| Solre-sur-Sambre Castle | |
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| Wallonia, Belgium | |
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Solre-sur-Sambre Castle (French : Château de Solre-sur-Sambre) is a water castle in Solre-sur-Sambre in the municipality of Erquelinnes, province of Hainaut, Wallonia, Belgium. It is one of the oldest fortified castles in Hainaut, and the property of the Princes de Merode.
It was built in the late 13th or early 14th century, near an enclave of the Principality of Liège. The land, then the château, belonged to the Barbençon family. [1] The Lords of Barbençon built a massive rectangular keep, pierced with small openings which were used for defensive purposes. Communication between the groundfloor and the first floor was by a retractable ladder. It was later incorporated into a square castle, with the keep becoming a gate tower.
The property then came by marriage to the de Mortagne family. Around 1480, the château was purchased from Antoine de Mortagne by Jean Carondelet, Grand Chancellor of Burgundy and Flanders. Around 1487 Jean de Carondelet added a floor. Around 1500, he modified the structure of the front towers by surmounting them with conical towers. [1]
Anne-Françoise de Carondelet married Maximilien-Antoine de Mérode, Seigneur of Ham-sur-Heure, in 1628, and the château passed to the House of Merode (Mérode-Deinze branch). In 1637, during the Eighty Years' War, Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount of Turenne attacked and took the Castle of Solre-sur-Sambre. [2]
In 1677, during the Franco-Dutch War, French troops under the Comte de Broglie occupied the castle, which guarded one of the few intact bridges on the Sambre. [3]
Marie Théodoline de Merode, born in Villersexel on July 22, 1817, and died in Paris on February 26, 1909, married Alof, marquis de Wignacourt (died in Paris in January 1897) on August 9, 1843. On the death of her father, Félix de Merode (February 7, 1857), Marie Théodoline inherited the château. The estate thus passed into the hands of the Wignacourt family, who occupied it for 132 years. [4]
In 1989, Prince Alexandre de Merode purchased the property from the Wignacourt family. The château is currently owned by Prince Amaury de Mérode, son of a first cousin of Prince Alexandre. As a private residence, it is not open to the public. [4]
It is situated near an enclave of the principality of Liège, at the confluence of the Thure and Sambre rivers. Solre-sur-Sambre castle defended the border. An important example of medieval military architecture in Hainaut, it retains its quadrilateral layout, with circular towers reinforcing the four corners. [4]
On the south side, an imposing keep-porch gives access to the inner courtyard. Over time, two smaller buildings have been erected against the curtain walls. Its moat is fed by the waters of the Thure river. [1] The original drawbridge was replaced by a stone version.The château is located on the village square in Solre-sur-Sambre. There is no central heating; heat is supplied by fireplaces.
Beaumont is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, on the border with France.
Erquelinnes is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
The Sambre is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur.
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The House of Hornes was an old and important European noble family, which became extinct in the male line in 1826. The name refers to Horn, a small village in Limburg, located in the Netherlands.
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Philippe Félix Balthasar Otto Ghislain, Count de Merode, known as Félix de Merode, was a Belgian politician. He has been called "the architect of Belgian independence'.
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The Battle of Erquelinnes or Battle of Péchant was part of the Flanders Campaign during the War of the First Coalition, and saw a Republican French army jointly led by Jacques Desjardin and Louis Charbonnier try to defend a bridgehead on the north bank of the Sambre River against a combined Habsburg Austrian and Dutch army led by Franz Wenzel, Graf von Kaunitz-Rietberg. The French crossed the Sambre on the 20th and held their positions for a few days. On the 24th Kaunitz launched an early-morning surprise attack that routed the French. The War of the First Coalition combat represented the second of five French attempts to gain a foothold on the north bank of the Sambre. Erquelinnes is a village in Belgium directly on the border with France. It is situated about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Charleroi.
Louis Charbonnier was a general of mediocre talent who commanded a French army for several months during the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1780 he enlisted in the French Royal Army. With the advent of the French Revolution his promotion became very rapid. In 1792 he was elected second in command of a volunteer battalion. He led his troops at Jemappes and Neerwinden. He was promoted to general of brigade in November 1793 and general of division in January 1794. A week later he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Army of the Ardennes.
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The Château de Beaumont was a castle in Beaumont, Belgium. In the 15th century, it became the main seat of the House of Croÿ, dukes of Aarschot. They turned the castle fortress into a palatial renaissance structure of unparalleled luxury and magnificence. The palace had its heyday under prince-duke Charles III de Croÿ, an avid collector, who filled its halls and galleries with an outstanding art collection. In 1655, the castle was destroyed by the French army of Turenne. Nowadays, only one tower remains of the complex, the Salamander tower. It is opened to the public and tells the story of a bygone time.
Solre-sur-Sambre is a village and district of the municipality of Erquelinnes, located in the Hainaut Province in Wallonia, Belgium.
50°18′32″N4°09′18″E / 50.309°N 4.155°E
