The Tower of London has a long history. The White Tower in the middle was begun by William the Conqueror in 1078 and it was greatly expanded over the years under several monarchs. It has served as a prison from the beginning of its days. It also served as a royal residence, though those buildings are [read more]
The city of Buren in the Netherlands does not immediately sound like it has much to do with history. However, our current King has the right to call himself Count of Buren because of Anna of Egmont’s marriage to William of Orange. There are still plenty of things to see in Buren, most notably the [read more]
Last year I wrote about Kneuterdijk Palace lamenting the fact that as a government building (it currently houses the Council of State) it would not be open to the public. Lo and behold, this year Kneuterdijk Palace was a part of Open Monumentsday and opened its doors to the public. Naturally, I went. The Gothic [read more]
The Kloosterkerk (or Cloister Church) was built in 1397. There was a strong bond between the church and Margaret of Cleves, the second wife of Albert of Bavaria, who held court in The Hague. Margaret was born circa 1375 as the daughter of Adolph III, Count of Mark and Margaret of Jülich. Albert’s first wife was Margaret [read more]
Noordeinde Palace began its life as a medieval farmhouse in 1533. This was converted into a spacious residence, which was bought for Louise de Coligny, the widow of William I, Prince of Orange, in 1595. It was her son who enlarged the house even more, and it was then known as “Oude Hof”, or Old Court. [read more]
Next to the Royal Palace in Brussels is the Belvue Museum, which coincidently is also the entrance to the remains of the Coudenberg Palace, which stood at the spot of the Royal Palace until its destruction by a fire in 1731. It was here that Margaret of Austria handed over power to Charles V, Holy [read more]
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