Coudenberg
Encyclopedia
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
where the Palace of Coudenberg was built.
For nearly 700 years, the Castle and then the Palace of Coudenberg were the seat of government of the counts, dukes, archdukes, kings, emperors and governors who from the 11th century until its destruction in 1731, exerted their sovereignty over the area of the Duchy of Brabant
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
, now in the southern Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and northern 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...
.
Today, after several years of excavations, the archaeological vestiges of the palace, its foundations, can be visited.
History
Zenne
The Zenne or Senne is a small river that flows through Brussels, left tributary of the Dijle/Dyle. Its source is in the municipality of Soignies. It is an indirect tributary of the Scheldt, through the Dijle and the Rupel...
and built their castle on the heights of Coudenberg from where they could dominate the small city. With the creation of the Duchy of Brabant
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
in 1183 by the German Emperor Frederik
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
Barbarossa, Coudenberg gained in importance and was included within the first great wall built around Brussels. The hunting park of the dukes led down the hill to the north, a remnant of which is now Brussels Park.
With the second enclosure of the city, following the 1356 occupation by Louis II of Flanders
Louis II of Flanders
Louis II of Flanders , also Louis III of Artois and Louis I of Palatine Burgundy, known as Louis of Male, was the son of Louis I of Flanders and Margaret I of Burgundy, and Count of Flanders.On his father's death at the Battle of Crécy in 1346, he inherited the counties of Flanders, Nevers, and...
, the castle was no longer necessary as a primary defence, and it was gradually converted from a military strongpoint into a residential palace. After 1430 when Brabant
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
was annexed by inheritance to Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...
, Philip the Good
Philip III, Duke of Burgundy
Philip the Good KG , also Philip III, Duke of Burgundy was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty . During his reign Burgundy reached the height of its prosperity and prestige and became a leading center of the arts...
built new wings for the palace, embellished the park, and built the Aula Magna, the gigantic room for royal receptions and other pageantry. The first regular meetings of the States-General, composed of delegates from the middle class, clergy and nobility of the Burgundian Netherlands
Burgundian Netherlands
In the history of the Low Countries, the Burgundian Netherlands refers to a number of Imperial and French fiefs ruled in personal union by the House of Valois-Burgundy and their Habsburg heirs in the period from 1384 to 1482...
, were held there in 1465.
It was in this room that in 1515 Margaret of Austria formally relinquished her regency over the Low Countries to Charles von Habsburg
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
, and the future emperor Charles V became the Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...
. It was in this same room that 40 years later Charles V abdicated in favour of his son, King Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
. During his reign, Charles V created Bailles Square (Baliënplein or Place des Bailles) in front of the palace, built galleries and rooms in Renaissance style and constructed the Grand Chapel in late Gothic style in memory of his parents, Philip the Handsome
Philip I of Castile
Philip I , known as Philip the Handsome or the Fair, was the first Habsburg King of Castile...
and Joanna of Castile
Joanna of Castile
Joanna , nicknamed Joanna the Mad , was the first queen regnant to reign over both the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon , a union which evolved into modern Spain...
.
In the 17th Century, under their reign as the sovereigns of the Spanish Netherlands, the Archdukes Albert and Isabella
Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain
Isabella Clara Eugenia of Austria was sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands in the Low Countries and the north of modern France, together with her husband Albert. In some sources, she is referred to as Clara Isabella Eugenia...
established their court on the Koudenberg. The archdukes restored the façade of the palace, transformed the buildings and refitted the apartments and gardens. The street which skirts the Aula Magna and the chapel was extended up to the church of Saint-Michael-and-Gudula
St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral
The St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church at the Treurenberg hill in Brussels, Belgium. In French, it is called Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule and in Dutch Sint-Michiels- en Sint-Goedelekathedraal, usually shortened to "Sint-Goedele".In 1047, Lambert II, Count of...
