During the months preceding the Symposium, the most important episodes of the history of Bruges will be briefly described. Visit this page once in a while, as it will be regularly expanded. We plan to cover the following episodes.

• The period before 1200, when Bruges was already a military stronghold and seaport.
• The 13^th and 14^th centuries, when, due to the trade based on its cloth industry, Bruges could be described as the "Venice of the North".
• The period of Burgundian splendor (15^th century).
• 16^th century Bruges, for Erasmus the "New Athens". However, no longer a seaport, a long period of economic decline had started.
• Repeatedly the city tried to establish a new link to the sea, but in the 19^th century writer Rodenbach characterized it as a sleeping beauty in his roman, Bruges la Morte.
• In the 20^th century, the lifeline to the sea was finally reopened, but tourism turned out to be the prince who brought the most gothic town in Europe back to life.