In the late Middle Ages, Bruges is one of the richest cities in Western Europe. With its glorious Belfry, impressive City Hall and stately homes, it exudes pride and self-assuredness.

The source of all this prosperity is trade. Bruges is linked to the oceans via the Zwin, a short, shallow inlet of the North Sea. Ships from far and wide sail to and fro.

Bruges has been part of the Burgundian territories since the end of the 14th century. The Dukes of Burgundy regularly take up residence there. They flaunt their power and wealth through spectacular parades, festivities and tournaments.

Ambitious residents follow in their footsteps. They build sumptuous mansions, which they decorate ornately with their coat of arms and motto. Or they have themselves painted with the collar of the order of their knighthood. Louis de Gruuthuse is one of them.

In this room you experience Bruges at its finest! Bruges as it grows and flourishes long before and also after 1400. First as a centre of trade, gradually as a cosmopolitan European capital and finally as a splendid Burgundian city.

Marcus Gerards drew a map of the city. Copper plates were used to print his map. Here you can touch a replica of a plate, or examine the details more closely.

The tactile element in front of you is square and divided into several parts. Marcus Gerards' original copper plates hang on the wall, directly above the tactile element. The map printed using the plates was 100 cm high and 185 cm wide.

If you run your fingers along the dotted lines above and on the left of the square tactile panel you can to feel that the map is constructed from ten different plates. An elongated rectangle reveals the shape of the final map of Bruges, as it was printed. The rectangle is subdivided into ten smaller, portrait-oriented rectangles, which correspond to the ten engraved copper plates. Note that not every rectangle is the same size! The plates on the left side are narrower than those on the right. This is the same in the final map.

When you have explored the rectangles that represent the copper plates and move downward a little on the tactile panel, you reach a real engraved plate. Although this engraving is life-size, it is too fine to distinguish a lot of detail, but you can feel how the relief of the plate changes as you touch it.

This concludes the shape and structure of the copper plates on the left side of the tactile panel. It's now time to explore the right side! This side is divided into three parts: the printed map and two details from the map, i.e. a ship and a city gate.

You can find the printed map by moving your fingers back up to the top of the tactile panel. On a slight elevation on the right side is a smaller version of the map as Marcus Gerards printed it. On the right of the map you will feel a dotted line that is shaped more or less like an egg. The dotted line represents the perimeter of the city of Bruges. The circle contains a number of important buildings shown in yellow. One of them is the city gate, but more on that in a moment. Several lines stretch out from the left of the circle. Although they are not completely straight, the lines run almost horizontally to the left edge of the map. The lines are blue and represent the connection to the sea, in the left, lower corner of the map. As is often the case on old maps, a ship is drawn on the sea, and that's what we are going to explore now.

The ship on the map is drawn in a small circle. Directly under the map is a magnified version of this ship. It's a sailing ship. There are flags on the masts and in front of the bow is a bowsprit, from which ropes hang. The bowsprit is located on the left side. If you follow the ropes upwards from there, you reach the masts with their flags and three large sails. Underneath is the wooden hull of the ship.

To the right of the boat is the city gate, another detail from the map. On the map the city gate appears in a small circle, at the point where the outskirts of the city make way for the connection to the sea. The city gate is a structure with two pointed towers on either side. A flag flutters on top of each tower. In between the towers are the horizontal eaves of the gatehouse. Below in the centre of the city gate you will find a large arched opening, edged with small stones. Left and right of the city gate, against the walls of the towers is the moat. Perhaps you can distinguish the wavy texture of the water in the moat?

The next tactile element you can explore corresponds to number 8 in the audio guide. Turn around and you will find the tactile element on the left side of the large table in the centre of the room. Or first listen to number 7.

People who are rich and powerful like to show it. Like the counts of Flanders, a powerful, self-assured city such as Bruges or the young dynasty of the Dukes of Burgundy who enjoy residing in Bruges... All flaunt their wealth and power. They do this through buildings, their lifestyle and with great spectacles in the city: celebrations, tournaments and Joyous Entries...

These events linger in the collective memory. And the related stories are recorded for posterity, including in this wonderfully illustrated Excellente Cronike van Vlaanderen (Excellent Chronicle of Flanders). It is a manuscript and measures approximately 30 cm high, 8 cm thick and 35 cm wide when open. It tells the story of the history of Flanders 'from the earliest times to the end of the 15th century'. It recounts major political events, but also beached whales, terrible storms, city riots, and royal deaths and marriages. The author of the section starting in 1437 is the Bruges poet and rhetorician, Anthonis De Roovere. Bruges is the main character in his story. During number 11 of this audio guide you can explore a tactile element of a manuscript in room 4.

