Page "Soignies" Paragraph 5

The history of the region starts in the second half of the 7th century.

In the 670s, Madelgaire, a wealthy former governor under King Dagobert I, and his wife Waltrude decided to separate and devote themselves to a religious life.

Both of them founded an abbey, Madelgaire in Soignies and Waltrude in neighbouring Mons.

Madelgaire took the religious name of Vincent.

Like his wife, he was canonized after his death and later became the patron saint of the city that would eventually grow around the monastery.

At that time, a large forest covered the whole area, the remnants of which near Brussels are still called the Sonian Forest ( French: Forêt de Soignes, Dutch: Zoniënwoud ) today.

The existence of the abbey of Soignies is mentioned for the first time in the Treaty of Meersen, dated August 8, 870, as one of King Charles the Bald's possessions.