Editing Mouscron (section)

===16th to 18th centuries===
In 1575, in the middle of the [[French Wars of Religion|Wars of Religion]], the castle was strengthened.  It was nevertheless besieged and taken by the [[Geuzen]], locally known as the ''Hurlus'' in 1579, before being taken back three months later.  In 1627, [[Philip IV of Spain]] promoted the seigneury to the rank of county.  The [[Franco-Dutch War]] under [[Louis XIV]] devastated this mostly agricultural region.  Mouscron and the surrounding area became [[France|French]] after the [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668)]].  Part of it rejoined the [[Southern Netherlands]] after the Treaty of Nijmegen (1678), which drew the frontier right through its territory.  It was finally completely ceded to the [[Southern Netherlands]] under the terms of the [[Treaty of Utrecht]] in 1713.  The textile industry started in Mouscron in the 1760s thanks to the imposition by [[Lille]] of a ban on the fabrication of ''molletons'', a mixture of [[flax]] and [[wool]], in [[Roubaix]] and [[Tourcoing]].  With the [[Battle of Fleurus (1794)]], Mouscron went back to [[France]].