![[Flag of Saint-Leger]](../images/b/be-wlxsl.gif)
Last modified: 2015-07-28 by ivan sache
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Municipal flag of Saint-Léger - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 19 0ctober 2005
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The municipality of Saint-Léger (3,225 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 3,586 ha) is located in the region of Gaume, 15 km south-west of Arlon and 10 km north of the border with France. The municipality of Saint-Léger is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Saint-Léger, Châtillon and Meix-le-Tige. There is another Saint-Léger in Belgium, today part of the municipality of Estaimpuis.
Saint-Léger is named after the patron saint of its parish church. The
devotion to the saint spread short after his death in the beginning of
the VIIIth century. Most of the churches dedicated to him must date
back to that period. However, in the precise case of Saint-Léger, there
is no mention of a village of that name before the XIIIth century; the
village was then called Saint-Ligier, a written form that existed until
the XVIIIth century.
Léger (Léodegar,
Ludgar, c. 615-678), Bishop of Autun, was involved in the troubled
political life of his time. He was the councillor of the successive
kings of Austrasia Clothaire III, Childéric II and Théodoric. After the
death of Childéric II in 673, he attempted to protect Théodoric against
the powerful Mayor of Palace Ebroïn. Besieged in Autun, Léger decided
to surrender to avoid the sack of the town. Ebroïn pulled out his eyes,
lips and tongue and mutilated his body. Two years later, Ebroïn
sentenced him to beheading.
In 1368, Duke Wenceslas de Luxembourg and Count Thibaut de Bar granted
a chart to the village of Saint-Léger. It seems that the village
belonged to the so-called "Common Lands" owned jointly by Luxembourg
and Bar. The origin of this odd status, which survived all along the
Ancient Regime, is still unknown. According to the chart, Saint-Léger
was ruled by the Law of Beaumont, one of the most liberal laws ever set
up in the Middle Ages. The municipality appointed itself its Mayor
(mayeur) and Municipal Councillors (échevins), who were both
administrators and magistrates. The feudal taxes were very reduced
compared to the average at the time. The Austrian government suppressed
by Decree the last remains of the Law of Beaumont at the end of the
XVIIIth century, causing a lot of protest.
The village of Saint-Léger seems to have grow up on a hill dominating
the Virton-Arlon road; the place is still called Le Chauffour, probably recalling an ancient lime kiln (four à chaux) built there. The first church, later replaced by a chapel, today a house, and the first
cemetary were also built on the hill.
Saint-Léger was nearly suppressed by the black plague in 1636, which
probably explains the local devotion to St. Roch. In the XVIIIth
century, the village suffered a lot from the Franco-Spanish wars. The
domain of Saint-Léger was purchased in the beginning of the XVIIIth
century by the family d'Ahérée; the family disappeared in the XIXth
century but its house, locally called the castle, is still visible.
Like the other villages of the region, Saint-Léger is famous for its
natural environment and former industrial sites (ponds with mills and
forges). The cascade of Trou du Pérou is located near the fishery of
Châtillon and the David forge.
However, the most interesting natural site of Saint-Léger is made by
the two crons of the valley of Rouge-Eau. The crons (from Latin
creta, "chalk"; in French, craie) are petrifying sources, very
uncommon in Belgium. The crons are listed by the European Directive
92/43 "Fauna-Flora-Habitats" as habitats to be conserved in priority in
the Euroeapn Union. The crons harbour a rich fauna (including very rare
big lullabies) and flora.
Source:
Ivan Sache, 19 October 2005
The municipal flag of Saint-Léger is white with three red flames placed
2 and 1.
According to Armoiries communales en Belgique. Communes wallonnes, bruxelloises et germanophones, the flag was proposed by the Heraldry and Vexillology Council of the French Community as Blanc chargé de trois flammes disposées 2 et 1 occupant le tiers du battant.
The flag is a banner of the municipal arms. The Council says that the
flames were taken from the border of the arms of the Desmanet de
Saint-Léger family (XVIIItn century) and recall the ancient forges; the
three flames stand for the three former municipalities forming
Saint-Léger.
Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 19 October 2005
