The Hof te Borculo Estate is a beautiful location in the Achterhoek region where an enormous castle once stood. The estate passed into the hands of the House of Orange and was also the site of Napoleon’s imperial stud farm. In the shadows of the castle, the small settlement grew into a substantial town, which received its city rights as early as 1375.
The Court
The castle on the Hof te Borculo Estate dates from the 11th or 12th century. This manorial estate had been managed by the lords of Borculo until 1360, but after this date, it fell into the hands of a family from Gelderland, the famous Van Bronckhorst family. Borculo was awarded its cityright soon afterwards.
The changes in ownership became somewhat complicated because the Van Bronckhorst family served the Duke of Guelders, whilst the town of Borculo was a fiefof the bishop of Münster. By around 1760, the castle had become derelict and was demolished. A country house with the same name rose from the foundations.
The House of Orange
In 1777, the manorial estate with the newly-built country house was purchased by Prince William V of Orange-Nassau. The title of Lord of Borculo remained in the royal family andKing Willem-Alexander now bears this noble title. King Willem-Alexander is also Lordof Bredevoort and Count of Buren and Culemborg.
In 1806, barely 30 years later, Napoleon Bonaparte was attracted to Borculo as a site for his imperial stud farm. This later became the Dutch National Stud.
Smoked chicken tax
The subjects of a manor sometimes had to fulfil unusual obligations towards their lords. One example is the smoked chicken tax. Every house with a chimney on the manorial estate was obliged to supply a smoked chicken to the Lordof Borculo on Shrove Tuesday. A list dating from 1805 shows that many people tried to evade the tax that year: of the total of 716 houses with chimneys, only 541 supplied chickens.
