Jacob van Maerlant
Encyclopedia
Jacob van Maerlant was the greatest Flemish poet
of the thirteenth century and one of the most important Middle Dutch
authors during the Middle Ages
.
of Maerlant, in the island of Oostvoorne
, where he lived for some time employed as a sexton
, whence his surname "de Coster". Later he resided at Damme, near Bruges
, where, according to tradition, he held the position of town-clerk.
His early works are Middle Dutch
translations of French
romance
s. Jacob's most serious work in the field of romance was his Historie van Troyen (c. 1264), a poem of some forty thousand lines, translated and amplified from the Roman de Troie of Benoît de Sainte-Maure
.
From this time Jacob rejected romance as idle, and devoted himself to writing scientific and historical works for the education and, enlightenment of the Flemish and Dutch nobility. His Heimelicheit der Heimelicheden (c. 1266) is a translation of the Secreta secretorum, a manual for the education of princes, ascribed throughout the Middle Ages to Aristotle
. Van der Naturen Bloeme is a free translation of De natura rerum, a natural history in twenty books by a native of Brabant
, Thomas of Cantimpré
; and his Rijmbijbel is taken, with many omissions and additions, from the Historia scholastica of Petrus Comestor
. He supplemented this metrical paraphrase of scripture history by Die Wrake van Jherusalem (1271) from Josephus
. He also translated a Life of St. Francis (Leven van St. Franciscus) from the Latin
of Bonaventure
. Jacob's most extensive work is the Spiegel Historiael, a rhymed chronicle of the world, translated, with omissions and important additions, from the Speculum historiale of Vincent de Beauvais. It is dedicated to Count Floris V
and was begun in 1283, but was left unfinished at the poet's death. Continuations were given by Philip Utenbroeke and Lodewijc van Velthem, a Brabant priest. He wrote three Arthurian works: Torec, which survives in the massive Lancelot-Compilatie;, and two romances based on the works of Robert de Boron
, Historie van den Grale and Boec van Merline, which tell the stories of Joseph of Arimathea
and Merlin
.
Van Maerlant is also the author of a number of strophic poems, which date from different periods of his life. Of these the best known is the Wapene Martijn ("Alas! Martin") so called from the opening words. It is a dialogue on the course of events held between the poet himself and a character named Martin. Altogether there are three parts, of which the above-mentioned is the first. The other two parts are known as Dander Martijn ("Second Martin") and Derden Martijn ("Third Martin").
Other poems of this kind are Van ons Heren wonden, a translation of the hymn Salve mea! o patrona; Die Clausule van der Bible, an allegorical poem in praise of the Virgin Mary; the Disputacie van onser Vrouwen ende van den helighen Cruce, which bewails the sad situation of the Holy Land
. Jacob's last poem Van den Lande van Oversee was written after the fall of Acre (1291) and is a stirring summons to a crusade against the infidels, with bitter complaints about abuses in the Church. The Geesten were edited by Franck (Groningen, 1882). Complete editions of the strophic poems were given by E. Verwijs (Groningen, 1880) and by J. Franck and J. Verdam (Groningen, 1898).
Based on doctoral research (Van Anrooij 1997), it is now thought likely that van Maerlant was also the author of the hitherto anonymous Van neghen den besten ("Nine of the Best"). This would be his last work. It is one of the few works with European distribution whose source text was written in Middle Dutch
. The work had a profound and lasting impact on the honor code of the Western European knightly elite.
Jacob died in the closing years of the 13th century. The greater part of his work consists of translations, but he also produced poems which prove him to have had real original poetic faculty. Among these are Die Clausule van der Bible, Der Kerken Clage, imitated from a Complainte of Rutebeuf
, and the three dialogues entitled Martijn, in which the fundamental questions of theology and ethics were discussed.
Although Jacob was an orthodox Roman Catholic, he is said to have been called to account by the priests for translating the Bible
into the vulgar
tongue. In spite of his orthodoxy, Jacob was a keen satirist
of the corruptions of the clergy. He was one of the most learned men of his age, and for two centuries was the most celebrated of Flemish poets.
