Mirwart Castle (french: Château de Mirwart) is situated in Mirwart in Saint-Hubert, in the

province of Luxembourg Luxembourg (french: Luxembourg ; nl, Luxemburg ; german: Luxemburg ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; wa, Lussimbork), also called Belgian Luxembourg, is the southernmost province of Wallonia and of Belgium. It borders on the country of Luxembourg to the ea ...

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

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

Lomme Lomme (; nl, Olm) was a commune in the Nord ''département'' of northern France. It was absorbed as a '' commune associée'' by the city of Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in ...

). 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 (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy. It was founded in 959 following th ...

. 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 foun ...

and Orchimont. The lords of Mirwart came into conflict with the monks of the powerful

Saint-Hubert Abbey The Abbey of Saint-Hubert, officially the Abbey of St Peter in the Ardennes (''Abbaye de Saint-Pierre en Ardennes''), was a Benedictine monastery founded in the Ardennes in 687 and suppressed in 1797. The former abbey church is now a minor basilic ...

, supported by the Prince-Bishop of Liège, who wanted to extend his power in this region to the disadvantage of the Dukes of Lorraine. The castle was reinforced, sometime between 1077-1082, 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 (; la, feudum) 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 ...

, 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 ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, Namur and Loon, 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 Low ...

. Control of the castle changed regularly until it was finally held by Prince-Bishop Adolph II of the Marck. 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 Beauraing (; wa, Biarin) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Beauraing had a total population of 9,160. The total area is 174.55 km2, giving a population density of 52 inhabi ...

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, architect to King

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 = ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

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