Scherpenheuvel-Zichem
Encyclopedia
Scherpenheuvel-Zichem is a municipality
located in the province of Flemish Brabant
, Flemish Region
, Belgium
, encompassing the towns of Averbode
, Messelbroek, Okselaar, Scherpenheuvel, Schoonderbuken, Keiberg, Kaggevinne, Testelt
and Zichem (previously spelled Sichem, like the biblical town). On January 1, 2006 Scherpenheuvel-Zichem had a total population of 22,064. The total area is 50.50 km² which gives a population density
of 437 inhabitants per km².
) site in Belgium, is located some 50 km east of Brussels
. Its origins date back to the pagan worship that still survived during the Middle-Ages around a holy oak on this hilltop. The cross-shaped tree was thus "Christianized" with a statue of the Holy Mary.
Legend has it that around AD 1500 the Virgin Mary
performed a miracle here, freezing into place a shepherd boy who tried to take home the small statue, thus foiling the theft. As of the 1550s, a flood of devoted pilgrims, arriving from surrounding areas, came to the tree to pray for the health and recovery of their ill loved ones. In 1580, the statue disappeared as Dutch-Protestant iconoclasts pillaged the region. Seven years later it was replaced by a new one, which still stands on the altar of the present-day pilgrimage-church. The oak tree being almost dead but still inspiring in fetishist worship alongside the Roman Catholic devotion to Mary was felled by order of the Bishop of Antwerp. A first wooden chapel was built on the site and a number of statues of the Holy Virgin cut out of the trunk found their way to various sanctuaries (such as Luxembourg). The fame of Scherpenheuvel increased and increasing numbers of people arrived, begging for protection against plague and famine that swept the Low Countries as a consequence of the "Eighty Years War" (Dutch Revolt
). The chapel soon became far too small for them.
In January 1603 another miracle was reported: the statue wept tears of blood. The religious schism in the Netherlands was blamed for the pain Mary felt. In November 1603 the Spanish army defeated Protestant troops besieging 's-Hertogenbosch, an important fortification in Northern Brabant.
Archduke Albert of Austria
(appointed by the King of Spain as the governor of the Low Countries
), and his wife, the Archduchess Isabella
(daughter of King Philip II of Spain
) donated funds for the construction of a stone chapel in Scherpenheuvel and made a pilgrimage themselves.
In 1604, a few months after its inauguration by the Bishop of Mechelen, the new chapel was looted by Northern troops. The statue was secured by Jesuits. Two months later the Protestants were chased out of Ostend, their last stronghold in the Southern Netherlands
. Again, this victory was attributed to the Holy Virgin. Scherpenheuvel was privileged as a city.
Also in 1604, Philips Numann, clerk of the archbishop of Mechelen
, described the legend of Scherpenheuvel in his Historie der Mirakelen (History of Miracles). The legend was classified as a "folk-tale", but he also reported the miracles that were recognised as such by the Catholic authorities. His book was translated from Dutch into French, Spanish and English and spread the fame of Scherpenheuvel all over Western Europe.
In 1607, the famous architect-engineer Wenceslas Cobergher
was commissioned to build a bastion of Catholic Counter-reformation: the whole city was to be an allegorical homage to the Mother of God, a hortus conclusus symbolizing her eternal virginity. Seven lanes lead towards the church. Its layout is based on a 7-pointed star, which stands for the abundance of God's mercy. In the church, the advent of Jesus is announced by six Old Testament prophets and realised by Mary who gives birth to the Messiah. In 1609 the first stone was put in place for the unique structure in highly developed baroque style, which was finally inaugurated in 1627. The streets and layout of the town itself were designed to mirror the shape. With its surroundings, it is now one of the best examples of the triumphalist architecture of Counter-Reformation in Belgium.
The dome, adorned with 298 golden stars, symbolizes the cosmos. The main altar is said to be placed on the exact spot where the old oak tree once stood.
