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Lierde (Municipality, Province of East Flanders, Belgium)

Municipal flag of Lierde - Image by Ivan Sache, 27 August 2007

Presentation of Lierde and its villages
Municipal flag of Lierde

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Presentation of Lierde and its villages

The municipality of Lierde (6,454 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 2,613 ha) is located in the middle of a triangle made by Brakel, Zottegem and Geraardsbergen. The municipality of Lierde was formed in 1976 by the merging of the former municipalities of Sint-Maria-Lierde (in French, Lierde-Sainte-Marie), Sint-Martens-Lierde (Lierde-Saint-Martin) Deftinge and Hemelveerdegem.

Sint-Maria-Lierde was mentioned for the first time in 1034/1056, as Lierda, in a chart of the St. Peter abbey of Ghent. Later written forms of the name of the village are Lirda (1111), Lirde (1130) and Lirda Sancte Marie (late XIIth century). The origin of the name of Lierde is unknown, although some authors claim it is Germanic.
The domain, known as the grafelijkheid (County), part of the Barony of Boelare, belonged to the families of Massemen and Lalaing; in 1642, Count of Lalaing Jean-François de Jauche sold it to Jean-Baptiste della Faille, member, and later President, of the Council of Flanders.

Sint-Martens-Lierde, according to some authors, was mentioned for the first time in 1096, as Lienne. Gysseling rather believes a document dated 1189 listing Lierde Sancti Martini; that year, Autbertus transferred the church of Sint-Martens-Lierde to the Bishop of Cambrai, who himself transferred it to the Mont-Saint-Martin abbey in Tournai.
Sint-Martens-Lierde was one of the villages called 's graven propre (the Count's proper), placed under the direct authority of the Count of Flanders. The Count's rights were transferred in the XVth century to the family of Massemen, later to the families of Mastaing and Puttem. In 1570-1579, the Iconoclasts plundered the St. Martin in the Woods Carthusian convent; in 1579, they were defeated in Sint-Maria-Lierde by the son of Count Egmont of Zottegem. On 5 July 1745, King of France Louis XV, fighting Maria Theresia's army, stayed in the Carthusian convent.
In 1947, the cyclist Emiel ("Miel", "Mieleke") Faingnaert (1919-1980), from Sint-Martens-Lierde, won the Tour of Flanders, sprinting against Kamiel Beeckman in spite of a punctured tyre.

Deftinge was mentioned for the first time, according to some authors, in 1026, as Davatinge, in a deed of the St. Peter abbey of Ghent, by which 24 ha were granted to Lantbertus and his wife for their settlement in Letterhoutem. However, the toponymist Gysseling believes that the deed is a forgery made later than the middle of the XIth century. The next mention of Deftinge, as Daventengem, dates back to 1142; the name of the village was then written Dephtengem (1181), Daptengem (1211), etc. The origin of the name of the village is also dubious. Some authors believe it means "Dabot's estate", while Lindemans claims it is a Friesian or Saxon form derived from Thiatboldingen. Gysseling believes that Daftinge it the germanized form of the hydronim Dabantico.
Defting was one of the twelve villages forming the Barony of Boelare, itself one fo the five free domains of the Country of Aalst. Nothing really important occurred in the village but a fighting between the militia of Ghent and Hainaut on 4 June 1452, during the Ghent Uprising against the Burgundian rule.

Hemelveerdegem was mentioned for the first time in 963, as Ermfredeghe, in a chart by which Herman, Count of Verdun and Ename, transferred his goods to the St. Vanne abbey in Verdun; however, the true date of the chart is rather c. 1015. The next mentions of the village are Imelfredingen (1108), Imelverdengen (1150-1154), Emelverdengem (c. 1177) and Emelverthengem (c. 1185). The name of the village, of Frankish origin, means "Irminafrip's estate" (haim). Like Deftinge, Hemelveerdegem belonged to the Barony of Boelare until the lord of Damman purchased the domain in 1752 from Baron Cassina.

Source: Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 27 August 2007

Municipal flag of Lierde

The municipal flag of Lierde is horizontally divided red-yellow-black-white.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 12 October 1981 and confirmed by the Executive of Flanders on 1 April 1985.
The colours of the flag are taken from the municipal arms.

There is a tiny image of the coat of arms on the municipal website. The coat of arms is "Per pale, argent a sword gules surrounded by two escutcheons Holy Roman Empire and Flanders, or an escutcheon gules". The dexter part of the arms is made of the arms of Aalst, recalling that all the villages forming Lierde once belonged to the Country of Aalst.

Pascal Vagnat, Jan Mertens & Ivan Sache, 27 August 2007