OUDENARDE, or Oudenaerde, a small town of Belgium, in the province of East Flanders, on the Scheldt, 17 miles south-south-west from Ghent, with a population (1880) of 5880. It has manufactures of cotton and woollen fabrics, lace, tobacco, and starch, dyeing and bleaching establishments, salt refineries, distilleries, and so on. The town-hall, built in 1530 by Van Pede, is remarkable for the elegance of its architecture and the profusion of its ornament; the portal of the council chamber is a masterpiece of wood-carving, executed in 1534 by Paul van der Scheiden. Among other buildings of interest are the old church of St Walburga, of the 10th century, partly rebuilt in the 14th, and that of Our Lady of Pamele, an example, rare in Belgium, of the transition Gothic style. A monument was erected at Oudenarde in 1867 to the memory of the Belgians who fell in Mexico, at the battle of Zacamburo.

The origin of Oudenarde is unknown; it appears to have been a stronghold of some importance under the Romans. A fortress was erected there by Count Baldwin of Flanders in 1053. It was besieged in 1452 by the citizens of Ghent, who were repulsed by Simon de Lalaing after a memorable siege. Alexander Farnese took the town in 1581. Close to its walls was fought, on July 11, 1708, the battle of Oudenarde,· in which the French were defeated by the allied army under the command of Marlborough and Prince Eυgene. It was retaken by the French in 1745.