Bouchout Castle Bouchout Castle ( ) is a castle in the Flemish town of Meise , Belgium . In the 12th century , this territory of the young Duchy of Brabant was strategically positioned between the County of Flanders and the Berthout family , lords of Grimbergen . Most likely , the first fortification was built by Wouter van Craaynem at the end of the Grimbergen Wars ( 1150 – 1170 ) . At about 1300 , the Donjon tower of Bouchout Castle was erected by Daniel van Bouchout , a knight who fought gloriously at the Battle of Worringen . In the 15th and 16th century , Bouchout Castle was owned by the Van der Marck and Transylvan families . The castle fell into disrepair due to lack of maintenance , while the Spanish dominance and the iconoclastic fury further worsened its condition . The first major renovation was performed by Christoffel d ' Assonville at about 1600 . The rectangular medieval Bouchout Castle was surrounded by a large pond and could only be reached by a long drawbridge . At the end of the 17th century , Peter - Ferdinand Roose transformed the castle into a Renaissance " Chateau de Bouchout " , surrounded with French ornamental gardens . Unfortunately , the castle was partly destroyed during the French Revolution period ( 1800 – 1830 ) . Again , the castle was restored in 1832 by count Amadeus de Beauffort , who gave Bouchout Castle its current Neo - Gothic appearance . From 1879 until 1927 , Empress Charlotte of Mexico lived at the Bouchout Domain . Her husband Emperor Maximilian I was executed by Mexican republicans in 1867 . Thereafter Charlotte lead a secluded life at Bouchout Castle . Since 1939 , the Bouchout Domain has developed into the National Botanic Garden of Belgium . Since the last renovation of 1987 – 1989 , the castle and its rooms are now being used for meetings , lectures and exhibitions . Origins . During the first part of the 12th century , the territory of Bouchout ( alternative spelling Boechout and pronounced as " Book " - " Howt " ) , played an important role in the foundation of the Duchy of Brabant . This Brabant territory was strategically positioned between the County of Flandres and the rebellious knights of Grimbergen . In the centre , the original territory was swampy and mainly consisted of beech trees . It was called " Boc - holt " , which may point towards the origin of the castle ' s name . Alternatively , the name Bouc - hout may have been derived from Boog - hout which means " keep your bow tensed " since the castle was positioned at a very strategic military location . During this period , Godfrey I , duke of Leuven settled peace with the Count of Flandres , so he could focus on establishing a stable Duchy . He experienced however that the Berthouts , lords of Grimbergen , were not loyal to him . The Berthout family owned a mighty castle at Grimbergen and thereby controlled the important trade routes from Bruge to Cologne ( Germany ) . Despite of a number attempts , Godfrey I and II dit not succeed in defeating the Berthout family ( Grimbergen Wars ) . Godfrey III decided to build two fortifications in the direct vicinity of Berthout Castle . The first one , Nedelaar Castle , was constructed in 1148 directly at the other site of river Zenne . The second one , at the Bouchout Domain , was constructed by Wouter van Craaynem ( Kraainem , Crainhem ) who received the domain from Godfrey III . At that same period , in 1159 , the Brabant troups assisted by Flanders , defeated the Berthout family after twenty years of Grimbergen wars . The once so mighty Berthout Castle was burnt completely . It is not completely clear how Bouchout Castle looked like in the second half of the 12th century . According to Cantillon the fortification was already a strong castle . However , Willem van Craaynem , who inherited the Bouchout domain from his father Wouter , only owned about 300 to 400 ares of land at about 1160 – 1170 . As for many minor noblemen at that time , it is therefore also possible that " Bouchout Castle " was no more than a fortified house at the centre of the swampy Bouchout domain . The Donjon tower . Daniel van Bouchout ( Boechout and also Wanghe ) , the grandson of Willem van Craaynem , is one of the most famous members of the Bouchout family . He was the first one to use the name " Van Bouchout " and fought at the Battle of Worringen in 1288 . It was Daniel who played a major role in capturing Reinoud van Gelre resulting in a glorious victory for duke Jan I van Brabant . Thereafter knight Daniel van Bouchout became one of the duke ' s advisors . Several sources , including Doperé and Ubregts , strongly suggest that it was knight Daniel who transformed the former fortified house into a mighty castle at about 1300 . It included a large Donjon and five subsequent canals with an enormous drawbridge of 10 m in length . The Donjon tower is still preserved and is believed to be the oldest part of the current Bouchout Castle . This military Donjon has two levels and a platform . Each level has functional loopholes . The Neo - Gothic windows at level one most likely were made during the renovations of 1832 , while the right - angled windows of level 2 are more original . The upper platform has battlements and merlons . At the court site , the coat of arms of the Bouchout family is visible ( a red cross ) . A second historical member of this family was knight Jan van Bouchout ( c . 