The Tournaisis (or Tournai and the Tournaisis) was a small territory in the Low Countries, Independent during the Middle Ages, it consisted of the city of Tournai (Dutch: Doornik) and the surrounding area, which now forms part of Hainaut Province, in Belgium.
It was one of the great centres of Early Netherlandish (or 'Flemish') painting. Robert Campin settled there and attracted students, including Rogier van der Weyden and Jacques Daret.
It also produced the important Franco-Flemish composers Pierre de la Rue and Marbrianus de Orto.
The Tournaisis was situated between two larger neighbours: the County of Flanders, and the County of Hainaut. Its origins lie in a Roman pagus within the civitas of the Menapii, of which it became the chief city in late Roman times. It had some independence and power in the Middle Ages because it became the seat of the Bishopric of Tournai.
The territory, like that of Flanders, but unlike neighbouring Hainaut, was part of early medieval West Francia, which evolved into France. However, this rule was not always effective. It came under French rule during the reign of Philip IV of France, and remained under French control until it was conquered by Emperor Charles V in 1521. It remained part of the Habsburg Netherlands until 1789, eventually becoming part of modern Belgium.
The Tournaisis was considered part of the Seventeen Provinces.
The following is a chronological list of monarchs, governors, and supreme authorities who held sovereign or suzerain power over the city of Tournai and the surrounding territory of the **Tournaisis**.
From 1187 until its final integration into the Habsburg Netherlands in 1521, Tournai and the Tournaisis functioned as a highly autonomous, sovereign royal city-republic holding the status of a royal bailiwick (French: bailliage royal) held directly under the suzerainty of the French Crown.
Counts of Flanders (862–1187)
During the Early Middle Ages, the Tournaisis was historically part of the County of Flanders, though local administration was heavily contested by the Bishop of Tournai.
Royal City-Republic under the French Crown (1187–1513)
In 1187, King Philip II Augustus separated Tournai from the County of Flanders and granted the city a royal communal charter. The Tournaisis became a sovereign enclave held directly under the Kings of France, governed locally by a council of aldermen and a royal bailiff.
English Occupation (1513–1519)
Following a successful siege in 1513, King Henry VIII captured Tournai. It became the only city in the territory of modern-day Belgium to be directly ruled by the Kingdom of England, even receiving representation in the English Parliament.
Brief French Restoration (1519–1521)
Under the terms of the Treaty of London (1518), France purchased the city back from the English Crown for 600,000 crowns.
Annexation to the Habsburg Netherlands (1521–1581)
In late 1521, the Imperial armies of Charles V captured Tournai after a siege. By the Treaty of Madrid (1526) and the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549, French suzerainty was formally renounced, and the Tournaisis was permanently integrated into the Seventeen Provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands.