ABSTRACT
The smallest, after Bruges and Ghent, of the "three cities" that dominated Flanders in the Middle Ages, Ypres is first mentioned in written sources of the 11th century, the only "new" or founded town of Flanders that became a major metropolis. Its area was still heavily forested in 1000 but was being cleared rapidly. It was the site of a castle of the Flemish counts and the church of Saint-Martin, on the Yperlee canal at the point where it became navigable to merchants traveling inland from the coast. Ypres was thus at a strategic point linking the hydrographic systems that concentrated on Bruges and Ghent. Both a fable and an oratorical and satirical text, Ysengrimus reflects contemporary life and the problems of the Second Crusade. This somber and pessimistic poem is largely unsympathetic to St. Bernard, Pope Eugenius III, and the monks of Qteaux and Cluny. It is an excellent reflection of the culture of a 12th-century cleric.
