Maybe Charles V decided to forgive Oudenaarde because of something that had happened a few years earlier. In 1521, he was staying in the city while his army besieged Tournai.
The city officials in Oudenaarde put on a lavish feast in his honour. While he was staying here, the young Charles had a brief affair with a beautiful local woman called Johanna van der Gheynst. It led to the birth of a daughter called Margaretha.
The Emperor acknowledged her as his daughter and paid for her education. She went on to marry a Medici, followed by Ottavio Farnese, Count of Parma. In 1559, Philip II of Spain appointed Margaret (now ‘of Parma’) as Governor of the Low Countries.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
