ABSTRACT
The major victor in the rebellion of maritime Flanders was Ghent. The cities of Flanders were governed by bodies of two or more councils during the fourteenth century. The popes controlled the Flemish church by reserving nominations to them. During the Avignon period the southern bishoprics had 251 vacancies, of which only 46 were filled canonically. During the fourteenth century Ghent began extending its domination into imperial Flanders. Even with this caveat, however, the confiscations show that although there was some involvement of the masses of Ghent in the rebellion, defence of the city's wealth-generating privileges rather than the aspirations of the poor were the driving force behind the revolt of Ghent. The city governments of the thirteenth century had been notorious for peculation, perhaps because there was no regular tax structure. The Flemish silver coinage was debased eighteen times and the gold twenty-two during Louis of Male's reign.
