Floris van Montmorency, baron of Montigny (?, 1528 -

Simancas Simancas is a town and municipality of central Spain, located in the province of Valladolid, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated approximately 10 km southwest of the provincial capital Valladolid, on the ro ...

, 14 October 1570) was a noble 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 H ...

. He was born as the son of Jozef van Montmorency, Count of

Nevele Nevele () is a village and former municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Hansbeke, Landegem, Merendree, Nevele proper, Poesele and Vosselare. In 2018, the municipality of Nevel ...

and Anna van Egmont the Elder, and was the younger brother of

Philip de Montmorency, Count of Horn Philip de Montmorency (ca. 1524 – 5 June 1568 in Brussels), also known as Count of Horn, ''Horne'', ''Hoorne'' or ''Hoorn'', was a victim of the Inquisition in the Spanish Netherlands. Biography De Montmorency was born as the eldest of four ch ...

. Floris had a military training at the court of his relative Anne de Montmorency,

Constable of France The Constable of France (french: Connétable de France, from Latin for 'count of the stables') was lieutenant to the King of France, the first of the original five Great Officers of the Crown (along with seneschal, chamberlain, butler, and ...

. He accompanied Emperor Charles V to Spain after his abdication. At his return, Floris became a Knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece with the support of

William the Silent William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...

and against the wishes of Philip II of Spain. He was also appointed as Governor of the

Tournaisis The Tournaisis, or Tournai (Flemish: ''Doornik''), a territory in the Low Countries in present-day Belgium, is one of Europe's oldest town centres. Located in the Wallonia region of Belgium on the Scheldt River (French: ''L'Escaut''), northwest of ...

. As the rest of the high nobility in Flanders, Floris was a strong opponent to Cardinal Granvelle. In April 1566, he was sent by the Council of State with

John IV of Glymes John IV of Glymes, 2nd Marquess of Berghes (1528–1567), Grand Huntsman of Brabant, was a noble from the Low Countries. He was the son of Anthony of Glymes (1500–1541) and Jacqueline de Croÿ, sister of Philippe II de Croÿ. He succeeded his ...

to Spain in a last attempt to avoid war. As Glymes was wounded on the leg before leaving, Floris travelled alone. When the

Beeldenstorm ''Beeldenstorm'' () in Dutch and ''Bildersturm'' in German (roughly translatable from both languages as 'attack on the images or statues') are terms used for outbreaks of destruction of religious images that occurred in Europe in the 16th centu ...

raged across the Low Countries, Floris was arrested and kept in house arrest in the castle at

. When Egmont en

Horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

were arrested in Brussels, Floris was also condemned to death by the

Council of Troubles The Council of Troubles (usual English translation of nl, Raad van Beroerten, or es, Tribunal de los Tumultos, or french: Conseil des Troubles) was the special tribunal instituted on 9 September 1567 by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of ...

. Instead of returning him to the Low Countries for his sentence to be executed, Philip II of Spain had Floris strangled in secret despite the pleas of his new wife Anna of Austria to release Floris, and spread the rumor that he had died of disease.

Sources

Biography on dutchrevolt.leiden.edul
* ''Biographie Nationale de Belgique'', s.v. "Florent de Montigny", vol. 15, kol. {{DEFAULTSORT:Montmorency, Floris 1528 births 1570 deaths 16th-century executions by Spain Belgian nobility Floris Dutch expatriates in Spain Dutch nobility Knights of the Golden Fleece People executed by strangulation People from Deinze People from Leudal