ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Visiting Bouillon, Belgium: memories of Godefroid, styled King of Jerusalem, and his castle

Updated on March 14, 2016
Flag of Belgium
Flag of Belgium | Source
The castle and Semois River at Bouillon
The castle and Semois River at Bouillon | Source
The Semois River, and the castle, beyond, at Bouillon
The Semois River, and the castle, beyond, at Bouillon | Source
Map location of Bouillon in the Belgian province of Luxembourg
Map location of Bouillon in the Belgian province of Luxembourg | Source

The Medieval castle dominates this Belgian Luxembourg town

So this Medieval castle is in Luxembourg?

Well, yes and no.

Some geography

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, with its many castles, is an independent state, which neighbours Belgium. Whereas the province of Luxembourg — larger than the Grand Duchy, in fact — is part of Belgium, and it is in this Belgian province that the town of Bouillon, with its Medieval castle associated with Godefroid de Bouillon , (c.1060-1100) is situated.

Some history

So who was Godefroid de Bouillon ? Well, he was a Crusader, who was styled King of Jerusalem. To put his significance into perspective, the history of France has its Crusader King Louis IX — known as Saint-Louis . The history of what is now Belgium has Godefroid as another leading Crusader, who died in Jerusalem in the year 1100.

I might as well say that I honestly struggle with the whole concept of the Crusades...but this is maybe another example of the Old European blurring of the temporal and spiritual realms. However, the latent reverberations of Godefroid 's Medieval rôle have survived into relatively modern times. Go to the place Royale (Dutch: Koningsplein ) in Brussels and you will see a 19th century equestrian statue by Eugène Simonis of Godefroid , bearing the caption, Premier roi de Jérusalem (First king of Jerusalem).

Forward to the 20th century, and Léon Degrelle , Belgian Rexist leader, was born in Bouillon in 1906.

The Semois River...and Franco-Belgian spelling variations

I could not fail to be impressed by the way this ancient castle dominates the town at a scenic location overlooking the Semois River . At least, this is how you spell the river at Bouillon. So what is meant by this?

Well, the meandering Semois River flows into France and eventually joins the Meuse River , which later flows into Belgium...but not before it starts to be called the Semoy River at the border with France. Why?

This is a good question, except that it is not unusual for toponyms to change their spelling at the Franco-Belgian border. So we have Quiévrain (Belgium) and Quiévrechain (France) joined by the border and divided by spelling. So we have the word Ardenne (sing.), used in Belgium to denote the large forested area of southern Belgium, while in France the phrase Les Ardennes (plural) refers to the French department of that name. So we have La Flandre (sing.), which in Belgium refers — in French — to the state of that name, while in France the term les Flandres (plural) is used to denote an even wider historic area, some of which is in France.

Oh well, one might say. So at least Semois River is the correct spelling in Belgium.

Well, yes and no. Because the Semois is also known as the Simwès (that is, in the Walloon language spoken in some of southern Belgium).

Back to Godefroid...

So, anyway, when he was not at the Crusades, we surely can say that Godefroid must have appreciated his fine, monumental castle? Well, not exactly. Why not? Because Godefroid sold the castle to the Bishop of Liège to pay for the Crusades...

Also worth seeing

Givet , France (distance: 53 kilometres), a town in a picturesque setting on the Meuse River , has notable fort and church architecture.

Charleville-Mézières, France(distance: 42 kilometres) has an impressive place Ducale (ducal square).

...

How to get there: Brussels Airlines flies from New York to Brussels Airport (Brussel Nationaal / Bruxelles-National ), from where car rental is available. Please check with the airline or your travel agent for up to date information. Please refer to appropriate consular sources for any special border crossing arrangements which may apply to citizens of certain nationalities.

MJFenn is an independent travel writer based in Ontario, Canada.

For your visit, these items may be of interest

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)