Baudour No. 1 / Baldulium / Baldurnum / Baudulium / Bôdôur / Silvia Baldulia

Baptismal font listed and illustrated in BALaT KIK-IRPA [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10023820] [accessed 26 February 2026]: "fonts baptismaux [...] pierre [...] hauteur: 117 cm [...] Date: 1491 - 1600 [...] couvercle, cfr N. IRPA 23821" -- couvercle de fonts baptismaux [...] laiton [...] Date: 1601 - 1610 [...] hauteur: 93 cm".
A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 5 February 2026] informs: "Baudour, église Saint-Géry.
https://www.telemb.be/emission/archives/quartiers-dhistoires-baudour-une-eglise-gothique-au-charme-retrouve/1888. First mentionned in 1010 : Baldurnum. Baldulium, Baudulium, Silvia Baldulia (1105), Baudour (1186). Gallo-Roman settlement (villa ?) dating from the mid-2nd century and the second half of the 3rd century. Merovingian cemetery. Legend: following a hunting incident in the "silva urcensis" (Urcensis forest), Saint Ghislain is said to have received from King Dagobert a territory called "Baldurnum” near the king’s retreat at "Ursidungus (also Ursidogne or Oversdung)". The ascetic saint founded the abbey of Saint-Ghislain and dedicated a chapel in Baudour to Saint Géry, apostle of the region, which became the origin of the parish. The medieval village developed in two separate centers, one around the church and the other around the castle [...] The ancient fortified castle of the lords of Baudour was demolished in 1807. By a document dated 1110, the Bishop of Cambrai confirmed the altar to the Abbey of Saint-Ghislain, which remained the patron saint of the parish. In a diploma given in Capua in 1118 by Pope Gelasius II, Burchart, bishop of Cambrai, confirms to Abbot Oduin II that the village is in the possession of the Abbey of Saint Ghislain: the church and the tithe of Baudour and of its dependency Villerot. First known priest in 1225. Lateral tower: 1460 or 1490-1515, probably on older foundations. Maybe the original tower was a defensive keep, without connection to the church. The church dates mainly from the first half of the 16th century (1515-1521). Later enlargement and modifications. Baptismal records start in 1569. Octagonal, limestone, Hainaut-type font from the late 15th/early 16th century. The base is unusual or has been replaced. https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10023820 -- KIK-IRPA dates the massive brass lid 1601-1610. On one side, there is a coat of arms whose oval shield bears three towers arranged (2 and 1), most likely the arms of the Dam family. On the opposite side, a similar shield is charged with a fess. The one is almost certainly from Jean van Dam (?- 1637), who was ennobled by Spanish king Philips II in 1598, or his son Florent van Dam (1621-1690). Both men were bailiff of the land and county of Berlaymont. And the Count of Berlaymont was the lord of Villerot, the subsidiary church of Baudour. The other could be the coat of arms of Berlaymont, but without picture, it is impossible to check.
https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10023821 --

Limestone, Hainaut-type stoup, from the same period as the font. Inscription on the rim : Jan de Leauwe et Jehanne Willame (Willemeau ?) son espeuse en lhonneur de Dieu a cest eglise on donné ce benoitier l'an ... (the date is erased). In the archives of Mons is an inventory of documents about a certain Leauwe (de): Chassereau des biens et rentes de Jean de Leauwe. XVIe siècle. The documents mention the villages of Mons, Hautrage, Robersart, Baudour, Quaregnon, Sirault.

https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10023819



Annex : coat of arms of Jean van Dam and painting of Baudour in the albums de Croÿ."