Lonzée (; ) is a village of

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

and a district of the municipality of

Gembloux Gembloux (; ; ) is a municipality and city of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. On 1 January 2006, the municipality had 21,964 inhabitants. The total area is 95.86 km2, yielding a population density of 229 inhabitants per ...

, located in the province of

province of Namur Namur (; ; ) 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 department of Ardennes. Its ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. It was a municipality in its own right until 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 1964 and 1983. In 1 ...

in 1945. The village is located in

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 b ...

and extends along the Arton (a stream that is a tributary of the Orneau). It is located about 3 km southeast of the city of Gembloux.

Etymology

In its earliest written mention (1289) the village is called ''Lonsees''.

History

Three different hamlets are mentioned in medieval sources: Harton (Arton), Argenton and Lonzée, located on the border of the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant, a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire, was established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant of 1085–1183, and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries. The Duchy comprised part of the Bu ...

and the

county of Namur The County of Namur () was a county of the Holy Roman Empire with its military and administrative capital at the town of Namur (city), Namur, at the merging of the Sambre and Meuse rivers in what is now Wallonia, French-speaking Belgium. Under t ...

. In 1357, the border between both is delimited by the Arton (Harton) which divides the village into two parts: Lonzée to the north (

) and Argenton to the south (

). This border would be disputed for a long time: conflicts and trials would come one after the other during the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

. During the administrative reorganisation following the collapse of the

, Lonzée merged with Argenton to create one municipality. The village was merged with the city of

(province of

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

) because of the policy of merging municipalities (1965).

Economy

At the end of the 19th century, a unique industry emerged in Lonzée: the extraction of green earth. This involved the exploitation of a formation of

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

glauconite Glauconite is an iron potassium phyllosilicate ( mica group) mineral of characteristic green color which is very friable and has very low weathering resistance. It crystallizes with a monoclinic geometry. Its name is derived from the Greek ...

or green clay formed during the Cretaceous (135 to 65 million years ago). This clay was used to make dyes (in Germany and Austria) and stucco once mixed with chalk coming from

Grez-Doiceau Grez-Doiceau (; ; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On January 1, 2006, Grez-Doiceau had a total population of 12,403. The total area is which gives a populatio ...

. The industry came to an end during the Second World War.

Witch country

In 1637 and 1638, witchcraft trials took place before the High Court justice of Gembloux. Women in Lonzée were accused of witchcraft. For an entire month, at least five women were imprisoned, questioned, tortured and convicted before being strangled and burned. Their possessions were sold to cover the costs of the trials. These sensational trials earned Lonzée the nickname of witch country.

Heritage

The ferme d'Argenton is a former Cistercian nunnery, founded during the 13th century and abolished during the French Revolution. The moulin d'Harton (listed building) is already referred to in the documents about the property donations to the abbaye d'Argenton in 1229. It was a flour mill, a twister and ended as a cutlery workshop from the end of the 19th century until 1929. Property of the abbaye d’Argenton, it was rebuilt in 1741 and restored in 1992. The Saint-Roch church with its neo-Gothic architecture, its bricks, blue stones and slate roof, dates back to 1846. Before it was built, the Lonzinois went to Mass in Gembloux where their dead were buried.

External links

Basic information on the villageSite web de Lonzée
(unofficial site) {{coord, 50, 33, 11, N, 4, 43, 34, E, display=title, region:BE_type:city Former municipalities of Namur (province) Gembloux