Vilain XIIII


Vilain and Vilain XIIII is a Belgian noble family. Their coat of arms is basically "sable, au chef d'argent", a colour scheme that is present from the earliest Vilains in the 15th century, and is also seen in the Vilain XIIII arms, which have the "XIIII" added to it.
They were descendants of the important medieval family of Vilain in Ghent; the name "Vilain XIIII" probably comes from the coat of arms of Philippe de Liedekercke, chamberlain of emperor Charles V, who had 16 quarters in his coat, the fourteenth of which was the coat of Vilain.
The three main branches of the family were the Princes of Issenghien, the Counts of Aalst, and the Counts of Guines.
One branch lived at the Chateau of Leuth from 1822 until 1922, when the last of 7 daughters of Viscount Charles Vilain XIIII died. The oldest mentions of "Villain XIIII" date back to the 16th century, but its origin is unknown. Politically, they were usually part of either the Catholic parties, or the Liberal parties. The first known generations were politicians in Geraardsbergen and Aalst; the family also owned the county of Wetteren until 1796, and the city coat of arms still bears the XIIII of the family.

Origin of name

The family name is pronounced vilain quatorze, and written 'XIIII' and not, in the conventional style, 'XIV'. There are various theories as to why this is. The intention was probably to distinguish two branches of the family – according to Piet Lenders, between a younger and an older branch of the Vilains. Van Kalken says that the 'XIIII' goes back to a certain Josse Vilain, a bastard son of Philippe Vilain, when his natural father gave him 14 acres of land. The suffix thus distinguished the illegitimate from the legitimate branch of the family.

Origins of family

Old sources claim an origin for the family going back to the time of Emperor Otto I. Whether there is any basis for this or whether this is a mystification is unclear. The origin and tree given there are as follows :
Branch of Hugues II, son of Hugues :
Without the XIIII, there was a family "Vilain de Gand":
Perhaps the earliest of these we find is Jean Vilain, lord of Sint-Jans-Steene, who married Marguerite de Grave dite de Liedekerke; their son Adrien Vilain was Lord of Sint-Jans-Steene and Baron of Assenede and married Jossine van Praet. Other sources already give this branch the "De Gand, dite Vilain" name, naming Adrien as Lord of St-Jans-Steene, Rassenghien, Liedekercke, Leeuwe, Lombeke; he was a Counsellor and Chamberlain of Duke Jean I of Bourgogne. He died in 1449. Martin de Gand-Vilain is his son.
Other sources list Jean de Gand dit Vilain, died 8 July 1449, Lord of Huisse/Huise/Huyse, Pamel, Leeberghe, Borcht and Zwijndrecht, married to Goenele Raes; father of Jean de Gand dit Vilain and Christophe de Gand dit Vilain
The family Vanden Steen kept the quarter of Gand-Vilain in their weapon, but dropped the name.
In 1466, we find in Ghent the death of a Joosyne Vilain, wife of Jacobs van Raveschoot, already with the armories of Vilain. The Van Raveschoots were a family of the Borluuts, so amongst the high nobility of Ghent.
An older branch is Vilain de Liedekercke ; around 1570, we find Jacqueline Vilain de Liedekercke, married to Philippe van Royen, knight, Lord of Gyseghem ; their daughter Marie van Royen married Philippe Triest, lord of Auweghem, mayor of Ghent, member of the very important Triest family of Ghent.

Vilain van der Moere

This seems to be a very old branch of the Vilain family; including
A less well-known branch of the family, with members:

Lord of Sint-Jans-Steene

This is supposedly the first title of the Vilain family, with origins lost in time. Omitting the earlier, less certain bearers of the title, we have;
In 1414, a Daniel Vilain was owner of the Castle of Welle
The title is kept in the Vanden Steen family for many generations afterwards, and adds many other titles as well

Lord of Lombeke / Viscount of Lombeke

By 1369, this was no longer in the hands of the Vilain family
But:
At one time, the Vilain family was Lords of Doel

Count of Rupelmonde