Tomberg

Justice used to be administered on the Tomberg. The Forest Court on the Tomberg of Meerdaal was probably set up by Antoine de Croÿ. Such courts already existed in the 15th century before the forests were in the possession of the Dukes of Brabant. The oldest mentioned judgments in Meerdaal date from 1470. Originally, justice was administered in the villages around the woods, but in the middle of the sixteenth century a specially designated building was erected on the Tomme. From about 1572 a session was held at the castle of the duke in Heverlee. Poaching animals and stealing and gathering wood from the forest was severely punished, especially if the perpetrators were caught in possession of firearms. The court also ruled in cases in the surrounding municipalities. In 1514, someone was convicted of sleeping with a prostitute. Thanks to the forest dish, the forest still exists and has not been sacrificed to the needs of the farmers and citizens in the area. Forest law came to an end with the arrival of the French in 1795.

Dromos