BELGIUM

The country is in the north-west of Europe. It became popular in the Middle Ages for the wealth of its free merchant cities.

In the 15^th century the area belonged to the Duchy of Burgundy.

In 1477 it was taken into the Habsburg Empire by Maximilian I.

Habsburg established its Empire by marrying and therefore the phrase was coined “Other countries win countries by war but you, Austria, win countries by marrying.”

Between 1504 and 1715 the territory was rules by Spain

From 1713 till 1795 it was ruled by Austria and by France
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In 1815 it became a province of the kingdom of the Netherlands and in 1830 it received independence after a national revolution.  Prince Leopold of Saxon-Coburg was elected one year later as King of Belgium

An international treaty was drawn up in 1839 and it guaranteed Belgium to stay neutral. This treaty was ignored in 1914 and 1940 by Germany when Belgium was invaded.

In 1971 a constitutional reform was established which split the federation of Belgium into semi-autonomous regions of Flemish-speaking Flanders, French-speaking Wallonia and bi-lingual Brussels.  Brussels includes the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the European Community (EU).

King Baudouin died in 1983 and was succeeded by his brother, Albert

BELGAE

Large group of Celtic tribes were living in the northern Rhineland, the Low Countries, northern France (Gaul) and southern England during the 2^nd and 1^st centuries BC.

The Belgae were well established people and put a fierce fight against the Romans. 

Eventually the Romans started to respect. 

Julius Caesar conquered Gaul in 50BC. It followed that Belgae noblemen were admitted to the Roman senate.

Today’s name Belgium derived from the name of Belgae.

CELTS

CELTIC HELMET FOR PARADE 
IN FRANCE 350 BC

The Celts, the ancient European people were called Keltoi by the Greeks and Galli (Goul or Galatinians) by the Romans. The Celts were courageous, flamboyant and warriors.

The Celts first settled most properly in the south of Germany and the Czech Republic. They were farmers, warriors and traders. They produced iron weaponry for conquest and crafted iron tools to work the land.

Around 400 BC, Celtic tribes were living in Britain, Spain, France and northern Italy. In 390 BC a Celtic army plundered Rome. Other Celts were moving into the Balkans and in 276 BC a Celtic tribe moved into Asia Minor (Turkey).

It looked at that time and for some time, the Celts take over Europe. However, the Celts were not inclined to built an empire or even unify their territory. From the beginning of 200 BC they lost their territory to the Germans in the north, the Dacians in the east and the Roman in the south. The Roman army conquered the last of the Celts territory in France, around 50 BC.

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CELTIC HELMET

CELTIC DAGGERS FOUND IN BRITAIN

CELTIC CROSS AT MONASTRERBIOCE IN IRELAND

Celtic-speaking people arrived in the British Isle around 700BC and kept arriving till the 1st century BC. They lived in hillforts which are fortified villages on high ground. The builders of hillforts made clever entrance like a small maze. The enemy have to twist and turn between high walls to reach the entrance. Warriors would use slings to hurl round stones which are aimed perfectly. They could easily kill with a well-aimed stone as far away as 60m.

CELTIC IRON AGE HILL FORT

The Romans arrived and forced the Celts out of there hilltop towns. Roman artillery was too powerful against the Celtic sling-throwers of the Iron Age.

Celtic craftsmanship is unbelievable sophisticated. They traded goods with southern Europe. Their most knowledgeable people were the Druids. The Druids were chiefs and holy men. They did not fight but sometimes made human sacrifices for warriors close to death.

Celts worshipped dozens of gods and spirits as well as the sun and the moon. Some were friendly and good spirits they looked after the babies and blessed the crops. Some were fierce. The belief of the Celts was that if these gods were not given warm blood before a battle, they would side with the enemies.

Number one of their gods was Dagda. He is the father figure. He was huge, had a fat belly and was ugly. His club was very heavy and he dragged behind in a cart. It mad furrows as big as river Valley.

The second important god was Lug. He changed constantly into any form and shape. He was able to do all the human skill like harp-playing, stone masonry, poetry and fighting. He had a spear and sling to be used on giants and making war.

Furthermore, there were war-goddesses called Macha, Morrigan and Badb. Sometime, one of them took on the shape of crow and landed on a warrior's head. It was a sign that his hour of death has come.

A well know Celtic hero was Cuchulainn, 'the hound of Ulster'. He was an Irish Prince. He had great power and abilities. It is said, that he could run so fast that if he hit a small ball, as far as he could, with a hurling stick he was able to catch it before it hit the ground.

After the Roman invasion in 43 AD the British Celts became influenced by the Romans. The Roman occupation ended 400 years later. The new invader was the Anglo-Saxons and when they established settlement they pushed the Celts further and further to the west.

However, the Celtic culture stayed in Cornwall, Brittany and in the highlands of Wales and Scotland.   Ireland was never invaded by Romans and Saxons and therefore the Celtic culture survived there most strongly. The raids of the Vikings changed a lot in Ireland in the 9th century. When Elizabeth I in the 16th century established plantations in Ireland it had a devastating effect on the national Celtic culture.

Irish is a 'Goidelic' Gaelic type of language. The same with Scots Gaelic and Manx. A second type of language is Brythoric (Briton), included Welsh, Cornish and Breton. Goidelic was probably spoken by early Celts, while Brythonic was used by later arriving Celts.

Many Europeans are descended from the Celts. Also name of places like London, Paris, Rhine, Danube and Thames are still from the Celts.

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