, which was part of the County of Holland
(and Zeeland
), where the viscount of Zeeland held residence. In the 14th century Merlant disappeared from the map and became a part of the city of Brielle
, also known as Den Briel. In the year 1261 or shortly after Jacob got a job as a 'custos' at the church of Saint Martin at Merlant, from which he took his second name.
The date and year of his birth are unknown. Estimates usually range between 1230 and 1240, due to the 'fact' that his oldest work, Alexanders geesten (The deeds of Alexander [the Great]), was probably written (shortly) after 1260. Also unknown is where Jacob was born and from what parents or family. His language has been analyzed by the Dutch linguists Amand Berteloot and Evert van den Berg, who came to the conclusion that he grew up and learned to speak in the County of Flanders
, somewhere south of the city of Bruges
, Belgium.
Also unknown is when and where Jacob died. Tradition holds that Jacob must have been alive in 1291, because he is considered to be the author of a poem Vanden lande van Overzee (On the Land across the Sea [the Holy Land]), which was written as a 'complaint' of the fall of the last Christian city in the Holy Land, Saint-Jean d'Acres
.
This poem however, which survived in only one manuscript (UB Groningen, Ms. 405), has no name attached to it in the manuscript itself. None of the texts in this manuscript bears the name of its author. But since the main body of this manuscript is Jacob van Maerlant's translation/adaptation of Petrus Comestor
's Historia scholastica, traditionally known as Rijmbijbel (rhymed Bible) and Jacob's adaptation/translation of Flavius Josephus's De bello judaeico. In his recent edition of the oldest surviving manuscript (BR/KB Brussel, Ms. 15001) Maurits Gysseling treats Jacob's Josephus-translation as belonging to the Comestor-translation, yet it is a different text which Jacob named Die wrake van Jherusalem (The vengeance of Jeruzalem), thereby showing his interpretation of what happened – and why it happened – during the Jewish revolt against the Roman oppressors, which ended in the capture of Jeruzalem and the destruction of the Temple by emperor Vespasianus' son Titus
in AD 70. Nineteenth century Dutch scholars who where used to consider rhymed texts as 'poetry' were not too happy with Jacob's rhyming couplet
s, which they thought were lacking poetical beauty, so they needed his authorship of these 'real' poems at the end of manuscript to prove that he was a real poet or could be a real poet, if only he wanted to.
That Jacob was the author of this poem Vanden lande van Overzee was based on a verse in the 19th and last stanza
: "Ghi heren, dit is Jacobs vont. (v. 235): Gentlemen, this is Jacob's creation". This is no evidence in the modern sense of the word, but in the middle of the nineteenth century it was more than enough proof that – considering the subject and the way the poet expresses humself – could not have been anybody else than Jacob van Maerlant. Fact is that Jacob only called himself Jacob when he was young and before he went to Merlant at Oost-voorne. Than he called hemself 'Jacob (die coster) van Merlant'. At older age when he was known and famous as the author of Scolastica in dietschen alias the Rijmbijbel, finished on march 25th 1271, hi simply called himself 'Merlant'. It was not uncommon in medieval literature to use alloniems to give a text more 'weight'. It is very well possible that some poet used the name Jacob – if it wasn't his name, and an often given name to celebrate the apostle Jacobus who lied buried in Santiago de Compostella – to make the impression that it was written by the famous Jacob van Maerlant. The same technique was used to appoint Jacob of Maerlant as the author (and inventor!) of a Dutch poem about the Nine Worthies. In this case the 'pia fraus' was written in Latin.
Recent examination of the manuscript Groningen 405 by bookhistorian Jos Biemans has revealed that this codex is a mixture of older and younger quires. Jacob's Scolastica/Wrake belongs to the younger part, Vanden lande van Overzee to the older part. It took probably some 10 years (1330–1340)? to write and to assemble this book, which was presumably done in the Brabantine city Den Bosch for the nearby monastery 'Marienweerd'. Most likely the main guideline to collect the quires into one codex was not the authorship of Jacob van Maerlant but the virgin Mary, which is in perfect harmony with the name of the monastery 'Marienweert'. To make a long story short: there is no real evidence or reason to think that this manuscript Groningen 405 has to be a 'Maerlant'-collection. There is too much wishful thinking involved.
