The House of Flanders-Praet

Louis Friese van Vlaenderen (c.1350 – 25 Sep 1396) Directly Attested

Vredius (1643), Pars secunda, p. 276, quotes Damhouder's manuscript memoir: 'messire Loys de Frise fils bastard de...Loys de Male conte de Flandre, lequel il eut dune fille de Monsieur de Borre.' His grant of Praet is recorded by Espinoy (1631), Livre 2, Ch. XXXI, p. 68: Louis de Male 'en avancement de son mariage avec Dame Marie de Guistelles, Dame de Zweueghem et de Rosebeke' granted 'les terres et Baronies de Praet et de la Woestine' to his illegitimate son 'Messire Louys de Flandres dit le Frizon' (no source cited). Vredius p. 277, quoting Grimarez's memoir, records that Louis 'eut en partage [la Wostine] par acte du 25 de septembre 1373' and died at Nicopolis. (On the day of the 1373 act: the Grimarez memoir reads '25 de septembre'; the donation letters printed in Vredius's Probationes — direct reading, April 2026 — are dated 25 December 1373, the date carried throughout this research and corroborated by Serrure 1863 and Lauwens.)

Johan I van Vlaenderen (d. after 10 Sep 1439) Directly Attested

A charter dated 10 Sep 1439, preserved in Vredius (1643), Pars secunda, p. 277 (quoting the Collecta Damhouderii, fol. 276 T), is directly issued by 'Ian van Vlaenderen Heere van Praet ande vander Woestine ende Burghemeesters ende Schepenen vanden selven Heerschepe van Praet.' This is Johan I's own charter — directly attested. His marriage to Johanna van Reygersvliet is recorded in the Van Hecke manuscript annotations quoted on the same Vredius page: 'Iean de Flandre Seign. de Praet et de la Woestine' married 'Ieanne de Reyghersvliet fille de Henry, fils de Gautier.' No primary source confirming her parentage and marriage has been identified — the marriage itself is therefore strongly corroborated, her parentage probable. Espinoy (1631), Livre 2, Ch. XXXI, p. 68, records the 1431 settlement of 'messire Louys son pere en son vivant Seigneur de Praet et de la Woestine' between Johan I and his mother.

Brouwershaven, 13 January 1426 Directly Attested — a dated military-service fixpoint between the 1420 and 1439 anchors. The Kronyk van Jan van Dixmude, narrating Philip the Good's Holland-Zeeland campaign, names among those at the battle of Brouwershaven: ‘Jan van Vlaendren, de heere Van Praet, Jan van Eghemond ende zomeghe andere’ (de Smet, Recueil des chroniques de Flandre, Tome III, p. 39). Despars carries the same 1426 Brouwershaven roll independently: ‘Jan van Vlaenderen, die heere van Praet ende van der Woestijne’ (Cronijcke van den lande… van Vlaenderen, Vol. III, pp. 298–299). The identification of this lord of Praet with Johan I — whose documented window comfortably brackets the date — is strongly corroborated.

Johan I’s Five Documented Children

(a) Lodewijk II — the heir; Aalter tomb attested (Vredius pp. 277–278); (b) Ioanna (Jeanne) de Flandre — m. Jean, Lord of Pouques; 1446 partition record, Vredius p. 278 (a further marriage-contract document of 24 Jan 1441 is known to the project only through Buylaert (2011) p. 567, as cited in C. Cawley, 'Medieval Lands', FMG); (c) Margareta (Marguerite) de Flandre — m. Louis de Bailleul; Grimarez and Van Hecke extracts, Vredius p. 278 (attribution structurally inferential, see note below); (d) Lisbette (Isabelle) de Flandre — m. Waleran, Lord of Landas and Warlain; Vredius p. 279; (e) Landrada de Flandre — Canoness at St. Waudru, Mons; never married; Vredius p. 279. A March 1442 Ghent partition records the three minor children (Lodewijk II, Lisbette, and Landrada) under guardianship after Johan I’s death; Ioanna and Margareta were by then already married.

