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Municipal flag of Vleteren - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 21 August 2005
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The municipality of Vleteren (3,640 inhabitants in 2007; 3,814 ha) is located 10 km north of Poperingen and 30 km north-west of Ieper, in the region of Westhoek. The municipality of Vleteren was formed in 1976 by the merging of the former municipalities of Oostvleteren (1,127 inh.; 1,409 ha), Westvleteren (1,099 inh.; 1,778 ha) and Woesten (626 ha).
The name of Vleteren appeared in 806 as Fletrinium, Fleterna or
Beborna; the first settlement was probably located in Westvleteren. The
German root *flet means "a river", whereas the Celtic root *erna means
"water". The name of Vleteren thus alludes to a rapid brook.
In 1085, Robert de Fries ceded the domains of Oostvleteren and
Westvleteren to the St. Peter chapter in Cassel. On
23 August 1328, Nikolaas Zannekin, 33 inhabitants of Oostvleteren and
30 of Westvleteren were killed during the battle of Cassel. Count of
Flanders Lodewijk van Male allowed the brook of Vleteren to be made
navigable in 1366. Oostvleteren and Westvelteren suffered from the
blockade of Ieper by Alexander Farnese in 1584, were plundered by the
Spaniards in 1632 and burnt down by the French in 1794.
Westvleteren is mostly known for the Trappist St. Sixtus abbey (website), founded in 1831. The religious history of the village is, however, much older.
In 806, the St. Bertinus abbey in Saint-Omer purchased
from Herlarius the estate of Vleteren in the country of the Ijzer
(Fletrinio in pago Isseretio). The bill of sale was signed in the Cella
Beborna. Most historians say that Cella Beborna is today the village of
Beveren-op-Ijzer.
A small nuns' convent, the St. Sixtus House in Westvleteren (Domus
Sancti Sixti Westfleternes) existed from 1260 to 1355. It depended on
the chapter of the church of Watten. The convent was
sold to a burgher of Poperinge called Willem Van Heule and the nuns
moved to Beauval, near Watten. In 1372, the powerful abbey of the Dunes
purchased the "Sint-Seix" domain from Van Heule's widow and kept it until the 17th century.
In 1610, Gilles de Lattre was allowed by the prior of the abbey of the
Dunes to retire with a few fellows near the St. Sixtus chapel
(capelle de Sint-Seicx) in Westvleteren; the hermits founded in 1615
a "simple" men's convent, belonging to the Bridgettine order. The
convent remained very small and had only 95 members for its complete
existence; in 1784, Emperor Josef II suppressed the contemplative
orders and the convent was demolished. However, its last remain, called
the Bishop's room, was destroyed only in 1996.
In 1813, the hop merchant Joannes Baptista Victoor (1750-1832) settled
as an hermit in the St. Sixtus wood in Westvleteren. In 1831, he
welcomed the prior and a few monks from the monastery founded on
Mont-des-Cats in 1826, who founded a new Trappist
priory. The priory became an abbey in 1871. In 1850, 16 monks from the
priory founded the Scourmont monastery in Chimay; in 1858-1860, 20 monks were sent to Canada to revive the community of Tracadie (now
called Spencer). The first brewery was built in 1839.
During the First World War, 400,000 allied soldiers were housed in the
abbey and in the neighborhood. In the beginning of the Second World
War, general Montgomery set up his headquarters for a while in the
abbey. There are today 29 monks in the Westvleteren abbey.
Like every serious Trappist abbey, Westvleteren produces a famous beer
known as "The Burgundy of the Westhoek". After the Second World War, the
superior of the abbey decided to restrict the production and
commercialization. Accordingly, the Westvleteren beer is still brewed
in the abbey, and is therefore one of the few Belgian genuine Trappist
bears. It is sold only in the monastery, to private individuals, and
its resale is not allowed. The three different available beers are sold
only in wooden cases of 24 33-cl bottles.
Woesten was known in the 12th century as solitudo renyngensis, that is the desert land of Reninge (in modern Dutch, woestijn means "a desert"). A lord named Lotus de Wastina was mentioned in 1247; in 1275, Knight Jan van Gistel was lord of Voormezelz and Wastinia. Around 1300, Woesten was still known as the Wastina of the lord of Reninge (Waestyne van Rhenynghe). The patron saint of Woesten is St. Rictrude.
Ivan Sache, 19 August 2005
The flag of Vleteren is red, divided by an horizontal embattled
stripe made of ten yellow pieces, with two yellow six-pointed stars
over the stripe and one below.
The flag, adopted on 6 March 1986 by the Municipal Council, is prescribed by a Decree issued on 10 March 1987 by the Executive of Flanders on 10 March 1987 and published on 3 December 1987 in the Belgian official gazette.
The flag is a banner of the municipal arms.
[Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel [w2v02a]]
Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 19 August 2005
