Don Pedro Coloma (died 27 December 1621), Baron of Bornhem and Lord of Bobadilla, was a Spanish officer 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 ...

who established a noble line in the

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands was the Renaissance period fiefs in the Low Countries held by the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. The rule began in 1482, when the last House of Valois-Burgundy, Valois-Burgundy ruler of the Netherlands, Mary of Burgu ...

, a branch of the famous

House of Coloma Coloma or de Coloma or Colomba is an old important Spanish Noble House. A branch belongs to the Flemish nobility, and became the Counts of Bornhem. Other branches became the Counts of Elda, Marquesses of Espinar, Marquesses of Noguera and Marq ...

Family

Coloma was the son of Juan Coloma, a knight in the

Order 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 ...

, and Doña Maria Fernadez, Lady of Bobadilla.

Jean Charles Joseph de Vegiano Jean Charles Joseph de Vegiano (1724–1794), lord of Hovel, was a genealogist and heraldist of the nobility of the Low Countries and the County of Burgundy The Free County of Burgundy or Franche-Comté (french: Franche Comté de Bourgogne; germa ...

, ''Nobiliaire des Pays-Bas et du comté de Bourgogne'', edited by J.S.F.J.L. de Herckenrode
vol. 1, part 1
(Ghent, 1865), pp. 501-502. In 1585 he married Jeanne l'Escuyer, Viscountess of Dourlens, with whom he had three sons: Alexander, a captain of light cavalry, who succeeded him but died childless in 1625; Diego, who served as a gentleman in the household of

Philip III of Spain Philip III ( es, Felipe III; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain. As Philip II, he was also King of Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan from 1598 until his death in 1621. A member of the House of Habsburg, Phi ...

; and

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

, who continued the line.

Career

Coloma arrived in the Low Countries in 1577, to fight against the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...

, and in 1586 bought the lordship of Bornhem in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

. He built a manor house on the site of

Bornem Castle Bornem Castle, also known as the Marnix de Sainte-Aldegonde Castle ( nl, Kasteel van Bornem, or ''Kasteel Marnix de Sainte-Aldegonde''), is a country house, formerly a castle, located in Bornem, province of Antwerp, Belgium. Bornem Castle is situat ...

. He also restored and improved the medieval duck decoy on the estate, and in 1603 founded a religious community that is now

Bornem Abbey Bornem Abbey is the only Cistercian abbey of Common Observance in the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. The current Abbey is the successor of the former St. Bernard's Abbey, Hemiksem, destroyed in the French Revolution. Both are built in honour ...

References

1621 deaths Coloma family People from Bornem Military personnel of the Spanish Netherlands {{Europe-noble-stub