The siege of Ypres

The map

The map of the siege of Ypres can be seen in the Ypres Museum. It is an ink drawing on paper measuring 17.8 cm high and 20.4 cm wide. So it is rather small. The city with its two city walls is in the centre. Between the two walls, the English and Ghent troops have set up camp.

At the top left and right are two cartouches and at the bottom is a legend. You can clearly recognise the shape of the city with the first city wall. Around it are the suburbs with a second city wall, the “outer forts”. This second wall was built in the early 14th century after the city literally burst at the seams.

This is the oldest image of the suburbs of Ypres. Although the map was made in the early 17th century, the representation seems fairly accurate. We see detached houses, large enough for a workshop, located on the two main roads. The church of the outer parish of St. Michael is also correctly positioned. Du Tielt probably based this map on older, now lost, images.

The Counter-Reformation

In the early 17th century, under the governors Albrecht and Isabelle, the Netherlands were once again very Catholic. After a turbulent period of reformation and rebellion in the 16th century, old religious customs were reintroduced. New Catholic schools were established and new traditions were introduced to make Catholicism popular among the population once again.

In Ypres, the procession of Our Lady of Thuyne had been an annual tradition since 1384. But like so many religious festivals, it was cancelled during the Reformation. In 1609, the procession took place again for the first time in Ypres. In order to restore the ritual to the collective memory, Adriaan van Schrieck published the booklet “Den oorspronck ende cause van de jaerlijcksche feeste der stede van Ipre ghenaemt den Tuyndagh, met de geschiedenissen in Vlaenderen in de jaeren 1382, 1383 ende daer ontrent” (The origin and cause of the annual festival of the city of Ypres called Tuyndagh, with the events in Flanders in the years 1382, 1383 and thereabouts) in 1610.

Van Schrieck was a councillor in Ypres at the time, but had also been a councillor for Albrecht and Isabelle in the past. Guillaume du Tielt's map dates from the same period and is included in Adriaan van Schrieck's booklet. It is unclear whether the map was made specifically for the book.

In addition to this map, Guillaume du Tielt created other religious representations, including some commissioned by the Ypres city council. For example, he also created another copper engraving depicting the procession of Our Lady of Thuyne. He also designed various procession banners. The map is not just a map of Ypres. It tells the story of the siege of Ypres, emphasising the miraculous rescue of the city thanks to Our Lady of Thuyne.

Religious accents on the map

The religious theme of the map can be seen in various ways. The two cartouches at the top are a good example of this. At the top left is Our Lady of Thuyne herself. She seems to be blessing the city.

Thanks to her, the English and the people of Ghent withdrew. The retreating troops are depicted just below her (letter R on the map). The Latin inscription also honours the Virgin Mary: “O citizens loyal to the prince, fight bravely. Behold, from above, Mother and Child stretch out their arms to suffering Ypres”. The Latin text is also a chronogram. If you add up the capital letters, you get the number 1383 in Roman numerals.

The letter D also focuses on Our Lady of Thuyne. It shows “the miracle of the young virgin”. This is the story of a thirteen-year-old girl from Ypres who lives in the suburbs. She flees, but is attacked by English soldiers. She manages to escape and jumps into the water of the ramparts. While lying in the water, she calls for Mary's help. Miraculously, she ends up on a small island in the middle of the moat and is safe within the first wall of the city. The card shows her lying in the moat.

The second cartouche, at the top right, contains two hands in friendship with a bishop's crozier and two lances between them, symbolising the religious and civil power in the city. The text around it reads “concordia civium” or “unity of the citizens”. With this, du Tielt refers to the cooperation between citizens and clergy. The map therefore clearly refers to religion, but also to solidarity and unity within the (Catholic) city. This is literally central to the map. On the Grote Markt, the letter A indicates how the citizens of Ypres swore unity during the siege.

Want to know more?

B. Vannieuwenhuyze, “Reading History Maps. The Siege of Ypres Mapped by Guillaume du Tielt”, Quærendo 45 (2015) 292-321.
G. Gyselen, “De Ieperse graveur Guillaume du Tielt opnieuw geïnventariseerd”, Biekorf 86 (1986) 284-285.
A. Vandenpeereboom, Guillaume du Tielt, graveur, notes sur sa vie et sur ses oeuvres, Ypres 1882.
A. van Schrieck, The origin and cause of the annual festival of the city of Ypres called Tuyndagh, with the history of Flanders in the years 1382, 1383 and thereabouts. Reprinted in the year 1733, being the jubilee of three hundred and fifty years, Ypres, 1733.