Tradition says he died at Damme
; ca. 1300, yet ca. 1288 is more realistic.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
of the thirteenth century and one of the most important Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects which were spoken and written between 1150 and 1500...
authors during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
.
Biography
He was sacristanSacristan
A sacristan is an officer who is charged with the care of the sacristy, the church, and their contents.In ancient times many duties of the sacristan were performed by the doorkeepers , later by the treasurers and mansionarii...
of Maerlant, in the island of Oostvoorne
Oostvoorne
Oostvoorne is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Westvoorne, and lies about 9 km north of Hellevoetsluis....
, where he lived for some time employed as a sexton
Sexton (office)
A sexton is a church, congregation or synagogue officer charged with the maintenance of its buildings and/or the surrounding graveyard. In smaller places of worship, this office is often combined with that of verger...
, whence his surname "de Coster". Later he resided at Damme, near Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
, where, according to tradition, he held the position of town-clerk.
His early works are Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects which were spoken and written between 1150 and 1500...
translations of 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...
romance
Romance (genre)
As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...
s. Jacob's most serious work in the field of romance was his Historie van Troyen (c. 1264), a poem of some forty thousand lines, translated and amplified from the Roman de Troie of Benoît de Sainte-Maure
Benoît de Sainte-Maure
Benoît de Sainte-Maure was a 12th century French poet, most probably from Sainte-Maure de Touraine near Tours, France. The Plantagenets' administrative center was located in Chinon - west of Tours....
.
From this time Jacob rejected romance as idle, and devoted himself to writing scientific and historical works for the education and, enlightenment of the Flemish and Dutch nobility. His Heimelicheit der Heimelicheden (c. 1266) is a translation of the Secreta secretorum, a manual for the education of princes, ascribed throughout the Middle Ages to Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
. Van der Naturen Bloeme is a free translation of De natura rerum, a natural history in twenty books by a native of Brabant
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
, Thomas of Cantimpré
Thomas of Cantimpré
Thomas of Cantimpré was a Roman Catholic medieval writer, preacher, and theologian.-Biography:...
; and his Rijmbijbel is taken, with many omissions and additions, from the Historia scholastica of Petrus Comestor
Petrus Comestor
-Biography:Born in Troyes, he was first attached to the Church of Notre-Dame in that city and habitually signed himself as "Presbyter Trecensis". Before 1148 he became dean of the chapter and received a benefice in 1148. About 1160 he formed one of the Chapter of Notre-Dame at Paris, and about the...
. He supplemented this metrical paraphrase of scripture history by Die Wrake van Jherusalem (1271) from Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
. He also translated a Life of St. Francis (Leven van St. Franciscus) from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
of Bonaventure
Bonaventure
Saint Bonaventure, O.F.M., , born John of Fidanza , was an Italian medieval scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, he was also a Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He was canonized on 14 April 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and declared a Doctor of the...
. Jacob's most extensive work is the Spiegel Historiael, a rhymed chronicle of the world, translated, with omissions and important additions, from the Speculum historiale of Vincent de Beauvais. It is dedicated to Count Floris V
Floris V, Count of Holland
Count Floris V of Holland and Zeeland , "der Keerlen God" , is one of the most important figures of the first, native dynasty of Holland . His life was documented in detail in the Rijmkroniek by Melis Stoke, his chronicler...
and was begun in 1283, but was left unfinished at the poet's death. Continuations were given by Philip Utenbroeke and Lodewijc van Velthem, a Brabant priest. He wrote three Arthurian works: Torec, which survives in the massive Lancelot-Compilatie;, and two romances based on the works of Robert de Boron
Robert de Boron
Robert de Boron was a French poet of the late 12th and early 13th centuries who is most notable as the author of the poems Joseph d'Arimathe and Merlin.-Work:...
, Historie van den Grale and Boec van Merline, which tell the stories of Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph of Arimathea was, according to the Gospels, the man who donated his own prepared tomb for the burial of Jesus after Jesus' Crucifixion. He is mentioned in all four Gospels.-Gospel references:...
and Merlin
Merlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
.
