Simon Stevin: A Life.

 I had lived in Brugge for some time before I learned that the statue in Simon Stevinplein commemorated a person of great distinction. I discovered more today when I visited a small exhibition in the Stadsarchief in the Burg which includes a detailed and excellent introductory video giving lots of information on Simon Stevin.

Simon Stevin
1567 Brugge-
1620 The Hague.

Prins Maurits van Nassau
1567-1625.

Simon’s father, Anthusensis Stevin, estranged from his family and described as the cadet son of the mayor of Veurne, moved to Brugge where he met Cathelijne van der Poort, daughter of a burgher family from Ypres. The couple did not marry despite her pregnancy but she eventually did marry a merchant in the silk and carpet trade who happened to be a Calvinist. Thus it is likely that Simon was brought up in the Calvinist tradition. When an adult, Simon was an avid student but his early jobs seem superficially, ordinary, given his talents and history: a book-keeper and cashier in Antwerp though he travelled in Poland, Prussia and Norway between 1571 and 1577 when he took a job in the tax office in Brugge eventually moving to Leiden in 1581 to attend the Latin school after which, at the mature age of 35, he entered the University of Leiden in 1583. While a student there, he met Maurits, Count of Nassau, the second son of William of Orange and the two became close friends. Simon became both mathematics tutor to the young Prince as well as close advisor. William of Orange effectively ruled the North Netherlands, [newly independent from Spain in 1581] which was predominantly Calvinist but he was assassinated in Delft on 10 July 1584 by a religious fanatic, and his younger son was appointed Stadhouder of Holland and Zeeland, the United Provinces of the Netherlands in 1584.

Crane at work in wine market
in Brugge, 200 years before
Stevin's work.

 A series of military triumphs over Spain followed the elevation of Maurits who understood the importance of military strategy, tactics and engineering. In 1600 he asked Simon to set up an engineering school in the University of Leiden, with courses conducted in Dutch, a progressive and popular move. Recent discovery in the Public Record Office in The Hague recording Simon’s salary at 600 Dutch guilders in 1604 confirms his high position then. Simon was Quartermaster-General of the army from 1604 and during this period he suggested the idea of flooding the lowlands in the path of an invading army by opening selected sluices in dykes. He had become an outstanding engineer who advised, and wrote extensively, on designing cranes, windmills, locks and ports. He advised Prince Maurits on building fortifications for the ongoing war with Spain and wrote detailed descriptions of the military innovations adopted by the army. The seemingly perpetual war with Spain was halted by the Twelve Years’ Truce in 1609 and soon after this, in 1612 Simon bought a house in Raamstraat in The Hague [again showing high social status] and married Catherine Krai. The couple had four children one of whom, Hendrik, also went on to attend the University of Leiden, becoming a famous scientist in his own right and eventually editing his father’s collected works.

T

The author of 11 books, Simon Stevin made significant contributions to trigonometry, geometry,  decimal fractions, mechanics, architecture, musical theory, geography, fortifications, and navigation. His first book, Tafelen Van Interest, was published in 1582. Before presenting the numerical tables, Stevin gave rules for simple and compound interest with many examples of their use, thus making them accessible to many. Before this publication, unpublished manuscript interest tables were commonly used by bankers but treated as special and secret, unavailable to others outside the charmed banking circles.

The following year, 1583, in Problemata Geometrica, Stevin presented geometry based on the

Sterctenbouwing 1594
endearingly labelled as by
Simon Stevin van Brugghe.

teachings of Euclid and Archimedes with problem-solving heavily influenced by Durer. The book was in Latin, the only one of his books to be so, for he became a strong advocate of publishing scientific works in Dutch. In 1585, he published La Thiende, a twenty nine page booklet in which he presented an elementary and thorough account of decimal fractions. He said that he wrote this small book for the benefit of “stargazers, surveyors, carpet-makers, wine-gangers, mint-masters and all kinds of merchants.”

And almost two centuries later, in 1782, in America, Thomas Jefferson argued for a decimal currency system, based on America’s First Silver Dollar, to be adopted as standard for the U.S.A. He had studied, and was inspired by, “Disme: The Art of Tenths or Decimal Arithmetike” [1608] the English version by Robert Norton, of La Thiende by Simon Stevin where the use of decimals for all activities was actively promoted. It is accepted by many that the term, ‘dime’ for a tenth of a dollar could well be an echo of the title of Stevin’s book!

