Text (translated from the 1579 Latin, 1580/1589 German, 1581 French, 1587 French, 1588 Spanish, 1592 Latin, 1598 French, 1601 Latin, 1602 Spanish, 1603 Latin, 1608/1612 Italian & 1609/1612/1641 Spanish edition)
70.1. {1579L{HANNONIA {1588S, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S only add{HENNAV}1588S, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S only}{1608/1612I only adds{Henaut}1608/1612I only}.
70.2. Lessabæus writes (on what grounds I do not know) that this Province was formerly called Pannonia because the rustic god Pan was worshipped here, then {not in 1580/1589G{Saltus Carbonarius or}not in 1580/1589G} The coal Forest, and after that Lower Picardy. But finally it was named Hannonia after the river Hania which runs through the middle of it. The inhabitants call it Hainault and the Dutch HENEGOW, {not in 1580/1589G, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F{which in the ancient language of the area means The field of Hainault, for GOW in Dutch means field}not in 1580/1589G, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F}. {1601L, 1602S, 1603L, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612/1641S only{Carlo Bouillus in his booklet discusses the various names in the vernacular languages}1601L, 1602S, 1603L, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612/1641S only}.
70.3. To the West this Province <is bordered> by Flanders and Artois, on the North <by> Brabant, and <by> Brabant with part of Namur and Liege on the East. South it is bounded by Champaigne, a Province of France. <It is> a country as pleasant, and as well stored with woods, lakes, springs, meadows and pastures as any other in this entire area. The inhabitants are warlike, {not in 1581F, 1587F & 1598F{and most loyal and obedient towards their Prince. {not in 1579L, 1580/1589G & 1588S{They usually boast about their liberty or freedom in a common proverb, saying Pays de Hainault tenu de Dieu & du Soleil, that is, The Province of Henault <only> holds <in high esteem> God and the sun. Which proverb Nicolaus Brontius in a discourse of his published to recommend this region interprets in two Latin verses to this effect:
70.4. Solus ab tellure Deus nutu astra gubernans <=> Star-guiding Iove and Phoebus bright
Lucidus & Titan ius sibi iure petunt <=> Of this place only challenge right}not in 1579L, 1580/1589G, 1581F, 1587F, 1588S & 1598F}.
70.5. In length it measures about twenty, and in breadth sixteen miles. In which space, (as Guicciardini reports) it comprises twenty-four towns and more than nine hundred and fifty villages or hamlets. Robert Cnalis counts in this Province two {1608/1612I has instead{one}1608/1612I instead} thousand two hundred petty villages, as they call them, with Churches and steeples. At this moment it has the title of an Earldom, and it contains within it {not in 1587F{one Princedom, (as they call this dignity)}not in 1587F}, eight lower Earldoms, twelve Peers, (as they now call them), twenty-two Baronies, twenty-six Abbeys as well as other titles of dignity, as can be seen in Guicciardini.
70.6. The main cities are Mons and Valenchienes, the latter one, situated on the river Scheld where it begins to be navigable for boats and barks, is a very large and strongly walled town. The townsmen mostly employ themselves in trade of merchandise, and reap very high profits by a kind of cloth they call Fussets, of which a great quantity is woven in this city, and transported from there to the furthest parts of the world. Mons lies on the little river Trouille, almost in the very middle of the region. <It is> a town very efficiently fortified against all hostile attacks. The citizens thrive by a kind of stuff commonly called Saye, which is made here in great abundance.
70.7. Next, here are the towns of Condet, Halle {1581F & 1587F only{or Haut}1581F & 1587F only}, Angie, Maubeuge, Avesne, Beaumont, Chimay, Quesnoy, the {not in 1581F, 1587F, 1592L, 1595L, 1601L, 1603L & 1608/1612I{decaying}not in 1581F, 1587F, 1592L, 1595L, 1601L, 1603L & 1608/1612I} place {1580/1589G, 1581F, 1587F, 1588S, 1592L, 1595L, 1598F, 1601L, 1602S, 1603L, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612/1641S only{Binche}1580/1589G, 1581F, 1588S, 1592L, 1595L, 1598F, 1601L, 1602S, 1603L, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612/1641S only} of Mary, sister of the Emperor Charles the fifth who built a most stately and sumptuous Palace there, which was then highly esteemed, but later by the French King Henricus the second totally burnt and destroyed. Here is also Bauacum, commonly called Bauais which some think to be <the same as> Baganum or Bagacum mentioned by Ptolemæus. Others are of the opinion that Cæsar in his commentaries calls it Belgium. However, Hubertus of Liege thinks that it was not so mighty in Cæsar's time, but has rather flourished most under Constantinus the Emperor, which he concludes from ancient coins, daily dug up here in great quantities, with the image of the Emperor just referred to on them.
70.8. On the market place of this town stands a pillar of stone at whose foot the inhabitants say that all those roads start which with a high and direct passage extend from here to all parts of France. These roads (they say) were made by Brunehild. And to this very day they are called after his name. For the French commonly call them Chemins de Brune hault, and the high Dutch call them DE KASSIJE <=cobblestones>. To this day there are still in various places some broken remains of these roads. Bouillus notes certain miracles about them, namely, that they are higher than the fields on either side <of them>; that they lie most directly between the main towns of France and that they are paved with flint stones of which none is to be found in the adjacent fields, so that with admiration a man may imagine that these flint stones either sprang out of the earth or rained down from heaven, or by a greater force than mans hand were gathered from all over the world to provide paving for these roads. {1608/1612I only{A similar pillar anciently could also be found at the Forum Romanum, where it was erected and inscribed, called the Gold of the Miles, to which all streets led}1608/1612I only}.
70.9. Also, at the frontiers of this region towards the river Maese, on the way to France, you have Charlemont, Marieburg and Philippeville, very strong garrisons against attacks from the French, built and thus named by Emperor Charles the fifth, by his sister Mary and by K<ing> Philip his son.
70.10. This region abounds with {not in 1581F & 1587F{iron and}not in 1581F & 1587F} lead mines. Here are also found various kinds of marble, such as black, white and multi-coloured, very convenient for adorning palaces and sepulchres of Kings and great Noblemen. Similarly, very much lime is dug up here. Also a kind of stony and black coal, {not in 1581F & 1587F{hardened like pitch}not in 1581F & 1587F}, which the inhabitants use for fuel instead of wood. And here are {1581F & 1587F only{in the area of Barbanchon {1581F, 1587F, 1588S, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612/1641S only{also made those thin transparent panes of glass by means of which unpleasant winds and weather are repelled from houses and churches, and this glass excels above all others that are made anywhere else}1581F, 1587F & 1588S only}. {1580/1589G, 1581F, 1587F, 1588S, 1592L, 1595L, 1601L & 1603L only{They also make drinking glasses and glass jars}1580/1589G, 1581F, 1587F, 1592L, 1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612/1641S only}. You may read more in Guicciardini and in a specific treatise that Iacobus Lessabæus has written about this region. Also Hubert Thomas of Liege in his book de Tungris & Eburonibus writes many memorable things about this province}1579L} © Marcel van den Broecke ©.