Butte du Lion

Butte du Lion

:"Lion Hill redirects here. For a mountain in Hong Kong, see Lion Rock."The Butte du Lion ("Hillock of the Lion", "Lion's Mound") is a large conical artificial hill raised on the battlefield of Waterloo to commemorate the location where William II of the Netherlands (the Prince of Orange) was knocked from his horse by a musket ball to the shoulder during the battle. It was ordered constructed in 1820 by his father, King William I of The Netherlands, and completed in 1826. The younger William had fought as commander of combined Dutch and Belgian forces at the Battle of Quatre Bras (June 16) and the Battle of Waterloo (June 18). Although the father was memorializing his son's courage, and the Dutch call him "de Held van Waterloo " ("the Hero of Waterloo"), modern historians consider the younger William to have been an indifferent, if not to say incompetent, officer, since he committed at least three catastrophic blunders during Waterloo. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A5403881 BBC's "The Battle of Waterloo, 1815"] ] [ [http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~awoodley/regency/waterloo.html "Waterloo for the Uninitiated - June 18th 1815"] ] It has been classified as a Wallonia's Major Hertitage.

The design

The monument was designed by the Royal Architect, Charles Van der Straeten, at the behest of William I. Inspiration was provided by the engineer Jean-Baptiste Vifquain, who conceived of it as a symbol of the Allied victory, rather than as pertaining to a single individual. The shape consciously recapitulates that of the tumulus of the Belgae, whom Julius Caesar had singled out as the bravest of the Gallic tribes.

The hill

A huge mound was constructed at the spot, using earth taken from other parts of the battlefield, including the fields between La Haye Sainte farm and the Duke of Wellington's sunken lane.

The mound is 43 m ( 141 ft) in height and has a circumference of 520 m (1706 ft), which dimensions would yield a volume in excess of 390,000 m³ (514,000 yd³), despite the usual claim of 300,000 m³. The discrepancy might be accounted for if part of the volume is occupied by an existing volume of some topographic feature, say, the ridge of Mont-St. Jean.

Victor Hugo mentions in his novel "Les Miserables" that on visiting the site two years after the completion of the mound, the Duke of Wellington is said to have remarked, "They have altered my field of battle!" [Victor Hugo. "Les Miserables" [http://www.online-literature.com/victor_hugo/les_miserables/77/ Chapter VII. Napoleon in a Good Humor] ] Be that as it may, the hillock offers a splendid vista of the battlefield, and is the anchor point of the tourist trade associated with it in "le Hameau du Lion" (Lion's Hamlet), where there are museums and taverns. A fee of 1 euro is charged to ascend the 226 steps leading to the statue and observation area at the top. Orientation maps documenting the battle and telescopes are provided.

The statue

The hill is surmounted by a statue of a lion mounted upon a stone-block pedestal. The model lion was sculpted by Jean-François Van Geel (1756-1830). The lion is the heraldic beast on the personal coat of arms of the monarch of The Netherlands, and symbolizes courage; its right front paw is upon a sphere, signifying global victory. The statue weighs 28 tonnes (31 tons), has a height of 4.45 m (14.6 ft) and a length of 4.5 m (14.8 ft). It was cast at the iron foundry of William Cockerill in Liège, whence it was brought by canal barge from Liège to Brussels, and thence by heavy horse-drays to its final site at Mont-St. Jean, a low ridge south of Waterloo.

There is a legend to the effect that the lion was cast from brass melted down from cannons abandoned by the French on the battlefield. The statue was, in fact, cast of iron in nine pieces, which were assembled at the monument site.

References

See also

*Battle of Waterloo
*Waterloo, Belgium
*William II of the Netherlands


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Butte Du Lion — 50°40′42″N 4°24′17″E / 50.67833, 4.40472 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Butte du lion — 50°40′42″N 4°24′17″E / 50.67833, 4.40472 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Butte du Lion — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Lion (homonymie). 50°40′42″N 4°24′17″E / …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Butte du Lion — Der Löwenhügel Der Löwenhügel Der Löwenhügel (franz.: Butte du Lion) bei der belgischen Stadt Waterloo ist das Hauptmonument der Schl …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lion de Waterloo — Butte du Lion 50°40′42″N 4°24′17″E / 50.67833, 4.40472 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Lion (homonymie) — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Pour les articles homonymes, voir Lions, Lyon (homonymie) et Lyons. Sommaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Butte de Montmélian —  Ne doit pas être confondu avec Montmélian. Ruines de la Tour Carrée , manoir de Richard de Vernon de 1205 La …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Le Lion — Lion (homonymie) Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Pour les articles homonymes, voir Lions, Lyon et Lyons. Voir aussi lions (homonymie), Lyon (homonymie) et Lyons (homonymie) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Le lion — Lion (homonymie) Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Pour les articles homonymes, voir Lions, Lyon et Lyons. Voir aussi lions (homonymie), Lyon (homonymie) et Lyons (homonymie) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Butte — This interesting surname of English origin with variant spellings But, Butt, Butte, Bute, etc., is derived from the middle English personal name But(t) of unknown origin, perhaps originally a nickname meaning short and stocky and akin to the late …   Surnames reference

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”