Editing Zaventem (section)

=== Lords of Saventhem ===
{{main|Lord of Saventhem and Sterrebeke}}
From 1112 to 1122, the [[vassal]] of Lambertus de Craynhem, the [[Lord of Saventhem and Sterrebeke|Lord of Saventhem]], was called Ricardus de Saventen. It has been thought that ''de Saventen'' was a local [[nobility|noble family]] that coexisted with the noble family of the ''de Craynhem'' overlords. At that time, [[Forest Abbey]] and the [[Abbey of Kortenberg]] were important landowners. The [[feudal]] [[heerlijkheid]] of Zaventem then came to be owned by the [[knight]] Hendrik van der Meeren only after it was owned by another noble family. In 1381, he was officially recognised as the Lord of Saventhem and his family continued to own it until 1605. They possessed a castle close to the parish church but this was broken down during the second half of the 1920s.
[[File:Ferdinand de Boischott (1571-1649), Baron Zaventem, attributed to Anthony van Dyck.jpg|thumb|left|''Ferdinand van Boisschot (1571–1649), [[Lord of Saventhem and Sterrebeke|1st Baron of Saventhem]]'', attributed to [[Anthony van Dyck]] (1630)]]

In 1605, the [[Chancellor]] of the [[Duchy of Brabant]], [[Ferdinand van Boisschot]] (1560–1649) became the Lord of Zaventem, and when he was made a [[baron]] in 1621, Zaventem became a [[feudal barony|barony]] which subsequently expanded with the villages [[Nossegem]], [[Sterrebeek]] and [[Sint-Stevens-Woluwe]]. The de Boisschot family remained the proprietor until the [[French Revolution]].{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Originally, there was a large forest northwest of Zaventem called ''Saventerlo'' where the [[Duke of Brabant|Dukes of Brabant]] used to go hunting. The area was largely deforested in the 17th century. Nevertheless, Zaventem remained predominantly agricultural during the most part of the nineteenth century but its industrial activities go at least back to the 13th century. During this time, various [[water mill]]s were installed on the [[Woluwe|Woluwe River]] that were later converted to [[paper mill]]s. Initially, the river had many bends along its path in Zaventem which made the supply of energy from the water power rather difficult. In 1208, [[Godfrey of Brabant|Godfrey, Duke of Brabant]] gave orders to alter and elevate the pathway of the Woluwe River so that the watermills would be supplied with a sufficient amount of water.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} This greatly benefited the paper industry later on in the 18th and 19th century.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

[[File:ZavTownHall5019.jpg|thumb|right|Zaventem municipal building, formerly the Feldheim Villa]]
From the 18th century however, Zaventem gradually changes from an agricultural community to an industrial community. Especially the construction of the road between [[Leuven]] and [[Brussels]] from 1705 to 1710, contributed to this evolution. From 1850, the development of steam engines even intensified the process of industrialisation, having a negative effect on agricultural activities. Gradually, the large [[leasehold estate]]s of farmland were replaced in the 19th century by houses of labourers. In 1866, the railway track between Brussels and Leuven, as a sign of the industrial era, was inaugurated splitting Zaventem into two parts. In addition to the paper industry, industrial activity also started to revolve around the [[Tanning (leather)|tanning]] of leather in the late 19th century. At the start of the 20th century, the car manufacturer [[Compagnie Nationale Excelsior|Excelsior]], that would become world-renowned later on, produced some of its cars in a factory in Zaventem. All these industrial initiatives prompted the building of various small castles and grand villas in the municipality for the [[executive director]]s of the companies such as the Feldheim Villa of the wealthy eponymous family that was involved in the tanning industry. After World War II, however, many of the factories were forced to close, unable to keep up with foreign competition.<ref name="history"/>

With the building of [[Brussels Airport]] at the occasion of [[Brussels World's Fair]] in 1958, the features of Zaventem's landscape have been altered drastically.<ref>[http://www.immoweb.be/nl/zaventem-immo.htm?xcode_cp=1930 Geschiedenis van Zaventem] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728205810/http://www.immoweb.be/nl/zaventem-immo.htm?xcode_cp=1930 |date=28 July 2014 }}, Immoweb.be, retrieved 2014-07-22.</ref><ref>[http://www.brusselsairport.be/en/corporate/our_company/airport_history/ History] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628070435/http://www.brusselsairport.be/en/corporate/our_company/airport_history/ |date=28 June 2014 }}, Brussels Airport, retrieved 2014-07-22.</ref> The location used to be the place of the large Saventerlo Forest. Nevertheless, the airport gave a tremendous boost to local employment that benefited Zaventem greatly. Added to that the strong growth of semi-industrial companies during the 1960s and 1970s Zaventem became an important economic hub.<ref name="history"/>