Chimay

Chimay stands above the Eau Blanche in the southern Hainaut, its castle and walls guarding a town near the French frontier. The lordship became a county under Charles the Bold in 1476, and in 1486 Maximilian raised it to a principality for Charles de Croÿ. Like other towns of the Spanish Netherlands, Chimay suffered during the wars with France: Henry II's troops ravaged it in 1552. Its castle, destroyed by French forces, was rebuilt from 1607.