Charles Joseph Marie, 6th Duke d'Ursel (Brussels, July 3, 1848 – Strombeek-Bever, November 15, 1903), was a Belgian politician.

Family

Joseph, Count d'Ursel was the second son of Léon, 5th Duke d'Ursel (1805–1878) and his second wife, Henriette d'Harcourt. Joseph's elder brother died before inheriting the title, and Joseph became the 6th

Duke of Ursel 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 ...

on the death of his father.

Antonine de Mun, Duchess d'Ursel

In 1872, Joseph married his niece, Antonine de Mun (1849–1931), daughter of the Marquess de Mun. She was a sister of Count

Albert de Mun Adrien Albert Marie, Comte de Mun (, 28 February 18416 October 1914), was a French political figure, nobleman, journalist, and social reformer of the nineteenth century. Born into a noble family de Mun joined the French army at a young age serv ...

and born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In Belgium, she became a respected artist in aristocratic circles. She studied in the atelier of

Charles Joshua Chaplin Charles Joshua Chaplin (8 June 1825 – 30 January 1891) was a French painter and printmaker who painted both landscapes and portraits. He worked in techniques such as pastels, lithography, watercolor, chalk, oil painting and etching. He wa ...

and painted many portraits of family members and members of the

Belgian royal family The monarchy of Belgium is the constitutional and hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of the Kingdom of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/queen of the Belgians and serves as the ...

. A year before her death, she was honoured in her own right by the Belgian King: she was rewarded and became a Dame in 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 ...

. Recently, she was honoured with the production of an exclusive beer, the ''Cuvee Antonine'', and the artworks on the bottle are of the duchess.

Children

* Robert, 7th Duke d'Ursel (1873-1955) * Henriette d´Ursel (1875-1934), married Count Henri de Boissieu *

Pauline d´Ursel Pauline may refer to: Religion *An adjective referring to St Paul the Apostle or a follower of his doctrines *An adjective referring to St Paul of Thebes, also called St Paul the First Hermit *An adjective referring to the Paulines, various relig ...

(1880-1915) * Wolfgang d´Ursel (1882-1914), Lieutenant of the

Guides A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Exp ...

, died in battle, Budingen (18 August 1914).

Career

He was a provincial councilor, then governor of the province of Hainaut (1878) and mayor of Hingene (1878–1903). He was Governor of Hainaut during the strikes of 1886. Impressed by these events, he became, like his brother-in-law Albert de Mun, more aware of social issues. He wrote a pamphlet in 1895, basing his ideas on

Frederic Le Play Frederic may refer to: Places United States * Frederic, Wisconsin, a village in Polk County * Frederic Township, Michigan, a township in Crawford County ** Frederic, Michigan, an unincorporated community Other uses * Frederic (band), a Japanese ...

. When he reached the required age, he entered the

Belgian Senate The Senate ( ; ; ) is one of the two chambers of the Bicameralism, bicameral Belgian Federal Parliament, Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium), Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be ...

. He was the president of the Senate when he died prematurely.

Styles and honours

Styles

* 1848 - 1878: Joseph, Count d´Ursel. * 1878 - 1903: ''

His Grace His Grace and Her Grace are English Style (manner of address), styles of address used with high-ranking personages, and was the style for English monarchs until Henry VIII (r. 1509–1547), and for Scottish monarchs until the Act of Union (1707), ...

'' the 6th Duke of Ursel and Hoboken,

Prince of Arches and Charleville Prince of Arches and Charleville is a noble title associated with Charleville-Mézières in France and now held by the Duke of Ursel in Belgium. The title originates with Charles Gonzaga (Gonzagues), Duke of Mantua, who was also Duke of Rethel, a t ...

, Count of the Holy Roman Empire and of

Grobbendonk Grobbendonk () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp (). The municipality comprises the towns of Bouwel and Grobbendonk proper. In 2021, Grobbendonk had a total population of 11,249. The total area is 28.36 km2. The ...

Honours

* Belgium: Grand Officer in the

. * Vatican: Knight Grand Cross in the

Order of Pope Pius IX The Order of Pope Pius IX (), also referred as the Pian Order (, ), is a papal order of knighthood originally founded by Pope Pius IV in 1560. It is the highest honor currently conferred by the Holy See (two higher honors, the Supreme Order of C ...

. * Spain: Knight Grand Cross in the

Order of Charles III The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III (, originally ; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OC3) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bes ...

. * France: Commander in the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. * Netherlands: Knight in the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch honours system, Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion wa ...