Enghien (; ; ; ) is a city and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

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 ...

located in the province of Hainaut,

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 1January 2006, Enghien had a total population of 11,980. The total area is , which gives a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 295 inhabitants per km². The municipality consists of the following districts: Enghien, Marcq, and Petit-Enghien. It is situated on the Flemish border, and restricted language rights are granted to the Dutch speaking minority (so-called language facilities).

History

Enghien gave its name to a French

duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

and to the commune of

Enghien-les-Bains Enghien-les-Bains () is a Communes of France, commune in the Departements of France, department of Val-d'Oise, France. It is located in the northern suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Enghien-les-Bains is famous as a s ...

, a suburb of Paris, due to a complex series of family successions: in 1487, Mary of Luxembourg (d. 1547), the only heir of Peter II of Luxembourg (d. 1482),

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise (, literally ''Saint-Pol on Ternoise''; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Saint-Po-su-Térnoèse'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department in northern France. It is the seat of th ...

and member of one of the branches of the

House of Luxembourg The House of Luxembourg (; ; ) or Luxembourg dynasty was a royal family of the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages, whose members between 1308 and 1437 ruled as kings of Germany and Holy Roman emperors as well as kings of Bohemia, List of r ...

, married François de Bourbon-Vendôme (d. 1495), the great-grandfather of King

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

. Mary of Luxembourg brought as her

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

the fief of Condé-en-Brie (

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374. Geography The department borders No ...

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 ...

'', France) and the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

of Enghien, among others. These fiefs passed to her grandson Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, uncle of King Henry IV of France, who started the line of the Princes of Condé, the famous cadet branch of the French royal family. In 1566, the county of Enghien was elevated to a

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

. However, the necessary registration process was not completed, so the title became extinct at the death of Louis I de Bourbon in 1569. In 1633, Henry II, Prince of Condé, grandson of Louis I de Bourbon, inherited the duchy of Montmorency, near Paris, after the execution of

Henri II de Montmorency Henri de Montmorency, 4th Duke of Montmorency (1595 – 30 October 1632) was a French nobleman and military commander. Made Grand admiral in 1612, governor of Languedoc in 1614, and by 1620 was viceroy of New France. Despite defeating a Protesta ...

, brother of his wife Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency. In 1689, King

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

allowed Henry III, Prince of Condé, grandson of Henry II, Prince of Condé, to rename the duchy of Montmorency as " duchy of Enghien", in memory of the duchy of Enghien which the Princes of Condé had lost in 1569 at the death of Louis I de Bourbon. The city of Montmorency, at the heart of the duchy, continued to be known as "Montmorency", despite the official name change, but the name "Enghien" stuck to the nearby lake and marshland that developed later as a spa resort and was incorporated as the commune of

in the 19th century.

Image gallery

File:Enghien 050918 HV.JPG, Town hall File:Enghien CH1b.jpg, The Empain château in the Enghien Gardens File:Enghien 050918 (17).jpg, Enghien Gardens File:JonathausEnghien.jpg, Jonathas House (16th century)

References

External links

Official siteLe carillon d'Enghien
{{Authority control Cities in Wallonia Municipalities of Hainaut (province) Wallonia's Major Heritage

History

Image gallery

See also

References

External links