Christophe-Ernest, 1st Count of Baillet (1668-1732) was a leading figure in the government of the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands nl, Oostenrijkse Nederlanden; french: Pays-Bas Autrichiens; german: Österreichische Niederlande; la, Belgium Austriacum. was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The p ...

.B. de Saint-Genois, "Baillet (Christophe-Ernest comte de)", ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' ( French; "National Biography of Belgium") is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ' ...

''
Volume 1
(Brussels, 1866), 643-644.

Family

Christophe-Ernest was born in Latour Castle on 1 September 1668 as youngest son of

Maximilian II Antoine de Baillet, Lord of Latour Maximilian, Maximillian or Maximiliaan (Maximilien in French) is a male given name. The name " Max" is considered a shortening of "Maximilian" as well as of several other names. List of people Monarchs *Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459� ...

. He died without heirs and his branch died out: the title of Count of Baillet passed to the heirs of his older brother. He resided in Mechelen until 1725.

Career

Charles II of Spain Charles II of Spain (''Spanish: Carlos II,'' 6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700), known as the Bewitched (''Spanish: El Hechizado''), was the last Habsburg ruler of the Spanish Empire. Best remembered for his physical disabilities and the War o ...

named Baillet to the

Council of Luxembourg The Council of Luxembourg was the central institution in the government of the Duchy of Luxembourg from 1444 to 1795, in direct descent from the medieval council of the dukes. It was a body that had both administrative and judicial authority. The ...

in 1699. In 1704 he was appointed to the

Great Council of Mechelen From the 15th century onwards, the Great Council of the Netherlands at Mechelen (Dutch: ''De Grote Raad der Nederlanden te Mechelen''; French: ''le grand conseil des Pays-Bas à Malines''; German: ''der Grosse Rat der Niederlände zu Mecheln'') w ...

, becoming president in 1716. De Baillet played an important part in the trials of

Frans Anneessens Frans Anneessens (in Dutch) or François Anneessens (in French) (25 February 1660 – 19 September 1719) was dean of the Nation of St. Christopher, one of the Guilds of Brussels, Belgium. He was beheaded on the Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels' ...

, in Brussels.

Rebelion of Mechelen

He was loyal to the crown during the anti-government disturbances of 1718 and played an important part in the protection of Mechelen, personally directing the successful defence of Mechelen's main square. De baillet received a delegation form the people and negotiated with them. Almost the negotiations failed when a child was shot: the mob was infuriated and the army decided to prepare the

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

s in defence. However, de Baillet ran to one of the cannons and took the burning fuse, and put it out before the explosion.Noord en Zuid: Maendschrift voor Kunsten, letteren en wetenschappen, Volume 2 De Baillet was in the center of the battlefield trying to restore peace. The people who

witness In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...

ed these courageous acts gained huge respect for the bravery of de Baillet. He succeeded to chase the regiments out of the city center and restore peace with the help of

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

de Smet of the

Cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

. He received the official benediction and gratitude of Cardinal d'Alsace for his leadership. De Baillet reported these acts tot the emperor in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, but requested the emperor to be mercyfull for his people. For this proof of alliance and loyalty to the emperor he was created ''1st count of Baillet'' by order of Charles VI. On 21 and 23 August 1720 the Great Council produced a total of 87

Death-penalties Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

, confiscations and

banishment Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

s. At the end both the cardinal and the de Baillet personally begged the emperor for mercy, in 1721 the emperor accepted this request of the president and the cardinal. Count de Baillet could proudly inform the Great Council of this imperial arrest.

Jean Alphonse, 1st Count de Coloma Jean Alphonse, 1st Count de Coloma (28 January 1677 – 7 January 1739), was a Flemish noble lord of Spanish descent, a member of the House of Coloma. He was a councillor on the Great Council of Mechelen and the supreme council in Vienna, and presid ...

, councillor of the Great Council, noted that he was greatly moved and exclaimed "This is the most beautiful day of my Life". In 1725 Baillet became president of the Privy Council of the Habsburg Netherlands, heading the civilian government of the Austrian Netherlands until his death. Here for he left Mechelen, and historic writing mention that the city was very sad to see him leave. He died on 2 June 1732 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and was buried in the Carmelite convent, but his grave has not survived.

References

{{authority control Presidents of the Privy Council of the Habsburg Netherlands Presidents of the Great Council History of Mechelen Counts of Baillet-Latour