By fhe end ofthe I3/IJ Ct'1JI1f1: V (//l! ell fil1la; oJ/ing m (l {er control~) ISlfm hnri Ófff} initiat {'d
in the Flemüh coastrll p/ajn. Dmm hllt! been buift Ol/a/I JJJ (~ io1"! idal fhaIlJle! s. Large d~
remive dikeJ'pro/eclNI tlu'land mld; o; tilf ncw land lUiiJ gained~ ll erea/ingpo/das a/olJg fhe
eJ'tf! tlr; es o. fbotb rhe Zwin IJf ({r Brugt!;)·, lIlti rlJe Ijzer] Jfflr Nieuwpoorl. HOWfW'; dllrilJg the
r/Jree cflllurie:; thllt jö! fou'ed, rbe hiJ" tory ofFlemisb COIlS!, l! water rOll/rol seems ra IJ/li't!
been ft story ofdl: fetlt 1'ruIJrr1/Jt1JJ J'UCCfSS, Witfl 11 slfccession OfIJf/IV)'storm mrges …

Since the 13th century the building and maintenance of dikes, waterways and discharge
sluices in the Flemish coastal plain were the responsibility of local organisations,
called'wateringen'or water boards.^ Apparently, in the late Middle Ages these water boards
did not succeed in guaranteeing an appropriate level of security and protection against
flooding: in Zeeland Flanders alone, a total of 45 parishes are reported to have been lost in
the period between the end of the 13th century and the end of the I6th century (Goldschmitz …