How A Roman Road Changed Belgium Forever

Video Description

Why does Belgium speak two languages? The answer is a 2,000-year-old Roman road. In this video, I explain how the Via Belgica, a highway built by the Roman empire around 50 BC, created a language border that still divides Belgium today. The road ran from Tongeren to Bavay, separating Romanized Gaul in the south from Germanic tribes in the north. That linguistic divide has persisted through the Middle Ages, Spanish rule, Austrian rule, French occupation, and Belgian independence. Today, Dutch speakers live north of the line, French speakers live south of it, and the border is still influenced by that ancient Roman road. Even Belgium's election results are decided by this 2,000-year-old line. 🗺️ CHAPTERS: 0:00 - Why Belgium Can't Agree 0:40 - The Roman Road That Started It All 2:44 - Medieval Chaos, Stable Border 4:09 - Spanish, Austrian, and French Rule 6:30 - Belgian Independence & Language Wars 9:26 - Fixing the Border (FOR REAL THIS TIME) 13:32 - 652 Days Without a Government *Correction: The image of Ferdinand I at 4:16 was actually Philip III, I've blurred the image now after the fact. SOURCES: - Jona Lendering, "Chaussée Brunehaut (Via Belgica)," Livius.org - Bruce Donaldson, "Dutch: A Linguistic History of Holland and Belgium" - Canon van Vlaanderen, "Hebban olla vogala" - Luc Van Durme & Danny Lamarcq, Germanic colonization maps - Roland Willemyns, "The Dutch-French Language Border in Belgium" Maps: -Geolayers3, Mapbox -Historical sources: André Ourednik Github & GeoCron Subscribe for more historical geography stories #belgium #history #geography #maps #romanempire #linguistics #europe #brussels #flanders #wallonia #historicalgeography #documentary #untoldstory #untoldhistory #romanroads #french #dutch #language BUSINESS INQUIRIES: [email protected] @MappedOutChannel Media Sources: Music by Paul Krasnoshchok from Pixabay Music by Mykola Sosin from Pixabay Music by Viacheslav Starostin from Pixabay Music by Dmitrii Kolesnikov from Pixabay Music by Ashot Danielyan from Pixabay Music by Ievgen Poltavskyi from Pixabay -Images Canva Pro, Wikicommons Languages in Switzerland By Tschubby - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 Sint-Martens-Voeren Door Jan Pešula User:Sapfan, CC BY-SA 2.5 Comines: St. Chrysolius Church & Mouscron town hall Door Jean-Pol GRANDMONT - Eigen werk, CC BY 2.5 Lille - Vieille bourse du travail Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, CC BY 3.0 Hoge Mote Ronse, BE Door User:LVan - own work (GFDL permission granted), CC BY-SA 3.0, Hahlmann, Werner: Den Beraubten, in: Kladderdatsch 73:41, 1920, p. 567; source: Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kla1920/0567. Creative Commons 2.0 Generic license Library of Catholic University of Leuven By Michielverbeek - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, By https://www.brandsoftheworld.com/logo/janssen, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67373355 Kohlebergwerk, Blegny (Blegny-Mine) II, Belgique Horst J. Meuter, CC BY-SA 4.0 Guidon of King Philip II of Spain.svg Heralder, CC BY-SA 4.0 Mitteleuropa zur Zeit der Staufer.svg Alphathon /'æɫfə.θɒn/, CC BY-SA 4.0 Election map Furfur, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons