129-622: The Church of Our Lady of the Chapel ( French : Église Notre-Dame-de-la-Chapelle ; Dutch : Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Kapellekerk ), or the Chapel Church (French: Église de la Chapelle ; Dutch: Kapellekerk ), is a Catholic church located in the Marolles/Marollen district, in the historic centre of Brussels , Belgium. It is dedicated to Our Lady of the Chapel . The church, in a Romanesque - Gothic transitional style,
258-423: A priory there. The monks' privileges were extended in 1195 by Henry I, Duke of Brabant , who designated the chapel as capella beatae Mariae extra muros oppidi Bruxellensis sita ("chapel of the blessed Mary outside the walls of Brussels"). These mentions of outside the walls are part of the elements that have led certain historians to consider the construction of Brussels' first city walls as having preceded
387-744: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
516-462: A Romanesque- Gothic transitional style. They were followed by the northern part of the transept and its two chapels around 1250. The choir (1250–1275), perhaps the finest achievement of 13th-century architecture in Brussels, reflects a transitional style of French influence . The building was surmounted by a tower at the crossing of the transept and the nave. The work was completed in the course of
645-437: A baggage train capable of supplying arms and provisions to an army of nearly 70,000 men. The supplies and troops were largely taken out of French garrisons and strongholds in the region, and on August 7, Villeroi left Mons for Brussels with a baggage train of nearly 1500 carts. These maneuvers did not pass unnoticed, as Villeroi let his intentions be known with the goal of worrying the allied armies besieging Namur. On August 3,
774-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
903-507: A fire which spread rapidly amongst the narrow alleys, which were frequently lined by houses and workshops which were partially made of wood. All alone, three defensive batteries installed on the western ramparts of the city attempted to return fire, but they were short of gunpowder, ammunition and gunners. The few salvos of cannonballs, and later cobblestones , that the Brussels militias were able to get off were nonetheless able to kill around 35 French soldiers, but were not able to slow down
1032-555: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
1161-527: A fundamental shift in military tactics, where taking or holding fortifications had become the dominant form of warfare in this period. By demonstrating that fortified towns could no longer resist the massive firepower available in modern warfare, it led to a move away from siege warfare and into the direct confrontations advocated by Marlborough and others in the War of the Spanish Succession . From
1290-428: A future Marshal of France who was present, disapproved, writing at the end of his life "A more appalling spectacle has never been seen, and nothing else comes as close to the sack of Troy ." The action was widely condemned throughout Europe, as it contravened an accepted convention of siege warfare, i.e. bombardments were used to smash a city's defenses, or destroy military infrastructure, rather than simply targeting
1419-664: A large European coalition, the Grand Alliance , with its head as William III of Orange , leader of the Netherlands, and soon to be king of England. Alongside William stood Spain, Sweden , the Holy Roman Empire as well as several electors, among them Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria , governor of the Spanish Netherlands . In July 1695, the city of Namur , occupied for three years by
SECTION 10
#17327980016361548-542: A letter to Philippe François de Berghes , the military governor of Brussels. Because hoping to draw the allied armies away from Namur could not reasonably be used as justification for an attack on the civilian population of a relatively defenseless city, Villeroi used the pretext of the bombardment being a reprisal for the bombardment of French cities along the English Channel by the English fleet. Within six hours,
1677-443: A number of different assessments. According to these, some 4000 to 5000 buildings were destroyed, representing a third of the buildings in the city. Much of this was in a contiguous area where every building was destroyed, visible as the white area in the map at the top of the page. There were, of course, numerous islands of destruction from the shells throughout the city. The rubble in most cases completely covered and obscured even
1806-705: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
1935-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
2064-683: A result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including the United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ,
2193-589: A side chapel, an icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa is venerated. The Chapel Church has had a turbulent history made up of successive phases of partial destruction, fire, looting, shelling and rebuilding, alterations and restorations, making it a milestone in the transition from the Romanesque style to the Gothic (and more particularly to the Brabantine Gothic ). It is traditionally listed, alongside