1320 – 1391 ) , grandson of Daniel . At 1355 , duchess Johanna succeeded her father , Jan III of Brabant . This succession led to a war with Flanders , since its Lord – Lodewijk van Male – was married with Margretha , the second daughter of Jan III . The Brabant forces were beaten in 1356 at Scheute and most likely also Bouchout Castle was taken . After peace was restored , Jan became commander of Brussels . He fought against the Lord of Gerle at the battle of Baesweiler in 1371 , but the Brabant troups were defeated . In 1386 however , he led a successful attack on the city of Grave at the river Meuse , thereby restoring his military distinction . Jan married Joanna van Hellebeke but the couple dit not get any heirs . It is known however , that Jan was father of a large number of natural descendants which are known as " the children of Bouchout " . At the end of the 14th century , the Bouchout family extended their properties which included Blaasvelt , Humbeek , van Loenhout and Diepensteyn Castle . The direct family line became extinct however and the last representative , Margareta van Bouchout , married Everhard van der Marck in the middle of the 15th century . Thereafter , Bouchout Castle was owned by the Van der Marck family ( 1476 – 1537 ) and the Transylvan family ( 1537 – 1590 ) . During this period Bouchout Castle fell into disrepair due to lack of maintenance . Moreover , the Spanish dominance of the Netherlands in the 16th century and the iconoclastic fury of 1566 further worsened its condition . First maps . The illustration of Jan Baptist Gramaye in his work Gallo - Brabantia is the oldest known illustration and reveals Bouchout Castle in the first decade of the 17th century . It was Christoffel d ' Assonville ( 1528 – 1606 ) who bought the castle in 1590 from Joanna Transylvan and restored " Bocholdia Castrum " into its glorious medieval state . Major restorations were carried out including the transformation of the five original canals into one surrounding pond . Note the very long drawbridge which is also described in the 14th century . It may however been drawn out of perspective , since the bridge appears to be about twice as long as the Donjon tower , which is about 20 meters heigh . The castle displays a rectangular structure with defensive towers at each corner including the Donjon which is still preserved today . The main building is at the back of the inner courtyard . D ' Assonville was one of the most loyal ministers during the Spanish period and he is believed to be part of the assault on the Prince Wiliam of Orange in 1584 . In 1605 , the Bouchout Domain was raised into a Barony enabling Christoffel d ' Assonville to become a member of the Council of Brabant . In 1626 , Peter Verbist produced a detailed copper etching of the Duchy of Brabant . The Barony of Bouchout ( " Bochout " ) can be found at a distance of about 7 miles to the north of Brussels ( to the right at the map ) . This detailed map also displays Grimbergen ( the former Berthout Castle ) and Steinhussle , the territory of the related Diepensteyn Castle . The homeland of the founding fathers of Bouchout Castle is about 5 miles to the east of Brussels and includes the villages Crainhem , Sterbeeck and Nossegem . Peter - Ferdinand Roose . Peter - Ferdinand Roose was born in Antwerp . He was the son of Jan - Karel Roose ( † 1641 ) , the mayor of the city of Antwerp and Anna Fredericks van Bouckhorst , lady of Séclin . After his parents died , Peter - Ferdinand became the foster son of his oncle Peter Roose who was an important advisor of Filips IV , King of Spain . In this period , the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands were at war with its suppressor Spain , which ended with a final separation at 1648 ( Peace of Münster ) . During his career , Peter Roose had acquired a number of domains including Froidmont , Jemeppe , Han and Granvelle . Since he did not have any direct heirs , his family including his foster son Peter Ferdinand were well taken care of . Peter - Ferdinand became a lawyer and acquired Bouchout Castle in 1673 from Renom de France since he had many debts . In France , this was the period of the Renaissance during which Louis XIV of France created the Palace of Versailles . Also Brussels developed into a fashionable capital were wigs and glamour for the happy few were common items . Peter - Ferdinand Roose transformed the medieval Castle into a Renaissance castle surrounded with French ornamental gardens . Most likely , Bouchout Castle was decorated with a wealth of paintings , classy furniture and closets full with books . You may notice that the drawbridge in the etching of Jacobus Harrewijn is more in proportion as compared to the drawing of Jan Baptist Gramaye ( 1606 ) . In 1700 , Peter - Ferdinand died without any heirs and he joined the ornamental family grave at the chapel of the St . Goedekerk ( Brussels ) besides his uncle Peter Roose . During the French Revolution and the subsequent domination of the Southern Netherlands ( 1797 – 1830 ) , Bouchout Castle was partly destroyed . The wooden bridge was dismantled and used to warm the French soldiers during the severe winter of 1795 , while that part of the pond was filled up to facilitate the entrance to the castle . Further , the complete enforcement at the front was destroyed and the castle was also looted by the soldiers . Clearly , Bouchout suffered a lot during the French dominance . Neo - Gothic style . 