Cuve / Kuype

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cuve , or Kuip in Dutch , Kuype in old spelling , is a zone around the medieval city ​​of Brussels , in which Brussels city ​​rights , jurisdiction and freedoms ( la franchise ) applied, and which in its full form comprised eight municipalities. From the 17th century on, the name les Cuves was also used .

The term is derived from la cuve , the beer barrel, or the beer vat (cf. ndl .: Kuype ), for the beer tax levied by the city of Brussels (even if the area subject to beer tax did not coincide with the expansion of the Cuve / Kuype ).

expansion

In the Middle Ages it was customary in the area of ​​the Holy Roman Empire for the sovereign to grant cities rights and freedoms in exchange for loyalty and service, sometimes in return for payment, including municipal rights, market rights, brewing rights and customs law, but also the right to control the surrounding hamlets and villages that were under the city's spell (or in the French-speaking area: banlieue ), the so-called franchise , or in Brussels also called libertas or vriheyt .

The origins of the Brussels franchise are not known, but already in the first recording in 1215 included Saint Josse-ten-Noode and parts of the church today Ixelles to, but the town Boondaal / Boondael that was not previously own and Ammenie of Uccle belonged .

At about 1215 the Duke gave of Brabant and the municipality of Saint Gilles , then Opbrussel called, also has its own franchise , which jutted up into what is now the center of Brussels, to the old leprosarium Saint-Pierre, from which the present-day University Hospital Saint Pierre develop should, but at that time it was north of today's clinic on the rue Haute . With a ducal decree of February 14, 1296, Brussels then annexed Saint-Gilles and its franchise merged with that of Brussels.

At the beginning of the thirteenth century Brussels gained significantly in power and influence, and so further annexations followed:

At least for the annexations of Anderlecht and Forest there are clear indications that this came about through the financial support of the Brabant Duchess Johanna on the part of the Brussels magistrate.

With the annexation of Anderlecht is also the story of the Brussels Assistant ( échevin / scheppen ) Everard t'Serclaes connected. Since the liberation of Brussels from a Flemish occupation, his opponent was Sweder d'Abcoude, Seigneur de Gaesbeek , a castle in the south of Brussels in what is now the municipality of Lennik . He wanted to subordinate Anderlecht to his rule, which t'Serclaes knew how to prevent, but was fatally injured in an ambush. As a result, Brussels troops besieged the Gaesbeek Castle, and only through the intervention of Duchess Johanna was a settlement reached, according to which Anderlecht and Forest came to Brussels.

After 1394, this franchise did not change from Brussels until the end of the Ancien Régime in 1795.

The Cuve / Kuype never reached the size of today's Brussels-Capital region and the eight municipalities listed are not congruent with today's municipalities, which only got their form, which is still largely valid today, under the French occupation in 1795. All other communities in today's capital region did not belong to the Cuve / Kuype and were largely under the Amman of Uccle .

Nevertheless, the city of Brussels also had special rights in the wider area beyond the Cuve / Kuype , such as that of the excise, among other things, on beer and on the liquor license , which also in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe , Jette , Evere , Woluwe-Saint-Lambert , Woluwe -Saint-Pierre , Boondael (today part of Ixelles) and Uccle and protected the city and its Cuve / Kuype from competition.

It is not known why the directly neighboring Etterbeek was never part of the Cuve / Kuype. However, there many nobles had built their country estates, and Etterbeek shelter throughout the Ancien Régime the reign of Rhode-Saint-Genèse and Ammanie (jurisdiction) of Watermael (which includes the communities of Boitsfort, Auderghem , Kraainem and Woluwe-Saint- Pierre belonged). However, from the fourteenth century onwards, like other municipalities, it had to pay a beer tax to the city of Brussels.

right

In the area of Cuve / Kuype Brussels jurisdiction executed by a local "Amman" (appointed by Herzog was Amtmann ) and therefore the Cuve / Kuype sometimes called Ammanie de Bruxelles is referred to. All residents had city rights and the Brussels magistrate was responsible for the entire franchise . The residents had to deliver their taxes, the tithe, to the city of Brussels, they were also subject to the class system and craftsmen had to be members of the Brussels guilds.

The residents of the Cuve / Kuype also benefited from the municipal facilities and services such as:

  • the maintenance of the waterways and dikes
  • the Cautsijde for entertainment and for the expansion of the roads / country roads
  • the Vondelingshersse , the orphans and foundlings care
  • the sea , the city cadastral service and geometer
  • the regulation and control of dimensions and weights
  • the urban hospice and hospital system

To manage the hamlets in Cuve / Kuype , regeerder or vorster were ordered in each of the eight villages to manage day-to-day business on site. Often these were members of the small village nobility, such as the local lord of the castle ( Seigneur châtelain ).

Abolition of the Cuve / Kuype

By decree of August 31, 1795 (or according to the French revolutionary calendar : 14 Fructidor III) the Cuve / Kuype was dissolved by the welfare committee of the first French republic . With this, the resolution to abolish feudal structures was also applied to Brussels, which was passed by the constituent French national assembly on the night of August 4, 1789 on the initiative of the Breton Club . As a result, the city of Brussels lost considerable financial resources and its regional supremacy.

Immediately after the French had withdrawn in 1814, first efforts were made in the United Kingdom to restore the old Cuve / Kuype , but this was never realized. Even after Belgium gained independence , there were several unsuccessful attempts to restore the Cuve / Kyupe .

In 1836, the City Council of Brussels unanimously decided on an initiative to merge with the municipalities of the old Cuve / Kuype . It was not until 1853 that the Belgian government approved this plan and submitted a draft law. However, this was then rejected by parliament a year later , as were later bills. The Catholic majority in parliament feared that liberal Brussels might gain too much influence. MEPs from other parts of the country also did not want to see the influence of Brussels strengthened compared to other cities.

The suburbs ( faubourgs ) in front of the Brussels city gates were not added to Brussels, but to the now independent municipalities of the former Cuve / Kuype . For example, the Faubourg de Namur became part of Ixelles, the Faubourg de Louvain and the Faubourg de Cologne (Cologne suburb) became part of Saint Josse ten Noode and the Faubourg Saint-Martin (also called Faubourg de Flandre ) became part of Molenbeek.

On the other hand, from 1863 onwards, the city of Brussels was able to annex districts of other municipalities as part of urban expansion and the development of capital city activities. The first expansion took place in 1863 with the Quartier Léopold, which is part of today's Europaviertel , the last one in 1925, when parts of Jette were annexed for the new Brugmann University Hospital and the later Cité Modèle . In 1921, three municipalities, Laeken / Laken , Haren and Neder-Over-Heembeek, were also completely annexed.

literature

  • Jean d'Osta: Dictionnaire historique des faubourgs de Bruxelles . Editions Le Livre, Brussels 1996, ISBN 2-930135-10-7 ; in particular the chapter La "Cuve" de Bruxelles. Pp. 7-9.
  • Serge Jaumain (ed.): La Region de Bruxelles. 2nd Edition. 2011, Editions Racine Brussels, ISBN 978-2-87386-585-6 .