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Zog I

Zog I (Ahmed Muhtar Zogolli; 8 October 1895 – 9 April 1961) was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's youngest ever Prime Minister (1922–1924), then as president (1925–1928), and finally as king (1928–1939).

Born to a beylik family in Ottoman Albania, Zog was active in Albanian politics from a young age and fought on the side of Austria-Hungary during the First World War. In 1922, he adopted the name Ahmed Zogu. He held various ministerial posts in the Albanian government before being driven into exile in June 1924, but returned later in the year with Yugoslav and White Russian military support and was subsequently elected prime minister. Zog was elected president in January 1925 and vested with dictatorial powers, with which he enacted major domestic reforms, suppressed civil liberties, and struck an alliance with Benito Mussolini's Italy. In September 1928, Albania was proclaimed a monarchy and he acceded to the throne as Zog I, King of the Albanians. He married Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Appony in 1938, and their only child Leka was born a year later.

Albania fell further under Italian influence during Zog's reign, and by the end of the 1930s the country had become almost fully dependent on Italy despite Zog's resistance. In April 1939, Italy invaded Albania and the country was rapidly overrun. Mussolini declared Albania an Italian protectorate under King Victor Emmanuel III, forcing Zog into exile. He lived in England during the Second World War but was barred from returning to Albania by Enver Hoxha's communist regime. Zog spent the rest of his life in France and died in April 1961 at the age of 65. His remains were buried at the Thiais Cemetery near Paris, before being transferred to the royal mausoleum in Tirana in 2012.

Background and early political career
Zog was born as Ahmed Muhtar Zogolli in Burgajet Castle, near Burrel in northern Albania, third son to Xhemal Pasha Zogolli, and first son by his second wife Sadije Toptani in 1895. His family was a beylik family of landowners, with feudal authority over the region of Mati. His grandfather was Xhelal Pasha Zogolli. His mother's Toptani family claimed to be descended from the sister of Albania's greatest national hero, the 15th-century general Skanderbeg. He was educated at Galatasaray High School (French: Lycée Impérial de Galatasaray) in Beyoğlu, a district of the capital of the Ottoman Empire, Upon his father's death in 1911, Zogolli became governor of Mat, being appointed ahead of his elder half-brother, Xhelal Bey Zogolli.

In 1912, he participated in the Albanian Declaration of Independence as the representative of the Mat District. As a young man during the First World War, Zogolli volunteered on the side of Austria-Hungary. He was detained at Vienna in 1917 and 1918 and in Rome in 1918 and 1919 before returning to Albania in 1919. During his time in Vienna, he grew to enjoy a Western European lifestyle. Upon his return, Zogolli became involved in the political life of the fledgling Albanian government that had been created in the wake of the First World War. His political supporters included many southern feudal landowners called beys, Turkish for "province chieftain" with title variations including Beyg, Begum, Bygjymi. The Bey title refers to the social group to which he belonged, which was also used by noble families in the north, along with merchants, industrialists, and intellectuals. During the early 1920s, Zogolli served as Governor of Shkodër (1920–1921), Minister of the Interior (March–November 1920, 1921–1924), and chief of the Albanian military (1921–1922). His primary rivals were Luigj Gurakuqi and Fan S. Noli. In 1922, Zogolli formally changed his surname from Zogolli to Zogu, which sounds more Albanian.

In 1923, he was shot and wounded in Parliament. A crisis arose in 1924 after the assassination of one of Zogu's industrialist opponents, Avni Rustemi; in the aftermath, a leftist revolt forced Zogu, along with 600 of his allies, into exile in June 1924. He returned to Albania with the backing of Yugoslav forces and Yugoslavia-based General Pyotr Wrangel's White Russian troops led by Russian Gen Sergei Ulagay and became Prime Minister.

President of Albania
Zogu was officially elected as the first President of Albania by the Constituent Assembly on 21 January 1925, taking office on 1 February for a seven-year term. A new constitution vested Zogu with sweeping executive and legislative powers, to the point that he was effectively a dictator. He had the right to appoint all major government personnel, as well as one-third of the lower house.

Zogu's government followed the European model, though large parts of Albania still maintained a social structure unchanged from the days of Ottoman rule, and most villages were serf plantations run by the Beys. On 28 June 1925, Zogu ceded Sveti Naum to Yugoslavia in exchange for Peshkëpi (Pëshkupat) village and other concessions.

Zogu enacted several major reforms. His principal ally during this period was the Kingdom of Italy, which lent his government funds in exchange for a greater role in Albania's fiscal policy. His administration was marred by disputes with Kosovo Albanian leaders, primarily Hasan Prishtina and Bajram Curri, among others. On the debit side, Zogu's Albania was a police state in which civil liberties were all but nonexistent and the press was closely censored. Political opponents were imprisoned and often killed. For all intents and purposes, he held all governing power in the nation.

Albanian king

On 1 September 1928, Albania was transformed into a kingdom, and President Zogu declared himself to be Zog I, with the title King of the Albanians. He appointed as his advisor Mehmed Orhan Efendi, a prince of the recently-abolished Ottoman Empire. He took as his regnal name his surname rather than his forename since the Islamic name Ahmet might have had the effect of isolating him on the European stage. He also initially took the parallel name "Skanderbeg III" (Zogu claimed to be a successor of Skanderbeg through descent through Skanderbeg's sister; "Skanderbeg II" was taken to be Prince Wied, but this fell out of use).

On the same day as he declared himself king (he was never technically crowned), he also declared himself Field Marshal of the Royal Albanian Army. He proclaimed a constitutional monarchy similar to the contemporary regime in Italy, created a strong police force, and instituted the Zogist salute (flat hand over the heart with palm facing downwards). Zog hoarded gold coins and precious stones, which were used to back Albania's first paper currency.

Zog's mother, Sadije, was declared Queen Mother of Albania, and Zog also gave his brother and sisters Royal status as Prince and Princesses Zogu. One of his sisters, Senije (c. 1897 – 1969), married Shehzade Mehmed Abid Efendi, another Ottoman prince and son of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

Zog's constitution forbade any Prince of the Royal House from serving as Prime Minister or a member of the Cabinet, and contained provisions for the potential extinction of the royal family. The constitution also forbade the union of the Albanian throne with that of any other country, a term which would later be violated with the Italian invasion. Under the Zogist constitution, the King of the Albanians, like the King of the Belgians, ascended the throne and exercised Royal powers only after taking an oath before Parliament; Zog himself swore an oath on the Bible and the Quran (the king being Muslim) in an attempt to unify the country. In 1929, King Zog abolished Islamic law in Albania, adopting in its place a civil code based on the Swiss one, as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had done in Turkey in the same decade. Although nominally a constitutional monarch, in practice Zog retained the dictatorial powers he had enjoyed as president. Thus, in effect, Albania remained a military dictatorship.

In 1938, as a result of a request from his advisor and friend Constantino Spanchis, Zog opened the borders of Albania to Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in Nazi Germany.

Life as king

Although born as an aristocrat and hereditary Bey, King Zog was somewhat ignored by other monarchs in Europe because he was a self-proclaimed monarch who had no links to any other European royal families. Nonetheless, he did have strong connections with Muslim royal families in the Arab World, particularly Egypt, whose ruling dynasty had Albanian origins. As king, he was honoured by the governments of Italy, Luxembourg, Egypt, Yugoslavia, France, Romania, Greece, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Austria.

Zog had been engaged to the daughter of Shefqet Bey Verlaci before he became king. Soon after he became king, however, he broke off the engagement. According to traditional customs of blood vengeance prevalent in Albania at the time, Verlaci had the right and obligation to kill Zog. The king frequently surrounded himself with a personal guard and avoided public appearances. He also feared that he might be poisoned, so the mother of the king assumed supervision of the royal kitchen.

In April 1938, Zog married Countess Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Appony, a Roman Catholic aristocrat who was half-Hungarian and half-American. The ceremony was broadcast throughout Tirana via Radio Tirana that was officially launched by the monarch five months later. Their only child, Crown Prince Leka, was born in Albania on 5 April 1939.

Assassination attempts
About 600 blood feuds reportedly existed against Zog, and during his reign he reputedly survived more than 55 assassination attempts. One of these occurred inside the corridors of the Albanian Parliament premises on 23 February 1924. Beqir Valteri, originating from the same area as Zog, was waiting for him and opened fire suddenly. Zog was shot twice. Meanwhile, Valteri fled but, surrounded by the militia, took refuge in one of the bathrooms, refusing to surrender and singing patriotic songs. According to the memoirs of Ekrem Vlora, he surrendered after the intervention of Qazim Koculi and Ali Klissura. Zog stepped down briefly from political activity, but promised to forgive Valteri. Valteri, a member of the revolutionary Bashkimi ("The union") committee led by Avni Rustemi, was set free by the Court of Tirana after declaring that it was an individual act. Meanwhile, all rumors pointed to the opposition, specifically to Rustemi. Two weeks later Zog and Valteri would meet in private. Soon after, Rustemi would be shot.

