Fontenoy () is a village in the Belgian municipality of

Antoing Antoing (; ) is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut (province), province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Antoing, Bruyelle, Calonne, Wallonia, Calonne, ...

Hainaut Province Hainaut ( , also , ; ; ; ; ), historically also known as Heynault in English, is the westernmost province of Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium. To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders ...

. It is known for the 1745

Battle of Fontenoy The Battle of Fontenoy took place on 11 May 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Tournai, then in the Austrian Netherlands, now Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Maurice, comte de Saxe, Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Ar ...

and for its

beet sugar factory A beet sugar factory, or sugar factory, is a type of production facility that produces sugar from Sugar beet, sugar beets or alternative plants to sugarcane in making refined sugar. These factories process the beets to produce White sugar, refined ...

History

Fontenoy was mentioned as 'Fontineto' in 1189. It was part of the barony oof Antoing, which depended on Leuze. In 1669 it was conquered by France, but returned to the Spanish Netherlands in 1678. In 1697 Fontenoy again became French, due to the

Peace of Ryswick The Peace of Ryswick, or Rijswijk, was a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Rijswijk between 20 September and 30 October 1697. They ended the 1688 to 1697 Nine Years' War between France and the Grand Alliance, which included the Dutc ...

. In 1713 it was again returned to the Southern Netherlands. On 11 May 1745 the major

was fought near the village. It opened the way for the temporary occupation of the Austrian Netherlands by France. In 1992, during the construction of a new sugar factory on the battlefield, 60 skeletons were found. These had been buried in three layers on top of each other, and showed bullet holes. It was reported to be the first time that buried victims of the battle were found. Until 1977, Fontenoy was a separate municipality. Its independence was ended by 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 ...

, after which it became part of Antoing municipality.

Today

The Fontenoy Sugar Factory was built on the Fontenoy battlefield in 1990–1993. By 1990 two companies that operated small sugar factories in nearby

Wez-Velvain Wez-Velvain () is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Brunehaut, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It was a municipality of its own before the 1977 fusion of the Belgian municipalities. Wez-Velvain is made of ...

and Warcoing ( Pecq) had decided on its construction. It is the most recent sugar factory of Western Europe. In 2003 it became part of Iscal Sugar. Due to its modern installations and good location, it was the only one of Iscal's four sugar factories that survived the restructuring of the European sugar market.

Gallery

File:Plan de la bataille de Fontenoy remportée le 11 mai 1745.jpg, 1745 battlefield map File:fontenoy01.jpg, The beet sugar factory File:fontenoy02.jpg, Village square File:fontenoy03.jpg, Fontenoy in Summer

References

Sources

* * * * {{Authority control Former municipalities of Hainaut (province) Antoing