Editing Charleroi (section)

==History==
The Charleroi area was already settled in the [[prehistoric]] period, with traces of metallurgical and commercial activities along the [[Sambre]]. Several public buildings, temples and villas were built in the area in the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] period. Burial places, with jewels and weapons, have been found. The first written mention of a place called Charnoy dates from a 9th-century offering in the [[Lobbes]] abbey, which lists various neighboring towns and related [[tithe]] duties. During the [[Middle Ages]], Charnoy was one of the many small hamlets in the area, with no more than about 50 inhabitants, part of the [[County of Namur]].

===Foundation===
Spanish territorial losses in the 1659 [[Treaty of the Pyrenees]] left a gap between the key fortresses of [[Mons, Belgium|Mons]] and [[Namur]]; to fill this, [[Francisco Castel Rodrigo]], then Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, expropriated land around Charnoy to build a fortress near the Sambre. In September 1666, it was renamed Charle-roi, or King Charles, in honour of five-year-old [[Charles II of Spain]]; the [[chronogram]] F'''V'''N'''D'''AT'''V'''R '''C'''ARO'''L'''OREG'''IVM''' (MDCLVVVI) can be found in the register of the parish of Charnoy.<ref name="Belgium & Luxembourg">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/belgiumluxembour00dunf_0 | url-access=registration | page=[https://archive.org/details/belgiumluxembour00dunf_0/page/303 303] | quote=charleroi 1666. |title = Belgium & Luxembourg| publisher=Rough Guides |isbn = 9781858288710|last1 = Dunford|first1 = Martin|last2 = Lee|first2 = Phil|year = 2002}}</ref>

Construction had only just begun when the [[War of Devolution]] with France began in 1667, and the Spanish withdrew. France retained the town under the 1668 [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668)|Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle]], and its fortifications were completed by [[Vauban]]. A bridge was built over the Sambre, connecting the ''Ville Haute'' and ''Ville Basse'', with incentives offered to persuade people to settle there. The French relinquished control in 1678, and although it changed hands several times over the next 50 years, the town remained part of the Netherlands until the foundation of modern Belgium.<ref>{{cite web |title=Charleroi |url=http://www.fortified-places.com/charleroi/default.htm |website=Fortified Places |access-date=2 March 2020 |archive-date=11 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191111170450/http://www.fortified-places.com/charleroi/default.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===1666–1830===
[[File:Charleroi - Ferraris map (1770-1778).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Map of Charleroi in 1770s]]
[[File:Charleroi - plan-relief - vue depuis le Sud - copie.jpg|thumb|Copy of the [[plan-relief]] of Charleroi made in 1696. View from the south. On display at the Town Hall.]]

Shortly after its foundation, the new city was in turn besieged by the Dutch, ceded to the Spanish in 1678 ([[Treaty of Nijmegen]]), taken by the French in 1693, ceded again to the Spanish in 1698 ([[Treaty of Rijswijk]]), then taken by the French, the Dutch and the Austrians in 1714 ([[Treaty of Baden (1714)|Treaty of Baden]]). The [[France|French]] [[Prince of Conti]] took the city again in 1745, but it was ceded back to [[Austria]] in 1748, beginning a period of prosperity under [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]]. Glass, steel and coal industries, which had already sprung up a century earlier, could now flourish.

Trouble began again in 1790, the year of the civil uprising that eventually led to the [[United States of Belgium]]. The Austrians occupied the city, were forced out by the French after the [[Battle of Jemappes]] on 6 November 1792, and took it back again four months later. On 12 June 1794, the French revolutionary [[Army of Sambre-et-Meuse]] under the command of [[Jean-Baptiste Jourdan]], invested Charleroi and won a decisive victory in the ensuing [[Battle of Fleurus (1794)|Battle of Fleurus]]. The city took the revolutionary name of Libre-sur-Sambre until 1800. After France's defeat in 1814, the whole area was annexed to the [[Netherlands]], and new walls were built around the city. [[Napoleon]] stayed in Charleroi for a couple of days in June 1815, just before the [[Battle of Waterloo]].

===1830 to present===
[[File:Charleroi - pont de la gare - mai 1940 - 01.jpg|thumb|The station bridge partially collapsed in May 1940 under the effect of French army explosives]]

The [[Belgian Revolution]] of 1830 gave the area its freedom from the Netherlands and ushered in a new era of prosperity, still based mostly on glass, metallurgy and coal, hence the area's name, ''Pays Noir'' ("Black Country"). After the [[Industrial Revolution]], Charleroi benefited from the increased use of coke in the metallurgical industry. People from across [[Europe]] were attracted by the economic opportunities, and the population grew rapidly.

