Editing Dunkirk (section)

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Sinteligiuskerkduinkerke 11-03-2009 13-59-42.JPG|thumb|left|[[Church of Saint-Éloi, Dunkirk|Saint Eloi Church]]]]

A [[fishing village]] arose late in the tenth century, in the originally flooded coastal area of the [[English Channel]] south of the [[Western Scheldt]], when the area was held by the [[County of Flanders|Counts of Flanders]], vassals of the [[France in the Middle Ages|French]] Crown. About AD 960, Count [[Baldwin III, Count of Flanders|Baldwin III]] had a town wall erected in order to protect the settlement against [[Viking]] raids. The surrounding wetlands were drained and cultivated by the monks of nearby [[Bergues]] Abbey. The name ''Dunkirka'' was first mentioned in a [[tithe]] privilege of 27 May 1067, issued by Count [[Baldwin V, Count of Flanders|Baldwin V of Flanders]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} Count [[Philip I, Count of Flanders|Philip I]] (1157–1191) brought further large tracts of marshland under cultivation, laid out the first plans to build a [[Canal de Bergues|Canal from Dunkirk to Bergues]] and vested the Dunkirkers with [[market rights]].

In the late 13th century, when the [[House of Dampierre|Dampierre]] count [[Guy, Count of Flanders|Guy of Flanders]] entered into the [[Franco-Flemish War (1297–1305)|Franco-Flemish War]] against his [[suzerainty|suzerain]] King [[Philip IV of France|Philippe IV]] of [[Kingdom of France|France]], the citizens of Dunkirk sided with the French against their count, who at first was defeated at the 1297 [[Battle of Furnes]], but reached ''de facto'' autonomy upon the victorious [[Battle of the Golden Spurs]] five years later and exacted vengeance. Guy's son, Count [[Robert III, Count of Flanders|Robert III]] (1305–1322), nevertheless granted further city rights to Dunkirk; his successor Count [[Louis I, Count of Flanders|Louis I]] (1322–1346) had to face the [[Peasant revolt in Flanders 1323–1328|Peasant revolt of 1323–1328]], which was crushed by King [[Philip VI of France|Philippe VI]] of France at the 1328 [[Battle of Cassel (1328)|Battle of Cassel]], whereafter the Dunkirkers again were affected by the repressive measures of the French king.

Count Louis remained a loyal vassal of the French king upon the outbreak of the [[Hundred Years' War]] with [[Kingdom of England|England]] in 1337, and prohibited the maritime trade, which led to another revolt by the Dunkirk citizens. After the count had been killed in the 1346 [[Battle of Crécy]], his son and successor Count [[Louis I, Count of Flanders|Louis II of Flanders]] (1346–1384) signed a truce with the English; the trade again flourished and the port was significantly enlarged. However, in the course of the [[Western Schism]] from 1378, English supporters of [[Pope Urban VI]] (the Roman claimant) disembarked at Dunkirk, captured the city and flooded the surrounding estates. They were ejected by King [[Charles VI of France]], but left great devastations in and around the town.

Upon the extinction of the Counts of Flanders with the death of Louis II in 1384, Flanders was acquired by the [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundian]], Duke [[Philip the Bold]]. The fortifications were again enlarged, including the construction of a belfry [[daymark]] (a navigational aid similar to a non-illuminated lighthouse). As a strategic point, Dunkirk has always been exposed to political greed, by Duke [[Robert I, Duke of Bar|Robert I of Bar]] in 1395, by [[Louis de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol|Louis de Luxembourg]] in 1435 and finally by the [[Archduchy of Austria|Austrian]] archduke [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I of Habsburg]], who in 1477 married [[Mary of Burgundy]], sole heiress of late Duke [[Charles the Bold]]. As Maximilian was the son of Emperor [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick III]], all Flanders was immediately seized by King [[Louis XI of France]]. However, the archduke defeated the French troops in 1479 at the [[Battle of Guinegate (1479)|Battle of Guinegate]]. When Mary died in 1482, Maximilian retained Flanders according to the terms of the 1482 [[Treaty of Arras (1482)|Treaty of Arras]]. Dunkirk, along with the rest of Flanders, was incorporated into the [[Habsburg Netherlands]] and upon the 1581 secession of the [[Dutch Republic|Seven United Netherlands]], remained part of the [[Southern Netherlands]], which were held by [[Habsburg Spain]] (Spanish Netherlands) as [[Holy Roman Empire|Imperial]] fiefs.

[[File:View of Dunkerque in 1575.jpg|thumb|View of Dunkerque and harbour as of 1575]]