Guillaume Bernard Ferdinand Charles, Count of Aspremont Lynden (1815–1889) was a member of the

Belgian Senate The Senate ( nl, Senaat, ; french: Sénat, ; german: Senat) is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parlia ...

and minister of foreign affairs (1871–1878).

Life

Aspremont Lynden was born in

Haltinne castle Haltinne ( wa, Altene) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Gesves, located in the province of Namur, Belgium. A small settlement existed here already during the Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages, the village formed a ...

on 15 October 1815, as second son of Count Joseph Ferdinand Gobert of

Aspremont-Lynden The House of Aspremont-Lynden is the name of an important Belgian noble family, probably originated from the House of Lynden, which was part of the Dutch nobility. History The proven line starts with Thierry van Lynden (married 1520, died 1566), ...

and Charlotte van der Straten, daughter of Baron Antoine van der Straten and Vicomtesse Charlotte de Nieulant, et de Pottelsberghe. He was elected to the Senate on 26 April 1864 for the

arrondissement of Namur The Arrondissement of Namur (french: Arrondissement de Namur) is one of the three administrative arrondissements in the Walloon province of Namur, Belgium. It is both an administrative and a judicial arrondissement. The territory of the Judic ...

, which he continued to represent until 19 June 1884.J. Willequet, "Aspremont Lynden (Guillaume)", ''

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. 30
(Brussels, 1958), 104. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 7 December 1871 to 19 June 1878. During the ''

Kulturkampf (, 'culture struggle') was the conflict that took place from 1872 to 1878 between the Catholic Church led by Pope Pius IX and the government of Prussia led by Otto von Bismarck. The main issues were clerical control of education and ecclesiastic ...

'' he was obliged to defend the freedom of the Belgian press to report on developments in Germany as they saw fit. He didn't marry and died without issue. He died in

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

in 6 September 1889.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aspremont Lynden, Guillaume 1815 births 1889 deaths Members of the Senate (Belgium)