Historical background

The location where the Court of Audit’s offices are situated today was inhabited in the Middle Ages. The area of the Place des Bailles with the palace of the Dukes of Brabant exerted a special attraction on the aristocracy, who came to settle in this region.

In 1407, Willem Blondeel’s dwelling house was located there. He was the counsellor and chamberlain of Antoine of Burgundy, whom Philip the Bold had entrusted with governing Brabant.

In 1432, the Blondeel family sold the property to Antoine de Croÿ, first chamberlain of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. The mansion was renovated and redecorated several times and remained in the de Croÿ family until 1681.

In 1688, the house was sold to Louis Alexander Scockaert, Count of Tirimont, who held numerous high positions at the Spanish Court and in the Southern Netherlands’ administration. The Counts of Tirimont continued to live in the house during the entire Spanish and Austrian Period and embellished it regularly.

The area around the Place des Bailles was ravaged by the fire on 3 February 1731, which destroyed the ducal palace completely in twelve hours. The clearing away of the debris would not be ordered before 1769.

Under the inspiration of the governor-general Charles of Lorraine, the area was entirely rebuilt in neoclassical style from September 1774 following a plan by architect Barnabé Guimard de Larabe (1734-1805) and on the model of the Place Stanislas in Nancy.

Madame de Templeuve, dowager and sister of the last Count of Tirimont, also contributed to this renovation work by having the Flemish style house (with staired gabels etc.) transformed into a neoclassical mansion in 1755-80 which, on the outside at least, has not changed to this day.

In 1796, as part of an inheritance, Tirimont House came into the possession of Marquis Paul Arconati-Visconti, the last Count of Tirimont’s nephew who became the Mayor of Brussels in 1800, and then of his nephew Joseph and finally of John Arconati, a descendant of another family branch. He rents it out to the city of Brussels which, from 1834 to 1839, makes it the Ministry of War, and from 1861 to 1866, the Royal Atheneum old humanities department.

In 1866, Leopold I’s younger son, Philip, Count of Flanders (1837-1905), bought Arconati-Visconti House on the eve of his marriage with Princess Mary von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1845-1912).

The princely couple undertook major alteration and extension works under the guidance of architects Gustave Saintenoy (1832-1892) and Clément Parent (1823-1884).

The interior of the north wing, which dated back to the 18^th century, was altered and modernised; the central building and a south wing were added. For the interior decoration, the Count of Flanders took advice from the painter John Portaels (1818-1895).

Albert I, who was later to become the King of Belgium, was born in this palace on 8 April 1875 as the Count and Countess’ second son. Because of the death of his elder brother Baudouin at the age of 21 in 1891, he unexpectedly became heir to the throne.

In 1921, King Albert I sold the palace to the Bank of Brussels, who kept the north wing in its original style. The south wing, however, was extended considerably and converted into offices. There were once the ballroom, the large drawing room, the Venetian drawing room, the Tapestry Gallery, the Count’s large library and the apartments of the princess.

In 1982, the Belgian State bought the building to accommodate the Court of Audit. The Court occupied previously Spanghen House opposite the Royal Square but some departments had to move owing to the lack of space.

Since 1 January 1984, all of the Court’s departments were united again in this building, put at disposal by the Belgian State.