In the early Middle Ages, the reinforced castle of Poeke (Flanders - Belgium) served as a real bastion where knights from Flanders county assembled. The castle, which was the residence of the "Heren Van Poucke" ("Gentlemen of Poeke - mention the old-Dutch spelling of the word "Poeke") was at that time governed from Bruges. However, combative Ghent rebels repeatedly attacked the castle. Consequently, after the year 1453 Poeke castle felt into ruin for many years. One and a half century late, in 1597, the family Preud'homme d'Hailly from Rijsel (North of France) bought the castle from a family called "Delrye" and governed Poeke for more than 2 centuries. They made the castle the centre of their increasingly growing properties.