Vilain XIIII

Vilain XIIII
noble family

Coat of Arms
Country Belgium
Ethnicity Belgian
Chateau Vilain XIIII in Leut

Vilain and Vilain XIIII (sometimes written with the more standard Roman numerals Vilain XIV) is a Belgian family of nobility. Their coat of arms is basically "sable, au chef d'argent", a colour scheme that is present from the earlist Vilains in the 15th century, and is also seen in the Vilain XIIII arms, which have the "XIIII" added to it.

They were descendants of the important medieval family of Vilain in Ghent; the name "Vilain XIIII" probably comes from the coat of arms of Philippe de Liedekercke, chamberlain of emperor Charles V, who had 16 quarters in his coat, the fourteenth (bottom row, second from the left) of which was the coat of Vilain.[1]

The three main branches of the family were the Princes of Issenghien (the De gand, dite Vilain branch), the Counts of Aalst (the Vilain XIIII branch), and the Counts of Guines (originally also De Gand dite Vilain, later Vander Steene).

One branch lived at the Chateau of Leuth (or Leut) from 1822 until 1922, when the last of 7 daughters of Viscount Charles Vilain XIIII died. The oldest mentions of "Villain XIIII" date back to the 16th century, but its origin is unknown. Politically, they were usually part of either the Catholic parties, or the Liberal parties. The first known generations were politicians (often bailiff or mayor) in Geraardsbergen and Aalst; the family also owned the county of Wetteren until 1796, and the city coat of arms still bears the XIIII of the family.[2]

Origin of name

The family name is pronounced vilain quatorze, and written 'XIIII' and not, in the conventional style, 'XIV'. There are various theories as to why this is (according to Frans van Kalken). The intention was probably to distinguish two branches of the family – according to Piet Lenders, between a younger and an older branch of the Vilains. Van Kalken says that the 'XIIII' goes back to a certain Josse Vilain, a bastard son of Philippe Vilain, when his natural father gave him 14 acres of land. The suffix thus distinguished the illegitimate from the legitimate branch of the family.[3][4]

Origins of family

Old sources claim an origin for the family going back to the time of Emperor Otto I. Whether there is any basis for this or whether this is a mystification is unclear.[5][6] The origin and tree given there are as follows (always from father to son):

From here on the tree seems to be confirmed by written sources

Branch of Hugues II, son of Hugues (from the same non-trustworthy old sources):

Vilain XIIII (the Aalst branch)

Portrait of countess Sophie Vilain XIIII and her daughter, by Jacques-Louis David, 1816

De Gand, dite Vilain

Without the XIIII, there was a family "Vilain de Gand":[1]

Perhaps the earliest (no date, later than 1424) of these we find is Jean Vilain, lord of Sint-Jans-Steene, who married Marguerite de Grave dite de Liedekerke; their son Adrien Vilain was Lord of Sint-Jans-Steene and Baron of Assenede and married Jossine van Praet. Other sources already give this branch the "De Gand, dite Vilain" name,[18] naming Adrien as Lord of St-Jans-Steene, Rassenghien, Liedekercke, Leeuwe (or Leeuw), Lombeke; he was a Counsellor and Chamberlain of Duke Jean I of Bourgogne. He died in 1449. Martin de Gand-Vilain is his son.[6] Other sources list Jean de Gand dit Vilain, died 8 July 1449, Lord of Huisse/Huise/Huyse, Pamel, Leeberghe (Ledeberg), Borcht (Burcht) and Zwijndrecht, married to Goenele Raes; father of Jean de Gand dit Vilain (married Marguerite Gruuthuse) and Christophe de Gand dit Vilain (married Jeanne de Lannoy)

The family Vanden Steen kept the quarter of Gand-Vilain in their weapon, but dropped the name.

Unclear which branch

Older or unclear ones

in 1466, we find in Ghent the death of a Joosyne Vilain, wife of Jacobs van Raveschoot, already with the armories of Vilain (and Raveschoot). The Van Raveschoot s were family of the Borluuts, so amongst the high nobility of Ghent.

An older branch (or older name of the same family?) is Vilain de Liedekercke (or Liedekerke; see the origin of the Vilain XIIII name above); around 1570, we find Jacqueline Vilain de Liedekercke, married to Philippe van Royen, knight, Lord of Gyseghem (Gijzegem); their daughter Marie van Royen (died 1595) married Philippe Triest, lord of Auweghem, mayor of Ghent ("premier echevin" of the Keure of Ghent), member of the very important Triest family of Ghent.

Vilain van der Moere

This seems to be a very old branch of the Vilain family; including

Vilain dit Braem

A less well-known branch of the family, with members:

Titles

Lord of Sint-Jans-Steene

This is supposedly the first title of the Vilain family, with origins lost in time (or alternatively given to the family at the time of Zegher I, Castellan of Ghent[21]). Omitting the earlier, less certain bearers of the title, we have;

Baron of Sint-Jans-Steene

Count of Liberchies

Lord of Hem

Marquis of Hem

Lord of Ledeberg

Lord of Dumple

Lord of Vergier

Lord of Werue

Lord of Rassenghien

Baron of Rassenghien (Resseghen/Rasseghem)

Baron of Borsbeke

Lord of Oordegem

Count of Middelburg

Lord of Isenghien

Count of Isenghien

Prince of Isenghien

Viscount of Ypres

Baron of Frentz

Lord of Glajon

Baron of Glajon

Lord of Croifilles

Baron of Croifilles

Lord of Masmines

Prince of Masmines

Lord of Huisse

Lord of Wetteren

Lord of Kalken

Lord of Estaires

Lord of Lichtervelde

Lord of Welle

In 1414, a Daniel Vilain was owner of the Castle of Welle[7]

