Editing Simon Stevin (section)

=== Simon Stevin's travels ===
Stevin left Bruges in 1571 apparently without a particular destination.  Stevin was most likely a [[Calvinist]] since a [[Catholic]] would likely not have risen to the position of trust he later occupied with [[Maurice, Prince of Orange]].  It is assumed that he left Bruges to escape the religious persecution of Protestants by the Spanish rulers. Based on references in his work ''"Wisconstighe Ghedaechtenissen"'' (Mathematical Memoirs), it has been inferred that he must have moved first to Antwerp where he began his career as a merchant's [[clerk]].<ref>Dijksterhuis E.J. (ed.), The Principal Works of Simon     Stevin, vol I, Mechanics (N.V. Swets & Zeitlinger, Amsterdam 1955)</ref> Some biographers mention that he travelled to [[Prussia]], [[Poland]], [[Denmark]], [[Norway]] and [[Sweden]] and other parts of [[Northern Europe]], between 1571 and 1577.  It is possible that he completed these travels over a longer period of time.  In 1577 Simon Stevin returned to Bruges and was appointed [[clerk|city clerk]] by the [[aldermen]] of Bruges, a function he occupied from 1577 to 1581.  He worked in the office of Jan de Brune of the [[Brugse Vrije]], the [[castellany]] of Bruges.

Why he had returned to Bruges in 1577 is not clear.  It may have been related to the political events of that period. Bruges was the scene of intense religious conflict. Catholics and Calvinists alternately controlled the government of the city.  They usually opposed each other but would occasionally collaborate in order to counteract the dictates of King [[Philip II of Spain]].  In 1576 a certain level of official religious tolerance was decreed. This could explain why Stevin returned to Bruges in 1577.  Later the Calvinists seized power in many Flemish cities and incarcerated Catholic clerics and secular governors supportive of the Spanish rulers.  Between 1578 and 1584 Bruges was ruled by Calvinists.