In Belgium, Epiphany (called "driekoningen" or "fête des rois") is celebrated on 6th January or at least at the beginning of this month, like a logical conclusion to Christmas time, when three "kings" arrive to the crib where Jesus was born, coming from the East and following a star in the sky. The word "kings" is probably not appropriate to qualify those three men, but they were rather scientists or wise men, who had knowledge of astronomy and said they could predict the future. Their name was Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar and they brought expensive gifts for Jesus, whom they considered to be their new king: gold, incense and myrrh (a sort of ointment).
In the whole country, people on that day eat a pie called "koningentaart" or "galette des rois", which is usually made of almonds and has a figurine or a black bean inside of it. The tradition is that the one who gets the figurine or black bean in their piece of pie becomes the king (or queen) for the day. It is mostly feast for children, so parents usually try to make their child get it, so that they're happy for the day. As a reward, one can get a paper crown and can elect a queen or a king, giving them the other paper crown.
Until this week I didn't know that Flanders actually had a distinctive tradition for children on the day of Epiphany, which it shares with other Germanic-language regions but not with Wallonia. Children are dressed as "kings", often carrying a lantern or a star, and, in groups of three (like the three kings), they go from house to house, a bit like for Halloween, and ask for candy or "cents". But instead of simply saying "trick or treat", they have to sing songs specially invented for the occasion, like this one:
"Driekoningen, driekoningen Geef mij een nieuwe hoed Mijn oude is versleten Mijn moeder mag het niet weten Mijn vader heeft het geld Op de rooster geteld."
"Avoir la frite" is a French expression meaning "being happy" but literally "getting the fry"! It could be a nice way to sum up Belgian philosophy. Although the dish is known for making people fat, Belgians are in general proud to consider it a national dish and it is probably one of the binding forces of the country (seriously!)...
Last year, all linguistic communities agreed to request making Belgian fries a UNESCO World Heritage and a "Week of the Fries" was specially organised for the occasion. It would give such a simple meal more prestige, as genuine gourmets and chefs also love it in more sophisticated dishes. One theory states that fries were invented by a fisherman in Namur who, after an unfruitful fishing day, decided to fry pieces of potatoes instead of fish. A brilliant idea!
Are fries a binding force for the country? Probably and Belgium needs it... The new Government, more right-wing and represented by only a minority of
Francophones and by more Flemish nationalists, has been criticised a lot these days. Almost every week,
strikes have paralysed the whole country, resulting in controversies on the way trade unionists prevented people from going to work, which divided Belgium even more.
On December 22 during a talk to explain his new policies, Charles Michel (MR liberal), the current Prime Minister (succeeding socialist Elio di Rupo), received Belgian fries and mayonnaise all over his face and suit. Four women, left-wing protestors who had registered for the talk as students of the local university, organised this sort of burlesque bashing to tell the PM to resign and "get rid of austerity".
Although obviously unhappy about this event, Charles Michel decided to take it with humour and sent a (pretty artistic) signed picture of himself during the event to the Fries Museum in Brussels (because, yes, there is a Fries Museum!). Although it won't stop the political problems in Belgium, this is the typical example of how Belgians try to make people "get the fry" through self-mockery and... fries of course!
Two weeks before Christmas, a truely Belgian musical romantic comedy was released in Belgium. "Brabançonne" by Vincent Bal has been in the movies since 10th December. It is one of the rare films in which both communities are represented.
The title of the film is pretty symbolic because it is also the title of the national Belgian anthem in French. The story is about a Walloon brass band and a Flemish one being rival. Both are selected for a big competition in Europe. Yet, a tragic event happens to the Flemish band and a singer passes away during a rehearsal... They really need to find someone to replace him, but where are they going to find that person? ...Maybe in the Walloon band?
A Walloon trompettist of the rival brass band seems to be the ideal candidate, but the challenge already seems impossible. The story goes on with a female member of the Flemish band who wants to give a little help to get to know the musician a bit better... But Walloon band members are jealous!
Former Queen Fabiola passed away last week at Saint Nicholas's Eve. She was widow of King Baudouin (Boudewijn in Dutch) and was the fifth queen in this monarchy. The image that many Belgians have of her is that of a small delicate lady with a large fancy hat and a sort of 60s extensive haircut. More than that, her name sounds a bit like "fabulous"... Fabiola!
