The Château du Moisnil is a

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

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 village of

Maizeret Maizeret (; ) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Andenne, located in the Namur Province, province of Namur, Belgium. It was a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality before the fusion of the Belgian municipalities in ...

, municipality of

Andenne Andenne (; ) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Namur Province, province of Namur, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Andenne had a total population of 25,240. The total area is 86.17 km² which giv ...

, province of

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 ...

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 Château today

The only remaining wing was built in addition to the previous constructions in 1902 by architect Octave Flanneau (1860–1937) in

Louis XV style The Louis XV style or ''Louis Quinze'' (, ) is a style of architecture and decorative arts which appeared during the reign of Louis XV. From 1710 until about 1730, a period known as the Régence, it was largely an extension of the Louis XIV sty ...

with a

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...

, for

Jules van Dievoet Jules Van Dievoet (, 7 March 18442 March 1917) was a Belgium, Belgian jurist and Court of Cassation (Belgium), Supreme Court advocate. He was the son of Augustus Van Dievoet, jurist, lawyer, historian and Latin writer. Biography He married Ma ...

, lawyer at the Belgian Supreme Court, and his wife Marguerite Anspach.

History

Ancien Régime

The whole

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 ...

counted about 100 ha for Maizeret and about 160 ha for Moinil. The Moinil lot consisted in 1314, of a "tower" and a house, which would become the nucleus of the future castle. The "sub-fief" of Moinil frequently changed owners: in 1645 the seigniory and its castle are sold for 22,000

guilders Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' (" gold penny"). This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Rom ...

, to be sold again in 1677 for 2,440 guilders, the castle and the buildings being in ruins. The fief became the property of Vincent de la Boverie, ''mayeur'' of the ferrons and master of the forges who rebuilt it and transformed it into a real "pleasure home". The de Baré family obtained the lands of Maizeret and Moisnil in 1753. The last lord of Maizeret in the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

was Baron Jacques de Baré de Moisnil, lord of Houchenée.

20th century

In 1902, the extensions made by

after the plans of architect Octave Flanneau were made. In June 1922, the « Les Journaux Réunis de Lille à Roubaix » company bought the château including its grounds of 35 hectares from Marguerite Anspach, widow of

. As a result of this purchase, Mrs Duhamel, owner of this press company, occupied the property for nearly 17 years. Later, Marguerite de la Barre d'Erquelinnes, wife of Count Antoine d'Ursel, acquired the land of Moisnil on 21 March 1939. The family built a new porch in 1960. It was also around this time that the operations of the adjoining farm ceased. Since 1988, the Château has been inhabited by their son, Count Didier d'Ursel.

WWII

Shortly before the war, the castle was requisitioned to house the garrison of Fort Maizeret. Beginning from the general mobilization of September 1938, it served as

cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a type of military base. In South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British Raj). In United States military parlance, a cantonment is, essentially, "a permanent residential ...

to the soldiers in charge of the defense of the valley of the Meuse. On 12 May 1940 the castle was bombed by surprise by the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

, at the same time as the city of Namur. The oldest parts of the old Château were destroyed, and today only the cellars remain, hidden under a layer of gravel.

Anecdote

It is said that the old château had been inhabited in the 17th century by Henri de La Fontaine who happened to be related to

Jean de La Fontaine Jean de La Fontaine (, ; ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French Fable, fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his ''La Fontaine's Fables, Fables'', which provided a model for subs ...

, the famous

fabulist Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a partic ...

. It is said that Jean de La Fontaine, who followed

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 ...

as a

historiographer Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term "historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific to ...

during the siege of Namur, stayed there in 1692 with this distant cousin and composed "'' Les Animaux malades de la peste''" there. The stone bench from which he could admire the beauty of the Mosan landscape is still there.

Dendrology Dendrology (, ''dendron'', "tree"; and , ''-logia'', ''science of'' or ''study of'') or xylology (, ''ksulon'', "wood") is the science and study of woody plants (trees, shrubs, and lianas), specifically, their taxonomic classifications. There ...

There was in 1912, at the time of

, a very nice specimen of

Tsuga mertensiana ''Tsuga mertensiana'', known as mountain hemlock, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, found between Southcentral Alaska and south-central California. Description ''Tsuga mertensiana'' is a large evergreen conifer ...

in the grounds of the chateau''.Jean Chalon, "Les arbres remarquables de la Belgique", in ''Bulletin de la Société royale de Botanique'', Volume 49, 1912, p. 166.''

Armorial

File:Blason village be Maizeret.svg, Arms of the last lord of Maizeret in the

, Baron Jacques de Baré de Moisnil, lord of Houchenée File:Van Dievoet arms.svg, Arms of

, owner of the Chateau of which he built the only remaining part in 1902 File:Blason famille Anspach (Belgique).svg, Arms of Marguerite Anspach, owner after the death of her husband Jules van Dievoet File:Armes de la famille de la Barre d'Erquelinnes.svg, Arms of Marguerite de La Barre d’Erquelinnes, wife of Count Antoine d'Ursel, who acquired the land of Moisnil on 21 March 1939 File:Armoiries d'Ursel.svg, Arms of the

Ursel family The House of Ursel is the name of an old Belgian noble family of German origin . The Head of the House is styled as Duke of Ursel, while other members are styled as Count/Countess of Ursel. History The Ursel family roots are in S ...

, current owners

Bibliography

* Paul De Zuttere, "Contribution à l'œuvre des peintres

Antoine Antoine is a French language, French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton (name), Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is most common in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada ...

et Ignace Brice (XVIIIe et XIXe siècles) et généalogie succincte de la famille alliée Flanneau", in ''l'Intermédiaire des Généalogistes'', Brussels, 2003, n° 345, p. 113 à 133. * Jean Chalon, "Les arbres remarquables de la Belgique", dans ''Bulletin de la Société royale de Botanique'', Volume 49, 1912, p. 166, tells us that: « on the grounds of M.

(château du Moisnil, v. n°s 727 à 731), there is a nice ''

Tsuga Mertensiana ''Tsuga mertensiana'', known as mountain hemlock, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, found between Southcentral Alaska and south-central California. Description ''Tsuga mertensiana'' is a large evergreen conifer ...

specimen''. 1211. Maizeret, ''Tsuga''. »

Notes and references

{{reflist

External links

Le château du Moisnil à Maizeret, par l'architecte Octave Flanneau

Historique du château du Moisnil à Maizeret
Moisnil Moisnil Andenne Van Dievoet family Ursel family