19th century context . Since 1830 , Belgium is an independent country and during the early years , it was keen to prove its right to exist . The young nation therefore referred a lot to the late Middle Ages , during which the Southern Netherlands played an important role in the development of Europe . The early Neo - Gothic renovations of Bouchout Castle performed in 1832 by count Amedeus de Beauffort should be placed in the latter context . This count of Bouchout was born in Doornik in 1806 and studied law in Paris . He married Elisabeth Roose de Baisy in 1830 and became director of fine arts in 1835 . Under the supervision of architect Tilman François Suys , Bouchout Castle underwent a medieval metamorphosis . The Neo - Gothic renovations included , amongst others , demolishing the southern wing thereby rendering an open structure , modifying roof façades with gothic battelements , introducing neogothic windows , and adding further neo - gothic details to enhance the medieval charisma of the castle . Also illustrative for this period , were the curious objects and old paintings the noble families tend to collect . A fine example is the Armoury gallery ( Salle d ' armes ) which was situated at the first flour of Bouchout Castle . In later years , the rooms adjacent to this gallery were removed and nowadays it is a conference room of 165 m² . The renovated Bouchout Castle also harboured several Neo - Renaissance elements such as the fireplace at the dining room and the ceilings of the Empress Room and White Room . After the death of count Amedeus de Beauffort ( † 1858 ) and his wife countess Elisabeth Roose - de Baisy ( † 1873 ) , their son Leopold became owner of Bouchout Castle . He did not marry and apparently lived in the Donjon tower . In 1879 , Bouchout Domain was bought by Charlotte of Belgium . She married Maximilian of Austria in 1857 , who became emperor of Mexico in 1864 . During this period , Mexico was occupied by France . However , after the Civil War in the United States had ended , the North Americans forced Napoleon III to withdraw his troops . This left Maximilian unprotected against the Mexican Republicans and , in spite of the many entreaties of his wife Charlotte , he decided to stay . He was captured and executed in 1867 . Charlotte suffered a lot during this period , after which her mental condition was described as very weak . Since Charlotte was the sister - in - law of Frans Jozef of Austria , the domain was respected during World War I by the occupying German soldiers . This allowed the citizens of Meise to use the castle ' s domain as a place of refuge . National Botanic Garden of Belgium . After Empress Charlotte had died in 1927 , most of the furnishings were transferred to the Royal Belgium Palace at Laken . Fortunately , the domain which included Bouchout Castle and Meise Castle was bought by the Belgian State . Thereafter , part of the domain was developed into a Botanical garden which became public at 1958 . In 1939 , Belgian soldiers were billeted at Bouchout Castle , who looted it in November 1939 . During World War II , Bouchout Castle was occupied by German soldiers , who also built four fortified shelters at the domain . In November 1944 , a first flying bomb struck the westside of the Domain causing most windows of Bouchout Castle to break . A second flying bomb struck Meise Castle which burnt completely . The condition of Bouchout Castle worsened again during the decades after World War II . In the sixties of the previous century , first plans were made for a new destination of the castle . Finally , the medieval castle at the Bouchout domain was restored between 1987 and 1989 . Since then it is a place for meetings , lectures and exhibitions , surrounded by the 92 hectares of the National Botanical Garden of Belgium . Bouchout Castle ( nr . 3 at the map to the left ) is somewhat below the centre of the National Botanic Garden of Belgium and can be easily reached from the main entrance . To the south of the castle , the Garden Shop ( number 4 ) at the Tenant Farm displays a large number of botanical items and books related to the garden . Further to the south - east , a large complex of greenhouses ( number 5 ) enables the visitors to travel through various climates such as the rainforest , the mediterranean and drought - monsoon greenhouses . The large western part of Bouchout Domain includes a field of large oaks ( number 20 ) , beehouses ( number 38 ) , wild roses ( number 36 ) and maple trees ( number 23 ) . To the east of Bouchout Castle , the former Orangery ( number 10 ) harbours a place to relax , drink and eat . At 17 June 2010 , Bouchout Castle hosted the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands . Jan - Peter Balkenende gave a farewell party for his European friends , including Angela Merkel , Chancellor of Germany .