Roulers - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

ROULERS (Flemish Roeselaere), a town of Belgium, in the province of West Flanders, 13 m. N.W. of Courtrai. Pop. (1904) 24,548. It is one of the oldest communes in Belgium, and was famous for its weavers in the 11th and r 2th centuries. Its prosperity depends on the cultivation of flax and the manufacture of linen. The church of St Michael is remarkable for its lofty tower. Baldwin VIII., count of Flanders, died here in 1120, and in 1794 the French under Pichegru defeated the Austrians under Clerfayt.