Johan Decavele (born Tielt, 1943) is a Belgian historian and archivist who worked as head of the Culture Department of the City of Ghent. He has mainly published on the history of Ghent and of the Reformation. He contributed to the Algemene Geschiedenis der Nederlanden , Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques , Monasticon belge, The Golden Delta of the Low Countries and The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation.
Decavele studied history at the University of Leuven and at the Institut für Europäische Geschichte, Abteilung für Abendländische Religionsgeschichte in Mainz. In 1971 he obtained his PhD in history at the KU Leuven. His dissertation earned an award from the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts and was published in two volumes as De dageraad van de Reformatie in Vlaanderen (The dawn of the Reformation in Flanders). [1] With its almost 850 pages, the dissertation is generally regarded as the foundational work for the history of the early Protestant Reformation in the Netherlands [2] , with the use of many hitherto unknown sources [3] . "Decavele’s achievement is considerable. On the basis of new archival information he has radically revised the chronology of the Reformation in Flanders and set this firmly within the contemporary religious and social context". [4] "Pour la Belgique, où le protestantisme a pu passer, quelquesfois, pour une curiosité, il était nécessaire, il était bon que l'on rappelât son balbutiement, sa séduction et son martyrologe. J. Decavele y a réussi pour la Flandre". [5]
From 1971, Decavele had a career of almost 35 years at the City of Ghent. The highlight was the organisation of the successful exhibition "Unity and Separation in the Netherlands" in St Peter's Abbey in 1976, on the occasion of the four-hundredth anniversary of the Pacification of Ghent. On his 25th anniversary as the city's archivist, a liber amicorum was published in his honour, Qui valet ingenio, with contributions from 37 colleagues and friends. [6] Beyond his archival and historical contributions, Decavele chaired the Gentse Straatnaamgeving Commission, which played a pivotal role in renaming approximately 600 streets after the 1977 merger. Since 1 December 1984 he was also interim director of Cultural Affairs, with breaks in between, until in 2003 he was appointed head of the Department. He put the service back on track. Despite his busy ministry, he continued his scholarly work and became an authority on the Reformation. A chapter from his 2004 book was called by reviewer Henk van Nierop "one of the clearest overview articles of early Dutch Protestantism that I know of". [7] He gave numerous lectures in Flanders and the Netherlands. At his farewell on 23 December 2005, he was honoured by family, colleagues and friends, the city council and the entire Ghent cultural sector.
He continued to publish. In addition to the Reformation, for example, in 2010 also about the pawnshops around 1572, when dozens of young people from Piedmont were sent by their parents to Ghent and other Flemish cities to be apprenticed. He continued his series of lectures, including six afternoons of courses for the history department of HOVO University Leiden. In early 2018 an unfortunate eye procedure, resulting in impaired vision, put an end to his scientific work.
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Patricia Mary, Baroness Carson was an Anglo-Belgian historian and author.
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Stephanus Gerardus Axters (1901–1977) was a Belgian scholar with a particular interest in the history and literature of Christian mysticism.
Andreas Johannes Ludovicus baron van den Bogaerde van Terbrugge was a Dutch nobleman, politician, author and art collector. He served as Governor of North Brabant between 1830 and 1842.
Cornelis (Cornelius) Columbanus Vrancx was a Flemish writer of prose, poetic refrains and spotlighted against the Reformed. He was the 60th abbot of St Peter's Abbey in Ghent from 1597 and wrote thirty-seven concise works. Cornelis Columbanus Vrancx is seen as the forerunner of the Flemish poet Adriaan Poirters.
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The Statue of Egmont is a statue of Lamoral, Count of Egmont in Zottegem, Belgium, dating from 1872.
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