Last modified: 2008-04-05 by ivan sache
Keywords: sint-niklaas | saint-nicolas | waasland | turnip |
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![[Flag of Sint-Niklaas]](../images/b/be-vovsn.gif)
Municipal flag of Sint-Niklaas - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 10 November 2007
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The municipality of Sint-Niklaas (in French, Saint-Nicolas; 70,016 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 8,380 ha) is the capital of the region of Waasland, located between Ghent and Antwerp. The municipality of Sint-Niklaas is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Sint-Niklaas, Belsele, Nieuwkerken-Waas and Sinaai.
Sint-Niklaas emerged as a parish in 1217, founded by Gosuinus, Bishop of Tournai, upon request of Father Daniël, from Waasmunster, which was at that time the capital of Waasland, the former Roman
vicus Pontrave located on the river Demer and the seat of a powerful
abbey. Claiming that the secession of the new parish would make
religious practice difficult, the bishop obtained in 1219 from Countess
of Flanders Johanna of Constantinople the grant of eight hectares of
desert land (woestine) to build a church and a presbytery. The
dedication of the new parish to St. Nicholas, the patron saint of
merchants, indicates that the new parish was made for mercantile
reasons. In 1558, the parish was transferred from the Bishopric of
Tournai to the Bishopric of Ghent; the bishop shared the right on the
parish church with the abbeys of Boudelo (Sinaii), Roosenberg
(Waaszmunster) and Nieuwenbos (Sint-Gillis-Waas).
Challenged by the lords of Beveren, the Counts of Flanders wanted to develop a free, wealthy and well-organized community in the heart of Waasland; in 1241, Sint-Niklaas was made the administrative center of the region via the Keure van het Land van Waas (Court of Waasland); accordingly, all the domains belonging to the Counts in Waasland were placed under the rule of a High College set up in Sint-Niklaas. In
1248, Johanna of Constantinople granted another six hectares as
communem usum omnium, that is for the benefit of all. This grant is
the origin of the huge market square of Sint-Niklaas, the widest in
Belgium, with an area of 3.19 ha.
Thanks to flax and wool trade and a strategic location between Zeeland
and Brabant, as the crossroads of roads to Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent,
Sint-Niklaas became the main trade center of Waasland. In 1515, Emperor
Maximilian allowed a weekly market, together with a yearly fair
scheduled in December around St. Nicolas' Day. A second yearly fair was
granted in 1578, which took place until 1820 during the first week of
September and was moved in 1821 to the first week of May.
Not protected by walls, Sint-Niklaas was a convenient target for any kind of
warlords. The town was involved in the rebellion of Ghent against the
Duke of Burgundy and the Hapsburg; in 1381, Sint-Niklaas was sacked and
burned down. In 1578-1584, the Iconoclasts severely damaged the town.
Through clever cropping systems, Sint-Niklaas became in the XVIIth
century internationally known as "The Garden of Flanders". The region
was famous for the production of flax,grain, potato and turnip. On 25
May 1690, a blaze started in a juniper warehouse and destroyed 565
houses, together with the roofs and towers of the St. Nicholas church.
In the early XVIIIth century, the traditional, family workshops, such
as oilmills, wool mills, breweries and tileries, were superseded by the
preindustrial development of wool factories; in 1764, industrial cotton
mills were set up, which progressively transformed Sint-Niklaas into an
industrial center. The second most industrialized town in East Flanders
after Ghent in 1830, Sint-Niklaas declined after the independence of
Belgium and the loss of the trade with the Netherlands and the Dutch
colonies. In 1850, the town was connected to the national railway
network, which boosted the local economy. The cloth industry resumed by
diversifying its products, first wool fabrics and then carpets and
hosiery. Stopped by the First World War, the economic and demographic
development of the town started again between the two World Wars, with
the building of new boroughs in Art Deco style. After the Second World
War, the cloth industry was once again hit by crisis and needed
restructuring.
Belsele, as proved by several findings from the late Age of Iron and the Gallo-Roman period, is one of the oldest settlements in Waasland.
The foundations of a Roman villa excavated in the village of
Steenwerk seem to indicate that the early settlement developed along
the Antwerp-Ghent-Lille road. Known since the IXth century, the name of Belsele gives away a Frankish origin, especially the suffox -sele.
Belsele became an independent parish in 1217; the Sts. Andrew and
Ghislain church was built in the XIIIth century and houses an organ
built by Van Peteghem in 1784. By Decree of Johanna of Constantinople
dated 1234, Belsele and Sinaai formed a single Court (vierschaar)
depending on the Court of Waasland.
Nieuwkerken-Waas is also a very ancient settlement. A chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin was built around 1143 in the north-west of the current church; in 1294, the village that had developed around the chapel became a parish independent of Sint-Niklaas. Until the middle XVIth century, the agricultural development of the village was ran by the abbey of Boudelo (Sinaai). Nieuwkerken and Sint-Niklaas formed a single Court (vierschaar), which gathered most the time in Sint-Niklaas but at least once per year in Nieuwkerken. In 1650, the High College of Waasland sold Nieuwkerken to the De Jonghe family.
