Hierges Castle () is a partially ruined

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

in the '' commune'' of

Hierges Hierges () is a Communes of France, commune in the Ardennes (département), Ardennes Department of France, department in the Grand Est Regions of France, region in northern France. Hierges is located in the Meuse valley along the Belgium, Belg ...

in the

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' of France. It is privately owned and has been listed since 1980 as a ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

History

The castle, originally called ''Château de Jerusalem'' (Castle of Jerusalem) was built on the site of a ''

castrum ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

'' whose origins date back to the 9th century, when the

seigneurie In English law, seignory or seigniory, spelled ''signiory'' in Early Modern English (; ; ), is the lordship (authority) remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple. '' Nulle terre sans seigneur'' ("No land without a lord") ...

of Hierges was part of the property of the house of Ardenne. At the time of the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

, the fortress of Hierges was given to the

Prince-Bishopric of Liège The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial Estate, so the bishop of Liège, as ...

and, in the 12th century, the castle was destroyed. The castle was rebuilt in the 16th century, starting in 1560, with more comfort and openings for firearms. In the 18th century the former common and the

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or b ...

were added. The castle was assaulted by revolutionaries in 1792 and destroyed by fire on 18 November 1793.

Architecture

Of this

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 ...

-style

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

castle, there remain the curtain walls and three large round partially ruined towers, constructed in red brick and blue stone. The fourth covered tower, semi-circular in blue stone from

Givet Givet () (; ) is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France surrounded on three sides by the Belgian border. It lies on the river Meuse where Emperor Charles V built the fortress of Charlemont. It borders the French municipali ...

, is inhabited by the current owner. On the towers, gun emplacements provided for mutual defence by cross fire. Some windows have cross mullions. The exterior gardens have been restored to present the appearance they would have had during the Renaissance. Image:Château hierges 004.JPG, Towers Image:Château hierges 002.JPG

Historic persons linked to the castle

* Héribrand II de Hierges, lord of

died in 1117, was the son of Héribrand I of Saussure, lord of Hierges and Hedwige d'Orchimont. He married

Hodierna of Jerusalem Hodierna of Tripoli ( 1116 – 1162) was the countess of Tripoli through her marriage to Raymond II of Tripoli. She ruled the County of Tripoli as regent during the minority of their son Raymond III from 1152 until 1155. Hodierna was th ...

, sister of King

Baldwin II of Jerusalem Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq (; – 21August 1131), was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to the Holy Land during the ...

and had a son, Manassès, who was made Constable of the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

from 1144 to 1152. * Mélusine of Hierges *

Albert II of Hierges Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mar ...

Legends

Mélusine of Hierges

The castle was built in a single night by the famous fairy Mélusine and has 365 windows. Mélusine of Hierges, also known as Sybilla of Lusignan, the future Queen of Jerusalem, was a direct descendant of Mélusine (the eldest of the line still carries the name of the illustrious ancestor). Her father was

Manasses of Hierges Manasses of Hierges (''c''. 1110-1177) was a minor lord from the southern Low Countries who is best known for his ten year career (1142-1152) in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, where he became constable and Lordship of Ramla#Lords/officials of Ramla, lor ...

. She married an insignificant husband,

Guy of Lusignan Guy of Lusignan ( 1150 – 18 July 1194) was King of Jerusalem, first as husband and co-ruler of Queen Sibylla from 1186 to 1190 then as disputed ruler from 1190 to 1192. He was also Lord of Cyprus from 1192 to 1194. A French Poitevin kni ...

. She was ''

châtelain Châtelain was originally the French title for the keeper of a castle.Abraham Rees Ebers, "CASTELLAIN", in: The Cyclopædia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature' (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1819), vol. 6. H ...

e'' of

Samson SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...

, where she took part in battles to defend the castle. According to some sources, she died of plague in 1190 before Saint John of Acre, or in 1187 in the lands of Samson.

The Ladies of Meuse

During the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

, three knights who were sons of the lord of Hierges entrusted the guard of the castle to their wives who, unfaithful during their husbands' absence and wanting to throw themselves into the water on their return, were changed into stone, becoming the "Ladies of the Meuse". The site includes three large rocks which overlook the Meuse at Laifour.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hierges, Chateau de 9th-century establishments in France 9th-century fortifications Castles in the Ardennes (France) Ruined castles in Grand Est Monuments historiques of Ardennes (department) Châteaux in Ardennes (department) Melusine