Lord of Idderghem

Lord of Steenvoorde

Lord of Liedekercke (or Liedekerke)

Lord of Leeuwe (or Leeuw), later Denderleeuw

Viscount of Denderleeuw

The title is kept in the Vanden Steen family for many generations afterwards, and adds many other titles as well

Lord of Lombeke / Viscount of Lombeke

Count of Lombeke

Lord of Lomme

Lord of Sailly

Lord of Forest

Viscount of Ghent

Count of Ghent

Viscount of Audrignies

Baron of Assenede

Count of Ognies/Ongnies

Lord of Charleroi/Charleroy

Lord of Lannoy

Lord of Waten/Waeten

Count of Vianden

Viscount of Wahagnies

Viscount of Ledreghen/Ledreghem

Count of Merode

Baron of Warneston

Lord of St. Amands and Baasrode

Lord of Burcht

Lord of Zwijndrecht

Lord of Wommelghem

Lord of Pamel

Lord of Kruibeke

By 1369, this was no longer in the hands of the Vilain family But:

Lord of Doel

At one time, the Vilain family was Lords of Doel

Count of Rupelmonde

Notes

  1. 1 2 Hellin, Emmanuel-Auguste (1772). Histoire chronologique des evêques et du chapitre exemt de l'église cathédrale de S. Bavon à Gand; suivi d'un recueil des epitaphes modernes et anciennes de cette église, Volume 1 (in French). Pierre de Goesin. p. 649.
  2. Vandeputte, Omer (2007). Gids voor Vlaanderen / 2007 (in Dutch). Lannoo. p. 1228. ISBN 9789020959635.
  3. Frans van Kalken (1936-1938), 'Vilain XIIII (Jean-Jacques-Philippe, vicomte)', Biographie nationale de Belgique, Brussels, dl. 26, pp. 742-743.
  4. Piet Lenders (1995), Vilain XIIII, Leuven: Davidsfonds, p. 11.
  5. Genealogie de la maison de Gand ou d'Ysenghien (in French).
  6. 1 2 3 Annales de l'Academie d'archeologie de Belgique, Volumes 5-6 (in French). Academie d'archéologie de Belgique. 1848. p. 84.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Van den Bogaerde van Terbrugge, André Jean Louis (1825). Het distrikt St. Nikolaas, voorheen Land van Waes, provincie Oost-Vlaanderen (in Dutch). Dorey. p. 158.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Chartes et documents de l'abbaye de Saint Pierre au Mont Blandin à Gand depuis sa fondation jusqu'à sa surpression avec une introduction historique publiés, Volume 2 (in French). Ghent: H. Hoste. 1871. p. 190.
  9. De Herckenrode, Leon (1860). Généalogie de la famille de Berlaere, alias Ponthieure de Berlaere (in French). Hebbelynck. p. 21.
  10. 1 2 Staes, J. B. (1786). Wekelijks nieuws uit Loven vermeerderd en verbeterd, mede beschrijvinge diër stad, Volume 3 (in Dutch). Joannes Jacobs. p. 447.
  11. Catalogue d'une belle collection de livres, ... délaissés par feue madame la comtesse Douairière de Baillet, née Vilain XIIII. de Welle: le mercredi 4 avril 1832 (in French). Snoeck-Ducaju. 1832. p. 20.
  12. Vilain XIII, Jean-Jacques Philippe (1841). Mémoire sur les moyens de corriger les malfaiteurs et les fainéants à leur propre avantage et de les rendre utiles à l'état ; précédé d'un Premier mémoire inédit sur la même matière ; présentés aux Etats de Flandres en 1771 et en 1775 (in French). Meline. p. 390.
  13. Wouters, Nico (2000). "Charles Vilain XIIII". "Met gezag bekleed" biografieën van negentiende-eeuwse beleidsmakers (in Dutch). Academia Press. ISBN 9789038202525.
  14. 1 2 3 Poplimont, Charles Emmanuel Joseph (1866). La Belgique héraldique: recueil historique, chronologique, généalogique et biographique complet de toutes les maisons nobles reconnues de la Belgique (in French). Adriaens. p. 95.
  15. 1 2 De Herckenrode, Jacques S. (1868). Nobiliaire des Pays-Bas et du comtée de Bourgogne, Volume 4 (in French). Gyselynck. p. 1737.
  16. Dubbele wegwyzer der stad Gent en der provincie Oost-Vlaenderen, Volume 3 (in Dutch). Vanderhaeghen. 1865. p. 100.
  17. Rosenstiel, Francis (2001). Annuaire Europeen 1999/European Yearbook 1999 (in French). Martinus Niijhoff. p. 20.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 De Vegiano (1779). Nobiliaire des Pays-Bas, et du comté de Bourgogne...Depuis le régne de Philippe le Bon... jusqu'a la mort de l'empereur Charles VI.pcRaportées par ordre chronologieque, par M.D. **** S.D.H. **, Volume 3 (in French). Jacobs. p. 810.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 De Vegiano (1779). 1555-1614 (in French). Jacobs. p. 810.
  20. Maatschappij der Vlaamsche Bibliophilen, Ghent (1854). Werken (in Dutch). Annoot-Braeckman. p. 12.
  21. 1 2 3 4 Van der Vynckt, Emmanuel-Marie-Jean (1867). Les anciennes magistratures du pays de Waes et leurs titulaires (in French). Edom. p. 97.
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