Traditionally enshrined in the pantheon of Flemish national heroes, James van Artevelde and his son Philip assumed extraordinary powers at Ghent in 1338 and in 1382, respectively, when they led the city in bold but futile battles against the Flemish counts and their overlords, the kings of France. David Nicholas, drawing on a rich fund of archival and printed sources, offers a vivid--and startling--resconstruction of the lives of the van Arteveldes. Nicholas' detailed analysis not only revises the heroic image of the van Arteveldes but forces us to rethink the very concept of the hero in history.

The van Arteveldes of Ghent offers the excitement of a good murder mystery, featuring the documents themselves as active and often conflicting participants in the pursuit of a faithful account of the van Arteveldes' careers. Tracing the marriage alliances and family relationships of this aristocratic lineage and its rivals, Nicholas demonstrates that James and particularly Philip van Artevelde used the captaincy of Ghent primarily to settle old scores with family enemies. Nicholas re-enacts the homicidal infighting among the city's great families and analyzes the complex interaction between these clan wars and the intense social struggles of this revolutionary period.