Petition to the Representatives of the Belgian people

1840

Petionnement aan de vertegenwoordigers van het Belgische volk

Petition

Generally marked as the first time the Flemish movement would formulate a political programme of any sorts, the “petionnement” was formulated as a response to the linguistic policies as outlined in the new Belgian constitution following its independence in 1830. The petition – which would ask for linguistic reforms on both the state level and via the foundation of Flemish cultural institutes – would serve as a template for future endeavours of the Flemish movement in the following decades, and would contribute to the emergence of a political Flemish national movement. Its direct consequences would be the emergence of the movement in general (as outline by the Declaration) and of the first political attempt to address the “grievances” of the Flemish movement (see Flemish Commission)

Flemish

1840

Ferdinand Snellaert, Philip Blommaert, Jan Frans Willems