1572 was one of the striking incidents of the religious troubles.

In the See also:

long See also:wars of the 17th and 18th centuries Mons underwent several sieges, but none of the same striking See also:character as those of See also:Namur. Several times dismantled and refortified, Mons was finally converted into an open town in 1862. The most remarkable See also:building in the See also:city is the See also:cathedral of St Waudru, named after the first countess, which was begun in the See also:middle of the 15th century, but not finished for more than a century and a See also:half later. It is a See also:fine specimen of later See also:Gothic, and contains some See also:good See also:glass as well as a few pictures by See also:Van Thudden. The Hotel de Ville is about the same age as the cathedral, having been commenced in 1458 and finished in 16o6. The See also:tower was added a century later. There is also a fine See also:belfry with a peal of bells. Mons is now a flourishing town with a good See also:trade in cloth, See also:lace, See also:sugar refinery, &c.; but its See also:chief importance is derived from its proximity to the Borinage (place of See also:boring), See also:district containing mines of the finest See also:coal in Belgium. The military See also:engineering See also:college for the Belgian See also:army is here, and not far from Mons are the See also:battle-See also:fields of See also:Malplaquet (1709) and See also:Jemappes (1792).

End of Article: MONS (Flemish Bergen)

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