The Emperor

This fellow comes up to me speaking French and asks for the Prinsenhof. Through limited English we establish that he is not looking for my B&B which contains the name Prinsenhof but that he is looking for the birthplace of Emperor Charles V nearby.

I knew Charles was born and baptized in Ghent. I went to St. Bavo's the other day but I was not aware that Charles was born down the street!

Our landlady assured us that Charles was born down the way and that there was an arch and parts of an old castle and that Charles procession passed right by the door of her place and people leaned out the windows to see that procession.

I wasn't about to question the whole story....seeing that the building next door had the date 1704 emblazoned on its facade....and that Charles was born in 1500.

But, it's a great story and if it's not true it should be.

I was off to see.

It was through this old arch that Charles and his castle or whatever was at one time located.

Graffiti has taken over and instead of a monument to the great Emporer of the Holy Roman Empire and  foe to Martin Luther and all that the Reformation entailed....there was a list of some of his victims who were either buried alive or hung.

He is not real popular around here.  A "tyrant" said our landlady. If the victim was a noble person Charles would hang them quickly....if they were not noble, he would bury them alive so they would die slowly. Little wonder that there is no glorious statue in the Prinsenhof.

I did find a statue, but not to Charles V.

It was a tribute to Charles' victims. There stood a life sized statue of a man with a noose around his neck and he is staring defiantly into the eyes of Charles before he is hung to death.

Sure, Charles was born here and his retinue passed by my landlady's house two hundred years before it was built and the people leaned out the windows in wonder....but all that remains is a defiant victim...and in the end, the victim was Charles V.

On that historical note I wandered around the immediate area, which like every place else in Ghent has remnants of the old.

The canal nears Charles former castle is picturesque.

And on closer inspection, this castle-like building was quite charming. But it was merely the water intake control station. No idea how old, but Ghent dregged a canal to the sea and nearby Brugge was not pleased since Brugge could no longer control sea access.

Up close on the water works design.

This is looking back to an old monastery which, when I asked the local baker about it, she replied, "Oh,it's just some old building thing." Nearest I could figure out, the religious institution was long gone and the buildings were now condos. (Which seems to be the story of so many of the former religious institutions around here in Ghent.)

No one seemed to mind that I wandered in and around the grounds.

I like Ghent. I might even say I love the city. I have to wonder just what it would be like to live here where Charles lived and put to death so many. Where around every corner is a former monastery or church or convent (most of which are shuttered and now condos). Where the building next to my B&B is from the 1700's.

What would it be like to walk these old, old streets today on your way to work in modern Europe? I want to know.

Peace,  Bob