Last modified: 2008-04-05 by ivan sache
Keywords: woluwe-saint-lambert | sint-lambrechts-woluwe |
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![[Flag of Woluwe-St.L.]](../images/b/be-bxlwl.gif)
Municipal flag of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert / Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 22 November 2005
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The municipality of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert (French) / Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe (Dutch) (48,315 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 767 ha) is one of the 19 bilingual municipalities forming the region of Brussels-Capitale.
In the middle of the XIth century, significant clearings were made in the part of the forest of Soignes located on the middle course of river Woluwe. A rural estate was founded in one of these clearings around a church dedicated to St. Lambert, the famous bishop of Liège.
The main source on St. Lambert's life is a lectio entitled Vita
Landiberti episcopi Traiectensis vetustissima. A lectio is not an
historical biography but a liturgical text; St. Lambert's lectio was
mot probably read in church on 17 September, the saint's day. The text
was written between 742 and 743; therefore, the author could not have
met Lambert personally but met some of his contemporaries. The author
wrote in scripta latina rustica, which is the main step on the
evolution from classical Latin to the Romance language; this language
is called "rustic" because it was acessible to everybody during the
religious ceremonies. St. Lambert's Vita is clearly modelled on an
earlier similar text, Vita Sancti Eligii, St. Eloi's life; in the
Merovingian times, plagiarism of popular sacred texts was the rule; the
original material was supplemented with a few, often stereotypical
details.
The introduction of St. Lambert's Vita says a lot about his
background: "The glorious pontifex Lambert came from Maastricht. He was
raised by rich land owners in an old Christian family including
respected counts." Like Eloi, Arnoul de Metz and Didier de Cahors, Lambert fits the model
of the "culture of the clerical aristocracy", which emerged in the
Frankish kingdoms as a way for the aristocracy to reconquer the social
and political position it had in the pagan times. Later in the text,
Lambert is portrayed as "extremely beautiful, strong and vivacious,
very agile and brave at war; with a dispassionate mind and an elegant
stature; firm in charity, chastity and humility, he devoted himself to
study." This combination of the attributes of saintliness and
aristocracy is therefore very coherent.
The Merovingian society was very violent and the bishops, involved in
the political fights, had a dangerous life. In 669-675, Bishop of
Tongeren Théodard, one of Lambert's teachers, was murdered in still obscure circumstances. The councillors of King Childéric II (662-675)
proposed to grant the bishopric to Lambert, who became a very
influential man. The king was murdered in 675; the former Mayor of the
Palace Ebroïn, who had had his hair cut and had been locked in a
monastery on Childéric's order, escaped and took the power in Neustria
and Burgundy with the support of the Austrasians. Ebroïn ruled Neustria
and Burgundy "on behalf" of King Thierry III, whereas Austrasia was
ruled by Dagobert II (676-679), "supported" by Duke Wulfoald, a former
influential man in the court of Childéric II. During this troubled
period, Bishop Lambert was overthrown and replaced by Pharamond, who
ruled the Bishopric of Tongeren-Maastricht for seven years. Most
historians have supposed the Lambert, like Léger in Autun, was the victim of the repression exerted by Ebroïn; recent data seem to prove
the opposite: accordingly, Lambert would have been sacked by Dagobert
II and Wulfoald, who suspected him to be too close with Ebroïn. The
Vita does not give details: Lambert was sacked because of "iniquitous
and false informations" given against him. He retired in the abbey of
Stavelot. Seven years later, Pharamond was overthrown and expelled from the "Province" of Maastricht, and the clergy and the people called back
Lambert, appointed again bishop by Prince Pépin II. This must have
happened between 675 and 682. The quarrel between Lambert and Pharamond
was most probably the consequence of a quarrel between two powerful
lineages.
After his return, Lambert evangelized the northern part of the Frankish
kingdom, probably in association with the war set up by Pépin against
the pagan Frisons. Lambert's methods were basic. The Vita says: "He
destroyed there several temples and idols."
Lambert's tragic end involves new characters, for instance the infamous
brothers Gallus and Rivaldus. They attacked Lambert and his faithfuls,
and were killed by Lambert's relatives. Dodon, a relative of Gallus and
Rivaldus, was the domesticus of Pépin II, that is the head of a
private militia. Dodon and his henchmen rushed to Liège; Lambert hold a
sword to defend his life but renounced to kill and dropped his weapon.
The foes entered the house and killed everybody there; one of them
climbed on the roof, removed tiles, discovered the bishop praying in
his room and killed him with his javeline. The murder was committed on
17 September; the year is unknown, it must not be later than 705.
As soon as the end of the XIIth century, the canons of the collegiate
church Sts. Michael and Gudule in Brussels obtained the ecclesiastic
rights on the parish of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. In the XIIIth century,
charities (Saint-Jean and Ter Aken hospitals) and burghers of Brussels
had properties in Woluwe. In the XVI-XVIIIth centuries, manors and big
farms were built in Woluwe, such as the Hof van Brussel, the Hof ten
Berg (1750) and the Château Malou (1776), owned in 1829 by the Orangist
minister Pierre-Louis Van Gobbelschroy and later (1853-1886) by the
minister and banker Jules Malou (1810-1886).
The Dukes of Brabant owned the feudal rights on Woluwe but they shared
the domain with other big landlords, such as the lords of Brussels, the
feudal family of Woluwe and the powerful abbeys of Forest and
Park-lez-Louvain. Therefore, Woluwe remained a rural area divided in
big estates; industry was represented by two paper mills and breweries.
The mill of Lindekemale, mentioned in 1119, is one of the oldest known
mills in Brussels.
Urbanization started in Woluwe in the 1890-1900s. A posh borough in a grid pattern was set up after the building of boulevard Brand Whitlock (1901-1906). The new borough was built in Art Nouveau and later Modern Art architectural styles. The city hall, built in 1937-1939 on place du Tomberg, is emblematic of the fonctionalist Art Déco. It was designed by Joseph Diongre, who designed also the Radio Hall (Maison de la Radio) in Ixelles. Woluwe is a busy university center (10,000 students) since the Catholic University of Louvain set up there the Faculty of Medecine and the St. Luc University Clinics.
Sources:
Ivan Sache, 22 November 2005
The municipal flag of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, as communicated by the
municipal administration, is horizontally divided
black-white.
The colours of the flag are taken from the municipal coat of arms,
adopted by the Municipal Council on 24 July 1934, confirmed by Royal
Decree on 10 February 1936 and published in the Belgian official
gazette on 20 March 1936 as
De sable au chef d'argent chargé de trois oiseaux de
sable becqués et membrés de gueules rangés, l'écu posé devant et vers la dextre d'un Saint-Lambert tenant de la dextre une crosse épiscopale
tournée à senestre, de la senestre un livre ouvert et écrasant sous ses pieds un guerrier casqué tenant de la senestre une épée, le tout d'or ("Sable a chief argent three birds sable beaked and membered gules [...]").
The shield is supported by St. Lambert holding a bishop's crozier in his right
hand and an open book in his left hand and trampling a warrior holding
a sword in his left hand, all in gold.
On the municipal website, a picture of the town hall shows the municipal flag hoisted along with the flags of Belgium and European Union.
Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 22 November 2005