this Godfrey, upheld by Baldwin of Flanders, forced the emperor to concede to him the inheritance of the dukedom.  Baldwin secured for his share the country of Alost and Waas, and the citadel of Ghent; and he also succeeded in obtaining in marriage for his son the Countess Richilde, heiress of Hainault and Namur.  Thus was Flanders incessantly gaining new aggrandizement, while the duchy of Lorraine was crumbling away on every side.

In the year 1066 this state of Flanders, even then flourishing and powerful, furnished assistance, both in men and ships, to William the Bastard of Normandy, for the conquest of England.  William was son-in-law to Count Baldwin, and recompensed the assistance of his wife’s father by an annual payment of three hundred silver marks.  It was Mathilda, the Flemish princess and wife of the conqueror, who worked with her own hands the celebrated tapestry of Bayeux, on which is embroidered the whole history of the conquest, and which is the most curious monument of the state of the arts in that age.

Flanders acquired a positive and considerable superiority over all the other parts of the Netherlands, from the first establishment of its counts or earls.  The descendants of Baldwin Bras-de-fer, after having valiantly repulsed the Normans toward the end of the ninth century, showed themselves worthy of ruling over an industrious and energetic people.  They had built towns, cut down and cleared away forests, and reclaimed inundated lands:  above all things, they had understood and guarded against the danger of parcelling out their states at every succeeding generation; and the county of Flanders passed entire into the hands of the first-born of the family.  The stability produced by this state of things had allowed the people to prosper.  The Normans now visited the coasts, not as enemies, but as merchants; and Bruges became the mart of the booty acquired by these bold pirates in England and on the high seas.  The fisheries had begun to acquire an importance sufficient to establish the herring as one of the chief aliments of the population.  Maritime commerce had made such strides that Spain and Portugal were well known to both sailors and traders, and the voyage from Flanders to Lisbon was estimated at fifteen days’ sail.  Woollen stuffs formed the principal wealth of the country; but salt, corn, and jewelry were also important branches of traffic; while the youth of Flanders were so famous for their excellence in all martial pursuits that foreign sovereigns were at all times desirous of obtaining bodies of troops from this nation.