Aldeneik, founded in 730

730

Year 730 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 730 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Charles Martel defeats the last independent...

, is a suburb of the Belgian town of Maaseik

Maaseik

Maaseik is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. The city is located on the river Meuse , bordering the Netherlands. The Maaseik municipality includes the town of Maaseik and the villages of Neeroeteren and Opoeteren...

. It lies on the banks of the Meuse River

Meuse River

The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...

, close to the border with the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, close to where the Bosbeek runs off it. According to legend it sprung up around a monastery set up by the Frankish sisters Herlindis

Herlindis of Maaseik

Saint Herlindis , sister of Saint Relindis, was a Frankish saint and abbess....

 and Relindis, who wrote the Gospel book known as the Codex Eyckensis, still in Maaseik. In the settlement is to be found the Romanesque and Gothic Sint-Annakerk.

Devil

The Devil saw the sisters writing the Codex and could do nothing to stop them, until he had the idea of blowing out their candles. However, an angel came and re-lit them.