Prince of Ligne is a title of

Belgian nobility The Belgian nobility comprises Belgian individuals or families recognized as noble with or without a title of nobility in the Kingdom of Belgium. The Belgian constitution states that no specific privileges are attached to the nobility. History ...

that belongs to the

House of Ligne The House of Ligne is one of the oldest Belgian noble families, dating back to the eleventh century.''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'' XIV. "Ligne". C.A. Starke Verlag, 1991, pp. 495-500. . The family's name comes from the v ...

, which goes back to the eleventh century. It owes its name to the village in which it originated, between

Ath Ath (; nl, Aat, ; pcd, Ât; wa, Ate) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Arbre, Ath, Bouvignies, Ghislenghien, Gibecq, Houtaing, ...

and Tournai. The lords of Ligne belonged to the entourage of the

Count of Hainaut The Count of Hainaut (; ; ) was the ruler of the county of Hainaut, a historical region in the Low Countries (including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany). In English-la ...

at the time of the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

. The Ligne family began a progressive rise in the nobility, first as barons in the twelfth century, then counts of Fauquemberg and princes of Épinoy in the sixteenth century. Lamoral I received the titles of Prince of Ligne and

Prince of the Holy Roman Empire Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ( la, princeps imperii, german: Reichsfürst, cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors o ...

in the early seventeenth century from

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Rudolf II. The Princes of Ligne are also

Grandees of Spain Grandees of Spain ( es, Grandes de España) are the highest-ranking members of the Spanish nobility. They comprise nobles who hold the most important historical landed titles in Spain or its former colonies. Many such hereditary titles are held b ...

, but this dignity is held personally rather than in conjunction with the title.

Barons de Ligne

* ''Jean II'', Baron of Ligne and Brabançon, Lord of Beloeil (died 1442) ** Jean III, Baron of Ligne 1442–1469 (died 1469) *** Jean IV, Baron of Ligne, Lord of Roubaix 1469–1491 (died 1491) **** Antoine I, Baron of Ligne and Beloeil 1491–1532, Count of Fauquemberg, created 1st Prince de Mortagne 1513 (died 1532) ***** Jacques I, Baron of Ligne and Beloeil, Count of Fauquemberg 1532-1545 (died 1552), created 1st Count of Ligne 1545 *** ''Guillaume, inherited Brabançon, ancestor of Dukes of Arenberg in male line (died c.1519)

Comtes de Ligne (1545–1601)

* Jacques I, 1st Count of Ligne in 1545–c. 1552, Count of Fauquemberg, Prince de Mortagne, Baron de Belœil (died c. 1552) ** Philippe, 2nd Count of Ligne c. 1552–1583, Count of Fauquemberg, Baron de Wassenaer et de Bailleul, Vicomte de

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

(1533–1583) *** Lamoral, 3rd Count of Ligne in 1583–1601, created 1st Prince d'Épinoy 1592 (1563–1624), created Fürst von Ligne 1601

Princes de Ligne (1601–present)

* Lamoral I, 1st Prince 1601–1624 (1563–1624) ** ''Florent, Hereditary Prince, Marquis de Roubaix (1588–1622), created Prince d'Amblise 1608'' *** Albert Henri, 2nd Prince 1624–1641 (1615–1641) *** Claude Lamoral I, 3rd Prince 1641–1679 (1618–1679) **** Henri I Louis Ernest, 4th Prince 1679–1702 (1644–1702) ***** Antoine II Joseph Ghislain, 5th Prince 1702–1750 (1682–1750) ***** Claude Lamoral II, 6th Prince 1750–1766 (1685–1766) ****** Charles-Joseph, 7th Prince 1766–1814 (1735–1814) ******* ''Louis Eugene Marie Lamoral, Hereditary Prince (1766–1813)'' ******** Eugène I, 8th Prince 1814–1880 (1804–1880) ********* ''Henri Maximilien Joseph Charles Louis Lamoral, Hereditary Prince (1824–1871)'' **********

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

, 9th Prince 1880–1918 (1854–1918) **********

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People * Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor * Ernest, ...

, 10th Prince 1918–1937 (1857–1937), great-grandfather of current Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxemburg *********** Eugène II, 11th Prince 1937–1960 (1893–1960) ************ Baudouin, 12th Prince 1960–1985 (1918–1985) ************ Antoine III, 13th Prince of Ligne 1985–2005 (1925–2005) ************* Michel IV, 14th Prince of Ligne 2005–present (born 1951) ************** Henri II Antoine,

Hereditary Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wife ...

(born 1989) ************* Prince Wauthier Philippe of Ligne (1952-2022) ************** Prince Philippe Michel of Ligne (born 1977) *************** Prince Jean-Charles of Ligne (born 2010) ************* Prince Antoine Lamoral of Ligne (born 1959) ************** Prince Louis of Ligne (born 2003) ********* ''Prince Charles Joseph Eugene Henri Georges Lamoral of Ligne (1837–1914)'' ********** '' Prince Henri Florent Lamoral of Ligne (1881–1967)'' *********** '' Prince Jean Charles of Ligne-La Trémoïlle (1911–2005)'' ************ Prince Charles-Antoine Lamoral of Ligne-La Trémoïlle (born 1946) ************* Prince Edouard Lamoral Rodolphe of Ligne-La Trémoïlle (born 1976) ************* Prince Charles Lamoral Joseph Malcolm of Ligne-La Trémoïlle (born 1980) ************** Prince Amadeo Joseph Gabriel of Ligne-La Trémoïlle (born 2012) ************** Prince Antoine Tau Édouard Adrien of Ligne-La Trémoille (born 2019)

Knights of the Golden Fleece

Many of the Princes de Ligne have also been knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The following list is of those princes, along with their year of investiture: * 1599 -

Lamoral, 1st Prince of Ligne Lamoral, 1st Prince of Ligne (19 July 1563, in Château de Belœil – 6 February 1624, in Brussels) was a diplomat in the 17th century. Early life Lamoral, Count and after 1601 first Prince de Ligne and Prince d'Épinoy, was the son of P ...

* 1646 - Claude-Lamoral, 3rd Prince of Ligne * 1684 - Henri, 4th Prince of Ligne * 1721 -

Claude Lamoral, 6th Prince of Ligne Claude Lamoral, Prince of Ligne (7 August 1685 – Chateau de Beloeil, 7 April 1766) was a Generalfeldmarschall, Field marshal and sixth Prince in the House of Ligne. A state councilor, he reorganized the army in the newly conquered Austria ...

* 1772 -

Charles-Joseph, 7th Prince of Ligne Charles-Joseph Lamoral, 7th Prince de Ligne in French; in German Karl-Joseph Lamoral 7. Fürst von Ligne (also known as Karl Fürst von Ligne or ''Fürst de Ligne''): (23 May 1735 – 13 December 1814) was a field marshal, inhaber of an infantr ...

* 1846 - Eugène, 8th Prince of Ligne * 1930 - Ernest, 10th Prince of Ligne * 1954 - Eugène, 11th Prince of Ligne * 1960 - Baudouin, 12th Prince of Ligne * 1985 - Antoine, 13th Prince of Ligne * 2011 - Michel, 14th Prince of Linge

References

External links

*
The Peerage.com
*

* {{in lang, fr}

Eupedia.com
House of Ligne House of La Trémoille Belgian noble princes Ath