Correction noted. An earlier version of this dossier attributed seven children to Johan I, including Jean de Flandre (d. 1523, Heer van Onlede en Beveren, Grand Bailiff of Bruges) and Josse de Flandre (d. after 1526). Direct reading of Vredius in April 2026 resolves these two figures as sons of Lodewijk II, not of Johan I: the Beveren tomb inscription on Vredius p. 280 explicitly identifies Jean’s father as ‘Messire Loys de Flandres, Chevalier, Saigneur de Praet’ (i.e., Lodewijk II, d. 1488). Damhouder’s list of Lodewijk II’s six children by Louise de Bruges on Vredius p. 278 confirms both Jean and Josse as Lodewijk II’s sons. Margareta de Flandre’s attribution to Johan I is structurally inferential (from the ‘sorores Ludovici Patris’ heading on Vredius p. 278) rather than directly textual, and is treated here as probable. Buylaert 2011 (not yet consulted directly) is the definitive arbiter on these attributions.

Note on Joos (Josse) van Vlaenderen (cadet branch — the line’s continuation)

Joos (Josse) van Vlaenderen (d. before 30 November 1545) heads the documented cadet branch of the Praet line, descending from Lodewijk II (not Johan I as earlier framed). He is distinct from Victor’s grandson Josse, son of Lodewyc by Jacqueline de Wilde, who died young at Oostburg (Oostborch). This Joos married Martina van Moerkerke; when the senior line failed in 1545, the lordship and the surname passed to his branch — his son Jacob received Praet and Woestijne in 1550, and Jacob’s son Lodewijk V carried the line to its 1591 terminus (see ‘The 1545 Senior Failure, the Collateral Continuation, and the 1591 Terminus’ below). Sources: Verhoustraete, ‘De heren van Praet te Oedelem,’ Jaarboek 1967 (Bos en Beverveld), pp. 101–113; Serrure 1863 (Vaderlandsch Museum Deel 5); RAB TBO 184 nrs. 21300–21302 (1545–49).

Lodewijk II van Vlaenderen (d. 1488) Directly Attested

Two primary sources agree on the year (1488) but disagree on the day. The Aalter tomb inscription, quoted in Vredius p. 277, reads: ‘Voor den hooghen autaer light M’her LODEWYC van Vlaenderen/ Heere van Praet/ ende vanden lande van Woestine/ Bevere/ ende Ornlede/ fs. M’her Jans/ Rudder/ Heere van Praet… die starf 1488. op S. Baefs dach’ — St. Bavo’s day, 1 October 1488. De l’Espinoy, quoted by Vredius p. 278, reads: ‘lequel Messire Loys de Flandre, mourut en l’an 1488, le jour de S. Berthelemy’ — St. Bartholomew’s day, 24 August 1488. Both sources agree he married ‘vrau Loije van Brugghe fs mijns heeren Jans heere van Gruuthuuse’ — Louise de Bruges, daughter of Jan van de Aa dit de Bruges, Heer van Gruuthuse en Grimbergen.

Lodewijk II’s Six Documented Children

Damhouder’s extract, quoted in Vredius p. 278, names six children by Louise de Bruges: ‘Loys, Iean, Iaques, Ioffe, Loyfe, & Iehenne de Flandre.’ (a) Lodewijk III (Loys) — the heir, see below; (b) Jean de Flandre (d. 6 September 1523), Heer van Onlede en Beveren bij Roeselare, Grand Bailiff of Bruges and the Brugse Vrije; Beveren tomb inscription (Vredius p. 280); (c) Jaques (Jacques) de Flandre — named only in Damhouder’s list; no further biographical detail in Vredius, and his identification is not established. He did not inherit Praet (it passed to his brother Lodewijk III), and he must not be confused with Jacob van Vlaanderen (d. 1566), Joos’s son one generation later, who did inherit — receiving Praet and Woestijne in 1550 (see the collateral continuation below); (d) Josse (Ioffe) de Flandre — Joos van Vlaenderen (d. before 30 Nov 1545), inherited Onlede, Beveren, and Wijchuize after his brother Jean; married Martina van Moerkerke; the cadet branch through which the line continued after 1545 [Buylaert (2011) p. 747; Verhoustraete 1967]; (e) Louise (Loyfe) de Flandre; (f) Iehenne (Jeanne) de Flandre. Note on possible name confusion: this Iehenne (daughter of Lodewijk II) is a different person from Johan I’s daughter Ioanna-m-Pouckes (see above); the two Jeannes are in adjacent generations and must not be conflated.

