260-ADPCSDMFDGBV-Coudenberg
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COUDENBERG PALACE BRUSSELS From Medieval Castle to Archaeological Site SCIENTIFIC DIRECTION: Vincent Heymans COORDINATION: Laetitia Cnockaert and Frédérique Honoré AUTHORS: P. Anagnostopoulos, A. Buyle, P. Charruadas, L. Cnockaert, M. de Waha, S. Demeter, Y. Devos, C. Dickstein-Bernard, A. Dierkens, M. Fourny, C. Gaier, M. Galand, D. Guilardian, S. Guri, V. Heymans, J. Houssiau, J.-P. Huys, C. Loir, P. Lombaerde, M. Meganck, S. Modrie, C. Paredes, P. Sosnowska, S. van Sprang, B. Vannieuwenhuyze, A. Vanrie This publication has been produced by the Palais de Charles Quint ASBL, a non profit-making organisation, on the initiative of the Brussels Capital Region and the City of Brussels Scientific direction: Vincent Heymans Coordination: Laetitia Cnockaert and Frédérique Honoré Authors: Pierre Anagnostopoulos, Anne Buyle, Paulo Charruadas, Laetitia Cnockaert, Michel de Waha, Stéphane Demeter, Yannick Devos, Claire Dickstein-Bernard, Alain Dierkens, Michel Fourny, Claude Gaier, Michèle Galand, David Guilardian, Shipé Guri, Vincent Heymans, Jean Houssiau, Jean-Philippe Huys, Christophe Loir, Piet Lombaerde, Marc Meganck, Sylvianne Modrie, Cecilia Paredes, Philippe Sosnowska, Sabine van Sprang, Bram Vannieuwenhuyze, André Vanrie Their titles and institutions are given at the end of the book Scientific committee: Vincent Heymans (President), Pierre-Paul Bonenfant †, Marcel Celis, Stéphane Demeter, Alain Dierkens, Michel Fourny, Sylvianne Modrie, Anne Vandenbulcke, André Vanrie The scientific committee very much regrets that one of its members passed away during preparation of the work: Professor Pierre-Paul Bonenfant, President of the Société royale d’Archéologie de Bruxelles, who was involved in this enterprise from the beginning. His death deprived the editorial team of his contribution to the chapters relating to the archaeological excavations Board of directors : Stéphane Demeter (President), Anne Vandenbulcke (Vice-president), Pierre-Paul Bonenfant †, Michel Burstin †, Geoffroy Coomans de Brachène, Laurent Delvaux, Jean-Pierre Demeure, Anne de San, Alain Dierkens, Michel Fourny, Edgard Goedleven, Vincent Heymans, Pascale Ingelaere, Tom Sanders, Freddy Thielemans, Anne Tiebault, Michel Van Roye, Thierry Wauters Translation: Gitracom (Veronica Kelly, Charles Lucas, Laura Williams), Miles Translation, Áine Pedersen Proofreading: Kathie Berger, Áine Pedersen Graphic designer: Mardaga, Véronique Lux Printing: Snel, Vottem Cover page: Cellar of the former palace main building, as seen at the Coudenberg archaeological site. Photo M. Vanhulst (2009) / Curia Brabantiae, in celebri et populosa Urbe Bruxellis, engraving by Claes Jansz. Visscher from a drawing by Jean Van de Velde, 17th century / Red earthenware jug, 17th century. © 2014 Éditions MARDAGA Rue du Collège, 27 B-1050 Brussels (Belgium) www.editionsmardaga.com D. 2014-0024-2 ISBN 978-2-8047-0157-4 CHAPTER 3 A CENTRE OF POWER IS ESTABLISHED Paulo Charruadas, Stéphane Demeter, Alain Dierkens, Michel Fourny, David Guilardian & Bram Vannieuwenhuyze Shaping the Coudenberg site is a promontory sloping north-eastwards. It digs into the eastern side of the Senne valley with the deeply gouged valleys of the Coperbeek in the north and the Ruysbroeck in the south. Because this relief has been altered so much since the Middle Ages, reconstructing its original profile is very tricky. Help may come from the Dutch term coudenberg, which literally means “cold hill”. One explanation of this, put forward by etymologists who point to the hill’s soil – sandy, and not very fertile, and hence “cold” – seems rather unlikely, this type of semantic use is generally reserved in Brussels for the damp ground at the bottom of a valley.1 A more convincing hypothesis is based on the cold north winds, suggesting that the place-name refers to a north-facing hill.2 In terms of its relief, the Plan géométrique de la Ville de Bruxelles, a map drawn by Willem B. Craan in 18353 – i.e., after the creation of the Place Royale in the last quarter of the 18th century, but before the major renovations on the Montagne de la Cour and the Mont des Arts – shows a difference of some 20 m between the levels at the top of the Coudenberg (the present-day Place Royale) and the two small valleys north and south of it. A FORTRESS IN A PLAIN, OR A CASTLE tus) on the river and a habitat around an oratory ON A HILL ? dedicated to St Géry, which would originally have been a simple castle chapel, or perhaps an existing Like many towns that emerged in the Middle Ages, church. Brussels probably developed from several older cen- In the last quarter of the 10th century Duke tres of occupation and settlement. Specialists on Charles was a leading political figure, related to the medieval cities talk nowadays about “polynuclear” reigning families of France and Germany. He was formation, and rather than trying to identify the most probably