Mons, Belgium

Lore & Background

The first signs of activity in the region date from the Neolithic period, with flint tools found at Spiennes. In the 1st century BC, the Nervii, a Belgian tribe, settled the area, and a Roman castrum was built, giving the settlement its Latin name Castrilocus. In the 7th century, Saint Ghislain built an oratory near the Mons hill, and Saint Waltrude later came to the oratory; she was canonized in 1039. Mons was made a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century, and trade flourished. It succeeded Valenciennes as the capital of the county of Hainaut in 1295.

Reader's Guide

Mons has been a site of repeated military conflict and occupation. In 1572, Louis of Nassau took the city for the Protestants, but the Duke of Alba retook it for Spain later that year. Louis XIV stormed the city in 1691 after a nine-month siege. After the fall of the First French Empire in 1814, King William I of the Netherlands fortified the city heavily, but after Belgian independence in 1830, the fortifications were dismantled in the 1860s. In 1914, the Battle of Mons was the first battle fought by the British Army in World War I; the British were forced to retreat, and the city remained under German occupation until its liberation by the Canadian Corps on 11 November 1918. During the Second World War, the city was heavily bombed, and in September 1944 US forces encircled and took 25,000 Germans prisoner in the Mons Pocket. After the war, most industries declined, but NATO's SHAPE was relocated to nearby Casteau in 1967. The city is now a university town and commercial centre, and its main square is paved in the manner of old cities, with many cafes and restaurants.

Did You Know?

• Mons was made a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century.
• The Battle of Mons in 1914 was the first battle fought by the British Army in World War I.
• Mons was European Capital of Culture in 2015 together with Plzeň.
• The Ducasse de Mons, or Doudou, is a week-long series of festivities originating from the 14th century.