Editing Oudenaarde (section)

==History==

[[File:Oudenaarde, Belgium ; Deventer map.jpg|thumb|left|Oudenaarde on the [[Deventer map]] (around 1558)]]
[[File:Famien Strada Histoire-Capture of Oudenaarde 1582-ppn087811480 MG 8938p334.tif|thumb|left|Capture of Oudenaarde by [[Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma|Alexander Farnese]], 1582]]

===The glory of Ename===
{{Confusing section|date=July 2024}}<!-- Who did what: the son of Baldwin V, or Baldwin V, the son of Baldwin IV; and which Baldwin rebelled. -->

The history of the current municipality of Oudenaarde starts in 974, when [[Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor]] and king of [[Kingdom of Germany|Germany]], built one of its three fortifications on the [[Scheldt]] at Ename to protect his kingdom against possible attacks from [[Francia]] (next to the other frontier post at [[Valenciennes]], later in also the [[Margraviate of Antwerp]]).  Ename grew very fast.  By 1005, the town already had a couple of churches and had become the largest town in the [[Duchy of Lotharingia]].  In 1034, Ename was destroyed by an irregular army that surrendered the city to Count [[Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders|Baldwin IV]]. In 1047, the son of [[Baldwin V, Count of Flanders|Baldwin V]] (peacefully) received the imperial fief from the German emperor. The fief was, however, confiscated in 1047 when the Baldwins rebelled against the German empire. In 1062, Baldwin V, together with his wife, founded the [[Benedictine]] [[Ename Abbey|abbey of Saint Salvator]].  By that time, the former merchants and guild artisans of Ename easily got across the Scheldt to the recently founded city of Oudenaarde.<ref>Van Droogenbroeck, F. J. (2018), [https://www.academia.edu/35663101/ "De markenruil Ename – Valenciennes en de investituur van de graaf van Vlaanderen in de mark Ename"], ''Handelingen van de Geschied- en Oudheidkundige Kring van Oudenaarde'' 55. pp. 47–127.</ref>

===Oudenaarde’s golden age===
In the 11th century, Oudenaarde’s economy flourished, thanks to the proximity of the Scheldt and the burgeoning but vibrant cloth and tapestry industry.  Churches, cloisters and hospitals were built.  Throughout the Middle Ages, the city was one of the staunchest supporters of the counts of [[County of Flanders|Flanders]], defending them against insurrections from the South and even from [[Ghent]].  The city became known as the ''residence of the nobles''.  It built itself a flagship [[Oudenaarde Town Hall|town hall]] (built 1526–1537), which we can still admire today, and the St-Walburga church.  [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] stayed here for a couple of months in 1522 and fathered an illegitimate daughter, [[Margaret of Parma]], who was to become Regent of the Netherlands.

===Decline===
[[File:PM 057410 B Oudenaarde.jpg|thumb|left|Monument in Oudenaarde honoring the 40,000 members of the US 37th and 91st Divisions who fought there October 30 – November 11, 1918]]
During the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]], the people of Oudenaarde chose [[Protestantism]] and allied themselves with Ghent against [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]].  In 1582, after a prolonged siege by Margaret's son, [[Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma|Alexander Farnese]], the city finally gave in, causing most merchants, workers, and even nobles to flee.  Oudenaarde fell under the [[Counter-Reformation]], which for a short while revived the commerce of tapestry.  The glory days, however, never came back.  The French attacked and took the city three times in less than a century.  Fortifications were repeatedly improved in the 16th and 17th centuries, including additions by [[Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban|Vauban]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fortified-places.com/reliefs/audenarde.html |title=Fortified Places > Relief Maps > Audenarde |access-date=2007-01-04 |archive-date=2007-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209203748/http://www.fortified-places.com/reliefs/audenarde.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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 [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] regime. Like its neighbours, in the 1790s, it suffered religious curtailment imposed by the [[French Revolution]].

The city later [[Battle of the Lys and the Escaut#Battle|suffered damage]] during [[World War I]], which is commemorated by several monuments scattered around town.

During [[World War II]] the town was occupied by Nazi German forces in [[Battle of Belgium#15–21 May: Counterattacks and retreat to the coast|May 1940]]. The town was liberated by [[British armed forces|British forces]] on the 5th of September 1944.<ref>''Battle for the Escaut 1940: The France and Flanders Campaign'' by Jerry Murland, pg. xi</ref>