User-submitted Reference

The information below is based on verbal statements by Ernest Destexhe (1915-2008; former Mayor of Verlaine, Belgium) and speeches at Limont Castle in 1999, notably by genealogist Hamal Destexhe.

The origin of the Destexhe family goes back to the 15th century. Around 1464, a certain Amelot Remy de Horion married a lady who owned a farm at a place called 'Stexhe', in Horion-Hozémont. He takes the name of the property. He creates a coat of arms, with the words 'A Malo Distet' ('loin de moi le mal' or 'far from evil'), which is evidently a game of words with his own name (Amelot de Stexhe). His children and descendants keep the name. The family spreads in the region of Hesbaye in Belgium, in two main branches: that of Horion, whose descendants will live closer to Liege; some become judges or lawyers (the family of Senator Alain Destexhe); that of Verlaine and St-Georges, peasants and landowners, to which belong many priests and Ernest, Major of Verlaine, the patriarch. The coat of arms is present in several ancient tombstones; it is sometimes surmounted by a banner, the sign of the title of Baron.

Historical context: in 1468, took place the ignoble massacre of Liegeois by the Burgundian troops of Charles the Bold, in the presence of the King of France Louis Xi. It is a troubled period for the Principality, accused by Burgundy to provide weapons to the German and Alsatian states, enemies of Charles, and to be manipulated by the agents of Louis Xi. We have no direct record of this regional cataclysm in the history of Hesbaye, but Horion is 15 kilometers from Liège and it may be a lot at the time. And perhaps history would have exaggerated the Liege drama of 1468, whose only account is due to the French chroniclers. In 1458 and 1490 there were plague epidemics in northern Europe, possibly as a result of wars.

At the farm's place, there is no habitation anymore, but the name remains on some maps. The name 'Stexhe', which was pronounced 'stèh' can have two origins. A toponym: the name meaning a sloping way a 'stidge', or the characteristic of a farm growing hops, the échalats (in Germanic stick, stock or stecht). Because the principality of Liège is traditionally dependent on German princes-bishops, especially Bavaria, there is a certain Germanic influence on the local Walloon. Thus the German name 'Amel', which is Latinized by the diminutives: Amelot, Melkin.

The Counts of Horion were named after the acquisition in 1341 of the beautiful castle that can be seen in the village center. Previously they were called Hemricourt and we find traces of this family in the history of Liège from the 12th century. Amelot descends from the Counts of Horion by his mother who is an illegitimate descendant. Remy is his father's name. With this protection, he learns to read and write, including Latin. He falls in love with a rich heiress and marries her. Amelot will strike at the entrance of Stexhe's farm his coat of arms, surmounted by the banner for the title of Baron. So the history of the Destexhe family begins with a love story!

The lady of Stexhe is called Maroie. From this union with Amelot, four children will be born: Meilkin (diminutive of Amel), Hubert, Lynart, Jehenne. His second son is the ancestor of the Verlaine / St-Georges branch and calls himself Hubert de Stexhe de Horion. He will settle on a farm in St Georges, he will leave it to his son Jacques while Leonard will inherit Stexhe farm. This is the origin of the division of the family into two branches just at the end of the Middle Ages...