The Dukes of Burgundy set the example during this period. They attract powerful men to the hospitable court city of Bruges, who enjoy spending time in their company and imitating the rulers: with grand urban palaces like that of Louis de Gruuthuse. They are filled with art, expensive objects and, for example, with luxury, personalised floor tiles from Spain... Get to know this elite. Together with the rulers and the city council, they are responsible for the glory days of Bruges’ past. You can discover traces of their Spectacle State here.

In the first room there was a portrait of Louis de Gruuthuse when he was between fifty and sixty years old (number 3 of the audio guide). The same portrait has been reproduced here as a tactile panel, except that on the original portrait Louis is depicted against a crimson background while the background on the tactile panel is plain black. The original portrait measures approximately 20 by 35 cm. The portrait on the tactile panel is slightly smaller.

Louis de Gruuthuse and the other members of the Order of the Golden Fleece wore a collar. Here you can discover the elements and symbols that made up the collar. To explore this rectangular tactile panel it is best to start from the left and work your way to the right. The tactile panel consists of three parts: the portrait, the collar and the collar's components.

1. Let's start with the portrait, which is found on the far left of the tactile panel. Start at this point and you'll soon feel the dotted line. It forms an portrait-oriented rectangle and follows the outer edge of Louis de Gruuthuse’s portrait.

If you work your way down from the top edge of the portrait you encounter Louis' head at the top. From this point you can feel the contours of the male figure. He is praying and is depicted from his head to his waist, with his hands in front of his body. This concludes the profile of Louis' figure.

Let's return to his head. Note that Louis' hair lies fairly flat against his skull. At the front it almost reaches his eyebrows and is slightly longer at the sides, approximately down to his jawline. Louis has fine, straight hair.
Starting from his hair you can explore the rest of his face: eyes, nose, mouth and jawline. The man is wearing a collar around his neck. In the portrait the collar is in relief, but in the centre of the tactile panel the same collar has been incorporated in more detail. To explore it move your hands to the middle section of this tactile panel.

2. In the second part of the tactile panel the collar of Louis de Gruuthuse is the main focus. The different parts of the tactile panels are separated by an elevated vertical line. The next section of the tactile panel is found on the other side of the line.

The collar resembles a large circle that is open at the top. If you try and find the two starting points of the collar, you can slowly work your way down via the links. You will feel that not all the links are the same. You can distinguish between two different forms, which are explored in the third section of the tactile panel. But first move your fingers downwards to the bottom of the circular collar, where you can feel that there is something hanging from it.

It's a sheep, or more precisely, a ram. The ram hangs from its back under the collar, the reason for the animal's rounded shape. Right at the bottom you can feel its legs. On the left side of the ram you can feel its horns sticking out a little and its tail is on the right.

The collar with its different links and the ram also appears in the portrait of Louis, but is smaller. If you return to the portrait on your left you will now be familiar with the shape of the collar and the ram.

3. On the right of this tactile panel three elements from the collar are displayed, the various links and the ram once again.

Let's start at the top, with the links. You stood right in front of the tactile panel to explore the collar. If you return to the top of the collar and move a little to the right, you reach the first element, the fire-steel. The fire-steel has an ornate shape, which is slightly curved at the top. If you follow the figure downwards you feel two swirls that meet. The figure is open in the centre. In the collar the fire-steel always appears in duplicate, with the double swirls hooked together. Fire-steels were used to create fire. If you placed your fingers in the opening the curved part would lie on your knuckles. By striking the metal hard on some flint you created sparks and could light a fire.

In between the connected fire-steels as they are called, there is always a single link with a different motif. You can feel this link if you move your hands a little further down. The link consists of an oval in the middle with waves either side. This motif was called 'sparks'. Sparks and connected fire-steels alternate in the collar. The ram hangs directly below.

The ram hangs from the chain by its back, giving it a rounded, curved shape. The ram on this tactile panel is upright. On the left side you can feel its head with the horns. You can make out the wavy fleece on its body with its slender legs and finally its hooves underneath.

If you move your fingers a little to the left from the upright ram, more or less at the same height on the panel, you can feel the ram on the collar once again.

The Golden Fleece to which the name of the Order refers, relates to this ram, or more specifically to the ram's fleece. The Golden Fleece originates from Greek mythology and is the golden ram's fleece. The ram under the collar is actually the fleece of a ram that has been pulled through a ring and attached to the collar.

The next tactile element corresponds to number 11 in the audio guide, in room 4. Head to the room on your left. The tactile panel is opposite the entrance. Please take care: there are several small stools in this room.
If you want to continue to listen to the audio guide, go to number 9 and go to room 3. Walk part of the way back in the direction of room 1 and enter the room on your left, just before the steps leading to room 1.