House of Ligne

House of Ligne
House of Ligne
Current region	Belgium
Place of origin	Ligne in Hainaut
Founded	11th century
Current head	Michel, 14th Prince of Ligne
Titles	Prince de Ligne ; Prince d'Épinoy ; Prince d'Amblise
Estate(s)	Château de Belœil
Cadet branches	Ligne-La Trémoïlle

The House of Ligne is one of the oldest Belgian noble families, dating back to the eleventh century.^[1] The family's name comes from the village of Ligne [fr] where it originated,^[2] between Ath and Tournai in what is now the Hainaut province of Belgium.

History

Their progressive rise in the nobility began as

Lamoral I received from Emperor Rudolf II the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire as Prince de Ligne on 20 March 1601,^[1] for all of his agnatic

descendants, both male and female.

Compensation for loss of the Imperial County of Ligne (Fagnolles, since that barony had become seat of the county in 1789) as a result of the

Imperial state

, in 1806.

The style of Highness was confirmed for all members of extant branches of the family on 31 May 1923, and the titles of Prince d'Amblise and Prince d'Epinoy recognized for the head of the house on 22 October of the same year by the Belgian Crown.^[1]

There have been

La Trémoïlle

.

Abbots and abbesses

Within this family, there were the following abbots and abbesses:

Gérard de Ligne (†1270) Abbot de Cambrai
Mahaut de Ligne (c. 1275) Abbess d'Epinlieu
Marie de Ligne (c. 1500) Abbess de Mons
Marie de Ligne (c. 1550) Abbess de Cambrai
Catherine de Ligne (†1581) Abbess de
Thorn
(La Thure)

Princes de Ligne

Lamoral
, 1st Prince de Ligne (of the Holy Roman Empire) 1601–1624 (1563–1624)
- Florent de Ligne, 1st Prince d'Amblise 1608–1622 (1588–1622)
  - Albert Henri, 2nd Prince 1624–1641 (1615–1641)
  - Claude Lamoral
    , 3rd Prince 1641–1679 (1618–1679)
    - Henri Louis Ernest, 4th Prince 1679–1702 (1644–1702)
      - Antoine Joseph Ghislain
        , 5th Prince 1702–1750 (1682–1750)
      - Claude Lamoral, 6th Prince 1750–1766 (1685–1766)
        Charles-Joseph, 7th Prince 1766–1814 (1735–1814)
        Hereditary Prince Charles Antoine Joseph Emanuel de Ligne (1759–1792)
        
        Hereditary Prince Louis-Eugene de Ligne (1766–1813)
        Eugène, 8th Prince 1814–1880 (1804–1880)
        Hereditary Prince Henri Maximilien de Ligne (1824–1871)
        Louis
        , 9th Prince 1880–1918 (1854–1918)
        
        Ernest
        , 10th Prince 1918–1937 (1857–1937)
        Eugène
        , 11th Prince 1937–1960 (1893–1960)
        Baudouin
        , 12th Prince 1960–1985 (1918–1985)
        
        Antoine
        , 13th Prince 1985–2005 (1925–2005)
        Michel
        , 14th Prince 2005–present (born 1951)
        (1) Hereditary Prince Henri Antoine (born 1989)
        
        Prince Wauthier de Ligne (1952–2022)
        (2) Prince Philippe de Ligne (born 1977)
        
        (3) Prince Antoine de Ligne (born 1959)
        (4) Prince Louis de Ligne (born 2003)
        
        Prince Charles-Joseph de Ligne (1837–1914)
        Prince Henri Florent Lamoral of Ligne
        (1881–1967)
        Jean Charles, Prince de Ligne de La Trémoïlle
        (1911–2005)
        (5)
        Charles-Antoine, Prince de Ligne de La Trémoïlle
        (born 1946), see below

Other members of the family

Claimants to the kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, Armenia, and Naples:

Michel, 14th Prince de Ligne
, see above
- Prince Edouard Lamoral de Ligne de La Trémoïlle (1976–), heir
  - Prince Antoine de Ligne-la Tremoille (born 2019)
- Prince Charles Joseph de Ligne-La Trémoïlle (born 1980).
  - Prince Amadeo Joseph de Ligne-La Trémoïlle (born 2012)

Princess Sophie de Ligne (born 1957), of the House of Ligne, married Philippe de Nicolaÿ (born 1955) a director of the Rothschild group, great-grandson of Salomon James de Rothschild and member of the Nicolaÿ family.

Archduchess Yolande of Austria (1923–2023), daughter of the 11th Prince of Ligne, was the daughter-in-law of Emperor Charles I of Austria.

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

.

Prince Charles Joseph de Ligne-La Trémoïlle married at Antoing Castle on 20 November 2010 to Ran Li (currently called Princess Ran), who is a Chinese. She is Europe's first Chinese Princess.^{[citation needed]}

The current (14th) Prince of Ligne is husband of a Princess of the

Imperial Family of Brazil

Arms of the House of Ligne

The coat of arms of the family is blazoned as Or a bend gules.^[3]

Heraldic shield
of the House of Ligne
princely hat
and mantle
Arms of the branch of Barbançon
Arms of the branch of Ham
Arms of the branch of Moÿ
Arms of the branch of La Trémoïlle

Notes

^
ISBN 978-3-7980-0700-0
.

^ "Castle history". Château de Belœil. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
^ Arnaud Bunel. "Maison de Ligne". heraldique-europeenne.org. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2008-02-04.

External links

[ghda-1] 
ISBN 978-3-7980-0700-0
.

[Castle_history-2] "Castle history". Château de Belœil. Retrieved 2020-11-04.

[3] Arnaud Bunel. "Maison de Ligne". heraldique-europeenne.org. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2008-02-04.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	Germany