History of Sint-Pieters-Kapelle

As part of the so-called Hernegewoud, the history of Sint-Pieters-Kapelle is closely related to that of neighbouring Herne; since the municipal reorganization of 1977, this village is again a part of "greater Herne". It is therefore also part of the Waltrudis inheritance that was donated to the Chapter of Mons around the middle of the 7th century. The Hernegewoud or the Potestas of Herne (Latin: potestas = political / administrative office, which usually corresponded to a territorially very extensive fiefdom) belonged to the Hainaut bailiwick of Enghien during the Middle Ages and the Ancien Regime. Sint-Pieters-Kapelle was not an autonomous lordship in that capacity, as it fell under the jurisdiction of the aldermen of Herne. In 1795, during the thorough administrative reorganization of the Southern Netherlands by the French administration, Sint-Pieters-Kapelle was assigned to the department of Jemappes, whose name was changed to the Province of Hainaut by the constitution of 1815. Sint-Pieters-Kapelle ("Saint-Pierre" is mentioned on the Ferraris map) initially belonged to the arrondissement of Mons and from 1818 to the arrondissement of Soignies. This dependence on Wallonia can be seen in a walk around the cemetery, where numerous inscriptions on the tombstones are executed in French.

Only in 1962-1963, in implementation of the First and Second Gilson Acts, was this language border municipality transferred to the Dutch-speaking arrondissement of Halle-Vilvoorde of the Province of Brabant (changed to Flemish Brabant).

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