Sinaai was, according to historians from the XIXth century, named after Mount Sinai in Egypt because of a relic of St. Catherine of Alexandria
allegedly brought back to Flanders by a crusader. Catherine is indeed
the village's patron saint but the name of the village most probably
comes from zwijn, "a natural channel" and aai, "a river", Sinaai meeaning therefore "a place rich in water". While Sinaai is probably of Frankish origin, the name of the village appeared for the first time in
Gosuinus' deed in 1217. By Decree of Johanna of Constantinople dated
1234, Sinaai and Belsele formed a single Court (vierschaar) depending
on the Court of Waasland.
The abbey of Boudelo was founded around 1197 in the place called
Klein-Sinaai, located six kilometers north of Sinaai. The monks drained
wet areas and transformed several hectares of moors in arable land,
significanty contributing to the early development of Waasland. After
the plundering of the abbey by the Calvinists from Ghent in 1578, the
monks moved to a safest residence in Ghent in 1584 and stayed there
until the suppression of the abbey by the French rulers.
Source: Municipal website
Since the 2006 municipal elections, the most famous Municipal
Councillor in Sint-Niklaas is the cyclist Tom Steels, born in
Sint-Gillis-Waas in 1971. Once considered as one of the best sprinters
in the world, Steels won Ghent-Wevelgem in 1996 and 1999, the national
championship in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2004, nine stages in Tour de
France (1998-2000) and two stages in the Vuelta (1996).
Wouter Van Bellingen (b. 1972 in Rwanda and adopted by a Flemish
family) might be an even more famous Municipal Councillor since he is
the first black Councillor in Flanders. Three couples refused to be
married by him because of the colour of his skin, which caused several
other couples to ask to be married by him and a national and
international support.
Sint-Niklaas is the birth town of the singer Bob Benny (b. 1926 as
Emilius Wagemans, he chosed his pseudonym as a tribute to the American
jazz musician Benny Goodman), who competed, unsuccessfully, for Belgian
in the Eurovision song contest in 1959 and 1961.
Ivan Sache, 8 November 2007
The municipal flag of Sint-Niklaas is vertically divided blue-yellow
with the Waasland turnip (yellow root and red leaves) placed in the
blue stripe.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 26 October 1979, confirmed by the Executive on 9 December 1980 and published in the Belgian official gazette on 29 January 1981.
The colours of the flag and the turnip come from the municipal arms.
The story of the Waasland turnip is told by Servais as follows (quoting the translation from the International Civic Heraldry website):
Emperor Charles V once visited the city of Sint Niklaas and obviously a crowd gathered to see the emperor. Among these was a small farmer holding a huge turnip, which he wanted to hand to the emperor. The guards, however, prevented the farmer to reach the emperor. The emperor, however, noticed that something was happening and asked the farmer what he had in his hands. The farmer answered that he had a giant fruit and that he wanted to give it to the emperor. The emperor was intrigued and let the farmer pass the guards. The emperor accepted the turnip and awarded the farmer with a large purse.
Seeing the reward for a simple turnip, a local horsebreeder imagined the award he would fetch if he gave the emperor a good horse. So he offered the emperor a beautiful horse. The emperor responded, saying that for a beautiful horse, he would donate one of his precious possessions, and handed the breeder the turnip. Embarrassed the breeder had to accept the turnip, which ever since has been the symbol of the Waasland and its fertile soil.
The famous turnip is portrayed on the municipal flags of Lokeren, Sint-Gillis-Waas, Sint-Niklaas and Waasmunster.
According to Servais, the arms of Sint-Niklaas were granted by (Dutch) Royal Decree in 1819 and confirmed by (Belgian) Royal Decree on 27 March 1840. The arms show on a field azure St. Nicholas holding a crozier in his dexter hand, flanked in dexter by the salting tub where the nasty butcher put the dead children eventually resurrected by the saint, and in sinister by the Waasland turnip, all in or. As can be expected, the arms were designed after a municipal seal portraying the saint, but the oldest known seal is quite recent, being dated 1784.The former arms of Sinaai, granted by (Dutch) Royal Decree on 30
December 1820 and modified by (Belgian) Royal Decree on 23 December
1849, show on a field azure St. Catherine's broken wheel above a
turnip. The original arms, designed after a municipal seal from 1690
portraying the saint with the wheel, lacked the turnip, which was added
in 1820. On the artwork, the turnip has green leaves but a red ribbon,
which might be the origin of the red leaves shown on the flag of
Sint-Niklaas.
The former arms of Belsele and Nieuwkerke-Waas portray the patron
saints, St. Andrew (also the patron saint of listmasters) and the
Blessed Virgin, but are, unfortunately, turnipless.
Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 8 November 2007