Memorial

While preparing this entry we received Journal no.76 from 'Cercle d’Histoire de Bruxelles’ to find a 5-page article about the legend of the May Tree of Brussels, which puts forward a number of slightly varying versions. Briefly: in 1213 a wedding party turned into a fight over beer tax between the bourgeois of Brussels and the Louvanists. The Companions of St Laurent rescued the Bruxellois from a siege and were rewarded by Jean, Duke of Brabant with the status of a guild and the right to plant a May Tree. Thus on 9 August, the annual festival of St Laurent, a May Tree is planted in what is now an area of offices, the junction of rue des Sables and rue du Marais. This has apparently been going on for about 700 years but the motto of the Companions of St Laurent is ‘Il faut le faire’, ‘It must be done’, so it is. The web site, in French, Flemish and Spanish, is fun with lots of pictures. Click on external link for more information.