, the future cathedral, and renamed Isabelle Street. As art lovers, the archdukes brought to their court the best artists of the time, Jan Brueghel and Rubens among them, to decorate the palace with their works.
On the night of February 3, 1731, fire broke out in the kitchens and quickly engulfed the entire palace. The freezing conditions made it difficult to deliver any water and the means of firefighting were very insufficient. In the morning, the palace was in ruins with many of the works of art destroyed along with the governmental archives. Only the chapel was saved. The court moved elsewhere. Unfortunately money was not available for rebuilding, so for more than 40 years, the ruins of the palace remained. It was only in 1774 that Charles Alexander of Lorraine
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine was a Lorraine-born Austrian soldier.-Background:Charles was the son of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans...
proposed replacing the ruins with a Royal Square. Because of the architectural clash between the Gothic chapel and the surrounding buildings, the chapel was pulled down.
Modern
Just off the southwest corner of Brussels Park, lies the Royal SquarePlace Royale (Brussels)
The Place Royale or Koningsplein is a historic square near the center of Brussels, Belgium.-History:...
(Place Royale or Koningsplein) which was built atop the ruins of the old Palace. Originally a statue of Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine was a Lorraine-born Austrian soldier.-Background:Charles was the son of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans...
, the then (1780) governor of Austrian Netherlands, by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt
Peter Anton von Verschaffelt
Peter Anton von Verschaffelt was a Flemish sculptor and architect.Verschaffelt designed, among other things in Mannheim, the High Altar of the Jesuit church , the arsenal and the Bretzenheim Palace, as well as the church Wallfahrtskirche Mariä Himmelfahrt in Oggersheim .-Life and work:Verschaffelt...
was placed in the square. The statue was not equestrian, but showed Charles-Alexander standing, attending to the affairs of government. Unfortunately, following the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and during the occupation of Brussels by the French, it was melted down for the value of the metal. The current equestrian statue is of a young Godfrey of Bouillon
Godfrey of Bouillon
Godfrey of Bouillon was a medieval Frankish knight who was one of the leaders of the First Crusade from 1096 until his death. He was the Lord of Bouillon, from which he took his byname, from 1076 and the Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1087...
. A new statue of Charles-Alexander of Lorraine was eventually placed nearby in the Museum Square.
The Royal Square on the Coudenberg is faced by the beautiful (reformed) church of St. Jacob-on-the-Coudenberg. It was built by two French architects, Montoyer and Guimard, in classic style from 1776 to 1780. In the 19th century the dome and two side wings were added.
There are a number of other buildings on Coudenberg including Belgium’s General Accounting/Auditing Office (Rekenhof or Cour des Comptes); the Royal Chapel, built in 1761 with a Louis XVI - style interior; the Palace of Lorraine; and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium , is one of the most famous museums in Belgium.-The museum:...
.
Archaeological remains and partial restoration
The remains of the ancient palace and adjacent building have been extensively excavated below present ground level, and preserved with a partial concrete cover. The remains can be visited via the Bellevue museum, and provide an excellent presentation of this historical artefact. The main buildings of the palace stood on roughly the same site as the present-day museum and the very wide street (Rue Royale) which faces it. The adjacent Chapel and Aula Magna buildings stood on sites which are now respectively part of the Bozar centre and the north corner of Place Royale beside the Musical Museum. The former Rue Isabelle ran beside these buildings; it had a significant slope, but the present surface of Rue Royale which parallels it is level, as the whole area was levelled in the 18th century. The lower rooms of these buildings partially survived the fire, and are exposed in the archaeological site.The preserved remains presently visitable comprise:
- the cellars of the main palace
- the rooms underlying the main banqueting hall in the Aula Magna
- the warehouse space that underlay the chapel
On the other side of Rue Isabelle all along its length lay the house of the influential Counts of Hoogstraeten, currently (2008) at an advanced stage of excavation, with a view to later opening to visitors, alongside the existing remains.