Belgian nobility

History

Because most old families reside in Belgium for hundreds of years, their members have belonged to various nations. In the Holland period, the nobility formed an important factor in the independnce. After the independence of Belgium the Kingdom of the Netherlands lost an important part of nobles: all the high families lived in the south and became part of the Belgian nobility.

Although most old families are older and reside much longer in the country then the Royal House, they are lower in rank. At court the nobility played a major role and was strongly Connected to the royal family. In some old families the heads of the house have the right of multiple titles. Today, most important families pass these old titles still only in male line. In the Ancien regime the noble ladies could pass their titles and rights to their children, as occurred with the Marquess of Assche when the House of Coutereau died out, and was inherited by the Count van der Noot.

A part of the nobility lost their land to France, originally belonging to Flanders the Marquess of Morbecque had lost his land after the Battle of Cassel. During the Spanish period many noble houses received titles and privileges, some of those titles still exist today.

When King Leopold III renmarried to Liliane de Rethy, the majority of the old houses did not accept this commoner at court. In the Second world war many members of the Nobility joined the resistance. Dozens of Noble houses lost family members in Concentration camps and on the battlefield. Famous is the sad history of the Knight Armand de Menten de Horne, who was arrested by the SS at the funeral of his son when the Brabanconne was played too loud. He was released from prison and died soon after.

Some old important houses have died out: de Bette, Gruuthuse and Count of Baillet-Latour.

Characteristics

The modern Belgian nobility is known to be mostly traditionalist, and royalist. Living in a bilingual Dutch and French-speaking country with a majority of Dutch-speaking people, historically the mother tongue of most is French, although many are also fluent in Dutch and other languages. All the noble old houses are Roman Catholic.

In the Kingdom of Belgium there were as of 2013 approximately 1,300 noble families, with some 20,000 members. The noble lineage of only approximately 400 families dates back to the 17th century or earlier. As Belgium is a democratic constitutional monarchy there are no legal privileges attached to bearing a noble title or to being a member of the aristocracy. According to article 113 of the constitution, "The King may confer titles of nobility, without ever having the power to attach privileges to them".

Most nobles in Belgium still belong to the elite of society. They sometimes own and manage companies, or have leading positions in Catholic Church, Cultural society, business, banking, diplomacy, NGOs etc. Many of the older families still own (and reside in) important castles or country houses (see: Castles in Belgium).

Surname of the House, and division of the families

Normally the name of the family or House cannot change, however it used to be possible. A famous example used to be Conrad III Schetz: he had himself adopted by his aunt and changed his surname, for him and all his descendants from Schetz to van Ursel.

Today Belgian nobles can easy be recognised by their typical family surname. They are different fom most common surnames in Belgium. Most noble surnames are very long and have the particle de (French for of/from) or the Dutch van as a prefix. This is written whitout capitals and considered a typical characteristic of old families. Large families have different branches and their family name can evoluate in history, after Royal permission. A wel known example is the permission that Victor, Baron van Strydonck received to add the extension to his surname of Burkel, after the famous Charge of Burkel. After centuries houses grow different branches, with their own heritage and sometimes different titles. Every noble family has its own crest and titles both are legally protected from copyright. People who not belong to the house, are forbidden to use the titles or the crest. Therefor a noble House of the Belgian nobility can have cadet branches in different families.

Legal identity

In Belgium the title forms part of the identity of the noble person, and is mentioned on the ID-card. This gives some people frustration when their name is abbreviated for practical reasons, on the small ID card there is not enough place for a long legal name like Philippe de Riquet, Prince of Chimay and of Caraman.

Ennoblement

Belgium is one of the few monarchies in the world in which hereditary ennoblement still occurs regularly. Hereditary titles are conferred by letters patent, which are annually issued by the King of the Belgians.

Belgian citizens distinguished in business, politics, science, arts, sports, etc. or for extraordinary service to the kingdom may receive noble status or noble titles.

The opposite is too possible: Families can lose their rank and title, what happened after the WWII, when some families lost their titles due to collaboration.

By royal decree the monarch can extend, change or upgrade the rank of members of a noble house or change the rank of the whole family. This happened recently to Amélie Nothomb, created baroness in her own right by royal decree. She was already of noble birth, she is a niece of the Marques of Trazegnies.

Other examples include :

Structure of the Belgian nobility

Characteristically the Belgian nobility is structured and ranked very formally. These ranks are still important in social life and ceremonial life at court.

The royal house does not belong to the Belgian nobility, it is not of Belgian origin and is considered to be above the social class that is the nobility. Most royal houses do not form part of the nobility, exception is made for the imperial house of Habsburg, incorporated by King Baudouin. The Belgian royal house has four family members that married into the imperial family: Charlotte, Empress of Mexico, Leopold II of Belgium, Stephanie of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria and Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria -Este.

Princes in the Belgian nobility

The title of Prince (Prince in French, Prins in Dutch) title is the highest noble title in use in Belgium. They are ranked under the princes of royal blood and members of the royal family. Princes were received with protocol at the royal court by the king in the Salon Bleu of the Royal Palace of Brussels, henceforth being referred to as members of the Noblesse du Salon Bleu (Nobles of the Blue Salon). Still today these families have high ceremonial ranks in the Belgian order of precedence. New princes are not created, though they can be recognised or incorporated by the king if their members do prove to have bounds in Belgium and live here. This procedure is very rare and has occurred only with important old noble houses that de facto are Belgian.

Families

Most members of the families listed below have the right to be referred to in Belgian government documents as "Prince" or "Princess" in combination with their family name and most, though not all, are entitled to the style of Serene Highness.

