Ronse (Dutch: [ˈrɔnsə] ⓘ; French: Renaix [ʁənɛ]) is a Belgian city and a municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders.

During those troubled times, Viking raids forced the monks to flee the town more than once, and the monastery was burnt by the Normans in 880.

The Lord of Ronse, Gerard de Wautripont, who was also in charge of the Inde Monastery at that time, gave the town all the privileges of a city in 1240.

The religious troubles of that century, especially the terrible repression of the Duke of Alba, forced a large number of the city's weavers and fullers to find permanent refuge in Holland, England, and Germany.

At the beginning of the 17th century, Ronse took advantage of the relative peaceful period under the archdukes Ferdinand and Isabella to get back on its feet.

Thanks to the perseverance of its inhabitants, Ronse could again rank as a city, with its commerce and businesses still based on the textile industry.

Many left Ronse to join the textile plants in Northern France (Lille-Roubaix-Tourcoing) or to take on agricultural work in the Somme or the Oise.

The Tour of Flanders, amongst other races in road cycling, passes every year through Ronse and includes hills like the Oude Kruisberg and since 2014 the Kanarieberg.