Mechelen Footnote: Mechelen became known in English as 'Mechlin' from which the adjective 'Mechlinian' is derived. Though this name was never entirely forgotten in English and may still be used mainly for a traditional or historical note, the city's name had become reintroduced in the English language by its French name 'Malines': The Southern Netherlands had been annexed by France by the end of the eighteenth century, and French was the single official language in early Belgium and remained dominant in Belgian diplomacy during most of the twentieth century. As elsewhere in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, though less than in cities like Ghent and...more »