Florent Of Berlaymont

Florent of Berlaymont (c. 1550 – 3 April 1626) was Count of Lalaing and Berlaymont, and Stadtholder of Namur, Artois, Guelders-Zutphen and Luxembourg, in the service of the King of Spain. He was the youngest son of

Charles de Berlaymont Charles de Berlaymont (1510 in Berlaimont? – 1578 in Namur?) was a leading nobleman in the Low Countries in the 16th century. He was an important counselor of Margaret of Parma, Grand Huntsman of Brabant and generally sided with Spanish poli ...

and Adriana de Ligne Barbançon, and brother of

Gilles de Berlaymont Gilles van Berlaymont (c. 1545 – 18 June 1579 in Maastricht) was stadtholder for the Spanish Crown of Drenthe, Friesland, Groningen and Overijssel (1572-1573), stadtholder of Guelders (1572–1577), substitute stadtholder of Holland, Zeelan ...

and

Claude de Berlaymont Claude de Berlaymont (or Claudius van Barlaymont), lord of Haultpenne (ca. 1550 – 14 July 1587) was a Flemish military commander in Spain's Army of Flanders during the Eighty Years' War. Family He was the seventh and last son of count Charles d ...

. In 1576 Florent shortly joined the

Union of Brussels There were two Unions of Brussels, both formed in the end of the 1570s, in the opening stages of the Eighty Years' War, the war of secession from Spanish control, which lasted from 1568 to 1648. Brussels was at that time the capital of the Spanis ...

, but soon became loyal to the King of Spain again. In 1579 he succeeded his brother Gilles, who was killed at the

Siege of Maastricht (1579) The siege of Maastricht was a battle of the Eighty Years' War which lasted from March 12 – July 1, 1579. The Spanish were victorious. Prelude Political background The Siege of Maastricht was undertaken in a moment in which the Royal authority ...

, as stadtholder of Namur and

Artois Artois ( ; ; nl, Artesië; English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras (Dutch: ''Atrecht'') ...

. Florent inherited the title of Count of Berlaymont from his father in 1578. By marrying Margaret of Lalaing, only daughter of

Philip de Lalaing (1537–1582) Philip de Lalaing (Lallaing, 1537 – Mons, 24 May 1582) was 3rd Count of Lalaing and Lord of Escornaix and Wavrin. He was the eldest son of Charles II de Lalaing and Margaret of Croÿ (died 1549). In 1574, at the beginning of the Eighty Years' ...

and Margaret of Ligne, he also became Count of Lalaing in 1582. Florent and Margaret of Lalaing also had only one daughter, Margaret of Berlaymont, who married Louis of Egmont, prince of Gavere (died 1654). When his other brother Claude was killed in 1587, Florent succeeded him as stadtholder of Guelders-Zutphen. In 1604, Florent also became stadtholder of Luxembourg, after the death of

Peter Ernst I von Mansfeld-Vorderort Peter Ernst I von Mansfeld-Vorderort (20 July 1517 – 25 May 1604) was a Spanish Imperial army commander of German origin and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1592 to 1594. Born in Heldrungen, Saxony, he was the 11th child (of 16) of ...

.
Florent also became a Knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1586. {{Authority control Knights of the Golden Fleece 1626 deaths Dutch stadtholders Belgian nobility Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain