Thursday, June 23, 2011

Today in Belgian History

A friend of mine gave me the idea for this, a way to expand on the "Famous Belgians" postings.

Today in 1305 the Treaty of Athis-sur-Orge was signed between King Philippe IV of France and Count Robert III, the "Lion of Flanders". By this treaty Lille, Douai and Béthune were ceded to the King of France in return for which Flanders was allowed to remain as an autonomous fiefdom by the French power. This resulted from the French victory at the Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle.

Also, today in 1612, in Antwerp, was born the great mathematics scholar André Tacquet. He was a Roman Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus and he prepared the foundation in his work for the eventual discovery of calculus. Famous mathematic experts such as Isaac Newton, Gottfried Leibniz, John Wallis and Blaise Pascal all later became famous building on his work.

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