Chiny
Encyclopedia
Chiny is a Walloon municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 located in the province of Luxembourg.

On 1 January 2007 the municipality, which covers 113.69 km² (43.9 sq mi), had 5,021 inhabitants, giving a population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 44.2 inhabitants per km². It comprises six villages:
  • Chiny proper
  • Izel
    Izel
    İzel Çeliköz commonly known as İzel, is a famous Turkish pop singer. She was originally part of the Turkish pop trio İzel-Çelik-Ercan but after the group broke up in 1993, she decided to release solo albums. She is one of the most successful Turkish singers of the 1990s and 2000s.-Career:İzel...

  • Jamoigne
  • Les Bulles
    Les Bulles
    Les Bulles is a small village in Belgium, part of the municipality of Chiny in the Gaume region. The village is located in the valley of the Semois River at the angle with its affluent the Vierre River. The people who live in the village are called "les Bulots" or "Les Bulaux".Starting in 1340,...

  • Suxy
  • Termes


Chiny is located on the boundary between the geographical regions of the Gaume
Gaume
Gaume is a region in the far south of Belgium. Situated at a lower altitude than the Ardennes, it is delineated by borders with France, Luxembourg and the Belgian Ardennes. Gaume is the roman part of the Belgian Lorraine region...

 and the Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...

.

The name Chiny also refers historically to a former county, larger than the current municipality.

The blazon
Blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...

 of the municipality is: azur three fish argent surmounted by a crown (three silver fish and a golden crown on a blue field).

History of the Counts of Chiny

The first dynasty ruled from 980 to 1384.

From 980, Arnoul of Burgundy-Granson, a descendant of Charlemagne, became the first Count of Chiny. By his marriage to Mathilde, daughter of Ricuin, Duke of Mosellane and Count of Ardennes, he acquired the dowry of his wife, a land of forests rich with game, crossed by a capricious river, the Semois. His son Othon of Warcq, left his small fortress on the Meuse to site the Chateau de Chiny on a rocky spur overlooking the river. In the eleventh century, the Chateau was a formidable barrier in the region. The area that was ruled by the count was huge: 246 towns, 57 castles, 1412 villages.

The fourth Count, Louis II, loved hunting parties and held them in his huge game park starting in 1040. It was then that the legend relates that a young lord named Thibault, a descendant of the Counts of Champagne, secretly left his father's house to offer his services in the Ardennes forest near Chiny, where he established a hermitage and found a source of holy springs. Louis II built a large shrine to the spring's healing powers. The shrine became famous, with many pilgrims who came to implore the grace of Saint-Thibault. Later, monks from Calabria, Italy, founded a Monastery nearby at Orval.

Arnoul, a successor, regularly confronted Count Godfrey of Bouillon, leader of the first Crusade and nephew of Queen Mathilde. They eventually became friends and Arnoul entrusted Godfrey both his sons, Otto and Louis, to take part in the first Crusade. Returning from the Crusade, Otto, was in turn count of Chiny, but he found Orval falling in ruins. The Calabrian monks left in 1108, and the Cistercians revived Orval.

Louis IV was the last count of the first dynasty. Having no son, he prepared Jeanne, his eldest daughter, as his successor. Louis IV marked his reign by the first postage stamp in the county.

In marrying Jeanne, Arnulf of Looz became the first Count of the second dynasty. He was notable as the builder of the fortress of Montmedy. Their son, Louis V held a tournament of chivalry in 1285 that was regarded as the finest in the Middle Ages, at the village de Chauvency-le-Château. Over 500 knights of Europe attended this tournament and were memorialized in song by the bard Jacques Bretel. Louis V enjoyed great notoriety as a result. He died in 1299. His heart, per his last wishes, was embalmed and buried in a lead box in front of the altar at Saint-Thibault, in the village of Suxy.

Thereafter, the Counts struggled to maintain their territory as wars and battles ensued. They were by turn, the vassals of the Count of Bar, John the Blind, King of Bohemia and Duke of Luxembourg, all claiming the same lands. Seven Counts were named in less than thirty years. The father of Arnould Rumigny, last count of Chiny died of pneumonia a few months before the birth of his son. His young widow died in childbirth, and the son, Arnould, sold his lands rather than allow his malevolent uncle's offspring to inherit. On 13 June 1364, the lands of Chiny were sold to Wenceslas, Duke of Luxembourg.

Later, in the 15th century, the Count de Faing was created and his Chateau was erected, which was later reconstructed and stands today.

See also

  • List of the Counts of Chiny 
  • History of the Counts of Chiny

External links

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