Editing Roeselare (section)

==History==

===Origins and Middle Ages===
Traces of early dwellings have been found in the area, including prehistoric flint tools, [[Gallo-Roman]] wells, and a small 9th century [[Franks|Frankish]] building.  The first mention of ''Roslar'' dates from a document dated 821 or 822, whereby the former domain of the [[Menapii]], also called the ''Rollare'' [[villa]] in later documents, was given to [[Elnon Abbey]].  According to legend, [[Baldwin I, Count of Flanders|Baldwin Iron Arm, Count of Flanders]], kidnapped Judith, the daughter of [[Charles the Bold]] in 862 in [[Senlis, Oise|Senlis]] and brought her to a fortress that used to be where the present [[Rumbeke Castle]] stands.  The Roeselare area soon became part of the [[County of Flanders]]. The rights to build fortifications and to hold a public market date from 957, during the lordship of [[Baldwin III, Count of Flanders|Baldwin III]].

The city received its [[charter]] of freedoms in the mid-13th century, period in which it also built its first city hall and belfry.  The manufacturing of cloth was then the main driver of the local economy.  The few defensive walls that the city had were no match against the forces of [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian of Austria]], who utterly destroyed the city at the end of the 15th century.  The market hall and [[Saint Michael]] church were rebuilt in the year 1500.

===16th century to Waterloo===

The center of Roeselare belonged throughout history to the [[Wijnendale Castle|Fiefdom of Wijnendale]] and therefore fell under the responsibility of the [[Duchy of Cleves|House of Cleves]] in the 15th and 16th century and under the Dukes of [[Palatinate-Neuburg]] in the 17th and 18th century.

The 16th century proved to be disastrous for the city as the Spanish rulers ruthlessly repressed any desire for autonomy in the [[Low Countries]], both political and religious. [[Iconoclasm|Iconoclasts]] stormed the city in 1566 and destroyed most of the sacred art.  The [[Eighty Years' War]] that followed put an end to the wool supply from England, which in turn resulted in the disappearance of the cloth industry in Roeselare.  Starting with the reigns of Archdukes [[Albert VII, Archduke of Austria|Albert]] and [[Isabella Clara Eugenia|Isabella]], the beginning of the 17th century was a lot kinder to Roeselare.  New churches and religious houses were built and old ones repaired.  New schools also appeared in the city and the cloth industry found a new life.  The second half of the century, however, was marked by the wars of [[Louis XIV]] and Marshal [[Turenne]] against the Spanish, with further plundering and misery.  The [[Treaty of Nijmegen]] in 1678 made Roeselare a border city, a situation that encouraged smuggling rather than regular economic development.

The 18th century was a generally prosperous period that saw the construction of the current city hall.  In 1794, the area was the scene of a French victory over the [[Austrians]].  The victors imposed deep reforms on the country, such as a new legal system (the [[Napoleonic Code]]) and the curtailment of religious freedoms, which lasted until the [[Concordat of 1802]] between [[Napoleon]] and [[Pope Pius VII]].

===Modern era===
[[File:Rodenbachsblad.jpg|thumb|upright|Excerpt of a newspaper called after [[Albrecht Rodenbach]], ''the Rodenbachsblad'' from 1909. Preserved in the [[Ghent University Library]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Rodenbachsblad.|url=https://lib.ugent.be/viewer/archive.ugent.be:9A79955A-FF86-11E2-92A2-71E897481370#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-2837,-1,8911,4976|access-date=2020-09-28|website=lib.ugent.be}}</ref>]]
Several members of the Rodenbach family of Roeselare took part in the events leading to [[Belgian Revolution|Belgian Independence]] in 1830.  Other members of the family became soldiers or diplomats.  Pedro and Alexander founded the brewery which is still in operation today. The general economy, however, did not fare very well as [[mechanization]] displaced many small artisans. The advent of the railway and the digging of a canal linking the city to the river [[Lys (river)|Lys]] in the 1860s were beneficial. World War I stopped the economic boom in its tracks as the city became a large camp ground for the German troops fighting on the front lines in neighbouring [[Diksmuide]].  By the end of the war, two thirds of the city was destroyed due to British bombing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=TC19171229.2.25.6|title=Papers Past – BRITISH AIR RAID AT ROULERS. (Colonist, 1917-12-29)|first=National Library of New|last=Zealand|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref> The [[Transport Office of the Devastated Territories of West Flanders]] was set-up in Spanjestraat 56 after the war.

During [[World War II]], on 27 and 28 May 1940, the Belgian army lost its last stand here against the advancing [[Wehrmacht]]. This was followed by four years of German occupation, although without too much destruction. The city was liberated by the [[1st Armoured Division (Poland)|Polish 1st Armoured Division]] in September 1944 (see also ''[[Belgium–Poland relations]]'').<ref name=pr>{{cite web|url=https://www.polskieradio.pl/399/7980/Artykul/3422238,W-belgijskim-Roeselare-otwarto-Memorial-gen-Stanislawa-Maczka-Pierwszy-taki-w-tym-kraju|title=W belgijskim Roeselare otwarto Memoriał gen. Stanisława Maczka. Pierwszy taki w tym kraju|website=Polskie Radio|language=pl|date=6 September 2024|access-date=15 November 2024}}</ref>

The city today is a regional center that provides commercial and media services, as well as a variety of occupations in the food industry, to the surrounding area.