Another attempt occurred on 21 February 1931, while Zog was visiting the Vienna State Opera house for a performance of Pagliacci. The attackers (Aziz Çami and Ndok Gjeloshi) struck whilst Zog was getting into his car. The attempt was organized by "National Union" (Bashkimi Kombëtar"), a union of Zog opponents in exile which was formed in Vienna (1925) with the initiative of Ali Këlcyra, Sejfi Vllamasi, Xhemal Bushati etc. Zog was in the company of Minister Eqrem Libohova who was wounded, while Zog's guard Llesh Topallaj was mistaken for Zog by Gjeloshi, who shot him three times in the back of the head. Çami's gun was stuck and did not fire. Zog came out of the event unharmed, thanks also to the prompt intervention of Albanian Consul Zef Serreqi and local police. The Austrian authorities arrested Çami, Gjeloshi, and later Qazim Mulleti, Rexhep Mitrovica, Menduh Angoni, Angjelin Suma, Luigj Shkurti, Sejfi Vllamasi, etc. All the Albanian political émigrés in Vienna were subsequently arrested, beside Hasan Prishtina. Most of them were quickly released and expelled from Austria. Gjeloshi was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months of jail, while Çami got 2 years and 6 months.

Relations with Italy
The fascist government of Benito Mussolini's Italy had supported Zog since early in his presidency; that support had led to increased Italian influence in Albanian affairs. The Italians compelled Zog to refuse to renew the First Treaty of Tirana (1926), although Zog still retained British officers in the Gendarmerie as a counterbalance against the Italians, who had pressured Zog to remove them.

During the worldwide depression of the early 1930s, Zog's government became almost completely dependent on Mussolini. Grain had to be imported, many Albanians emigrated, and Italians were allowed to settle in Albania. In 1932 and 1933, Albania could not pay the interest on its loans from the Society for the Economic Development of Albania, and the Italians used this as a pretext for further dominance. They demanded that Tirana put Italians in charge of the Gendarmerie, join Italy in a customs union, and grant the Italian Kingdom control of Albania's sugar, telegraph, and electrical monopolies. Finally, Italy called for the Albanian government to establish teaching of the Italian language in all Albanian schools, a demand that was swiftly refused by Zog. In defiance of Italian demands, he ordered the national budget to be slashed by 30 percent, dismissed all Italian military advisers, and nationalized Italian-run Roman Catholic schools in the north of Albania to decrease Italian influence on the population of Albania. In 1934, he tried without success to build ties with France, Germany, and the Balkan states. Albania then drifted back into the Italian orbit.

Two days after the birth of Zog's son and heir apparent, on 7 April 1939 (Good Friday), Mussolini's Italy invaded, facing no significant resistance. The Albanian army was ill-equipped to resist, as it was almost entirely dominated by Italian advisors and officers and was no match for the Italian Army. The Italians were, however, resisted by small elements in the gendarmerie and general population. The royal family, realising that their lives were in danger, fled into exile, taking with them a considerable amount of gold from the National Bank of Tirana and Durrës. Since the royal family had expected an Italian invasion, the gathering of gold had started in advance. "Oh God, it was so short" were King Zog's last words to Geraldine on Albanian soil. Mussolini declared Albania a protectorate under Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III. While some Albanians continued to resist, "a large part of the population ... welcomed the Italians with cheers", according to one contemporary account.

Former heir presumptive
Prior to the birth of Prince Leka, the position of heir presumptive was held by Tati Esad Murad Kryziu, Prince of Kosova, who was born 24 December 1923 in Tirana, and who was the son of the King's sister, Princess Nafije. He became an honorary General of the Royal Albanian Army in 1928, at age five. He was made Heir Presumptive with the style of His Highness and title of "Prince of Kosova" (Princ i Kosovës) in 1931. After the royal house's exile, he moved to France, where he died in August 1993, aged 69.

Life in exile and death
The royal family fled to Greece. Zog, speaking a few days after his arrival there, characterized Hitler and Mussolini as madmen facing "two fools who sleep": Chamberlain and Daladier. Zog went on to declare, "We prefer to die, from the littlest child to the oldest man, to show our independence is not for sale." The world, aware that Zog and his entourage had carried off most of the Albanian treasury's gold, was not impressed. After a short stay in Greece, the Zog party went to Istanbul in Turkey, then fled through Romania, Poland, Latvia, Sweden, Norway, Belgium to Paris. Zog and his family lived a time in France and fled when the Germans invaded. Their escape from France was helped by Prince Mehmed Orhan Osmanoğlu from the Ottoman Imperial Dynasty, who was aide-de-camp of Zog I.

The royal family then settled in England. Their first residence was at The Ritz in London. This was followed in 1941 by a brief stay at Forest Ridge, a house in the South Ascot area of Sunninghill in Berkshire, near where Zog's nieces had been at school in Ascot. In 1941 they moved to Parmoor House, Parmoor, near Frieth in Buckinghamshire, with some staff of the court living in locations around Lane End.

In 1946, Zog and most of his family left England and went to live in Egypt at the behest of King Farouk. In 1951, Zog bought the Knollwood estate in Muttontown, New York, Long Island but the sixty-room estate was never occupied; it quickly fell into ruin and Zog sold the estate in 1955. Farouk was overthrown in 1952, and the family left for France in 1955.

He made his final home in France, where he died at the Foch Hospital, Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine on 9 April 1961, aged 65, of an undisclosed condition. Zog was said to have regularly smoked 200 cigarettes a day, giving him a possible claim to the dubious title of the world's heaviest smoker in 1929, but had been seriously ill for some time. He was survived by his wife and son, and was initially buried at the cimetière parisien de Thiais, near Paris. On his death, his son Leka was pronounced H. M. King Leka of the Albanians by the exiled Albanian community.

His widow, Geraldine, died of natural causes in 2002 at the age of 87 in a military hospital in Tirana.

Political legacy

During World War II, three resistance groups were operating in Albania: the nationalists, the royalists and the communists. Some of the Albanian establishment opted for collaboration. The communist partisans refused to co-operate with the other resistance groups and eventually took control of the country. They were able to defeat the Nazi remnants and had full control of Albania in November 1944.

Zog attempted to reclaim his throne after the war. However, when the new Communist-dominated government seized power, one of its first acts was to ban Zog from ever returning to Albania. It formally deposed him in 1946.

In 1952, his representatives met with the representatives of the Yugoslavian government over possible collaboration. Sponsored by MI6 and the CIA, some forces loyal to Zog attempted to mount infiltrations into the country, but most were ambushed due to intelligence sent to the Soviet Union by spy Kim Philby.

A referendum in 1997 – seven years after the end of Communist rule – proposed to restore the monarchy in the person of Zog's son Leka Zogu who, since 1961, had been styled "Leka I, King of the Albanians". The official but disputed results stated that about two-thirds of voters favoured a continued republican government. Leka, believing the result to be fraudulent, attempted an armed uprising: he was unsuccessful and was forced into exile, although he later returned and lived in Tirana until his death on 30 November 2011. A main street in Tirana was later renamed "Boulevard Zog I" by the Albanian government.

Repatriation to Albania
In October 2012, the government of Albania decided to bring back the remains of the former king from France, where he died in 1961. Zog's body was exhumed from the Thiais Cemetery, Paris on 15 November 2012. A guard of honour was provided by the French President, in the form of French Legionnaires in ceremonial dress.

Zog's remains were returned in a state ceremony on 17 November 2012, coinciding with celebrations for Albania's independence centennial. The bodies of the king and his family members now lie in the reconstructed royal mausoleum in the capital Tirana. The interment was attended by the government of Albania, including the President and Prime Minister, and representatives of the former royal families of Romania, Montenegro, Russia and Albania.

Honours and awards
In Albania:

 * Decoration_without_ribbon_-_en.svg Sovereign Head of the Royal Albanian Collar of Honour
 * ALB Order of Fidelity (1939) - Grand Cross BAR.png Sovereign Head of the Order of Fidelity
 * ALB Order of Skanderbeg - Grand Cross BAR.png Sovereign Head of the Order of Skanderbeg
 * ALB Order of Fidelity BAR.png Sovereign Head of the Order of Bravery & Military Merit: First Class or Hero, breast star
 * ALB National Flag Order.png National Flag Order (posthumous)

From other countries:
 * Ord.Franz.Joseph-COM.png Commander of the Order of Franz Joseph with Swords (Austrian Empire, January 1917)
 * Legion Honneur GC ribbon.svg Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (France, 1926)
 * Order of the Most Holy Annunciation BAR.svg Knight of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (Kingdom of Italy, 16 December 1928 by Vittorio Emanuele III)
 * Cavaliere di gran Croce Regno SSML BAR.svg Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Kingdom of Italy, 16 December 1928)
 * Cavaliere di Gran Croce OCI Kingdom BAR.svg Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy (Kingdom of Italy, 16 December 1928)
 * Ordre du Lion d'Or de la Maison de Nassau ribbon.svg Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (Netherlands)
 * Order of Muhammad Ali (Egipt) - ribbon bar.gif Collar of the Order of Muhammad Ali (Kingdom of Egypt)
 * OrderofCarolI.ribbon.gif Grand Collar of the Order of Carol I (Kingdom of Romania, 1928)
 * SRB-SHS-YUG Orden Karađorđeve zvezde VKrst BAR.svg Grand Cross of the Order of the Karađorđe's Star (Kingdom of Yugoslavia)
 * GRE Order Redeemer 1Class.svg Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer (Kingdom of Greece)
 * BEL - Order of Leopold - Grand Cordon bar.svg Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (Belgium, 4 November 1929)
 * Bg1ocm.png Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit of Bulgaria (Kingdom of Bulgaria)
 * POL Order Orła Białego BAR.svg Order of the White Eagle (Poland)
 * CZE Rad Bileho Lva 3 tridy BAR.svg Collar First Class of the Order of the White Lion (Czechoslovakia)
 * AUT Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria - 1st Class BAR.svg Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (Austria)
 * Ordre du Lion d'Or de la Maison de Nassau ribbon.svg Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (Luxembourg)
 * Ord.S.Stef.Ungh. - GC.png Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary (Hungary, 1938)

Cultural references
Zog's name was in use by 1972 in the English language palaeontological mnemonic for the names of zonal index fossils in part of the Lower Carboniferous System of Great Britain (namely Cleistopora, which geologists decided to call 'zone k', Zaphrentis, Caninia, Seminula and Dibanophylum): "King Zog caught syphilis and died".

