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Last modified: 2007-12-22 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Enghien]](../images/b/be-whteg.gif)
Municipal flag of Enghien - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 26 May 2005
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The municipality and town (Ville) of Enghien (in Dutch, Edingen; 12,294 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 4,057 ha) is located in northern Hainaut, 30 km south-west of Brussels, on the border with Flemish Brabant. The municipality of Enghien is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Enghien, Marcq and Petit-Enghien.
The village of Petit-Enghien is older than the town of Enghien and its
area is 20 times bigger as the area of the town. It was known in the
past as Vetus Aenghien (Old Enghien, 1114) and Enghien-le-Château
(Enghien-the-Castle, 1167).
The town of Enghien sensu stricto was founded by Englebert d'Enghien
in the XIth century. It was an important fortified town in the
beginning of the XIIIth century, later used as a pleasure residence by
the families of Luxembourg and Bourbon. Its most famous owner was King
of France Henri IV, who neglected the town and sold the domain to the
Arenberg family in 1607.
In the XVth century, Pierre de Luxembourg laid out the forest bordering
his castle and designed a park. In 1630, the family of Arenberg created
the famous park of Enghien, which was achieved in 1665 under the
gudiance of Father Charles de Brussels, né Antoine d'Arenberg. A legend
says that the young engraver Romeyn de Hooghe was able to draw all the
landscapes of the park within seven days in 1666. It was said that the
view on the gardens from the Seven Stars' Pavilion, built in 1656, was
"one of the most beautiful in the world".
In the beginning of the XXth century, the domain and its ruined park
were purchased by the industrial and banker François Empain. He built a
neo-classical castle and housed there his collection of bronze and
stone statues, including Le Dénicheur d'aigles by Jef Lambeau and
Diane, déesse de la chasse by Houdon.
In 1986, the municipality of Enghien bought the park and revamped it.
Among the gardens to be visited are the Flowers' Garden (in Italian
Renaissance style), the Dahlia Garden (today the European Dahlia
Reference Collection), the Rose Garden and the Aquatic Garden.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache & Jan Mertens, 21 June 2007
The municipal flag of Enghien (Belgium) is nearly square (13:15), with
a gyronny of ten white and black pieces. In each black piece, there are
three yellow crosses crosslet on the three top arms.
According to Armoiries communales en Belgique. Communes wallonnes, bruxelloises et
germanophones, the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 18 June 1992 and confirmed by the Executive of the French Community on 3 May 1993.
The flag is a banner of the municipal arms.
The municipal arms of Enghien are Gironné blanc et noir de dix pièces, chaque pièce noire chargée de
trois croisettes recroisettées au pied fiché de jaune, ce pied dirigé
vers le centre du tablier.
According to the Hainaut Armorial, available on the Heraldus website, the municipal arms of Enghien were granted by Royal Decree on 17
November 1838. These arms were used by several former municipalities in Hainaut:
- Bassily (incorporated to Silly in 1976): arms of Enghien granted by
Royal Decree on 19 August 1911;
- Ecaussines-d'Enghien (incorporated to Ecaussines in 1976): escutcheon of Enghien on the arms granted by Royal Decree on 24 April 1912;
- Marcq (incorporated into Enghien in 1976) arms of Enghien granted by
Royal Decree on 17 November 1838;
- Petit-Enghien (incorporated to Enghien in 1976): arms of Enghien
granted by Royal Decree on 25 February 1924;
- Solre-sur-Sambre (incorporated to Erquelinnes in 1976): fourth
quarter of the arms of Enghien on the arms granted by Royal Decree on
11 January 1927.
They are currently used as the municipal arms of Pepingen (Brabant) and shown on the matching municipal flag.
These arms are the arms of the lords of Enghien, once a powerful lineage challenging with the Duke of Brabant and the Count of Hainaut, as explained on the Heraldus website.