Fabiola was Spanish and first worked as a nurse. She then married the youngest monarch in Belgian history... In Belgium, a king doesn't really have any decisive power, but an important representation role. Baudouin was only twenty-one when his father, King Leopold III, died and he was very shy. They made a nice couple because Fabiola was a sober and humble person. Unfortunately, they couldn't have children together, so when King Baudouin I passed on to the other side in 1993, which saddened many Belgians, his brother Albert II was called to reign with his wife Paola as a new queen.
Queen Fabiola and King Baudouin I
Queen Fabiola wasn't just the queen of Belgium, she had something special. She was kind and funny, and a true believer, very sensitive to children and world issues. One of her big passions was music and it will occupy a great part of the ceremony that started today at 10am. Will Tura, a Flemish sentimental song singer, will sing Hoop doet leven ("Hope (is what) makes (us) live") at her funerals, and he sang the same song when King Baudouin died.
Humility, a key word for Fabiola. In her last wills, she said she didn't want to make too much fuss about her death and very simple funerals. She didn't want to be "exposed" and she wanted an ugly coffin in a small chapel, but these wills weren't followed by people, who really appreciated her and wanted her funerals to be something important although the announcement of her death remained pretty sober.
Tonight in Belgium, Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children, will deliver presents, speculoos, tangerines and candy to all kids at home when they sleep... To be honest, I've never believed in Santa bringing presents on Christmas Eve, but I did believe in Saint Nicholas (even though we also receive presents on Christmas Eve!), so it is an important day for most Belgian kids. The week before, Saint Nicholas usually visits primary schools or shopping centres, or parades in bigger cities accompanied by some assistants. The issue is that Flemish and Walloon don't agree on what the assistant(s) look like, and the Flemish tradition is claimed to be racist by some people.
Zwarte Piet
Traditionally, in Flanders and the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas (or Sinterklaas) arrives riding a beautiful horse and he is helped by Zwarte Piet (Black Peter), a black character with long curly hair, a puffy hat, big earrings and coloured Renaissance clothes. Usually, there is more than one Zwarte Piet. They are kind, playful and they work in Saint Nicholas's toy factory, a bit like Santa's elves. Children love them because they are funny, they dance, and they give them candy. Flanders and the Netherlands have a tradition of broadcasting the arrival of Saint Nicholas on a boat in the country from Spain. The issue is that the black characters are played by white people wearing wigs and a lot of blackface makeup, an impersonation that some people, including ones from the African community, found very offensive. Therefore, anti-Zwarte Piet protests were organised in both Flanders and the Netherlands, sometimes supported or criticised by politicians.
Arrival of Sinterklaas from Spain in Groningen, The Netherlands (2015) - by Berkh
Père Fouettard
In the French- and German-speaking communities, the scenario is a bit different... First of all, Saint Nicholas (Saint-Nicolas in French) doesn't ride a horse but a (more humble) donkey and kids usually leave a carrot on their livingroom/kitchen table to feed the donkey and find it half-eaten on the next day. More importantly, there are originally no black characters assisting Saint Nicholas in distributing gifts. Instead, there is this one guy called Père Fouettard ("Father Whipper") in French (Hanscrouf in Liège Walloon) who is a rather terrifying figure and only replaces Saint Nicholas in case kids misbehave. If so, he gives them lumps of coal or whip them instead of giving them the usual presents. Père Fouettard is often depicted as a grumpy white hermit with an ugly brownish dark robe, a big black or grey beard, messy hair and sticks or whips in his hand, or a bag full of them. His face is often dirty and black from the ash and dirt he gets inside the chimney... but he is certainly not a black man to us.
Southern Belgian Saint Nicholas with a donkey and Père Fouettard
Belgian compromise
In Brussels, a capital city with people from all over the world, local authorities had to make a choice, facing the problem of this double tradition of Père Fouettard and Zwarte Piet, and the negative opinions on the latter. Therefore, a decision was made for this year that, in order to stay politically correct, there was need for a change in the habits. This time, instead of white people playing black characters wearing makeup on their face, people of Brussels made... kind of a mix! During the visit of Saint Nicholas in Brussels Haven, you could see youngsters (white, black or other) wearing an outfit similar to that of Zwarte Piet, but their faces were only slightly covered with a bit of black makeup, making it look like ash and dust from chimneys, a bit like Père Fouettard. This still looks quite acceptable, doesn't it?
Saint Nicholas in Brussels with his assistants - whatever name you give them (Photonews)
Luc De Vos, lead singer of Flemish rock band Gorki (known earlier as Gorky) passed away on Saturday 29th November. He was only 52 and was born not far from Ghent.
