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Last modified: 2008-04-05 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Scherpenheuvel-Zichem]](../images/b/be-vbrsz.gif)
Municipal flag of Scherpenheuvel-Zichem - Image by Ivan Sache, 7 December 2004
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The municipality of Scherpenheuvel-Zichem (in French, Montaigu-Zichem; 22,100 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 5,050 ha) is located in the region of Hageland, 10 km south-west of Diest, on the borders with the Provinces of Antwerp and of Limburg. The municipality of Scherpenheuvel-Zichem is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Scherpenheuvel, Zichem, Averbode, Messelbroek and Testelt.
Scherpenheuvel (lit., "the sharp hill", in French mont aigu) was once
a hamlet of the ancient town of Zichem. In 1605, the hamlet was granted
municipal rights and transformed into a new town built on a
seven-pointed star pattern centered on the basilica. The seven points
of the star symbolize the Blessed Virgin's seven blisses and seven
sorrows.
Started in 1609 with the support of the Archdukes Albert and
Isabel on a plan drafted by the architect Wenceslas Cobergher, the
baroque basilica of Scherpenheuvel was achieved in 1627. Cobergher was
inspired by the Italian baroque architecture, and prehaps also by the
Duome of Florence designed by Brunelleschi two centuries earlier. The
Nole brothers, members of the St. Luke Guild in Antwerp, sculpted the
angels, prophets and evangelists placed inside the church, which was
also embelished by Theodoor van Loon's baroque paintings placed in the
Rosary chapel and above the main altar. Protected by lead sheets and
without any opening, the dome of the basilica is decorated with 298
golden seven-pointed stars. The lateral chapels surrounding the dome at
half height were built with ferruginous sandstone extracted in the
neighbouring village of Langdorp. Placed behid the dome, a
quadrangular, four-floored tower built in sandtone houses a 49-bell
peel. The gallery appended to the tower is a revamped part of the
baroque gallery, originally built in 1624 for an Oratorian convent and
partially suppressed during the French Revolution.
Zichem was mentioned for the first time in chart signed by Godfried,
Duke of Lotharingia, in 1134. In 1248, Duke of Brabant John I
transferred Zichem, Aarschot and the neighbouring villages to his
brother Godevaart van Vierson. This lord granted in 1302 municipal
rights to Zichem, while the building of the town walls had started one
year before. The rights granted to Zichem were similar to those
previously granted to Leuven. Later lords of Zichem belonged to the
families Gullik, Schoonvorst, Diest and Orange-Nassau, the latter
lineage keeping Zichem until the French Revolution. The Prince of
Orange-Nassau was Baron of Breda, Diest and Zichem.
In the XVth century, the population of the town dramatically decreased
because of wars, epidemics and floods by the river Demer. The town
reemerged in the XVIth century thanks to agriculture and cattle
breeding. However, a comet spotted in 1577 "announced" hard times for
Zichem; on 23 February 1577, the town was seized by the Spaniards, who
drowned most burghers into the Demer and burned the town. Sacks and
slaughters were frequent until the XVIIIth century.
Zichem is the birth town of the writer Ernest Claes (1885-1968), one
of the most popular Flemish writers, whose birth house was transformed
into a museum in 1967. In his most famous book, the picaresque novel
De Witte published in 1920, Claes portrayed Louis Verheyden, an
inhabitant of the village of Wolfsdonk in Aarschot. In 1932, Jan Vanderheyden
adapted the book for the cinema and directed the first Flemish fiction
film. Another version of the film, named De Witte van Zichem, was
directed by Robbe de Hert in 1980. Claes supported the Flemish nationalist movement and was jailed for a
few months in the prison of Saint-Gilles in 1944 for having supported
the pro-German Vlaams Nationaal Verbond.
Averbode is the place of a famous Norbertine abbey founded in 1134-1135
by Count of Loon Arnold II on a hill already hosting a chapel founded
by the Benedictine abbey of Sint-Truiden. The first monks and nuns came
to Averbode from the St. Michael abbey in Antwerp. Placed under the
Augustinian rule by a Papal Bull in 1139, the abbey set up farms to
fund the community and its wealth increased swiftly. The building of
the first abbey church started in 1194. In the XIIIth century, the
abbey split and the nuns were sent to Keizerbos, where they would stay
until 1796; Averbode ran some 30 parishes in the neighborhood.
