Château de Bouillon

The exact period of the castle's origin is not clear, but its strategic importance for controlling the north-south route from Reims via Liège to Aachen, between Upper and Lower Lorraine, was immense. Under Godfrey III, it was expanded into a castle between 1050 and 1067, becoming the center of the House of Ardenne's dominion. Godfrey V mortgaged the complex in 1096 to Otbert of Liège to cover the costs of the First Crusade, thereby transferring ownership to the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. After being conquered by Raymond de Bar in 1134, it was recaptured in 1141 after a siege by Bishop Albero II of Liège. From 1330, the dominion was referred to as a duchy. The de la Marck-Arenberg family gained influence from 1430 and managed to seize the castle and lordship from the bishopric in 1482, but Charles V returned them in 1521. From 1548, the House of Marck-Arenberg was again in possession, before the castle temporarily fell to the Prince-Bishopric of Liège in 1559. Through marriage, it came into the possession of the La Tour d’Auvergne family.