Archduchess Isabella attended the inauguration-mass without her deceased husband. She came on foot from nearby Diest
, which gave rise to the foot-pilgrimages that still survive from places as distant as Maastricht
and Bergen op Zoom
. She put all her gold and jewellery before the altar, a custom that persists to this day, in the form of coin throwing.
The pilgrimage at Scherpenheuvel flourished. The Oratorianen, an order of religious fathers occupied with religious worship and pilgrimage logistics, had their abbey connected to the church by the "baroque gallery". They were chased away during the French occupation after the 1797 revolution and did not return until after the religious restoration at the beginning of the 19th century.
In 1927, the church was proclaimed a Roman Catholic "basilica minor".
Other traditions that survive the centuries at Scherpenheuvel are the Kaarskensprocessie (Procession of the candles) on the 2nd November and blessing-processions for people, pets and animals, and vehicles. The popularity of the pilgrimage also has a lot to do with the year-round fairground atmosphere that characterizes the place: lots of stalls selling souvenirs, sweets, typical baked goods such as "pepernoten" and "noppen", hotels, bars and restaurants of different kinds.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
located in the province of Flemish Brabant
Flemish Brabant
Flemish Brabant is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also completely surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region. Its capital is Leuven...
, Flemish Region
Flemish Region
The Flemish Region is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Colloquially, it is usually simply referred to as Flanders, of which it is the institutional iteration within the context of the Belgian political system...
, Belgium
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...
, encompassing the towns of Averbode
Averbode
Averbode may refer to:* Averbode , a village in Belgium* Averbode Abbey, an abbey in the village* Averbode , the publishing company owned by the abbey...
, Messelbroek, Okselaar, Scherpenheuvel, Schoonderbuken, Keiberg, Kaggevinne, Testelt
Testelt
Testelt is a village in Belgium, part of the municipality Scherpenheuvel-Zichem. It has a population of 2,877 ....
and Zichem (previously spelled Sichem, like the biblical town). On January 1, 2006 Scherpenheuvel-Zichem had a total population of 22,064. The total area is 50.50 km² which gives a population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
of 437 inhabitants per km².
Holy site
Scherpenheuvel (English: "sharp Hill"), the most important pilgrimage (Roman CatholicRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
) site in Belgium, is located some 50 km east of 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...
. Its origins date back to the pagan worship that still survived during the Middle-Ages around a holy oak on this hilltop. The cross-shaped tree was thus "Christianized" with a statue of the Holy Mary.
Legend has it that around AD 1500 the Virgin Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
performed a miracle here, freezing into place a shepherd boy who tried to take home the small statue, thus foiling the theft. As of the 1550s, a flood of devoted pilgrims, arriving from surrounding areas, came to the tree to pray for the health and recovery of their ill loved ones. In 1580, the statue disappeared as Dutch-Protestant iconoclasts pillaged the region. Seven years later it was replaced by a new one, which still stands on the altar of the present-day pilgrimage-church. The oak tree being almost dead but still inspiring in fetishist worship alongside the Roman Catholic devotion to Mary was felled by order of the Bishop of Antwerp. A first wooden chapel was built on the site and a number of statues of the Holy Virgin cut out of the trunk found their way to various sanctuaries (such as Luxembourg). The fame of Scherpenheuvel increased and increasing numbers of people arrived, begging for protection against plague and famine that swept the Low Countries as a consequence of the "Eighty Years War" (Dutch Revolt
Dutch Revolt
The Dutch Revolt or the Revolt of the Netherlands This article adopts 1568 as the starting date of the war, as this was the year of the first battles between armies. However, since there is a long period of Protestant vs...
). The chapel soon became far too small for them.
In January 1603 another miracle was reported: the statue wept tears of blood. The religious schism in the Netherlands was blamed for the pain Mary felt. In November 1603 the Spanish army defeated Protestant troops besieging 's-Hertogenbosch, an important fortification in Northern Brabant.
Archduke Albert of Austria
Albert VII, Archduke of Austria
Archduke Albert VII of Austria was, jointly with his wife, the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands between 1598 and 1621, ruling the Habsburg territories in the southern Low Countries and the north of modern France...
