Editing Wavre (section)

==History==

===Antiquity and Middle Ages===
The foundations of a wealthy [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[villa]] were found very close to Wavre, complete with a portico and many rooms.  This part of [[Gaul]], however, was ravaged by the [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] invasions in the 3rd and 4th century, and it is only in the year 1050 that Wavre was mentioned for the first time, as a dependency of the [[County of Leuven]], part of the [[Brabant (landgraviat)|Brabant]] [[pagus]].  The chapel built by the counts near the former [[Gallo-Roman]] villa was ceded to the [[Affligem Abbey]] a few years later.  By the 13th century a market already existed in the budding town built at the crossroads of the [[Brussels]]-[[Namur]] and [[Nivelles]]-[[Leuven]] roads.  In 1222, Duke [[Henry I, Duke of Brabant|Henry I]] of [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]] granted the town its city [[charter]].  At around the same time, the Affligem Abbey expanded its Wavre possessions into a [[priory]], which attracted pilgrims from a wide region around the city.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Le coeur de Wavre |url=https://www.wavre.be/le-coeur-de-wavre |access-date=2023-07-09 |website=Ville de Wavre |language=fr}}</ref>

===16th- to 18th-century disasters===
The relative peace of the city came to an end on 8 March 1489, when Duke [[Albert III, Duke of Saxony|Albert]] of [[Duchy of Saxony|Saxony]] took it and pillaged it in retaliation for Wavre's sympathy with [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]]’s revolt against [[Austria]].  From then on until the beginning of the 18th century, the city went through one disaster after another.  Between the destruction by Duke [[Charles, Duke of Guelders|Charles]] of [[Duchy of Guelders|Guelders]] in 1504 and that brought by [[Louis XIV]]’s wars around 1700, Wavre would know several debilitating crises, either at the hand of foreign armies (e.g., the Spanish in 1604) or because of epidemics (1624–1625, 1668) or major fires (28 April 1695 and 17 July 1714).  The 18th century was relatively prosperous, but a troubled period started again around 1790, with Wavre's participation in the [[United States of Belgium|Brabant Revolution]] against [[Austria]]n interests.  After the [[Battle of Fleurus (1794)]], the city became [[France|French]].  Like many of its neighbours, the city suffered from mandatory [[conscription]], curtailment of religious freedoms, and the dissolution of the old administrative offices.

===From Waterloo until now===
On 18 and 19 June 1815, the [[Battle of Wavre]] was fought here on the same day as the [[Battle of Waterloo]]. [[Napoleon]] had sent [[Emmanuel de Grouchy, Marquis de Grouchy|Marshal Grouchy]] to pursue part of the retreating [[Prussia]]n army under the command of General [[Johann von Thielmann]].  Despite hearing the cannon sound from nearby Waterloo, Grouchy decided to obey his orders and engage the one Prussian Corps in Wavre. By the time Grouchy's battle was over, Napoleon had already lost at Waterloo.

The century that followed saw the expansion of local industry, including foundries, a paper mill, and a sugar refinery.  Wavre was severely affected by both world wars, with heavy fighting, bombing and several houses put on fire. In the 21st century, Wavre enjoyed renewed prosperity as the capital of the Belgian province of [[Walloon Brabant]] created in 1995.