Van Maerlant is also the author of a number of strophic poems, which date from different periods of his life. Of these the best known is the Wapene Martijn ("Alas! Martin") so called from the opening words. It is a dialogue on the course of events held between the poet himself and a character named Martin. Altogether there are three parts, of which the above-mentioned is the first. The other two parts are known as Dander Martijn ("Second Martin") and Derden Martijn ("Third Martin").
Other poems of this kind are Van ons Heren wonden, a translation of the hymn Salve mea! o patrona; Die Clausule van der Bible, an allegorical poem in praise of the Virgin Mary; the Disputacie van onser Vrouwen ende van den helighen Cruce, which bewails the sad situation of the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. Jacob's last poem Van den Lande van Oversee was written after the fall of Acre (1291) and is a stirring summons to a crusade against the infidels, with bitter complaints about abuses in the Church. The Geesten were edited by Franck (Groningen, 1882). Complete editions of the strophic poems were given by E. Verwijs (Groningen, 1880) and by J. Franck and J. Verdam (Groningen, 1898).
Based on doctoral research (Van Anrooij 1997), it is now thought likely that van Maerlant was also the author of the hitherto anonymous Van neghen den besten ("Nine of the Best"). This would be his last work. It is one of the few works with European distribution whose source text was written in Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects which were spoken and written between 1150 and 1500...
. The work had a profound and lasting impact on the honor code of the Western European knightly elite.
Jacob died in the closing years of the 13th century. The greater part of his work consists of translations, but he also produced poems which prove him to have had real original poetic faculty. Among these are Die Clausule van der Bible, Der Kerken Clage, imitated from a Complainte of Rutebeuf
Rutebeuf
Rutebeuf , a trouvère, was born in the first half of the 13th century, possibly in Champagne ; he was evidently of humble birth, and he was a Parisian by education and residence. His name is nowhere mentioned by his contemporaries...
, and the three dialogues entitled Martijn, in which the fundamental questions of theology and ethics were discussed.
Although Jacob was an orthodox Roman Catholic, he is said to have been called to account by the priests for translating the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
into the vulgar
VULGAR
Vulgar is the fourth studio album released by Dir En Grey on September 10, 2003 in Japan and on February 21, 2006 in Europe. A limited edition containing an additional DVD was also released. It featured the video of the song "Obscure", albeit a censored version...
tongue. In spite of his orthodoxy, Jacob was a keen satirist
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
of the corruptions of the clergy. He was one of the most learned men of his age, and for two centuries was the most celebrated of Flemish poets.
Uncertainty about biography
Jacob van Maerlant is the modern name of a medieval Dutch author, who called himself Jacob van Merlant. Merlant was the name of a harbour at the island of Oost-VoorneOostvoorne
Oostvoorne is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Westvoorne, and lies about 9 km north of Hellevoetsluis....
, which was part of the County of Holland
County of Holland
The County of Holland was a county in the Holy Roman Empire and from 1482 part of the Habsburg Netherlands in what is now the Netherlands. It covered an area roughly corresponding to the current Dutch provinces of North-Holland and South-Holland, as well as the islands of Terschelling, Vlieland,...
(and Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
), where the viscount of Zeeland held residence. In the 14th century Merlant disappeared from the map and became a part of the city of Brielle
Brielle
Brielle , also called Den Briel is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, on the north side of the island of Voorne-Putten, at the mouth of the New Maas. The municipality covers an area of 31.12 km² of which 3.63 km² is water...
, also known as Den Briel. In the year 1261 or shortly after Jacob got a job as a 'custos' at the church of Saint Martin at Merlant, from which he took his second name.
The date and year of his birth are unknown. Estimates usually range between 1230 and 1240, due to the 'fact' that his oldest work, Alexanders geesten (The deeds of Alexander [the Great]), was probably written (shortly) after 1260. Also unknown is where Jacob was born and from what parents or family. His language has been analyzed by the Dutch linguists Amand Berteloot and Evert van den Berg, who came to the conclusion that he grew up and learned to speak in the County of Flanders
County of Flanders
The County of Flanders was one of the territories constituting the Low Countries. The county existed from 862 to 1795. It was one of the original secular fiefs of France and for centuries was one of the most affluent regions in Europe....
, somewhere south of the city of Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
, Belgium.
