Mespelare

Mespelare is a village in the Belgian province of East Flanders and a part of the municipality of Dendermonde since 1977. Mespelare has about 560 inhabitants and is 198.2 hectares in size. The village is located in the Dender region.

There has been a story about the origins of Mespelare since the Middle Ages, which was found in writings dating back to the later Middle Ages. The saga goes like this:
Reinout, son of lord Aymon van Dendermonde, and one of the four sons of Heems, known from the saga of the Ros Beiaard, was once on a journey with his giant steed, in the woods between Aalst and Dendermonde. When he tried to cross the then still wide and powerful river Zeipe, his eye fell on a beautiful wood nymph, who was bathing on the bank. Reinout asked for her name and learned that the nymph's name was 'Mespel'. It was love at first sight and it was there that they made love for the first time. Reinout promised Mespel that he would marry her as soon as he was back in the city of Dendermonde. However, when he told his father about this, he opposed this marriage and forbade Reinout to ever have contact with the wood nymph again. However, Mespel turned out to be pregnant with Reinout, and Reinout decided to stay with the love of his life. Lord Aymon of Dendermonde was forced to give his son an estate, but to express his displeasure, he gave them a barren piece of land, located between Gijzegem in Aalst and Oudegem in Dendermonde. The couple had a castle built to live in and had many more children, all of whom were given a house in their parents' piece of land. In the end, it is said that Mespel gave birth to more than a hundred children, and thus shaped the village. The name of the village was derived from the name 'Mespel'.

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