Lys (department)

The Département de la Lys ( German department of the Lys and Lys River; Dutch Department van de Leie ) was a 1795 to 1814 the French State belonging to the department on the territory of the present Belgian province of West Flanders. It was named after the river Leie, a tributary of the Scheldt.

History

The territory of the department belonged to the late 18th century to the County of Flanders, which was part of the Austrian Netherlands. 1790 originated from this the United Belgian States that were pooled due to measures taken by the French National Convention on October 1, 1795 decision by the French Republic.

Already in 1795 the administration and the judicial system has been adapted to the still new French system, it emerged on the territory of the former Austrian Netherlands and other territories lying in the region of nine departments, which were administratively divided into arrondissements, cantons and municipalities. The cantons were also justice of the peace districts. In 1796 the then " State Flanders " (today Zeeland Flanders ) assigned by the Batavian Republic said territory to France and the Département de la Lys affiliated.

After the victory over Napoleon in the Battle of Leipzig (1813 ) and (1815 ) agreements to the Congress of Vienna was the department. Initially as a province of West Flanders part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and belongs since 1839 to Belgium " State - Flanders " remained in the Netherlands and became part of the province of Zeeland.

Structure

Capital (Chef -lieu ) of the department or office of the prefecture was the city of Bruges. It was divided into four arrondissements and 36 cantons and 250 communes:

The Department had an area of ​​3,669 square kilometers and in 1812 a total of 491 143 inhabitants.