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Landen is located in the Flemish Brabant part of Haspengouw. The town owes its name to its fertile soil: in 1050 it was recorded as Landane, which means 'cultivated fields'. Fields still exist today on the slopes around Landen.
Landen is also referred to as the cradle of the Pippinids. The name Pippinids refers to Pippin I, the ancestor of a lineage of Frankish mayors of the palace, who lived in Landen. While the name of the lineage may not be widely known, the fact is that a great-grandchild of Pippin I (through the female line) was crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in the year 800 under the name Charlemagne. Pippin's daughter Begga was married to Ansegus of Metz, and from this couple, the Carolingians emerged.
Upon the death of Pippin I (580-640), his widow Itta (also Iduberga) from Aquitaine founded a monastery in Nivelles and became its abbess under the name Gertrudis. When she was later canonized, she received the title 'patroness of Landen'. Pippin's son Grimoald was murdered in 656, which brought an end to the house of the Pippinids, due to the lack of male successors. It is astonishing that the name of this lineage made such an impression despite the relatively short reign of the Pippinids in a very distant past. Part of the explanation lies, of course, in the fact that Landen has never again been of great political or historical significance since then.

Lannoo