2322-479: A strong resemblance was important, and the guildhalls were rebuilt using a multitude of decorative styles and individualizations, while maintaining a remarkable harmony, despite the ostensibly clashing combination of Gothic, Baroque and Louis XIV styles. Five years after the disaster, Brussels was almost entirely rebuilt, more beautiful than before the fire. The reconstruction was of an exceptional speed, and took place in an atmosphere of hope for sustained peace following
2451-523: A truce was declared in the siege in order to treat the wounded and restock the citadel. After six days, the siege resumed, with both William III and Maximilian II Emanuel standing their ground. Only the small army of the Prince of Vaudemont , near the city of Ghent , was able to achieve anything, by controlling roads leading to Brussels. Having only 15,000 men, however, he was forced to withdraw faced with Villeroi's much larger force. The French army arrived in
2580-528: A uniform size. Maximilian II Emanuel advised in the reconstruction plans that buildings and streets be built in uniform proportions so as to improve the aesthetics of the city. He also insisted on this point when dealing with the Magistracy, saying "..we strongly hope that some order and uniformity has been observed in the buildings, and ... for the beauty and convenience of the city, that the streets which were formerly too narrow have now been enlarged." For
2709-547: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
SECTION 20
#17327980016362838-457: A working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As
2967-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
3096-472: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
3225-489: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
3354-652: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
3483-563: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
3612-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
3741-469: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
3870-828: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
3999-520: Is still in place. Part of the relics of Saint Boniface of Brussels , Bishop of Lausanne , are also buried in the church. Other notables buried in there include Louis Verreycken and Charles de Hovyne . French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from
Chapel Church - Misplaced Pages Continue
4128-639: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
4257-553: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
4386-483: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
4515-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
4644-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
4773-764: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
4902-629: The Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula and the Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon , as one of the three Gothic churches still standing in central Brussels. The church is built of stone from the Gobertange quarry , which is located in present-day Walloon Brabant , approximately 45 km (28 mi) south-east of the church's site. From the first construction phase, at the beginning of
5031-399: The Church of the Chapel . By the morning of August 15, the entire city centre was an enormous brazier . To save the surrounding city by stopping the spread of the fire, Max Emmanuel used gunpowder to demolish numerous buildings to form a giant firebreak around the affected area, despite strong opposition by the buildings' owners. The French batteries did not stop firing until the middle of
5160-609: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
5289-517: The Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only a second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and
Chapel Church - Misplaced Pages Continue
5418-533: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
5547-559: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
5676-478: The French regime , and reopened in 1803. The church has been restored several times: starting in 1866, continuing in the 1930s, and again in 1989, during which time an archaeological reconstruction aimed at restoring the original state of the different building phases. It was designated a historic monument on 5 March 1936. Nowadays, it is the parish church of the Polish Catholic community in Brussels. In
5805-467: The Holy Roman Empire , he allied Bavaria with France in the conflict. No longer governor, his visions for Brussels were not enacted. What he did build was largely dedicated to symbolizing his power. The first Theatre of La Monnaie was commissioned by him, and designed by Venetian architects. He envisioned rebuilding the Grand-Place with a uniform facade, although this would be done on only one of
5934-877: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
6063-626: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
6192-661: The Rue de la Chapelle / Kapellestraat . This site is served by Brussels-Chapel railway station . The presence of a chapel in this place is testified by a charter dated 1134 and signed by Godfrey I, Count of Louvain , in which he donated a chapel erected extra oppidum Bruxelli ("outside the fortified centre of Brussels") to the Benedictine monks of the Abbey of the Holy Sepulcher of Cambrai , who immediately founded
6321-713: The Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by
6450-775: The World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
