Peter van Coudenberghe

This statue, representing Peter van Coudenberghe, was made in 1861 to honour him by the Royal Pharmacy Association of Antwerp. According to an enscription, the statue was restored in 1996 with the cooperation of the Cornelis Florgis foundation, and the support of an A.C. Mamur. The van Coudenberghe family belonged to the seven noble families that acted as aldermen in the city administration of brussels in the middle ages. The noble families lost some power when they were forced to share their power with craftsmen. However, by aligning themselves with a craft, the noble families were able to be constantly re-elected into the city council. The Van Coudenberghe's aligned themselves with the guild of pewter casters. Peter van Coudenberghe was born may 16th, 1517 in Brussels, the oldest of 14 children. He eventually settled in Antwerp when he was older. He became a pharmacist, and Antwerp was ideal for this. As a port city, Antwerp received many herbs and spices from the Far East, Africa, and the Americas, ideal for making remedies and medicines. He grew close with famous botanists of the time, eventually writing books on the topic of plants and herbology. With the Spanish siege of Antwerp later in the 16th century, all crops around the city were destroyed, and Coudenberghe's crops pulled from the garden, destroying his lifes work as a botanist-pharmacist. He eventually died around 1599, but the exact circumstances of his death are unknown.