Soignies
Encyclopedia
Soignies is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 province
Provinces of Belgium
Belgium is divided into three regions, two of them are subdivided into five provinces each.The division into provinces is fixed by Article 5 of the Belgian Constitution...

 of Hainaut.

The municipality is composed of the Town of Soignies together with the villages of Casteau
Casteau
Casteau is a village of Belgium in the French-speaking region. With the others villages Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Naast, Neufvilles, Soignies , and Thieusies, they compose the municipality of Soignies....

, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies
Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies
Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies is a village near the Belgian town Soignies in the province of hainaut.With the others villages Casteau, Horrues, Naast, Neufvilles, Soignies , and Thieusies, they compose the municipality of Soignies since 1977....

, Horrues
Horrues
Horrues is a village near the Belgian town Soignies in the province of Hainaut.With the others villages Casteau, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Naast, Neufvilles, Soignies , and Thieusies, they compose the municipality of Soignies since 1977....

, Neufvilles
Neufvilles
Neufvilles is a village near the Belgian town Soignies in the province of Hainaut.With the others villages Casteau, Horrues, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Naast, Soignies , and Thieusies, they compose the municipality of Soignies since 1977....

, Naast and Thieusies
Thieusies
Thieusies is a village near the Belgian town Soignies in the province of hainaut.With the others villages Casteau, Horrues, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Naast, Neufvilles, and Soignies , they compose the municipality of Soignies since 1977....

. Casteau is known worldwide because SHAPE
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe is the central command of NATO military forces. It is located at Casteau, north of the Belgian city of Mons...

, the military headquarters of NATO, has been based at the village since 1967.

The name of Soignies comes from the Latin word suniacum, which means "on the Senne". The spring of the Senne
Zenne
The Zenne or Senne is a small river that flows through Brussels, left tributary of the Dijle/Dyle. Its source is in the municipality of Soignies. It is an indirect tributary of the Scheldt, through the Dijle and the Rupel...

 is near Soignies. After Soignies, the river passes through Brussels.

Soignies is also well known for its blue limestone (from the Carrières du Hainaut) and its glass industry (Durobor).

Saint Vincent

The history of the region starts in the second half of the 7th century. In the 670s, Madelgaire, a wealthy former governor under King Dagobert I
Dagobert I
Dagobert I was the king of Austrasia , king of all the Franks , and king of Neustria and Burgundy . He was the last Merovingian dynast to wield any real royal power...

, and his wife Waltrude
Waltrude
Saint Waltrude is the patron saint of Mons, Belgium, where she is known in French as Sainte Waudru, and of Herentals, Belgium, where she is known in Dutch as Sint-Waldetrudis or -Waltrudis. Both cities boast a large medieval church that bears her name.Married to the Count of Hainault, she raised...

 decided to separate and devote themselves to a religious life. Both of them founded an abbey, Madelgaire in Soignies and Waltrude in neighbouring Mons
Mons
Mons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. The Mons municipality includes the old communes of Cuesmes, Flénu, Ghlin, Hyon, Nimy, Obourg, Baudour , Jemappes, Ciply, Harmignies, Harveng, Havré, Maisières, Mesvin, Nouvelles,...

. Madelgaire took the religious name of Vincent. Like his wife, he was canonized after his death and later became the patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...

 of the city that would eventually grow around the monastery. At that time, a large forest covered the whole area, the remnants of which near Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 are still called the Sonian Forest
Sonian Forest
The Sonian Forest is a forest that lies across the south-eastern part of Brussels, Belgium.The forest lies in the Flemish municipalities of Sint-Genesius-Rode, Hoeilaart, Overijse and Tervuren, in Uccle, Watermael-Boitsfort, Auderghem and Woluwe-Saint-Pierre in the Brussels-Capital Region and in...

 (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

: Forêt de Soignes, Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

: Zoniënwoud) today. The existence of the abbey of Soignies is mentioned for the first time in the Treaty of Meersen, dated August 8, 870, as one of King Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald , Holy Roman Emperor and King of West Francia , was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith.-Struggle against his brothers:He was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder...

