In the south of the Belgian province of Luxembourg, close to the French border, Bouillon nestles prettily in a loop of the River Semois, encircled by the wooded heights of the southern Ardennes. Dominated by its imposing castle, the small town is a popular summer resort and makes a lively center for
excursions into the surrounding countryside. Outdoor activities such as hiking, biking or canoeing are popular.
Bouillon is closely linked in name and by history with Godfrey of Bouillon (Godefroy de Bouillon), the "most Christian of all knights".
Because of its favored location Bouillon, principal town of the old Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, was for hundreds of years an important link between the Eifel and Champagne. It began life as a village which grew up in the shadow of Godfrey the Bearded's castle (started 1050). When, almost half a century later, the famous Godfrey of Bouillon left home to lead the First Crusade (1095), he mortgaged the castle to the Prince-Bishops of Liège who retained it, with one or two interruptions and in the face of challenges to their title by local noblemen, until the 17th C. After the French took over the region in 1676, Louis XIV gave the castle to the La Tour d'Auvergne family. Under their liberal patronage Bouillon developed in the 18th C. into a center of Enlightenment where the printer Pierre Rousseau was able to publish numerous avant-garde journals, as well as works by Mirabeau and Diderot which had been banned in France. The town eventually became part of Belgium in 1830.
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