Ooidonk Castle is the residence of the current Count t'Kint de Roodenbeke. A fortress was first built on the site of the present castle in 1230, intended to defend the city of Ghent and to fortify the river Leie. This fortress was owned by Nikolaas van Hoendunc, lord of Nevele.
After it was destroyed by Louis de Male, count of Flanders, Jean de Fosseux rebuilt and enlarged the fortress from 1381 onwards, adding moats, so that the castle could only be reached by drawbridge, and strengthening the defences with four towers.
In the 15th century the castle came into the possession of the well-known French noble family of Montmorency, when Jeanne de Fosseux married Jean de Montmorency.
In 1526 Philippe II de Montmorency-Nivelle, the well-known rebel, son of Joseph de Montmorency, Seigneur de Nivelle (died 1530) and of Anna of Egmond, was probably born at Ooidonk Castle. After the death of his father, his mother married Count Jan van Hoorn, who adopted her children. Philippe thus became known as Count Hoorn. He opposed the Spanish rule in the Netherlands and was finally decapitated in 1568 in Brussels.
In the turmoil of religious wars the castle was destroyed twice, in 1491 and in 1579. After the fire of 1579 it was rebuilt again, and this building survives as the present castle.
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.