Coat of arms Aegidius Lambrecht

The coat of arms of Lambrecht

Heraldic description: bisected in three,
I in red three silver battle-axes stemmed of gold,
II beam,
III of silver bearing two branches of oak marked with fruit.

The initials AE and L are those of Aegidius Lambrecht, abbot of St. Jacques Abbey in Liege.

The motto is VIRESCIT ICTA VIRTVS, meaning adversity strengthens virtue.

The attributes attached are those of an abbot: a mitre and a staff with a pennant to distinguish it from a bishop's staff. Furthermore, at the bottom right there is an image of a scallop and at the bottom left there is a crossed pilgrim's staff, which refer to the St. Jacob pilgrimage.

Refuge in Maastricht

In times of war - in 1627 the Eighty Years' War - army units went on a killing and plundering spree. Inhabitants of country houses and monasteries were no longer sure of their lives and possessions, and they often had a place of refuge in the neighbouring fortified town.
There are several examples of this in Maastricht, such as the refuge of Hocht at Boschstraat and that of Herckenrode at Kommel.
But even if you lived in a town, it was advisable to have a refuge in another (fortified) town. Therefore, the abbey of Saint Jacques of Liege had a shelter in Maastricht at Papenstraat, which was built under the administration of abbot Lambrecht.

Saint Jacques Benedictine Abbey in Liege

Aegidius Lambrecht was abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Saint Jacques in Liege in 1627. It existed from 1016 to 1797, and the abbey buildings were destroyed in the French era. The abbey church was spared and is now a parish church.

The abbey preserved and venerated the relics of two St. Jameses, namely Jacob the Lesser and Jacob the Greater, and therefore became the junction of pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela.

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