Goswin Anne-Marie Félix de Fierlant (ca. 1735—1804) was a holder of high office in 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 ...

who served on the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

, as the last president of the Great Council, and briefly as Chief President of the

Privy Council of the Habsburg Netherlands The Privy Council or Secret Council ( nl, Geheime Raad, french: Conseil Privé) was one of the three "collateral councils" (along with the Council of Finance and Council of State) that together formed the highest government institutions of the Habs ...

.J. Lefèvre, "Fierlant, Goswin de", in ''

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 ' ...

'', vol. 29 (Brussels, 1956), 573-576.

Life

Goswin de Fierlant was born around 1735 to Guillaume de Fierlant,

schout In Dutch-speaking areas, a ''schout'' was a local official appointed to carry out administrative, law enforcement and prosecutorial tasks. The office was abolished with the introduction of administrative reforms during the Napoleonic period. Fun ...

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...

, and Anne-Catherine van den Broeck. He began his public career with the city council of

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 ...

. In 1768 he was appointed secretary to the

, and the following year became a privy councillor himself. On 28 August 1771 he married Marie-Thérèse de Nény, eldest daughter of Patrice de Nény, chief president of the Privy Council. By letters patent of 26 December 1773, Fierlant was appointed president of the Great Council, and the following January he was also made a Councillor of State. In 1787, during the reforms of

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 unt ...

, he was transferred to Brussels as head of a new Council of Appeal, but when this project was abandoned he was reinstated as president of the Great Council, retaining the position throughout the political changes of the

Brabant Revolution The Brabant Revolution or Brabantine Revolution (french: Révolution brabançonne, nl, Brabantse Omwenteling), sometimes referred to as the Belgian Revolution of 1789–1790 in older writing, was an armed insurrection that occurred in the Austr ...

(1788—1793). In 1793, at the second Austrian restoration, he was appointed Chief President of the Privy Council. His career ended with the French invasion of 1794. He died in Brussels on 19 February 1804.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fierlant, Goswin 1730s births 1804 deaths Presidents of the Great Council People from Turnhout