Elected abbot in 1368, Arnold van Tuldel completely reformed the
abbey: accounts books and a cartularium were added in 1370 and 1380,
respectively. Arnold let build the oldest part of the abbey kept until
now, the monumental gate made of local ferruginous sandstone. In
1408-1410, the abbot of Averbode took the party of the Duke of Brabant
against the Prince-Bishop of Liège, who seized the abbey, which had to
be purchased back by the abbot. Destroyed by a blaze onn 25 October
1499, the abbey church was rebuilt in 1501, when Gerard vander Schaeft
was abbot (1501-1532); during that period, the church was embelished
with several artworks but the abbey was plundered in 1501, forcing the
monks to exile to Diest. In 1578, the monks had again to flee to Diest
via Sint-Truiden.
In 1604, Abbot Valentijns, aka "The Second Founder", completely
revamped the abbey; mills and farms were built and the religious
discipline was restored both in Averbode and Keizerbos, as prescribed
by the Council of Trento. The number of monks increased up to 80 in
1670. In 1664-1672, Abbot Servaes Vaes commissioned architect Jan van
den Eynde to rebuild the abbey church in baroque style, with some
gothic elements and let make a cartography of the whole domain owned by
the abbey. In spite of a few sacks, the XVIIIth century was the Golden
Age of the abbey.
After the French Revolution, the abbey was plundered once again and the
88 monks were eventually expelled on 14 February 1797. The abbot had
already saved the archives and the library of the abbey in 1794. In
1802, Friar Ignatius Carleer purchased back the abbey and resettled it,
together with a few friars, but the community did not increased
further. In 1826, Carleer had to sell any kind of stuff, including
artworks. The decline of the abbey stopped after the independence of
Belgium in 1830; an apostolic nuncio sent by the Pope to refund the
abbey in 1834 noticed that there remained only 12 old monks (61-86
years old) in the abbey. In spite of the appointment of four new monks,
the economic situation of the abbey was not secured. When Leopold Nelo
was appointed first abbot of the refounded abbey of Averbode on 18
August 1872, the community included 43 members, nine of them living in
the abbey.
The printing house founded in 1881 released the first issue of its
newspaper in 1886 and is the origin of Averbode Publishers (Uitgeverij
Averbode), publishing today 20 different magazines for children (Nelly
and Caesar are recurrent characters of Averbode magazines). Abbot
Gummarus Crets (1887-1942) was able to increase the number of monks up
to 235. In 1921, Averbode took the control of the priory (elevated to
an abbey in 1925) of Bois-Seigneur-Isaac, refounded in 1903. On 8
February 2006, Jos Wouters was elected the 52nd abbot of Averbode.
Messelbroek and Testelt were mentioned for the first time in 1147, when the Bishop of Liège transferred his rights on the churches of the two villages to the abbey of Averbode.
Sources:
Ivan Sache, 3 November 2007
The municipal flag of Scherpenheuvel-Zichem is horizontally divided
black-red-black-red-black.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 30 December 1987, confirmed by the Executive of Flanders on
13 December 1988 and published in the Belgian official gazette on 8
November 1989.
The five stripes symbolize the fiver former municipalities merged to
form Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, while the colours of the flag are taken
from the arms of Scherpenheuvel, "Gules three chevrons sable".
According to Servais, the arms of Scherpenheuvel were granted by Royal
Decree on 11 April 1843, with the Blessed Virgin stainding behind the
shield in front of a tree, recalling the mythic origin of the basilica
of Scherpenheuvel (like in many other pilgrimage places, a statue of
the Blessed Virgin was found hanging in a tree and nobody could remove
it, so it was understood that a sanctuary had to be built there). These
arms are shown on the only known municipal seal (late XVIIIth century).
The three chevrons are taken from the arms of the lords of Zichem, once
lords of Scherpenheuvel, but the colours of the arms were changed for
an unknown reason.
Zichem bore "Argent three chevrons sable", granted by Royal Decree on
25 February 1845. The arms of the lords of Zichem have been
consistently shown with three chevrons since the XIIIth century, but
with different colours. The arms of Zichem were designed after a
municipal seal dated 1793.
The today's arms of Scherpenheuvel-Zichem are "Per pale, 1. Sable three
chevrons azure, 2. Gules three cinquefoils or".
Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 3 November 2007
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