The objectives of the Carabineers' Brotherhood of Herbeumont.
Established on September the 19th 1989, the Brotherhood of Carabineers intends to :
- Get to know and appreciate Herbeumont across its history and heritage
- Animate the village
- Create and develop friendship and relations between the members and people outside Herbeumont
- To honour people who offered services for the community of Herbeumont
Their main event takes place on the 3th Saturday of September in the streets of Herbeumont.
Their oath
"As a knight of Herbeumont, by permission of Sir Jehan and his wife and by the oath of the Carabineers, I swear firmly to maintain loyalty to Herbeumont and to promote its product Herbamour."
A gastronomic beverage : l'Herbamour
In order to join the Conseil Noble des Confréries Luxembourgeoises (Noble Board of the Luxembourg Brotherhoods), the carabineers were missing a gourmet product. One of the members developed a delicious and spirituous beverage: the Herbamour. Made by maceration with wild plants from the region, the name is derived from the radical of the noun Herbemont (old spelling) "herb", referring to the herbs used as aphrodisiacs (love—amour).
The history
On August 6th 1657, the day after the taking of the Montmédy fortress by the French troups in presence of king Louis XIV, a group of carabineers, light armed on horses, with harquebuses having improved reach and precision, were instructed to take the young monarch and get him to his court installed in Sedan.
The ambush happened at a place called "Trou de Soiry" (Hole of Soiry), between Inor and Moulin Saint-Hubert ( the actual nord-west border of the department of the river Meuse). The carabineers were divided into two groups. The first group had climbed into the trees to take the soldiers of the royal escort under fire.
The second group went into attack with the aim for immobilizing of the second coach, in which the king and his brother were. To make this possible they cut the reins of the hitch. The kidnapping was about to succeed, but the king's Musketeers, commanded by Captain-Lieutenant Charles de Batz ( also known as D'Artagnan), arrived on the scene. Overwhelmed by the number, a part of the carabineers had been killed. Some fifteen were captured and taken to Sedan.
Then the carabineers showed the Military Order that they were instructed to the take the king. The latter, under the influence of his mother Anne of Austria, granted clemency and offered everybody a significant amount of money to reward them for their courage.
Herbeumont castle was occupied by the French from 1657 until the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659.
Before they left, they blew up the tower, destroyed the well and burned the outbuildings.