The Geuzen… (Steenvoorde – France, Heuvelland – Belgium)

December 14, 20253793 Views Coeur de Flandre, Le Nord 6 min read

Photos – Info – Weather – Tips – Geo Info – Starry sky [- Tides]

General information about De Geuzen

A piece of important "Vaderlandsche", say Flemish, history took place not far from Castel Mino (the initiator of this websitetop.vlaanderen: namely that of the Beggars in and around 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.

These two stained-glass windows in the Church of Our Lady of Nieuwkerke (Heuvelland) illustrate the murder of the 3 religious of Reningelst.

In the Church of Our Lady of Nieuwkerke (Heuvelland) you can not only see beautiful stained-glass windows, but also an interesting exhibition about the iconoclasm. (photos from February 16, 2023)

Calvary Cross at the Black Mill in Dranouter. Here the 3 murdered priests were commemorated. At the time (since 1909) it was a well-known place of pilgrimage. The cross was erected under the impetus of Father Leonard Lootens, parish priest of Dranouter.

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:

Phalanges of the 3 murdered clergy of Reningelst (Sint Vedastuskerk). — Phalanges of the 3 murdered clergy of Reningelst (Sint Vedastuskerk, Reningelst).

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?

Visitor tips De Geuzen

General tips:
1) if you are looking for other nearby attractions, consult our Tourist map of Top.Vlaanderen.
2) You can consult our overview lists: by category ( e.g. timeline, size, ...) or by region
3) You can also always consult tourist services: see our overview of tourist services

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 😉.

Geographical information

Address: Place Saint-Pierre, Steenvoorde, Hauts-de-France, France
Geographic coordinates:
– Google Maps: Latitude = 50.81074 – Longitude = 2.5820914
– Open Street Maps: Latitude = 50.810835 – Longitude = 2.582770
– Altitude h = 25 m
Indication of De Geuzen on:
Tourist map of Top.Vlaanderen – Google Maps – OpenStreetMap.
Route to De Geuzen: Route via Google Maps

Meteo

Current Weather Daily Weather Hourly Weather Weather Map

Steenvoorde, FR

08:00, 01/17/2026

6°C

Low: 6° High: 7°

Feels like 4°C°|. cloudy

Sunrise 08:44

Sunset 17:14

Humidity 94 %

Pressure 1014 mb

Wind 10 Km/h SSE

Wind Gust 21 Km/h

UV Index 0

Precipitation 0 mm

Clouds 99%

Rain Chance 0%

Visibility 10 km

Day	Condition	Temperature	Rain Chance	Wind	Humidity	Pressure
Today 22:00	cloudy	6° \| 7°°C	0%	10 Km/h	95 %	1019 mb
Tomorrow 22:00	cloudy	5° \| 10°°C	0%	11 Km/h	93 %	1020 mb
Mon Jan 26 10:00 p.m.	cloudy	3° \| 10°°C	0%	10 Km/h	89 %	1019 mb
Tue Jan 26 10:00 p.m.	very light cloud cover	6° \| 11°°C	0%	16 Km/h	92 %	1019 mb
Wed Jan 26 10:00 p.m.	very light cloud cover	4° \| 9°°C	0%	24 Km/h	93 %	1013 mb

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Hour	Condition	Temperature	Rain Chance	Wind	Humidity	Pressure
Today 10:00	cloudy	7° \| 8°°C	0%	10 Km/h	95 %	1014 mb
Today 13:00	cloudy	10° \| 11°°C	0%	10 Km/h	85 %	1015 mb
Today 16:00	cloudy	10° \| 10°°C	0%	8 Km/h	83 %	1017 mb
Today 19:00	cloudy	9° \| 9°°C	0%	8 Km/h	94 %	1018 mb
Today 22:00	cloudy	8° \| 8°°C	0%	8 Km/h	95 %	1019 mb
Tomorrow 01:00	cloudy	8° \| 8°°C	0%	10 Km/h	93 %	1020 mb
Tomorrow 04:00	cloudy	8° \| 8°°C	0%	9 Km/h	88 %	1019 mb
Tomorrow 07:00	cloudy	7° \| 7°°C	0%	10 Km/h	93 %	1019 mb

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Starry sky above De Geuzen


  
    ⭐ In-The-Sky — Zonsondergang (FOV 90°, Zuiden)✨ In-The-Sky — Nu (FOV 90°, Zuiden)🔭 Stellarium — Nu (FOV 90°, Noorden)

Internet information from and about De Geuzen

Internet media of the City of Steenvoorde:
Official website – Facebook
Background information about the forest rebels of Heuvelland on HistoryFiles.
Article “1568-2018 3 Martyrs of Reningelst" (Daniël Masure, PDF file)
Page about the series "The Story of Flanders" with Tom Waes (VRT Canvas).
– Link to the sixth episode"How do I get to heaven?"
Wikipedia page about Sebastiaan Matte.
Wikipedia page about Steenvoorde: NL – FR – EN
Wikipedia page about the Iconoclastic Fury: NL – FR – EN

Tourism "Coeur de Flandre"
Administrative – Website – Facebook – Instagram
Tourism "Tourisme en Hauts de France"
Website – Facebook – Instagram

Our photos about De Geuzen

Onze foto’s, video’s, … zijn allen (c) 2004-2026, Top.Vlaanderen, België. Ze mogen niet “zomaar” worden overgenomen of gebruikt. Ze zijn evenwel licentieerbaar. Wil U uw eigen toeristische attractie, B&B, vakantiewoning… laten fotograferen door ons, dat kan ook. Neem hiervoor contact met ons op via ons Contactformulier .

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St. Peter's Church in Steenvoorde (photos from August 5, 2022). In this church you can still see a bell from the Laurentius monastery.

The road to Steenvoorde is very well signposted. 😉
Situation after a storm, photo from July 11, 2022.

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