Leffinge, sometimes Leffingen in English, is a historic village in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, now part of the municipality of

Middelkerke Middelkerke () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, on the North Sea, west of Ostend. The municipality comprises the villages of Leffinge, Lombardsijde, Mannekensvere, Middelkerke proper, Schore, Sint-Pieters-Kapell ...

, province of

West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...

History

In 1137 the castellan of

Saint-Omer Saint-Omer (; vls, Sint-Omaars) is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in France. It is west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, and is located in the Artois province. The town is named after Saint Audomar, ...

confirmed the gift of the church in Leffinge to the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

. The medieval church was damaged in 1488, repaired around 1500, and demolished in 1857. The current neo-Gothic church was built 1877-1879 and restored in 1983. A preliminary action of the

Battle of Nieuwpoort The Battle of Nieuwpoort, was fought on 2 July 1600 during the Eighty Years War and the Anglo-Spanish war in the dunes near Nieuwpoort. The Anglo-Dutch companies met the Spanish veterans head on which, although their left flank nearly broke, we ...

(1600) was fought in Leffinge, in which Scottish mercenaries in Dutch service particularly distinguished themselves.H.W. Lumsden, "The Scots at Leffingen, 1600", ''Scottish Historical Review'' 7 (1905), pp. 268-274.

References

{{coord, 51, 11, N, 2, 53, E, display=title, region:BE_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Populated places in West Flanders Sub-municipalities of Middelkerke