I have often noticed a stone plaque commemorating Dante Alighieri on
a relatively modest, modern building on the corner of Academiestraat and
Vlamingstraat, near where I live. I have equally often told myself to
find out why it is there but action came there none. Till now, gentle
reader! And that is because I have discovered the explanation in a
super Art Guide for Bruges by
Fernand Bonneure published in 1985. Lent to me by a friend some time
ago, I have only dipped into it occasionally, long enough to respect
the cultural authenticity of its author. But obviously
not long enough to read it properly!
Bruges rather enjoys being referred
to as The Venice of the North but I had not realised that the
Republic of Venice had colonies in London, Southampton and Bruges,
connected by their own shipping service by the beginning of the 14th
century! In Ter Oude Beurze, opposite the site of the present plaque,
was the headquarters of the Venetian contingent in Brugge. The
Spanish traveller, Pero Tafur, was the first to compare Venice to
Brugge after having visited both cities in 1438. In a story of his,
published in Madrid in 1874, he wrote, “It appears to me,
and many will agree with me, that there is more business activity in
Bruges than in Venice. In the whole western world there is no such
large trading centre like Bruges though England is doing some
business too. It is said that at some moments as much as seven
hundred ships a day leave the port of Bruges. In Venice, however,
also a rich city of course, only the inhabitants of the city itself
are involved in the trade….. For many regions Bruges seems to be
the appropriate port and the best market where all these goods can be
traded.”
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| The Grand Canal, Venice |
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Ter Oude Beurze, third on left; Florentijnse Loge with
four decorative towers, facing.
Marcus Gerard map 1562.
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Opposite the Venetian Ter Beurze was
the hanse-house of Florence. On the famous Marcus Gerards’ map of
Brugge from 1562, on the site of the present corner-house displaying
the plaque, is shown a splendid, four-turreted building. This was
built by Florentine traders in 1430 and was used by the Florentine
colony in Brugge until it left after the silting up of the sea route.
It was sold in 1637. It is now a restaurant, appropriately De
Florentijnen, and the Vlamingstraat facade is decorated with Dante’s
memorial stone, placed there in 1984 after its original place in the
Markt, at the foot of the Belfry, proved to be too attractive a place
for tourists who were wearing away the chiselled ‘in memoriam’
letters. It was presented to the city of Brugge by the Societa Dante
Alighieri Comitato di Roma.
Dante was, and is, Florence’s
favourite and most famous of sons, a poet of huge stature and
significance. The three lines from his Inferno, on his Bruges
memorial stone:
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| Dante Alighieri 1265-1321 |
"Quale I Fiamminghi tra Guzzante e Bruggia
Temendo 'i fiotto che inver lor s’avventa
Fanno lo schermo, perche ‘l mar si
fuggia."
[Just like the Flemings between White Sand and Bruges
who, fearing the flood which is making them build
a dam, protection from which the sea flees.]
and the further mention of Bruges in
Canto 15
in Inferno
together
with Douwaai, (Douai), Ghent and Rijsel (Lille), show Dante using
these cities as symbols of power, greatness and authority. In fact,
it re-affirms the fame and power of Bruges within Europe in the
beginning of the 14th
century.
In
1985 a Societa Dante Alighieri Comitato di Bruggia was founded to
give lectures and
concerts on Italian culture and provide Italian courses. I
can find a nod to its continuing existence but nothing showing any
contemporary activity.
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Ter Oude Beurze still stands, majestically
surveying Vlamingstraat and
Academiestraat
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