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Montaigle Castle

castle in Wallonia

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ1013148 ↗
Source-derived summary

Montaigle Castle (French: Château de Montaigle) is a ruined medieval castle in Falaën in the municipality of Onhaye, province of Namur, Wallonia.

It was built in the 14th century, and destroyed by Henry II of France in 1554. It stands on a rocky spur overlooking the valleys of the Molignée and of the Flavion.

The site was used during the Late Roman period for a Belgo-Roman fortification.

Montaiglian, the first name of Aurignacian

Following the official web-site of Onhaye, The Belgian government commissioned in 1867 the geologist Édouard Dupont to study the caves (locally called trous, lit., "holes") located in the rocky spur of Montaigle. He named each of them after the trees growing near the cave's entrance; Trou du Sureau (Elder), Trou du Chêne (Oak), Trou de l'Erable (Maple), except the lowest one, named Trou Philippe after the name of the hermit who lived therein. Prehistoric remains were found in all of these caves; Dupont described the Cro-Magnon civilization years before the French paleontologists, but the French nomenclature was adopted, though. The "Montaiglian" layer was later renamed "Aurignacian", after the cave of Aurignac in the Pyrénées.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Montaigle Castle” as castle in Wallonia. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Montaigle, Castle and castle.

Editorial reviewMost useful as a place-based finding aid connecting the present description to earlier jurisdictions, maps and built evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1554, 1867—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Montaigle, Castle and castle providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Montaigle Castle”, the useful work is to connect “castle in Wallonia” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1013148. Authority coordinates are 50.293, 4.816. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1554 and 1867.

Critical limits

Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Montaigle Castle”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Montaigle Castle primary sources, Montaigle Castle archive and Montaigle research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Montaigle Castle”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Montaigle Castle” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.