Lodewijk III van Vlaenderen (d. New Year’s 1490) Directly Attested

The Aalter tomb inscription quoted in Vredius p. 279 reads: ‘Op den Maendagh 1490 starf M’her LOYS van Vlaendren/ heere van Praet/ die ghetrauwt hadde Vrauwe ISABELLE van Bourgongnen; hy light alhier by zijnen Vader’ — a Monday in 1490, buried beside his father. His death is dated to New Year’s 1490. Grimarez’s reading ‘1488. 1. Ianvier,’ quoted on the same Vredius page, is a conflation with his father Lodewijk II’s death year (1488) — a logged known error, not a competing date. His marriage to Isabelle de Bourgogne, daughter of Jean bâtard de Bourgogne Heer van Elverdinghe en Vlamertinghe and Marie d’Halluin, is confirmed by the same tomb (Vredius p. 279). Isabelle died ‘12 Nov 1504’ and was buried ‘te Gent, te Galilee.’

Lodewijk IV van Vlaenderen / Louis of Praet (d. 1555 or 1558) Directly Attested

The Aalter tomb inscription, quoted in Vredius p. 387, records his full titulature: ‘M’her LODEWYC van Vlaendren/ Rudder vander Ordre vanden Gulden Vliese/ Heere van Praet/ vanden lande vander Woestyne/ Elverdijnghe/ Vlamertijnghe/ Spiete/ ende vander Mersch/ Raed/ Upper-camerlinck/ Chief vande Financien van de K.M. Carolus den V. ende sijnen Hoogh-Bailliu van Brugghe/ ende van ’t Brughsche Vrije/ te sijnen overlijden Gouverneur ende Capitain van Vlaendren/ die starf 1555.’ Knight of the Golden Fleece (1531); Grand Bailiff of Ghent and Bruges; Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht (1544–1546); Advisor to Emperor Charles V.

Married Jossine van Praet, daughter of Charles van Praet Heer van Moerkercke, heiress of the original Praet baronial family. The same Aalter tomb inscription records her death: ‘Ende Me-vrauwe IOSYNE van Praet/ Vrauwe van Moerkercke/ M’her Charles van Praet/ Heere van Moerkercke dochter was/ M’her LODEWYCX ghesselnede/ die starf 1546. den 10. December’ — died 10 December 1546, buried beside her husband at Aalter (Vredius p. 387).

Death-year cross-flag Probable — Lodewijk IV’s death year is attested two ways. Vredius’s print of the Aalter inscription reads ‘die starf 1555,’ and Verhoustraete likewise carries 1555. Gailliard, however, reports the tombstone itself as ‘obiit MDLVIII’ — 1558 (Bruges et le Franc, Tome I, p. 261). The project’s working preference is 1558, weighting the epigraphic transcription over the secondary print tradition, held at Probable pending a re-examination of the Aalter monument.

The 1517 Knesselare Charter — Research Significance

A charter of 1517 — known to the project through De Raadt, Sceaux armoriés des Pays-Bas, vol. I (1898), p. 456, as cited in C. Cawley, 'Medieval Lands' (FMG); the De Raadt volume has not yet been read directly — records Lodewijk IV holding six fiefs at Knesselare from the seigneurie of Wessegem in 1517. Knesselare is one of the parishes in the active research coverage, and it sits geographically between the Praet lordship (Oedelem/Beernem) and the core Van Vlaenderen cluster in the Meetjesland. This charter does not establish a family connection between the Praet van Vlaenderens and the commoner Van Vlaenderens who later appear in Knesselare parish records. But it confirms that the Praet branch had territorial interests in the precise geographic area where your ancestors lived — which is relevant to the branch-control problem identified in the research design.

