Exceptional manuscript seigneurial register begun on September 25, 1615, for Lambert Vandensteen, Lord of Saive in Hesbaye, and initially written by Jean Terbehaye. This vast land register, titled "Rendaige de la Seigneurie de Saiue en Hesbaye, appendices & appartenances" (Rentals of the Seigniory of Saive in Hesbaye, appendices & appurtenances), gathers the properties, rents, and acts relating to the lands dependent on this ancient seigniory of the Principality of Liège, present-day Saives in the Belgian municipality of Faimes. The 434 manuscript pages include a detailed index as well as numerous land transfers, exchanges, seizins, redemptions, declarations, and reports of court sessions, accompanied by spectacular calligraphic titles.
Opened in 1615, the register was completed throughout nearly the entire 17th century, with inscriptions visible up to 1696 and the transcription of earlier land titles sometimes dating back to the 15th century. The whole is preserved in its imposing original brown stamped leather binding, decorated with blind-tooled fillets and geometric motifs.
✦ Estimated period: 17th century
✦ Provenance: Province of Liège, Belgium
✦ Dimensions: approx. 32.5 x 21 x 7 cm
✦ Material: old manuscript paper, leather binding
✦ Content: 341 leaves, i.e., 682 pages in total, including manuscripts - 434 manuscript pages (217 leaves R/V) - and 124 blank paginated leaves (248 pages) -
✦ Condition: original binding with significant patina, wear, rubbing, losses, and fragility to the spine, headcaps, and edges; foxing, stains, and signs of use on the paper; no missing manuscript pages noted, the pagination sequence remaining coherent; small central tears on pages 108 and 109; large central tears on pages 151, 154, and 167 to 173 (11 leaves) - See last photo.
A rare 17th-century manuscript land register, a precious testimony to the land, judicial, and seigneurial history of the Principality of Liège.