Following the [[Industrial Revolution]] in [[Wallonia]], Charleroi from the 1850s–1860s became one of the most important places where labor strikes broke out. In 1886, 12 strikers were killed by the Belgian army in [[Roux, Belgium|Roux]]. In the 1880s, miners in [[Province of Hainaut|Hainaut]] were recruited by the Dominion Coal Company in [[Glace Bay, Nova Scotia]].<ref>But a consular report indicated they were dissatisfied with wages and working conditions, and they moved to other mining centers. These Walloon miners were experienced in organizing unions and working-men's associations. They immigrated also to collieries on [[Vancouver Island]] in Canada. See Louis Balthazar, Leen Haenens, ''Images of Canadianness: Visions on Canada's Politics, Culture, Economics'', International Council for Canadian Studies, University of Ottawa Press, 1998, {{ISBN|0-7766-0489-9}}.</ref> These miners were anxious to flee the repression following bloody strikes and riots in [[Liège]] and Charleroi<ref>Louis Balthazar and Leen Haenens, ''Images of Canadianness: Visions on Canada's Politics, Culture, Economics'', International Council for Canadian Studies, University of Ottawa Press, 1998, p. 73, {{ISBN|0-7766-0489-9}}.</ref> during the [[Walloon Jacquerie of 1886]]. Walloon miners from Charleroi also emigrated to [[Alberta]], Canada.<ref>
Miners from Wallonia began arriving at the collieries in Alberta to work for West Canadian Collieries, founded in 1903 by a group of French and Belgian entrepreneurs, and for Canadian Coal Consolidated, a [[Paris]]-based firm. Léon Cabeaux, a well-known union leader, who had organized a particularly [[Walloon Jacquerie of 1886|violent strike]] in Hainaut in 1886, settled in [[Lethbridge]] and soon attracted disgruntled compatriots from the collieries in [[Pennsylvania]] in the US. The miners soon became deeply involved in labor radicalism, because in Alberta the [[mine disaster]]s were among the worst anywhere, and there were no provisions for the welfare of families of the miners maimed or killed in the workplace. Frank Soulet, Joseph Lothier and Gustave Henry emerged as dedicated socialist union leaders. in Louis Balthazar and Leen Haenens, ''Images of Canadianness: Visions on Canada's Politics, Culture, Economics'', International Council for Canadian Studies, University of Ottawa Press, 1998, p. 75, {{ISBN|0-7766-0489-9}}.</ref> The working men of Charleroi always played an important role in [[Belgian general strikes]] and particularly during the Belgian general strike of 1936, the [[Royal Question|general strike against Leopold III of Belgium]], and the [[Belgian general strike of 1960–1961|1960–1961 winter general strike]].

By 1871, the fortified walls around the city were completely torn down.

[[Battle of Charleroi|Heavy fighting]] took place during [[World War I]] due to the city's strategic location on the Sambre. The city was badly damaged with further destruction only being prevented by the [[Couillet Treaty]] agreed with the German forces which required the payment of 10 million Belgian Francs, foodstuffs, vehicles and armaments.<ref>{{cite news|author=Harriet O'Brien |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/charleroi-phoenix-from-the-flames-8658772.html |title=Charleroi: Phoenix from the flames &#124; Europe &#124; Travel |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |access-date=2016-08-07}}</ref> The magazine ''[[Spirou (magazine)|Spirou]]'', which featured the popular cartoon characters [[Lucky Luke]] and [[the Smurfs]], was launched by the publishing company [[Éditions Dupuis]] in 1938.<ref name="independent1">{{cite news|title=Charleroi: A richly rewarding gem &#124; Europe &#124; Travel|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/charleroi-a-richly-rewarding-gem-2348130.html|access-date=7 August 2016}}</ref> After [[World War II]], Charleroi witnessed a general decline of its heavy industry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/belgium/articles/the-10-best-things-to-see-and-do-in-charleroi-belgium/|title=The 10 Best Things To Do In Charleroi, Belgium|first=Ester|last=Meerman|website=Culture Trip|date=10 April 2018}}</ref> Following the merger with several surrounding municipalities in 1977, the city {{as of | 2013 | lc = on}} ranks as the largest city in [[Wallonia]] and the 4th largest in Belgium.

===Logotype===
As part of the effort to improve its identity, the city adopted a new logo and [[graphic charter]] in early 2015, designed by the Brussels studio Pam and Jenny.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Le logo de la ville de Charleroi plébiscité par un magazine canadien |url=https://www.rtbf.be/article/le-logo-de-la-ville-de-charleroi-plebiscite-par-un-magazine-canadien-9168950 |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=RTBF |language=fr}}</ref>

The crown of three triangles above the C has several meanings:<ref>{{Cite web |title=IDENTITÉ GRAPHIQUE DE CHARLEROI |url=http://www.charleroi-bouwmeester.be/identity-charleroi-logo |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=CHARLEROI BOUWMEESTER |language=fr-BE}}</ref>

* The triangular shape evokes the [[slag heaps]], yesterday black and today green, which symbolise the city's industrial past and its factories.
* It also recalls the crest of the cockerel designed by [[Pierre Paulus]] and [[Wallonia|symbol of Wallonia]].
* The crown refers to [[Charles II of Spain|King Charles II]] who gave his name to the city at the time of its foundation.
* The typography used is also very similar to that used in the logo of [[Ateliers de Constructions Electriques de Charleroi|ACEC]], a historic company founded, developed and finally closed down in Charleroi in 1989 after more than a century of existence.
<gallery>
File:Bruay-la-Buissière - Terril n° 10, 3 de Bruay Ouest (03).JPG|[[Slag heap]]
File:Flag of Wallonia.svg|Flag of Wallonia
File:Juan Carreño de Miranda and Assistants - Charles II, King of Spain - A61 - Hispanic Society of America.jpg|King [[Charles II of Spain|Charles II]]
File:ACEC - Logo venant des sacs plastique du Service Technique.jpg|Typography
</gallery>