Traduttore, traditore, so the Italians claim. To translate is to betray. The translator is a traitor. Traitor, that’s the exact word many staunch Nazi-supporters mentioned in the same breath as the name Marlene Dietrich, the German diva who opposed the Nazi regime. Yet both the immigrant translator and the performer…

Academische historici en literaire vertellers van de geschiedenis meanderden de afgelopen week door discussies over de rol van verhalende geschiedschrijving voor een groot publiek. Een verhit debat, getuige de vele karikaturen die in het rond vlogen. Bart Van Loo werd weggezet als een schrijver van louter de geschiedenis van Grote…

This is part of a book I am preparing about the history of Belgium. If you like it, don’t hesitate to reach out (@simonnichelson on twitter) or recommend me to a publisher. Walking along the canals and the little cobbled streets of Ghent, lined with brick facades of historical houses…

This is part of a book I am preparing about the history of Belgium. If you like it, don’t hesitate to reach out (@simonnichelson on twitter) or recommend me to a publisher. Deus Lo Vult! In the middle of the Place Royale in Brussels stands the proud equestrian statue of a medieval knight…

This is part of a book I am preparing about the history of Belgium. If you like it, don’t hesitate to reach out (@simonnichelson on twitter) or recommend me to a publisher). The English King Edward III stormed out of his tent, chasing after the Duke of Brabant. As the…

In het debat over dekolonisatie en herininneringscultuur staan twee benaderingen lijnrecht tegenover elkaar. Verwijderen tegenover bewaren, vergeten tegenover contextualiseren. Beide posities hebben hun eigen problemen. Daarom stel ik een nieuwe benadering voor, een additieve herinneringscultuur, die deze ‘cultural war’ hopelijk enigszins overstijgt. Het ‘activistische’ kamp wil een einde maken aan…

1914. King Albert I and the Belgian government are desperately trying to preserve Belgium’s neutrality as Gavrilo Princip’s trigger-happy finger has plunged Europe into war. The German army demanded passage through Belgium to attack France. …

The date was 24 of February of the year 1200. After the end of mass, Baldwin IX[i], Count of Flanders and Hainaut, stood before the congregation in the Saint-Donatian’s church in Bruges, on the exact spot where his predecessor Charles the Good had been slain three quarters of a century…

Why is the Battle of Golden Spurs the Flemish ‘national’ Holiday? The 11th of July is the Flemish counterpart to the 4th of July and the Bastille day, the Quatorze Juilliet. On the 11th of July, The Flemish community commemorates the Battle of the Golden Spurs, fought over 7 centuries…