6579-689: The provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco; the Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to
SECTION 50
#17327980016366708-427: The ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in
6837-408: The 13th century, the Romanesque transept and the bell tower are still preserved. The choir , from the second half of the 13th century, testifies to the first phase of Brabantine Gothic . The nave dates back to the 16th-century reconstruction, and is in the flamboyant Gothic style. On the sides, the slender pinnacles of the buttresses alternate with the series of triangular pediments . On
6966-472: The 13th century. Dedicated to Our Lady , the church enjoyed significant success and a hesitant destiny. In 1405, a fire destroyed the non- vaulted parts, in particular the central nave, which was covered with a flat ceiling. The nave was rebuilt in the Brabantine Gothic style and enlarged with side chapels. In 1574, the church was ransacked by Calvinists who destroyed its furnishings. Reformed in 1579, it returned to Catholic worship in 1585. In 1695, part of
7095-506: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
7224-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
7353-510: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
7482-614: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
7611-408: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
7740-455: The French, was besieged by King William III at the head of an allied army. After the death of the Duke of Luxembourg , the French army was led by the Duke of Villeroi , a mediocre strategist but close to the king. The king, irritated at the recent turn of events, urged Villeroi to destroy Bruges or Ghent in a surprise attack. Villeroi, eager to please the king, instead suggested that bombarding Brussels would have more of an effect in drawing
7869-404: The German engraver Peter Schenk the Elder in Amsterdam and provide an important record of the impact of the bombardment. Constantijn Huygens, William's Secretary for Dutch affairs, visited Brussels and in his diary entry for September 11, he writes that the 'ruin caused...was horrible...and in many places, the houses reduced to rubble.' Cultural and material losses were staggering, according to
SECTION 60
#17327980016367998-416: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
8127-410: The Grand Alliance was ultimately unsuccessful, though Louis XIV's reputation suffered for his involvement in the destruction of the city. The 17th century, called the 'Great Century' by the French, was anything but great for the inhabitants of the Southern Netherlands . During this period, this region went through a succession of wars and destruction, exacerbated by large armies traversing the region at
8256-410: The Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as a second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as
8385-402: The OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as a second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
8514-400: The Spanish Ambassador in The Hague put it at 30 million. At this time, the annual rent for an ordinary house was between 120 and 150 florins, with a purchase price of around 2000 florins. This compares to a purchase price of about €200,000 today, giving a very rough estimate of between 3 and 5 billion euros in modern terms. The French themselves seemed surprised at the success of
8643-405: The Spanish Netherlands his own hereditary state. His plan was to transform the medieval city into a city of the new Baroque style, having been influenced by his numerous trips to the imperial court in Vienna , and in his travels to Milan and Turin . Turin in particular was characterized by its logical street layout, with straight avenues offering long, uninterrupted views flanked by buildings of
8772-489: The autonomy it had gained in the Middle Ages. This caused many jurisdictional conflicts, creating further problems. The crucial problem of getting supplies to the city was resolved within a few days, thanks to neighbouring cities. Merchants were forbidden to bring commercial goods or beer into Brussels, thus allowing their transport capacities to be used to supply the city. Brussels appealed to other Brabantian cities, such as Leuven , Antwerp and Mechelen to send aid, which
8901-402: The bombardment. The city's authorities believed until the last minute that the worst could be avoided, and as such urged the populace to stay home with buckets of water, so as to be prepared to extinguish any fire and prevent its spread. So feeble a means of stopping the fire quickly proved useless, and the panicked residents tried to save their most precious belongings and fled to the heights of
9030-415: The bombardment. The governor ordered free entry into the city of building supplies, and the prices were to be frozen for two years. By opening Brussels to the outside commercially, the guilds ' monopoly was renounced and opportunities for profiting from the disaster were reduced, in order to bring the city back to normal as quickly as possible. A few months following the bombardment, two opposing visions for
