Belgic Confession (Confessio BeJg'ca), a confes- sion of faith framed by Guido de Bres, of Brabant, and others, about A.D. 1561 in French, and based on Cal- vinistic principles. It was translated into the vernac- ular in 1563, and was received as a symbolical book by the synods of Antwerp in 1566, of Dort in 1571, 1576, 1579, 1581, and 1619; and recognised by that of the Hague in 1651. The copy recognised by the synod of Jliddclburg in 1581 is an abridgment ofthe original by Festus Hommius, which afterward became the rule of flic Synod of Dort. Both have the same number of articles, and differ only in form, not in spirit. The shorter form is given by Augusti, ('• rpus L)'>r<<r. Sym- bolicor. (Elberf. 1827, 8vo); the longer in Niemeyer, Coll. Confessionum (Leips. 1840, 8vo). See Confes- sions.
Belgium, a minor state of Europe, situated be- tween France, Holland, and Prussia. See Europe.
I. Church IFixtory. — ( Ihistianity is said to have been introduced into Bolgium as early as A.D. 42, through Ivichariiis. one ofthe seventy disciples ; but Maternus (died 130) is generally honored as the apostle of Bel- eium, through the whole extent of which he planted ( Jhristian churches. During the Crusades the Belgian nobility distinguished themselves by their zeal (see Godfrey of Bouillon). In the thirteenth, fourteenth,
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and fifteenth centuries, Belgium was the chief seat of the reformatory movements within the Roman Catholic Church, and produced several religious communities, whose discipline and life formed, by their more BiMi- cal and spiritual character, a favorable contrast to the gross superstitions of the majority of monastic institu- tions. To these belonged the Beghards and Beguines, the Lollards, and especially the Fratres Communis Vitae {Brethren of the Common Life). The Reforma- tion.of the sixteenth century was opposed by the Uni- versity of Louvain, and later also by Erasmus, but found many adherents among the people ; and its first martyrs, John Esch and Henry Vos, who were burned at Brussels July 1, 1523, were Belgians. The Inquisi- tion introduced by Philip I was unable to crush out the Reformation, and led to the revolution of the seven northern provinces. See Holland. In the southern provinces the predominance of the Roman Church was
secured by Alexander of Tarma, and fortified by the Jesuits. Jansenism (q. v.) arose in Belgium, but did not long survive, as a distinct organization, the first condemnatory decrees of the pope. The edict of tol- eration (Oct. 13, 1781), by which Joseph II restrained the spiritual authority of the pope, declared marriage a civil contract, and suppressed all monastic societies, merging them into one "Fraternity of Charity," met with a violent opposition. The states were against him and refused to pay taxes, and the emperor had to make important concessions. The union of Belgium with Holland after the overthrow of the Napoleonic rule greatly dissatisfied the Roman Catholic party, which united with the Liberal opposition for the over- throw of the Dutch rule and the establishment of an independent kingdom of Belgium (ls'30). The new Constitution, a compromise between the two par- ties, gave to the Roman Catholic party the greatest
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independence of the state and a liberal support, but compelled it, on the other hand, to consent to the es- tablishment of an unlimited liberty of religion. The Bubsequent history of Belgium is a strife of these par- tially with regard to the support which the state is to give to the Church in questions of hoth an ecclesiastical and political nature (education, charitable institutions, etc.). The "Catholic" party is numeri- cally stronger than in any other European Parliament. Among its distinguished men belong l)c Merode, Count (!<■ Theux, Dechamps, Malou, Dedecker. It split, how- ever, into two subdivisions, one of which, the more ultramontane, wished to overthrow the compromise with the Liberals and put an end to religious tolera- tion, while the other, the Constitutional, declared them- selves for a faithful adherence to the Constitution. This latter view is by far the most prevailing.
II. Ecclesiastical Statistics. — The total population of Belgium was, at December 31, 1*58, 4,623,089. In 1846 the non-Catholic population was stated as 10,323 (of a total population of 4,337,196), among whom were 6678 Protestants, Lutherans, and Reformed, 790 An- glicans, lo.'jii Jews, 1019 promiscuous, and 600 of no religious persuasion. Since, the number of Protestants has increased more rapidly than that of the Roman Catholics, and a number of Protestant congregations have been formed, consisting entirely of converts from the Roman Catholic Church (one in Brussels alone counts more than one thousand converts). Helfferich (see below, the literature on Belgium) estimated the Protestant population in 1848 at about 25,000, which statement may have been a little too high, though there can be no doubt that the Protestant population at present amounts to over 20,000 souls. There are two different nationalities in Belgium, the Flemish (German) and Walloon (French). 'I he Roman Cath- olic Church has her strong-hold among the former. Of the four universities, one, Louvain, is Free Catho- lic, established and controlled entirely by the bishops; one, Brussels, is Liberal and anti-Catholic; two, Ghent and Liege, are state universities, in which, therefore, professors of both parties are to be found. There is one archbishop at Mechlin, and five bishops (Bruges, Namur, Tournay, Liege, and Ghent). There are six larger and six smaller seminaries for the training of the clergy. The appropriations made for all religious denominations acknowledged by the state amounted i:i 1859 to 4,051,942 fr. 75 cts. ' The religious orders are very numerous, and many of them, especially the Jesuits, very rich. The Jesuits at Brussels continue the greatest literary work ever undertaken by the or- der, the Acta Sanett rum (q. v."). The religious orders conduct a large number of boarding-schools, and the primary instruction is almost everywhere in their hands (in particular, in the hands of the Brothers of the Christian Schools). The number of the members of the religious associations was, in 1856, 14,853, viz., n and 12,330 women, and it is rapidly increas- ;' leading periodicals of the Roman Catholics u Catholique de Louvain; Precis historiques ret ttteraires, a Bemi-monthly, published by the Jesuits in Brussels; the Journal kistoriqvt et Vtteraire, a monthly, published at Liege by Kersten. The most influential among the many political organs of the Catholic party is the Journal de BruxeUes.