The Château de Braine was a

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

Braine, Aisne Braine () is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Braine existed long before the year 561, when it was mentioned as a royal palace (') of Neustrian King Chlotar I. In the 18th century, the cou ...

Picardy Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It served as a country home for the counts of Egmont-Pignatteli, and its gardens were designed by

André Le Nôtre André Le Nôtre (; 12 March 1613 – 15 September 1700), originally rendered as André Le Nostre, was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France. He was the landscape architect who designed Gardens ...

History

The first counts of Braine belonged to the

House of Dreux The House of Dreux was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. It was founded by Robert I, Count of Dreux, a son of Louis VI of France, who was given the Counts of Dreux, County of Dreux as his appanage. The Counts of Dreux were relatively mino ...

, a

cadet branch A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets (realm, titles, fiefs, property and incom ...

of the Capetian dynasty. Next to the

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...

abbey of Saint-Yved de Braine, they constructed a medieval manor, the first château. Through inheritance the title and the manor passed to the house of Pierrepont, the counts of

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

, and the House

de La Marck The House of La Marck () was an ancient German noble family, which from about 1200 appeared as the Counts of Mark. History The family history started with Count Adolf I, scion of a cadet branch of the Rhenish Berg dynasty residing at Altena ...

. In 1587, the medieval manor suffered a fire due to the

religious wars A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war (), is a War, war and conflict which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion and beliefs. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the exte ...

. The house was replaced by a new 16th-century dwelling. In the 17th century, ownership further changed by inheritance from family to family: to the Eschallart de la Boulaie and the Durforts. Around 1700, André Le Nôtre was engaged to design and lay-out the gardens. In 1717, Henriëtte Julie de Durfot, countess of Braine, married count Procope Egmont-Pignatelli, prince of

Gavere Gavere () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of , Baaigem, , Gavere, and . In 2021, Gavere had a total population of 13,007. The total area is 31.35 km2. Sports The ...

, scion of two illustrious house: the Egmond or Egmont and

Pignatelli Pignatelli () is an Italian surname which may refer to: People * House of Pignatelli, an aristocratic family of Naples * Fabio Pignatelli (born 1953), an Italian musician * Luca Pignatelli (born 1962), an Italian artist * William Pignatelli (born 1 ...

. The marriage changed the focus of the Egmont family from the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

. They sold the

Egmont Palace The Egmont Palace (, ; ), also sometimes known as the Arenberg Palace (; ), is a neoclassical palace in Brussels, Belgium. It was originally built between 1548 and 1560 for Countess Françoise of Luxembourg and Count Lamoral of Egmont, though ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

to Léopold Philippe, 4th Duke of Arenberg, while the castles in

Lahamaide Lahamaide, also known as La Hamaide, is a village in Wallonia, Belgium, located in the municipality of Ellezelles, Hainaut Province. It was the place of birth of Lamoral, Count of Egmont Lamoral, Count of Egmont, Prince of Gavere (18 November 1 ...

and

Zottegem Zottegem (, Sotteghem and Sottegem in older English and French language sources) is a city and municipality located in Belgium and more particularly in Flanders, in the province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Zottegem pr ...

fell into disrepair. The new centre of attention is now the hôtel d’Egmont at the Rue Louis-le-Grand 21 in Paris and the château in Braine, as the primary country home. The château of Braine experiences its heyday under Procopo's son, count Casimir Egmont-Pignatelli, a lieutenant general in the French army and French ambassador to the king of Spain. Various plans were made to enlarge the château, but none are realized except a small pavilion housing a bathing apartment. Casimir was married to Jeanne Sophie du Plessis (also known as Septimanie), the daughter of Armand du Pless,

Duke of Richelieu Duke of Richelieu () was a title of French nobility. It was created on 26 November 1629 for Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu (known as Cardinal Richelieu) who, as a Catholic clergyman, had no issue to pass it down to. It instead passed to hi ...

. Septimanie d’Egmont was a known salonist, who was in contact with

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...

, and the Swedish king

Gustav III Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what he saw ...

, and invited them over to the château de Braine. In May 1771, Rousseau had a recitation from his forthright autobiographical work Confessions for the Egmonts and a few select friends in Braine. They were moved according to his own memories.Blog describing Rousseau's visit to Braine
/ref> After the French Revolution, count Casimir emigrated to Germany in 1792, where he died in Brunswick in 1802. The estates of the Egmont-Pignatelli's in France and the Netherlands were confiscated. It was the start of the end of the château, whose furniture, panelling and decorative elements were sold. The west wing was ravaged by fire in 1798. And finally, the château was demolished in 1801. After the

Bourbon restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * Ab ...

in 1815, the park and estates in Braine were restored to the heir of the Egmont-Pignatelli family, the duke Luynes and

Chevreuse Chevreuse () is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Yvelines, Regions of France, administrative region of Île-de-France, north-central France. Geography Chevreuse is located south of Paris, in the m ...

, a descendant of Henriette Nicole d'Egmont-Pignatelli. However, its heyday was over. Today, the only remains are the entrance gate to the château, dating from the 18th century, and the 16th-century vaulted cellars of the main building. Also, one can recognize where once the gardens were along the

Vesle The Vesle () is the river on which the city of Reims stands. It is a fourth order river of France and a left-bank tributary of the Aisne. It is long, and rises in the ''département'' of Marne through which it flows for most of its course. Geog ...

river. It is not possible to visit the site.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

Description of the château at the heritage website of the Hauts-de-France region

History

References

Bibliography

External links

See also