In the James Bond novel The Man with the Golden Gun, Ian Fleming writes of the villainous Francisco Scaramanga telling his compatriots that the Rastafari of Jamaica "believes it owes allegiance" to the King of Ethiopia, this "King Zog or what-have-you." Fleming had been assigned with the task of escorting Zog when in exile after Albania was annexed by Italy.

In Aria, a 1987 British anthology film, Zog was a character in the first of ten short self-contained segments, each by a different director and each featuring a different opera aria. This segment, entitled 'Un ballo in maschera' after the Giuseppe Verdi opera, was directed by Nicolas Roeg, with actor Theresa Russell playing King Zog during a fictionalized account of his visit to Vienna in 1931 and the assassination attempt on the steps of that city's opera house (as noted earlier, Zog had actually seen a performance of 'Pagliacci' before the real attack).

In the "new" Doc Savage pulp fiction novel, The Whistling Wraith (July 1993, Bantam/Spectra), from the original notes of Lester Dent (primary writer of the sagas) but now completed as a novel by Will Murray, the life & person of Zog, as well as Albania's political problems and foreign policy issues with Mussolini's Italy are key to the plot. The story slots into the Doc Savage timeline in 1938 (a few weeks after The Motion Menace, per p. 61). Egil Goz the First is clearly standing in for King Zog I, for both are Muslims and both were first president before being the first king of their Balkan nation. (Italy is Santa Bellanca, which is behaving badly in Africa in the work, a tie to the invasion and conquest of Ethiopia.)

In the animated series Disenchantment, King Zog is referenced as the first and only King of Albania.

In episode 13 of Monty Python's Flying Circus he is mentioned as a reporter for made-up news show called ProbeAround but suddenly dies.

title: Zog I


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Summons

A summons (also known in England and Wales as a claim form and in the Australian state of New South Wales as a court attendance notice (CAN)) is a legal document issued by a court (a judicial summons) or by an administrative agency of government (an administrative summons) for various purposes.

Judicial summons
A judicial summons is served on a person involved in a legal proceeding. Legal action may be in progress against the person, or the person's presence as witness may be required. In the former case, the summons will typically announce to the person to whom it is directed that a legal proceeding has been started against that person, and that a case has been initiated in the issuing court. In some jurisdictions, it may be drafted in legal English difficult for the layman to understand, while several U.S. states expressly require summonses to be drafted in plain English and that they must start with this phrase: "Notice! You have been sued."

The summons announces a date by which the person or persons summoned must either appear in court, or respond in writing to the court or the opposing party or parties. The summons is the descendant of the writ of the common law. It replaces the former procedure in common-law countries by which the plaintiff actually had to ask the sheriff to arrest the defendant in order for the court to obtain personal jurisdiction in both criminal and civil actions.

Citation/claim (legal term)
A citation, traffic violation ticket, or notice to appear is a type of summons prepared and served at the scene of the occurrence by a law enforcement official, compelling the appearance of a defendant before the local magistrate within a certain period of time to answer for a minor traffic infraction, misdemeanor, or other summary offence. Failure to appear within the allotted period of time is a separate crime of failure to appear.

In Australia, minor traffic and some summary offences are known as an infringement notice or a fine and can be dealt with by paying a particular monetary amount depending on the offence. The accused person has the right to have the matter heard in a court; if found not guilty the accused person pays nothing other than his legal costs (if any); if found guilty the accused person faces the prospect of a conviction for the offence and/or a substantial increase in the fine up to the maximum. For example, proceeding through a red light could go from A$353 up to A$2,200 if convicted in NSW. For more serious offences, a field court attendance notice is issued.

In the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, law enforcement officials may deal with certain minor offences, such as littering, by issuing a fixed penalty notice, colloquially called an "on-the-spot fine", although legally they are not fines. They allow the recipient to avoid going to court by paying a penalty fixed by statute. If such a notice is ignored or disputed, a court summons will be issued as for any other offence.

Civil summons
A civil summons is most often accompanied by a complaint. Depending on the type of summons, there is often an option to endorse a summons so that the entity being served may be identified. In the court system in California, for civil unlimited cases in the superior court, a summons will often have these options to endorse:
 * 1) as an individual;
 * 2) as the person sued under the fictitious name of __________________;
 * 3) on behalf of (usually for a company); or
 * 4) by personal delivery on __________

Administrative summons
One example of an administrative summons is found in the tax law of the United States. The Internal Revenue Code authorizes the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to issue a summons for a taxpayer—or any person having custody of books of account relating to a business of a taxpayer—to appear before the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate (generally, this means the IRS employee who issued the summons) at the time and place named in the summons. The person summoned may be required to produce books, papers, records, or other data, and to give testimony under oath before an IRS employee.

The IRS is also empowered to issue the section 7602 summons for the purpose of "inquiring into any offense connected with the administration or enforcement of the internal revenue laws".

The summons may be enforced by a court order, and the law provides a criminal penalty of up to one year in prison or a fine, or both, for failure to obey the summons, except that the person summoned may, to the extent applicable, assert a privilege against self incrimination or other evidentiary privileges, if applicable.

In the U.S. immigration court system, a "Notice to Appear" is an administrative summons ordering a respondent to appear before an immigration court for removal proceedings.

Australia
In the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) the service of a court attendance notice can be issued in a number of ways, the most common of which is by the NSW Police Force when charging someone after an arrest is made, a bail court attendance notice (with bail conditions) or regular court attendance notice is issued. Other methods the police use include via a paper form called a field court attendance notice (field CAN) which is issued to the accused person on the spot after an offence has been detected. Or by way of a future court attendance notice (future CAN), which replaced the old court issued summons and is served in person by police or sometimes by mail. In all of these cases, the CAN is filed at the court after it has been served.

England and Wales
Historically, in early English law, a summons was called an auxilium curiae, although this term is now obsolete.

In England and Wales, the various royal writs traditionally used to commence the forms of action were abolished by the Uniformity of Process Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 39). They were consolidated into a writ of summons, which like its predecessors, was traditionally issued in the name of the monarch.

From 1832 to 1980, a writ of summons in England and Wales began with the name of the court, case number, the word "Between", and the names of the parties to the case. This was followed by the name and full title of the current monarch, the word "To:", the defendant's name and their city of residence, and then the royal command, starting with the royal we: "WE COMMAND YOU that within 14 days after service of this Writ on you, inclusive of the date of service, you do cause an appearance to be entered for you in an action at the suit of [plaintiff's name] and take notice that in default of you so doing the Plaintiff may proceed therein, and judgment may be given in your absence". Next came the word "Witness," then the name and title of the Lord Chancellor, and the date on which the writ was issued.

The traditional writ language was changed in 1980 at the insistence of Lord Chancellor Hailsham, who felt that a command from the monarch was too intimidating for ordinary laypeople.

Therefore, as of 1992, a writ of summons simply gave notice, in lieu of the traditional royal command: "This Writ of Summons has been issued against you by the above-named Plaintiff in respect of the claim set out on the back. Within 14 days after the service of this Writ upon you, counting the day of service, you must either satisfy the claim or return to the Court Office mentioned below the accompanying Acknowledgement of Service stating therein whether you intend to contest these proceedings." This was followed by a paragraph warning of the risk of entry of default judgment. The writ was no longer witnessed by the Lord Chancellor and in lieu of that simply stated which court office had issued the writ.

In 1999, the writ of summons was replaced with the claim form by the Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (CPR). This was part of the CPR's reforms to simplify legal terminology; at the same time, the plaintiff was renamed the claimant. Despite its name, the claim form may but is not required to present the details of the claim itself. The statement of claim (which had already replaced the complaint in England and Wales under the Rules of the Supreme Court) was replaced by another document known as particulars of claim. The claim form (Form N1) has space for "brief details of claim" on the first page, and then on the third page, the claimant can either provide particulars of claim or indicate by tick box that they are "to follow" (that is, as a separate document).

Unlike the traditional writ of summons, the notice to the defendant about when to respond is no longer provided on the claim form itself. The CPR is oddly silent about this, but the claimant is generally expected to concurrently serve Form N1C, Notes to defendant on replying to the claim form, which does warn that the defendant must respond within 14 days of service of particulars of claim.

In criminal matters, either a requisition, summons or warrant is issued to initiate criminal proceedings.

Republic of Korea
In the Republic of Korea, a criminal summons may come from the Korean Prosecution Services or a Court of Law and is a manner to initiate criminal proceedings or call a witness in for questioning. A summons may be served on an individual within Korea or that is abroad.

