The Beggars ... (Steenvoorde, Hill Country)

A piece of important "Vaderlandsche", say Flemish, history took place not far from Castel Mino (the initiator of this web site www.top.vlaanderen) : namely in Steenvoorde (now French Flanders). Steenvoorde is located in the Houtland and borders the Flemish municipality of Watou.

On Sunday, February 5, 2023, you also saw the sixth episode of the popular TV series "The Story of Flanders" by Tom Waes on Canvas ? The focus was on the iconoclasm and the role played by a hatter, a certain Sebastiaan Matte from Ypres, and Steenvoorde. The hatter was protected on his sermons by hedges of "Beggars", which is why they are called "hedge sermons". Listeners of his sermon in Steenvoorde went to the St. Lawrence Chapel of the convent of the Carmelite Fathers just outside the city and, under the leadership of preacher Jacob de Buyzere, smashed the church statues: the iconoclasm had begun! We say and write August 10, 1566, more than 450 years ago.

Speaking of the Beggars and their iconoclasm. Do you know the story of the 3 clergymen who were murdered in 1568? On the interesting website HistoryFiles we read the following about this: "At the beginning of January 1568, the churches of Reningelst, Dranouter, Kemmel and Nieuwkerke, among others, were looted and the contents destroyed or set on fire. The priest, the chaplain and the clergyman of Reningelst were imprisoned, mutilated, tortured and horribly murdered by some forest beggars. A few days later, their frozen bodies were found in Nieuwkerke at the most probable place of martyrdom, then in the middle of the woods. They are buried in the church of Nieuwkerke. It was not until April 1923 that the remains of the murdered were rediscovered under the church floor and in 1928 the then pastor Gustaaf Lamerant built the monumental crucifix on the spot where their remains were first found.

Also in the Eikelstraat there is a crucifix set up in memory of the 3 murdered "pasters".

In the St. John Baptist Church in Dranouter hangs a work by Peter Soenen, a missionary of Scheut. It was painted in 1947 and is about... Yes, about those 3 "murdered" priests. Below is a black and white shot that we made of it.

In the Sint Vedastus church of Reningelst the phalanges of the 3 murdered clergymen are exhibited:

Did you know... that the term "geus" actually comes from French: 'gueux' means pauper or thief.
Did you know... that there is a real Geuzen walk around Nieuwkerke (Heuvelland) ? Do it! See https://www.visitwestvlaande ren.be/geuzenwandelroute.
Did you know... that there is even a Geuzenproject? See https://www.geuze nproject.be/ of vzw Geuzenproject Nieuwkerke. This website gives nice overviews and contains numerous illustrations about life in our region in the 16th century (years 1502 to 1609 to be exact). Too bad that the illustrations of their "Virtual Museum" cannot be viewed in a larger format. Anyway, an interesting source of information.
Did you know... that there are even people who say that in Steenvoorde a real Protestant temple stood?

Tip 1: Don't miss out on visiting the Steenmeulen and its rural museum in Terdegem . These are only a few kilometres from the centre of Steenvoorde.

Tip 2: If you are in the area, visit Cassel and certainly the beautiful gardens of the Wouwenberghof.

Tip 3: If you want to know more about the history of French Flanders, visit the Maison de la Bataille 1677 in Noordpene.

Tip 4: Castel Mino is excellently located to discover this region and its rich history 😉.

Indication of Steenvoorde on the map of Top.Flanders.
Indication of Steenvoorde on Google Maps.
Internet media of the Town of Steenvoorde: Official Website - Facebook
Background information on the forest giants of Heuvelland on HistoryFiles.
Article "1568-2018 3 Martyrs of Reningelst" (Daniel Masure, PDF file)
Page on the series "The Story of Flanders" with Tom Waes (VRT Canvas).
- Link to the 6th episode "Hoe geraak ik in de hemel?".
Wikipedia page about Sebastiaan Matte.
Wikipedia page about Steenvoorde: Dutch-language - French-language - English-language
Wikipedia page on the Iconoclast: Dutch-language - French-language - English-language