The Château of Mariemont (, ) was a royal residence and hunting lodge for the governors of the Habsburg Netherlands. It was located in Mariemont, in today's village of Morlanwelz, Belgium.
The château's construction started in the 16th century by order of Queen Mary of Hungary and it became a favoured residence in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was rebuilt by Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine in neoclassical style. It was destroyed by French revolutionary troops in 1794, and today, only ruins remain.
On another location in the park, Nicolas Warocqué, a Belgian industrialist, constructed a new château in the 19th century, which was also destroyed by fire in the 20th century. In its place, a new building was constructed, the Musée royal de Mariemont. The museum and park are open for visitors.
History
Mary of Hungary
Construction of the Hunting Pavillion (1546–47) The Château of Mariemont owes its name (literally, "Mary-Mount") to its commissioner Queen Mary of Hungary, the sister of Emperor Charles V. After she lost her husband, King Louis II of Hungary, at a fairly young age, in 1531, she was commissioned by her brother to govern the Habsburg Netherlands as governor. To compensate her, in April 1545, he grants her the lifelong benefit of the city and land of Binche. While she had reconstructed the palace in Binche, as a hunting enthusiast, she also ordered a hunting pavilion to be built in the woods of Morlanwelz. The two residences were both designed in 1545–46 by the Mons architect-sculptor Jacques du Broeucq.
Like many artists of the time, Dubroeucq had travelled to Italy. On his way back, he had visited the Châteaux of the Loire Valley. This double influence, Italian and French, can be found in the Renaissance palace of Binche, but much less so in Mariemont. As the location for the hunting lodge, Maria chose the edge of the forest of Morlanwelz, on a hill overlooking the Haine. Dubrœucq drew the plans and supervised the work, which was almost finished in 1547. The building, 19 meters by 7 meters, was surrounded by a wide moat and only accessible via a drawbridge. It was in the form of a two-storey rectangular tower flanked by a turret and capped by a parapet terrace. Mullion windows broke the seriousness of the facades.
The Château of Mariemont, with its rustic and almost medieval appearance, did not pretend to compete with the palace of Binche. Nevertheless, it included a number of luxurious rooms on the ground and first floors. 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. 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. The upper floor, less formal, was intended to be decorated at a later date.
The fire of 1554
In 1549, Mary organized the "Triumph of Binche" for her brother Charles V and her nephew, the future Philip II. The year before, the aging emperor had decided to have his son recognized as successor by the various principalities that made up his realm. On 22 August 1549, the Imperial procession arrived in Binche. The governor was aware of the importance of the event and organized a grand reception, intended to move the public. Parties, balls and tournaments followed each other for six days. 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. The next day, in front of the whole court and with some 20,000 spectators from the surrounding area, a thousand men commanded by the prince of Piedmont and count of Ligne surrounded the palace, stormed it and freed the prisoners. When asked "who kidnapped them this way, they said they did not recognize them at first, but eventually found out they were their husbands".
Shortly after these festivities, the old conflict between Spain and France flared up again. 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. They destroyed the palace of Folembray, the love nest of Henry II of France and Diana de Poitiers. However, the French troops counterattacked. On 21 July, they raided Binche and Mariemont, whose palaces were set on fire in retaliation. Henry lit the fire himself and had a placard affixed to the ruins: "Queen of folly, remember Folembray!"