Trivières ( wa, Triviere) 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 of the municipality of La Louvière, located in the province of Hainaut,

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 is located between Mons and Charleroi, about south of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. It was a fully fledged

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

before the

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 ...

. It is in size.

Etymology

The origin of the name Trivières probably derives from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word trivium, meaning three paths. Three roads intersect at the centre of Trivières, one leading east to , one north to Strépy, and one southwest to

Estinnes Estinnes (; pcd, L' Estene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Estinnes had a total population of 7,413. The total area is 72.73 km2 which gives a population density of 102 inhabit ...

. Three rivers, the

Haine The Haine (, ; ; ; pcd, Héne; wa, Hinne) is a river in southern Belgium ( Hainaut) and northern France (Nord), right tributary of the river Scheldt. The Haine gave its name to the County of Hainaut, and the present province of Hainaut. Its s ...

, the Princess of Rieu, and the Estinnes, also cross the village. Another, probably legendary, suggested origin of the name is that it derives from the Belgic tribe

Treveri The Trēverī ( Gaulish: *''Trēueroi'') were a Celtic tribe of the Belgae group who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, if not earlier, until their displacement by the Franks. Their domain lay within the southern fri ...

, said to have been massacred in the area by the Roman legions of

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

and

Nero Claudius Drusus Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus (38–9 BC), also called Drusus the Elder, was a Roman politician and military commander. He was a patrician Claudian on his birth father's side but his maternal grandmother was from a plebeian family. He was the ...

History

Trivières dates to at least the Roman era, and has a rich archaeological history. Excavations have uncovered an artificial harbour that was dug out by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

to facilitate the trade of lime, as well as a lime kiln. The village is also the site of the most important known

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

necropolis in Belgium, dating from 480 to 610 AD. A hectare in size, the cemetery contains 385 graves split between two sections, one reserved for women and one reserved for men. The former section has yielded skeletons buried with gold jewelry. The latter, containing larger tombs than those for the women, has been found to contain axes,

fibulae The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

, arrows, and spears. A

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

iron helmet was also found there, similar in design to the Anglo-Saxon

Shorwell helmet The Shorwell helmet is an Anglo-Saxon helmet from the early to mid-sixth century AD found near Shorwell on the Isle of Wight in southern England. It was one of the grave goods of a high-status Anglo-Saxon warrior, and was found with other o ...

found on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The helmet is particularly rare in that it is made of iron, rather than bronze. From 1400 to 1754 the main

seigneury ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (o ...

of Trivières was held by several prominent families, including some who traced their descent to the

kings of Ireland Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

. In the 18th century the ground began to be exploited for coal; the village also contained several breweries and a small construction store. Today, Trivières is in size, and is part of the municipality of La Louvière. Trivières was itself a municipality until the

. Before it was restructured in the 1970s, it had a population of 3,635 people. Afterwards, in 1996, it had a population of 3,704 people. In the centre of the town is the church of Saint Martin. It replaced a 12th century church demolished around 1870 to 1875.

References

Bibliography

* {{coord, 50, 27, 04, N, 04, 08, 52, E, display=title, region:BE_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Former municipalities of Hainaut (province) La Louvière