(appointed by the King of Spain as the governor of the Low Countries
Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands
The Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands ruled the Habsburg Netherlands as a representative of the Duke of Burgundy .- Habsburg Netherlands :...
), and his wife, the Archduchess Isabella
Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain
Isabella Clara Eugenia of Austria was sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands in the Low Countries and the north of modern France, together with her husband Albert. In some sources, she is referred to as Clara Isabella Eugenia...
(daughter of King Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
) donated funds for the construction of a stone chapel in Scherpenheuvel and made a pilgrimage themselves.
In 1604, a few months after its inauguration by the Bishop of Mechelen, the new chapel was looted by Northern troops. The statue was secured by Jesuits. Two months later the Protestants were chased out of Ostend, their last stronghold in the Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and annexed by France...
. Again, this victory was attributed to the Holy Virgin. Scherpenheuvel was privileged as a city.
Also in 1604, Philips Numann, clerk of the archbishop of Mechelen
Mechelen
Mechelen Footnote: Mechelen became known in English as 'Mechlin' from which the adjective 'Mechlinian' is derived...
, described the legend of Scherpenheuvel in his Historie der Mirakelen (History of Miracles). The legend was classified as a "folk-tale", but he also reported the miracles that were recognised as such by the Catholic authorities. His book was translated from Dutch into French, Spanish and English and spread the fame of Scherpenheuvel all over Western Europe.
In 1607, the famous architect-engineer Wenceslas Cobergher
Wenceslas Cobergher
Wenceslas Cobergher , sometimes called Wenzel Coebergher, was a Flemish Renaissance architect, engineer, painter, antiquarian, numismatist and economist. Faded somewhat into the background as a painter, he is chiefly remembered today as the man responsible for the draining of the Moëres on the...
was commissioned to build a bastion of Catholic Counter-reformation: the whole city was to be an allegorical homage to the Mother of God, a hortus conclusus symbolizing her eternal virginity. Seven lanes lead towards the church. Its layout is based on a 7-pointed star, which stands for the abundance of God's mercy. In the church, the advent of Jesus is announced by six Old Testament prophets and realised by Mary who gives birth to the Messiah. In 1609 the first stone was put in place for the unique structure in highly developed baroque style, which was finally inaugurated in 1627. The streets and layout of the town itself were designed to mirror the shape. With its surroundings, it is now one of the best examples of the triumphalist architecture of Counter-Reformation in Belgium.
The dome, adorned with 298 golden stars, symbolizes the cosmos. The main altar is said to be placed on the exact spot where the old oak tree once stood.
Archduchess Isabella attended the inauguration-mass without her deceased husband. She came on foot from nearby Diest
Diest
Diest is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. Situated in the northeast of the Hageland region, Diest neighbours the provinces of Antwerp to its North, and Limburg to the East and is situated around 60km from Brussels. The municipality comprises the city of...
, which gave rise to the foot-pilgrimages that still survive from places as distant as Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
and Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands.-History:Bergen op Zoom was granted city status probably in 1266. In 1287 the city and its surroundings became a lordship as it was separated from the lordship of Breda. The lordship was elevated to a margraviate...
. She put all her gold and jewellery before the altar, a custom that persists to this day, in the form of coin throwing.
The pilgrimage at Scherpenheuvel flourished. The Oratorianen, an order of religious fathers occupied with religious worship and pilgrimage logistics, had their abbey connected to the church by the "baroque gallery". They were chased away during the French occupation after the 1797 revolution and did not return until after the religious restoration at the beginning of the 19th century.
In 1927, the church was proclaimed a Roman Catholic "basilica minor".
Other traditions that survive the centuries at Scherpenheuvel are the Kaarskensprocessie (Procession of the candles) on the 2nd November and blessing-processions for people, pets and animals, and vehicles. The popularity of the pilgrimage also has a lot to do with the year-round fairground atmosphere that characterizes the place: lots of stalls selling souvenirs, sweets, typical baked goods such as "pepernoten" and "noppen", hotels, bars and restaurants of different kinds.