Guillaume de Bette, 1st Marquess of Lede (c.1600– 23 June 1658), Baron of Péronne, Lord of Impe,
Knight of Santiago
The Order of Santiago (; es, Orden de Santiago ), is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, "Santiago" ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgr ...
, was a military commander and diplomat from the
Spanish Netherlands
Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...
.
Life
Bette was born at
Lede
Lede may refer to:
* Lead paragraph (US English), the first paragraph of a composition
Places
* Lede, Belgium, a municipality in Flanders
* Lède, a river in France
* Lede Formation, a geologic formation in Belgium
People
* Marquess of Lede of ...
around the beginning of the 17th century, the son of John de Bette, Lord of Lede and Joanna, lady of Bergen. He married
Anna Marie de Hornes-Bassignies , daughter of Gerald de Hornes, 1st Count of Bassignies (1560-1612), Royal Chamberlain and Governor of Mechelen. They had five children and he was succeeded as Marquess of Lede by Ambrosius his eldest son. His cousin
Françoise de Bette
Françoise Bette (1593–1666) was, from 1637 to 1666, the 26th abbess of Forest Abbey.
She was born in Lede, in the county of Flanders, the daughter of Adrian Bette, knight, and Agnes de Merode de Rummen. Her cousin, Guillaume de Bette, 1st Mar ...
was the 26th abbess of
Forest Abbey
Forest Abbey (french: Abbaye de Forest) or Vorst Abbey ( nl, Abdij van Vorst) was a Benedictines, Benedictine abbey located in the Brussels List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality of Forest, Belgium, Forest, Belgium ...
.
Entering upon a military career, he became colonel of an infantry regiment in the
Army of Flanders
The Army of Flanders ( es, Ejército de Flandes nl, Leger van Vlaanderen) was a multinational army in the service of the kings of Spain that was based in the Spanish Netherlands during the 16th to 18th centuries. It was notable for being the longe ...
, and acted as military governor of
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
during the
1632 siege. On 3 August 1633 his barony, Lede, was raised to a marquisate in recognition of his service to the
Spanish Monarchy
, coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg
, coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain
, image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg
, incumbent = Felipe VI
, incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...
. Between 1635 and 1640, he was governor of the
Duchy of Limburg
The Duchy of Limburg or Limbourg was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire. Much of the area of the duchy is today located within Liège Province of Belgium, with a small portion in the municipality of Voeren, an Enclave and exclave, excla ...
and the Overmaas. In 1636 he conquered the County of Valkenburg. From 1640 until 1646 he was
Stadtholder
In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...
of
Upper Guelders {{unreferenced, date=November 2011
Upper Guelders or Spanish Guelders was one of the four quarters in the Imperial Duchy of Guelders. In the Dutch Revolt, it was the only quarter that did not secede from the Habsburg monarchy to become part of the ...
.
In 1655 he travelled to the
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execut ...
on behalf of
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered f ...
in a vain attempt to head off
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
's
Anglo-Spanish War. He died on 23 June 1658 as a result of wounds received during the
Siege of Dunkirk.
Commemoration
In Lede he gifted the main altar in the parish church, which still stands. The Marquess is also remembered in the village by a pair of 4-meter tall
processional giants, Markies de Bette and Markiezin Anne-Marie de Hornes, created in honour of Bette and his wife in 1950. In 1952 there was a wedding ceremony for the giants. In 2013 Lede named a street "Willem de Bettelaan" in his honour.
Descendants
Guillaume de Bette was the grandfather of
Jean François de Bette, 3rd Marquess of Lede
Jean François de Bette, 3rd Marquess of Lede (6 December 1672 – Madrid, 11 January 1725) was a Belgian military commander in Spanish service. He was also lord of the Fiefdom of Lede in Flanders.
Biography
Born in Brussels, son of Ambroise ...
and
Felipe-Emmanuel de Bette.
References
1658 deaths
Belgian nobility
Military personnel of the Eighty Years' War
Ambassadors of the Habsburg Netherlands
Year of birth uncertain
Military personnel of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)
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