Each treaty terminated a war; and from the numerous negotiations already mentioned it is not difficult to realize how many wars Belgium was forced to endure on her own soil. Dutch, French, English, Spanish, Germans, successively trampled over the rich fields of Flanders and the industrious country of the Walloons. In fifty years, from 1642 to 1709, no less than ten famous battles were fought on Belgian soil. Belgium was already at that time “the cockpit of Christendom,” a designation found in an old English book, _Instructions for Forreine Travell_; written in 1642 by James Howell, a clerk in the diplomatic service.[17] Howell says: ... For the Netherlands have been for many years, as one may say, the very cockpit of Christendom, the school of arms and rendezvous of all adventurous spirits and cadets; which makes most nations beholden to them for soldiers. Therefore the history of the Belgic wars are very worth the reading; for I know none fuller of stratagems, of reaches of policy, ... nor a war which hath produced such deplorable effects, directly or collaterally, all Christendom over, both by sea and land. [Illustration: COURT-YARD OF THE PALACE OF THE BISHOP PRINCES IN LIÈGE] What all these wars meant for the poor inhabitants of the country may be imagined when the devastation wrought by huge armies in Poland today is borne in mind. And it must be remembered that the armies of the belligerent powers in the seventeenth century were, to a large extent, composed of mercenaries without any feeling of patriotism, without discipline, without morals, who saw in military occupation only an opportunity for excesses and outrages of all kinds, who revolted when not regularly paid, and who pillaged the friendly country they were hired to defend as well as the enemy’s territory. Massacre, burning, looting, awful tortures inflicted on the unhappy inhabitants in order to force them to reveal the spot where their money was kept--all this was daily work for those rough hirelings. In the village of Meix-devant-Virton, in 1636, the whole populace was burned alive in the church where it had taken refuge, not by the enemy, but by the Spanish troops intrusted with their defense.[18] Ruin, disease, and poverty were the terrible lot of Belgium during this sinister century. What of the internal situation of the country? After the death of Archduke Albert (1621), the Spaniards increasingly dominated the destinies of Belgium. A Spanish army, paid by Spain and under a Spanish commander, permanently occupied many fortresses and important cities. Those members of the Belgian aristocracy who sought to obtain influence with the intruders found themselves compelled to marry their daughters to Spaniards. The Spanish government put the native nobles entirely aside, and all important matters were discussed in _Juntas_--special committees composed of Spaniards.