Dukes in the Belgian nobility

Members of the following houses bear the title of Duke (Duc in French, Hertog in Dutch). The ducal title has never been granted outside the Royal Family in the Kingdom of Belgium. The origin of such titles for Belgian families thus pre-dates the current monarchy, having been conferred or recognised by sovereigns of other jurisdictions.

Examples

Marquises in the Belgian nobility

Only eleven families bear today the title of Marquess. In most of these families, the title descends by masculine primogeniture.

Historic Marquisates include:

Current Marquesses

Counts in the Belgian nobility

The titles Count of Hainault and Count of Flanders, historically associated with major provinces of what is now Belgium, are used as dynastic titles for members of the Belgian Royal Family. Bearers of these titles derive their royal rank at court from their place in the order of succession rather than from the precedence associated with the comital title.

Count is the highest-ranked title still granted by the Belgian monarch. There are approximately 90 families in Belgium at least one of whose members bears the title of count or countess. Sometimes the title descends to only one person by male primogeniture, sometimes to all members of the family in the male line, and occasionally to a specific branch of a noble family or only to the children of the head of the family. A famous family was the House of Baillet. A living famous family is the House of Lannoy, family of Stephanie de Lannoy, current Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. A famous countess in her own right is Isabelle de Borchgrave d'Altena.

Examples

An incomplete list of families bearing the comital title can be found on the list of noble families in Belgium.

Viscounts in the Belgian nobility

There are approximately 45 families in Belgium at least one of whose members bears the title of Viscount in Belgium (vicomte in French/Burggraaf in Dutch).

Examples

An incomplete list of families bearing the title of Viscount can be found on the list of noble families in Belgium.

Barons in the Belgian nobility

More than 300 individuals bear the title of Baron or Baroness. The title may descend either by masculine primogeniture or to all legitimate descendants in the male-line of the original title-holder.

Examples

Originally the house of udekem was ranked Baron, until the wedding of the Duke of Brabant with Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz, the house was promoted Count by royal Decree. Members of some families bearing the title of baron can be found on the list of noble families in Belgium.

Knights in the Belgian nobility

In Belgium there are roughly 200 knights (chevalier in French/Ridder in Dutch). The title descends by masculine primogeniture and there is no female equivalent. A knight's children bear no title per se.

Examples

An incomplete list of families bearing the title of knight can be found on the list of noble families in Belgium.

Jonkheer/Jonkvrouw

Jonkheer (Dutch, originally meaning 'young lord') is the lowest Belgian title recognised by the arrest of the court of cassation. Jonkheer is ranked higher than Ecuyer. The daughter of a person styled Jonkheer is Jonkvrouw, whereas the wife has no honorific and is usually titled Mevrouw ("Mrs."). Écuyer has no feminine equivalent for daughters or wives. One of the most famous examples is Queen Mathilde, former Jonkvrouw before her marriage and Delphine Boël, the daughter of baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps, mistress of King Albert II.

Noble families without a title

Noblemen without a title may be referred to as Écuyer (French for squire or shield bearer) or It is used only as a written suffix to the full name in formal communications, replacing Mr. (Monsieur).

Most noble families in Belgium, as on the European continent generally, are untitled, and most female or cadet members of those families whose head is titled are untitled, although there are many exceptions. Most hereditary titles descend by masculine primogeniture. Other families, however, were recognised as noble (by Holy Roman Emperors, French kings, or other jurisdictions) prior to the creation of the Belgian kingdom and never received or assumed a title. Prior to the 19th century, nobles also occasionally relinquished their title voluntarily in order to "derogate", i.e., to engage in commercial enterprise forbidden by tradition or law to the titled nobility, as described above. Belgian monarchs have also raised individuals to noble status without conferring a title on them.

Examples

An incomplete list of families bearing the title of écuyer can be found on the list of noble families in Belgium.

Foreign noble families residing in Belgium

Another legal concern is that people who have the Belgian identity are forbidden by law to have noble title from another country. This implicates that the children of princess Astrid never will be recognised as archduke of Austria or Prince of Bohemia. The titles they received form their father are not recognised by the Belgian state, and only are used privately in context of the house of Habsburg.

However, to have foreign titles recognised is not impossible. It is only possible after formal incorporation or recognition by the King of the Belgians.

In addition to the families mentioned above, a number of noble families originated from outside Belgium, but have since obtained Belgian nationality after residing (sometimes for many generations) in Belgium. Most of these families have come from neighbouring European monarchies (France, the Netherlands, Germany) at various stages of history. These have usually (but not always) asked for equivalent nobility titles within the Kingdom of Belgium, which were typically granted.

A few noble families residing in Belgium emigrated from beyond the current European Union's borders, e.g. Russia or outside Europe, e.g. Korea or Japan. Many of these families formerly held titles of nobility in their country of origin, which have not always been converted into official Belgian nobility titles. Some families did not pursue a Belgian title because they hoped their stay in Belgium would be only temporary. This was the case for many Russian émigrés who came to Belgium in exile after the October Revolution.

Other families did not conversion either because of pride or because of cultural differences.

The Prince of Napoleon lived in Brussels, and was married to the daughter of Leopold II. They were a well known part of the Belgian society. Some families like the Counts of Komorrowsi fled their own land and married with high Belgian aristocracy. For the Belgian state however, the title of Count Komorowski does not exist.

Many of these families have been in Belgium for so long, intermarrying with Belgian nobility, that they are more Belgian than foreign in blood (e.g. de Lobkowicz, de Radiguès de Chenneviere, Arrazola de Oñate). Moreover, the family names have often been frenchified by adding particles such as de (e.g. Shin de Pyeongsan, originating from Korea's Pyeongsan Shin clan).