Serge's World

I made a bit of a breakthrough recently in my family tree, which led to an interesting story. It turns out that my great(12)-grandmother - Josina Francisca van Vlasselaer - was burned at the stake for witchcraft.

Josina Francisa van Vlasselaer was born in Kampenhout, Flemish Brabant, Belgium around 1540. She was married to Aert van Beethoven, and the couple had four children, namely, Mark, Hendrik, Jan and Anna.

Josina was arrested on 5 August 1595, by order of the mayor Jan-Baptist van Spoelberch in Kampenhouton suspicion of witchcraft, and was sent to a Brussels prison. She had been accused of making a pact with the devil by some villagers, because on four separate occasions a horse had died in the village near a place where she had passed by. After she got arrested, more accusations were raised against her, such as a cow that had given sour milk, and a horse that had urinated blood and died of colic. She had denied all the accusations, but after being tortured on the rack, eventually gave in. Her interrogators also asked her about any other witches that she knew, and gave the name of her neighbour, Anna Verstande, up. She was then condemned to being burned at the stake. The night before her execution, around 13th September 1595, Josina tried to commit suicide by swallowing potsherds, but this attempt failed.

Aert, Josina’s husband could do nothing to help his wife, and petitioned to keep half of their forfeited property. This was allowed, although he had to cover the cost of the arrest, interrogation, torture and burning.

So, what does this have to do with a musical genius? Well, Aert van Beethoven and Josina van Vlasselaer were also the great-great-great-great-great-grandparents of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Yes, that Beethoven - the great classical composer.

This also means that Beethoven and I are also distantly related cousins - 6th cousin, 7x removed, to be precise, and we share this rather juicy story hiding in our ancestries.

The full line of descent for Beethoven and myself is then as follows: Serge Julien Meunier -> Robert Jacques Raymond Meunier (1945-2004) -> Jacqueline Marie Francoise de Winter (1919-2016) -> Jeanne Leonie Moyson (1895-1966) -> Francoise Marie Moyson (1877-1940) -> Jean Baptiste Moyson (1838-1901) -> Josina Peeters (1797-1866) -> Petrus Peeters (1771-1814) -> Petrus Peeters (1745-1774) -> Johannes Peeters (1707-1776) -> Guilielmus Peeters (1680-1747) -> Marcus Peeters (1635-1702) -> Anna van Beethoven (1597-1662) -> Mark van Beethoven (1568-1640) -> Josina Francisca van Vlasselaer (1547-1595).

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) -> Johann van Beethoven (1740-1792) -> Lodewijk van Beethoven (1712-1773) -> Michiel van Beethoven (1684-1749) -> Cornelius van Beethoven (1641-1716) -> Marcus van Beethoven (1601-?) -> Hendrik van Beethoven (1572-1652) -> Josina Francisca van Vlasselaer (1547-1595).