Although Simon Stevin did not invent decimals [they had been in use by the Arabs and the Chinese long before Simon’s time]j he did introduce their use in Mathematics in Europe and influenced important currency decisions for the fledgling U.S.A. He stated definitively that the universal introduction of decimal coinage, measures and weights would only be a matter of time although he was not universally correct in this! However, his important vision for, and writings on, decimals probably rate as his most momentous achievements in a field crowded with notable accomplishments.

Statue in Simon Stevinplein, Brugge

Announcement of the Inauguration of 
Stevin's statue in July 1846 amid 
a programme of celebratory events.

Bridging The Gap.

Nepomucenusbrug as Wollestraat
approaches Dijver.

 The gap being in my knowledge about the wonderful bridges of Brugge which tell some of the story of Brugge from early years.

The actual name, Brugge, originates in the Norse word, Bryggja, a jetty, which  indeed contains the 

Guido Gezelle 1830-1899
Influential writer, poet
and R.C. priest.
Born in Brugge.

Flemish word, Brug, meaning bridge. Guido Gezelle, the national poet of Belgium, wrote that he had been told that the city of Bruges started as a bridge over the Reye at Blindezelbrug between the Burg and the Vismarkt. To protect the bridge from the feared Vikings, buildings were erected in the vicinity for soldiers to be billeted there to defend it. Possibly, on this slender and fearful beginning, Brugge was born!

Gothic bay of Herman van
Oudveld. Vlamingstrat 100

Apparently there are now around eighty bridges in Bruges At the time of the first ramparts, in 1127 and 1297, they were built of wood but before the end of the 14^th century, stone bridges began to appear. They were strong and elegant as we can witness from the Augustijnenbrug, between Spanjaardsstraat and Hoedenmakersstraat built in 1425 and named for the Augustinian fathers from Mechelen who settled in nearby Jan Miraelstraat in 1250. The bridge has three arches spanning the Reie with stone benches along the rail intended, not for sitting, but for displaying merchandise for sale to travellers entering or leaving the city.

The Vlamingbrug between Vlamingstraat and St Jorisstraat built by Jan nd Arnold van Uitkerke and Jan Petyt during the same period has a similar design with the stone benches for commerce. Very near to this bridge, indeed overlooking it, and the canal, is the exquisite Gothic bay of Herman van Oudveld who lived there in the 16^th century and was the Dean of the silver and goldsmiths of Brugge.

Konigsbrug between Engelsstraat and Spiegelrei.
Similar mediaeval benches for merchandise.

Other bridges which date back to early fifteenth century construction includes the Wulfhagebrug between Wulfhagestraat and Beenhouwersstraat called Sleutelsbrug after a local brewery, and the Meebrug next to the Meestraat which may have been built by the famous mason, Jan van Oudenarde. The beautiful corner house at this bridge is the setting for the novel, Pension Vives, by Norbert-Edgard

Part of the beautiful Leeuwenbrug

Fonteyn, 1904-193\8, an unorthodox teacher from Veldegem who became a writer. The original Leeuwenbrug in the Leeuwstraat would have been in place as part of the early defence system of the first ramparts; the present beautiful bridge was built in 1627 by Jan de Wachtere. The elegant llons were sculpted by Jeroom Stalpaert in 1629.

Below the bridge from Langerei to Potterierei, leading to Carmersstraat, the 14^th century Carmersbrug, there is a figure of a white friar, a Carmelite one assumes, in the canal against the wall with an inscription informing that in 1976 seven bridges in Bruges were re-built. Next to it are the arms of the Carmelites.

Carmersbrug

The bridge which always intrigues me is the Nepomucenus Bridge at the junction of Wollestraat and Eekhoutstraat. It is artistic and imposing, In times past it was called the Eekhoutbrug leading, as it then did, to Eekhoute Abbey, now completely disappeared. On the bridge is a large statue of John of Nepomuk [Czech Republic], Archbishop of Prague and confessor to Queen Joanna in the 14^th century. John refused to reveal the secrets of Joanna’s confessions to Wenceslas, her consort, and for this, he was tortured, bound then thrown from a bridge into the River Moldau. The Latin inscription on the base of the pedestal of the statue to John reads: “ En pic mutus en os non accusant.” Behold this pious mute whose mouth did not accuse.” and is composed of the 25 letters of Sanctus Joannes Nepomucenus. Now I know all this, I shall certainly look differently at the figure on this bridge!

Carmelite figure, below the Carmersbrug.

Sanctus Joannes Nepomucenus
commemorated on 'his' bridge at
the end of Wollestraat.

 

The U.S. Ranks 28th.