Jan II van Vlaenderen (d. 10 Dec 1545) Directly Attested

The Aalter tomb inscription, quoted in Vredius p. 388, reads: ‘Inde selve tombe light Jo. IAN van Vlaendren/ Heere van Woestine/ Elverdinghe/ ende Vlamertinghe/ fil. mijns Heeren Lodewijc/ Heere van Praet/ ende van Vrauw’ Josijne voorseyt/ die starf 1545. den 10. December; hy hadde ghetrauwt Vrauw’ IAQVELINE van Bourgongnen/ fil. M’her Adolf/ Heere van Bevere/ starf sonder generatie.’ Grimarez on the same page adds that he ‘mourut, sans generation, avant son pere, en l’an 1545’ — he predeceased his father Lodewijk IV, dying without issue. His death ends the senior direct male line only: the lordship and the surname passed to the collateral branch of Joos van Vlaenderen, whose son Jacob received Praet and Woestijne at Aalter in 1550 (see below). A separate epitaph at Veere — Béthune, Epitaphes (third part, 1900), p. 392, as cited in C. Cawley, 'Medieval Lands' (FMG); not yet read directly — records that his widow Jacqueline de Bourgogne remarried Jan Heer van Cruijningen and died ‘van haer laetste kint’ at Beveren in 1556 — in childbirth with her last child by her second husband — and that she was childless by Jan van Vlaenderen.

Joos (Josse) van Vlaenderen (son of Lodewijk II, d. before 30 Nov 1545) Strongly Corroborated

Named as Lodewijk II’s son ‘Ioffe de Flandre’ in Damhouder’s list of the six children on Vredius p. 278; documented by Buylaert (2011, p. 747) and Verhoustraete (1967). After the death in 1523 of his brother Jean de Flandre Heer van Onlede, Joos inherited ‘de heerlijkheden Onlede, Beveren en Wijchuize.’ He married Martina van Moerkerke and had ‘verschillende kinderen’; Serrure 1863 (Vaderlandsch Museum Deel 5) names his children Jacob, Philips, and Philippote, and his sons Jacob and Philips appear as minor wards in the Honnelede wardship file (RAB TBO 184 nrs. 21300–21302, 1545–49). He died before 30 November 1545 Directly Attested: the wardship file names him posthumously (‘Joncher Joost van Vlaendren, in syn leven heere van Honnelede’), with its earliest account year beginning on St. Andrew’s Day, 30 November 1545 (RAB, Brugse Vrije, Staten van Goed, TBO 184 nrs. 21300–21302, 1545–49). The older printed death-year 1553 (Verhoustraete) rests on the same bundle and is corrected against the original. This is the cadet branch through which the Praet line continued after the 1545 senior failure.

Jacob van Vlaanderen (son of Joos, d. 17 Aug 1566) Strongly Corroborated

Joos’s elder son, and Lodewijk IV’s nearest heir after the senior line failed. He received Woestijne and Praet at Aalter by act of 25 September 1550, married Catharina van Boetzelaer in 1551/52, and died on 17 August 1566, buried at Beveren (Verhoustraete 1967; Valkeneers & Soen, ‘Praet, Bronkhorst en Boetzelaer,’ 2014). He is a different man from the 15th-century ‘Jaques de Flandre’ of Damhouder’s list (a son of Lodewijk II who did not inherit, and whose identification is not established) — the two must not be conflated.

Lodewijk V van Vlaanderen (son of Jacob, b. 1559 – d. 31 Oct 1591) Strongly Corroborated

Jacob’s son and the last male of the line. A Calvinist, he married Maria van Marnix, who died childless in 1580; he sold the encumbered Praet/Aalter estate before his death and died sonless on All Saints’ Eve, 31 October 1591, in exile (Verhoustraete 1967, pp. 101–113; Valkeneers & Soen 2014). With his death the surname ‘van Vlaenderen’ in this branch ends — see the terminus section below.

Francoise van Praet van Moerkerke (fl. c.1519) Strongly Corroborated

Documented in two independent published sources. Nederland's Adelsboek (1908) records Wessel van Boetzelaer married c.1519 'Francina van Praet.' The Lauwens genealogical study (2010) records 'Francoise van Praet van Moerkerken, vrouwe van Carnesse, huwde Wessel van den Boetzelaer, heer van Langerak en Asperen.' Her precise generation within the Praet-Moerkerke line requires further investigation.

Margareta van Vlaenderen (dau. of Lodewyc, Victor's son) Directly Attested

Charters dated 1478 and 1486, preserved in Vredius (1643) p. 287 (Grimarez, from the Ghent partition registers), record that 'Marguerite de Flandres' (daughter of Lodewyc van Vlaenderen, Victor's son) married firstly Lodewijk van Baenst Heer van Santvelde and secondly Adriaan van Schouteten Heer van Erpe. This is from Victor's line, not the Praet line — noted here to distinguish the two Margaretha van Vlaenderens documented in the 15th century.