Last modified: 2008-04-26 by ivan sache
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The municipality of Verlaine (3,610 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 2,421 ha) is locateed near Huy, in the region of Hesbaye. The municipality of Verlaine is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Verlaine, Chapon-Seraing and Seraing-le-Château, together with the village of Bodegnée, part of the municipality of Jehay until 1976 (the other components of Jehay were incorporated to Amay).
Verlaine, mentioned for the first time in 811, developed around a
church dedicated to Bishop of Reims St. Remy, already mentioned at the
end of the XIIth century. The village includes the hamlets of Hepsée,
Oudoumont, Harduémont, Borsu and Les Stanges. Verlaine is
famous for its orchards; the last "sirop" factory in Hesbaye was
located in Verlaine.
In the Ancient Regime, the domain of Verlaine belonged to the abbey of
Stavelot; its lord belonged successively to the Hamal (XVth century), Vilhain (XVIth century) and Harre (XVIIth century) families. Verlaine
was indeed a remote enclave of Stavelot inside the Principality of
Liège; the village was usurped by the Spanish government of the Low
Countries and the representatives of Stavelot complained at the
Directory of Westfalia in 1701.
Hepsée was ran by the feudal court of Liège and belonged in the early
XVth century to the lords of Haultepenne; the castle of Hepsée,
including one of the biggest donjons in the region and where King Louis
XIV is said to have stayed from 11 to 17 July 1675, was, unfortunately,
dynamited in 1958.
The castle of Oudoumont, surrounded by a landscaped park with a pond,
was transferred to the Saulcy in the XIVth century.
The domain of Harduémont, with a castle destroyed during the War of the
Awans and the Waroux, belonged to the lords of Warfusée.
Chapon-Seraing is made of square farms from the XVII-XIXth centuries, grouped around the St. John The Baptist church. The village was mentioned for the first time in the XIIIth century, among the personal possessions of the Prince-Bishop of Liège. The domain was transferred on 23 November 1771 to the lord of Ghistelle. The mill of Chapon-Seraing is still active.
Seraing-le-Château, today the smallest village of Verlaine, was much more important in the Ancient Regime. Mentioned for the first time in a chart dated 911, the village is listed again on a donation made to the abbey of Sint-Truiden in 956. The castle alluded to in the name of the village (in French, château) is still there. The domain of Seraing-le-Château was ran by the feudal court of Liège; it belonged to the Haneffe in the XIVth century and was transferred by marriage to the La Marck. In the XVth century, Guillaume de la Marck, aka the Boar of the Ardennes, often stayed in the castle of Seraing. His descendants kept the domain until 1774, when it was transferred to Charles d'Arenberg, whose family kept it until the French Revolution. The d'Oultremont de Warnant purchased the castle in 1812. After a failed attempt to set up a museum of Christian art, the castle was abandoned and is still in great danger of suppression.
Bodegnée developed around the St. Nazaire church, already mentioned in 1034. Under the Ancient Regime, Bodegnée was part of the Ban of Amay; the castle of Bodegnée, aka the White Castle was the seat of a local administration (avouerie) depending of the Higher Court of Amay. The castle was seized by the troops of Liège in 1639 and destroyed by the French troops commanded by Chavagnac in 1675.
Source: Tourisme Hesbaye-Meuse website
Ivan Sache, 9 December 2007
According to Armoiries communales en Belgique. Communes wallonnes, bruxelloises et germanophones, there is no municipal flag used in Verlaine.
Pascal Vagnat, 9 December 2007
