Send Gift Baskets to Ninove, Belgium

The oldest known version of the name “Ninove” is Neonifus, dating back to the 9th century. Ninive and Nineve were later versions of the city’s name. The current term of the town dates back to the 14th century. There is no clear explanation for the origin of the city’s name. Origin, there are two theories. Two sources claim that this name has Roman origins, and one claims Frankish origins. It is known, however, what the term means. The Dutch word niove means ‘new land’ or ‘new pasture’ in English.

There was once a tiny settlement called Ninove in the area that is now “Nederwijk” during Roman rule. The settlement grew to a small agricultural town in the 4th century A.D. when the Franks arrived. Ninove was part of the Holy Roman Empire from 843 onwards. During the 11th century, Boudewijn V, Count of Flanders, conquered this area, which became part of Flanders.

A medieval castrum became a castle stronghold after it was fortified in the 11th century. The town prospered and grew into a city because it was on the trade route between Flanders and Brabant. Norbertine monks founded Saint Cornelius Abbey from Park Abbey in 1137 (Abbey of Our Lady, SS. Cornelius, and Cyprian). The count of Flanders, Guy of Dampierre, bought the town and lands in 1295. Henry’s grandson granted a city charter to the village in 1339.

As a result of war and religious and political strife, the city experienced a difficult period from the 15th to 17th centuries. As a result of the Reformation, the abbey was plundered by the French in 1578. In 1658, the French army occupied Ninove. French forces returned the Pyrenees to Spain after the Treaty of the Pyrenees, but the area changed hands many times during the wars of Louis XIV and Louis XV.

As Ninove’s cloth industry declined due to indemnities imposed upon it by warring parties, the town faced an economic crisis during the 17th century. After Flanders was annexed to France in 1796, the French closed the big abbey. During the Waterloo Campaign of 1815, the town served as a cavalry headquarters.