The old Flemish family van Munte has its name from a place that still today is called Munte. It lies in the province of Oost-Vlandern about 12Km. south of the city Gent.

We first hear about the van Muntes in an old Latin gift letter from the year 990 and it was then spelled Monte. In the following 300 years we find different ways of spelling it like: Munte, Monte, Munta and Monthe, in the 13th century also Munthe, but the normal way of spelling it was Munte.

In the year 1072 we find a diploma witnessed by Ascricus van Munte. This Ascricus is the first person we with certainty can name as the ancestor of the family, as in earlier times one would only sign with ones first name, maybe with the addition of the fathers.

From the age of the crusades the ancient knight families lost much of their powers and welt, and when Vlandern after the death of Ludwig II was left to the house of Burgundy and the new lords mostly surrounded themselves with foreign nobles, a lot of the "native" families vanished. Many drifted towards the cities like Gent, and in the 15th century the family van Munte seems to have settled here.

In the first half of the 16th century the family van Munte disappears from Gent.

Last updated September 29. 2003
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