Supreme Council of Flanders

The Supreme Council of Flanders and Burgundy (Consejo Supremo de Flandes y Borgoña, or simply Consejo de Flandes) was a governing institution in the Spanish Empire, responsible for advising the king of Spain on the exercise of his prerogatives in the Spanish Netherlands and (until 1678) the County of Burgundy. This was a territory that comprised most of the modern states of Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as parts of northern France, the southern Netherlands, and western Germany. The council typically sat in Madrid, and its advice usually concerned royal nominations to ecclesiastical benefices, the appointment of high officials, royal pardons, and awards of honours such as knighthoods and noble titles.