Bossière

consult the map of Bossière 

Population

1,030

Surface area

917 ha

How it got its name

How the village's acquired its name is shrouded in mystery but some experts claim it may refer to an area with extensive scrub or bush cover.

Inhabitants

Bossiérois(e)(s)

Whereabouts

Bossière is situated on an area of upland whose altitude features a large number of significant variations. The lowest point is 120 metres at the exit of the River Orneau heading towards Mazy, while the highest point, at the eastern tip of the village, is 186 metres.
The River Orneau runs to the west of the locality and has several tributaries: the Arton, the Corroy stream and the Rombus.
To the east of the village, Golzinnes hamlet is watered by the River Ourchet, which assumes the name Ripjoux further on before joining the River Orneau to the north of Mazy.
Accessible via the N4 Brussels -Namur and N93 Namur-Nivelles highways.
Via the public transport line 144a Gembloux-Jemeppe-sur-Sambre

• History

During the Ancien Regime, the present-day Bossière territory was divided between three separate jurisdictional lordships : Bossière, Golzinnes and Vichenet.
For a very long time Bossière and Golzinnes remained directly under the jurisdiction of the earl of Namur, who had a fortress in Golzinne marking the western boundary of his possessions. The fortress also controlled the Ferooz gap through which passed the only road leading from Namur to Gembloux during the middle ages, in the midst of a thickly wooded region.
The fortress is supposed to have a Carolingian origin, according to legend. If not built, the castle was apparently extended and fortified by Godfrey I, the earl of Namur, during the first half of the 12th century.
The fortress was destroyed and the garrison slaughtered in 1430 during the war between the principality of Liège and the duke of Burgundy Philip the Good, whose titles now included the earl of Namur. The castle was never rebuilt because owing to the reunification of the burgundies, it lost its status as a border post between two rival principalities, so was no longer of any military value.
At the end of the 16th century, during the religious wars, the priest of Bossière, Michel de Renichon, hatched a plan to assassinate Maurice de Nassau, the son of William of Orange and stathouder of the Northern Netherlands. He was discovered in Breda before he could carry out his plan, sentenced to death and beheaded.
In exchange for a pledge (i.e. with a buy-back option) the King of Spain, Philip IV, provided General Jean t’Serclaes, earl of Tilly, with several jurisdictional lordships in 1628 as a reward for his military services during the 30 Years War. Bossière and Golzinnes were two of these lordships.
The wars Louis XIV fought against Spain during the second half of the 17th century caused a huge amount of damage. When the French occupied Bossière, in 1675, the territory suffered from innumerable acts of destruction.
The jurisdictional lordship of Bossière changed hands several times during the 18th century. The Tilly family's possession was passed on to the families Dongelberg, de Spontin, de Lannoy, Baelmans and de Romrée. When Jacques-Emmanuel-Albert de Romrée died, in 1783, the jurisdictional lordship of Bossière was apparently passed on to other lineages.
Meanwhile, the ownership of the jurisdictional lordship of Golzinnes passed from the Tillys to the families des Chaveau, des la Ruelle, les Zualart and finally the Desmanet de Biesmes. Charles-Alexis Desmanet de Biesme was the last jurisdictional lord of Golzinnes.
The jurisdictional lordship of Vichenet belonged to various families : the families Vissegny, Bossimé, Brant, Somogy, then, towards 1657, Romrée.
The parish of Bossière came into being way back in the mists of time, so it is impossible to say exactly when it was founded. Moreover, it covered a very wide area during the Ancien Regime,.
When the Austrian Netherlands were annexed to France, in 1795, the various lordships were abolished, while Bossière became a municipality of the canton of Gembloux in the department of Sambre-et-Meuse. Golzinnes and Vichenet became hamlets of Bossière.
After their defeat at Waterloo, on 18 June 1815, the injured French soldiers were taken to a place called Au Camp in Bossière. Those who died were buried there.
The village lost its status as an independent municipality when it was incorporated into Gembloux, on 2 January 1977.

• A must-see

Surrounded by the cemetery, Bossière church originated in the 12th (the tower), 17th and 19th centuries. The semi-circular door to the Roman tower dates back only to the 18th century.
The church is regarded as one of the oldest ones in the Namur diocese.
In the Orneau Valley, at the eastern tip of the village, the Alvaux farm forms a semi-enclosed complex created in the early 19th century on the basis of a mill whose existence was first referred to in the 17th century.
Located between Bossière and Golzinnes the enclosed Coqueron farm essentially dates back to the 18th century.
A few traces (line of ditches, a tower and a part of the surrounding wall) of the old Golzinnes fortress remain, although it was destroyed in 1430. The site is now partly occupied by a small stuccoed neo-classical castle built in 1804, an 18th century farm and an old 17th century chapel, which was converted into a dwelling in 1962.
The neo-gothic style Vichenet castle was built in the second half of the 19th century. Formerly belonging to the Oignies priory the Vichenet farm comprises 17th and 19th century buildings.