Château of Mariemont
[1] Wood panelling, frescoes and works by renowned artists decorated the apartments of the governor and those of her sister Eleonora, widow of King Francis I of France.
[1] Dubrœucq made various models of fireplaces, an alabaster painting for the chapel and, with Luc Lange, thirteen sculptures for the gallery on the first floor.
On 28 August, the masquerade ball was in full swing in the great hall of the palace, when gentlemen disguised as "savages" suddenly kidnapped four ladies in medieval dress to Mariemont.
[1] In the spring of 1554, the Imperial army entered Picardy under the command of Adriaan van Croÿ, 1st Count of Roeulx, and ravaged the country up to 70 km from Paris.
[1] In 1598, Philip II abdicated his sovereignty over the Netherlands in favour of his daughter, Isabella Clara Eugenia, who then married Archduke Albert of Austria, who had become governor-general two years earlier.
[2] Both archdukes were avid hunters and rediscovered Mariemont: the outer pavilion of Mary of Hungary thus became a royal residence, a status it would retain throughout the Ancien Régime.
[2] The old dilapidated wall was replaced by a wooden palisade, interrupted by four monumental stone gates that gave access to the main roads of the park.
In 1606, Isabella told Francisco de Sandoval y Rojas, 1st Duke of Lerma, the Spanish Prime Minister, that she had "made every effort to imitate Aranjuez", a royal estate in Spain whose gardens had delighted her childhood.
Flowerbeds, bordered by hedges and in a checkered pattern, lay on a gentle slope at the foot of the château, between the orchards and the grand driveway that led to the Chaussée Brunehaut across the river Haine.
A painting by Jan Brueghel the Elder, kept in the Museum of Fine Arts of Dijon, perfectly reflects the charm of this "Belgian Touraine", so praised by Isabelle.
To begin with, he let the buildings that had been badly damaged by the humidity dry out, repaired roofs and ceilings and replaced the broken windows and glass.
[2] This establishment is part of the climate of Catholic fervour inspired by the Counter-Reformation, which developed especially from 1609, when the Twelve Years' Truce more or less accepted the secession of the United Provinces (present-day Netherlands).
[2] But their increasingly frequent stays emphasize the remoteness of the château, especially since Isabella was not desperate to one day welcome King Philip III of Spain, her brother.
[2] A painting by Denis van Alsloot, kept in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels, shows the estate as it existed in 1620: the rustic pavilion had become a prestigious château, worthy of a refined court.
One of them, Francisco de Moura Corte Real, 3rd Marquis of Castelo Rodrigo, stopped there before laying the foundation stone of a new fortress on the Sambre, Charleroi, on 3 September 1666.
Although the splendour of the court was a thing of the past, Mariemont remained animated by the presence of a large number of employees and even a Spanish garrison.
This quiet period ended with a blow when the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in May 1668 awarded the deanery of Binche to France, albeit with the exception of Mariemont, which the Spaniards regarded as a possession of the Crown.
Enraged by this affair, the Queen Regent of Spain, Mariana of Austria, asked the Apostolic Nuncio and the Ambassador of the Netherlands to intervene with their governments.
This epicurean with opulent flavours, a great hunting enthusiast, appreciated the charm of his Hainaut residence and decided to restore it to its former glory.
Three professors from the University of Leuven, Rega, De Villers and Sassenus, analysed the waters of three wells and published the results first in Latin and then in French for interested physicians.
The building still exists, as does the monumental fountain sculpted by Laurent Delvaux, first rebuilt on site by Raoul Warocqué in 1953 and later moved to the park.
Although business continued under the impetus of Empress Maria Theresia, the financial difficulties caused by the War of the Austrian Succession hampered the development of the resort.
The pious and stern Marie-Élisabeth was succeeded by a character whose smiling kindness would seduce the populace: Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, who settled in the Netherlands in 1749.
Under the reign of Charles of Lorraine, Mariemont has regained the splendour of a joyous court: balls, receptions, theatre and hunting followed one another under the amused eye of a prince who did not blush to mingle in village festivals and entertain people in his house.
This violence, in addition to the famine that prevailed at the time, is explained by the hostility of the inhabitants towards the employees of the royal estate and the ladies of the abbey, who enjoyed exorbitant privileges in their eyes.
[5][4] The last member of the family, Raoul Warocqué, was a great art lover and benefactor, who was imbued with the idea that being rich also meant obligations.
[5] With his money, he financed archaeological excavations in the area, supported all kinds of social projects, had libraries and schools built, and helped to alleviate the worst needs of the population during the First World War.
[5] As a great art lover and with the help of specialists such as Franz Cumont and Georges Van der Meylen, Raoul Warocqué put together a special collection in a short time.
[5] The Warocqués probably also owned decorative art and a few sets of Tournai porcelain, but it was Raoul who brought together in his château the most complete collection of these objects.
[5] He also ordered and bought sculptures by famous artists of his time, such as The Burghers of Calais by Auguste Rodin and works of art by Jef Lambeaux.