United States
In most U.S. jurisdictions, the service of a summons is in most cases required for the court to have jurisdiction over the party who is being summoned. The process by which a summons is served is called service of process. The form and content of service in the federal courts is governed by Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and the rules of many state courts are similar. The federal summons is usually issued by the clerk of the court. In many states, the summons may be issued by an attorney, but some states use filing as the means to commence an action and in those states, the attorney must first file the summons in duplicate before it becomes effective. One or more copies are stamped by the court clerk with the court seal and returned to the attorney, who then uses it to actually serve the defendants. Other jurisdictions may only require that the summons be filed after it is served on the defendants. New York is distinguished by its permissive filing system, in which the summons or complaint need not be filed at all.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Summons


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Braine-le-Comte

Braine-le-Comte (’s-Gravenbrakel, ; Brinne-e-Hinnot) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

On January 1, 2018, Braine-le-Comte had a total population of 21,649. The total area is 84.68 sqkm which gives a population density of 260 inhabitants per km2.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Braine-le-Comte, Hennuyères, Henripont, Petit-Rœulx-lez-Braine, Ronquières, and Steenkerque.

The Ronquières inclined plane at the Canal du Centre is in the municipality of Braine-Le Comte.

History
On August 3, 1692, during the Nine Years War, the French army defeated a joint English-Dutch-German army in the Battle of Steenkerque in the current municipality of Braine-le-Comte.

Postal history
The Braine-le-Comte post-office opened before 1830. It used postal code 22 with bars (before 1864) and 53 with points (before 1874). The Hennuyères post office opened on 6 November 1865. It used postal code 161 with points (before 1874). The Ronquières post office opened on 10 January 1895.

Postal codes in 1969:
 * 7198 Ronquières
 * 7199 Henripont
 * 7490 Braine-le-Comte
 * 7491 Steenkerque
 * 7492 Petit-Rœulx-lez-Braine
 * 7498 Hennuyères

Notable people

 * Eden Hazard, Belgian international footballer
 * Thorgan Hazard, Belgian international footballer
 * Kylian Hazard, Belgian international footballer
 * Father Damien, a Roman Catholic Saint that attended the College of Braine-le-Comte in 1858

title: Braine-le-Comte


text:
Écaussinnes

Écaussinnes (Les Scassenes; Les Scåssenes) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

On 1 January 2018 Écaussinnes had a total population of 11,135. The total area is 34.77 km2 which gives a population density of 320 inhabitants per km2.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Écaussinnes-d'Enghien, Écaussinnes-Lalaing, and Marche-lez-Écaussinnes.

The city hosts the "Oberbayern" Festival each year in August, and hosted the Spring Blues Festival from 1988 to 2013.

History
To be expanded

Nearly 100 local citizens were saved from being killed by the German army by the intercession of Qian Xiuling. There is a street named Rue Perlinghi in her honour. "Perlinghi" was her married name.

Postal history
The ECAUSSINNES post-office opened on 1 December 1850. It used a postal code 158 with bars (before 1864), and 105 with points before 1874. The ECAUSSINNES-D'ENGHIEN post-office opened on 13 November 1879, MARCHE-LEZ-ECAUSSINNES on 10 May 1880.

Postal codes in 1969: - 7180 Marche-lez-Écaussinnes - 7190 Écaussinnes-d'Enghien - 7191 Écaussinnes-Lalaing

Postal codes since at least 1990: 7190, 7191 Écaussinnes-Lalaing

title: Écaussinnes


text:
Talk:House of Representatives (Netherlands)

Name
The name of this article is incorrect: the 2e Kamer is not the house of representatives as in the USA. There are no districts that send a representative to parliament. Secondly, the dutch translation of the term "house of representatives" is never used in the dutch context. In all cases the term 2nd chamber is used. I propose that this wiki be named 2nd Chamber or lower house of the Netherlands. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.249.241.3 (talk) 20:12, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

Sadly the official name ridiculously equates the Second Chamber with the House of Representataives. The official website of the Chamber is at http://www.houseofrepresentatives.nl/ for example. – Kaihsu (talk) 21:27, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Euhm no, the official website is at http://www.tweedekamer.nl/. It is in Dutch, being that of the Dutch parliament. The website quoted by you is the translation.
 * But even if you would make the point the translate website is "official" you should read the site which calls it "The Dutch House of Representatives" and not "The house of representatives of the Netherlands", so your move is not very well backed up. Arnoutf (talk) 21:39, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
 * The translated website mentioned is a website maintained and moderated by the government, hence it is an official website. They can (and should) however have an English website, since English is one of the official languages in the Netherlands. Why they chose the name "House of Representatives" rather than "Second Chamber", I don't know. In the part of the Netherlands where the majority of the population speaks English (Saba/Statia) it is more commonly referred to as Second Chamber (i.e. see several articles on www.sabanews.nl). However, if the Dutch government calls the parliament House of Representatives, I think we should call it that way, too. PPP (talk) 12:23, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
 * So is anyone going to move the page to Dutch House of Representatives?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.152.239.68 (talk) 14:05, 30 July 2010 (UTC)
 * No. The house is not called Dutch House of Representatives. It's called House of Representatives. And it's in The Netherlands. Hence the current title is correct and needs no adjustment. PPP (talk) 08:37, 16 September 2013 (UTC)
 * But the English-language version of the official website cited above as justifying our not calling this body the Second Chamber of the States General DOES call it "The Dutch House of Representatives" (even though that's a silly "translation" in my view and smacks of kowtowing to the United States). By the way, that official website is NOT "maintained and moderated by the government", as claimed above, but by the Second Chamber itself ("Dit is de officiële website van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal"). Government and parliament are not the same thing! -- Picapica (talk) 00:19, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Oh, and another thing, it is nonsense to claim that "English is one of the official languages in the Netherlands": De officiële taal in Nederland is het Nederlands / The official language in the Netherlands is Dutch - and only Dutch. That's not surprising given that only some 0.03% of Dutch citizens have English as their first home language, in any case: around 360 times as many citizens have Nedersaksisch as their first home language! -- Picapica (talk) 00:41, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Electoral districts
What do the 19 electoral districts do in this system? And why are the residual seats divided by nineteen? --rmhermen

 * The electoral districts don't seem to have much affect on the calculations, apart for a bit of an obstacle for new parties to get the signatures of support, but maybe they have some role in organising the elections, polling stations, ballot papers etc. I don't know what happens if a party submits a different candidate list for each district. Not sure what you mean by residual seats divided by nineteen: rather there's a different calculation method used if the number of remander seats is greater than 19. -(

 * The electoral districts are: 1. an obstable for new parties, they need 30 signatures in every district and 2. a way to place regional candidates only on a list in their home region. Parties can choose to have a list with the same candidates throughout the country, or different lists in every district or a group of districts, so every party has somewhere between 1 and 19 different lists. Usually only the last 5 candidates differ, but larger differences, although rare, may occur.

 * To calculate the total number of seats a party receives, the sum of votes on all these lists is used. When a party has more than 1 list, the seats a party received are further allocated on these lists by dividing the parties number of votes through the number of seats it received. Remainder seats are allocated using the largest surplus method. When candidates are declared elected on more than one list (what happens if there is hardly any difference between the different lists), they are elected on the list where they received the most preference votes. Usually this means that top candidates are elected on the list in either their home region, or the list from electoral district 7, Arnhem, the largest district, and backbenchers on the other lists. This also means that when a MP resigns, the list on which he was elected is used to nominate his replacement.

 * There is no different calculation system when the number of remainder seats is higher than 19. In practice the number of remainder seats in Second Chamber elections is 4-6. The D'Hondt system of largest averages is always used. You are probably confused with the municipal councils (gemeenteraden). When the number of seats of a council is 19 or higher, the D'Hondt method is used. This means that a party can win more than one remainder seat, and there is a preference for larger parties (making list combinations interesting). When the number of seats is 17 or less, the largest surpluses method is used, which prefers smaller parties and limits the number of remainder seats for a party to one. Freako 18:43, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm still a bit confused. So, the Netherlands don't elect it's PM's from electoral districts/consituencies? --98.250.5.197 (talk) 07:26, 8 July 2011 (UTC)
 * No, because at elections for the House of Representatives, every major party has a national list of candidate-MP's. The top candidate of a party is generally that party's candidate to become PM. Some smaller parties are only on the ballot in some areas, but we always use the D'Hondt system. VR-Land (talk) 17:30, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

"it is possible to gain one of the 150 seats with as little as 0.6 percent of the votes."
What is so special about being able to gain a seat with as little as 0.6% of the votes (which btw. should be rather 0.7% rounded correctly)? In the US Senate, which only has 100 seats, it's possible to acquire a seat with less than 0.1% of the votes (either one of the two Wyoming seats, or other less populated US states). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.146.181.169 (talk • contribs)
 * Bad example, because the USA is a republic. Residents of one state cannot vote for a Senate candidate of another state. Intangible 22:47, 20 November 2006 (UTC)
 * It is possible to gain a seat with as little as 0.7% of the votes in each of the districts. That is the difference. Arnoutf 09:35, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
 * The fact that the USA is a republic is irrelevant. The fact that it is a federation and the Netherlands is a unitary state is not. Quiensabe (talk) 15:02, 20 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Anyway, you can gain 0.6% of the representation (i.e. 1 seat) with 0.6% of the votes. Sounds rather democratic to me. ~(PS in the UK district system you could in principle gain an absolute majority with as little as 0.6% of the votes -> You need to win 51% of the districts and need 0 votes elsewhere (already doubling your impact per district to 1.2%). If in each of these districts 100 parties participate, and the other 99 gain 1%, you will win all of those (largest wins, majority not needed). Far fetched, but possible. Arnoutf (talk) 21:34, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
 * The difference is that a party that wins 0.66666... percent of the national votes is guaranteed a seat in parliament. That's certainly not the case in the USA. That wording has since been changed in the article, it seems. Peking Duck (talk) 23:59, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Proposed merger
I am not in favour. To my memory the tables used to be in this article and were moved to the separate article to cleanup the current one. Moving it back in would undo this idea Arnoutf 21:54, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Radicalism
Surely, labeling D66's ideology as radicalism, doesn't sound right. This must be a translation error. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.49.138.160 (talk) 02:34, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

