Pieter Corbeels (

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

, 12 March 1755 –

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

, 21 June 1799) was a Belgian book printer and resistance leader. He was a founder of the Belgian-based publishing company

Brepols Brepols is a Belgian publishing house. Once, it was one of the largest printing companies in the world and one of the main employers in Turnhout (Belgium). Besides its printing business, Brepols is also active as a publisher. Formerly well known ...

. He commanded part of the Brabantine forces during a revolt against the French Revolutionary regime known as the '' Boerenkrijg'' ("Peasants' War"). He was executed for his role in the war.

Service in Austrian Army

Corbeels, was a corporal in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n army. He fought in the rebel army of Jean-André van der Mersch, who won the Battle of Turnhout against the Austrians in 1789. After the defeat of the

Brabant Revolution The Brabant Revolution or Brabantine Revolution (, ), sometimes referred to as the Belgian Revolution of 1789–1790 in older writing, was an armed revolution, insurrection that occurred in the Austrian Netherlands (modern-day Belgium) between O ...

, he started a printing business in Leuven in 1790. He established his printing business in the Gommarushuis in the Tiensestraat in Leuven. Corbeels printed besides the ordinary, ordered printed papers, also a large number of inciting leaflets and almanacs. For this he was arrested by the French, on 28 November 1792, and transferred to

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

in France. On 15 December 1792, he was released whereupon he resumed printing. In 1793 he moved into the house called ''Hertog van Brabant'' on the ''Grote Markt'' of Leuven. In 1796, he moved with his wife, Barbara Panz, and assistant,

Philippus Jacobus Brepols Philippus Jacobus Brepols (1778 – 1845) was a Belgian publisher and founder of the Brepols printing family-business in Turnhout, Belgium. Life and work In 1795, Pieter Corbeels, a printer from Leuven moved together with his assistant Philip ...

, to

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...

, where he was less impeded by the French. On 16 September 1797, his wife died and on 31 October he remarried with Joanna Antonia Servaes.

Life in Turnhout and Peasants War

Corbeels remarried while living in Turnhout, and he left Turnhout in the summer of 1798 as a leader of the ''Boerenkrijg'' also known as the

Peasants' War (1798) The Peasants' War (, , , ) was a peasant revolt in 1798 against the French occupiers of the Southern Netherlands, a region which now includes Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Germany. The French had annexed the region in 1795 and control of t ...

against the French. On 25 November 1798, he was caught in Postel and taken by the French, whereupon he ended up in the prison, and was executed, together with Albert Meulemans, on 21 June 1799 in Tournai. His widow initially continued the printing business, together with Philippus Jacobus Brepols, but in 1800 he bought the business from her. The

printing business in Turnhout grew out of this.

References

* MARTENS, Erik, ''"De Boerenkrijg in Brabant (1798-1799). De opstand van het jaar 7 in het Dijledepartement"'', Uitgeverij De Krijger, 2005, blz. 50, 55–56, 111, 112, 118, 125, 127, 135, 194.\ Source used in Belgian Wikipedia biography entry {{DEFAULTSORT:Corbeels, Pieter 1755 births 1799 deaths 18th-century executions People from Turnhout Independence activists of the Brabant Revolution 18th-century publishers (people) from the Holy Roman Empire Executed Belgian people People executed for war crimes