Handzame / Handsame / Hansam / Hansame / Hanzam

There is a plaque on the wall at the entrance of the baptismal chapel of this church which records the installation of a font in the year 1400 and the first baptism carried out in it; it is mentioned in Suykerbuyk (2017), and listed and illustrated in BALaT KIK-IRPA [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/46921] [accessed 13 September 2024]: "opschrift betreffende het plaatsen van de doopvont in 1400 en de eerste doop". The present font dates from the late-18th century [NB: we have no information on the font of the earlier church here] A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 1 September 2024) notes: "According to the Cartularium of Ename, there was a place of worship in Handzame before 1085. Before 1918, the oldest parts of the church dated from the 13th century. The church was badly damaged during the religious unrest from 1566 onwards. At the end of the 16th century, the diocese was asked for permission to restore the completely destroyed church. The church was looted during the First World War and in the night of 21-22th of June 1918 the German troops decided to blow up the church for strategic reasons. During the reconstruction in 1920-1924, old sections of wall may have been reused or bricks may have been recovered. Above the entrance to the baptismal chapel still hangs a bluestone memorial stone from the year 1400, which commemorates the placement of a baptismal font and the first baptism : the daughter of local lord Jan van den Berghe (ca. 1360-1439), a magistrate of the town of Bruges. In https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/46921. There is no trace now of this medieval font. The present one dates from 1791-1800. It had been removed earlier in the first world war, and was safely kept in the town of Torhout."