 * I do not know where you found the word 'radicalism', because in the last edit before your comment, the ideology was described as 'Social liberalism'. But radicalism is an old word for approximately the same ideology: left-wing of the traditional bourgeoisie liberalism; the name originated before socialism (which is again left of this 'radicalism') became a mainstream movement. Of course nowadays, radicalism has also other connotations. Bever (talk) 18:10, 4 October 2014 (UTC)

Sworn in
When does the House get sworn in? How soon after an election? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.72.179.110 (talk) 02:59, 26 February 2010 (UTC)
 * In this case on June 14, ie after 5 days. Arnoutf (talk) 21:50, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Mark Rutte isnt a parliamentairy leader
The Dutch system knows dualism, wich means that a minister cant have a seat in either houses. Thus Stef Blok (nmr 3.) is the parliamentary leader. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.119.106.81 (talk) 07:56, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

External links modified
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Exclusion from voting
In the section ‘registation and voting’ it says that you are excluded from voting if you serve a prison sentence of at last one year. But according to ‘Kiesraad.nl’ that hasn’t been the case since 1983. Altough a judge can take away your voting rights if your crimes have caused ‘serious damage to the Dutch constitution’. But that almost never happens. StanBax (talk) 17:00, 1 January 2021 (UTC)
 * It looks like you are right: https://www.kiesraad.nl/verkiezingen/vraag-en-antwoord/mogen-gedetineerden-stemmen. Peking Duck (talk) 21:15, 14 February 2021 (UTC)
 * You are completely right, most of what was in the section seems pre 1983 or even older and not in any sensible way in line with what is actually in the cited source. I revised the section according to the actual contents of the source. Arnoutf (talk) 08:00, 3 September 2023 (UTC)

Omtzigt
Why was my edit reverted… Omtzigt is certainly a member of NSC, and not an independent as is labeled here. 2600:1004:B17B:2D06:2093:58F2:33F3:BE26 (talk) 03:38, 3 September 2023 (UTC)
 * per https://www.tweedekamer.nl/kamerleden_en_commissies/fracties it is not possible in Netherlands to register new parties from independent politician, also BVNL does not exist in parliament. Shadow4dark (talk) 03:53, 3 September 2023 (UTC)
 * I see, thank you. 2600:1004:B1A1:D693:81EB:30D5:49E1:5BAC (talk) 06:01, 3 September 2023 (UTC)

Seperate factions PvdA-GL
I support @Shadow4dark, we do not have to mention the background of PvdA and GL members. I havent read a source outside Wikipedia that does that explicitly. And one difference with Germany, is that these members are also not elected by a different party. Dajasj (talk) 13:59, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

 * It is WP:OR as they are clearly stated as GL-PVDA and not seperate. https://www.houseofrepresentatives.nl/members_of_parliament/parliamentary_parties/groenlinks-pvda, see party members Shadow4dark (talk) 14:12, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

 * As I said in the edit summary, GroenLinks and Labour do indeed sit as a single faction in parliament, but they are still two separate parties. It is standard in Wikipedia to include the number of MPs of each party even when they sit as a single faction. This is the case even in parliaments like Bulgaria’s and Spain’s where MPs are elected using party-list proportional representation, just like in the Netherlands. I also included a source that breaks down the MPs by party instead of by faction. Brainiac242 (talk) 14:18, 18 December 2023 (UTC)
 * I see it is only a note btw, which is better than what I see on other pages. But are we going to change it everytime a MP leaves parliament? Dajasj (talk) 14:32, 18 December 2023 (UTC)
 * (I missed it because it was later added by @Luxorr, thanks!) Dajasj (talk) 14:34, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

 * Both styles are widely used, but because it reduces visibility, notes are usually reserved for cases when there are too many parties in the factions/coalitions to be shown the other way (e.g. France). Also, yes, when the number of MPs of a party changes, we are supposed to update the article. Brainiac242 (talk) 14:53, 18 December 2023 (UTC)
 * I changed it to a note so that it would be analogous to Sumar in the article for the Congress of Deputies, which you also mentioned. I also think that putting the different parties in the infobox directly might give the impression that the distinction is more consequential than it really is. The two parties operate as a single force, in contrast to plural groups in the Congress of Deputies, the Bulgarian National Assembly or the Bundestag, where the different parties still act with some degree of independence. Luxorr (talk) 15:05, 18 December 2023 (UTC)
 * The current seat map is lower quality as the last one and harder to seperate all parties. Shadow4dark (talk) 09:49, 19 December 2023 (UTC)

Voorzitter - Speaker????
I very much disapprove of translating Voorzitter as Speaker. Speaker is a function known in Anglo-saxon parliaments. The use of speaker as a translation is inaccurate and could create a false impression: the man/woman is a Chairman or a President of the chamber. There are no doubt many who prefer to use speaker because it is used in English. Speaker, however, is an equivalent and the term does not accurately reflect the Dutch situation. Everybody got to be somewhere! (talk) 22:52, 27 April 2024 (UTC)

 * The English-language website also uses "Chairman" for that post. Glide08 (talk) 22:44, 28 April 2024 (UTC)
 * On the other hand, the official translation of the Constitution uses the word "Speaker". Luxorr (talk) 16:33, 29 April 2024 (UTC)
 * I would go with the house website (ie use chairman), although his tasks and appointment are very similar to the US situation (selected by the house at start of period). Arnoutf (talk) 18:25, 29 April 2024 (UTC)
 * The House website itself isn't particularly consistent on the matter. Luxorr (talk) 18:52, 29 April 2024 (UTC)

Wasted votes
I propose the deletion of the section on wasted votes, this seems like original research to me, and I also see it mentioned rarely on the pages of other parliaments (where I think this problem is often far worse).

On the merits I also disagree with it: It seems to argue that the votes for parties that do not enter parliament are waisted. I don't agree with this, this is still an important political signal, as is the case with all voting. It implies that the It also does not account to for the votes "wasted" when a party gains more votes than it needed for its current amount of seats, something that happens all the time and would be a significantly higher number. 2A02:A45A:5AF5:1:912E:DB1A:A58C:6855 (talk) 10:10, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

 * I think it is worth including it somewhere on Wikipedia, in particular because the Netherlands has a relatively low wasted vote. But perhaps Elections in the Netherlands would be a better place. Dajasj (talk) 12:19, 14 July 2024 (UTC)


text:
Enghien

Enghien (Edingen ; Inguî; Enge) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

On 1January 2006, Enghien had a total population of 11,980. The total area is 40.59 km2, which gives a population density of 295 inhabitants per km2.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Enghien, Marcq, and Petit-Enghien. It is situated on the Flemish border, and restricted language rights are granted to the Dutch speaking minority (so-called language facilities).

History
Enghien gave its name to a French duchy and to the commune of Enghien-les-Bains, a suburb of Paris, due to a complex series of family successions: in 1487, Mary of Luxembourg (d. 1547), the only heir of Peter II of Luxembourg (d. 1482), Count of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise and member of one of the branches of the House of Luxembourg, married François de Bourbon-Vendôme (d. 1495), the great-grandfather of King Henry IV of France. Mary of Luxembourg brought as her dowry the fief of Condé-en-Brie (Aisne département, France) and the county of Enghien, among others. These fiefs passed to her grandson Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, uncle of King Henry IV of France, who started the line of the Princes of Condé, the famous cadet branch of the French royal family.

In 1566, the county of Enghien was elevated to a duchy-peerage. However, the necessary registration process was not completed, so the title became extinct at the death of Louis I de Bourbon in 1569. In 1633, Henry II, Prince of Condé, grandson of Louis I de Bourbon, inherited the duchy of Montmorency, near Paris, after the execution of Henri II de Montmorency, brother of his wife Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency. In 1689, King Louis XIV allowed Henry III, Prince of Condé, grandson of Henry II, Prince of Condé, to rename the duchy of Montmorency as "duchy of Enghien", in memory of the duchy of Enghien which the Princes of Condé had lost in 1569 at the death of Louis I de Bourbon.

The city of Montmorency, at the heart of the duchy, continued to be known as "Montmorency", despite the official name change, but the name "Enghien" stuck to the nearby lake and marshland that developed later as a spa resort and was incorporated as the commune of Enghien-les-Bains in the 19th century.

title: Enghien


text:
User talk:Dhagberg

What about improperly nested sections? For example, people wanting a different section based on the font size (appearance), may try to do essentially, an H1 followed by a couple of H3's, skipping level 2 entirely.

When converted to Docbook, we could just interpret them as elements, but might look different when rendered in Wiki than when it is transformed from Docbook XML to HTML or PDF.

Essentially, my question is: does wiki restrict nestings, or is this something we have to handle during conversion to docbook?