“We Are No Longer The Country We Like To Think We Are.”

Michael Green, C.E.O. of the Social Progress Index.

The Social Progress Index, inspired by the research of Nobel-winning economists, collects 50 metrics of well-being – nutrition, safety, freedom, the environment, health, education and more, to measure quality of life. The latest Index, just published, finds that out of 163 countries assessed world-wide, the United States, Brazil and Hungary are the only ones in which people are worse off than when the Index began in 2011. The declines in Brazil and Hungary were smaller than America’s and the U.S. is declining both in absolute terms and relative to its wealthy world power peers. The fastest progress over the past decade is among developing countries with the Gambia, Ethiopia and Tunisia demonstrating notable improvement.

Norway comes out top in this 2020 edition, followed by Denmark, Finland and New Zealand. South Sudan is bottom, with Chad, Central African Republic and Eritrea close by. Despite its immense wealth, military power and cultural influence, the U.S. ranks 28^th, having slipped from 19^th in 2011. Unbelievably, the U.S. now ranks behind significantly poorer countries including Estonia, Czech Republic, Cyprus and Greece. It, the U.S, is first in the world in the quality of its universities but No. 91 in access to quality basic education. The U.S. leads the world in medical technology but is at No. 97 in access to quality health care. The S.P.I. finds that Americans have health statistics similar to those of people in Chile, Jordan and Albania, while children in America get an education roughly on a par with what children receive in Uzbekistan and Mongolia. America ranks at 100 in discrimination against minorities.

Danny Blanchflower,
Dartmouth economist.

A majority of other advanced countries in the survey have lower homicide rates, lower traffic fatality rates, better sanitation and internet access. Michael Green, C.E.O. of the group that publishes the Social Progress Index, notes that the coronavirus will affect health, longevity and education with the impact particularly large in the U.S. and Brazil. The equity and inclusiveness measured by the Index seem to help protect societies from the virus. “Societies that are inclusive, tolerant and better educated are better able to manage the pandemic,” says Green. Danny Blanchflower, a Dartmouth economist, has new research showing that the share of Americans reporting, in effect, that every day is a bad mental health day, has doubled over the past 25 years. “Rising distress and despair are largely American phenomenon not observed in other advanced countries.” Blanchflower says.

Research indicates that a majority of people across countries hit hardest by the Covid 19 pandemic want social progress rather than economic growth to be at the fore, not only as the crisis continues but also once it ends. Young people in particular prefer that their countries prioritise social outcomes even after the pandemic is over..

The decline of the United States over the last decade in this index – more than any country in the world, is a reminder that Americans face structural problems that pre-date Trump and that have festered under both parties. Trump is both a symptom of this larger malaise and also a cause of its acceleration.

This is a shortened version of an article by Nicholas Kristof in the Friday September 11^th 2020 issue of the New York Times International Edition and he suggests, at the end, that first, Americans need to acknowledge that they are on the wrong track, and instead of proclaiming, “We’re No. 1” substitute, “We’re No. 28. And dropping!”

Nicholas Kristof,
New York Times journalist.

Odds and sods!

Family of friends, picking free apples on Saturday.

A boat, named for my mother, Hilda. She would
have been amused.

A divine-looking building for sale adjacent to
the Bonifaciusbrug. Next to the bust of 
Juan Luis Vives.

Autumn begins along the Vest

 

A flotilla of swans, disappearing at a pace beneath
the Strooibrug at the end of Vervesdijk

This strong reminder caught my eye on my health
walk this morning.

U.S. Ranks 28th.

                                       We Are No Longer The Country We Like To Think We Are.”

Michael Green, C.E.O. of the Social Progress Index.

Michael Green,l C.E.O. Social Progress Imperative

 The Social Progress Index, inspired by the research of Nobel-winning economists, collects 50 metrics of well-being – nutrition, safety, freedom, the environment, health, education and more, to measure quality of life. The latest Index, just published, finds that out of 163 countries assessed world-wide, the United States, Brazil and Hungary are the only ones in which people are worse off than when the Index began in 2011. The declines in Brazil and Hungary were smaller than America’s and the U.S. is declining both in absolute terms and relative to its wealthy world power peers.

Community cohesion.

