Editing Maaseik (section)

===Etymology and origins===
As its name would suggest, [[Aldeneik]] (possibly to be translated as 'old oak') is older than Maaseik ('Meuse oak'). Although most [[Toponymy|toponyms]] with the [[affix]] ''-eik'' refer to a landscape with [[oak]]s, it is also possible that it is derived from the German word ''Ecke'', which means 'corner'. 'Old corner' or 'bend' may in that case be linked to the fact that historically, the Meuse formed a bend around Aldeneik. An oaktree, however, is present in the town's [[coat of arms]], which includes three crosses (perhaps representing the three oldest parishes) and a fish (representing the river Meuse).

[[Image:Maaseik, RAM01.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Merovingian belt buckles, from the early days of [[Aldeneik Abbey]]]]
According to tradition, [[Aldeneik Abbey]] was established by Adelard, a local [[Franks|Frankish]] lord, around 700 AD, as a [[Benedictine]] [[nunnery]]. His two daughters, [[Herlindis of Maaseik|Herlindis]] and [[Relindis of Maaseik|Relindis]], both became abbesses of the monastery and eventually became saints. The abbey at Aldeneik soon became the center of a small village community.

The abbey probably suffered destruction by the [[Vikings]] in the 9th century. Around 950, emperor [[Otto I]] gave the restored monastery to the [[Bishopric of Liège|bishop of Liège]], who turned it into a religious [[chapter (religion)|chapter]] for (male) [[canon (priest)|canons]]. The reason for this reform may have been that there were already several religious institutions for noble women in the area: [[Susteren Abbey]], [[Thorn Abbey]] and [[Munsterbilzen Abbey]]. Aldeneik Abbey was abandoned at the beginning of the [[Eighty Years' War]] but the chapter continued in ''Nieuw-Eycke'' ('new oak'), now Maaseik.