Editing Geraardsbergen (section)

==History==
[[File:Geraardsbergen 1649 Blaeu.jpg|thumb|left|Geraardsbergen in 1649]]
Geraardsbergen is one of the oldest cities in Belgium. It came into existence close to the settlement of Hunnegem and in 1068 was one of the first communities in Western Europe to be granted [[City status in Belgium|city status]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geraardsbergen.be/content/content/record.php?ID=1158&s_navID=229|title=Stad Geraardsbergen - Geschiedenis van de stad Geraardsbergen|access-date=2010-03-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706134204/http://www.geraardsbergen.be/content/content/record.php?ID=1158&s_navID=229|archive-date=2011-07-06|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The city was destroyed in 1381 by [[Walter IV of Enghien]] and his troops. According to legend, during the siege local people threw some of their left over food over the city wall to show that they had sufficient food to survive a long siege. This bravado notwithstanding, the city was still captured by Enghien's troops. Every year the city organizes the [[Krakelingen and Tonnekensbrand|''krakelingenworp'']] carnival on top of the hill at Oudenberg ({{convert|111|m}}) to celebrate this historical event.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geraardsbergen.be/content/content/record.php?ID=2195|title=Stad Geraardsbergen - Krakelingen & Tonnekensbrand (Eng)|access-date=2010-03-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706134253/http://www.geraardsbergen.be/content/content/record.php?ID=2195|archive-date=2011-07-06|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 29{{nbsp}}May 1815, shortly before the [[Battle of Waterloo]], [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Wellington]] and [[Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher|Blücher]] reviewed the Allied cavalry here. Some 6,000 troops were paraded in meadows on the banks of the [[Dender]] between Geraardsbergen and Jedeghem.<ref>[[Alexander Cavalié Mercer|Cavalié Mercer]], ''Journal of the [[Waterloo Campaign]] Kept throughout the Campaign of 1815, Da Capo Press, 1995</ref>
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