made a duke by the German sover- oldest sites they seek a better understanding of how eign, mainly to defend the western border of his ter- these different centres, each with its own function ritory (the Scheldt) from the expansionist notions and its own internal logic, evolved and interacted of the restless counts of Flanders. The presence of with one another.4 In this multipolar type of de- Charles in Brussels is known about mainly from a velopment a castle usually occupied an important hagiographic text, the Vita sanctae Gudilae (Life of place.5 St Gudula), two versions of which have been pre- For a full understanding of the earliest develop- served. Historians have not yet reached a consensus ments of the Coudenberg as a “hill of power”, there- on their nature or dates (end of the 11th century, or fore, this nucleus needs to be seen in the overall 12th century ?).6 Both versions of the Vita state that context of the history of Brussels. at the end of the 10th century Duke Charles had the Traditional historiography has it that in the mid- relics of St Gudula, who was originally from Moor- dle of the 11th century the castle on the Couden- sel, transferred to the oratory of St Géry; this would berg followed on from an early fortress, which had suggest that he was in some way seeking to develop been established in around 979 on the plain below a strong centre in Brussels. the town, in the Senne valley, by the Carolingian Putting down roots in Brussels at the start of the th ÕAnonymous view of Charles de France, Duke of Lower Lotharingia. Ac- 11 century in the wake of Charles de France, the the Coudenberg palace, cording to this theory, the site was probably linked counts of Louvain (and future dukes of Brabant – 17th century. to the development of both a port structure (por- see inset below), probably settled first in the val- 54 1450 1re enceinte Porte de Louvain st 1 e omwalling Leuvensepoort Collégiale ley of the Senne, later building a new, fortified, Senne Sint-Goedelekerk residence on the Coudenberg in the middle of the Zenne 11th century at the earliest. This change of abode would have gone hand in hand with a number of Grand-Place activities by Lambert II Baldéric, Count of Lou- Grote Markt vain, such as the creation of a chapter of canons in around 1047-1050 at the church of St Michael on a neighbouring hill (the site of the present-day Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula), and the alling Warande transfer of St Gudula’s relics from the church of St omw de Géry to this new collegiate church, which had been 2 rebuilt as a monumental edifice for the occasion.7 C Vallon The tradition whereby Charles was responsible Va llon du Ko enceinte du Coperbeek e E perbeekdaal 2 for the erection of the “castle” on the Senne, in the Ruisbroekdaal Ruysbroeck B St Géry district, is now frequently challenged, in F particular because this episode – which is not re- D ferred to in either of the Vitae sanctae Gudilae – is Sablon G A based on late sources, and the transferring of the Zavel Borgendael “castle” from the lower part of town to the upper is not explicitly mentioned until the 15th century.8 In this context, it cannot be ruled out that this tra- dition on the city’s origins, followed by historians Porte de Namur Naamsepoort into the second half of the 20th century, might be the result of a narrative reconstruction designed to obscure the historical importance of Louvain, the walling de om cradle of the royal dynasty, and present Brussels 2 as the oldest of Brabant’s urban centres. One cur- e enceint rent line of research thus tends to put Brussels’ first 2e 0100 m200 m castle directly on the Coudenberg.9 Some even ad- A. Castellan’s castle; B. Duke’s residence; C. Future Hoogstraeten House ; D. St James on the Coudenberg ; E. Rue Inghelant; F. Place des Bailles; G. Steenweg (Paved road) The Princes’ Titles: from Counts of Louvain to Dukes of Brabant Paulo CHARRUADAS The princely house that settled on the Couden- and at the very start of the 12th century they the German sovereign Henry V granted them berg in Brussels in the 11th and 12th centuries were finally awarded the position officially, on the much sought-after title of Duke of Lower was a powerful family, related to Lotharingia’s behalf of the German sovereign, confirming Lotharingia, an office that conferred on those most illustrious aristocratic lineages. Initially their role as lay protectors of this important who held it responsibility for maintaining law it appears to have developed an independent religious institution. and order and upholding justice, in addition county centred on Louvain in Hesbaye, strad- At the same time as they were maintain- to granting land rights and estates. From then dling the important episcopal principality of ing a relationship of loyalty and cooperation on, the power of the counts of Louvain grew Liège and the former pagus of Brabant, a po- with their suzerains, the German sovereigns, considerably.