Delayed Departure

Our traveller had left London, accompanied by two men from Antwerp who wished to return home. One of them was a messenger. As was often the case with Kiechel, he chose companions who were familiar with the region he intended to travel through and, hopefully, knew the roads. A messenger from Antwerp was therefore the perfect choice.

On the morning of their scheduled departure, the travellers learned that a group of French royal messengers had arrived at the gates of Calais. They were travelling on urgent business to Paris. The messengers had sixteen horses and wanted to exchange them for fresh animals, so they stopped and seized all horses entering or leaving Calais.

When Kiechel’s companion, the messenger, learned of this, he concealed their animals. He told our traveller that royal messengers had the right to seize any horse if necessary. Because of this incident, the three men decided to delay their departure by another day and wait until the French messengers had left.

The authority of royal envoys and messengers to confiscate horses without compensation was common in various parts of Europe, such as Sweden and the Ottoman Empire. Travellers had to be alert and hide their animals if they wished to avoid being left as pedestrians. Kiechel would, at a later time, fall prey to this practice himself, but he also attempted to exploit this rule by claiming to be a royal messenger to secure a horse.

Into the Spanish Netherlands

The next morning (26 November), after the gates of Saint-Omer had been opened, Kiechel entered the town. There, our traveller had to wait a while because the messenger had some business to attend to. Kiechel wrote: Saint-Omer was in the county of Artois, one of the seventeen provinces of the Spanish Netherlands. The town was small, but its buildings looked pleasant and tidy, and its streets were neat and straight.

Kiechel’s fascination with long, straight streets is evident multiple times in his journal. He does not specify a reason for his preference. Presumably, the openness and apparent spaciousness of a straight, broad street offered a pleasant contrast to the tight and cramped feeling of narrow, winding streets in southern German towns.

The Dutch cartographer Jacob van Deventer produced maps of all towns in the Spanish Netherlands, including those visited by Samuel Kiechel. The map of Saint-Omer reflects van Deventer’s typical style, showing a plan view oriented to the north with the surrounding countryside also visible. The street grid of Saint-Omer is clear, with many streets appearing long and straight. Van Deventer marked churches and fortifications, while other buildings were indicated by short zigzag lines representing roofs and gables. A wall and moat fortified Saint-Omer, but the town had already expanded beyond these defences, particularly to the north, where many houses had been built (as shown by the zigzag lines). Samuel Kiechel arrived from that direction, and among the houses could have been the inn where he spent the night.

Van Deventer’s map was also published in the “Civitates Orbis Terrarum”. To match its style, the publishers had cut the map to show only the city, excluding the surrounding countryside. Contrary to Samuel Kiechel’s comments, which said that Saint-Omer was relatively small, the town appears fairly large, with numerous churches and other notable features.

While our traveller was waiting in Saint-Omer for the messenger to finish his business, the young Dutchman whom he had left the day before arrived. He was accompanied by a peasant who had led the young man to Saint-Omer overnight. Having learnt from his misfortune the previous day, he now also decided to rent a horse from the messenger, and together they left Saint-Omer and continued towards Antwerp.

It was already late in the year, and winter was rapidly approaching. Kiechel observed that the road outside Saint-Omer was rough and frozen. Throughout the day, the travellers struggled to find food for their horses. The settlements they passed were partly abandoned, and the three men grew concerned about the presence of bandits in the area. After nightfall, the group arrived at the town of Béthune. They spent the night in the suburb outside the walls.

Jacob van Deventer’s depiction shows Béthune as a fortified town. Like Saint-Omer, Béthune had begun to expand beyond its walls. On the map, suburbs are visible to the north and south of it.

A profile view of Béthune is featured in the fourth volume of the “Civitates Orbis Terrarum”.

Kiechel does not comment on Béthune. The group spent the night in the suburbs, and he may not even have entered the town. He and his companions left the following morning for Lille. According to our traveller, the journey from Béthune to Lille took them through a beautiful and pleasant landscape. The sudden shift in Kiechel’s description, from references to a devastated and bandit-infested land to a pleasant area, is noteworthy.

The travellers arrived in Lille in the evening. Lille was the capital of the county of Artois. The city was large and beautiful. Although most of its houses were constructed of wood, Kiechel found the place pleasant and clean. Lille was heavily fortified, with a well-guarded gate. The travellers had to state their names and places of origin before being allowed entry. The guards documented these details, and, as usual, the same information was requested of the travellers at the inn.

Kiechel further wrote that Lille was not garrisoned by foreign soldiers. Its citizens organised the city’s defence. The inhabitants of Lille spoke both Spanish and French. The French language was called ‘wallon’ (Walloon). The people of Lille produced yarn, knitted stockings, and similar items.

Again, maps of Lille are in the “Civitates” and the collection of Jacob van Deventer.

The map in the “Civitates” was a copy of van Deventer’s map, adapted to match the publication’s style. While van Deventer’s map has no other textual descriptions besides the city’s name, the map in the “Civitates” includes a legend that identifies the gates, churches and a few other buildings in Lille.

Samuel and his companions spent half a day in the city because the messenger had to collect and deliver letters. At lunchtime (29 November), they departed and headed towards Kortrijk. Their route took them through a flat and pleasant landscape. However, the area was deserted, and the villages had been destroyed. Kiechel noticed many thickets and undergrowth where bandits could hide.

The travellers crossed into Flanders and arrived in Kortrijk in the evening. In the city, Samuel observed many abandoned buildings but thought the place was still well fortified. The inhabitants mainly spoke French, but Kortrijk was under the rule of the King of Spain.

The group left Kortrijk on 30 November and travelled all day. The landscape along their route mainly consisted of woodland and was very wet and mossy. The travellers could not find any food for their horses as they rode through deserted villages and past untended fields. The messenger was very worried, as this area was ideal for an ambush. Eventually, the three men arrived safely in Ghent in the evening.