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 Marqu ...

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 ...

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 d ...

and

Felipe-Emmanuel de Bette Felipe Bette y de Croy (French: Félipe-Emmanuel de Bette; 24 January 1677 – 4 January 1742), known as the Knight of Lede, was a soldier and noble from the Spanish Netherlands. Felipe was born in Valenciennes (now in Nord, France). He was the s ...

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) {{Europe-noble-stub