Warnant-Dreye ( wa, Wernant) is a village of

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

and a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of the municipality of

Villers-le-Bouillet Villers-le-Bouillet (; wa, Viyé-l'-Boulet) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Villers-le-Bouillet had a total population of 6,051. The total area is which gives a population density o ...

, located in the

province of Liège A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outs ...

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 ...

. Its post code is 4530. It should not be confused with the Warnant located in the

province of Namur Namur (; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a province of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the West) on the Walloon provinces of Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, Liège and Luxembourg in Belgium, and the French depart ...

History

The region was settled by the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

as early as the 4th century. Merovingian tombs have been found in Warnant and surrounding villages north of

Huy Huy ( or ; nl, Hoei, ; wa, Hu) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the ''sillon industriel'', the former industrial ...

. The first mention of Warnant goes back to the 11th century, with a knight named Sebastian of Warnant. The Counts of Oultremont, one of Belgium's oldest noble families, originated in Warnant. Their oldest ancestor in direct line is Otto of Warnant, who at the end of the 13th century was lord of Warnant and Moha. In 1266, Otto cedes all his goods in Warnant to the

Abbey of Floreffe Floreffe Abbey is a former Premonstratensian monastery, the second of the order to be founded, situated in Wallonia on the Sambre at Floreffe, about 11 km southwest of Namur, Belgium. History When Norbert of Xanten, founder of the Premons ...

. The

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

monks would henceforth be present in Warnant, notably at the so-called Abbey's Farm. They would also serve the two churches in the village, St. Remi and St. John the Baptist. The two churches were merged by the

Bishop of Liège A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in 1451. St. John the Baptist's Church was demolished in the 16th century, but the other one is still standing nowadays. The first castle of Warnant, a fortified dungeon facing St. Remi's Church, was destroyed under the rule of Otto I in 1276, in the heat of the War of the Cow, which ravaged the

Principality of Liège A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall under ...

and the

County of Namur Namur ( nl, Namen) was a county of the Carolingian and later Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries, a region in northwestern Europe. Its territories largely correspond with the present-day Belgian arrondissement Namur plus the northwestern part ...

between 1275 and 1278. After Otto I, the House of Warnant would split in several branches, including the La Neuville, Ladrier, Oultremont, Saint-Jean, Fumal, Vaux, etc. The family thus controlled most of the hamlets in the area, and provided many

Bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...

of Moha, Grand Bailiff of

Hesbaye The Hesbaye ( French, ), or Haspengouw (Dutch and Limburgish, ) is a traditional cultural and geophysical region in eastern Belgium. It is a loamy plateau region which forms a watershed between the Meuse and Scheldt drainage basins. It has be ...

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

and

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

. The branches of La Neuville-en-Condroz and Oultremont would later become

Barons Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

. In 1731, Jean-François-Paul-Emile d'Oultremont was elevated to the rank of Count of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

. One of his children,

Charles-Nicolas d'Oultremont Charles-Nicolas-Alexandre d'Oultremont (26 June 1716 – 22 October 1771) was Prince-Bishop of Liège from 20 April 1763 to his death in 1771. He was the eighth child of Jean-François-Paul-Emile, Count of Oultremont and of the Holy Roman Empi ...

would be elected Prince-Bishop of Liège in 1763. The Warnant/Oultremont family is the only surviving Belgian family which has counted a Prince-Bishop of Liège amongst its members. In 1823, the villages of Warnant and Dreye were merged to form the municipality of Warnant-Dreye, which in turn was added to Villers-le-Bouillet as a sub-municipality in the municipal reorganization of 1977. {{coord, 50, 36, N, 5, 14, E, display=title, region:BE_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Former municipalities of Liège Province