Quotes from Anthony Bailey

It was a masterpiece. Nobody bought it. (re: Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway, 1844)

Dutch trade continued to decline, and poverty was widespread - perhaps 700,000 out of the total 2 million inhabitants in the northern provinces were dependent on charity. Colonies of distressed city folk were founded in the peat districts of Groningen and Friesland. People emigrated in larger numbers than ever before to North America.

Many people in Western Europe in the year 1000 expected the world to come to an end. But instead of ending, conditions of life - particularly in the Low Countries - began to improve.

Out of this catastrophe, the only people to profit were the surviving peasants, whose labor was now in great demand. With fewer to farm the land, workers could charge more for their services, though rulers attempted to legislate against this.

In 1585, after a year's siege by Parma's army, Antwerp - the chief stronghold of the revolt in the south - capitulated. From this point, the southern provinces were Spain's; the north was on its own. The second stage of this critical period of Low Countries history thus begins with the provinces divided. It is from this date that the firm shape of the two modern nations of Holland and Belgium starts to appear

From his mother, Philip inherited the Burgundian possessions. But a few years after Philip's marriage, his wife Joanna, daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand, inherited not only Castile, but Aragon, Sicily, Naples, America, and the Indies. So when Charles V came of age, he inherited from his father, his mother, and his grandparents a great empire. He was, at once, prince of the Netherlands, king of a united Spain, and emperor of Germany.

The French tried to disappear into the crowds but were identified by being forced to exclaim the Flemish oath "Schild en Vriendt" (buckler and friend). Many of the town's ruling class - who, although bilingual, perhaps did not have good enough Flemish accents – perished, too.