9159-404: The church hangs a copy of the painting Christ handing over the keys to Saint Peter (also known as The giving of the keys ) by Peter Paul Rubens . Throughout its history, the church has hosted the burials of great families and illustrious people, among which, in 1569, that of Pieter Bruegel the Elder , whose house is still on the Rue Haute. The funeral monument erected by his sons in his honour
9288-448: The city emerged. Maximilian II Emanuel, an ambitious and enlightened prince, envisioned using the reconstruction as an opportunity to modify the layout and architectural style of the city. Unlike the numerous transient Spanish nobles which had preceded him in the unprestigious post of Governor of the Spanish Netherlands , Maximilian II Emanuel actually became quite involved in the assignment. Backed by Emperor Leopold I , he dreamt of making
9417-743: The city, east of the Senne valley. A helpless crowd watched the fire from the park at the ducal palace . By the middle of the night, the entire heart of the city was aflame, including the stone buildings of the Grand-Place and its surroundings, the Town Hall , abandoned by the authorities and whose spire was being used as a target by the French artillery, the Breadhouse , the Recollet convent and St. Nicholas' Church , whose bell fell on and crushed
9546-576: The civilian population. Ministers of the Grand Alliance met in The Hague and vowed to avenge Brussels' destruction. The bombardment failed to divert the Allies from Namur , which surrendered on September 5 but caused considerable harm to the reputation of Louis XIV; Napoleon would later deem the bombardment "as barbarous as it was useless". However, it has been suggested the Bombardment marked
9675-513: The concurrent siege of Namur . The bombardment ultimately proved to be the most destructive event in the history of Brussels , destroying a third of the buildings in the city, including the Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels' main square). After the bombardment, reconstruction efforts over the following years profoundly changed the appearance of the city and left numerous traces still visible today. The French attempt to divert
9804-682: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Bombardment of Brussels (1695) During the Nine Years' War , the French Royal Army carried out a bombardment of Brussels from August 13–15, 1695. Led by King Louis XIV and the Duke of Villeroi , French forces bombarded the city in an attempt to divert Grand Alliance troops from reinforcing
9933-551: The day, after 48 hours of bombardment. As the populace had time to take refuge, the bombardment itself caused relatively few casualties, the number of deaths being small relative to other battles. Nevertheless, there are records of a man killed in the first salvo, of two lay brothers crushed under the ruins of their convent, four patients burned alive in Saint John Hospital, and of both residents trying to save their possessions and looters alike being buried alive under
10062-516: The days following the bombardment into the following months, the different authorities of the city implemented a series of measures and regulations in order to attend to the most urgent problems and begin the reconstruction. The central government, headed by the governor, Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria , had a complex power-sharing agreement with the municipal government, called the Magistracy ( French : magistrat , Dutch : magistraat ), which represented local interests and retained much of
10191-519: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
10320-568: The east, fear spread that the St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral would be destroyed, and its riches were evacuated. The area around what is now the Brussels-Central railway station and the Chapel of Mary Magdalene of Brussels were ablaze, and the Recollet convent, already hit the night before, was near completely destroyed. Destruction then came to the Saint John Hospital, and in the night, to
10449-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
10578-594: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
10707-417: The enemy to a place in which the French could attack them strategically. At the end of July, Villeroi sent the king a request for supplies, compiled by his master of artillery. He evaluated that 12 cannons, 25 mortars , 4000 cannonballs , 5000 explosive shells , a large amount of gunpowder , lead shot, grenades and fuses, and 900 wagons for transport would be necessary. In addition, there would need to be
10836-516: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
10965-915: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
11094-829: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
11223-412: The generally accepted period at the beginning of the 13th century. Nothing remains of the original chapel, which was probably under the choir of the current church, whose construction began around 1210 with a Romanesque nave . In parallel with the development of the neighbourhood outside the walls, it was enlarged and acquired the status of parish church (the second such church in the city), despite
11352-526: The injustice of taking vengeance on Brussels, when the bombardments of French cities were entirely the fault of the King of England. Villeroi scoffed at this, saying the king "... has not given me the authority to enter into a treaty with the Prince of Orange." The French batteries began to fire just before seven in the evening. The first incendiary bombs and shells hit several houses, which caught fire, starting
