Trade, too, soon began to flourish, and grew
rapidly as the population of the place increased. The Roya, flowing
eastwards, fell into the Zwijn, an arm of the sea, which then ran
up close to the town, and on which stood Damme, now a small inland
village, but once a busy port crowded with shipping. The commercial
life of Bruges depended on the Zwijn; and that much business was
done before the close of the ninth century is shown by the fact
that Bruges had then a coinage of its own.[*] It was from such
small beginnings that this famous, 'Venice of the North' arose.
[Footnote *: Gilliodts van Severen, _Bruges Ancienne et Moderne_,
pp. 7, 8, 9.]
[Illustration: BRUGES. Porte d'Ostende.]
BALDWIN BRAS-DE-FRE--THE PLACE DU BOURG--MURDER OF CHARLES THE GOOD
CHAPTER II
BALDWIN BRAS-DE-FER--THE PLACE DU BOURG--MURDER OF CHARLES THE GOOD
Towards the end of the ninth and at the beginning of the tenth
century great changes took place on the banks of the Roya, and
the foundations of Bruges as we know it now were laid. Just as
in the memorable years 1814 and 1815 the empire of Napoleon fell
into fragments, and princes and statesmen hastened to readjust the
map of Europe in their own interests, so in the ninth century the
empire of Charlemagne was crumbling away; and in the scramble for
the spoils, the Normans carried fire and sword into Flanders.
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