Maximilien de Hénin-Liétard
Encyclopedia
Boussu
Boussu is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. As of January 1, 2006, Boussu had a total population of 20,058. The total area is 20.01 km², which gives a population density of 1,002 inhabitants per km²....
(1542 – Antwerp, 21 December 1578) was a soldier and statesman from the Habsburg Netherlands
Habsburg Netherlands
The Habsburg Netherlands was a geo-political entity covering the whole of the Low Countries from 1482 to 1556/1581 and solely the Southern Netherlands from 1581 to 1794...
. During the Eighty Years' War he was the royalist stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
of Holland, Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
and Utrecht from 1567 until he was made a prisoner of war during the Battle on the Zuiderzee in 1573. After being freed under the terms of the Pacification of Ghent he changed sides and became commander in chief of the forces of the States-General of the Netherlands
States-General of the Netherlands
The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...
.
Early life
Boussu (or Bossu) as he is known in most historical works, was born the son of Count Jean de Hénin-Liétard, scion of an aristocratic family from HainautCounty of Hainaut
The County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries with its capital at Mons . In English sources it is often given the archaic spelling Hainault....
, and Anne of Bourgondië-Beveren, descendant from a bastard of Philip of Burgundy
Philip of Burgundy
Philip of Burgundy may refer to:*Philip of Burgundy, Count of Auvergne , count-consort of Auvergne and Boulogne, son of Eudes IV, Duke of Burgundy and Princess Jeanne of France...
. His uncle was Maximiliaan II van Bourgondië
Maximilian II of Burgundy
Maximilian II of Burgundy , marquis of Veere and Lord of Beveren, was a noble from the Low Countries in the service of the Habsburgs....
, from 1547 Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
's stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht and admiral of the Habsburg navy, which had its headquarters at the time in Veere
Veere
Veere is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands, on Walcheren island in the province of Zeeland.-Population centres :Aagtekerke , Biggekerke , Domburg , Gapinge , Grijpskerke , Koudekerke , Meliskerke , Oostkapelle , Serooskerke , Veere , Vrouwenpolder , Westkapelle...
. This city was also a Marquess
Marquess
A marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is also used to translate equivalent oriental styles, as in imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam...
ate in possession of the Bourgondië-family. When his uncle Maximaliaan died in 1558, Boussu inherited this marquessate. However, the title had to be sold for debt and eventually ended up in the hands of the Prince of Orange
William the Silent
William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...
.
Boussu married Charlotte de Werchin and had one son, Pierre.
Stadtholderate
When the Prince of Orange had to flee the Netherlands for fear of becoming a victim of the Duke of AlbaFernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba
Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba was a Spanish general and governor of the Spanish Netherlands , nicknamed "the Iron Duke" in the Low Countries because of his harsh and cruel rule there and his role in the execution of his political opponents and the massacre of several...
's repression at the beginning of the Eighty Years' War, Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
's Regent 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...
appointed Boussu as his successor as stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht on 17 June 1567. As stadtholder he also commanded the royalist forces in those three provinces. When on 1 April 1572 a fleet of Sea-Beggar
Geuzen
Geuzen was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles and other malcontents, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called Watergeuzen...
privateers surprised the port of Brill
Brielle
Brielle , also called Den Briel is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, on the north side of the island of Voorne-Putten, at the mouth of the New Maas. The municipality covers an area of 31.12 km² of which 3.63 km² is water...
on the Dutch coast, Boussu therefore launched a counterattack from his base at Vredenburg castle
Vredenburg (castle)
Vredenburg or Vredeborch was a 16th-century castle built by Habsburg emperor Charles V in the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands. Some remains of the castle, which stood for only 50 years, are still visible on what is now Vredenburg square in Utrecht....
in Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
. However, he was unable to recapture the port. This failure to deny the followers of the Prince of Orange a foothold in Holland quickly resulted in a loss of control over a large part of Holland and Zeeland as the rebellion spread. Boussu convened the States of Holland in early July, 1572 in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
but by that time a majority of the voting cities had gone over to the rebel side and they convened their own States in Dordrecht
Dordrecht
Dordrecht , colloquially Dordt, historically in English named Dort, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the fourth largest city of the province, having a population of 118,601 in 2009...
later that month. The rebel States subsequently reinstated Orange as rival "royal" stadtholder of the three provinces.
Boussu's area of control in Holland was in effect reduced to a few loyal cities, like Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. This merchant city was subsequently blockaded by a Sea-Beggar fleet. To break the blockade Boussu personally led a royalist fleet in the Battle on the Zuiderzee
Battle on the Zuiderzee
The Battle on the Zuiderzee was a naval battle during the Eighty Years' War in which a Dutch fleet destroyed a larger and better-equipped Spanish fleet on the Zuiderzee.-Prelude:...
. He was defeated and made a prisoner of war. He was succeeded by first, Philip of Noircarmes
Philip of Noircarmes
Philip of Noircarmes, whose full name was: Philippe René Nivelon Louis de Sainte-Aldegonde, Lord of Noircarmes was a statesman and soldier from the Habsburg Netherlands in the service of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Philip II of Spain...
, and after the latters death in March, 1574, by Gilles de Berlaymont, lord of Hierges as royalist stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht.
Commander-in-chief
At the conclusion of the Pacification of GhentPacification of Ghent
The Pacification of Ghent, signed on November 8, 1576, was an alliance of the provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands for the purpose of driving mutinying Spanish mercenary troops from the country, and at the same time a peace treaty with the rebelling provinces Holland and Zeeland.-Background:In...
(which treaty mentions him by name) he was freed again. The Pacification united for a time the entire Habsburg Netherlands in opposition to king Philip II. Boussu now took a commission from the States-General to lead their army. Unfortunately, he was not very successful. At the Battle of Gembloux
Battle of Gembloux
The Battle of Gembloux marked a terrible defeat for the Protestant rebels fighting against Spain in the Eighty Years' War. On 31 January 1578, an advance force of 1,200 cavalrymen from the main Spanish army of 20,000 men attacked the retreating Dutch army of around 20,000 men...
of 31 January 1578 he was soundly beaten by the Spanish army under Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma
Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma
Alexander Farnese was Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1586 to 1592, and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1578 to 1592.-Biography:...
. However, half a year later his army beat the army of Don Juan at the Battle of Rijmenam (1578)
Battle of Rijmenam (1578)
The Battle of Rijmenam was a battle fought in the early stages of the Eighty Years' War between the forces of the States-General of the Netherlands and those of the Spanish Governor-General of the Habsburg Netherlands, Don Juan de Austria, on 31 July 1578, near Rijmenam in present-day Belgium...
which forced Don Juan to give up much terrain gained since Gembloux. Boussu retired to Antwerp where he died at the end of 1578.