11481-454: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
11610-479: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
11739-612: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
11868-479: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
11997-439: The letter announcing the bombardment affirmed this, in addition to asking the location of Max Emanuel's wife Theresa Kunegunda , the daughter of Polish King John III Sobieski , neutral in the conflict, as the King of France had forbidden that she be fired upon. The Prince of Berghes asked for a 24-hour extension to refer the request to stop bombarding the French coastal cities to William of Orange. He also asked Villeroi to consider
12126-414: The location of the streets. Residences made out of wood with only the walls and chimneys made of stone had been largely consumed by the fires. The collection of buildings that survived consisted almost entirely of public buildings and churches, as those were made of stone and brick. The city's artistic heritage, accumulated over centuries, was severely damaged by the bombardment. It is impossible to estimate
12255-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
12384-437: The neighbouring houses. Max Emmanuel, who had hastily returned from Namur with several troops, tried in vain to organize an effective resistance against the inferno and to maintain order. On the morning of August 14, the barrage stopped for long enough for the French to resupply their batteries. Rumours that the French would be choosing new targets quickly spread, and in the confusion, the residents transported their belongings to
12513-459: The number of artistic works inside the buildings that were destroyed by the bombardment. Among the losses were Brusselois tapestries , furniture, and drawings and paintings by artists including Rogier van der Weyden , Rubens , Anthony van Dyck and Bernard van Orley . Much of the history of the city was also lost with the destruction of a large part of the archives. The Papal nuncio estimated property losses at around 50 million florins , while
12642-485: The operation, which was well beyond what they had anticipated. Villeroi wrote: "The disorder that we have caused in this city is incredible, the people menace us with many threats of reprisal, I don't doubt they have the will to do so, but I don't see how they have the means." The French master of artillery wrote "I have been on many tours of duty, but I have never before seen so large a fire or so much desolation as there seems to be in that city." The young Duke of Berwick ,
12771-608: The opposition of the chapter of St. Gudula , very keen to keep the income granted to it as a mother church. The creation of this second parish indicates that, already at that time, a large population had settled along the old Roman road, which would become the Rue Haute / Hoogstraat , beyond the ramparts and the Steenpoort. The southern part of the transept and the Chapel of the Holy Cross were built around 1215–1225 in
12900-534: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
13029-462: The outside of the apse , there are also gargoyles . The interior is striking for the contrast between the low, dark transept and choir , and the wide, airy nave . It contains sculptures by, among others, Jerôme Duquesnoy (II) and Lucas Faydherbe , as well as a pulpit by Pierre-Denis Plumier . A modest funerary monument commemorates Pieter Brueghel the Elder , who was buried there in 1569. In
13158-515: The parts of the city which had already been hit. All of these were destroyed when the bombardment resumed. When the bombardment resumed, the city was hammered even harder across an even larger area: on the north, towards the Mint and the Dominican convent, where large quantities of furniture, heirlooms, works of art and family archives had been stored and would soon be lost underneath the rubble. To
13287-471: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
13416-483: The re-use of materials and surviving foundations. The residents and the guilds did not look favourably on the imposition of a new, foreign, architectural style. Local architects and artisans, with their better understanding of locally available materials and needs, still made attractive buildings, although they bore no resemblance to the Baroque style. The weakness of the central government and the governor's absence due to
13545-478: The repair of the Town Hall , raising the money by selling houses and land. The guilds were encouraged to rebuild their guildhalls with particular care, and any proposal required approval by the Magistracy before it could be carried out. Although the economic and political power of the guilds was in decline, the guilds lavishly decorated their guildhalls, often putting themselves in debt for decades to do so. Keeping
13674-491: The residents of Brussels, however, the priorities were completely different. A rapid reconstruction was vital to allow economic activities to resume and to prevent an exodus of the population. The city's authorities, who had few resources, did not have the means to finance grandiose proposals. No financial aid from Spain or the governor could be expected, as their resources were dedicated to the war effort. The solution thus involved frugality and effectiveness, based on tradition, and
