SINT-JORIS-WEERT

The earliest written record of Sint-Joris-Weert is around the year 1140, as Werde or Werda. The word is Germanic in origin, and is a description for a river island, between river branches in a low lying land. The town of Sint-Joris-Weert is situated on the eastern side of the Dijle River; however, this setting did not provide the residents with a setting for agriculture to be conducted in a prosperous manner. The valley ground along the Dijle River tends to be wet, and the eastern slope of the valley is too steep to allow for farmed under optimal conditions. As such, the residents of Sint-Joris-Weert had to make due with relatively small fields in the neighborhood of the town itself.

The region in which Sint-Joris-Weert is located originally belonged to Bruningrode, a graffdom in the district of Tienen. Under Lambrecht I (1003-1015) the region was annexed into the Duchy of Lower Lorraine, later Brabant. The annexation was contested by the Prince-Bishops of Liege. The Dukes of Brabant eventually triumphed and secured the region. In 1284, Duke Hendrik II bestowed on his son Godfried van Vierson the lands of Haasrode, Blandon, Vaalbeek and Sint-Joris-Weert, following its separation from the land of Bierbeek. In subsequent years, the governance of Sint-Joris-Weert fell to the families Harcourt, van Croy and van Arenberg.

Near the end of the 18th century the Meerdaal Woods were a source of trouble. The Graf van Arenberg was fond of hunting and had the woods stocked with wild swine. However, as their number was artificially high, the swine could not find sufficient food within the woods. As a result, the swine destroyed much of the neighboring fields. The farmers could not legally kill the swine, and neither did they want them dead, rather they wanted them penned up some-place. Finally in 1781 farmers from Heverlee, Oud-Heverlee, Nethen and Sint-Joris-Weert presented a petition to Duke Jozef II during his tour of the duchy. In the end, the duke decreed that the swine should be rounded up and confined. The location for holding the swine was selected as the old Carmelite Monastery in Nethen.

In terms of the religious life of the town, Sint-Joris-Weert was originally a dependant on the parish of Deurne (Tourinne-la-Grosse), belonging to Diets. In 1209 a chapel was present in Sint-Joris-Weert, where mass was most likely read on Sundays. It is not known when Sint-Joris-Weert became an independent parish. The patronage and tithe rights for the parish belonged to St. Paul's Church in Liege well into the 18th century.

Sint-Joris-Weert had its own pastor, but the parish was far from prosperous. In the second half of the 17th century St. Paul's Church in Liege raised the parish tithe. The citizens protested and the dispute went for judgement. In the end, the pastor of Sint-Joris-Weert was required to pay 400 gulden per year to St. Paul's Church in Liege. By 1685, the town had no pastor and no vicarage. In addition, the town itself was in a poor state, as it had suffered greatly due to the weather and military taxing. In 1687 the town decided to build a vicarage, which was finished in 1689, although they had to borrow the last 439 gulden to finish the project. The vicarage was repaired and renovated in 1774, and cost so much money that Pastor Vervrangen was obliged to pay for a portion of it with his own money.

last updated 4/27/06