Christophe-Ernest, 1st Count of Baillet (1668-1732) was a leading figure in the government of the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

.B. de Saint-Genois, "Baillet (Christophe-Ernest comte de)", ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' (; ) is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ''Nouvelle Biographie Nationale'' (, ...

''
Volume 1
(Brussels, 1866), 643-644.

Family

Christophe-Ernest was born in Latour Castle on 1 September 1668 as youngest son of Maximilian II Antoine de Baillet, Lord of Latour and his wife, Anne Marie Coenen. He died without heirs and his branch died out: the title of Count of Baillet passed to the heirs of his older brother. He resided in Mechelen until 1725.

Career

Charles II of Spain Charles II (6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700) was King of Spain from 1665 to 1700. The last monarch from the House of Habsburg, which had ruled Spain since 1516, he died without an heir, leading to a European Great Power conflict over the succ ...

named Baillet to the Council of Luxembourg in 1699. In 1704 he was appointed to the

Great Council of Mechelen From the 15th century onwards, the Great Council of the Netherlands at Mechelen (Dutch: ; French: ; German: ) was the highest court in the Burgundian Netherlands. It was responsible for the Dutch-, French- and German-speaking areas. In Luxembourg ...

, becoming president in 1716. De Baillet played an important part in the trials of

Frans Anneessens Frans Anneessens (in Dutch)Paul F. State, 'Historical Dictionary of Brussels', Rowman & Littlefield, 16 abr 2015, p. 33

, in Brussels.

Rebelion of Mechelen

He was loyal to the crown during the anti-government disturbances of 1718 and played an important part in the protection of Mechelen, personally directing the successful defence of Mechelen's main square. De baillet received a delegation form the people and negotiated with them. Almost the negotiations failed when a child was shot: the mob was infuriated and the army decided to prepare the

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

s in defence. However, de Baillet ran to one of the cannons and took the burning fuse, and put it out before the explosion.Noord en Zuid: Maendschrift voor Kunsten, letteren en wetenschappen, Volume 2 De Baillet was in the center of the battlefield trying to restore peace. The people who

witness In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...

ed these courageous acts gained huge respect for the bravery of de Baillet. He succeeded to chase the regiments out of the city center and restore peace with the help of

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

de Smet of the

Cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

. He received the official benediction and gratitude of Cardinal d'Alsace for his leadership. De Baillet reported these acts tot the emperor in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, but requested the emperor to be mercyfull for his people. For this proof of alliance and loyalty to the emperor he was created ''1st count of Baillet'' by order of Charles VI. On 21 and 23 August 1720 the Great Council produced a total of 87 Death-penalties, confiscations and

banishment Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

s. At the end both the cardinal and the de Baillet personally begged the emperor for mercy, in 1721 the emperor accepted this request of the president and the cardinal. Count de Baillet could proudly inform the Great Council of this imperial arrest. Jean Alphonse, 1st Count de Coloma, councillor of the Great Council, noted that he was greatly moved and exclaimed "This is the most beautiful day of my Life". In 1725 Baillet became president of the

Privy Council of the Habsburg Netherlands The Privy Council or Secret Council (, ) was one of the three "collateral councils" (along with the Council of Finance and Council of State) that together formed the highest government institutions of the Habsburg Netherlands. Based in Brussels, i ...

, heading the civilian government of the Austrian Netherlands until his death. Here for he left Mechelen, and historic writing mention that the city was very sad to see him leave. He died on 2 June 1732 in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and was buried in the Carmelite convent, but his grave has not survived.

References

{{authority control Presidents of the Privy Council of the Habsburg Netherlands Presidents of the Great Council History of Mechelen Counts of Baillet-Latour