13803-471: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
13932-511: The rubble. The material damage was documented by local artist Augustin Coppens whose own house had been destroyed and who made detailed drawings of the destruction of his hometown. 12 of these drawings were engraved, some with the help of his friend Richard van Orley and the plates published in Brussels later that year under the title Perspectives des Ruines de la Ville de Bruxelles . They were also reproduced in different sizes and colors by
14061-633: The sides of the square, now the House of the Dukes of Brabant. Although the general layout of the city was conserved, it was not completely identical. Despite the necessity of rapid reconstruction and the lack of financial means, authorities took several measures to improve traffic flow, sanitation and the general aesthetics of the city. Many streets were made as wide as possible to improve traffic flow. New regulations were put in place, adding to existing ones preventing cellar doors, steps and wares from spilling into
14190-444: The siege of Namur. It took several months to clear the debris. People of all classes were forced to help; they were forced to provide wagons and horses, and some were recruited for labour. To speed reconstruction, restrictions were lifted and foreign workers were allowed to come to the city and freely work in reconstruction for a period of two years, although all workers were forbidden to demand higher wages than they had received before
14319-401: The street. Thatched roofs , wooden canopies and upper floors projecting into the street had all been illegal before the fire, but unenforced. Any building that did not conform to regulations was to be demolished. The reconstruction of the Grand-Place and the adjacent streets, long the political and economic centre of the city, was an object of particular care. The municipal government funded
14448-499: The structure was damaged during the bombardment of Brussels by the French army as part of the War of the Grand Alliance . It was restored from 1699 to 1708. On that occasion, the spire of the west tower was replaced by the current Baroque slate bell tower , designed by the local architect Antoine Pastorana [ fr ] . In 1751, a sacristy was built to the south of the choir. The church closed in 1797, under
14577-466: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
14706-679: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
14835-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
14964-485: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
15093-468: The vicinity of Brussels on August 11, and installed themselves on the high ground to the west of the city. Brussels was not strongly defended, as its walls offered no defense, despite improvements made by the Spanish in the previous century. Two entrenchments in front of Flanders Gate and Anderlecht Gate were easily taken by the French, who then installed their artillery nearby. On August 13 Villeroi sent
15222-464: The war during the first stages of reconstruction, in addition to the strength of the local upper classes, resulted in the structure of the city being kept largely the same, a situation similar to that after the Great Fire of London in 1666. After the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701, Maximilian II Emanuel quit his post as governor. Formerly having been allied with Austria and
15351-505: The whim of the great powers. In 1695, nearly forty years after the Battle of the Dunes of 1658, France began its policy of territorial expansion. This expansion resulted in the gradual annexation of Spanish possessions to France's north. Wars were fought and alliances made and broken, and fortresses continuously changed hands. The Nine Years' War had been raging since 1688. Opposing France was
15480-536: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
15609-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
15738-503: The world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share the official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in
15867-474: Was built between the 12th and 13th centuries above an earlier chapel . Following a fire in 1405, its nave was rebuilt in the Brabantine Gothic style and enlarged with side chapels. Its Baroque slate bell tower dates from the 18th century. The complex was designated a historic monument in 1936. The church is located on the Place de la Chapelle / Kapelleplein , between the Rue Haute / Hoogstraat and
15996-497: Was done immediately, and convoys of food were hired and sent as soon as possible. The numerous residents without shelter camped in the palace's park. Authorities requisitioned what space they could in waiting for reconstruction, and rent increases were forbidden throughout the city. To put an end to looting and re-establish order, the city formed middle-class militias charged with patrolling the disaster-stricken areas. Maximilian II Emanuel posted sentries day and night, before joining in
16125-819: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
16254-400: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
16383-652: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
16512-594: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
16641-570: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
#635364