The Davidsfonds is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

organisation in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

with the purpose of promoting the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

culture in the areas of literature, history and art. The Davidsfonds was founded in

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

, Belgium on 15 January 1875, with the

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

''Voor Godsdienst, taal en volk'' (E: For religion, language and people). It was named after

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

and professor

Jean-Baptist David Jean-Baptist David (25 January 1801, Lier – 24 March 1866, Leuven) was a canon and professor of Dutch and history at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Jean-Baptist David was born in the Belgian city of Lier. As a professor he work ...

. Together with the

Vermeylenfonds {{refimprove, date=May 2021 The Vermeylenfonds is a non-profit Flemish cultural socialist organization. The Vermeylenfonds was founded in 1945, in Brussels with the aim of studying and of continuing the work of August Vermeylen. The Vermeylenfonds ...

(

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

) and the

Willemsfonds The Willemsfonds, named after Jan Frans Willems, is a non-profit cultural organisation founded in the 19th century to promote Flemish culture and language in Belgium. In order to achieve this goal, the organisation encouraged Flemish folk song, or ...

(

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

), it promoted the Flemish culture, resulting in a growing feeling of Flemish identity. In the 20th century, the activities of the Davidsfonds, Vermeylenfonds and Willemsfonds reflected a divided society, based upon political ideology. Called "

pillarization Pillarisation (from the nl, verzuiling) is the politico-denominational segregation of a society into groups by religion and associated political beliefs. These societies were (and in some areas, still are) vertically divided into two or more gr ...

" (Dutch: verzuiling), Catholic, socialist, and liberal interests formed parallel organizations (

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s, cultural, and social circles) to promote their interests. While sometimes leading to wasteful re-duplication the pillars also supported each other (e.g., in labor

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

s) when it furthered their own interests. As of 2005, the organization had 60,000 members and 575 divisions. It organizes cultural activities and publishes a magazine and books.

External links

*
Davidsfonds
i
ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures
{{Authority control Foundations based in Belgium Flanders Catholicism in Belgium

See also

External links