December 3 1397

Cathelijne Van Molenbeke, the second spouse of Henric Meerte, died and was buried in the church of the Friars Minor in Brussels.

Her son Jan Meerte was alderman in Brussels. Jan had a daughter Kathelijne Meerte : she died ca 1415 and was the mother of Catharina Mennens.

Catharina Mennens had a daughter Kathelijne De Buttere who married Willem Pipenpoy (ca 1410 - 1483) in 1460.

They had a son Jan Pipenpoy van Bossuyt who died in 1532. The line has been detailed in "November 13 1532".

In the period before church records were kept - that is generally the period before 1600, and sometimes even much later - the only lines we can find and document concern people who left a trace of their existence in history. In this case most of the mentioned people were members of patrician families in Brussels. Even then, an individual may be mentioned in one act only, so that very often specific data for birth, marriage or death are unavailable.

Another source : historic genealogies ; even in the Middle Ages some were drawn up - and survived. These genealogies are mostly "reliable" for higher nobility, but minor nobility, gentry and patricians often "invented" interesting family links to the real high and mighty.

And what is a "reliable" link in genealogy ? A link is deemed reliable when the legal father and mother can be documented beyond doubt. That does not necessarily mean that the legal father is the blood father too ...