Adellijke Landschappen: Creaties van de Croÿ in Heverlee en Chimay (1551-1612)

Like the architecture of a castle, the environment surrounding it conveys meaning; the noble landscape was designed and managed in a way to suit the image of its patron. This dissertation focuses on the Croÿ case, and more specifically, the designed landscapes of Philip III (1526-1595) and Charles III of Croÿ (1560-1612) in Heverlee and Chimay. Where research on the environment surrounding the castle is often limited to the gardens, we have taken a wider approach, which includes the entire territory of which the castle was the main seat. Based on archival research and present-day surveys, we uncovered the constituent elements of the noble landscapes and reconstructed them using digital tools. These elements include the natural landscape, by which we mean the soil, topography, and hydrology of the sites, and the cultural landscape, which includes gardens, agricultural lands, forests and towns. To create these models in GIS (Geographical Information Systems), a new methodology was developed, which is based on the 3D reconstruction methodology of historical buildings. This allows us to anchor the digital models to the actual, contemporary landscape. This method led to four main reconstructions, displaying the landscapes of Philip III of Croÿ and Charles III of Croÿ for both case studies, Heverlee and Chimay. By comparing the digital models, a changing idea on landscape can be observed between Philip and Charles, which is much broader than only its morphology. By confronting the reconstructed landscapes with sources such as accounts, records of noble privileges, and other iconography which we could not translate into coordinates, motivations and meanings behind the landscape interventions could be uncovered. Philip and Charles III of Croÿ had distinctive strategies regarding their landscape designs, which could be grouped into three main themes: the political, economic, and personal landscape. Philip III of Croÿ created beautiful gardens in Heverlee and Chimay, but did not waver from the traditional feudal land management otherwise. Charles differentiated himself by creating a holistic landscape design which emphasised the particular role of each residence, not limiting himself to only the architecture of the castle itself to convey this message. This included elements representing his political power, such as gallows, tax gates, and dove tills amongst others, but also elements which represented economic prosperity, such as farms, mills, and forges. In order to create a unified landscape, he employed different spatial strategies dependent on the context of his castle, like implementing treelined avenues, marking property with chapels, and acquiring more land. In the gardens both patrons invested in precious plants and flowers, to showcase their magnificence to their peers. Furthermore, they included landscape depictions in their residences, to remind visitors of the wider territory over which they ruled. As such, this thesis illustrates that just like the architecture of the castle itself, the landscape was used to legitimise the power the Croÿ held at court. Furthermore, we aimed to show that these displays of power were not limited to the direct environment of the castle, which was only accessible to peers, but reached throughout the entire territory, conveying the political, economic, and personal authority of the lord. This messaging was tailored to the residence, creating a unified landscape design, which was shaped around natural constraints.