• to the sitemap
• to the genealogical table of the very probable Gent lineage of ancestors
• to the schematic overview of the very probable Gent lineage of ancestors

the van de roke family
in Gent

14^th → 15^th century

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Introduction

As long ago as in 1975 Antoine Verroken, after contacting linguist dr. Maurits Gysseling, found a very early registration of the family name vander Roeke in 1396 in Berchem nearby Oudenaarde.
It has taken us a few decennia to find the right connection between this "oldest" Jacop vander Roeke from Berchem and our direct ancestors from the 15^th and 16^th century.
After intens research we found this relationship in the books of the aldermen of the medieval city of Gent.

These 4 generations of the van de roke family in Gent form the bridge between the de le roke family from Tournai, and the van de roke family from Berchem : Jac van de roke, who died in Gent in 1380 was with a probability close to certainty the son of Jak de le roke from Tournai, and his great-grandson Copkin van de roke was probably the father of Arent vander Roken, the 100% certain ancestor of the Verroken, Verhoken and Verhoeke families.

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VI. Jac van de roke (†1380)

           In the chapters about the meaning and the origin of our name we came to the conclusion that the origin of the family name van de roke was to be found in the region where the Picardian language was spoken, because the lemma of this name, the word roke, is a Picardian word, with the meaning of quarry.

We were able to prove that the family name de le roke owed its name to the toponym roke in the southwest of Flobecq, en that the de le Roke family was already present in Tournai in the beginning of the 13^th century.

We noticed in the third quarter of the 14^th century members of the de le Roke family from Tournai were registered as vander Roke in Flanders : there names were partially translated.
As well as Willem vander roke, a citizen of Tournai who had a lone on annuity at the city of Brugge in 1379, and Jehane vander Roke who in 1392 had lend a considerable sum of money in the same way to the city of Kortrijk, and who could undoubtably be identified to Jehenne de le Rocque from Tournai, Jac van de roke was registered in 1380 in Gent.

In the book of the aldermen of Gedele of the city of Gent from 1380 the following passage was written :

Hughe vander Mersch contra Jac van de roke van den ijen payemente
omme dat hij tgelt per manu mortuum ontfanen heeft den xiv febr."

The first name Jac is very remarkable ,and could be considered litteraly strange.

We could make the constatation a very classic way of choosing first names was practised in the de le roke family.
The first names were passed on from grandfather to grandson and from father to son.
Generation after generation, the first born son was called Jehan, Colart or Jakemes, or a variation of these names.

There is more exciting news : in 1332 in Tournai Jakemes de le Roke, li merchier, was registered as Jak de le Roke.
These constatations lead us to the conclusion that this Jac van de roke, the founding father of the van de roke family, was with a probability close to certainty the son of Jak de le roke, the merchand from Tournai.
The written proof of this, we haven't found (yet), and the chance this has actually been written down is very small.
We have however found enough important and small indications that support this theory.

As we already stated, the family name van de roke is the medieval Flemish translation of the Picardian name de le Roke.
At a certain moment in time, a member of the de le roke family must have come to Gent.
Our search for de le Roke families in the region where the Picardian language was spoken during the middle ages learned us that only the de le Roke family, based in Tournai, with its origin in Flobecq, could porovide such an offspring.

When we see that in the second quarter of the 14^th century a merchand Jak de le Roke lived in Tournai, he really seems to be an exceptionnally appropriate candidate father of Jac van de roke :

• first of all the resemblence of the names is quite an eye opener : Jac van de roke is the litteral translation of Jak de le Roke
• "the dates match" : son Jac van de roke died in februari 1380, father Jak de le Roke was alreay of age in 1320, and in 1332 still fit enough to be appointed as connestable, in 1339 he was still alive.
• Jak de le roke's father was called Jakemes de le Roke as well, Jac van de roke's oldest son was also called Jacop, as was his bastardson Jacop vander Roken of de Smed.
  On top of this, they were sometimes registered as Jac as well.
  In 1379 in Gent we found the registration of Jacop vander Roken of Denys, and in 1416 of Jacoppe Denys alias vander Roken.
• A "merchier" was an interregional merchand, the merchiers of Tournai imported all kinds of goods from the Champagne region, and sold these products in other cities, for example in Gent.
• As we already pointed out on the page about the de le Roke family in Tournai, the daughter of Jehenne de le Rocque, Catherine de Bruyelle, had economic contacts in Gent, and her sons Jacob and Jan Buridaens - as was his father, a mercier- lived there in the beginning of the15^th century.

           We found as probable sons of Jac van de roke : Jacob (see VI.A), Pieter van de roke (see VI.B) and Jan van de roke (see VI.C), they had at least two sisters.

Jacop vander Roken of Denijs (1379)

VI.A Jacob van de roke (1394, †1428)

           In 1394 Jacop van der roke was registered as one of the 214 free brewers in Gent.

           Jacop did not have any legitimate children.
Jacop van de roke had two illigitimate children : Jacop van der roke and Zoetine van der roke

VI.A1 Jacob van de roke of de Smet

           Brewer Jacop van de roke had a bastardson Jacop with Lisbette de Smet.

VI.A2 Zoetine van de roke

VI.B Pieter van der Roke (1410)

VIII Jan van der Roke (1428)

IX.B Copkin van der Roke (1428)

VI.C Jan van de roke (1394, †1428)

           In 1394 Jan van der Roken was registered as master linnenweaver in Gent.
Exactly as his brother Jacop van de roke in 1394 was registerd as master brewer, Jan van der Roken was directly accepted into the linnen weaver's ghild as master, without a trial period as apprentice or as compagnon.
They both must have learned their profession in an other city.

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In the Gent archives from the end of the 14^th and the beginning of the 15^th century, we found a few other people called van de roke.
Without any doubt, they were closely related to Jac, Jacob, Pieter and Jan van de roke.

Wildemine van der roke (1398)

Marie van der Roken (1399)

Jacoppe Denijs alias vander Roke (1410)

Katheline vander Raken (1411)

Jan vander Roke fs Jans (1493)