Gaspar de Robles (1527,

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

– 1585, Antwerp) was

Stadholder 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 ...

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

and Groningen at the beginning of the Eighty Years' War (reign: 1568 to 1576).

Family

Robles was the son of Doña María de Leyte, probably the wet nurse for Philip II of Spain, and João Lopes of Robles.Profile
; accessed 26 December 2014. In 1558 he married Jeanne de Saint-Quentin, baroness of Billy, their son was 1st Count of Annappes. They are considered to be the founders of the Flemish branch of the house and became owner of the castle and lands in Billy in the

County of Artois The County of Artois (, ) was a historic province of the Kingdom of France, held by the Dukes of Burgundy from 1384 until 1477/82, and a state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1493 until 1659. Present Artois lies in northern France, on the border ...

south of

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

. Amongst his many descendants we find the

Dukes of Ursel The House of Ursel is the name of an important old Belgian noble family of German origin. The Head of the House is styled the Duke of Ursel, while other members are styled as Count/Countess d'Ursel. History The Ursel family roots are ...

. don João Lopes of Robles ##don Caspar de Robles, Lord of Billy;
''married to Jeanne de Saint-Quentin'' ###don Juan de Robles, 1st Count of Annappes;
''married to Marie de Liedekerke.'' ####don Alejandro de Robles, 2nd Count of Annappes;
''married to dona Francisca de Mancicidor'' #####Michel de Robles, 3rd Count of Annapes;
''married to Catherine de St-Aldegonde''.

Military life

On 17 May 1568, de Robles landed with 1800 Walloon soldiers under his leadership in Harlingen. Six days later he was defeated by

Louis of Nassau Louis of Nassau (Dutch: Lodewijk van Nassau, January 10, 1538 – April 14, 1574) was the third son of William I, Count of Nassau-Siegen and Juliana of Stolberg, and the younger brother of Prince William of Orange Nassau. Louis was a key ...

in the Battle of Heiligerlee, together with the Spanish army of

Jean de Ligne, Duke of Aremberg Jean de Ligne, Duke of Arenberg (c. 1525 – 1568) was Baron of Barbançon, founder of the House of Arenberg and stadtholder of the Dutch provinces of Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe and Overijssel from 1549 until his death. He was the son of L ...

, who was killed. De Robles then took part in the victorious

battle of Jemmingen After the Battle of Heiligerlee, the Dutch rebel leader Louis of Nassau (brother of William the Silent) failed to capture the city of Groningen. Louis was driven away by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba and defeated at the Battle of ...

against the Dutch rebels led by

, who only just managed to escape. Consequently, De Robles became Stadtholder of Frisia and prevented the uprising of the Frisian cities which had only limited defences. He supported Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo with 1000 Walloon soldiers during the

siege of Haarlem The siege of Haarlem was an episode of the Eighty Years' War. From 11 December 1572 to 13 July 1573 an army of Philip II of Spain laid bloody siege to the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands, whose loyalties had begun wavering during the pre ...

. On 23 May 1573, he was slightly injured by a musket shot.

Civil achievements

On 1 November 1570, Friesland was devastated by the All Saints Flood which flooded almost the entire region. Major damage and broken dikes were the results. Dike repairs was urgently needed, but the Frisians could not agree on costs. Thanks to the efforts of de Robles it was quickly agreed to close and strengthen the dikes (especially around Harlingen). The work on the dikes was divided into two parts. The northern part was to be maintained by the ''Inner Dijkers'' and the southern part maintained by the ''Outer Dijkers''. When the work was done, the Inner Dijkers decided to construct a monument, marking the border of their territory. They chose to build a memorial pillar in honor of De Robles that came to be called the Stenen Man (English:Stone Man) (Frisian: Stiennen Man). This memorial column on the Westerburcht Zeedijk south of Harlingen for many years marked the boundary between the two water boards and can still be visited today. De Robles was also responsible for the construction of the ''Kolonelsdiep'' (Colonels-deep, named after him), between Bergumermeer and Briltil (west of

Zuidhorn Zuidhorn () is a town and former municipality in the northeastern Netherlands. The town largely depends on the city of Groningen. A railway line, operated by Arriva, connects the town with Leeuwarden in Friesland and Groningen. Due to a municipal ...

). This linked Leeuwarden and Groningen by a secure land fairway. It took three months to build and was used for 400 years, only being replaced in 1965 by a new canal.

Decline

Over the years, Caspar de Robles was increasingly hated. The Spanish soldiers were already a month's pay behind and were very dissatisfied and he asked the Duke of Alva to be paid for his work. In 1576 he went to Groningen in order to soothe the feelings of the soldiers, but was captured by his own soldiers when Spain was declared bankrupt. That was the end of the power of Caspar de Robles in the north of the Netherlands. Caspar de Robles died in 1585 at the Siege of Antwerp. During the siege the Spaniards had blocked the

Schelde The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

with a bridge of ships in order to starve the city. Dutch troops made several attempts to break through the blockade, but those attempts all failed. However, one of the attempts involved sending in two fire ships that were filled with gunpowder. The first ship exploded harmlessly against the shore, but the other reached the bridge and exploded with devastating force, instantly killing over 800 Spanish soldiers, and de Robles was one of the casualties.

References

Books

*J. Sevenster: ''De stenen man : Caspar de Robles, stadhouder van Friesland, Groningen en Ommelanden van 1572-1576'' published A.J. Osinga, Leeuwarden, c1985 {{DEFAULTSORT:Robles, Gaspar De 1527 births 1585 deaths Stadtholders of Frisia Spanish people of the Eighty Years' War People from Madrid 16th-century governors