Jan van Casembroot (ca. 1525 – 14 September 1568) was a South-Holland noble and poet. He was lord of Bekkerzeel, Zellik

Zellik

Zellik is an urbanised town with over 8,000 inhabitants in the municipality of Asse, in the province of Flemish Brabant, Belgium. As a suburb on the northwest edge of Brussels, it is separated from the rest of the agglomeration by the R0 ring road around the city...

, Kobbegem

Kobbegem

Kobbegem is a village that is now part of the municipality of Asse, Flemish Brabant, Belgium.It was an independent agricultural municipality until 1976. In 1997 it had 805 inhabitants and a brewery....

, Berchem

Berchem

The 'Ring', Antwerp's circular motorway which follows the track of the former city defense walls, cuts Berchem in two parts, separating the urban inner city area of Oud-Berchem from the more residential and suburban areas Groenenhoek en Nieuw Kwartier .-Demography:Berchem's total surface is over ,...

 and Fenain

Fenain

-References:*...

.

Life

Van Casembroot was born at Brugge

Brügge

Brügge is a municipality in the district of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.Its small church and market square are noted for their beauty....

, where he was descended from a regent family, originally from Piemonte. His father Lenaert Casembroot (1495-1558) was mayor of Brugge and his mother was Maria Reyvaert. He was married Wilhelmina van Brockhorst, and had a daughter named Anna with her. He was secretary of Lamoral, Count of Egmont

Lamoral, Count of Egmont

Lamoral, Count of Egmont, Prince of Gavere was a general and statesman in the Habsburg Netherlands just before the start of the Eighty Years' War, whose execution helped spark the national uprising that eventually led to the independence of the Netherlands.The Count of Egmont headed one of the...

 and he signed the Compromise of Nobles

Compromise of Nobles

The Compromise'of Nobles was a covenant of members of the lesser nobility in the Habsburg Netherlands who came together to submit a petition to the Regent Margaret of Parma on 5 April 1566, with the objective of obtaining a moderation of the placards against heresy in the Netherlands...

, in whose name he offered the Smeekschrift to regentes Margaret of Parma

Margaret of Parma

Margaret, Duchess of Parma , Governor of the Netherlands from 1559 to 1567 and from 1578 to 1582, was the illegitimate daughter of Charles V and Johanna Maria van der Gheynst...

 on April 5, 1566, in which was pleaded for religious freedom.

Jan van Casembroot was a Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

, but became a fierce opponent of Cardinal

Cardinal (Catholicism)

A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...

 Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle

Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle

Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle , Comte de La Baume Saint Amour, was a Burgundian statesman, made a cardinal, who followed his father as a leading minister of the Spanish Habsburgs, and was one of the most influential European politicians during the time which immediately followed the appearance of...

. He also opposed the Beeldenstorm

Beeldenstorm

Beeldenstorm in Dutch, roughly translatable to "statue storm", or Bildersturm in German , also the Iconoclastic Fury, is a term used for outbreaks of destruction of religious images that occurred in Europe in the 16th century...

. Van Casembroot was named governor of Oudenaarde

Oudenaarde

Oudenaarde is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, Heurne, Leupegem, Mater, Melden, Mullem, Nederename, Welden, Volkegem and a part of Ooike.From the 15th to the 18th...

 by the count of Egmont, and managed to restore order in the city. In the agreement that he signed with the calvinists, he went further than the regents had stipulated in the accord of 25 August 1566. He was arrested together with the count of Egmont on 9 September 1567, tortured and condemned to death on 9 August 1568 by the Council of Troubles

Council of Troubles

The Council of Troubles was the special tribunal instituted on September 9, 1567 by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, governor-general of the Habsburg Netherlands on the orders of Philip II of Spain to punish the ringleaders of the recent political and religious "troubles" in the...

 led by the Fernando Alvarez de Toledo Duke of Alva, and beheaded on 14 September at Vilvoorde

Vilvoorde

Vilvoorde is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the city of Vilvoorde proper with its two outlying quarters of Koningslo and Houtem and the small town of Peutie...

.

Several of his Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 poems were published, which reportedly display a humanistic sensibility.