Vilain XIIII

Vilain XIIII
noble family
Coat of Arms
Country	Belgium
Ethnicity	Belgian

Vilain and Vilain XIIII (sometimes written with the more standard Roman numerals Vilain XIV) is a Belgian family of nobility. Their coat of arms is basically "sable, au chef d'argent", a colour scheme that is present from the earlist 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 (bottom row, second from the left) of which was the coat of Vilain.

The three main branches of the family were the Princes of Issenghien (the De gand, dite Vilain branch), the Counts of Aalst (the Vilain XIIII branch), and the Counts of Guines (originally also De Gand dite Vilain, later Vander Steene).

One branch lived at the Chateau of Leuth (or Leut) 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 (often bailiff or mayor) 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.

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 (according to Frans van Kalken). 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.

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 (always from father to son):

Branch of Hugues II, son of Hugues (from the same non-trustworthy old sources):

Without the XIIII, there was a family "Vilain de Gand":

Perhaps the earliest (no date, later than 1424) 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 (or Leeuw), 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 (Ledeberg), Borcht (Burcht) and Zwijndrecht, married to Goenele Raes; father of Jean de Gand dit Vilain (married Marguerite Gruuthuse) and Christophe de Gand dit Vilain (married Jeanne de Lannoy)

...
Wikipedia