--Scott

Hi. I turned Dhagberg into a redirect to your user page. Those are allowed, as you can see by going to goatasaur. :) -- goatasaur 07:24 29 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * I am fixing all the talk pages and removing redirects to user pages - Tεx  τ  urε  19:29, 2 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Your user page
Hello, I found your user page while doing some wikiarchaeology. . I have restored all of its earliest surviving revisions from old copies of the Wikipedia database, so they are available to everyone now. Hope you don't mind. MZMcBride (talk) 05:32, 31 July 2019 (UTC)

title: User talk:Dhagberg


text:
La Louvière

La Louvière (El Lovire) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussoit, Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pierre, Houdeng-Aimeries, Houdeng-Gœgnies, La Louvière, Maurage, Saint-Vaast, Strépy-Bracquegnies, and Trivières.

La Louvière is the capital of the Centre region, a former coal mining area in the Sillon industriel, between the Borinage to the West and the Pays Noir to the East.

Mythical origins
The legend of a mother wolf nursing a child at La Louvière is reminiscent of the mythical birth of Rome. The true origin of the city, however, dates from the 12th century. At that time, the forested, and presumably wolf-infested, territory of today’s La Louvière was named Menaulu, from the Old French meaning “wolf’s lair”. This land was part of the larger community of Saint-Vaast, which itself belonged to the Aulne Abbey.

By 1284, the name of the territory had been translated into Latin, then back into French to its current name of La Louvière. The lords of Saint-Vaast encouraged prospecting on their land, which led to the first extraction of coal in the year 1390. The abbey’s refusal to provide necessary infrastructure, however, delayed large-scale development until the 18th century.

Birth of La Louvière
In the 19th century, the construction of roads, canals, and railways finally allowed the local coal production to be exported. Investments also poured into the local industry to take advantage of the abundant source of energy. La Louvière quickly surpassed its overlord Saint-Vaast, both in population and economic wealth. Within fifty years, the territory that was not much more than a place name had become one of the most important cities in Wallonia. La Louvière was recognized as an independent city in 1869. Today, La Louvière is still the fifth largest city in Wallonia, after Charleroi, Liège, Namur, and Mons.

Sights

 * There are four hydraulic boat lifts on the old Canal du Centre, which connects the river Meuse to the Scheldt. These double elevators date from around 1900 and were designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1998.
 * The housing complex that was built for the Bois-du-Luc coal workers during the first half of the 19th century has been restored. This is part of the Major Mining Sites of Wallonia, designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2012. One of those houses can be visited, together with a couple of museums retracing the history of the coal mining industry in the Centre region.
 * La Louvière counts a number of chapels and churches that date from the 13th to the 16th century.
 * La Louvière also has one of the best collection of Idel Ianchelevici’s works on display.

Climate
La Louvière has an oceanic climate typical of Belgium with moderated seasons even for its inland position at 50° latitude, as a result of Gulf Stream influence.

Folklore
The Carnival of La Louvière is called Laetare, after the Latin verb meaning “to enjoy” (the introit at mass on the fourth Sunday of Lent begins Laetare Jerusalem, Rejoice Jerusalem). It lasts three days, Sunday to Tuesday, and takes place in the middle of Lent. The Gilles are out on all three days, stomping to the rhythm of their music and distributing oranges to the passers-by. Giant puppets and various other groups also take part in the parades and festivities. Typical of La Louvière’s celebrations is the so-called Brûlage des Bosses (“burning of the humps”), where a puppet dressed as a Gilles is burnt to symbolize the end of carnival and beginning of a new life.

Sports
La Louvière used to have a top level football club in Belgian First Division: RAA Louviéroise. They won the Belgian Cup in 2003. the club no longer exists as it merged into a team based in another city and its La Louvière playground is now the home of third division semi-amateur club UR La Louvière Centre.

Famous inhabitants

 * Maurice Baudoux, (1902-1988), Canadian priest and Archbishop
 * Anna Boch, (1848-1936), impressionist painter and art collector
 * Eugène Boch, (1855-1941), impressionist painter, art collector, friend of Vincent van Gogh
 * Pol Bury, sculptor (1922–2005)
 * Jey Crisfar, actor (born 1988)
 * Clement Desalle, Motocross racer (born 1989)
 * Franco Dragone, theatre director (born 1952)
 * Maurice Grevisse, grammarian (1895–1980)
 * Eden Hazard, footballer (born 1991)
 * Thorgan Hazard, footballer (born 1993)
 * Kylian Hazard, footballer (born 1995)
 * Jean Louvet, playwright (1934–2015)
 * Enzo Scifo, footballer (born 1966)
 * Charline Vanhoenacker, journalist (born 1977)

Twin cities

 * 🇫🇷: Saint-Maur-des-Fossés
 * 🇮🇹: Foligno
 * 🇪🇸: Córdoba
 * 🇸🇰: Bojnice
 * 🇵🇱: Kalisz
 * 🇹🇷: Giresun

title: La Louvière


text:
Le Rœulx

Le Rœulx (El Rû) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

On January 1, 2006, Le Rœulx had a total population of 7,977. The total area is 42.80 km2 which gives a population density of 186 inhabitants per km2.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Gottignies, Le Rœulx, Mignault, Thieu, and Ville-sur-Haine.

The Château du Rœulx, a family seat of the Comtes de Croÿ-Rœulx, is situated near the town.

title: Le Rœulx


text:
Lessines

Lessines (Lessen, ; Lissene, Lissene) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. As of the 2014 census, The municipality's total population was 18,637. The total area is 72.29 km2 which gives a population density of 247 inhabitants per km2.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Bois-de-Lessines, Deux-Acren, Ghoy, Lessines, Ogy, Ollignies, Papignies, and Wannebecq.

Lessines is a municipality of Picardy Wallonia. It is primarily known as the birthplace of the Surrealist painter René Magritte (1898 – 1967).

Postal history
The Lessines post office opened before 1830. It used postal code 71 with bars (before 1864), and 214 with points before 1874. Deux-Acren post office opened on 15 May 1866. It used postal code 104 with points before 1874. The Papignies post office opened on 18 February 1880, Ghoy and Ollignies on 25 May 1905, and Ogy on 5 November 1907.

Postal codes in 1969: 7850 Ollignies - 7851 Bois-de-Lessines - 7860 Lessines - 7861 Papignies - 7862 Ogy - 7863 Ghoy - 7870 Deux-Acren

Postal codes since at least 1990: 7860 Lessines - 7861 Papignies, Wannebecq (not opened in 1969) - 7862 Ogy - 7863 Ghoy - 7864 Deux-Acren - 7866 Bois-de-Lessines, Ollignies

Culture
The Underwear Museum, created by Jan Bucquoy, is in Lessines; it moved from Brussels to Lessines in 2016.

title: Lessines


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Silly, Belgium

Silly (Opzullik; Chili) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

On January 1, 2006, Silly had a total population of 7,995. The total area is 67.68 km2 which gives a population density of 118 inhabitants per km2.

The name of the town derives from its stream, called the Sille (French) or Zulle (Dutch), and has no relation to the English word. In the English-speaking world, it has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Fouleng, Gondregnies, Graty, Hellebecq, Hoves, Silly, Thoricourt, and Bassilly.

Twin towns – Sister cities
Silly is twinned with:
 * 🇮🇹 San Miniato, Italy

title: Silly, Belgium


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Soignies

Soignies (Zinnik, ; Sougniye; Sougniye) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

It consists of the following districts: Casteau, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Naast, Neufvilles, Soignies and Thieusies. Casteau is known worldwide because SHAPE, the military headquarters of NATO, has been based at the village since 1967.

The name of Soignies comes from the Latin word suniacum, which means "on the Senne". The spring of the Senne is near Soignies. After Soignies, the river flows through Brussels.

Soignies is also well known for its blue limestone (from the Carrières du Hainaut) and its glass industry (Durobor).

Saint Vincent
The known history of the region starts in the 7th century. The Frankish merchant Samo, who founded an empire in Central Europe, may have come from Soignies (Latin: pagus Senonagus). In the 670s, Madelgaire, a wealthy former governor under King Dagobert I, and his wife Waltrude decided to separate and devote themselves to a religious life. Both of them founded an abbey, Madelgaire in Soignies and Waltrude in neighbouring Mons. Madelgaire took the religious name of Vincent. Like his wife, he was canonized after his death and later became the patron saint of the city that would eventually grow around the monastery. At that time, a large forest covered the whole area, the remnants of which near Brussels are still called the Sonian Forest (French: Forêt de Soignes, Dutch: Zoniënwoud) today. The existence of the abbey of Soignies is mentioned for the first time in the Treaty of Meersen, dated August 8, 870, as one of King Charles the Bald's possessions.

The age of the canons
At the end of the 9th century, a general decline in religious life led to a chapter of powerful canons – who did not take any vow of poverty – taking the place of the monks. These canons would remain in power for eight centuries, until the French Revolution. By the 10th century, the canons started the construction of the church of Saint Vincent (Madelgaire), which was to be completed during the following century in the prevalent Romanesque style of the period. The first known charter by Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut was granted to Soignies in 1142. The fame of the church of Saint Vincent grew in the 13th century, when the bishop of Cambrai granted a 40-day indulgence to every visitor to the church. The settlement grew to urban proportions at around the same time, coinciding with the development of the textile industry and the building of a defensive wall. The first stone quarries mentioned in the archives date from around 1400, but several clues suggest that local stone was already quarried much earlier. The cut-stone industry, however, started only around 1700.

