Count Henri Marie Ghislain de Merode (1782–1847) was a member of the

Belgian Senate The Senate ( nl, Senaat, ; french: Sénat, ; german: Senat) is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parli ...

and writer.

Life

Henri de Merode was born in Brussels on 15 August 1782, the eldest of the four sons of (1762–1830) and Marie d'Ongnies de Mastaing, princess of Grimbergen. He inherited the titles prince of Grimbergen, count of Merode and of the Holy Roman Empire, marquis of

Westerlo Westerlo () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises seven towns: * Westerlo centrum * * Tongerlo * Heultje * Voortkapel * Oosterwijk * In 2021, Westerlo had a total population of 25,288. T ...

o and prince of Rubempré. He was also awarded the titles of

Grandee of Spain Grandee (; es, Grande de España, ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neith ...

and Grand Cordon of the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

.Eugène Duchesne, "Merode (Henri-Marie-Ghislain, comte de)", ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' (French; "National Biography of Belgium") is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the '' ...

''
vol. 14
(Brussels, 1897), 563-566. In about 1894 he fled woth his father the revolutionary French forces taking over the Austrian Netherlands and moved to elsewhere in the Holy Roman Empire. He returned to the general area of Brussles, now part of the French Republic, with his father in 1800. On 26 August 1805 he married Louise-Jeanne de Thézan du Poujol (1787–1862). His father was made

mayor of Brussels This is a list of mayors or burgomasters of the City of Brussels. Burgundian Netherlands (1384–1482) *1380: Geert Pipenpoy *1381: Geert Pipenpoy and Jacques Stovaert *1421: J. Swaeff, J. Cooman *1422: Walter Vanden Heetvelde, Petrus van Bole ...

(1805-1809) and member of the Senate of the French First Empire (1809–1814) and the family was therefore awarded the title of

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 Yor ...

of the First French Empire. His father was also member of the

Provisional Government of Belgium (1814–1815) The Provisional Government of Belgium or the General Government of Belgium governed the Southern Netherlands from February 1814 to September 1815, when the Southern Netherlands was definitively incorporated into the United Kingdom of the Netherl ...

under William of Orange. Having declined to serve in public office under the

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; french: Royaume uni des Pays-Bas) is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed between 1815 and 1839. The United Netherlands was cr ...

, Merode supported the aims of the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. ...

, in which his younger brothers

Félix Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

and played an active role, but sat out the fighting on an estate in France. In the

1831 Belgian general election General elections were held in Belgium on 29 August 1831.Sternberger, D, Vogel, B & Nohlen, D (1969) ''Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band I: Europa - Erster Halbband'', p105 They were the first elections to the new bicameral parliament created by the ...

, the first since the declaration of independence in 1830, he was elected to the Belgian

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

. The following year, his wife was appointed as

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom ...

to Queen Louise. In 1835, King Leopold sent him to Vienna as an extraordinary ambassador to extend condolences on the death of Francis II and congratulating

Ferdinand I of Austria en, Ferdinand Charles Leopold Joseph Francis Marcelin , image = Kaiser Ferdinand I.jpg , caption = Portrait by Eduard Edlinger (1843) , succession = Emperor of Austria King of Hungary , moretext = ( more...) , cor-type ...

on his accession, while also officially communicating the birth of Leopold, Duke of Brabant (the future

Leopold II of Belgium * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date ...

). Merode was re-elected senator in 1839 but resigned his seat. He died in Brussels on 23 September 1847.

Family and children

De Merode married Louise-Jeanne de Thézan du Poujol (Paris, 14 January 1787 – Brussels, 27 April 1862) on 26 August 1806 in Paris. She was the daughter of Viscount Jean de Thézan and Françoise de Noailles. They usually lived in the , near Avesnes, in France. They had the following children: * Marie Joséphine Hildegarde Ghislaine ("Marie") Countess de Mérode (1820–1899); married Adrien Charles Guy Marie de Levis-Mirepoix,

Duke of San Fernando Luis Duke of San Fernando Luis ( es, Duque de San Fernando Luis) is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee and granted in 1816 by Ferdinand VII to Anne-Adrien-Pierre de Montmorency-Laval, for his efforts a ...

(1820–1886) * , Mayor of Westerlo, Prince de Rubempré et de Grimbergen (1824–1892), Member of the Chamber of Representatives, Senator, President of the Senate and

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

; married Marie, Princess and Duchess of Arenberg (1830–1905) in 1849

Works

* ''De l'Esprit de vie et de l'Esprit de mort'' (Paris, 1833), written with a cousin, the marquis Philippe Ernest de Reviewed in ''Jahrbuch für wissenschaftliche Kritik'' (Berlin, 1834)
vol. 1
pp. 412-423. * ''Mémoires du feld-maréchal comte de Mérode-Westerloo, Chevalier de la Toison d'Or, Capitaine de Trabans de l'Empereur Charles VI''. - 2 Volumes, Brussels, 1840 * ''Souvenirs''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merode, Henri de 1782 births 1847 deaths Members of the Senate (Belgium) Ambassadors of Belgium to Austria

Henri Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mont ...

19th-century Belgian politicians 19th-century Belgian writers Belgian writers in French French emigrants during the French Revolution People from the Holy Roman Empire Diplomats from Brussels Politicians from Brussels Writers from Brussels Grandees of Spain Bearers of the Leopold Order