The Van Dievoet family is a Belgian family originating from the Duchy of Brabant. It descends from the Seven Lineages of Brussels and its members have been bourgeois (freemen) of that city since the 1600s. It formed, at the end of the 17th century, a now extinct Parisian branch which used the name Vandive.
Statue of King James II in Trafalgar Square, London by Peter Van Dievoet and Laurens van der Meulen while they were working in Grinling Gibbons's London workshop. 1683.
Coat of arms of Peter van Dievoet on the roll of arms of the Drapery Court of Brussels.
Typographic mark of Guillaume van Dievoet called Vandive, book printer of Monseigneur the Grand Dauphin, with his motto : "HOC DUCE TUTA SALUS", 1704.
Jean-Baptiste van Dievoet II (1704–1776) husband of Elisabeth van der Meulen, portrait by Trigaux, 1761.
In Brussels, as in most European cities, one needed the capacity of bourgeois in order to not only exercise political rights, but also to practice a trade, which, in Brussels, meant to be a member of the Guilds or of the Seven Noble Houses. The charter of Brussels, as codified in 1570 in articles 206 and following, provided the conditions of admission to the bourgeoisie of the city. The Bourgeois were the patrician class of the city. This social class was abolished by Napoleon during the French occupation.
Saint Michael, secular emblem of Brussels.
Charles Picqué, a Belgian politician and former Minister-President of the Brussels Capital-Region, is a member of a Bourgeois family of the city.
Joseph Poelaert (1817–1879), a Belgian architect who designed the Law Courts of Brussels, is a member of a Bourgeois family of the city.
