Wez-Velvain ( pcd, Wés'-Vélvin) 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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

of the municipality of Brunehaut, located in the

province of Hainaut Hainaut (, also , , ; nl, Henegouwen ; wa, Hinnot; pcd, Hénau), historically also known as Heynowes in English, is a province of Wallonia and Belgium. To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders (clock ...

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 ...

. It was a municipality of its own before the 1977

fusion of the Belgian municipalities The fusion of the Belgian municipalities (French: ''fusion des communes'', Dutch: ''fusie van Belgische gemeenten'') was a Belgian political process that rationalized and reduced the number of municipalities in Belgium between 1975 and 1983. In 19 ...

. Wez-Velvain is made of two

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

s named after the Latin word ''vallis'', "a valley", and ''fel vain'', meaning "a fertile plain". The written form Wez-Velvain existed in 1012 but was later altered as Guiez, Wes-Velvein, Weesh and Velvaing. In 979, Godefroid le Captif ceded the farms of Neufville to the chapter of the St. Peter abbey in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

. The local fortress was burnt down by the Flemings in 1288. In 1302, Wez was sacked by Gossuin d'Antoing after his enemies had been welcomed there by Anselme d'Aigremont. The fortress was besieged by the Burgundians in 1478 and in 1521 by Baron de Ligne on

Charles Quint Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fro ...

's behalf. It was later bought by the bishops of Tournai and eventually demolished in 1820. The church of Wez-Velvain, built in 1775, was one of the few in the region that was not destroyed by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

s during the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Etymology

''Wé'' is a Walloon word meaning « ford ». {{coord, 50, 32, N, 03, 23, E, region:BE_type:city_source:frwiki, display=title Former municipalities of Hainaut (province)