The Saint Laurentius Church of Ename was built shortly before the year 1000 by Herman, Count of Verdun. The only Ottonian building surviving in Ename, it is today the parish church of the village.
History
Ename was founded around 990 by Godfrey I, Count of Verdun, on the river Scheldt, the border between the Holy Roman Empire and the County of Flanders. Godfrey and his wife Mathilda of Saxony built a keep surrounded by a walled castrum, which protected the trade settlement. Their son Herman of Verdun, count of Brabant, founded the church of Saint Laurentius shortly before the year 1000. Herman showed his loyalty to the Ottonian emperor both with the architectural concept of the building, which had an eastern and a western choir, and with the choice of the patron saint. The Ottonian emperors had a special veneration for St Laurence because on 10 August 955, the saint's feast day, Otto I won the Battle of Lechfeld against the Hungarians that had been regularly plundering Europe. At that moment Otto was the King of East Francia and after the victory the German lords raised him on their shields to celebrate his triumph and proclaimed him emperor. A few years later, on the strength of this acclamation, Otto went to Rome and had himself crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII.
When control of Ename passed to the count of Flanders Baldwin V and Saint Salvator abbey was built, the village and the church became part of its properties. Saint Laurentius church became the parish church of the village and has remained in use until today.
Architecture
Saint Laurentius church was built with Tournai limestone. Archaeological excavations have shown that the church was originally conceived with a hall ground plan. During construction work, it was immediately enlarged and transformed into a building with a basilica floor plan with two lateral naves. It has an eastern and a western choir, according with the Ottonian architectural style. The eastern choir had two storeys: the second floor hosted a chapel, probably with a stone altar, which was open on the main nave thanks to a three-arched window. In the lunette above it, facing the main nave, a Majestas Domini was depicted in frescos, using lapis as blue pigment. The dimension of the church and the preciosity of the painting stated its importance and witnessed the intention of their founders of transforming Ename in a main trade center.
When the village became property of the abbey, in the 11th century, the commercial activity of the trade settlement moved to the near center of Oudenaarde and the population decreased. The church was then too big for the village and the abbey transformed the lateral naves in several side chapels dedicated to the cult of different saints.
In the 16th and 17th century the church was heavily modified. An octagonal structure was added on the top of the tower. Even if later removed, the weight of this addition provoked several damages in the structure of the tower. During the 1990s it was necessary to start the restoration of the building.