1789–present
On 1 September 1796, the revolutionary council disbanded the local administration by the canons, dealing a heavy blow to the local economy. In 1812, only 92 people worked in the quarries on a total population of about 4,000 people. The industry rebounded under the Dutch regime, and even more after the Belgian Revolution of 1830.

Between 1831 and 1995, Soignies elected its own member of the Chamber of Representatives. Several of the city streets are named after these past representatives.

Today, the cut-stone and glass industries are still active. Soignies is also the center of a vibrant service industry, especially in education and health.

Sights

 * The collegiate church of St Vincent is one of the earliest specimens of Romanesque churches in Belgium. The choir dates from the beginning of the 11th century while the Gothic west tower dates from around 1250. The cemetery still has tombs of the 13th and 14th century.
 * Near the church stands the Cloth Market (in French Halle aux Draps), dating from the 16th century.

Festivities

 * The origins of the Processio of Saint Vincent (Madelgaire) are not well known. It is certain, however, that it already took place as early as the 13th century. Today, every Monday of Pentecost, the reliquary of Saint Vincent is carried in a historic procession along a predetermined 11-km-long circuit around town, known as the Grand Tour Saint Vincent.
 * The Saturday preceding the third Sunday of October is the date of the local carnival. The festivities are known as La Simpélourd – from the contraction of two French words meaning simple and heavy – after a cuckold who lived in Soignies more than 200 years ago. This character still takes central stage in the colourful celebration.

Sport
Soignies is home to Rugby Union club RC Soignies, winners of the Belgian Cup in 2010.

People born in Soignies

 * Samo, Frankish merchant and later king (rex) of the 7th-century Slavic state known as Samo's Empire (Soignies is one of two presumed birthplaces, the other being Sens)
 * Guillaume Malbecque, Flemish composer (c. 1400–1465)
 * François de Cuvilliés, Rococo architect (1695–1768)
 * Jules Bordet, immunologist and microbiologist (1870–1961)
 * Paul van Zeeland, lawyer, economist, and politician (1893–1973)
 * Johan Walem, football player and TV consultant (born 1972)
 * Chris Richardson, American singer-songwriter (born 1984)

title: Soignies


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Anderlues

Anderlues (Anderluwe; Andérluve) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

On 1 January 2006 Anderlues had a total population of 11,578. The total area is 17.02 km2 which gives a population density of 680 inhabitants per square kilometre. Its postcode is 6150.

On 1 December 1983 a local jewellery store was robbed by the Brabant killers. Some low-value jewels were stolen and two people were killed in what was the gang's last robbery before going silent for one year.

title: Anderlues


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Beaumont, Belgium

Beaumont (Biômont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, on the border with France.

On 1 January 2012 Beaumont had a total population of 7,060. The total area is 92.97 km2.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Barbençon, Beaumont, Leugnies, Leval-Chaudeville, Renlies, Solre-Saint-Géry, Strée, and Thirimont.

The Tour Salamandre, an 11th-century donjon, is the only remaining part of the Château de Beaumont, seat of the Croÿ family. It can still be visited and holds expositions of the town's history. The old castle, in which Napoleon spent a night before going to Waterloo in 1815, has been separated in two parts; one houses the town hall and the other contains a catholic secondary school, Paridaens.

title: Beaumont, Belgium


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Binche

Binche (Bince; Dutch: Bing) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Since 1977, the municipality consists of Binche, Bray, Buvrinnes, Épinois, Leval-Trahegnies, Péronnes-lez-Binche, Ressaix, and Waudrez districts.

According to the surveys from 2021, Binche had a total population of 33,416, approximately 550 inhabitants per km2.

The motto of the city is "Plus Oultre" (meaning "Further beyond" in Old French), which was the motto of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who in 1545 gave the medieval Castle of Binche to his sister, Queen Mary of Hungary. Her attention was spent on Binche, which she had rebuilt into Binche Palace under the direction of the architect-sculptor Jacques du Broeucq, remembered today as the first master of Giambologna. This château, intended to rival Fontainebleau, was eventually destroyed by the soldiers of Henry II of France in 1554.

In 2003, the Carnival of Binche was proclaimed one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. In addition, the Belfry and City Hall were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France site, for its importance in civic functions, architecture, and its testimony to the power and influence of the town.

History

Binche came into being during the Middle Ages, near the Roman road that connected Bagacum, the capital of the Nervii, (now Bavay) to Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, (now Cologne). The road influenced trade and communication throughout Binche.

The city was officially founded in the 12th century by Yolande of Gelders, widow of Duke Baldwin III from Hainaut. Their son Baldwin IV fortified the city, which served as a frontier fortress against France. In the 14th century, the city wall was extended to its present size.

The city reached the peak of its economic power when Belgium was under Spanish rule. Binche was the residence of Mary of Hungary, governess of the Netherlands for her brother, Emperor Charles V. She had a magnificent palace built, designed by Jacques Du Broeucq, to compete with that of Fontainebleau. Charles V visited Binche in 1549 on invitation from his sister. For this occasion, she organized magnificent celebrations.

This period of prosperity came to an end in 1554 as the palace, the city, and the surrounding area were plundered by the troops of King Henry II of France. Until the beginning of the 18th century, Hainaut was the site of repeated military conflicts between the kingdoms of France and Spain.

The Industrial Revolution brought renewed prosperity. Coal mines' slag heaps still shape the landscape. Adding to this were the brickyards, tanneries, glaziers, breweries, lime kilns, and soap factories. Thousands of people worked at home as lace makers, cobblers, and tailors. Post offices and train stations were introduced in the city during this time.

Carnival
The three-day Carnival of Binche is one of the best known in Belgium. It takes place around Shrove Tuesday (or Mardi Gras) just before Lent (the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter). Performers known as Gilles wear elaborate costumes in the national colours of red, black and yellow. During the parade, they throw oranges at the crowd. In 2003, it was recognized by UNESCO as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Sport
Each year the town hosts the single day Binche-Chimay-Binche professional cycling race, which is rated as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour.

Transportation
Binche railway station has been the terminus for passenger services on line 108 (Erquelinnes - Mariemont) since 1984. The island platform is out of use.

The large gothic style station building was designed by Leuven architect Pierre Langerock. It has coloured stained glass windows and is a protected monument. There are some inscriptions remaining from the German occupation.

To the front of the station is a square half-encircled by a balustrade. Sculpted in the Neo-classical style from blue stone, it incorporates statues commemorating illustrious figures from Binche’s past, including Charles V, Margaret of York and Mary of Hungary. A monument dedicated to independence was added in 1931. The area has been a heritage quarter since 1978.

Notable people

 * Gilles Binchois (c. 1400 – 1460), composer
 * Berthe Dubail (1911–1984), painter.

title: Binche


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Chimay

Chimay (, Chimai) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. In 2006, Chimay had a population of 9,774. The area is 197.10 km2 which gives a population density of 50 inhabitants per km2. It is the source of the Oise River.

In the administrative district of Thuin, the municipality was created with a merger of 14 communes in 1977. The Trappist monastery of Scourmont Abbey in the town is famous for the Chimay Brewery.

Toponymy
The etymology of the name is ultimately, via Vulgar Latin, from the Proto-Celtic word koimos meaning "pretty, pleasant".

Subdivisions
The Walloon names of the place names are in brackets and italics.
 * Baileux (Balieu)
 * Bailièvre (Bailleve)
 * Bourlers (Bourlé)
 * Chimay (Chimai)
 * Forges (Foidjes)
 * L'Escaillère (L'Ecayire)
 * Lompret (Lompré)
 * Rièzes (Rieze)
 * Robechies (Robchiye)
 * Saint-Remy (Sint-Rmey)
 * Salles (Sale)
 * Vaulx (Vå)
 * Villers-la-Tour (Vilé-al-Tour)
 * Virelles (Virele)

Attractions
Chimay has traditionally hosted an annual motor racing event, run on a street circuit formed from local public roads. From the 1920s to 1960s the event was run for contemporary Grand Prix and sportscar categories, and included the famous Grand Prix des Frontières. In recent times, while the event has persisted it has been run for historic race series. The track briefly lost its licence in 2006 related to safety fears, but has since had it reinstated.
 * Chimay Castle, the château of the princes of Chimay
 * Lake Virelles
 * The source of the Oise

Chimay Trappist beers and cheeses are produced in the town by the Chimay Brewery, run by the Trappist monks of Scourmont Abbey, and are internationally renowned.

Notable people

 * Daniel van Buyten (b. 1978), football player
 * Émile Coulonvaux (1892–1966), politician
 * François Duval (b. 1980), rally car driver
 * Jean Froissart (c.1337-c.1405), medieval historian
 * Georges Hostelet (1875–1960), mathematician, philosopher, and sociologist
 * François-Joseph-Philippe de Riquet (1771–1843), Prince of Chimay, and his wife Thérésa Tallien (1773–1835), French social figure

Twin cities/towns

 * Ramsgate, United Kingdom
 * 🇫🇷 Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, France

title: Chimay


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Erquelinnes

Erquelinnes (Erkelene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

Located on the border with France, where the commune of Maubeuge lies, Erquelinnes had a total resident population of 9,549, in 2006. The total area is 44.23 km² which gives a population density of 216 inhabitants per km2.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Bersillies-l'Abbaye, Erquelinnes, Grand-Reng, Hantes-Wihéries, Montignies-Saint-Christophe, and Solre-sur-Sambre.

