Moerzeke is a village located at the river

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

in the municipality

Hamme Hamme () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Hamme proper, Kastel Moerzeke, and . In 2018, Hamme had a total population of 24,827. The total area is 40.21 km². The c ...

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 ...

History

The name comes from the Gallo-Roman ''Mauriciacum'', which means ''good or villa belonging to Mauricius''. In the passing ages the name Moerzeke has been written in various ways. In Latin manuscripts from 1125 and 1156 you can read ''Murzeke'' and ''Murceke'', in 1171 ''Morzeka'', in 1225 ''Morsca'', in 1259 and 1261 ''Morseke'', in 1330 ''Mourseka''. At the end of the sixteenth century Mercator indicates Moerzeke as ''Moeshe'' on his maps. This name is still used by the people of Moerzeke. The village has a history of disasters. In 1488 the castle of the lord of Moerzeke was ruined by troublemakers from

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

. The church was plundered too, but the inhabitants of Moerzeke had moved the most valuable pieces of their church to

Dendermonde Dendermonde (; french: Termonde, ) is a city in the Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, Mespelare, Oudegem, Schoonaarde, and Sint-G ...

. Reformation brought a lot of mayhem: half the parish got burned down and ravaged and even the church didn't escape this. From 1578 on the Catholic religion was prohibited, violation resulted in the death penalty. In 1580 the Black Death broke out, which nearly killed the total population of Moerzeke. In 1584 after a siege that lasted for 20 days Moerzeke and

were liberated from the Protestants by the Spanish troops. In 1590 a priest from

Hulst Hulst () is a municipality and city in southwestern Netherlands in the east of Zeelandic Flanders. History Hulst received city rights in the 12th century. Hulst was captured from the Spanish in 1591 by Maurice of Orange but was recaptured ...

(the Netherlands) came to Moerzeke together with some seventy families from Verrebroek and Kieldrecht to bring the population to a normal level again. This was not yet the end of misery in Moerzeke however. In 1846-1848 the harvest largely failed, which caused poverty and the death of many. Moerzeke also has had several dam-breaks causing floods.

Sites

Moerzeke holds the burial chapel and associated museum of Father Edward Poppe, who was

beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to Intercession of saints, intercede on behalf of individua ...

by Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in 1999. These have grown into places of pilgrimage.

Gallery

File:Gemeentehuis Moerzeke - België.jpg, Former town hall File:Killestraat 2, Moerzeke.jpg, Pub in Moerzeke

References

External links

{{Authority control Populated places in East Flanders Hamme