Jorge Próspero de Verboom, 1st Marquess of Verboom (9 January 1665 – 19 January 1744), was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

-born military engineer in the service of the King of Spain. On , King

Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598) * Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...

granted him the title of Marquess of Verboom. His father was Cornelius Verboom, the Flemish engineer-in chief-of 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 ...

, in charge of the fortification of

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerl ...

and of Dôle, in France. Prospero Jorge joined the Spanish Military Engineering Academy 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 ...

, under General Sebastián Fernández de Medrano, founder of that academy. During the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

, Prospero was instrumental in the 1691 campaign by

William III of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...

against the French blockade of Mons. In 1695, he directed the siege of Namur with Dutch military engineer

Menno van Coehoorn Menno, Baron van Coehoorn (; March 1641 – 17 March 1704) was a Dutch soldier and engineer, regarded as one of the most significant figures in Dutch military history. In an era when siege warfare dominated military campaigns, he and his French ...

. He was promoted to field marshal of the Spanish cavalry and, two years later, commanded the Lorraine Regiment of Cavalry. In the

Spanish War of Succession Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

, Verboom was in command of

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

's defenses in 1702. He also took part in the siege of

Hulst Hulst () is a municipality and city in southwestern Netherlands in the east of Zeelandic Flanders. History Hulst received city rights in the 12th century. Hulst was captured from the Spanish in 1591 by Maurice of Orange but was recaptured b ...

along with Captain General Isidro de la Cueva-Benavides. In 1706, the Frenco-Spanish Army—commanded by

François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King ...

—was defeated by troops commanded by the

Duke of Marlborough General (United Kingdom), General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an Engl ...

at the

Battle of Ramillies The Battle of Ramillies (), fought on 23 May 1706, was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. For the Grand Alliance – Austria, England, and the Dutch Republic – the battle had followed an indecisive campaign against the Bourbon ar ...

. Troops from Antwerp were used to put pressure on the British at the siege of

Termonde Dendermonde (; french: Termonde, ) is a city in the Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, Mespelare, Oudegem, Schoonaarde, and Sint-Gillis-b ...

. In 1709, Verboom was instructed to report on the state of castles and garrisons along the Spain–Portugal border. He was promoted to lieutenant general on , and a few days later engineer general of the Royal Armies: He participated in the

Battle of Almenar The Battle of Almenar also referred to as Almenara was a battle in the Iberian theatre of the War of the Spanish Succession. In June 1710, the Bourbon-Spanish army of Phillip V crossed into Catalonia in an attempt to capture Balaguer; an All ...

of 1710 against Count

Guido Starhemberg Guido Wald Rüdiger, count of Starhemberg (11 November 1657 – 7 March 1737) was an Austrian military officer (commander-in-chief) and by birth member of the House of Starhemberg. He was a cousin of Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg (1638–170 ...

, where he was captured. He was imprisoned until 1712. He took a very active part in the conquest of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and—after its capture—moved there in 1718, where he would supervise work on the Ciudadela of Barcelona and take part in planning the

War of the Quadruple Alliance The War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) was caused by Spanish attempts to recover territories in Italy (geographical region), Italy ceded in the 1713 Peace of Utrecht. Largely focused on Sicily, it included minor engagements in North Amer ...

– to recover

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

and

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. He took on the role of acting

Captain General of Catalonia The office of Captain General of Catalonia ( es, Capitán general de Cataluña; ca, Capitá general de Catalunya) was created in 1713 by the Nueva Planta decrees of King Philip V of Spain to replace that of Viceroy of Catalonia This is a list of ...

between 1737 and 1738. Jorge Próspero de Verboom died on , aged 79, and was buried at the ''Real Convento de Santa Catalina''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verboom, Marquis 1665 births 1744 deaths Flemish military engineers Spanish generals Engineers from Brussels Military personnel of the Spanish Netherlands Captains General of Catalonia Engineers of the Spanish Netherlands