Norway comes out top in this 2020 edition, followed by Denmark, Finland, Switzerland and New Zealand. South Sudan is bottom, with Chad, Central African Republic and Eritrea close by. Despite its immense wealth, military power and cultural influence, the U.S. ranks 28^th, having slipped from 19^th in 2011. Unbelievably, the U.S. now ranks behind significantly poorer countries including Estonia, Czech Republic, Cyprus and Greece. It, the U.S, is first in the world in the quality of its universities but No. 91 in access to quality basic education. The U.S. leads the world in medical technology but is at No. 97 in access to quality health care. The S.P.I. finds that Americans have health statistics similar to those of people in Chile, Jordan and Albania, while children in America get an education roughly on a par with what children receive in Uzbekistan and Mongolia. America ranks at 100 in discrimination against minorities.

Not 2020 but 2015
Already on the way down.
Harvard Magazine.

A majority of other advanced countries in the survey have lower homicide rates, lower traffic fatality rates, better sanitation and internet access. Michael Green, C.E.O. of the group that puts out the Social Progress Index, notes that the Coronavirus will affect health, longevity and education with the impact particularly large in the U.S. and Brazil. The equity and inclusiveness measured by the Index seem to help protect societies from the virus. “Societies that are inclusive, tolerant and better educated are better able to manage the pandemic,” says Green. Danny Blanchflower, a Dartmouth economist, has new research showing that the share of Americans reporting, in effect, that every day is a bad mental health day, has doubled over the past 25 years. “Rising distress and despair are largely American phenomenon not observed in other advanced countries.” Blanchflower says.

Research indicates that a majority of people across countries hit hardest by the Covid pandemic, want  social progress rather than economic growth to be at the fore, not only as the crisis continues but also once it ends. Young people in particular prefer their countries choose social outcomes even after the pandemic is over. The decline of the United States over the last decade in this index – more than any country in the world, is a reminder that Americans face structural problems that pre-date Trump and that have festered under both parties. Trump is both a symptom of this larger malaise and also a cause of its acceleration.

Danny Blanchflower
Dartmouth economist.

 This is a shortened version of an article by Nicholas Kristof in the Friday September 11^th 2020 issue of the New York Times International Edition and he suggests, at the end, that first, Americans need to acknowledge that they are on the wrong track, and instead of proclaiming, “We’re No. 1” substitute, “We’re No. 28. And dropping!”

Social progress.

 

Nicholas Kristof
New York Times Contributor.

Swanning around

 

 Perhaps this should be entitled, In Praise of Walking! As I am not yet back swimming every day, I walk almost every day for an early hour, usually towards, then alongside, one or other of the canals. The glorious weather has simply gilded the lily. Hippocrates declared that walking is the “best medicine” and though so far not in need of medicine, I do find that walking gives me joy. Sights, sounds, smells; all combine to give a delicious freedom to think things through, to remember recent events and anticipate the day or the morrow. I can have a quiet dialogue with myself though, truly with lock-down, that is possible at most times of the day! It’s just that the walking early provides a glorious private theatre to enact the process. Somehow, this mundane activity in a far-from-mundane setting elevates the ordinary and adds hugely to my sense of contentment and well-being.

I also have the opportunity to notice more details I have otherwise missed and to relish anew the normal sights of Bruges. This last week seems to have been dominated by swans; they have possibly been following me! Again and again, I seem to have walked past congregations of swans near bridges and below parapets, always busy dipping, stretching, swimming silently and with unseen effort, flapping occasionally, making majestic consort in smoothly-moving convoys. I got very excited two or three months ago when I saw a swan, sitting on what looked like a little pile of sticks, with another swan solicitously hovering. I decided that it must be a couple with one preparing to give birth. I observed, as I passed, over two days but on day three, they had gone, removed I suspected by an employee of the commune to a more distant place. Though behind a wire fence, they were probably too near to passing traffic.

I hadn’t thought until now of the word, Flaneur, but that is what I might be posturing as!! Flaneur is a French noun literally meaning stroller, lounger, saunterer, loafer. Wikipedia suggests that a flaneur is “an ambivalent figure of urban affluence and modernity, representing the ability to wander, detached from society with no other purpose than to be an acute observer of contemporary life.” This almost nails my daily activity but does not begin to suggest the joy I feel during the experience nor the main original reason for my activity which is to help me keep healthy.

Le Flaneur 1842
Paul Gavami.

I aassociate the word, ‘flaneur’ with Paris and now know that it was a description of a literary type from 19^th century France and carried a set of rich associations: the man of leisure; the idler; the urban explorer, the connoisseur of the street. Walter Benjamin, drawing on the poetry of Charles Baudelaire, first made this figure the object of scholarly interest in the 20^th century as an archetype of urban, modern experience. A certain detachment was suggested as if the person was slightly set back from what they saw around them. Thus the flaneur has become a symbol for artists and writers. I rather fancy being a female flaneur but think I lack a certain artistic gravitas. Flaneurs just were or are; not in search of health and well-being at all. There to observe an often familiar urban scene and notice unfamiliar aspects, at a distance, and with exquisite judgement or, equally importantly, to be observed by others as a man of taste.

