St. Macharius Church

The parish of Laarne was founded in the 12th century. What the old church looked like is not known. It suffered heavy damage during the Iconoclasm and the Wars of Religion (3) at the end of the 16th century. The celebration tower, the south side of the church at St. Macharius Chapel and the chapel itself are said to date from before this period. In the course of the 17th century, the church was restored in both brick and Balegem stone.

The patron saint of the church, Saint Macharius (4) is still very popular in Laarne. On Whit Monday, the relics(5) of the saint are carried around every year.

The stately castle drive connects the church with the castle of Laarne, a feudal moated castle. One of its earliest inhabitants took part in the medieval Crusades (6).

Laarne is under the spell of witches! In 1607 a great witch trial (7) took place. Is Laarne a devilish place or is the true story a little more nuanced?

St. Macharius Church
Dorpstraat 9270 Laarne
To visit:
Daily: 08h-18h (Possibly the church closes between 12h and 14h and on Sundays at 16h)

The castle of Laarne
Eekhoek 5 9270 Laarne
To visit:
1 May-30 Sept: Sundays and public holidays: at 3pm. Financial
(July and August: Also on Thu.: at 3pm)

Iconoclasm and the Wars of Religion (3)
The Wars of Religion during the second half of the 16th and first half of the 17th centuries are also known as the Eighty Years' War. It was a war in which the population was directly opposed to the Catholic rulers. They were thoroughly fed up with the abuses, not only of the Church but of all traditional rulers. They pinned their hopes on Protestantism, which denounced misconduct within the Church. The anger came to a head with the Iconoclasm that swept through the Netherlands in 1566. The churches were stormed and a huge number of church treasures were lost. Eventually the Protestants moved north and the Netherlands were split into two areas, the northern Protestant Netherlands, the present-day Netherlands and the southern Catholic Netherlands, present-day Belgium.

Saint Macharius and the Ommegang (4)
The patron saint of Laarne, Saint Macharius, lived during the 11th century in Antioch, present-day Turkey. After several wanderings, he arrived in the plague-ravaged city of Ghent. He had a vision that the plague would not disappear until the day he himself was felled by the disease, which he did. The inhabitants of Laarne still keep the Saint Macharius procession, which may have been held since the 12th century, alive.

Relic (5)
A relic is a remnant of a saint's body such as a bone or a lock of hair. They can also be pieces of clothing or other objects with which the saint came into contact. The worship of relics is an early Christian custom. It was believed that touching or kissing a relic gave special protection. In the late Middle Ages there was a lively trade in relics. Now of course this is forbidden, but the veneration of relics is still popular. They are usually kept in a shrine or artful holder in the church.

Crusades (6)
The Crusades are a common name for the military enterprises undertaken by Western Christians in Palestine from the 11th to the 13th centuries. They saw the holy sites in the Holy Land as their rightful property to be freed from the Muslim rulers. During the Romantic period in the 19th century, stories about crusaders became very popular again. They were glorified for their courage and passion like our own Godfrey of Bouillon. But in the end, we must not forget that they were mainly bloodthirsty wars, fueled by an inexhaustible desire for land and glory.

Witches in Laarne? (7)
In 1607, 6 persons, 5 women and 1 man, were accused of witchcraft in Laarne. The ball started rolling when a 'witch' in Overmere snitched on some devilish women in Laarne. After days of interrogation under torture, all, with the exception of the man, proceeded to confess to dealing with the devil. Four women were convicted and died at the stake. The man was exiled and one woman was acquitted. We need to look at the witch stories within the bigger picture. In 1592, King Philip II decreed that witchcraft posed a great danger to the Catholic Empire and drew up a list of all activities that should be considered witchcraft. He called for active investigation and punishment. This was the starting signal for the witchcraft in Flanders. It is striking that 3 of the convicted women were midwives. Their knowledge of herbs, the birth of children with disabilities, and the high mortality rates were enough to view and blame them with great suspicion.

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