Heritage

 * The Solre-sur-Sambre Castle

title: Erquelinnes


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Estinnes

Estinnes (L' Estene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

On 1 January 2006 Estinnes had a total population of 7,413. The total area is 72.73 km2 which gives a population density of 102 inhabitants per km2.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Croix-lez-Rouveroy, Estinnes-au-Mont, Estinnes-au-Val, Faurœulx, Haulchin, Peissant, Rouveroy, Vellereille-les-Brayeux, and Vellereille-le-Sec.

Estinnes was the location, on 1 March 744, of the second reform council organized by Saint Boniface.

Near Estinnes is a wind farm with 11 wind turbines of Enercon E-126 type, 198.5 metres (651 ft) high.

title: Estinnes


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Froidchapelle

Froidchapelle (Frèchecapelle; Fritchapelle) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

On 1 January 2006 Froidchapelle had a total population of 3,626. The total area is 86.03 km2 which gives a population density of 42 inhabitants per km2.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussu-lez-Walcourt, Erpion, Fourbechies, Froidchapelle, and Vergnies.

The Eau d'Heure lakes are situated partly in this municipality and partly in neighbouring Cerfontaine.

title: Froidchapelle


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Ham-sur-Heure-Nalinnes

Ham-sur-Heure-Nalinnes (Han-so-Eure-Nålene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

On January 1, 2018, Ham-sur-Heure-Nalinnes had a total population of 13,529. The land area is 45.68 km², which gives a population density of 293 inhabitants per km².

The municipality consists of the following districts: Cour-sur-Heure (Cour), Ham-sur-Heure (Han-so-Eure), Jamioulx (Djanmioû), Marbaix-la-Tour (Marbwê) and Nalinnes (Nålene).

title: Ham-sur-Heure-Nalinnes


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Lobbes

Lobbes (Lôbe) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

On 1 January 2006 Lobbes had a total population of 5,499. The total area is 32.08 km2 which gives a population density of 171 inhabitants per km2.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Bienne-lez-Happart, Lobbes, Mont-Sainte-Geneviève, and Sars-la-Buissière.

The town grew up round Lobbes Abbey, a religious house established here in about 650.

The tramway of the ASVi runs through Lobbes.

Births

 * Jonas van Genechten, professional road bicycle racer
 * Alfred Wotquenne, musical bibliographer
 * Romain Zingle, professional cyclist

title: Lobbes


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Merbes-le-Château

Merbes-le-Château (Miebe) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

On January 1, 2006, Merbes-le-Château had a total population of 4,093. The total area is 30.24 km2 which gives a population density of 135 inhabitants per km2.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Fontaine-Valmont, Labuissière, Merbes-le-Château, and Merbes-Sainte-Marie.

title: Merbes-le-Château


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Momignies

Momignies (Momgniye) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

On 1 January 2006 Momignies had a total population of 5,125. The total area is 85.58 km², which gives a population density of 60 inhabitants per km².

The municipality consists of the following districts: Beauwelz, Forge-Philippe, Macon, Macquenoise, Momignies, Monceau-Imbrechies, and Seloignes.

Momignies is notable for encompassing the only area in Belgium which is not drained into the North Sea. It is drained by the Oise river into the English Channel.

title: Momignies


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Morlanwelz

Morlanwelz (Marlanwé) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

On 1 January 2006 Morlanwelz had a total population of 18,595. The total area is 20.26 km2 which gives a population density of 918 inhabitants per km2. Its postcode is 7140.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Carnières, Mont-Sainte-Aldegonde, and Morlanwelz-Mariemont.

Sister cities

 * [[Image:Flag of Italy.svg|20px]] Villarosa, Italy (2002)
 * [[Image:Flag of France.svg|20px]] Le Quesnoy, France
 * [[Image:Flag of Poland.svg|20px]] Pleszew, Poland
 * [[Image:Flag of Romania.svg|20px]] Blaj, Romania

Notable people of Morlanwelz
Born in Morlanwelz:
 * Elio Di Rupo (1951), Walloon Minister President.
 * (1835–1880), industrialist and promoter of Belgian horticulture after whom the arum Anthurium warocqueanum was named.

Resided in Morlanwelz:
 * Raoul Warocqué (1870–1917), Belgian industrialist and Mayor of Morlanwelz (1900–1917)
 * Marino Stephano née Stéphane Marino (1974-1999), Belgian Trance music producer and DJ.

title: Morlanwelz


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Sivry-Rance

Sivry-Rance (Chevri-Rance) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

On January 1, 2018, Sivry-Rance had a total population of 4,833. The total area is 72.97 km2 which gives a population density of 63 inhabitants per km2.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Grandrieu, Montbliart, Rance, Sautin, and Sivry.

title: Sivry-Rance


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Thuin

Thuin ( or ; Twin) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Biercée, Biesme-sous-Thuin, Donstiennes, Gozée, Leers-et-Fosteau, Ragnies, Thuillies, and Thuin (including the hamlets of Hourpes and Maladrie.

Thuin is the headquarters of the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (International Canine Association).

Origins
This area was already being used as a burial place in Gallo-Roman times, around the 2nd and 3rd century. The earliest name of the settlement, Thudinium Castellum, referring to a Roman fortification, is found on a 9th-century offering in Lobbes Abbey, which lists various neighbouring towns and related tithe duties. The village was a possession of the abbey of Lobbes and, together with the abbey, became part of the Bishopric of Liège in 888. The neighbouring Aulne Abbey, reputedly founded in the 7th century by Landelin, a repentant robber, was also made part of the Bishopric of Liège.

A century later, Prince-Bishop Notger had a defensive wall built in Thuin, which then became the westernmost of the 23 bonnes villes (or principal cities) of the bishopric.

The frontiers of the Bishopric of Liège
In the following centuries, several battles took place in this frontier area. In 1048, Adalbert, Duke of Lorraine was killed at the Battle of Thuin by Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine. Many more battles followed between the County of Hainaut and the Bishopric of Liège, with Thuin caught in between. Despite the stronger defensive walls that were built in the 12th century and in the 15th century, Thuin was besieged several times. The Aulne Abbey, which had been given to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in 1147 fared better and was even expanded several times in the 16th and 18th century. In 1654, the Spanish army under the Prince of Condé tried in vain to take Thuin. The good fortunes of the city were attributed to the intercession of Saint Roch, who is still commemorated in the annual St-Roch procession. Several 17th-century buildings, including the belfry, can still be seen today in the upper city. In 1675, the troops of Louis XIV took and occupied Thuin until the Treaty of Nijmegen in 1678. Like its neighbour Charleroi, Thuin went in turn to Spain and Austria.

After the French Revolution
On May 10, 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars, General Marceau expelled the Austrians and Thuin became part of France. The Aulne Abbey was burned to the ground. In 1829, on the eve of the Belgian Revolution, William II of the Netherlands was welcomed in Thuin, to no avail. The last major heavy fighting around Thuin occurred on August 23, 1914, at the onset of World War I, when the French army found itself nearly surrounded by the German army.

Sights

 * The Belfry of Thuin, dating from the 17th century, has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. A view of the Thuin area can be seen from the top.
 * Thuin is the location of the ASVi museum, specialising in the history of the Belgian Vicinal tramway system. This includes a museum tramway that runs through the streets of the town.
 * The “hanging gardens” on the southern flank of the Thuin hill can be visited on foot, following a path enhanced by several explanation signs.
 * The ruins of the 7th-century Aulne Abbey.
 * The neighbouring village of Ragnies, also mentioned in the Lobbes offering, is a member of the most beautiful villages of Wallonia association.
 * The Château du Fosteau dates from the 14th and 15th century. Its French gardens and pond are a haven of calm, while the interior of the castle harbours a permanent exhibit of ancient furniture and a small pharmacy museum.

Festivities

 * Every third Sunday of May, the town commemorates the help it received from Saint Roch during its fight against the Spanish army in 1654. The parade, as much a military march as a religious procession, was banned in the 18th century, but was reinstated in 1866 after Saint Roch delivered the city again, this time from an epidemic of cholera.  The tradition has continued until today, interrupted only by the two world wars and the COVID-19 pandemic.

People born in Thuin

 * Roger Foulon, writer (20th century)

Twin cities

 * 🇮🇹: Torgnon
 * 🇫🇷: Bletterans in the département of Jura

title: Thuin


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File talk:Wight9265.png

Southampton is spelt wrongly on this map. I have no idea how to correct it. Could some technical-minded person please oblige? --GrahamN 20:03 Jan 27, 2003 (UTC)

 * Fixed

 * Ta

This is a terribly innacurate map and I have removed it from the Isle of Wight article until such time as a better on e can be found. The river Medina ends at about Whippingham, with Newport starting at about the same place, Ryde appears to have been plonked somewhere to the east of Seaview and other towns inclusing Southampton appear to have been placed at someone's rough guess. Total crap. Don't use it.

title: File talk:Wight9265.png


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Antoing

Antoing (Antweon) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Antoing, Bruyelle, Calonne, Fontenoy, Maubray, and Péronnes-lez-Antoing.

History
The Battle of Fontenoy, a major battle in the War of Austrian Succession, was fought near Fontenoy village on 11 May 1745.

Places of interest

 * Antoing Castle, originally from the 12th century, restored by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century

Famous inhabitants

 * Raoul Cauvin, comics writer, was born in Antoing in 1938

title: Antoing