Also unknown is when and where Jacob died. Tradition holds that Jacob must have been alive in 1291, because he is considered to be the author of a poem Vanden lande van Overzee (On the Land across the Sea [the Holy Land]), which was written as a 'complaint' of the fall of the last Christian city in the Holy Land, Saint-Jean d'Acres
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
.
This poem however, which survived in only one manuscript (UB Groningen, Ms. 405), has no name attached to it in the manuscript itself. None of the texts in this manuscript bears the name of its author. But since the main body of this manuscript is Jacob van Maerlant's translation/adaptation of Petrus Comestor
Petrus Comestor
-Biography:Born in Troyes, he was first attached to the Church of Notre-Dame in that city and habitually signed himself as "Presbyter Trecensis". Before 1148 he became dean of the chapter and received a benefice in 1148. About 1160 he formed one of the Chapter of Notre-Dame at Paris, and about the...
's Historia scholastica, traditionally known as Rijmbijbel (rhymed Bible) and Jacob's adaptation/translation of Flavius Josephus's De bello judaeico. In his recent edition of the oldest surviving manuscript (BR/KB Brussel, Ms. 15001) Maurits Gysseling treats Jacob's Josephus-translation as belonging to the Comestor-translation, yet it is a different text which Jacob named Die wrake van Jherusalem (The vengeance of Jeruzalem), thereby showing his interpretation of what happened – and why it happened – during the Jewish revolt against the Roman oppressors, which ended in the capture of Jeruzalem and the destruction of the Temple by emperor Vespasianus' son Titus
Titus
Titus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father....
in AD 70. Nineteenth century Dutch scholars who where used to consider rhymed texts as 'poetry' were not too happy with Jacob's rhyming couplet
Couplet
A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic...
s, which they thought were lacking poetical beauty, so they needed his authorship of these 'real' poems at the end of manuscript to prove that he was a real poet or could be a real poet, if only he wanted to.
That Jacob was the author of this poem Vanden lande van Overzee was based on a verse in the 19th and last stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
: "Ghi heren, dit is Jacobs vont. (v. 235): Gentlemen, this is Jacob's creation". This is no evidence in the modern sense of the word, but in the middle of the nineteenth century it was more than enough proof that – considering the subject and the way the poet expresses humself – could not have been anybody else than Jacob van Maerlant. Fact is that Jacob only called himself Jacob when he was young and before he went to Merlant at Oost-voorne. Than he called hemself 'Jacob (die coster) van Merlant'. At older age when he was known and famous as the author of Scolastica in dietschen alias the Rijmbijbel, finished on march 25th 1271, hi simply called himself 'Merlant'. It was not uncommon in medieval literature to use alloniems to give a text more 'weight'. It is very well possible that some poet used the name Jacob – if it wasn't his name, and an often given name to celebrate the apostle Jacobus who lied buried in Santiago de Compostella – to make the impression that it was written by the famous Jacob van Maerlant. The same technique was used to appoint Jacob of Maerlant as the author (and inventor!) of a Dutch poem about the Nine Worthies. In this case the 'pia fraus' was written in Latin.
Recent examination of the manuscript Groningen 405 by bookhistorian Jos Biemans has revealed that this codex is a mixture of older and younger quires. Jacob's Scolastica/Wrake belongs to the younger part, Vanden lande van Overzee to the older part. It took probably some 10 years (1330–1340)? to write and to assemble this book, which was presumably done in the Brabantine city Den Bosch for the nearby monastery 'Marienweerd'. Most likely the main guideline to collect the quires into one codex was not the authorship of Jacob van Maerlant but the virgin Mary, which is in perfect harmony with the name of the monastery 'Marienweert'. To make a long story short: there is no real evidence or reason to think that this manuscript Groningen 405 has to be a 'Maerlant'-collection. There is too much wishful thinking involved.
Tradition says he died at Damme
Damme
Damme is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, six kilometres northeast of Brugge . The municipality comprises the city of Damme proper and the towns of Hoeke, Lapscheure, Moerkerke, Oostkerke, Sijsele, Vivenkapelle, and Sint-Rita. On 1 January 2006, the municipality had...
; ca. 1300, yet ca. 1288 is more realistic.