Hendrik Conscience

Henri or Hendrik Conscience 3 December 1812 – 10 September 1883 Belgian author. He is considered as the pioneer of Dutch-language literature in Flanders, writing at a time when Belgium was dominated by French among the upper classes, in literature and government. He is best known for his romantic nationalist novel, De Leeuw van Vlaenderen (1838), inspired by the victory of a Flemish peasant militia over French knights at the 1302 Battle of the Golden Spurs during the Franco-Flemish War.