The History of Brussels Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gaugericus

The island is now called Saint Gaugericus Island or Saint-Géry Island and it lies in the Zenne River. St. Gaugericus was originally a bishop in France before he went to Belgium to convert pagans.

Answer: Gudula

Saint Gudula is also a patron saint of Brussels, though she lived in the town of Moorsel. Her relics were placed in St. Gaugericus' Chapel by Duke Charles of Lower Lorraine. The reason for this translation was to start a cult of her which would attract people to the area so that the loose settlement that was Brussels at the time could go stronger and more populous.

Answer: A parade of sorts

An Ommegang is a parade in Brussels (and in other places) whose main feature is a procession and celebration of the Virgin Mary. The first Ommegang started, according to legend, when the Virgin Mary came to a woman named Beatrijs Soetkens and told her to travel to Antwerp and steal the statue called Our Lady on the Little Stick and bring it back to Brussels. Soetkens did so, by either divine intervention or a miracle, and brought the statue to the Crossbow Guild.

In celebration of this event, Brussels annually hosts an Ommegang. It was originally a religious event but within a few centuries, it became more of a mix of religious and secular celebration. The Ommegang begins at the Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon, which is the Guild's chapel.

Answer: Host desecration

While Jews were commonly blamed for spreading the plague and other diseases throughout Europe, the Brussels Massacre was specifically about alleged host desecration. Prior to 1370, much of the Jewish population was exiled from Brussels and the few people who remained were persecuted. One of the ways the Jews were persecuted was via a hoax called host desecration. Jews were often framed by Christians of stealing communion wafers and destroying them.

The legend that led up to the massacre was as follows: A rich, Jewish merchant had bribed a Jewish convert to Christianity to steal some hosts so he could destroy him. However, he died and the hosts fell into the possession of his wife who then brought them to a synagogue where patrons stabbed the hosts. Some accounts say the hosts bled. What (if anything) actually happened is unknown but some claim the originally thief was a woman who felt remorseful and gave the hosts back to the local priest. Others claim there was no such plot in the first place.

Either way, Jews were either banished or burnt at the stake as a result. The event of the bleeding hosts was celebrated as an anti-Jewish holiday called the Sacrament of Miracle until after World War II when Brussels' Jewish population was decimated.

Answer: Manneken Pis

The Mannekin Pis is the famous statue of the boy urinating and has been replicated throughout the world. There are many legends behind the statue. The most common one is that it represents Duke Godfrey III of Leuven, who was a child duke who was placed at the front of the battle lines during a war. It is said the duke urinated on his opponents and then won the battle. Another legend says that Brussels was nearly set on fire but a small boy urinated on a fuse and extinguished it.

The Mannekin Pis statue was installed in 1618, though the first of its kind was designed in the 14th century. Throughout the century, the statue has been stolen many times. The original is in the Breadhouse Museum in the Grande Place. The one on display was installed in 1964. It usually is nude, however it is dressed in costumes according to a schedule. The statue has hundreds of costumes and they can be viewed in the Breadhouse Museum when not worn. On rare occasions, beer is fed through the fountain and passersby can enjoy a free cup courtesy of the Mannekin Pis.

Answer: France

At the time, Brussels was part of Austrian Netherlands. The French, led by Maurice de Saxe, invaded the city during the wintertime, something unusual and dangerous because of the winter conditions. Despite that, the French easily took the city because the Brussels' ally Britain had recalled her troops back home and Count Kaunitz poorly defended the city. Brussels would remain under French control until 1749.

Answer: Opera house

On August 25, 1830, amid growing tensions between Catholics in what is now Belgium and Protestants in the Netherlands, actors at La Monnaie were performing "La Muette de Portici", a play previously banned because it was believed to be so patriotic that it would cause secessionist riots in Belgium. That is exactly what happened and rioters took to the streets in protest of the Netherlands government, of which Belgium and Brussels were part of.

Belgians had strongly opposed the reign of William I who clearly favored the Netherlands over Brussels. Belgians also felt unrepresented in the Netherlands' lower house because the north, while having fewer people, had far more elected officials.

The revolution ended in July of 1831 with an independent Belgium led by King Leopold I.

Answer: Senne

The Senne was at one point in Brussels' history the city's main route of transportation. However, over time canals and trams were constructed, severely reducing the Senne's usefulness. Moreover, the population increased dramatically and construction projects polluted the river with garbage and waste to the point that cholera was common occurrence and there was no potable water to use.

In the 1870s, it was decided to divert the Senne out of the city and build streets, boulevards and plazas over the areas it once flowed. Small sections of the Senne (or Zenne in Dutch) can still be seen on the outskirts of the city.

Answer: European Union

The Treaty of Brussels was signed by Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg as a way to combat the spread of Communism into Western Europe. One of the main provisions was to establish collective security measures to protect member states.

The Treaty of Brussels was later used as the foundation for establishing the Western European Union in 1954 which in turn expanded into the European Union.

Answer: Maalbeek Metro

Brussels was long suspected as a target for ISIS terrorists because it is the headquarters of the European Union and because its intelligence agencies were considered subpar. In November 2015, after the Paris attacks, Brussels went on lockdown as at least one of the perpetrators was believed to be hiding in Brussels. Four days before the attack, a suspect in the Parisian attacks was arrested in Brussels, which may have been what led ISIS to attack.

In addition to the thirty-two civilians killed, three perpetrators were also killed.