House of Arenberg

The House of Arenberg is an aristocratic lineage that is constituted by three successive families who took their name from Arenberg, a small principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the Eifel. The inheritance of the House of Croÿ-Aarschot made the Arenbergs the most influential and most wealthy noble family of the Habsburg Netherlands. The Arenbergs were mediatized in 1811. The present head of the house bears the title of Duke of Arenberg, while all other members are princes or princesses. They all enjoy the style of Serene Highness.

Lords of Arenberg

Counts of Arenberg

Princely Counts and later Dukes of Arenberg

The marriage contract (1547) of Margaret de la Marck, Countess of Arenberg, and Jean de Ligne-Barbançon stipulated that their offspring would abandon the name of Ligne and adopt the name and arms of Arenberg. On 5 March 1576, Emperor Maximilian II raised Margaret and her son Charles to the rank of Princely Counts (in German: Gefürstete Graf). As such the Arenbergs sat and voted on the bench of secular princes in the Imperial Diet. On 9 June 1644, Emperor Ferdinand III bestowed the title of Duke of Arenberg to Charles' grandsons, Philip-Francis and Charles-Eugene, as well as to all legitimate descendants of Charles and his brother Robert of Arenberg, prince of Barbançon.

Meanwhile, the marriage of Princely Count Charles to Anne de Croÿ, the sister and heiress of the last Croÿ Duke of Aarschot, had brought the Arenbergs a series of titles as well as vast estates in the Habsburg Netherlands in 1612. The senior title was that of Duke of Aarschot. It had been created in 1534, was the first (and until 1627 only) ducal title in the Netherlands and it carried the dignity of a Spanish Grandee. The estates of the Arenbergs gave them a seat in second estate of the Provincial States of Brabant and of Hainaut. Since they were now indisputably the first among the nobility of the Habsburg Netherlands, it became customary for the Dukes to receive the Order of the Golden Fleece shortly after their succession to the title. Staunch supporters of the Habsburgs, they held high offices at the Court of Brussels, sat on the Counsel of State, were employed on embassies (notably the embassy to King James I that negotiated the Treaty of London of 1604) and acted as provincial governors in Hainaut and the Franche-Comté. Occupying high military commands could likewise be called something like their birthright.

In 1605 Charles of Arenberg and Anne de Croÿ bought the Land of Enghien of King Henry IV of France and made it their principal seat in the Netherlands. Initially inspired by the example set by Robert Cecil at Theobalds House, the Arenbergs created gardens at Enghien that came to enjoy an international reputation. In testimony of the patronage given to the Capuchins, the order's convent at Enghien became the necropolis of the Arenbergs. With the duchy of Aarschot came the secondary country seat of Heverlee and the vast forest of Meerdaal. In keeping with their status, the dukes likewise owned a hotel in Brussels. After its destruction in the bombardment of 1695, the dukes had to settle with rented accommodation until acquiring the stately Egmont Palace in 1754. It was to remain in the family's possession until 1918.

List of Heads of the House of Arenberg

References

• Franz Josef Heyen, ed. Die Arenberger in der Eifel (Koblenz, 1987).
• Franz Josef Heyen, ed. Die Arenberger in Westfalen und Emsland (Koblenz, 1990).
• Marc Derez, a.o., eds Arenberg in de Lage Landen: Een hoogadellijk huis in Vlaanderen en Nederland (Louvain, 2002).

External links

• Arenberg Foundation: History: Portrait Gallery