Mirwart Castle () is situated in Mirwart in Saint-Hubert, in the

province of Luxembourg Luxembourg (; ; ; ; ; ), also called Belgian Luxembourg or West Luxembourg, is the southernmost Provinces of regions in Belgium, province of Wallonia within Belgium. It borders the country of Luxembourg to the east, the France, French depart ...

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 ...

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 ...

. The castle is built on a rock rising above the "Vallée de la Lomme" (the Valley of the

Lomme Lomme (; ) was a commune in the Nord ''département'' of northern France. It was absorbed as a '' commune associée'' by the city of Lille in 2000. At the 1999 census its population was 27,940 inhabitants. Its population was 28,165 in 2022. ...

). The oldest parts of the castle date back to the 11th century. It was a stronghold belonging to the

duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire which existed from the 10th century until 1766 when it was annexed by the kingdom of France. It gave its name to the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France ...

. The lords of Mirwart had many bloody conflicts with other feudal lords of the region, such as the lords of

Bouillon Bouillon can refer to: Food * Bouillon (broth), a simple broth ** Court-bouillon, a quick broth * Bouillon (soup), a Haitian soup * Bouillon (restaurant), a traditional type of French restaurant ** Bouillon Chartier, a bouillon restaurant fou ...

and Orchimont. The lords of Mirwart came into conflict with the monks of the powerful Saint-Hubert Abbey, supported by the

Prince-Bishop of Liège A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the B ...

, who wanted to extend his power in this region to the disadvantage of the Dukes of Lorraine. The castle was reinforced, sometime between 1077 and 1082, by Henry of Verdun, bishop of Liege. Following complaints from the abbey of Saint-Hubert, the castle was to be destroyed. This act, however, was not approved by the bishop. In 1099, after regaining control over the

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

, Bishop Otbert ordered the reconstruction of the castle, which he granted to Bavon de Waha (also known as Bovo de Duras). In 1293, against the bishop's wishes, the castle and its estates was acquired by Jean d'Avesnes. This resulted in a conflict between the Prince-Bishop of Liège and his new vassal, who sought support from the Counts of Hainaut,

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

and

Loon Loons (North American English) or divers (British English, British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family (biolog ...

, and even from the

Dukes of Brabant The Duke of Brabant (, ) was the ruler of the Duchy of Brabant since 1183/1184. The title was created by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I of the House of Reginar, son of Godfrey III of Leuven (who was duke of L ...

. Control of the castle changed regularly until it was finally held by Prince-Bishop

Adolph II of the Marck Adolph II of the Marck (died 19/20 October 1347, Fröndenberg) was Count of the Marck. He was the eldest son of Engelbert II of the Mark and Mechtild of Arenberg. Adolph was betrothed to Irmgard of Cleves, daughter of Otto, Count of Cleves and ...

. During the numerous conflicts between Spain, Austria and France in the 17th and 18th centuries, the castle was damaged several times. It was only at the beginning of the 18th century that a long undisturbed period began when extensive renovations and embellishments could be undertaken. During this process the castle gradually lost its strongly fortified character. At the beginning of the 19th century, the castle was acquired by Aimé-Gabriel d'Artigues, the founder of the famous "Cristallerie de Vonêche", or Vonêche glassworks. Successive proprietors—the families Van der Linden d'Hoogvorst, d'Arrigade and von der Becke—further embellished the castle and turned it into a beautiful country residence. In the middle of the 19th century it was renovated by

Alphonse Balat Alphonse Hubert François Balat (; 15 May 1818 – 16 September 1895) was a Belgian architect. Life Balat was born in Gochenée. He studied at the Academie of Namur and obtained his degree in architecture from the Royal Academy of Fine ...

, architect to King

Leopold II of Belgium Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Leo ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the castle was acquired by the province of Luxembourg. The building was renovated but the province failed to find a use for it. As a result, little by little, the castle was neglected and was subsequently looted by burglars who removed valuable furniture and decorative fittings from the interior.

References

Sources

* Weber, Jean-Pol (dir.), 1992: ''Mirwart. Château et Alentours''. Saint-Hubert, a.s.b.l. Château de Mirwart (publication du Centre Pierre-Joseph Redouté, n^o 2) *
www.chateaudemirwart.be
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirwart Castle Castles in the Ardennes (Belgium) Castles in Belgium Castles in Luxembourg (Belgium) Saint-Hubert, Belgium

See also

References

Sources