Editing Ronse (section)

=== Early settlements to 14th century ===

The hills around Ronse show clues of human activity in the [[Paleolithic]] period.  In the [[Neolithic]], the area was populated with settled farmers and cattle breeders.  Assorted fragments of building structures also attest of settlements in the area during [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] times.  Ronse's urban center took shape in the 7th century, when [[Saint Amand]] – or one of his successors – built a church and monastery in honour of [[Saint Peter]] and [[Paul of Tarsus|Saint Paul]].  In the 9th century, Ronse and its monastery were given to the [[Inde]] Monastery (in [[Cornelismünster]], near [[Aachen]]) by [[Louis the Pious]].  It is around that time that the relics of [[Saint Hermes]] arrived in Ronse.  During those troubled times, [[Viking]] raids forced the monks to flee the town more than once, and the monastery was burnt by the [[Normans]] in 880.  The relics were recovered in 940 and housed in a [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]]-style [[crypt]] in 1083.  The church of Saint Hermes, which was later built on top of the crypt, was [[consecration|consecrated]] in 1129.  A pilgrimage in honour of the Saint, who had by then become known to cure mental illnesses, sustained the local economy.  There is still a French saying today which translates as "Saint Hermes cures the area's madmen but keeps the Ronse dwellers as they are".  The [[Lord]] of Ronse, Gerard de Wautripont, who was also in charge of the Inde Monastery at that time, gave the town all the privileges of a city in 1240.  A few years later, the economy was flourishing and the Inde Monastery sold all its Ronse-based possessions.  Until the [[French Revolution]], the Ronse [[Manorialism|seigneury]] – a [[baron]]y as of 1549 – included an [[enclave]], the Ronse [[exclusive right|Franchise]], which was administered by the [[Chapter (religion)|Chapter]] of Saint Hermes with complete juridical and fiscal independence and its own justice system.