Wijnendale Castle Wijnendale Castle ( ) is an historically important castle near the village of Wijnendale , now in the municipality of Torhout , in West Flanders , Belgium . The present castle is largely a 19th - century reconstruction , but a part of the north wing is still 15th century . One wing is inhabited by the present owners ; another wing is a museum , open to the public . History . Counts of Flanders and Namur , 11th - 14th century . The first castle was built by Robert I , Count of Flanders , at the end of the 11th century and used as a base for military operations . In the 12th and 13th century , Wijnendale became a regular place of residence for the Counts of Flanders and for Philip , Count of Flanders , in particular . In 1297 Guy of Dampierre signed a treaty here with the English King Edward I . In 1298 Wijnendale was inherited by the Counts of Namur , and besieged and damaged in 1302 and 1325 . It is probable that Blanche of Namur grew up here and that it was here that she met her future husband Magnus IV of Sweden in 1334 . Dukes of Burgundy , Cleves and Ravenstein , 15th - 16th century . After a period of neglect , Count John III of Namur sold the fiefdom and castle in 1407 to John the Fearless , Duke of Burgundy , who gave it 3 years later to his son - in - law Adolph I , Duke of Cleves , as part of the dowry on his marriage to John ' s daughter Mary of Burgundy , the elder . In 1463 the castle passed to the Lords of Ravenstein , a junior branch of the House of Cleves . Adolph of Cleves , Lord of Ravenstein , and his son Philip of Cleves - Ravenstein transformed the castle into a beautiful mansion . Adolf had married , as his second wife , Anne , an illegitimate aunt and governess of Marie of Burgundy , Duchess of Burgundy , who stayed from time to time at Wijnendale , as did her son Philip the Handsome . In 1482 Mary died of a fall from her horse here , an accident which changed the history of the Low Countries : under her authoritarian husband Maximilian I , Holy Roman Emperor , a period of more than 300 years of Habsburg rule began . In 1528 , after the death of Philip of Cleves , Lord of Ravenstein , Wijnendale returned to the main branch of the Dukes of Cleves . Their relatives Charles V and Mary of Habsburg stayed more than once at the castle . In the second half of the 16th century , the Dukes lost interest in their Flemish possessions and in 1578 part of the castle was burned down by Protestants . Dukes of Pfalz - Neuburg , 17th - 18th century . In 1609 Duke John William of Cleves died without children and after the War of the Jülich succession in the Treaty of Xanten , the Fiefdom of Wijnendale passed to one of the victors , Wolfgang Wilhelm , Count Palatine of Neuburg , as confirmed in 1634 by the Secret Council in Brussels and by the Treaty of Cleves in 1666 . During the many attacks by Louis XIV on Flanders , Wijnendale was occupied many times by passing troops and severely damaged in 1690 , when French troops blew up part of the castle . In 1699 - 1700 Duke Johann Wilhelm had the castle rebuilt . On September 28 , 1708 , during the War of Spanish Succession , a battle took place between French and allied troops at Wijnendale which ended in an allied victory . The castle was not damaged . In the 17th and 18th century it was inhabited by a governor , as the Dukes of Pfalz - Neuburg resided in Germany . In the middle of the 18th century , Duke Charles Theodore constructed roads in West Flanders to improve trade , with Wijnendale in the center . French and Dutch period . In 1792 the French Revolution ary armies invaded the Austrian Netherlands and ended the feudal system . Charles Theodore moved the contents of the castle to his residences in Düsseldorf , Mannheim and Munich . The castle became the property of the French state . In 1811 the French troops damaged it so badly that only ruins remained . In 1825 , during the Dutch period the estate was sold to a Walloon industrial group , which had all the trees cut down , before going bankrupt . Family of Matthieu ( de Wynendaele ) , 19th - 21st century . In 1833 the domain was bought by a banker from Brussels , Josse - Pierre Matthieu , who had the castle rebuilt between 1837 and 1852 . His son Joseph Louis Matthieu modified it in 1877 and gave it its present romanticized , mediaeval form . In May 1940 Wijnendale made history again . On May 25 , just before the Battle of Dunkirk , there was a last meeting between King Leopold III of Belgium and four cabinet ministers ( Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot , Minister of Foreign Affairs Paul - Henri Spaak , Minister of Internal Affairs Arthur Vanderpoorten and Minister of Defence Denis ) . With the country surrounded by German troops , capitulation was inevitable . The King however refused to follow his ministers to Britain to continue the struggle from there . He chose as commander - in - chief to remain with his troops and follow them into captivity . This decision led to strong controversy after the war , and to Leopold ' s abdication in 1951 . The Matthieu family ( known since 1953 as " Matthieu de Wynendaele " ) still owns the castle today . The present owner is Jean - Jacques Matthieu de Wynendaele .