's possessions.

The age of the canons

At the end of the 9th century, a general decline in religious life led to a chapter of powerful canons
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 – who did not take any vow of poverty – taking the place of the monks. These canons would remain in power for eight centuries, until the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

. By the 10th century, the canons started the construction of the church of Saint Vincent (Madelgaire), which was to be completed during the following century in the prevalent Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 style of the period. The first known charter by Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut
Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut
Baldwin IV was count of Hainaut from 1120 to his death. He was the son of Baldwin III, Count of Hainaut, and Yolande de Wassenberg.-History:...

 was granted to Soignies in 1142. The fame of the church of Saint Vincent grew in the 13th century, when the bishop of Cambrai granted a 40-day indulgence
Indulgence
In Catholic theology, an indulgence is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the Catholic Church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution...

 to every visitor to the church. The city itself grew to urban proportions at around the same time, coinciding with the development of the textile industry and the building of a defensive wall
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...

. The first stone quarries mentioned in the archives date from around 1400, but several clues lead to believe that local stone was already quarried much earlier. The cut-stone industry, however, started only around 1700.

1789 until now

On September 1, 1796, the revolutionary council disbanded the local administration by the canons, thereby also dealing a heavy blow to the local economy. In 1812, only 92 people worked in the quarries on a total population of about 4,000 people. The industry, however, rebounded under the Dutch
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...

 regime, and even more after the Belgian Revolution
Belgian Revolution
The Belgian Revolution was the conflict which led to the secession of the Southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium....

 of 1830. Today, the cut-stone and glass industries are still active. Soignies is also the center of a vibrant service industry, especially in education and health.

Sights

  • The collegiate church of St Vincent is one of the earliest specimens of Romanesque churches in Belgium. The choir dates from the beginning of the 11th century while the Gothic
    Gothic architecture
    Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

     west tower dates from around 1250. The cemetery still has tombs of the 13th and 14th century.

  • Near the church stands the Cloth Market (in French
    French language
    French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

     Halle aux Draps), dating from the 16th century.

Festivities

  • The origins of the Processio of Saint Vincent (Madelgaire) are not well known. It is certain, however, that it already took place as early as the 13th century. Today, every Monday of Pentecost
    Pentecost
    Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...

    , the reliquary
    Reliquary
    A reliquary is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures...

     of Saint Vincent is carried in a historic procession along a predetermined 11-km-long circuit around town, known as the Grand Tour Saint Vincent.

  • The Saturday preceding the third Sunday of October is the date of the local carnival
    Carnival
    Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...

    . The festivities are known as La Simpélourd – from the contraction of two French
    French language
    French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

     words meaning simple and heavy – after a cuckold
    Cuckold
    Cuckold is a historically derogatory term for a man who has an unfaithful wife. The word, which has been in recorded use since the 13th century, derives from the cuckoo bird, some varieties of which lay their eggs in other birds' nests...

     who lived in Soignies more than 200 years ago. This character still takes central stage in the colourful celebration.

People born in Soignies

  • Jules Bordet
    Jules Bordet
    Jules Jean Baptiste Vincent Bordet was a Belgian immunologist and microbiologist. The bacterial genus Bordetella is named after him.-Biography:Bordet was born at Soignies, Belgium...

    , immunologist and microbiologist (19th century)
  • Paul van Zeeland
    Paul van Zeeland
    Paul Guillaume van Zeeland was a Belgian lawyer, economist, Catholic politician and statesman born in Soignies....

    , lawyer, economist, and politician (19th century)
  • Johan Walem
    Johan Walem
    Johan Walem is a former football midfielder and is now a TV consultant for Belgacom TV. He was one of the best Belgian midfielders of his generation, but he gained surprisingly few caps for the national team, scoring two goals.His former clubs are Molenbeek , Anderlecht, Udinese, Parma ,...

    , football player and TV consultant (20th century)

External links

  • Official website (in French
    French language
    French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

    )
  • Alternative site, with lots of further information on the city (in French
    French language
    French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

    )
  • Soignies, City of St Vincent (in French
    French language
    French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

    )
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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