The legendary origin of Enghien states that lord Engle, from
Charlemagne's court, was commissioned to exile Saxons in Flanders
around 800; this explains the local toponyms of Enghien, Herfelinghe,
Bellinghe etc... We know, however, that the -inghe or ingen
suffixes are form the Germanic root *haima, "an estate". Enghien was
indeed known as Aingham (956), Adenghien (1092), Adengen (1147),
Anglien (1163) and Adenghem (1185), therefore, "Ado's estate" or "Aha's
sons' estate", or even "Odin's estate". The first lord of Enghien known
with some certainty is Hugues d'Enghien, mentioned in 1121; in 1167,
he built a fortress that housed a Brabantian garrison and was
suppressed by Count Baudouin V of Hainaut, a few years before the
incorporation of Brabant to Hainaut. Hugues bore "Argent and sable of ten pieces ieronnez, moult richement eslevés et dedans chaque pièce de sable furent semées croisettes d'or recroisetées (gyronny in each piece sable a "semy" of crosses crosslet
or)".
Hugues died in 1183; it is not known whether his elder son Gossuin
succeeded him, but there is evidence that his second son Engelbert was
lord of Enghien (and therefore considered as the second of the
lineage). Engelbert started to rebuild the castle and rallied the Duke
of Leuven, then at war with the Count of Hainaut. However, he was
forced to give back the castle to Hainaut. He died in 1245 and was
succeeded by his son Siger (Soyer / Zeger), who married a heir of the
powerful family of Avesnes, therefore increasing significantly the
domain of Enghien.
In 1254, the lord of Enghien refused to acknowledge
the suzereignty of Charles d'Anjou, brother of King of France
Saint-Louis, to whom Marguerite de Constantinople had transferred
Hainaut. Charles besieged Enghien, to no avail. In 1261, Siger was
succeeded by his son Walter (Wauthier), who increased the castle during
a period of peace; in 1267, he signed the peace convention of
Cortenberg, stating the reconciliation of the town of Leuven and the
Duchess of Brabant. Walter II succeeded his father in 1290, purchased
the domain of Grimengh (Grimbergen) in 1309 and died the next year.
Walter III, nominal lord until 1316, supported King of England Edward
III against King of Scotland Robert Bruce; he was invited to the
festival inaugurating the Order of the Garter in 1343. Siger II
succeeded his father in 1346 and inherited in 1358 of the titles of her
mother, that is Count of Brienne, Duke of Athens and Count of
Conversano. Siger was Constable of France and was always in trouble
with the Counts of Flanders and Hainaut; in 1366, Albert of Bavaria,
Regent of Hainaut, captured nightly Siger in the castle of Baisieux,
near Quiévrain. Siger was transfered to Le Quesnoy and beheaded on 21 March 1366. The murder launched a civil war that ruined Hainaut.
Walter IV succeeded his father and was dubbed knight in 1379; in 1380,
commanding 300 lancers, he expelled the Ghent militia that had seized
the abbey of Ename. Killed in 1381, Walter was succeeded by his uncle
Louis, who had only daughters and emigrated to Italy to help the Count
of Anjou to seize the Kingdom of Naples. The domain of Enghien was
transferred to Jean de Luxembourg, Louis' son-in-law, and then
successively to the families of Clèves, Nassau, Bourbon and Arenberg.
The Bourbons kept the title of Enghien and had it augmented into that of
Duke. Several Bourbons such as the Great Condé were styled
"Duke of Enghien".
The most famous Duke of Enghien, Louis-Antoine Henri de Bourbon
-Condé (1772-1804), was the son of Louis-Joseph, Prince of Condé. Bonaparte
ordered his capture in Germany and Enghien was shot in the ditches of
the fortress of Vincennes after another mock trial. Bonaparte's idea
was to suppress any hope of Bourbonic restoration, but the
assassination of Enghien was immediately percieved as a huge political
mistake.
A few centuries earlier, Duke Henry II of Montmorency revolted with the serial plotter Gaston d'Orléans against Richelieu; the plot failed,
Montmorency was executed in 1632 and his Duchy was transferred to the
Condé. Louis XIV decided to rename the Duchy of Montmorency, located
north of Paris, Duchy of Enghien (to complicate the matter, there are
still two different, neighbouring towns called Montmorency and Enghien!). The change
of the name was not popular; in 1688, Madame de Sévigné wrote to his
cousin Bussy-Rabutin: "Therefore we should call the cherries of
Montmorency the cherries of Enghien [...) Cousin, I wouldn't get used
to that". Therapeutic waters were found in 1773 and the village of
Enghien-les-Bains started to develop in 1821 with the building of a
spa. Enghien became a municipality in 1850 and is today a posh town,
with a lake (hardly visible because of the wealthy houses built on its
shore), a horse race track and a casino.
Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 21 June 2007
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