Swans resident in Carmersstraat

And more along the Langerei.

Oosterlingenhuis, Krom Genthof 4.

 I am currently reading a quite marvellous book: Bruges, Cradle of Capitalism, 1280-1390 by James M. Murray. It is a an amazingly researched, scholarly study of how Bruges became the commercial capital of Northern Europe in the late fourteenth century. Murray argues that a combination of fortuitous changes, such as the shift to sea-borne commerce and the extraordinary efforts of the city's population, served to shape a great commercial centre. In effect, Murray's book works not only as a case study in mediaeval economic history, but also as a social and cultural history of mediaeval Bruges.

Murray suggests that the greatest single difference in the economy which was taking shape by 1300 was that instead of Brugeois or Flemish merchants journeying to their customers, their customers were journeying to them. Increasingly, economic success depended on attracting the largest possible number of foreign merchants from the widest diversity of places with the greatest variety of goods. The important economic magnet that Bruges became, meant that it was imperative for merchants to either live there or at least, have an intermittent presence there. 

The Beurseplein showing Ter Beurse, the hostel
belonging to the de Beurse family since 1276

What Murray refers to as " the commercial infrastructure" of Bruges, much of which came to be situated in the Beurse square on Vlaamingstraat and its environs along Zouterstraat, [now Academiestraat] towards St Jan's Bridge, [now Jan Van Eyckplein] comprised hostels, money exchanges, notaries, law courts. The Beurse square was dominated by the hostel, or commercial house, named after the Van de Beurse family; a hostel comprised a number of businesses and by definition occupied a substantial house of many rooms and several storeys, probably with capacious cellars for storage of goods, stables and a courtyard. The significance of a building signified importance of identity and was always a centre for trade. Thus hostels were quite separate from inns which served food, drink and offered lodging,and from other centres like taverns, cabarets, brothels and churches where merchants might also meet and do occasional business. These hostels were owned or rented by foreign merchants as residences for them and their households, and for business, or by wealthy members of the Bruges brokers' guilds. Murray gives examples of the former, such as the English wool merchant, William de la Pole, who rented large premises in Bruges to pursue the wool trade. From 1339-1340 he rented eight houses for sixty five weeks, to store and distribute 2,400 sacks of wool at a cost of less than one third of that in his native Hull.

Engraving showing  part of the
majestic new Oosterlingenhuis
circa 1481.

Somewhat later, a well-known Hanse merchant, Siverd Veckinchusen, owned a complex of houses in the Krom Genthof which, in 1442, became the site of the Oosterlingenhuis, the seat of the Hanse community of merchants within Bruges. Bruges was the only one of the Hanseatic cities [Cologne, Novgorod, Lubeck] which permitted ownership of property by foreigners. A little is known of the history of this building which came into being because of the frustration experienced by  the merchants from the Hanseatic cities, in Bruges. In 1451 the disaffected group left Bruges to move to Utrecht. An important delegation from the city followed them and offered many favourable conditions for their return which included a palatial building for them, constructed and financed by the city of Bruges. They were persuaded, returned and the impressive hostel was built at the rear of the Spanish Loskaii where boats could moor and goods be unloaded and loaded. In 1478 the original, partly wooden, building was demolished and the new monumental Oosterlingenhuis was built under the leadership of Jan van den Poele and completed in 1481. It was sufficiently noteworthy to be included by the painter, Pieter Claeissens, in his 1560 painting dedicated to the Seven Wonders of Bruges. 

Today's remains of this historic building.
Genthof, 4.

I live in Woensdagmarkt off which lies Oosterlingenplein and Krom Genthof. A rather regal flag adorning a handsome building at Krom Genthof 4, clearly the remains of a much larger building, caught my eye recently and I noticed it had the name Oosterlingenhuis displayed. It wasn't until I saw the same name in Murray's book that I suddenly becane alert to the historical possibilities, always almost a given in Bruges. I feel quite thrilled to have stumbled upon a little of its long narrative and am reminded of the dazzling historical continuity of this extraordinary little city.

Mediaeval merchants, weighing barrels.

 Seven Wonders of Bruges
Pieter Claeissens 1560
Included was the Oosterlingenhuis.