Male, Belgium

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For other uses, see Male (disambiguation).

Male is a small village in West Flanders, Belgium, about 5km east from Bruges, and a few km west from Sijsele. The village, which retains its small historic center, clusters around the castle, famous in large part for being the birthplace of Louis, count of Flanders in 1329.

The Castle of Male had its origins in the 9th century, as a defense tower for protection of the territory round Bruges against the Vikings. Male was soon held by Philip of Alsace, Count of Flanders between 1168 and 1191, who replaced the wooden structure with stone. Its enlargement included a chapel consecrated by the exiled archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas à Becket, in 1166. The castle was the residence of the counts of Flanders, but also a stronghold in a much-disputed terrain: French forces occupied it; the city of Bruges retook it from its French garrison in the uprising of 1302; soldiers from Ghent razed it in 1382 and ransacked the rebuilt castle of Male in 1453; it was burnt out in 1473 and rebuilt: the present keep dates from that rebuilding. It stands with its foundations directly in the moat, flanked now by symmetrical wings. Male was plundered again, by forces of the count of Nassau in 1490.

As Flanders became a part of the Burgundian Netherlands Male retained its importance. During the Spanish occupation of the Low Countries, the citadel was sold in 1558 by Philip II to Juan Lopez Gallo. It was occupied by German troops in both World Wars, and was severely damaged.

The castle has been restored and has been a convent since 1954.