The band Gorki was made famous in Flanders and the Netherlands with the song Mia in 1991. Their lyrics, in Dutch, were generally poetic and told stories that felt close to the heart of every listener.
In their first album in 1993, the band sang the song Hij Leeft ('He Lives'), which was used as the name of the whole album.
As a hommage to Luc De Vos, Flemish synthpop band SX recorded an English version of the song, adapting it to their own style.
The territory of Belgium has not always been as static and clear as it is now... In Roman times, Gallia Belgica was a pretty big territory comprising Belgium, the Netherlands, a Northern part of France and some other territories... And still, there are territories around Belgium that share a common history, culture and/or local languages with it, including Walloon Flanders, a territory in France! I've decided to give you a list of these territories, with no intention of reuniting them, but simply because they are part of our history as well.
French territories
If there's a part of France that is the closest to Belgian culture, it's the Nord department (Lille, Dunkirk, Douai...). It mainly shares with Belgium the tradition of the friterie, friture or frietkot, which is a place, often a sort of van, where someone distributes fries in boxes or paper cones. It is the only place in France where fries are a real tradition, but I insist, "French" fries are mostly Belgian!... Anyway, Nord was made famous in 2008 with the French blockbuster Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, which featured local comedian Danny Boon speaking a Picard dialect called Ch'ti(mi). As a matter of fact, similar dialects are spoken in the Belgian area of Mons and Tournai!
Yet, Picard is not the only local language in Nord! Once upon a time, West Flemish was the main language in Maritime Flanders (coastal part of Nord), an area that includes Dunkerque, and, strangely enough, the village where the film took place (an error which a lot have criticised after it was released). This area was part of the ancient County of Flanders, which also included cities such as Lille or Douai. Actually the later cities are in another area called, this is not a joke, Walloon Flanders, and yet now part of France! Both areas became French after the Treaties of Nijmegen in 1678-9 and West Flemish is now only known to very few people.
In the same department, we find cities including Valenciennes, Maubeuge or Le Quesnoy, which are part of what could be called French Hainaut, and were included in the County of Hainaut. Later on, French king Louis 14th conquered them in 1659-78, so that they became French, while the Northern part of the former county became later on the Belgian province of Hainaut.
Borders of French Flanders before 1789
Another part of France which is very close to Belgium and, especially Wallonia, is the city of Givet in the French department of Ardennes. It is, as far as I know, the only place in France where Walloon was/is spoken, which makes it... a "French Wallonia"! Givet used to belong to the Liège bishops in the Middle Ages, but much later on it was given to Louis 14th also after the Treaties of Nijmegen.
Dutch territories
The neighbouring Netherlands, with which Belgium used to form a bigger country, has nowadays two provinces that could be considered as sisters to Belgian provinces: Limburg and North Brabant.
The Belgian province of Limburg is the Western part of a former Limburg, from which an Eastern part was given up for the Netherlands in 1839, and which belonged in great part to the Principalty of Liège and the dukes of Brabant. The current Dutch province of Limburg actually comprises only a small part of the former Limburg, mostly the area of Maastricht. Ultimately, Gelder was part of Limburg as well and it even came to be included in the United Belgian States, but it came back later on to the Netherlands.
In a recent blog post I talked about the possible name change for the province of Antwerp to "Central Brabant" (Midden-Brabant) to favour its Brabantian past. In the Netherlands, the North Brabant also used to be part of the Duchy of Brabant, but it
was given to the Netherlands after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. According to the politicians that want the name change of the province of Antwerp, the two territories still have a lot of cultural exchanges nowadays, in addition to similar dialects.
And Luxembourg
As a matter of fact, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was officially Belgian from 1830 to 1839! Then the Southern part made a country on its own and the Northern one remained Belgian, becoming the province of Luxembourg. Nevertheless, Luxembourg is still very close to Belgium, not only because both are small countries with three official languages. A lot of Belgians, especially those from the Belgian province of Luxembourg, (try to) find a job in the Grand Duchy. Another element was the currency, now replaced with the euro: the Luxembourgish franc had an equivalent value to the Belgian franc, so that nobody really cared about their difference, a bit like Scottish pounds and English pounds (except that it seems to be problematic to use Scottish pounds in London...). Finally, the main private television channel in Belgium, RTL-TVI, was primarily a Luxembourgish channel. And currently, it is still possible to watch a news broadcast in Luxembourgish language at 6am every day on Club RTL... I don't really know why, to be honest!
In a future blog post, I will also talk about Belgian settlers in the USA, who founded cities such Namur, Brussels or Belgium in Wisconsin, so keep posted!
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