This chapter explores how Brussels’ 1848 monument to Godfrey of Bouillon functioned as a lieu de mémoire of ideas about Belgian history and nationhood between its inauguration and the early twentieth century. From 1848, the monument had a considerable influence upon works of literature, painting and sculpture produced in Belgium. By channelling and in turn amplifying interest in this medieval figure, the monument acted as a powerful national symbol, embodying ideas about the nation and its history to Belgians and foreigners alike. It had a discernible impact upon broader traditions linked to Godfrey of Bouillon, inspiring writers and artists to invoke it in their work. It also shaped responses to other monuments that were unveiled in Belgium, including several statues to other medieval figures, but also monuments that had no direct connection to the Middle Ages. In this way, it reinforced the teleological narrative of Belgian history that all these monuments were created to uphold.

The monument conditioned perceptions of Godfrey of Bouillon as a Belgian national hero, both within the nation and beyond its borders. It energised the wider network of traditions and impulses that surrounded the crusader's memory in this era, as part of which it connected to other lieux de mémoire devoted to him else-where in Belgium as well as in Jerusalem. In doing so, it transmitted ideas about Belgium in the surrounding nations, including the German states, Britain and France. Indeed, the monument directly inspired plans that emerged in the French town of Boulogne after 1848 to create a monument of its own to Godfrey of Bouillon.