Jan de Lichte (7 April 1723 – 14 November 1748) was an 18th century Flemish highwayman from Aalst who, during the 1740s, ravaged the Belgian countryside amid the War of the Austrian Succession.
Biography[]
Jan de Lichte was born in Velzeke, Flanders, Austrian Netherlands on 7 April 1723 to a poor family which depended on charity. De Lichte, seeking an escape from poverty, joined the Austrian and then the Dutch armies before deserting and committing his first thefts in Dikkele and Strijpen in 1740. De Lichte soon joined with bands of fellow outlaws and committed various crimes during the 1740s. In 1745, during the War of the Austrian Succession, French troops invaded Flanders, and 52,000 French soldiers were stationed in Aalst. The French demanded an increase in war taxes from the locals and also consumed much of the region's food supply, worsening the already-poor conditions for the rural Flemish. During the French occupation, Jan de Lichte ravaged the countryside of Aalst and became a champion of the lower classes, being compared to Robin Hood for his redistribution of the stolen wealth. However, the fall of Maastricht on 7 May 1748 led to a ceasefire between the Austrians and French, and the French occupation army was now able to focus on suppressing brigandage in the Flemish countryside. Jan de Lichte was among the 130 people to be arrested by the French during the crackdown, and 17 outlaws were hanged, while De Lichte and four others were executed by "breaking wheel".