Bouvignes-sur-Meuse (, ; ) is a village of

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

and a district of the municipality of

Dinant Dinant () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Namur Province, province of Namur, Belgium. On the shores of river Meuse, in the Ardennes, it lies south-east of Brussels, south ...

, located in the

province of Namur Namur (; ; ) is a province of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the West) on the Walloon provinces of Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, Liège and Luxembourg in Belgium, and the French department of Ardennes. Its ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, on the River

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

. In municipal terms, the ''commune'' was merged with Dinant in 1965. Either it or Dinant was the birthplace of the first specialist

landscape painter Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...

Joachim Patinir Joachim Patinir, also called Patenier ( – 5 October 1524), was a Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, Flemish Renaissance painter of History painting, history and Landscape painting, landscape subjects. He was Flanders, Flemish, from the ar ...

(d. 1524). Bouvignes_Maison_Espagnole_R01

In medieval times there was a lot of conflict between Bouvignes and neighbouring town of Dinant, on the opposite bank of the river, and at this point Bouvignes was a fortified town. This hostility was due to the townspeople of Bouvignes being linked to the Church of Namur and those of Dinant being linked to the

Church of Liege Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

. In 1320, on a high rock cliff next to the town, Crèvecœur Castle was constructed to build up the defences of Bouvignes during the hostilities. The castle was modified during the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1554 King Henry II of France sacked both Bouvignes and Dinant, and went on to besiege Crèvecœur Castle in Bouvignes. The castle held out, with leadership of the defence being taken over by the wives of three officers, but eventually the fighting ceased because the defenders had run out of ammunition. At this, the three wives threw themselves hand-in-hand off the castle walls, preferring to die than to be captured. Crèvecœur Castle is now freely accessible, offering beautiful views over the river and scenery.

References

{{Coord, 50, 16, N, 4, 54, E, display=title, region:BE_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Sub-municipalities of Dinant Former municipalities of Namur (province)

See also

References