Church of Vlezenbeek

At the entrance of the church of Vlezenbeek you can see the year 1673 carved in stone. It was in this year that Pieter Paul Rubens' second wife, Hélène Fourment, only 59 years old, died. But when this entrance gate was repaired, there was much more to it. The seventeenth century with us was a turbulent century. She is still labelled 'unlucky century'. When this entrance gate was repaired, the war with France (Louis XIV) raged in full swing. It lasted from 1635 to 1715. Louis XIV's troops besieged cities in the interior, but they were less murderous in our regions than in other countries because the Sun King had in mind an annexation of these territories. But that is relative, because for example, the Neerhof in Itterbeek was destroyed by the troops of Louis XIV, and also the water castle of Dilbeek, and they set fire to the Grand Place of Brussels .... But in today's Netherlands, people had to endure even more trouble. Agriculture has always functioned relatively well here, so that our regions were spared from major famines.

Pascal Brackman