Kasteel Westhove

Kasteel Westhove was first mentioned in a charter from 1277 by Count Floris V, which identified it as property of the abbey in Middelburg. The exact age of the castle remains unknown. In 1401, it was dedicated to Willem van Beijeren, Count of Oostervant, and subsequently returned as an immortal fief. The castle served as a meeting place, where in 1290 the 'Treaty of Westhove' was concluded between Count Floris V and Wolfert I van Borselen. Westhove hosted numerous high-ranking figures, including Charles the Bold, Philip of Austria and his wife around 1500, the later Emperor Charles V, and Mary of Hungary. Following Middelburg's designation as a bishop's city in 1559, Westhove came under the bishop's rule.