close window'Flemish', in their eyes, was the language of “poor Flanders”; it did not only lack the status of a language of culture (in contrast with French), but it was also different from the French language in that the latter was considered the vehicle of freedom and enlightenment. When the polarisation between Liberals and Catholics was at its height, such (politicized) perceptions were even more in evidence. The (French-speaking) party-leadership of Liberals discarded language legislation as just a “clerical manoeuvre”.