Last modified: 2008-06-21 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Erezee]](../images/b/be-wlxez.gif)
Municipal flag of Érezée - Image by Ivan Sache, 30 June 2007
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The municipality ofÉrezée (2,968 inhabitants on 1 July 2007; 7,844 ha) is located in the north of the region of Famenne. The municipality of Érezée is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Érezée, Amonines, Mormont and Soy.
In the Middle Ages, Érezée was located in the south-east of the Country
of Durbuy, a strategic
possession of the Count of Luxembourg. The area was known as the Court
(or Ban) of la Sarte. The soil was very poor and wheat could not be
grown before the XIXth century and the use of fertilizers; beforehand,
oats, spelt and rye were the only grains grown in the region. A
significant part of the lands were covered with pastures, which allowed
cattle breeding with the use of hay during the winter season.
In the XV-XVIth centuries, Érezée and Amonines were the main
pre-industrial centers of the Country of Durbuy: forges were set up in
the villages of Blier, Aisne-sous-Fisenne and Amonines. The ironmasters
were supported by the lord of Durbuy and were often sued because they
destroyed the forests located close to their workshops. Most of the
wood and the iron produced in Érezée was sold to Liège; up to 35 forges existed in the valley of the Aisne, employing lumberjacks, miners,
carters, smiths and foundry workers. This industry declined in the
XVIIth century because of the Dutch incursions, the war with France and
the plague epidemic of 1686. After the suppression of the forges, wood
cutting became the main source of income in Érezée while the miners and
other specialized workers moved to Liège.
The writer and professor at the University of Liège Arsène Soreil
(1893-1989) spent his childhood in Érezée, which he described in his
poem collection Fugitives (1943) and in his novel Dure Ardenne
(1933).
The Fantôme (Ghost) brewery was founded in 1988 in Soy by Danny Prignon and his father. The name of the brewery recalls the legend of Princess Berthe de La Roche. The brewery produces only 750 liters per week, since the founder of the brewery wants to keep it "not too commercial". The main product is the Fantôme beer but Danny Prignon brews once or twice a year special beers as the Pissenlit, the Black Ghost and the Destinée, as well as season's beers flavoured with linden, camomile, apple or juniper.
Sources:
Ivan Sache, 30 June 2007
The municipal flag of Érezée is quartered blue-yellow-white-black.
According to Armoiries communales en Belgique. Communes wallonnes, bruxelloises et
germanophones, the flag was adopted by the Municipal
Council on 17 March 1981 and confirmed by the Executive of the French
Community on 18 December 1991, as Écartelé bleu, jaune, blanc et noir.
The flag recalls the design and the colours of the municipal arms, shown on the municipal website as:
Écartelé au premier et au quatrième d'azur au lion d'argent, armé et
lampassé de gueules; au deuxième et au troisième d'or à un huchet de
sable, l'embouchure tournée à senestre
(Quarterly, 1. and 4. Azure a lion argent armed and langued gules, 2. and
3. Or a hunting horn sable the mouthpiece contourned).
Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 30 June 2007